Chapter 4
Dearest Rhona,
Your lessons will begin on the second day of winter break. In this letter is an antique locket that belonged to my late daughter Coralynn. You will find that it is a timed portkey to give yourself a way to Prewet Manor and you will be greeted by my personal house elf, Dipsy, when you arrive. Be off of the school grounds by exactly ten minutes past noon on December fifteenth, nineteen ninety-one. You will return to Hogwarts on January fifth, nineteen ninety-two.
I must admit I was rather shocked to find my great niece sending me correspondence, and especially at the rather unusual but not completely unpleasant request. Furthermore, I must say it is quite refreshing for a Weasley (Prewett) to want to properly present themselves in pureblood society. I know your mother will not approve, as she herself fought tooth and nail to not have to attend or practice proper manners and pureblood etiquette. I will agree to the request under specific circumstances. You will work hard, and you will put in the effort to be visibly seen by myself or I will send you home. I have hired a tutor on etiquette, to start with. She will arrive a day after you, so you have one day to settle in and adjust to your new surroundings. Do not waste my time or galleons, or your new tutor's, young one. For security reasons, burn this letter after reading. You can repay me by working hard proving yourself that you can be held to a standard above the reset.
Muriel Prewett née Gamp
Prewet Manor
The Chasms, Port Saint Mary
Isle of Mann
Rhona read, and reread the letter in her hands over and over, doing her best to memorize its contents. The handwriting was neat, looping cursive, done in smooth black ink. She had replied to her! Rhona had written to her great aunt to ask for an asylum of sorts in the way of teaching her how to act in pureblood society and her great aunt Muriel had actually gotten back to her! Rhona's heart was racing in her chest with excitement and more than just a bit of nervousness. She had never directly rebelled from her parents before, and even though she knew this was for the best, she needed to know how to act properly in real life pureblood society. But still, she couldn't help but feel bad for a very small moment before the excitement won over. She hadn't told anyone about her plans except for Percy, fearful that she would be rejected outright but now she wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Oh, how her future would turn out for the better now. She clutched the letter tightly to her chest as if it would suddenly turn to ash in her slightly shaking hands.
She was at lunch in the great hall, sitting at the Slytherin table next to Azalea, Nelda, and Theo who were all eating their lunches. The afternoon post had just been delivered in a spectacular display of flying owls overhead and Rhona loved seeing it, even if she wasn't ever really expecting anything by owl post. Azalea caught Rhona's eye and raised a delicately arched eyebrow at Rhona's reaction to the letter.
"Is everything okay Rhona?" Azalea asked, concern thinly veiled in her voice. She picked up on Rhona's anxiety nearly right away. They may have just recently met, but Azalea liked to think of Rhona as her good friend. The same applied for Nelda Longbottom and Theo Nott. She hadn't had any friends before Hogwarts happened; her cousin Dudley and his gang of bullies that he called friends made sure that Azalea was always isolated.
"Y-yeah I'm okay. I'll tell you later before dinner. It's too.... There's too many people here." Rhona said shyly, tucking her long burgundy locks behind her ear. Rhona had to find Percy and tell him. Oh, the urge to run up to him right now was very high, but Rhona reasoned with herself that he was probably already out of the great hall and on his way to whatever class he was going to for that afternoon. Even then, she sent a quick glance over to her actual table, where all of her Gryffindor classmates sat, trying to catch a glimpse of his trademark burgundy red hairthat all the Weasley's had, her included. As she expected, she didn't see him, and resigned herself to hunt him down between classes. She tried to remember any of his year mates but couldn't remember any of their names. The only one she could remember was a girl named Cerys Glenn.
She was a fellow fifth year Gryffindor with waist long wavy black hair that she sometimes saw talking to Percy during lunch and dinner. Rhona had been jealous at first, but she was truly happy that Percy had friends that he could talk to. Rhona was a lonely girl; the only other girls she could talk to back home were her baby sister Ginevera, which was not an option, and a girl who was their neighbor named Luna Lovegood. She was a spacey girl who was always looking for imaginary creatures that Rhona had never even heard of. So when she got to Hogwarts and she met Azalea, and by default Nelda and Theo, she was so very happy. She hadn't felt lonely yet!
Rhona spotted the girl as she was preparing to leave the great hall and said a quick goodbye to Azalea, Nelda and Theo, promising that she would explain what was going on later at dinner, and dashed off to catch up with the girl. Rhona jogged to reach the girl and caught her just as she said her goodbyes to a Hufflepuff girl and exited the great hall. The silence of the hallways was deafening compared to the roar of the great hall with all the students chattering as they ate lunch.
"Hey, Glenn!" Rhona called out to the girl to catch her attention. It would be informal to call her by her first name, so Rhona stuck to the small bit of etiquette that she knew and stuck with her last name. Cerys looked behind her to who was calling her and spotted the younger girl, and came to a stop. "How can I help you?" She asked as a question. Cerys had not a single clue who the girl was but nevertheless she stopped anyway. She was on her way to her first lesson of the day when she heard someone call out her name.
"You're Percy's friend... Do you happen to know his schedule?" Rhona asked forgetting her etiquette partially. Cerys blinked down at the girl in question and took notice of her height and hair color. This must have been Percy Weasley's younger sister that he was telling her about when they were discussing family during lunch one day.
"You must be Rhona... Percy told me about you! Now, I think I have my schedule here somewhere.... Ahh, here it is. Let me make you a copy." Cerys said to the now identified first year. She dug into her bag and drew out her schedule and her wand, using her wand to tap on the schedule to duplicate it.
"Here you go, Miss Weasley. He and I are on our way to Potions but I can tell him that you're looking for him?"
"Yes please. It's rather important." Rhona asked politely. She couldn't tell anyone, not yet anyway. She needed to keep this a secret from anyone who would tell her mother or father, or her brothers. None of her family was safe, except for Percy and Charlie. They wouldn't betray her, they practically raised her.
"You should hurry up; you don't want to be late for your next lesson!" Cerys said quickly before turning to leave. She didn't want to be late for her first class either; she had Potions with Professor Snape and he was unfair to the Gryffindors to put it mildly.
"Thank you!" Rhona called out with a smile and turned to leave to get to her next class. It was a Friday, and she was excited. It would be their first flying lesson, and after that, they would have flying lessons twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays for the first semester, where in which that class period would switch to a Wizarding Cultures of the World mandatory class that was grade wide.
Soon enough it was time for Rhona's first official flying lesson and she hurried off to the doors of the castle to get to the open field that they would be having their flying lessons in. It was behind the quidditch pitch because there were too many students for them to use the pitch this year. Usually it would be two houses at a time but for some reason this year they lumped all four houses together and Rhona couldn't see how that was a good idea. Something was bound to happen with that many students together. She jogged over to the field and was nearly out of breath from the extent that she had to run, but Rhona didn't want to be late for any of her lessons, this one included. She already knew the basics of flying on a broom; she snuck into the shed and took Fred's broom when he wasn't looking. She never went up high or anything because it was still not the safest but she loved the thrill of it. One day she dreamed of playing professional quidditch for her favorite team, the Chudley Cannons.
