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FOUR BLOOD, GUTS, AND GLORY

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       BLOOD, GUTS, AND GLORY galore grace the insides of the Daily Prophet on the first of September — articles reporting the most recent deaths of muggleborns and muggles alike are dotted in between pieces questioning the tactics of Lord Voldemort, the possibilities of what happened to the Death Eaters that escaped from Azkaban, and of course, how Harry Potter is the chosen one. Holly isn't sure how he's dealing with this boy wonder stuff, but it's starting to get on her nerves. Just once would she like to go to Diagon Alley ("Gotta get a sick new Quidditch outfit if I'm the Slytherin Captain!") and not have to nod and go, "Yes, my boyfriend is the chosen one. No, I am not concerned. Yes, I would like the receipt in the bag."

       Because that was the big news that arrived on her birthday: Holliday Lippincott is the new Slytherin Quidditch team captain. Apparently everyone still on the team passed because of how tragic their ensemble is, but you know what? Holly likes to think of this as a challenge. She'll boot out the players only there for brute force, and she'll replace them for real Slytherins, quick and slick and itching to win.

       But, since her birthday falls on the twenty-ninth of August, she only had three days to prep herself for sorting out the tragedy that is the Slytherin Quidditch team. She's already planned their first line of attack, and she's already gotten a letter from Flo Montague saying she'll be the second-in-command if necessary (she mentioned something about how this letter must seem out of the blue, but "shockingly," it doesn't kill her to be nice) so things should be able to run smoothly. The next thing's finding a better team. And then, after that, it's the other stuff she's got planned.

       I can't believe you're ditching me for Potter, says Draco, as Holly parts ways with him, slipping past multiple families bidding farewell to catch up to Harry. Holly said goodbye to her mother at home, feeling incredibly uncomfortable as her mother hugged her tightly and wished her a wonderful school year. She feels bad, thinking that. Why should she feel uncomfortable? It makes no sense. She loves her mother. It's wrong that she feels uncomfortable with her mother hugging her.

       I can't believe you're ditching me for Crabbe and Goyle, she retorts. I'll be back later, anyway. Once Hermione and Ron are back from prefect duty, I'll find you lot... And anyway! You wouldn't be there anyway, you've got prefect—

       I'm not going, he interrupts.

       Well, you should? she replies, a frown actually forming on her face.

       I don't see the point, he says, and Holly finally catches up to Harry.

       "I figured I'll keep you company until Ron and Hermione get back," says Holly as she walks up to him, a little smile across her face. She glances around, where a number of students and parents look at Harry with beady eyes. Holly turns back to him. "C'mon, boy wonder."

       "I'm not boy wonder," says Harry. Holly rolls her eyes and he takes hold of her hand, just before she jumps onto the train and forgets she's a little quicker than he is. Getting through spaces, at least. Just because he's a Seeker doesn't mean he's cunning.

       "Yeah, yeah, whatever," says Holly, casting a glance over her shoulder so he knows she's speaking to him. And so everyone else in the train's corridors knows it, too.

       No one else speaks, as Harry passes them. At one point a boy in the year below steps forwards, holding a Prophet newspaper, and Holly holds tighter onto Harry's hand and guides him past the boy before he can utter a word. Finally Harry notices an empty compartment, pulling Holly backwards, who was a little concerned about weaving through the groups of silent students to remember she was meant to be looking for a place to sit.

       "This is pathetic," she says, as she sees a couple students staring through the door window, standing up and pulling the blind down. Holly grumbles as she sits back down, sitting between Harry and the window. "You should've heard the man working in the dress shop — he was asking all these questions about you. No offense, but it was so annoying — I was there, trying to get a new Quidditch uniform because obviously the captain—"

       "You're the captain?"

       "Didn't I tell you?" says Holly.

       And then she remembers: she went to write to everyone she knew declaring the news, but then her mother told her that Buttercup had made pancakes and she needed to go downstairs. And then her mother took her to Malfoy Manor so that Narcissa could take her shopping, and then the day flew by... Holly must've forgotten.

