For the Future

It was the day of the first quidditch match of the year and Cora was sitting in the great hall eating her breakfast and reading the classic book of Jane Eyre. This wasn't her first time reading it but she was just so incredibly inspired how two people can love each other so much—despite their differences. It was the kind of Love she wanted.

George and Fred finally walked in the great hall, cheering with excitement. This was finally her chance to go up to them as they settled down.

"George, Fred," she nods, greeting them as they just stare. "—let me just get straight to the point, I need that letter that I supposedly wrote and I need it now."

They look at each other doing their twin telepathic freakish stuff before Fred reaches into his pocket. He slides the letter down the table. Cora didn't suspect they would be so willing to give it.

"Fred told me about zonkos and I thought that was really- cool of you," George looks everywhere but her in an almost ashamed way. They thought they owed her.

"Oh- I-that was nothing i-i'm gonna go now-" She looks at the letter and takes a look at the wax that was clearly sealed by her stamp. She stuffs the letter in her pockets as soon as she walks away. One problem down. 3756 more to go.

Cora settles down on the ravenclaw table, initially aiming to finish her breakfast but sadly the Slytherins didn't like that.

And coincidentally, the sneakoscope in her pocket was going haywire.

"Hey Cora, how'd ya feel after your friends ditch you because of some letter?" A girl asks across her side of the table. Cora lets out a scoff. Unbelievable, she thought. She lets out an eye roll and continues to read her book.

The Slytherins realized that Cora didn't give two shits that they were bothering her and so one of them reaches out and grabs her book.

"Hey, give that back!" Cora tries to grab it from her but when she does, the Slytherin girl pulls back so she ends up reaching for nothing. Cora sees something falling out of her pocket and realizes that it was....her stamp? The one she uses to seal all her letters. She hasn't even realized she'd lost it at all

Before she could question it, a boy grabs the book from the Slytherin girl from behind.

"Pansy what the hell is wrong with you? Can't you go a day without annoying somebody?" Draco slides the book over to Cora without even looking. Pansy looks down ashamed and mutters a small sorry and a threatening sneer towards Cora before she turns away with her gang.

"Both of my arms are fully attached and you're the one defending me from 'bullies'," Cora smirks at the boy as he sits down in front of her.

"Yeah well...it looked like you needed it and I though-,"

"Thank you, Draco. Might be a little embarrassing but Thank you." she smiles softly at the boy. "Talking about bullies—doesn't pansy have a crush on you? I mean that's what I heard," Cora wasn't good at starting a conversation—as you can see. Draco's pale face switches to pure red in under a millisecond.

"Ah sensitive topic I see,"

"No! I mean no it's uh I don't really like her back and she's telling everyone I do which is just stupid," Draco rambles nervously. Cora lets out a laugh and it seems to be contagious as Draco joins her. Laughing stupidly was all they needed to bond.

"It can't be." Harry mutters as he stares at the duo sitting on the Ravenclaw table. Laughing. Together.

"What can't be?" The curly haired girl sitting next to him, inquired.

"Cora. Shes-she's  friends with...Draco?" Harry couldn't believe it. He hasn't seen them talk this whole year and seeing them now made it seem they knew each other their whole lives.

"Well yes. They've known each other since Draco was born. Cora is quite protective of him, you know. I remember one time a bunch of 7th years were annoying him last year and Cora...let's just say the 7th years left the school early."
Hermione shivers at the unspoken memory.

Harry recalls the words of the professor in his head once more.

'I pray that you realize that you're one of the two people she cares most about'

Dementors? Dementors!

Expecto Patronum!

" Luckily the ground was so soft."
"I thought he was dead for sure. Ouch woman! You didn't have to hit me that hard."
"But he didn't even break his glasses."

"Harry!" Exclaims Fred underneath all that mud on his face. Cora's head snaps towards Harry's direction. She pulls her wet hair into a tight pony tail and stands from her seat trying to get a good look at him. Fred seems to understand and makes way for her since he could still see Harry from behind.

"What happened?" The boy asks, sitting up on his bed with a million things going through his head.

"You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been—what—50 feet?"

"We thought you—you died." Alicia lets out. "But-" Cora looks to the floor.

"But what?" Harry pleads.

"Cora. She saved your life Harry. She scared off the dementors and if not for her you wouldn't have been able to walk for the next few months."

Cora sniffles. Her nose was red from the sickening cold. She looked up and realized everyone was staring at her. It was overwhelming to say the least. Fred, without thinking, unfolds a spare blanket and puts it over her shoulders. Why was he being so nice?