Rhona caught sight of the groups of students that were also first years making their way to the open field where the flying professor was waiting, and sped up to find her group of friends. Some students were with their house mates and some were with their inner house friends, so Rhona felt comfortable seeking out Nelda to drag her off to find Azalea and Theo. She spotted Nelda nervously looking around, as if she was lost and went up to her.
"Hey Nelda!" Rhona called out to get the other Gryffindor girl's attention. Nelda looked towards her when she heard her name called and Rhona could quite literally see the relief written across her face at the sight of the familiar girl. "H-hey Rhona. Glad to see you made it." Nelda said quietly, almost too quiet for Rhona to hear.
"Everything okay Nelda? Let's go find Azalea and Theo, i'm sure they're looking for us too!" Rhona said and grabbed the other girl's hand, pulling her towards the crowd of Slytherin students that were keeping close to each other, rather than spreading out like the other houses. She pushed and pulled her way through the groups of students until she spotted sight of long curly black hair that was up in a high ponytail. She finally caught sight and shouted out for the other girl to catch her attention. "Hey! Azalea!"
Azalea was standing with Theo and another Slytherin boy that Rhona didn't recognize. He had shoulder-length wavy black hair and dark green almost black eyes. He looked up at Rhona's shouting and stared the two Gryffindor girls down for interrupting him.
"Oh! Hey Rhona, Nelda. I was wondering if you would be able to find us. Welcome to the Slytherin side." Azalea said with a smile at the sight of her two newest friends. She didn't have many but Theo had introduced her to his childhood friend Blaise.
They had met at a dark pureblood ball when Theo was seven. Thorros hadn't of wanted to bring Theo but he didn't trust his son to stay alone at Nott Manor nor did he trust anyone else alone with his son, so he was forced to bring him with him. The ball was hosted at Malfoy Manor, which was more like a palace rather than a manor, as most pureblood Manors were. Theo was being forced to socialize with Draco Malfoy when he was introduced to Blaise by way of mocking Draco for not being able to catch one of the estate's many albino peacocks. The fowl had slipped from Draco's grubby hands and had ended up with the platinum haired boy falling into a pond. He threw a fit and immediately blamed Theo for it, and demanded that Theo go home right then and there, even when Theo had nothing to do with the dare to begin with. Blaise had rather calmly told Draco this matter of fact and Draco had gotten rather red in the face at the fact that someone was denying him his perceived justice and was about to start an even larger fit when Draco's mother appeared out in the back garden rather suddenly and quietly began to scold Draco for causing a scene and becoming filthy in his brand-new custom tailored suit. In the end, Draco was embarrassed not only by himself but his mother's scoldings, and Theo had gained a new friend in the process. The rest was as you say history. Blaise had come over to visit Nott manor many times since then, and Theo had even gone to visit Blaise and his mother Dahlia at their Manor in the north of Wales.
"Nelda, Rhona, this is my friend Blaise Zabini. He's a fellow first year Slytherin. Blaise, this is Rhona Weasley and Nelda Longbottom. They're first year Gryffindors, but you wouldn't suspect it. They act more like Ravenclaws or Slytherins rather than their actual house." Theo said as an introduction between the three of them.
"Hello. It's nice to meet y-you." Nelda stuttered out nervously, but held out her and as she was taught to do. It was pureblood etiquette to have the male kiss the hand of the lady; she had been taught this rule by her Nan for most of her life and she wouldn't have her Nan finding out now that in all of her nervousness about flying, that she forgot her manners momentarily. He delicately grasped her hand and brought it to his face, placing a soft kiss on the back of it before releasing it back to her. She blushed at the feeling of his lips on her hand, but willed it away, embarrassed by her reaction.
"Hello, Zabini. Nice to meet you." Rhona said following pureblood customs of calling someone by their surname. She had just met the other boy, and it would be very improper to call him by his given name in any proper society.
"Likewise." He nodded to the two girls who had greeted him. Soon after that, Madame Hooch stormed the field and placed down a heavy looking truck. She waved her wand and it opened up, with flying brooms floating out of it and onto the empty part of the field.
"Everyone into groups of five and spread out!" She called out directing the students. Rhona stayed with Nelda, Azalea, Theo and Blaise and they walked to an open area and awaited for further instructions. Her heart was racing in her chest. She enjoyed flying but for some reason she was a little bit afraid to get onto the school's brooms. Sure it was probably safer, and this time she was actually allowed to get on one, as she had supervision of an adult, but for some reason she couldn't get this bad feeling like something was going to happen out of her chest. She tried to shake it off the best she could as it became clear that she would have to get on a broom. Madam hooch had waved out five low grade flying brooms, that Rhona passively noted were Shooting Stars. They were good flying brooms to learn on, as they didn't go too fast and were steady enough to be on when you were inexperienced. The brooms were laid out in neat rows of five with enough room for each of the students to stand to the side of easily.
"Now students," Madam Hooch called out loud using a sonorous charm to extend her voice. "It's quite simple, you hold your hand over your broom and quite firmly say the word 'Up' to summon it up, like this." She said and then proceeded to show the gathering of students how to command the broom to rise up. The handle of the broom, a polished tree branch, rose quickly and smacked her in the awaiting palm of her hand. "See? Just like that. Now, your turn!"
The actions that followed were a sight to behold. The entire year's worth of students of all houses proceeded to command the broom to rise up into their open hands. There were varying degrees of success, with some getting the broom handle to come into their grasp right away while others' brooms lie limply on the ground, hardly moving at all. Rhona called to her borrowed broom and willed it to come up to meet her. At first, she didn't have much success, with the broom handle limply twitching at her commanding words. But after a few attempts, it rose up and smacked her hard in her hand and she grabbed on tightly to await the next set of instructions. She looked around her and spotted that know-it-all girl, Hermione, trying her hardest to get the broom to rise up but she was failing miserably and Rhona could tell she as getting more and more frustrated as time went on. By now, most of the students were having some of a degree of success at summoning the broom and she was falling behind for probably the first time, Rhona thought to herself.
"Up! Up, up... UP!" She could hear the girl say with more than a little bit of attitude. Rhona knew that brooms were magical objects, enchanted, not just merely charmed, and they could tend to have a mind of their own sometimes. Giving it an attitude or showing that it was bothering you that it wouldn't listen would only spell for disaster and Rhona was proved right when the broom finally rose up and smacked the girl dead between the eyes, hard. Hermione let out a disgruntled curse and let the broom fall back to the ground, rubbing at the bright red mark that was quickly forming on her forehead. Rhona wanted to go over and explain what she was doing wrong, but Hermione wouldn't have listened anyway so she quickly turned to see how Azalea was doing. She was shocked to see the broom rise smoothly into Azalea's out stretched hand as if it was completely natural for her to be that in control of the enchanted object.
"Good job Azalea! You're a complete natural!" She praised the girl with a huge smile. Azalea simply beamed back at the other girl in complete excitement. She was very happy about her moderate success and it only took two tries before the broom listened. Both Azalea and Rhona turned to help Nelda, who was having a very hard time with the broom.
"U-up? Up?" Nelda was trying, and it sounded like she was asking the broom rather than commanding it like the others had done as instructed.
"No Nelda, like this. You have to be relaxed and in control for it to work. Are you nervous? It's okay to be a little afraid but you have to show the broom that you mean business!" Rhona instructed. She had been flying on brooms since she was six, even if she was not supposed to be doing so. So what if she took a calculated risk once in a while. It was all in the name of good clean fun!
"Uhh... Okay I will try again. UP!" Nelda tried once more, more firmly this time. The broom smacked around on the ground before slowly rising up and Nelda held on tightly. She had just gotten a hold of the broom when it began to vibrate and Nelda looked nervously over at Rhona, Azalea, Theo and Blaise. "Uhh guys?" She began. "I don't think-" But she never even got to finish her sentence. Something awful must have happened because suddenly the broom jerked to life on its own and shot up, with Nelda still holding onto the broom handle, and she began to fly up by some odd force. "Guys! Help" She screamed out in fear but for some reason Nelda couldn't let go. It was like she was stuck to the broom with a permanent sticking charm as it rose up higher and higher and then suddenly she was falling. Unnoticed to everyone, something slipped from her outer robe pockets and hit the ground as she did.
Rhona watched in horror as she fell from nearly twenty feet and landed on her left wrist in a sickening crunch of broken bones. She let out a loud whimper and Madam Hooch dashed over to the injured girl right away.
"Clear the way! Clear the way! Oh, dear!" Madam Hooch called out as the gathering students moved out of the way of the rushing teacher. "Can you stand dear?" She asked Nelda as she let out a loud pained groan. "Y-yes I think so. Oh my writs, it hurts so much!" Nelda cried out in pain. "Up we go dear. Let's get you over to Madame Pomfrey in the hospital wing right away dear. Everyone, you all stay here and DO NOT under any circumstances, get on those brooms without me returning. Do I make myself clear?" She said quite firmly as she helped Nelda up off the ground. Rhona wanted to make sure that Nelda was okay but couldn't get past the large gathering of nosy students. She made her way back to where Azalea, Theo and Blaise were gathered around Nelda's fallen and long forgotten broom.
She watched as Nelda was helped up off the ground clutching at her left wrist that was twisted at an odd angle. Rhona winced in sympathy. Her wrist was clearly very broken.
"Come on Miss Longbottom, Madame Pomfrey will have you sorted out right as rain before you know it. It's nothing that a good dose of skelle-grow can't solve." She heard Madame Hooch say to Nelda loudly as she escorted the girl off the field. It was then that she overheard Draco Malfoy's smug voice mocking her new friend.
"Pathetic. Longbottom can't even ride a broom right. Now we all have to wait to continue our lesson. I won't be waiting. Up!" He commanded the broom that was on the ground next to him and mounted his broom, much like Rhona has many times before. She already knew how to fly a little, but practice would always help. How else would she be able to be good enough to be a professional quidditch player?
She and Azalea looked at each other and both pushed their way through the crowd to get to where Malfoy was standing with his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle. They were lumbering behind him nodding in agreement to his mocking statement. Azalea made it through first and was able to watch as Malfoy bent over and picked up Nelda's dropped remembrall orb. "Huh. Longbottom must have dropped this. She won't be needing it now."
"That's not yours Malfoy, give it here." Azalea called out, storming up to Malfoy and his goons. She was furious. How dare he mock her for something she had no control over. "Her broom was hexed, Malfoy. I bet if your broom was done up like that, you would have fallen too!" She did her best to defend Nelda, especially after she got hurt and wasn't there to defend herself.
"No, I don't think I will. You see Potter, I already know how to fly on a broom. Father always gets the best brooms for me. I bet you don't even know how to ride a broom, Potter." Draco taunted Azalea directly. He mounted his broom and kicked off the earth to fly up, directly defying Madam Hooch's warning of not flying without her to supervise for their safety. Not everyone knew how to ride a broom comfortably, if at all. Rhona turned to Azalea and was about to say something when Azalea did the unthinkable. She commanded a nearby broom into her hand and copied Draco's position on the broom, kicking up and following him into the air.
They both flew up, one chasing after another and before Azalea knew it the students on the ground looked more like specks or ants rather than actual people. She looked down nervously; she had never been a major fan of heights. She wasn't afraid per se, but she was painfully aware that she didn't know how to maneuver the broom as well as she would have liked.
"Scared Potter? I bet you've never even flown a broom before, have you?" Draco taunted Azalea, catching her looking down at the ground.
"No! You give me that back, Malfoy. I'm not warning you again. It's not yours!" She said defiantly.
"Oh? You still want this?" Draco held up the orb, pretending to present it to Azalea before jerking the broomstick back to just get out of her reach again. He wound his arm back and threw the orb as hard as he could, sending it hurtling up towards the roof of the castle. Azalea jerked forward, leaning down on her broom to guide it up towards the castle to chase after the remembrall. No thoughts of it being dangerous or that the orb could be replaced. All that mattered at that moment was getting the orb back. She soared higher and higher, going as fast as the broom would take her and she finally caught sight of the precious orb. She caught it just in the nick of time and jerked her broom handle to stop the broom from colliding with the castle's wall. Azalea came to a stop in front of a window of an office, high off the ground.
Inside the office, Professor McGonagall was making final adjustments to the week's lesson plans when she felt the unnatural urge to look out the window. Something moving had caught her eye and she let out a startled breath to see a student this high up off the ground, on one of the first year students' brooms. She recognized that curly black hair and crooked round glasses anywhere. Azalea Potter was on a broom, outside the Gryffindor tower. She got up immediately and began to storm outside the tower and through the castle to go out to where all the first year students would be having their first flying lesson of the semester. What on earth was going on, to allow such a thing as having a first year student up that high. It was absolutely dangerous. This was not good.
Azalea was feeling triumphant. She had caught the remembrall and that was all that mattered. She tilted the broom stick down and began her descent slowly this time; she was very high up and she didn't want to fall like how Nelda did. Azalea had broken bones before... Or rather, Dudley had broken her bones before. There was the time he pinned her down and stomped on her hand. She still remembered the crunch that her hand and wrist had made; her fingers had sat at an unnatural angle for a very long time before her magic was able to fix it. She was rather thankful for having magic, especially now that she knew what it was. She came to a soft landing down by where Rhona was standing next to Theo. They were both glaring daggers at Malfoy who had landed soon after he threw the orb up at the school.
"I did it! I did it!" Azalea chanted as she dismounted the broom and ran up to her friends, Nelda's lost remembrall in her up raised hand.
"That was incredible Aza!" Rhona gushed. She had never seen someone who has no clue how to fly, fly so naturally. Azalea acted as if she had been flying all her life; Rhona even thought to herself that Azalea was a better flyer than she was. Rhona was impressed with her flying maneuver.
"That was incredibly dangerous! You could have gotten hurt, Azalea!" Was heard behind them before Theo could say anything. Rhona turned around to see who would dare to scold her friend and was completely unsurprised to find that Granger had pushed her way through the gathering crowd who had rallied to greet Azalea down in the ground.
"Granger-" Theo started and was cut off again by her beginning on a tirade of a lecture, as if she was in the position to scold a fellow student. It was Blaise this time who stepped in and defended Azalea, before Theo even had to chance. He looked at his close friend and felt a pang of pride in the people he chose to consort with.
"You were told to stay on the ground. What gave you the right to think you would get special treatment just because you're the girl-who-"
Blaise had had more than enough and decided to cut her off before she could finish her last sentence. "Who are you to reprimand another student, Granger. You are not a perfect, nor are you the head girl or a teacher. Stay in your own lane. Do not think you are special just because you believe you know more than the rest of us." Blaise retorted, a scowl on his face. He knew he looked downright scary when he was annoyed. It came with the territory of being the heir to the house of Zabini.
The girl in question looked absolutely affronted at the reprimand from Blaise and was about to go off on him, when both Professor McGonagall and Madame Hooch returned, at a very brisk pace at that. "Which one of you flew off the groundwithout supervision?" Madame Hooch asked as she reached the crowd of first years.
"IT WAS POTTER-" Hermione began to tattle on the other student right away before she was glared daggers at by Theo, Blaise and a few other students.
"Miss Potter, is it true?" Professor McGonagall asked in a very dry, lethal tone.
Azalea was pushed to the forefront of the gathering of students at the Professor's question and she bowed her head, ready to be sentenced to detention, or worse. "Yes professor. Malfoy took Nelda's remembrall and I needed to get it back from him." Azalea explained with her head still down. She hadn't thought of the repercussions of her actions at the time. She only was thinking of helping her poor injured friend.
"Ten points from Slytherin for your reckless endangerment of yourself and school property. Malfoy, that will be twenty points for theft of property of a fellow student and detention with Hagrid. Andfifty points to Slytherin for your spectacular flying, Azalea. I think you should be introduced to Marcus Flint. He's captain of the Slytherin quidditch team for this year and I'm sure he needs a new seeker for the team; heaven knows that team needs all the help it can get." Professor McGonagall said, shocking Azalea down to her core. Professor McGonagall was rewarding her? She was very confused, but decided not to complain about the given house points. She had just gained her house forty points and she was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth as the saying goes. "Follow me, Potter." Professor McGonagall said and lead a very confused Azalea away. Rhona was left to look at Blaise and Theo, who both looked a little surprised and confused at what had just happened. Granger was red in the face at the fact that Azalea hadn't truly gotten in trouble for breaking the teacher's orders.
Class was decidedly over after that, and the students moved about to head back to the castle. They had a bit of time before dinner began in the great hall and Rhona turned to Theo and Blaise. "Let's go visit Nelda in the hospital wing. I want to make sure she's ok after that fall." Rhona expressed her worry for her friend. She was quickly starting to enjoy spending time with her fellow Gryffindor. Rhona was impassive towards most of her year mates that shared the Gryffindor tower with her, but Nelda was definitely the exception. She was rather glad that they had been late to transfiguration class together that day.
Rhona dragged Theo and Blaise by their hands with her to the hospital wing where she knew Nelda would be at. She didn't know what had caused Nelda's broom to fly up without any prompting, nor what made Nelda hold on to the broom handle for so long. Why didn't Nelda just let go as soon as the broom lifted off the ground to begin with? Rhona had a long list of questions running through her head and she was determined to get to the bottom of the situation. What if it happened to her, or another student? The thought of getting hurt at school left a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. It would not do for her to dwell on that thought, not at all.
Rhona began to slow down when she reached the corridor with the hospital wing's entrance in it, so she wouldn't be caught running through the nearly empty halls of Hogwarts.
"Rhona- Rhona! Slow down! I'm sure Nelda is alright." Theo tried to break through Rhona's intense thoughts and was only partially successful, because the girl in question turned to look behind her, her thick red hair flipping over her shoulder.
"She broke her wrist, Theo. How can she be okay?" Rhona asked, sounding almost as upset as she truly was at the thought of the situation that had happened to her good friend. Rhona knew she had only just met Nelda, but she felt as if Nelda was like a sister to her. She knew she got attached too quickly to her, but Rhona felt like she could trust the other girl with her life if it depended on it.
The three of them skidded to a halt in front of the double doors that lead into the wing itself, and Rhona hesitated to go in. "Weasley, are we going to go in or what. You didn't drag both of us all this way to stop now; let's go in." Blaise said to the girl in question, pushing past her to open the doors. Students weren't technically supposed to be visiting the hospital wing without a cause or reason, but it was just about to be dinner anyway, so Rhona knew they would be allowed. Or at least, she hoped they wouldn't get in too much trouble for trying to visit her friend. She had not met Madam Pomfrey yet. The mediwitch made up a schedule to do a first of the year check up with all the first year students, as was practice for Hogwarts. It prevented bad things from happening to the first year students in case of emergency and gave the school time to intervene in dire cases like if someone was hurting the first year students. Rhona didn't like to think about it but some people, witches, wizards, and muggles alike could abuse children. Rhona knew what her parents did to her and her siblings wasn't physical abuse, but it was neglect at the very least. Her parents only paid attention to Fred, George, and Ginevera; they were the loved children. Her, Percy, Bill, and Charlie were left behind more often than not. It's why both Bill and Charlie both left when they did. Rhona didn't blame them, not really. It's why she wrote to her great aunt Muriel. She wanted, no, she needed to get away.
The three of them entered the hospital wing and looked around, taking in the new to them scenery. The room was large with high stone walls, like most of the castle. There were cots spaced a bit a part from each other, all made up with white linens and fresh pillows, with screen dividers in between. At the far end of the hospital wing was a door that must have either lead to a supply closet or maybe it was Madame Pomfrey's office. Rhona and Theo spotted Nelda right away, and they hurried over to where she lay on one of the available cots. She was still in her school uniform, but her outer robes were removed and laying over the foot of the bed. Nelda's arm was in a sling of sorts, with her entire left arm braced at a right angle to her body. She looked to be asleep but at the sound of the three of their footsteps approaching her, she opened one eye to peep at who had approached her.
"H-hey guys." Nelda said, sleep thick in her voice. She rubbed at her eyes with her good arm and winced when she shifted and jostled her healing wrist. "Thank you for coming to visit me." She said with a quiet grin. Nelda wasn't used to having much of any friends. It had always just been her and her Nan. Occasionally there was her Uncle Algie, but Nelda decidedly did not like the man. When she was a toddler, he had dangled her out of the third story window of Longbottom Manor to see if her magic would act up and rescue her. He had nearly dropped her when Nan saw what he was doing and put a stop to it. He wasn't allowed alone with her after that, not for a long time. Her uncle was always doing something along those lines. He believed that because she didn't do much accidental magic, that she didn't have any magic. Nelda had almost believed him; she almost was convinced that she was a squib. But then she got her Hogwarts letter and Nan couldn't have had been more happy. She was a witch just like her mother and father.