       "No," says Harry, frowning.

        "I suppose I forgot," says Holly.

       "How did you forget?" says Harry. "You've wanted this since—"

       "Mother had the whole day planned," says Holly, with a small shrug.

       "Oh."

       And then there's a pause. Holly's beginning to think that Harry isn't the biggest fan of her mother — which makes a lot of sense, because from what he's seen of her, she's a massive bitch. In reality, though, she's misunderstood. She doesn't realise what she's doing and of course she's going to have odd judgement at times, she went to prison for so long... All to keep Holly safe...

      "I'm the captain for Gryffindor," says Harry.

       Holly's lips part into a grin. The thoughts about her mother have already flown from her mind, and instead, she throws herself onto him, giving him a massive hug. "That's amazing!" she says, continuing to grin. She kisses his cheek and he laughs, his arms around her. "I'm so going  to beat you."

       "You wish," says Harry.

       Holly gives him a smirk, before she moves off of him, sitting back in her seat next to the window. "I'm just saying," she says, a little smugly. "Slytherin's going to murder every team this year." She winces. "OK, not murder, that's a poor choice of words in this climate..."

       "But again," says Harry, and he grins back at her. She gives him a look. "You wish."

       "Speaking of murder and maiming and a Slytherin beating you..." Holly begins, her smile quickly disappearing from her face. "We need to make sure Voldemort doesn't do that with you?"

       "You have a talent for doing that," says Harry.

       Holly raises an eyebrow. "What? Beating you? Because yeah, I agree."

       "No," says Harry, and he seems to remember what she just said about Quidditch, since he quickly adds, "You wish!"

       "So what do you mean—?"

       "Changing the subject to Voldemort," says Harry.

       Holly gives him a look. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't die, so."

       "Your mum—"

       "Mother," says Holly quickly.

       "Mum," says Harry, frowning, "is on his side."

        Holly shakes her head. "Not really."

        Harry looks at her incredulously, and she doesn't respond. She doesn't want to question what he's thinking, because she doesn't think she wants to know. Most likely he isn't going to be the nicest towards her mother — Holly's established by this point that Harry doesn't like Margo, and she'd rather just avoid the whole topic than have an argument about it, and make her feel bad about another thing to do with her mother.

       So instead she returns to the looming topic around him.

       "So find out what these lessons with Dumbledore are actually about," says Holly, her brows furrowing. "And then if need be, I can help you with duelling. Maybe not even with him, but obviously at some point you're going to have to defend yourself against someone else working for him... I know a lot of the ones that injure the most."

       "Is that really a good thing, though?" says Harry.

       "Part of the fun's not knowing how bad it's going to be," she retorts, speaking dryly. She lets out a sigh and smiles weakly. "It's Durmstrang's fault. Anyway."

       "Can we talk about something else?" he says.

       "I — oh, all right," says Holly. She glances to the blinds covering the door looking into the compartment, grateful that she doesn't have to see the number of beady eyes hungry to look at 'The Chosen One.' Holly thinks this is all stupid. Just last year they were treating him like he was mad, and now they're all on his side? She doesn't get it.

       Just once, she'd like Harry to be looked at like he's normal. Not like he's crazy, not like he's got this massive task of killing the most monstrous man in the wizarding world, but rather, just normal. She views him in an elevated version of this — she loves him and thinks he's wonderful and brave and all that, but it's been months since she looked at him and thought, that's the boy who lived. She thinks that stopped around the time she thought of him as just Harry, not Harry Potter.

       "I'm glad we don't have to hide this anymore," he says.

       Holly nods in agreement, smiling softly. Slowly he moves closer, kissing her. "And now —" He kisses her. "I don't —" And again. "Have to pretend to hate—" He moves to kiss her on the lips again, and she gives him a look. "For God's sakes, Potter!"

       She cups his face in her hands, drawing him closer. Holly rises a little in her seat as she kisses him, properly this time, not just a little peck. Her hands let go of his head and move to rest around his neck, as the kiss becomes less forceful.

       This is what she means by normal.

       Harry timidly keeps his hands around her waist, which lasts a couple of minutes before Holly breaks apart from him. She takes hold of his hands and leaves them on her back, further up, and before she can tilt her head up, he starts to kiss her again.

       His hands are warm. She doesn't think she's actually noticed this until now, but they're so warm. Holly's always cold, apparently that's what happens when you've had an Unforgivable Curse used on you as many times as she has. Cruciatus and Imperius have literally taken the warmth from her body — weirdly, though, the boy that survived the Killing Curse isn't the same, his hands are still hot, as they move up and down her spine.

       "Why are you so cold?" says Harry.

       Holly looks up at him. "I was tortured quite a lot at Durmstrang," she says.

       Harry sits up and fidgets back a little because of this, and needless to say, Holly's disappointed. She always does this. She always talks and then accidentally says something about torture that she forgets is terrible and not something everyone's used to, and then this happens. All she wanted was to make out with her boyfriend, but the moment's gone now.

       "Well," says Holly, unable to hide her slight annoyance. She always does this. Why does she always ruin everything? First her mother's entire life, then her dad had to give up his entire life to be safe, and now this. (It's not as bad as the other two, but still. She's a little peeved off.) "Do you have any actual ideas, then, for this Quidditch thing?"

       "I s'pose have the try-outs as soon as possible," says Harry. "Why? Do you?"

       Holly shrugs, and she lies down, resting her head on Harry's lap. She feels his legs tense up for a minute, and she's about to sit back up, but he timidly starts to move his fingers through her hair. "Only stuff to mend Slytherin's reputation," she says, quite honestly. "But nothing to do with actual tactics... To be honest, I don't think I can get the team going properly until I've started to sort out how the other houses think of us..."

      "What are you thinking, though?" he says.

       "It's a surprise," says Holly, and she looks up at him, smiling brightly. He looks at her suspiciously, and she rolls her eyes. "Nothing bad — all good things, honest. But I want to see the look on your face when I actually do it, so, you're gonna have to wait a couple weeks."

       "I don't know what to do about the team, though," he says. "Are you going to keep the current players?"

       Holly looks up at him. "Well, no, but that's because most of the old team are only on it because they're brutish," she says. "C'mon. I'm kicking Crabbe and Goyle off as soon as possible."

       "What about Malfoy?" asks Harry.

       "I'll see if he wants his place still," says Holly.

      There's a pause. Harry stops moving his fingers through Holly's hair, and she looks up, finding a frown on his face.

      "You're frowning," she declares.

       "Well, I—" says Harry, and he stops himself. "I was wondering if you knew anything about Malfoy."

       Holly quirks an eyebrow. "You might want to be specific."

       "Do you think he's been recruited by Voldemort?"

       The mention of this makes Holly shoot upright, sitting up normally. She looks at her boyfriend in nothing but utter confusion.

       "What?"

       "Well, when we went to Fred and George's shop, me, Ron, and Hermione followed him and he was talking to this shopkeeper about some object," says Harry. Holly continues to look at him incredulously. "He showed the man something on his arm. Do you know if—?"

       Holly shakes her head. "He isn't a Death Eater."

       "Would you tell me if he says anything, I don't know, weird?"

       Holly doesn't know what to say, other than, "He isn't a Death Eater."

       She doesn't want to think about that. It's barely crossed her mind, really — she doesn't know how she's gone this long without wondering if maybe her cousin's become a Death Eater, but she knows he can't be. He's far too young. And she doesn't want to know, if he is. She doesn't even want to encourage the idea, it scares her too much. Imagining her cousin being forced to do the things she had to do at Durmstrang, only for him, they're not just classroom activities. They're real.

       "I'd rather not talk about this, Harry," says Holly.

      Harry looks desperate. "But would you tell me?"

       "He isn't one," says Holly, "so I won't have anything to tell you."

       The compartment door slides open, and Ron and Hermione walk in. Holly moves so there's more space, and she smiles at the door, figuring, well I can probably stay for a couple minutes before Draco gets pissy...

        "Wish the lunch trolley would hurry up, I'm starving," says Ron with a longing sigh, slouching on the seat opposite Holly, the other seat beside the window. "Hi, Holly." Holly nods to greet him. "Guess what? Malfoy's not doing prefect duty. He's just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed."

       Harry sits up straight. Holly frowns. 

       "What did he do when he saw you?" asks Harry.

       "The usual," says Ron, and he sticks his middle finger up. Holly stifles a snort. Her cousin's got a way with words, sometimes. "Not like him, though, is it? Well — that is—" and he sticks his middle finger up again. "But why isn't he out there bullying first years?"

       Their gazes fall onto Holly, who hadn't spoken since Ron and Hermione had arrived. She shrugs. "I don't know," says Holly, and immediately they all frown at her. "I mean, he has just lost his dad, so maybe that's got something to do with it..."

       "Yeah," says Ron, frowning. "But a lot of people lost their dads because of his."

       Holly pauses for a second. "That doesn't mean he can't be upset because he's lost his," she says, speaking cautiously. She knows that Harry is looking at her oddly, because of what she said before Ron and Hermione arrived. "Uncle Lucius wasn't the nicest but he loves Draco — and Draco didn't do any of that stuff, he can still miss his dad if he wants to. Wouldn't you?"

       "Well, I s'pose," says Ron, frowning.

       Hermione nods. "I guess that makes sense."

       Harry begins to mutter, "My dad's dead—"

       Holly rolls her eyes. "Oh my God, Potter—"

       The door slides open again. Holly freezes, and the look on her face seems to almost scare away the third-year girl standing in the doorframe.

       "I'm supposed to deliver this to Harry P-Potter," the girl says. She hesitantly steps into the compartment, completely avoiding looking in the area Holly is sitting. Holly supposes it has something to do with her cousin being himself. Oh well.

       The girl leaves the compartment, her face going red. Holly feels bad.

       "What is it?" asks Ron.

       "An invitation," says Harry.

       Holly peers across the read the letter.

       Harry,

        I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.

       Sincerely,

      Professor H.E.F. Slughorn

       "Oh, well," says Holly, pulling a face.

       "See you later, mate," says Ron, frowning.

       Harry shoves the invitation into his pocket as he draws out his Invisibility Cloak. "Maybe I can have a good look at Malfoy on the way," he mumbles.

       Holly rolls her eyes, and makes a noise of disapproval.

✧

       SOME TIME PASSES and Holly decides that she best return to her actual group of friends. She walks along the hallway, making a quick stop to change into her school uniform, comes across Pansy on her way back from prefect duty, obviously taking another time-spot to Ron and Hermione (supposedly to avoid them, but whatever.) And, of course, as soon as Pansy spots Holly, she grins and throws herself onto Holly, hugging her tightly.

       "Oh Merlin, I've missed you!" she says. Holly grins back at her, nodding in agreement. They didn't see much of each other over the summer — she wasn't sure how Pansy would react to Margo. They only saw each other three times, all of which at Pansy's house, and most of it was awkward. Holly didn't know how to skirt around I have to call her mother and other things like that, so she just didn't talk about it. She said that her mother was back and that was that. Nothing more.

       Holly smiles still, as she says, "I can't believe I survived that long without seeing you." She pauses. "What's been happening, then?"

       "Oh, not much," says Pansy. She lets out a small sigh. "OK, there's something, but I'll tell you later — it's big and complicated and I'd rather not talk about it in a corridor." Holly nods, and Pansy smiles back at her. "So how about you?"

       "Other than the Mother thing, not much," says Holly, shrugging her shoulders. She muses to herself for a moment, before her bottom lip juts out a little in thought. "Well, Harry's gotten taller."

      "Oh, wow," says Pansy in a monotone voice.