"Where's Wood?" Harry finally speaks.

"He's in the shower. We think he's trying to drown himself," George says from beside Cora.

"I think the rain already did that." Ah great a blocked nose as well. Living the dream here.

George grabs Harry's shoulder and shakes it roughly.

"Aw come on Harry. You've never missed the snitch before." As George comforts Harry, Fred surprisingly puts an arm around Cora. Her eyes widen in shock from the amount of affection she's receiving from the boy.

She catches the eyes of Hermione, bloodshot red from the tears she's been shedding for her best friend but Cora couldn't be sympathetic right now. Hermione could see that she was in shock.

Cora shuffles towards the girl hoping that she's open to some comfort. A girl like her hanging around with two reckless boys reminded her of a certain someone.

"-right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin—"

"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least  two hundred points," said George.

"But if they beat Ravenclaw.." Cora lets out a scoff making Hermione let out a small giggle beside her.

"No way Ravenclaw is too good. Maybe if Cora coincidentally twists her ankle at 2:53 pm Saturday afternoon."

"Oh so that's what we're calling you now?" She replies sarcastically.

"But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff..."

"Y'know I don't know if you realised but Harry, correct me if I'm wrong, nearly died and all you guys can talk about is quidditch?" Everyone looks at Cora  like she said something sacred.

"Oh so now I'm the crazy one," she mutters.

The group continues to talk, leaving no choice for Cora to wait until they are done so she can talk to the twins. Madam pomfrey, the angel that she is, told the group to leave Harry to peace. Finally, Hermione and Ron were allowed to stay with Harry after pleading with her for five minutes.

"Dumbledore was really angry. I've never seen him like that before. Cora saw the dementors and casted them away with the patronus spell. After you fell Dumbledore and Cora both waved their wands. Dumbledore's spell slowed your fall only for a fraction of a second and Coras stop you from hitting the ground with full force completely." Hermione says with her voice strained.

"He magicked both you and Cora onto a stretcher."

"Wait wait wait. Cora?" Harry asks confusedly.

"Yeah. She passed out after." Ron concludes.

"Fred, George! Wait!" Cora calls out for the two striding way in front of her. They turn to see the girl running to them. She stops to catch her breath while she still tries to speak.

"You—two—need to—explain—yourselves." Her heartbeat finally resides to a calm level as she puts her hands on her hips looking at the two boys.

"What are you waiting for? I didn't spend weeks by myself just so you guys have nothing to say," she was full of anger. Didn't they have the decency to actually apologise?

"We found out it wasn't you that wrote the letter."

"—it was pansy" George finishes off. This is all she wanted these past few months but why didn't she feel relieved?

"I just don't understand... Why—why did it take you this long to realise!?" She was finally letting go of the anger pent up inside of her. Or just the tears. The two could just watch in pity. She was walking left and right with her hand in her hair taking in the past few weeks.

"I-do you realise how long I had to sit by myself. Watch you guys laugh without me there sitting with you? I don't know maybe I'm just overreacting, im bei-" she was enveloped into a hug by the one and only Fred.

"No..don't say that Cora. If everything, you're under-reacting. Merlin, we're so stupid." Cora let out a snotty laugh into Freds chest. But he could care less right now. "All men are the same, am I right or am I right?"

It was the middle of the night and the trio were sitting at the top of the astronomy tower catching up.

"How did you guys...find out that I didn't write the letter?"

"It was all Laurie you see." George breathes out a chuckle. "I mean you did realise she hasn't hung out once with us since the day yknow...of the incident."

Now that Cora thought about it. She hasn't seen Laurie near the twins at all.

"All those weeks when she wasn't talking to us she was out there doing some detective stuff and she kind of exposed Pansy. Not only for the letter but some other stuff for extra measure."

"All this time I thought she didn't want to talk to me because she thought I wrote the letter," Cora murmers.

"Oh how wrong you were little sparrow. She tricked her into eating a truth telling cupcake and recorded it using a—what was it? A voice wrecker—"

"Recorder." George corrects. "She put a sneakoscope next to it to show it was real."

"Oh merlin, I'm so stupid," Cora says, getting up and pacing around left and right. " I ignored her because I thought she- I thought she didn't believe me and I didn't want to talk to her-"

"Hey hey listen it's not too late now—you can still talk to her. You sleep in the same dormitory room as her, right? Just talk to her and she'll forgive you 100%. You have my word for it." Fred reassures the stressed girl.

Cora's tense shoulders relax as she nods at the boy taking in his soft smile before her. For her.