The Kind Hufflepuff

Chapter 51: Time of the Month

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The Kind Hufflepuff - Year Three

Chapter Fifty- One: Time of the Month

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She woke up to screaming- jolting her awake as her cat meowed in agitation as Bas hopped off of her and moved to another spot in the guest room she was staying in. She looked around blearily- not initially remember where she was before realizing she was still at Potter home. The screaming continued for a few moments before abruptly stopping but Cali wasn't initially alarmed as it seemed to be screams of excitement rather than terror. She slowly got out of the bed, not quite awake as she rubbed at her eyes and yawned.

"Cali, dear!" the now familiar voice of Euphemia Potter interrupted her thoughts. "The rest of the boys are here!" Remus and Peter, well that explained the boy's screaming.

"Okay, thank you!" Cali called out as she quickly put on more suitable clothes - a pair of grey sweatpants and a scoop t-shirt. "Good morning," Cali greeted as she opened her door, seeing Euphemia standing at the top of the stairs watching the group.

"Good morning," Euphemia greeted. "These boys act like they're brothers," she observed.

"They're attached at the hip," Cali confirmed.

"I heard you helped them come back together last year," Euphemia hummed.

"Yeah, they just needed a little coaxing," she shrugged.

"James appreciated it," Euphemia confirmed. "He really missed him. His letters abruptly stopped talking about them, didn't explain what was going on but I could feel his sadness. Thank you for fixing them."

"They were all so lonely," Cali shrugged. "It was nothing."

"CALI!" the boys shouted from downstairs. "Come down here."

"It was everything," Euphemia whispered into her ear before allowing the girl to go downstairs to greet the boys.

"Hi guys," Cali giggled as Remus and Peter hugged her together, putting her inbetween them as they squeezed the life out of her. "Guys!" she shouted in annoyance, rolling her eyes as she tried to pry herself out of their grip.

"How was your summer?" Peter asked her, smiling.

"It was boring, but Daisy sent me so many vinyls," Cali giggled. "She realized I didn't know any muggle bands and made it her mission to change that fact."

"I forget you're a pureblood like Sirius is," Peter admitted. "Did you like any of them?"

"David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead were really good. She sent me a Beach Boys vinyl too and Bertie became obsessed," Cali told the group.

"Nice music taste," Remus nodded.

"Thanks!"

"Guys, I made breakfast!" Euphemia announced, "Come into the kitchen!"

"She makes the best food," Sirius reassured and Cali agreed as they headed into the kitchen.

They ate the delicious breakfast that Euphemia made- including vegan pancakes from a recipe  that she had found before Cali stood up to put her plate in the sink. "Oh dear," Euphemia crooned, coming up behind her quickly. "Let's take you to the bathroom, shall we?"

"Okay?" Cali questioned, walking with Euphemia who walked closely behind her as they headed into the bathroom. 

"Sit on the toilet dear," Euphemia guided. She sat down on the toilet fully clothed causing the woman to laugh.

"Pull down your pants and underwear, you have blood on your sweatpants. I'll go and get you another pair from your room. Do you have sanitary products in your bags?"

"Sanitary products?" Cali questioned, thoroughly confused.

Euphemia Potter paused, looking at the girl for a moment as realization dawned on her. "You don't know what's happening at all, do you?"

Cali shook her heard, fearful now that she had pulled down her pants and underwear and sat on the toilet to see the blood that had stained through. "Am I dying? What is happening?"

"Dear, no. No, you're not dying," Euphemia assured the girl. "This is a completely natural thing that happens to most young girls. I only recently stopped having it," Euphemia explained to the young girl.

"Bleeding is normal?" Cali asked.

"Yes dear, it's called a period. You'll bleed for a few days every month for the next few decades of your life," Euphemia explained to her. "It's a good thing, a sign that you're growing up to be a beautiful young woman. In the same way that growing breasts, this a natural thing to come along as well."

"Why do we have to do this?" Cali asked. "I don't want to."

"I didn't want to either," Euphemia laughed. "But we have to. Having a period can be incredibly helpful when the time comes. Right now though, hopefully, those benefits are not present."

"Benefits?" Cali asked.

"About whether you're with child," Euphemia admitted. "But right now it's going to be a nuisance. But don't worry dear, I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"What do I need to know?"

"How to minimize the damage," Euphemia shrugged. "We don't want your clothes being destroyed all of the time."

"Will people find out?"

"No, assuming you don't have blood stains on your clothes," Euphemia lightly teased.

"And how will I know when it's the time of the month?" Cali asked nervously.

"It'll follow a pattern eventually, might take a minute to figure out what the pattern is."

"And when it's my time of the month-" she didn't realize that two boys had come to the bathroom and were now listening at the door- "will there be any symptoms?"

"An upset stomach maybe, it's called cramping. You might crave a bit of chocolate."

"But I'll be okay?"

"You'll be fine," Euphemia confirmed. "Now, let me go get some stuff that'll help you. I'll be right back." With that, Euphemia exited the bathroom and Cali could briefly hear her tell the boys to use the upstairs bathroom for a moment.

When she finally made it out of the bathroom, she decided she would leave the boys to hang out and went back up to the guest room to take a nap. She was lying on the bed when she heard a light knock on the door. "Come in!" She called out and the door opened to reveal the four boys.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sirius laughed as he sat on the bed, Remus closing the door behind them once they were all inside.

"Tell you what?"

"About your time of the month," Peter explained softly.

"What?" Cali's eyebrows furrowed together.

"Your time of the month, it's okay, we know. They overheard you talking to my mom."

"You mean my period?" Cali asked as Remus' eyes widened in reaction.

"You were talking to her about your period?" Remus realized. 

"Yes?" Cali confirmed, still very much confused.

"You're not a-" Peter began before Sirius slapped his hand across Peter's mouth to stop him from talking.

"He's being ridiculous, nevermind," James laughed. "Want to go with us to the theater in town? Remus and Peter have been wanting to see Westworld. It just came out like a week ago."

"Sure, that sounds nice actually," Cali shrugged as she got up, catching up with Sirius as she whispered, "What the bloody hell is a movie?"

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A/N: Did you know that despite this being an entirely normal female experience- menstruation is actually rarely written about? Well, I wanted to write it... :)