Third Year 1990-1991 Part 3
Rhiannon's Samhain rites are usually enough to keep herself on a level of zen that lasts for a couple of days. It might be the repetitiveness of the traditions, it might be the magic that surges and flows around her. It might be a combination.
Right now though those things don't matter because hot flames surge throughout her entire being. Wanting to burn everything in its path. She forgot about the troll. This isn't some silly book or movie, this is her real life and children are in danger.
She catches up and it's already mostly over, she casts an ebublio jinx once the troll is down to trap it in place to keep it from getting the children. They're so small.
The professor arrives, before she can scold the children for recklessness. Hermione tries to sell the same story as in the books and George laughs at her, tells her there are far too many snakes here for it to be believable. Then little Harry steps forward to try and explain and then Snape starts belittling.
She's not surprised. The flames licking up in her finally have something to burn and they burst forth, “THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH!”
She takes a deep breath, she feels herself shaking. There's a ringing in her ears, as she asks her head of house to take the children to the hospital wing. As she leads them the flames in her die down. They aren't gone they are still burning embers waiting for fuel but distant from the danger helps.
Madam Pomphrey clucks and urges them all to a hospital bed, she takes the one closest to the door and directs the rest to ones the furthest from the door. Rhiannon notes that there's more snakes than lions somehow, she knows where three of them came from but has no idea how the last one joined up. Madam Pomphrey gives them each a calming draught, “for the shock”, and goes to her office thirty minutes later she leaves it, “I'll be back to check on you dears in the morning. I have to close the Hospital Wing now.”
Everyone has passed out by now no doubt to the calming droughts they were given but she's still up. She carefully walks to check each of the younger children, just to settle herself.
“Ah Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore greets her, “What are you still doing up?”
She looks up from where she went to check on Ron, “I could ask the same of you, Headmaster.” She sees beyond him are McGonagall and Snape. McGonagall is remaining silent for now but she catches her flinging a sharp look at Snape.
“I just wished to do a final check on my students.” He tells her, ah Dumbledore the caring grandfatherly figure. She doesn't really know what to make of him.
“None of us are hurt terribly, just a couple scrapes and bruises. Ah and shock, Madam Pomphrey has already taken good care of us.” She tells him, the quicker he can leave the less she can interact with him.
“Yes, I see that.” He concedes “Miss Weasley, we got the story from Miss Greengrass earlier but we don't know where you and your twin brothers come in. You wouldn't mind sharing now that tensions are no longer high?” He asks his voice gently as if she's to strike out at him at any moment. She doesn't blame him really, the calming drought has barely doused the remaining embers of her anger. She shoots a glare in Snape's direction.
“Fred, George and I were taking a stroll outside to commiserate the lost, sir. It is Samhain afterall,” The half truth falls out of her mouth easily. It's funny she knows she wasn't the best of liars in the Before™, but now look at her.
“We got back just as everyone was being directed to their common rooms. We didn't know what it was about but when I saw the firsties running in a different direction. I followed behind them and the twins followed me. We heard screaming about a troll and smelled the awful creature. I captured it in case it woke up after Ron hadIhit it over the head with his club.” She has a feeling she's about to be telling this story many times over the next few days.
“I see, thank you miss Weasley.” He says. “Do try and get some rest soon, Poppy has enough work as is and there's no need to make the mediwitch worry more. Don't you agree?”
“Yes Headmaster, I'll do my best. I just wished to watch over the firsties a bit is all.”
“An admirable task, but I can assure you, the Hospital Wing is one of the safest places in all of Hogwarts.” He leaves after telling her that. McGonagall gives her a curt nod before following after pulling Snape along with her. Rhiannon suspects they'll get less sleep then she will. They looked exhausted.
After they are gone fully, she moves to Harry, “I know you're awake.” She tells him as she places a hand on the side of his bed.
He peaks up at her squinting his green eyes to see better, “I couldn't sleep.”
“I know the feeling. Harry, please try to not go running headlong into danger. You have people that worry about you,” the teen tells him gently. The small boy winces at her words. “If you do, at least ask for help from somebody first. I know you don’t trust the adults. I don't blame you for that. But just know my brothers and I would be happy to help you, not just Ron. Heck, I'm pretty sure Oliver Wood would help you. So would Angelina, Alicia, and Lee. There's even members of other Houses that would, like Gemma, or Cedric Diggory, you've not met him yet but I'll introduce you two.”
“Oh, I hadn't thought about that, I was worried about Hermione.” He tells her simply. She takes his hand and squeezes it.
“I know. I'm proud of you for worrying for your friend. I just wanted you to know that you can rely on me, and others.” Curse her and her bleeding heart, Rhiannon feels tears start to well in her eyes. “I always have time for my siblings. And you're Ron's best mate, that makes you an honorary brother.” She’s not quite ready to tell the boy how much she's grown to care for him over the last couple of months. That he's basically adopted. He'll learn at Christmas anyways.
“Are you crying? I didn't mean to make you cry.” He whines, panicking.
“Don't worry, it's not your fault. Would you like me to help you sleep?” She tells him warmly.
“How?” He asks.
“I've got four younger siblings. I know my way around a lullaby.”
“Oh, I think I'd like that.” She sings him to sleep tracing gentle patterns into his hand, like she would do for the twins when they were younger. His breathing evens out shd she checks the rest of them before settling in the bed she chose.