"Yeah, it's no problem." Theo said, as Rhona suddenly got quiet. She was staring at Nelda's bandaged arm hard, like she was trying to figure something out. "Nelda... What happened? Why did your broom fly up?" Rhona finally asked.
"I honestly don't know. One minute it was in my hand and I was in between you and Azalea, and the next minute my hand was stuck to the broom stick and I was being lifted off the ground. It was like I couldn't let go. I was stuck to it and then suddenly I wasn't and I was falling and you know the rest. I broke my wrist pretty badly. Madame Pomfrey said I was lucky it was just my wrist and not my neck. I could have died." Nelda said, sobering up the group of them quickly. Rhona looked startled at the thought of one of them potentially dying.
"Well I'm glad you didn't die. Is your wrist going to be okay?" Rhona asked nervously.
"Yeah. Madame Pomfrey had to vanish the bones completely, and she gave me a dose of skele-gro potion. It was really gross tasting. I don't want to have to do that again. Madame Pomfrey said I have to wear my wrist like this in this sling until it's completely regrown so it will heal right." Nelda supplied, gesturing to her mending wrist.
"Will you be able to return to the tower for bedtime? What are you going to do about dinner. It's almost time to go down to the great hall." Rhona asked, concerned for her friend. It wasn't good to miss a meal, or so her mother always said. Rhona's stomach grumbled in agreement, reminding her that she hadn't eaten much at lunch. Rather, she had gotten a reply from her great aunt Muriel and had forgotten to finish her food in her excitement. She still hadn't been able to meet up with her brother Percy to tell him the good news and ask him to help her figure out what to do next. She would have to try to catch him after dinner or in the common room before bedtime but she couldn't afford for Fred or George to overhear her. She was fortunate enough that she hadn't encountered them much of anything so far into the school year but she knew her luck could change at any minute and she couldn't afford to take that chance.
"I don't know, actually. I was hoping to be healed up by now, but Madam Pomfrey said I can't take any pain relieving potions until after the skele-gro is completely out of my system and my wrist still really hurts whenever I shift or move much." Nelda explained, worriedly looking down at her injured limb. Rhona rather hoped Nelda would be able to sleep in her own bed tonight. She didn't like the idea of Nelda sleeping all alone in the empty hospital wing. The beds didn't look too uncomfortable but they didn't compare to the four-poster beds that resided in Gryffindor tower. The mattresses were enchanted to be whatever firmness or softness that you desired and adjusted as you did in the bed to be accordingly. Rhona loved it. It was like a cloud compared to her thin, worn out mattress that was Charlie's before it was hers. She didn't get the privilege of having new things. That was only reserved for Ginevera who was growing to be much like her mother, rather than Rhona taking after her father's height.
Just then a rather busy looking women came out of the back room, and hurried over to where Rhona, Nelda, Theo, and Blaise were. "Visiting hours are well past over. It's time for you three to go to the great hall for dinner. Please leave." It must have been Madame Pomfrey, the mediwitch in charge of the hospital wing. "Thank you ma'am, we were just leaving. We wanted to check on our friend after her rather bad fall." Blaise said smoothly before Rhona could say something to get them into actual trouble. Rhona didn't like the idea of having to leave without Nelda. The poor girl must have been bored out of her mind to be all alone in the hospital wing.
"Right, well see that you do. It wouldn't do for students to be wandering the halls and missing a meal." The mediwitch said before turning to check on Nelda. Theo had to drag Rhona out of the hospital wing and the three of them began to make their way to the great hall. They had been warned enough to not be in the halls during a lesson or a meal, as it wasn't good for the students to wander the halls unattended.
It turned out that by the time Rhona, Theo, and Blaise made it to the great hall, dinner was already almost halfway over and Percy was nowhere to be seen at the Gryffindor table, again. Rhona let out a deep sigh and resigned herself to the fact that she was just doomed to keep missing any chance of an encounter with her older brother for that day. She didn't regret going to see Nelda, not at all. But she really needed to talk to Percy about the damned letter. She was suddenly very tired. It had been a long day and a lot of things had happened, good and bad. She was glad that Nelda would be alright. It was scary to see her fall like that. Rhona kept playing what Nelda had said earlier in the hospital wing over and over in her head. 'Madame Pomfrey said I was lucky it was just my wrist and not my neck. I could have died.' Rhona hadn't thought of her own mortality before, and this really shook her to her core. Who knew what had happened to Nelda's broom. It could have been Azalea. It could have been her.
Rhona pushed around the food on her plate, suddenly not very hungry. Azalea was sitting beside her talking animatedly to Theo and Blaise, the newest addition to the small group of them, about what had happened to her after Professor McGonagall escorted her off the field. Rhona tried to feign interest and follow along, but her heart just wasn't in it. She hadn't heard a word of what Azalea had said, too lost in her own thoughts.
"I'm exhausted, guys. I think I'm going to head up to the tower and go to bed." Rhona rubbed at her eyes, pretending to be tired. She should have felt bad, but it wasn't technically a lie. She had gotten up late because the night before she was up late studying for Potions. Rhona just couldn't understand where she was going wrong in her homework, but Professor Snape always graded her essays as dreadful, or even worse, sometimes she got her parchment roll back with a capital T for troll. She just reasoned with herself that she would have to try harder. Maybe she could ask Theo or Blaise for help. She knew Nelda was terrified of Professor Snape, and Azalea was targeted by the Professor at every turn in their classes with him.
"O-oh. Okay then. Goodnight Rhona. Sit with me again tomorrow?" Azalea asked, suddenly sounding a little unsure of herself. Rhona let out a small smile at the girl's nervousness. It seems Rhona wasn't the only one not used to having many friends. "Of course I will. You don't even have to ask. See you tomorrow, Aza." Rhona let out a genuine yawn, this time not entirely faking being exhausted, and got up from the bench. She said her good nights and made her way out of the great hall towards the Gryffindor tower. She wandered down the halls, running her fingers over the textured stone of the walls absentmindedly as she went, not paying much mind to where her feet were taking her. Much to her tired confusion, she ended up in a dead ended hallway with a single tapestry door at the very end. What caught her eye though was that the tapestry door was cracked open just enough to let the light from inside the room shine through.
She was completely hesitant at first, but something unknown spurred her on and she approached the open door, and pushed it further open to peer inside into the unseen before room. It appeared to be an unused classroom of sorts. Rhona hadn't had much free time to explore the castle, as she was always studying, doing homework, or spending time outside with Nelda, Azalea, and Theo, so she readily took this available opportunity to explore the abandoned classroom. There were a few rows of dusty desks, ones in a style she hadn't seen before. The chair was attached to the desk itself on one side, and there was a small wire basket underneath that one could use to store things. Rhona thought to herself that the desks themselves looked rather uncomfortable to sit in, as she couldn't imagine not being able to move her chair freely from her desk like the ones that were used in the current parts of the castle.
