The holidays came and went as all things did, but Rapunzel's nightmares weren't going anywhere. She was growing more and more exhausted by the day, hardly ever getting a full nights rest.
She wrote to her father about it, and hadn't received a response yet. The days ticked by and she only became more impatient and desperate for something to help her sleep.
Her exhaustion did not go unnoticed; her friends seeing the ever-darkening bags beneath her eyes and how she seemed a bit more withered and frail than before.
This didn't stop her from helping her friends pour through books looking for information on Nicholas Flamel. She was a little out of the loop, but apparently the trio had found a three-headed dog naked Fluffy guarding a trap door.
She wasn't sure how, but they said it had something to do with Nicolas Flamel. Or perhaps they had explained it and she was just too tired to remember, she couldn't be certain.
Now, Rapunzel was watching Ron and Hermione play wizards chess; which Hermione was failing at quite miserably. It was the one thing she couldn't do perfectly, which certainly made Ron's ego swell.
Harry almost slunk into the common room, looking glum and overall drained of hope as he slumped into the seat next to Ron.
"Don't talk to me for a moment," Ron said, brow furrowed with deep concentration. "I need to concen–" his focused look dropped as he caught sight of Harry's face. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible!"
"That's one way to make him feel good about himself, by talking about how terrible he looks." Rapunzel quipped, smirking when Ron sent her a dirty look.
Harry leaned forward so only the three of them could hear, and told them that Snape of all people would be the referee for the upcoming quidditch match.
"You're joking!" Rapunzel exclaimed, immediately being shushed by Harry and Hermione.
"Don't play," Hermione said desperately.
"Say you're ill," Ron suggested.
"Oh, pretend to break your leg!"
"Really break your leg!"
"Good idea, we can all jump on your leg and then you won't have to play." Rapunzel was only half joking.
"I can't," Harry sighed, slouching deeper in his seat with a a deep pout. "There isn't a reserve seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."
Their conversation was interrupted by Neville bouncing through the common room door, legs stuck together. How he had managed to get all the way there and through the door was a mystery all of its own.
A good portion of the common room burst out into laughter, while Hermione instead rushed over to Neville to perform the counter-curse so he could walk normally again.
Neville stumbled to the ground, and Rapunzel quickly rushed over to help him up.
"What happened, Neville?" Rapunzel asked gently as she got him to his feet.
"Malfoy," Neville's voice shook as he forced back tears. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on." He sniffled. Rapunzel soothingly rubbed his back.
"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged, a deep frown settling on her face. "Report him! She surely can't let that slide."
"I don't want more trouble," Neville mumbled, shaking his head.
"You've got to start standing up to him, Neville." Ron said, having fully turned to face him and his chess game completely forgotten. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."
"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that." Neville sniffled, voice breaking.
"I get it, Neville, it's scary to stand up to someone like that." Rapunzel reassured him, voice gentle.
"But you're still brave, you belong in Gryffindor. You risked your own safety by hopping all the way from the library to the common room with your legs stuck together, instead of sitting and waiting for someone to find you."
Neville smiled faintly at Rapunzel's words, rubbing unshed tears from his eyes.
"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said as he stood, pulling a chocolate frog from the pocket of his robes. "Rapunzel's right, the hat put you in Gryffindor for a reason. And where's Malfoy?"
"Giving Slytherin a bad name."
"Exactly." Harry smiled, giving Neville the chocolate frog.
"Thank you," Neville said, voice rough from holding back tears, but he was smiling now. "I think I'll go to bed. You want the card? You collect them, don't you?" He gave Harry the card before trudging up the stairs to the boys dorm.
"Dumbledore again," Harry huffed. "He was the first one I ever–"
Harry suddenly gasped, and all three of them looked at him with raised brows and concern.
"I've found him!" Harry whisper-shouted. "I've found Flamel!"
"You found Flamel on a chocolate frog card?!" Rapunzel asked incredulously, walking over to read the card from over his shoulder.
"I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train here!" Harry exclaimed. "Listen to this: Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragons blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel!"
Hermione jumped to her feet, startling the others, a wild look of realization on her face. "Stay there!" She ordered before dashing up the stairs to the girls dorm, leaving the others to stare after her in confusion.
She soon came running down the stairs again, a massive book in her arms that was almost as big as her.
"I never thought to look in here!" She said with exasperation as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."
"Light?!" Ron exclaimed, nearly horrified. Hermione shot him a look before continuing to rifle through the book at impressive speeds.
"I knew it!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron grumbled, causing Rapunzel to lightly swat his shoulder.
"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosophers Stone!"
All three of them stared at her as if they had no idea what on earth she was talking about, because they didn't.
"The what?" All three of them asked.
"Oh, honestly, don't you read? Look, read that there." She pushed the book towards them.
It was a long paragraph that Rapunzel's brain was way too tired to fully comprehend, but she was certain she got the gist of it.
"See?" Hermione said when they had finished reading. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosophers Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone out of Gringotts!"
"A stone that makes gold and stops you from dying. No wonder Snape wants it, anyone would want it!" Harry said.
"But now we've got to make sure Snape doesn't get it," Rapunzel sighed, resting her head on her arms. "That's a whole other issue."
YOU ARE READING
LUCKY FLOWER||FRED WEASLEY {REWRITING/MOVED}
Fiksi Penggemar"Wait, your name is Rapunzel? Like-" "The fairytale princess, yes." Rapunzel was named after a storybook princess, and for good reason. Born with the ability to heal those with her own hair that grew very long very quickly, it's no surprise her pare...