       "No, Pans, it's actually kind-of a massive deal?" says Holly, pulling a face. A smile begins to grow across her face. She holds onto Pansy's hand, as she sort-of skips down the hallway. "Because now, there's a height difference — Pansy! Now if I want to kiss him, I have to move up on my tiptoes—" Giggling, she demonstrates, her face almost level with Pansy's, who's also laughing, not so much at the idea of Holly kissing Harry, but rather, the ridiculous fashion in which Holly's showing this.

      And they both continue to laugh, as they make their way down the hallway. Eventually they get to the compartment where their friends are sitting in, and Pansy slides the door open. She sits down next to Blaise, and Holly begins to slide the door shut behind her, but it refuses to close, a few inches away from the other side of the doorframe.

      "How can this school not even make working doors, what on earth—?"

      The door forces itself open, and Holly's about to glare at it and presume she's managed to piss off a door (it wouldn't surprise her, she pisses a lot of people off) but the force of the door flying backwards causes her to stumble backwards. She falls onto Blaise's lap, who looks a little bewildered. "Sorry, uh—" And she gets back up, taking the seat next to Harlow, who's snickering.

       "You finally show up," Draco mutters under his breath.

       Holly gives him a look. For a minute the compartment goes quiet, and Harlow whistles, and declares that he's going to find the girls and talk to them for a bit. If Holly hadn't just arrived, she would've gone with him.

       The compartment's a little less empty once Harlow departs, allowing Holly to sit with her back pressed to the wall beside the window, and her arms hugging her legs. Crabbe and Goyle look a little displeased that the extra space has already been taken up. She remembers the gleam in their eyes when she said the Cruciatus Curse only works when you actually want to hurt someone. She suddenly doesn't feel bad anymore.

       "So, Zabini," says Draco. "What did Slughorn want?"

       Oh. So it wasn't just Harry that was invited.

       "Just trying to make up to well-connected people," says Blaise, his brows furrowing for a minute as he watches Draco stretch out, resting his head on Pansy's lap. By the look on Pansy's face — and by this, Holly means that she doesn't seem to care at all — the dispute between her and Draco had been squashed sometime over the summer holidays. Now, Pansy and Draco and just friends again. Thank God. "Not that he managed to find many."

       "Who else had he invited?" her cousin demands.

       Blaise begins to list off the other attendants, pausing for Draco and Pansy's comments about all of them. Holly doesn't particularly care with the remarks they make, mostly because she's never heard of these people before. The names McLaggen and Belby fly straight over Holly's head, and she doesn't pay any attention until Blaise says, "And Longbottom, Potter, and that Weasley girl."

       Draco sits up straight.

       "He invited Longbottom?"

       Blaise doesn't take notice of Draco's annoyance. "Well, I assume so," he says, "as Longbottom was there."

       Holly loves her friends.

       "What's Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?" says Draco. Blaise shrugs his shoulders, obviously not exactly bothered about this whole thing, and Draco scoffs. "Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at 'the Chosen One.'"

       "Can't blame him," says Holly quietly, smirking.

       "But that Weasley girl!" says Draco, after he pauses to look at his cousin in disgust. "What's so special about her?"

        Holly shrugs. "She's good at Quidditch."

        "A lot of boys like her," says Pansy. Holly stays quiet. She knows that Ginny is really pretty, and she knows how a lot of boys at school fancy her — but she also knows that Ginny mentioned Luna a lot over the summer, enough for Holly and Hermione to start exchanging looks, as if to say, do you think...? "Even you think she's good looking, don't you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!"

        "I wouldn't touch a filthy little blood traitor—"

        "Like she'd let you," says Holly. She picks up the copy of the Daily Prophet that Harlow had left in the compartment, and she starts to flick through the pages. "And anyway, Draco — you're just bitter about that Bat-Bogey Hex last year."

       Draco gives her a look. "Oh, yeah, I forgot you're siding with the blood traitors now," he says. Holly rolls her eyes. The train must have moved a little off-balance, or something, because the luggage rack on top of her head makes a noise, the trunks sitting moving slightly. Draco looks pleased with himself. "Now you're going out with Potter."

