Two Sides to Every Story//Harry Potter

- Chapter 6 -

“This is horrible, how can the ministry not know who conjured it? Isn’t there any security?” said Hermione. Her eyebrows were furrowed together.
“Loads according to dad”, Ron started, “that’s what worried them so much. Happened right under their noses.”
“Are you sure it was his mark? What if it was just something similar?” I asked. I wasn’t with them when they went to find Harry, but I had to disagree with them. I wouldn’t allow myself to think about that man and his many followers.
Hermione seemed irritated. “What else could it have been Erin? We all saw it, including Ron’s dad and Barty Crouch. Plus, who else would attack innocent people other than his followers?”
Hermione looked to Harry, who was rubbing his forehead. “It’s hurting again isn’t it, your scar?”
“I’m fine”, Harry responded quickly.
“Maybe tell Sirius. You know he’d want to hear about it”, I suggested.
He nodded. “Good idea.” He grabbed paper and a pen, scribbling down a quick letter. The envelope read: Sirius Black. He handed the letter to his owl and lowered the window, watching Hedwig fly away.
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I hopped off the train with my suitcase in hand and my backpack on my back. I set the suitcase down on the stone sidewalk next to me. I stood on my tiptoes to try and see over the heads of fellow students. I was looking for my friends until I felt a tap on my right shoulder. I immediately hugged him when I turned around.
“I’m so glad you’re alright!”
Cedric laughed slightly. “But I wrote you a letter right after, telling you dad and I got away safely.”
I pulled away to look up at him. “I was still worried. Someone could’ve written me a fake letter for all I know.”
“Come on, let’s get to the carriages”, he said through a laugh. He picked up my suitcase and started walking with me along the outside of the train.

It didn’t take long for me to find my other friends. I saw Angelina Johnson getting into a carriage towards the front of the line. She saw me and we immediately started running towards each other. We engulfed each other into a tight hug.
“You changed your hair”, I said when I finally pulled away.
She ran a hand through her straightened, black hair. Usually it would be shorter with tight curls all throughout.
“Come join us. There’s plenty of room”, she said as she pointed her thumb towards the inside of the carriage.
I peaked my head inside to see that Fred and George were sitting next to each other on one side. I took my suitcase from Cedric and put it down on the seats across from the twins and Angelina. I sat on top of it since I was short enough that I wouldn’t hit the ceiling. Cedric followed in and sat next to me.

After we were dropped off by the carriage, and once in the courtyard outside the clock tower, I found myself, once again, running to greet friends that I hadn’t seen all summer.
“Cho!” I called out.
She turned around from talking to the Patil twins. A warm smile appeared on her face when she saw me. We embraced each other in a small hug. Then I turned to the twins and hugged both of them with one arm.
“How was your summer?” asked Padma.
“It was alright. Harry and I stayed with the Weasley’s which was a nice break. Nothing much happened until we went to the Quidditch world cup.”
“Didn’t that get, like, blown up or something?” asked Pavarti.
“Yeah it kind of did. How did you guys know?” Hermione told me on the train that there wasn’t, and probably wouldn’t be any news of the event in the papers. She thinks the ministry wants to cover it up.
“It’s just a rumor going around”, said Padma.
“It hasn’t even been a full day of school yet and there’s already rumors?” I asked rhetorically.
“So, you never said what really happened, Erin.” Pavarti seemed intrigued. She was definitely one for gossip, but then again, another of my friends were.
“Right, sorry. Death eaters attacked after everyone went back to their tents after the game. Hermione says they were after muggles. The only reason we were caught in the crossfire is because the Weasley’s were staying in the muggle tent areas”, I explained.
Padma furrowed her brows. “And there was nothing in the papers about it?”
“The ministry would most likely try to cover something like that up. If it only affected the muggles, then they wouldn’t care much, considering the ministry has been periodically obliviating those same muggles to the point where their brains are fried. If it was a legitimate concern, the ministry would have them forget the date and replace it with Christmas or something like that”, said Cho.
I looked to the doors and saw that everyone was now piling in, most likely making their way to their dorms to unpack.
“Do you think the ministry tries to take advantage of muggles, seeing as they view them as lesser than?”, Padma pointed out.
Cho and Padma looked deep in thought.
“More about this later. We should probably go unpack now”, I said.
We grabbed our luggage and headed through the doors. Padma and Cho agreed to meet back up outside the great hall before dinner, so Pavarti and I headed up to Gryffindor tower.
As soon as I stepped fully into the common room, I felt an overwhelming sense of serotonin. I looked around the room, taking in the familiar sights I missed so much: the red couches in front of the fire place, the red patterned wallpapers on the walls, the glass windows giving light to the table on the back wall with the same chess board that had been there for years. The common room felt rustic, and antique, which I usually would hate, but something about the common room felt like home to me.
Even though it felt like home sweet home, I remembered the place that I loved even more dearly. I raced up the steps to the girls dormitory, down the long hallway, and pushed open the second door on the right.
The smell of fire and firewood seeped into my nose. Even though there was no fireplace in here, the smell from the common room drifted up the stairs.
I ran over to my familiar bed right across the room. I set my backpack down on it and looked out the window above my bed. I could see the black lake past the great hall. I turned back around to look at the rest of the room. Hermione’s bed was to my left, and Pavarti's on the right wall. There were flowing curtains attached to the beams above, and in-between the poles on the corners, on each girls bed that reached the floor and were colored a deep red. A couple shelves were behind each girls head, and even more drawers underneath the bed for storage. There was a desk with a large mirror in the left corner, in between Hermione’s bed and the closet. We had taken out the fourth bunk since we only had three people. Then there was the door to the bathroom in the right corner, next to Pavarti’s bed.
Everything in the room seemed so perfect to me. Excitement filled me as I thought about all the memories I had made here in the past three years, and all the new ones to come this year.
As I started to move some of my folded clothes from my suitcase to the drawers under my bed, I heard the door open behind me. I turned my head to see my two roommates walk in.
“Ugh, it feels so good to be back”, said Pavarti as she dropped her bags onto her bed.
“Agreed”, said Hermione. She immediately started unpacking.

This is the inspiration for the common room, but imagine it with more Gryffindor vibes and rustic: