𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓸𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 ( james potter x oc)

howler

chapter 44

Walking to the great hall for their belated breakfast , it wasn't surprising to see many students in their year arriving at a similar time to them , probably sleeping off the spiked punch .

"Sit with me" James whispered , as they got to the entrance of the hall, leaning down into the girl's ear to make sure that she heard him

"James it will be too -"

"Too nothing. Come on" he cut off taking the girl's hand and virtually pulling her to the marauders' regular seats directly in the middle of the Gryffindor table

"Sitting with the marauders?" she fake gasped "What an honour" she continued placing a hand on her heart and delivering a rather dramatic bow.

"Nice of you guys to join us" Sirius interjected sarcastically whilst shoving a sausage into his mouth

"Don't choke" Persephone smirked at Sirius giving him a wink

"Real funny Seph" the boy said rolling his eyes "Let me eat my food in peace" he sighed leaning his entire weight onto Remus.

"You can peacefully eat and not lean on me" Remus said looking down at the boy on his shoulder

"I could but this is much more comfortable" he smirked

"Seph!" a voice called from a few seats down. The girl turned to see it was Nicholas Potter giving her a wave. He was alongside his girlfriend - also enjoying his late breakfast. Persephone knew that Nicholas had only drawn attention to himself to show her how happy he was with his relationship. Persephone was very proud of him. He was finally growing the confidence to do things for himself and to not always rely on James.

"Hey Nico" she waved back with a smile, the two of them content with not continuing their conversation

"Letters come in today" said James pointing up to the ceiling as owls began to fly in

"Hooray" Persephone mumbled under her breath expecting one of two things. Not to receive a letter or receive a letter that is telling her she must come home for Christmas. The girl was planning to spend this Christmas at Hogwarts as Vincent and Jasper had recently owled her informing the girl that they were in America for the holidays.

"No letter yet Percy" James' voice calmly said turning his attention away from his letter and towards the girl

"It probably has me confused. I am sat on a different table after all" the girl smiled nodding her head for the boy to continue to open his letter

"I won't be surprised if your name is mentioned on this bit of parchment. Mum absolutely loves you." James replied rolling his eyes and opening the envelope

Dear my sweet James,

I am so proud of you for getting through another term. Not too many detentions this year which is wonderful. I hope that your Christmas ball was all fun and I hope that you saved your lovely friend a dance. On that note please ask her if she is free in the Christmas holidays : I would love to see her again , having another girl around the house makes me feel so much better. Tell Sirius he is more than welcome to invite Remus over - although I have already mentioned it in his letter. Fleamont says hello to the both of you. He couldn't be bothered to write. Enjoy your last week of term before the holidays.

Ps : Let Persephone know that Randy is having a wonderful time. He recently learnt how to bake cupcakes and wanted to let the girl know. I think that he is quite the baker.

Love , your mother Mia xx

"See. Your name takes up the entire page" James grumbled , clearly not a fan of how his crush had captured his mother's heart.

"What can I say the Potters all love me" she shrugged in response , watching as a howler dropped onto her plate - activating itself as it landed.

"YOU BLOODY UNGRATEFUL CREATURE . HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING TO YOUR POOR FATHER AND PLAY THE VICTIM. YOU WILL RETURN TO THE MANOR-" was all the screechy voice was able to say before Persephone cast a spell to tear it to shreds. Fortunately , no one really cared that much as there seemed to be more interesting gossip at the hufflepuff table , but the marauders were quick to ask questions.

"Who on earth was that?" Sirius asked angrily picking up some of the leftover howler to examine it

"One of my father's inferior associates. I'm pretty sure her name was Paulina" Persephone sighed , trying to recall which one of the thin patronising women that her father liked to befriend was the one sending her the howler. "He can't even do it himself. What a bitch" she muttered to herself

"Are you okay Persephone?" James comforted placing a hand on her shoulder

"Fine" she bluntly replied , shrugging his hand off and heading out of the great hall - fully aware that Nicholas had begun following her "Go away Nic" she hiccuped as tears began to cloud her vision slightly

"Seph calm down" the boy said trying to catch up to the girl. He knew she would shut everyone out : she always did when she felt threatened. "Make your way up to the astronomy tower , i'll meet you up there" he then said , hopeful that he'd be able to communicate to her that way

"I'll be there" she replied , turning the corner and heading to the tower

"Is Seph okay?!" Narcissa asked frantically, she was another person who had hurriedly left the hall after Persephone

"She isn't at the moment but we are going to the astronomy tower. Y-you're more than welcome to join" Nicholas replied

"If she has you then she's fine. You and James seem to comfort her better than I do" the blonde admitted

"That isn't at all true" the boy said pausing "She talks about you all the time. She told me once that without you she didn't think she would ever have had her confidence here. I think that is pretty big. You help her in a lot of ways Narcissa" he finished giving the girl a gentle look

"I can see why she comes to you for advice" the girl chuckled "Make sure she is alright for me Potter" Narcissa said , grateful for the boy's kind words

"I will" he responded , heading up to the astronomy tower himself. "Hey Seph" he said greeting the girl who had sat in the corner of the tower

"Hey Nico" Persephone said turning her attention to face him

"What happened?"

"You're telling me you didn't hear?" the girl lightly laughed before continuing "One of my father's associates sent me a howler , demanding me to go back to the manor for the holidays" she finished , informing Nicholas of her situation

"And are you going to go back?" he questioned already feeling protective for the girl : he certainly didn't want her to come back to hogwarts in the condition she was in summer

"I really should but I don't want to" she replied nervously "I'd hate to think what he would do if I didn't return"

"What are you going to do if you don't return?"

"Stay in Hogwarts"

"For Christmas?!" Nicholas gasped , he believed that the holiday was a time of family and feeling comfort. He also knew that if he had to spend Christmas alone at Hogwarts , he probably wouldn't enjoy it.

"My cousins are on holiday so it's not like I have anywhere to go" she told him truthfully "I wouldn't want to ruin Narcissa's christmas either"

"Stay with us" Nicholas replied hopefully looking into the girl's eyes

"I couldn't burden you -"

"Mum loves you already Seph. If anything she prefers having you there more than her own sons" he laughed

"James said something like that earlier" the girl smiled

"James would love having you there aswell. The two of you gotten closer?" he asked suggestively

"I suppose" she shrugged , trying to fight the grin that was making its way onto her face

"Finally, it's about time. But Seph i'm serious we would love to have you round for Christmas." Nicholas told her

"I'll ask James about it"

"I'll take that as a yes"