Other than the dust covered desks, there was a heavy looking teacher's desk pushed to the far right of the room and a few empty bookshelves. Rhona wondered to herself what this classroom could have been used for. She wasn't sure of any of the previous classes that had been once offered by the school in past years, so she could only make guesses as to what the room had once been like. The room was otherwise empty except for something rather large and wide in the center of the back of the empty classroom, covered in a heavy and thick looking white canvas tarp. She felt herself approach it closer to get a better look and wondered to herself what she was doing in this classroom, when what she really wanted to do was to find her older brother and confide in him of her worries for the future, and the contents of the letter she had received at lunch earlier that day from her great aunt Muriel. Nonetheless, she shuffled forward and she felt herself move almost in an out-of-body experience. Up her arm reached, and she felt herself grasp the cloth and give it a hard yank.
Coughing could be heard in the echoing room as a thick layer of dust rose up into the air and into her lungs. She sputtered and wheezed for a good minute or two as the dust settled down around her, her hands covered in a layer of grime and cobwebs. Whatever it was that was under the canvas tarp had been sitting there for some time apparently, for that level of dust to have settled down onto it. It looked just as unused as the rest of the classroom. What was under the tarp confounded Rhona deeply. It was an antique looking mirror with an inscription along the edges of the frame that looked to be in a foreign tongue. 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi' was carved into the thick golden borders of the mirror, but Rhona didn't immediately register what was written on it. In fact, she was instead captivated by the reflection in the mirror.
There in the mirror's reflection was her as she was standing right there in the classroom, but along with her were her two older brothers, Percy and Charlie. Rhona stared intently into the reflection and watched as her brothers hugged her from behind. The reflection in the mirror looking back at her was not the setting of the unused classroom, but of a cottage of sorts with a small rustic looking kitchen table and bench seats, and a fire lit hearth. Rhona pulled herself away and looked around behind her just to confirm that she was in fact still at Hogwarts, somewhere on the second floor in a dust covered empty classroom. But there, looking back into the mirror, was the image of her and her brothers, still in the cottage. She inspected the reflection of her face momentarily. She looked happy... Rhona shook her head, dispelling the thought that had formed. This mirror had to be a trick mirror or something. Despite the insistent pulling feeling that was drawing her to keep staring into the reflection of the strange mirror, she forced herself to take a step back, and another, and then another. She kept stepping backwards until her back hit the edge of one of the desks, and she nearly all but dashed to the still open door. She couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to stay and watch her reflection for hours upon hours, so she forced herself to run down the empty hallway and go back the way she had wandered. Rhona was beyond exhausted by then; it felt like she had been watching herself and her brothers forever, but she reasoned with herself that it couldn't have been more than a few minutes at the most.
She walked with a purpose this time and made her way to Gryffindor tower and up to the common room, but the round shaped room was vacant, the fire that was usually in the hearth was nothing but dying coals and embers. It was odd, no matter what time of day, Rhona had always seen a fire in the fireplace. She wondered to herself if she had been gone longer than she thought she had been; things just weren't adding up right. Between the common room being empty, the hallways being empty, and there not being a fire in the hearth, she was starting to suspect something wonky had gone on in that classroom. She made her way up to the dormitory and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw every last one of the other girls sound asleep. If she had thought to try and cast a tempus charm, she would have noted to her increasing panic, that it was not eight thirty p.m. like she had thought, maybe ten p.m. at the latest, but it was instead well past three in the morning. She had been standing there watching that strange mirror with its not quite right reflection for literal hours. She undressed and changed into her pajamas, and she was sound asleep before her head even hit the pillows. Panicked dreams plagued her that night, and she woke up very early the next morning, despite going to bed at an extremely late time the night before. She was more exhausted than she had been when she went to bed.
Blearily, Rhona rubbed at the sleep that tried to stay in her eyes. She nonetheless gathered her things she would need to get ready for the day and headed for the showers. Hopefully that would help wake her up enough to start her day. Hardly anyone else was awake, and she had the nearly empty shower room mostly to herself. It was one of the few perks of being awake before the other girls. Don't get her wrong, Rhona was used to sharing and didn't usually mind, but it was a nice rare treat to have time and space to herself. The only other person in the bathroom was that Granger girl who was quietly muttering to herself as she got ready. The only words she could make out over the rush of the shower heads were 'must do better.' and 'Flamel couldn't be alive this long', whatever that meant. Rhona chalked it up to the muggle born girl being strange as she usually was, and focused on rinsing the lovely scent of her favorite shampoo out of her long hair. Once all the suds were out, she worked a good amount of the matching rose scented conditioner through her thick burgundy strands of hair and worked out the small tangles that had formed in the process of her washing out her hair. She allowed the literal magic of the conditioner to work its way into her hair and after a few minutes, she rinsed that out too. Rhona was careful to not let her mind wander too much, lest she began to think about the night before, or even worse, her bizarre dreams that were more nightmares than dreams.
The only thing she allowed herself to remember was that she absolutely needed to speak to Percy. Rhona finished up in the shower and wrapped herself in self-warming towels, sighing in pure bliss at the feeling of the fluffy cotton that was snugly wrapped around her. Even the towels at Hogwarts were better quality than the ones she used back at home. Rhona was aware that her parents didn't have the most money; things were always stretched out thin at home. Food was home-grown and butchered, almost all of the clothing she wore was hand sewn, mended, or passed down, and the quality of things wasn't usually the best, but Rhona had never once truly realized how nice it was to have decent quality things. She secretly longed for the nicer things in life. Rhona wanted her own clothing that wasn't worn out by someone else already before her. She wanted a mattress that wasn't thin and falling apart, much like the rest of the future in her tiny bedroom. She didn't even own her own wand. Even that was second hand; it had been her father's mother's wand before her. This was something that Rhona ever only thought about in the comfort of her bed, behind the curtains shut tight, safe at Hogwarts. She longed for the life she never would be able to have, at least until she had her own flat with her own money.
Once she was thoroughly toweled off, she dressed for the day and slipped on her worn thin trainers. It was a Saturday; there were no lessons for the day, but she had made plans earlier in the week to have a study session in the library with Azalea, Nelda, and Theo after breakfast. She wondered to herself that if she invited Blaise, would he want to join them. It's not that any of them were doing bad in their classes, but none of them wanted to fall behind nonetheless. The only class any of them were truly struggling was Potions, but Rhona had a private theory that Professor Snape had it out for them, Azalea especially, but he was nasty to every other Gryffindor almost equally. It was clear that he favored Slytherins with the obvious exception of Azalea, and it truly bothered Rhona. Teachers were supposed to be fair. They weren't supposed to play favorites and Rhona felt cheated with the experience she was receiving. This was her education and he was setting her up for failure. She decided that something would have to be done about it, but Rhona didn't know what she could do yet. She was only a first year student; she was only eleven years old, not even near being of legal age yet.
Rhona exited the dorm room and took her time down the vast amount of stairs that were the spiral staircase that led down to the common room. It was still a bit too early, judging by the grandfather clock on the wall that read seven forty-nine in the morning. Rhona wasn't used to waking up that early but it had its uses. Percy was an early riser, but it was a bit too early still even for him. She settled down on a wing back chair along the edge of the room, which had a clear view of the stairs that lead up to the boys' dormitories and made camp. She was tempted to go down to the great hall for breakfast, and get a very strong cup of tea. She wasn't allowed to have coffee at home, and she had no inclination to try the bitter smelling beverage any time soon. Rhona had just begun to doze off when her still very half awake looking brother emerged into the room. Rhona sprung up, suddenly energized. Finally, at last, she thought to herself. All she had been trying to do for the past day was to talk to her older brother, but he had somehow eluded her for the entirety of yesterday.