“Thank you,” Lily Evans' spirit peers down at her. “Let me repay the favor.” Rhiannon goes to sleep that night lulled to sleep by Lily Evans of all people singing a lullaby to her.
When she wakes up Madam Pomphrey is by her side, checking her over. “I know that Samhain nights are usually hard on you because of your magic sense, and last night must've been even more so. How do you feel? Any fever? Nausea? Stomach pains?”
“No ma'am I feel oddly refreshed.”
“That's wonderful to hear,” she gives her a warm smile and putters off to check on the others. Percy makes his way in shortly after breakfast and twits about like a bird at the younger lions and the twins. When he gets to her, he pats her down.
Then glares at her sharply, to which she rolls her eyes. “Rhiannon Hesper, I can't believe you yelled at a teacher.” He whispers at her scolding.
“He was belittling Harry! How do you even know about that?” She whispers back.
“Sir Mimsy-Porpington told the whole house. And that does not excuse you from yelling at a teacher. You know better.”
“Oh yes so I'm just going to sit back and let my little brother be belittled then? That's not very chivalrous of me Percy and you know it. You're such a fucking wanker sometimes.”
Percy gets a look of shock on his face like he's about to clutch his pearls. He leaves without another word. It's fine she'll apologize later, she knows their mam's amber pudding recipe. She's helped her make it enough times.
They get a couple more visitors before they are released and she gets dragged to an abandoned classroom.
“Yesterday, we saw one of the spirits when she touched you,” Fred tells her.
“And heard her too,” George adds.
“Oh,” she says dumbly.
“Grab me, grab me, Rhiannon come on, grab me,” Fabian begs her.
“Oh no.” is all she can reply with before conceding to his demands. And just like they said he appears more solidly then he usually does, for the second she grabs him. The pit in her stomach that exists solely for the problem of seeing into the otherworld usually brings sinks further. “That's new.”
She doesn't want to process this right now so she shoves aside and starts supplying prank ideas for the twins to hit Snape with. She's still quite pissed off at him, and this is the only thing from throwing down with the adult.
She takes the opportunity to introduce Harry to Cedric, on the Saturday after the Troll Incident.
“Cedric!” She calls from across the courtyard.
“Rhiannon!” He opens his arms for a hug, but she knows this trick, she lets him hug her anyways then he noogies her. She promptly stomps on his foot. “Ouch!”
“It's what you deserve, cunt. Harry this,” she gestures to the tall boy,” is Cedric Diggory, he's been my friend since nappies.”
“Ah you're Harry Potter, we'll be playing against each other as seekers.” He greets the small boy that he has finally noticed next to her. “Why the introductions.”
“You've probably heard by now what happened on Samhain. I wanted to make sure Harry knew who he could go to for help.”
He raises a brow at her that she takes to mean ‘why not go to an adult’ which she shakes her head at subtlety. “Well, it's nice to meet you, Potter. It's as Rhia said, I'd be happy to help you with anything.” He crouches down to be more on level with the small boy, smiling brightly.
“Th-thank you,” he tells Cedric. He looks up at Rhiannon, “Is he always like this,” and gestures at Cedric.
“Urgh, sadly.”
“Oi! What do you mean by that,” He then lunges at her. The less said about them wrestling in the middle of the courtyard the better.
“Seen your boyfriend around recently?” Gemma asks her sidling up next to her.
Rhiannon makes a gagging noise in her throat, “Please never refer to him like that ever again he is like my cousin at best and a brother at worst.”
“Well what am I your poor girlfriend supposed to think, when I hear about you and some bloke tussling in the courtyard?” Gemma bemoans dramatically.
Rhiannon is so done, she crumples up a piece of scrap paper for notes, not essays, and throws it at Gemma.
“Feisty, feisty.”
“Well what did you expect? I am a lioness.” Rhiannon asks while checking her nails.
Gemma bursts out laughing very loudly, to which Rhiannon quickly throws up a muffliato around them. “Are you trying to get us kicked out of the library again?”
The older teen just keeps laughing, Rhiannon fondly rolls her eyes and continues to write her essay for potions.
“Rhia? What do you think that looks like?” Lee asks her, in divination.
“Looks like a frog, you got a crush on anybody, Leaf?” She quietly answers.
Professor Trawlaney's head snaps towards them, “Let me see, let me see, it's a toad! You must watch out for a backstabber in your future!” She tells Lee dramatically. A look of horror on her face.
Lee glances at her and gives her a side eye with a bemused look on his face.
“Or it could be a frog meaning he's coming into money or romance.” Rhiannon helpful says.
It's no use though there Professor has wandered away yelling about backstabbers and deceit.
“What do you have Rhia?”
“Oh, I've not finished mine, it's very good, I'm savoring it.”
“Huh, we can always ask what it is?”
“No, no, I think I have it.” She writes down the the notes of it. She finishes and swirls her cup in the air three times. She and Lee look down at it.
“Kinda looks like a diamond.” It kind of did. “Looks like you have money in your future.”
She rolled her eyes, “I always have money coming in. I sell my tutoring services.”
The rest of her classes went by quickly. She's just returned to the common room from the kitchens.
“Ah, hello Rhiannon,” Percy greets curtly.
“Here,” she shoves the amber pudding at him, “My statement still stands but that doesn't mean I don't love you.” This was as much as an apology he was going to get.
“Thanks,” her older brother's green eyes light up immediately when he sees what she brought. “I do love you too.”
“Good.” She leaves him to stand there looking like an idiot.