       He scoffs. Holly rolls her eyes again.

       "I think you'll find I was always on that side, but all right."

       Draco, again, looks pissed off. Holly narrows her eyes at her cousin, and thinks to him, You know, I don't mind telling you about the last time I snogged him, if that'll shut you up... Do you think if I think of the memory you'll see it too? Hmmmm...

       "Well, I pity Slughorn's taste," says Draco, and then he thinks, and I hate you, Holly. Holly shrugs her shoulders. She knows he doesn't. "Maybe he's going a bit senile. Shame, my father always said he was a good wizard in his day. Slughorn probably hasn't heard I'm on the train, or—"

       "I wouldn't bank on an invitation," says Blaise. "He asked me about Nott's father when I first arrived. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard he'd been caught at the Ministry he didn't look happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he? I don't think Slughorn's interested in Death Eaters."

       For a minute, Draco doesn't look pleased. In fact, Holly spots the furrowed brows and curved lips, and knows for a fact that her cousin's angry. But he forces a laugh.

       "Well, who cares what he's interested in? What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher," says Draco. "I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"

       "What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" asks Holly, sitting up straight. Immediately Crabbe and Goyle use the opportunity to have more space on the bench, but she ignores it, frowning at her cousin. "What are you going to be doing that's more important than school?"

       "Well, you never know," says Draco. Holly looks at him worriedly. She ignores what Harry was saying earlier on. Her cousin is not a Death Eater, nor will he ever be. "I might have — er — moved on to bigger and better things."

       Holly feels her stomach twisting into knots.

       "Do you mean — him?" says Pansy.

       "Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I don't see it as that important these days," says Draco. Holly watches her cousin in horror. "I mean, think about it... When the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s anyone's got? Of course he isn't... It'll be all about the kind of service he received, the level of devotion he was shown."

        "And you think you'll be able to do something for him?" says Blaise, unimpressed. He exchanges a look with Pansy and Holly, all of which frowning at Draco. He's making a stupid decision. Thankfully it isn't just Holly noticing this. "Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified yet?"

        "I've just said, haven't I?" says Draco, speaking quietly. "Maybe he doesn't care if I'm qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn't something that you need to be qualified for."

       You're not doing anything now, are you? she asks.

        Of course not, he replies.

       Would you tell me? she asks.

        I've got nothing to tell you, he says.

        "I can see Hogwarts," says Draco. Their group begins to grab their belongings, and Holly thanks the heavens she brought her trunk along with her earlier, because now it's just a matter of pulling it down from the luggage rack, rather than finding Ron and Hermione again.

       She holds onto her trunk, black leather with silver embellishments. Vivien the Dragon appears, and sits on Holly's shoulder for the final few minutes of the train journey, quietly seething at Crabbe, who's standing next to Holly, until Harlow retrieves to get his trunk.

       The train skids to a halt, and people begin filing out of compartments and into the corridors. Goyle throws the door open, pushing into the crowd. Crabbe follows him, just as eager to punch a couple second years on the way out. Blaise, Pansy, and Harlow leave together, talking quietly to themselves.

       Holly turns to Draco. The door's slid shut again, and she frowns at her cousin, taking this as the opportunity to finally speak to him privately.

       "You know, if anything is going on," says Holly quietly. "You can tell me."

       "I know," says Draco. "You go on. I just want to check something."

       Holly frowns, but nods. She opens the door and slips into the crowd of students, quickly speeding up to catch up to the rest of her friends. A couple of second years stand between her and Harlow, and Holly stretches out her arm, grabbing onto Harlow's arm and forcing herself forwards to get to him.

       "Draco says he'll be a minute," she says.

       Harlow nods, and as they step foot on the platform at the Hogsmeade train station, he begins to tell her how there are a couple transfers from the other schools this years; "Parents are getting worried about sending their kids overseas, I guess..." And Holly nods along, following Harlow into one of the thestral-drawn carriages. She doesn't mention that she can see the creatures now.

      Pansy sits down next to her, and explains that Crabbe and Goyle are waiting for Draco to get out of the train. Holly nods, resting her head on Pansy's shoulder. She feels like this is going to be a long year.

✧

       HOLLY SITS NEXT to Pansy for the Start of Term feast, her hand propping up her head as she watches the new first years get sorted. Harlow was right; there's a couple students that are far taller than the eleven-year-olds, who are sorted along with the other new students.

       She isn't really paying attention. Every so often she glances at the Gryffindor table, hoping at some point she'll see Harry sitting next to Ron and Hermione and realise that she was just overreacting, that he was always there. She hasn't seen him since he left to see Slughorn. She's worried.

       She knows that he's safe, because he's here. He was on the Hogwarts Express, there's no way that he was taken away without someone realising. He's somewhere, she knows it, she just wants to know why he's yet to make an appearance—

       "Hertz, April!"

       Holly's stomach drops.

        "It can't be," she whispers to herself.

        But it is.

        She watches the girl — now three years older than she was the last time Holly saw her — step up to the Sorting Hat. Her ginger hair brushes against the hat and Holly watches in horror, as the girl looks around, not exactly frightened but not exactly excited.

      "Gryffindor!"

        She watches the girl stand up, walk to her new house. Even from here Holly can see her bright eyes twinkling, eager to make new friends, eager to discover this school's secrets. Holly can't help but think of the last time she saw the girl's eyes. How glassy they were, as they stared up at Holly, her brows furrowing as Holly shook her head and refused to hurt her.

       Who's that? asks Draco.

       That's the girl I couldn't torture.

       Draco frowns at her for a second. She knows he doesn't know what to do. She can't him to know what to do, she doesn't know what she's supposed to do. Does she ask the girl if she's OK? Does she apologise for what happened at Durmstrang? Holly feels like she's responsible for a lot of it. That girl's brave, not cunning. She wasn't corrupted like Holly was. Maybe she always stood up for people, maybe she never caved in to what was easy...

       You did what you had to do there, he thinks.

       I should've fought back, she thinks. I shouldn't have waited that long to stand up for the other kids. There were so many that got detentions, so many willing to get hurt to help their friends out. But I never did. I thought it was safer to just pretend, and look what happened. I moved here, but so did she. I could've gotten out just as easily if I had stood up for them, she has done. But I didn't. I should've helped.

       You were eleven when you got there, he replies. You were scared. Obviously you're going to choose the option that keeps you out of harm, that's what anyone would do.

       She didn't.

       She's not you, he says. Holly can feel tears forming in her eyes, the outskirts of her vision becoming blurrier and blurrier, and she squeezes her cousin's hand.

       I shouldn't have hurt those students, she thinks.

       Yeah, well, it happened. At one point, Hol, you were in a such a terrible school that you could only survive by doing that. And you know what? That doesn't make you any worse nor any better than someone who didn't. You survived, so did she. You can't get upset over this, or else it'll eat you alive, says Draco. You can't let this get the best of you.

       I suppose, she says. Thanks.

       Don't mention it, he says, as she blinks the tears away. She looks down at the students still being sorted, as a girl with dark-brown hair jumps up and sits at the Hufflepuff table.

       She can starts to feel better, the guilt from seeing the girl starting to dissolve again. She'll sort that out, she know she can. At some point Harry will show up, he always does, she knows that eventually he'll come back. He was probably taken to the side by Dumbledore, or Hagrid, or something, and that's why he isn't here.

       But things will turn out OK... They always do.

—✧—✧—✧—✧—

       SO THAT'S WHO APRIL HERTZ IS!!!

       i'm so very excited to properly introduce her, because although she isn't going to be in every chapter, she's definitely going to be important to holly's character especially when it comes to holly leading up to deathly hallows. (i'm very very very excited)

       so let me know what you thought, and i hope you enjoyed!!