Percy was minding his own business that morning. He had woken up at seven a.m. sharp, as he always did, and got ready for the day. He spent a good half an hour in the bathroom, taking his sweet time in washing up. The heat of the shower almost lulled him back to bed but he had big plans for the day and had every intention of seeing them through to the end. While it was very tempting to crawl back under the covers of his four-poster bed that was unlike anything he ever had back home, he never allowed himself the pleasure of sleeping in, even on the weekends. He liked to think himself very studious, after all. He had things to do if he wanted to maintain his place at the head of the grade in his classes. He was a prefect after all, he didn't have much of any time to waste.
Every step, every move... They were carefully calculated for him to rise further into success. He was in fifth year, he only had two years, not counting this year, to gain enough momentum to be able to get a successful job within the ministry. It wasn't what he dreamed of doing as a small boy, but it would be a good and steady income, something he yearned to have. Percy didn't have much, like most of the Weasley kids. Although if he took the time to admit it to himself, Fred, George, and Ginevera especially.... They always got a little bit more. More pocket change, more money given to them on their birthdays, Ginevera especially… He knew the three got special treatment, but he still didn't understand why. Was it because he wasn't enough? Percy shook his head to dispel the thoughts he only dared to think of when he was well and truly alone. He exited the fifth year boy's dormitory and headed down the stairs leading into the common room. He was so lost in his negatively spiraling thoughts that he completely missed his younger sister marching up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist into a tight hug.
"I've missed you big brother…" Rhona said into his chest. He immediately pulled her into a tight embrace and let himself relax for even just that moment. He has missed her too, but he never had much free time between his prefect duties of patrolling the hallways after classes were over, studying and doing homework, and helping out the first and second years with their own problems. Unfortunately, he hadn't had time to check in on Rhona between classes, and she never sat with him during meal times as she was always seated at the Slytherin table with her new friends. He didn't want to deter her from social interaction with peers that were her own age ever, but he did miss his favorite little sister.
"I missed you too, Rhone." He sighed into her hair, rubbing small circles into her back. He felt her melt into the hug, and smiled down at her. "I haven't seen much of you around." Rhona sulked to him. "I could say much to say the same for you." He reminded her gently. She let out a soft snort and buried herself further into his chest. She decided then and there that she never wanted to let go of him. To her, he was safety; he was home. Everything... The clear mistreatment by her professor, Nelda's broom rising up and her falling and breaking her left wrist, the strange mirror in that abandoned classroom, those terrifying dreams... Rhona wasn't having as good a time at Hogwarts as she thought she would have been having. It had only been a week, and what a bad week it had been. One tear slipped out, and then another, and another. Suddenly she was crying hard enough to fill and overflow the black lake.
Percy was thoroughly confused and more than a bit alarmed. He was still a bit drowsy this morning, and when he was abused by his little sister, he was confused a bit but ultimately happy to see her. He knew that being at Hogwarts would be an adjustment for her, it was for every first year. Percy thought back to his first week of Hogwarts and how overwhelmed he was in the beginning and could understand that she might need a bit of time to adjust. He had wanted to check in with her, he had every intention of doing it. Unfortunately, his schedule and hers were not lining up with the exception of meal times, and he noted that Rhona most often sat at the Slytherin table along with another Gryffindor, Longbottom. He was concerned at first that she was sitting at the infamous Slytherin table but after observing her interactions with her new friends, he felt a bit more comforted that she had made such well-rounded friends. So he was left to wonder when, when he was hugging his baby sister, why she suddenly started crying hard enough to wake the whole tower.
Loud, powerful sobs wracked Rhona's body as all of her emotions overwhelmed her at once. Here in the safety of her big brother's arms, she felt protected enough to let go of all the hurt and fears she was holding onto. She cried for what felt like a long while, with the comfort and protection of Percy's loving arms wrapped around her. She finally started to sniffle and moved to wipe the thick tear streaks that marked her face.
"Shh, Rhone. There, there my sweet sister. I'm here now. Everything will be okay. Let it all out." He said, rubbing small circles into her back. He felt her hug him just a bit tighter before she moved to pull away and he let go. "Now, dear sister of mine, care to share with me what that was all about?" He asked gently, as to not upset her further. But he couldn't help if he didn't know exactly what was going on. Rhona shifted to look up at him, face still a bit damp from her intense crying, and he felt a tugging on his heart stings. Nothing else mattered in that exact moment, he would go to the ends of the earth to make sure his favorite baby sister was alright.
Rhona opened her mouth to speak but at first no words came out, and then... She poured her heart out to him, confining to him her newfound fears of her own mortality, how her new friend had gotten seriously injured and had almost died, how she and her friends were being mistreated by a certain teacher, and even about the strange mirror and it's not quite right reflection, and the bizarre nightmares that plagued her sleep afterwards. It was a lot to take in and she watched him blink in stunned silence for a few moments.
"Truthfully, I don't know what to say. That is a lot of bad to happen in one week's time, but I promise you that all of your stay at Hogwarts won't be like that. School is hard, especially in the beginning, but it won't always be that way. I promise you. About your friend getting hurt. Accidents during flying do sometimes happen, I know you know that. I'm not saying that her broom getting bewitched isn't scary, because it definitely is, but it's going to be okay. You yourself said that she was in the hospital wing but she would be better by the morning. I'm sure you'll see her soon enough, and see that she's completely fine again." He soothed her, scrutinizing her face for any of her tells that he was saying something wrong.
Seeing none of them, he continued. "I believe you about Professor Snape. I've experienced it myself in my own lessons with him. He's a miserable bastard frankly speaking and I really don't think he belongs teaching." He began but paused at the way she was staring at him with a weird mixture of awe and pride. "I don't know what to do about the situation with him, besides to tell you that you need to be in top form in his classroom all the time. Do not give him even the tiniest opportunity to take away points. If he's truly being unfair, then you will see. And shh, I said I believed you from the very beginning, Rhona." He cut her off immediately, at the sight of her cheeks puffing up and her face beginning to turn red. It was a sure fire sign that Rhona Weasley was becoming angry or upset. "I would say that you speak to the other Gryffindors outside of your circle, and maybe even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs while you're at it. See and note how he treats them in their lessons with him." He continued.
"W-what do you mean?" She asked, confused. It had never occurred to her to find out if he was truly being unfair or if he was just being especially hard on them for some reason.
"I mean, Professor Snape might and well truly be acting unfairly and if this is true, we find a way to write to the board of governors who make the decisions for the school and we try to do something about it, rather than just being quiet and putting up with it. The board of governors is like Hogwarts's own ministry of magic of sorts. They control what we learn about, and who teaches at Hogwarts. They also delegate where the money that funds the school goes to, too." He informed her, taking on a slightly teacherish voice while doing so.
