Harriet Potter 1

Cold mornings

When Harriet awoke, she knew instinctively that he was gone.

Harriet rose from her bed before taking a seat in front of the dresser mirror. Her eyes looked wide and startled as she met the reflection of her own gaze.

Harriet slid her sleeve off her shoulder, moving her hair aside to expose the spot where Snape had bitten her.

If it hadn't been for the lingering bruise, Harriet would have thought that the events of the night before had been a dream.

But there it was, proof, signed in the dark imprint of his teeth on her skin.
Harriet wondered why he pulled away from her every time they got close. It could have been because he was a teacher and she was a student- but he had crossed that line enough times already. Needless to say, none of her other teachers had bitten her- Well apart from that close call with Luin in her third year, but since he was a werewolf, that was different.

A knock sounded on the door, breaking through her musings.
With quidditch quick reflexes, Harriet covered the bruise with her hair.

"C'mon lets go down for breakfast I'm starved." Ron poked his head around the door. "Blimey Harri, how come you're still in your pyjamas?"

Over breakfast, Harriet was relieved to hear Mrs Weasley lament that Charlie would not be returning from Romania for Christmas. All in all, it was shaping up to be a good break, despite Hermione's constant reminders that they should be studying.

"Oh come off it" Ron had told her "we'll be fine." Harriet privately wished that his confidence in the upcoming OWLs extended to quidditch.
While Ron was a decent keeper, he still had an issue with his nerves. They would be playing against Slytherin in their first week back and Harriet was determined to improve his performance before the match.
Harriet spent hours every day running quidditch drills with Ron and doing her best to improve his confidence. The hours not spent practicing quidditch were appropriated by Hermione's group study sessions.
Too slow and too fast, Christmas break was coming to a close.
Before Harriet knew it, Snuffles was licking her across the face, and she was boarding the train to Hogwarts.
During their first week back, gratifyingly, various DA members had approached Harriet in the halls to ask when there would be more lessons. Harriet, however had not scheduled any for the first week back in light of the upcoming quidditch match against Slytherin.

Tension was even higher than usual between the Slytherin and Gryffindor houses in light of the upcoming match. Harriet noticed Ron's tendency to turn green at the sight of Slytherin quidditch team members with alarm. Any efforts she had made to improve his confidence, appeared to be in vain.

Harriet would just have to hope for the best.