"You mean there's something we can do? I hate that man. He's mean to Azalea for absolutely no reason. He's a bully and it's not fair!" Rhona said, fired up, hope blossoming in her voice.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. But you need to be subtle about it, at least at first. Feel out to the others, gather information. Do not rush into this head first into this situation. It will not go over well to those loyal to the Professor." He warned her. She had to be cautious about how she decided to do this if she was going to. It could backfire spectacularly and he didn't want her to bear the brunt of it if it did so.
He pulled her over to sit in front of the fire that was low in the hearth of the room, and they began to formulate an actual plan on what to do to deal with Professor Snape, because it was the truth that something had to be done. Mastery in potions or not, he was not meant to shape and sharpen the minds of the students of the future. By the time that they had finished talking, it was an hour past when Percy was usually done eating breakfast, but for once, he was not in any rush to start his day. Not after the long and emotional moment he had just had with his sister. Soon enough the moment would pass, and the other Gryffindor students would come down from their dorm rooms and the spell would be broken, but Percy and Rhona were content to sit for the moment and bask in each other's presence. Hopefully it wouldn't be like this for the whole school semester.
Rhona shifted in her seat and reached into her robe pocket. There, folded up into a neat square, was the piece of parchment with her great aunt Muriel's reply. She handed it over to her older brother silently, and he took it and unfolded it. He looked at her in question, but continued, reading the parchment's contents over and over, trying to take in the loopy cursive handwriting as much as he could. He looked back at her, but she wasn't meeting his eyes. She was lost in thought, staring off into the fire.
'Be off the school grounds by exactly ten minutes past noon on December fifteenth, nineteen ninety-one. I will supply you a return portkey to arrive just outside of the gates, on January fifth, nineteen ninety-two.'
He repeated out loud, reading off from the letter. "Rhone... You did it. You're going to be tutored. But what are we going to tell Mum and Dad? They'll be expecting you home for winter break. Hell, Mum will probably go nuts when I show up at the train station without you next to me…" Percy trailed off, realization setting in. Winter break began the second week of December and lasted until the end of the first week of January. It was still the beginning of September; they still had a bit of time to figure that out. He pointed that out to Rhona who looked a bit less sick around the edges with worry.
"It's going to be fine Rhona. Everything will work out. We will think of a reason for you to want to stay at Hogwarts over winter break. Maybe one of your friends can help you figure it out too, and merlin knows I will help. You aren't in this alone, you have me, and you have your friends." He comforted her. "We need to burn this. You understand that we can't have anyone else find this letter right?" He asked her in a serious tone suddenly.
Rhona looked up at the sudden tone shit and nodded. She looked down at the folded parchment in his hands and nodded. "Have you memorized the letter?" He asked her, waiting for her response. Again, Rhona nodded and this was all Percy needed. He leaned forward and carefully tossed the parchment into the low fire. The both of them watched the paper burn to ashes before they spoke again.
"Can I see the locket? Do you have it on you?" He asked after the moment of silence that passed between them.
Rhona nodded and moved to reveal the locket that was around her neck. She reached behind her head and gently slipped it off for the first time since she had put it on, immediately missing the comforting feeling of it's weight around her neck. Percy took it from her, giving it a thorough inspection. It was a decently heavy gold locket on a thick, intricately weaved matching golden chain. The body of the locket was ovular, and was engraved with the Prewett crest, decorated around it with tiny delicate looking flowers.
"Have you opened up the locket?" He asked her curiously.
"No, it won't open and I didn't want to force it. Is there a way to unlock it?" She asked curiously.
Percy drew his wand out from the holster that was strapped to his left wrist, and tapped the locket that was now resting on the couch cushion between them. "Alohomora." A blue light shot out from the tip of his wand and hit the locked directly head on. He said the charm loud and clear enough for Rhona to hear the spell he used. "That is the general unlocking charm. Do not go around unlocking locked doors for fun, but it's a useful charm. You learn it usually in second year, but it wouldn't hurt you to learn it early. There's an anti-unlocking charm that you can place on doors and trunks, but that one is a bit trickier." He continued to teach her the charm to prevent something from being unlocked by others. "Praeveni Basem, is the prevention charm. It translates from Latin to literally mean prevent unlock." Rhona blinked up at him in awe, she loved when he took the time to teach her new things, and this time it was two new spells that would definitely be useful later on.
She picked up the locket and hesitated for a second. What would she find inside the jewelry? She got her answer when she gently lifted the clasp on the side and the two sides of the locket split open. Inside was a picture of who had to be her great aunt Muriel's late daughter, Coralynn. The girl was beautiful. She must not have been much older than Rhona was right then, maybe eleven or twelve at most. From what Rhona knew of Coralynn and Muriel in general... Rhona knew this might have been the last photo ever taken of her daughter. It made the locket ever the more special. She hoped that one day maybe her great aunt might share the special story behind the locket with her. One could only hope, truly.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, Fred and George had woken up early and they were making their way down the stairs, on their way to go eat breakfast and talk pranks with their good friend Lee Jordan. Both of them froze and stopped at the very base of the stairs, noting their older brother and younger sister quietly talking in low voices. Fred turned to George and saw that he too, saw what was happening.
"They're talking too low to make out what they are saying. Do you have an extendable ear, dear brother?" George asked Fred.
"Unfortunately not-" But apparently the two weren't quiet enough because Rhona, who was trained to listen and hear for her tormentors' voices at every and any opportunity. They both watched as she froze in place for a split second before glancing their way, Percy following her line of sight. He nodded to her and Rhona got up abruptly, shoving something deep into her pocket before she literally sprinted out of the common room and through the portrait door.
Fred turned to George, a look of confusion written across his face. "Did you just see that, Forge?" He asked, using an old nickname that they used to call each other around others to confuse them. "I did Gred. Strange, very strange. It's almost as if Rhona doesn't want to be around us." George said, a slightly hurt tone in his voice. "But why? Did we do something to offend her?" He asked.
"No, at least I don't think we did. Truthfully, I haven't seen much of her since we left for Hogwarts. I didn't even see her on the train I don't think. Have you done something to offend our dear sister?" Fred accused.
George held up his hands in a show of his silent defense. He truly hadn't seen her much at all, so there was no way he could have done something to offend her. It was almost as if she was actively trying to avoid the two of them though and the thought of their beloved little sister not wanting to be near them.... It hurt. George knew he wasn't always the nicest to Rhona, nor was Fred, but had he done something to upset her?
"Well Fred, it seems we have a mystery on our hands. Rhona is acting strange, and it's up to us to figure it out." George told Fred as they continued on their way out of the common room's portrait and down the hallways, on their way to the great hall to meet up with their friends.
"Indeed it seems we do. Maybe we should talk to Percy? He's always been closer to Rhona. Maybe he can tip us off as to what is going on with her." Fred suggested as they got into the great hall. All conversation of investing Rhona was lost in the dull roar of the large room full of students and Fred and George soon forgot what they were talking about in regard to Rhona, and instead began making plans for the upcoming quidditch year. They were trying out to secure their places on the team as Gryffindor's beaters.