In Another Life

Year 3- Parental Talks

Monday and half of Tuesday had come and gone. I have potions class with all my friends and family, minus Carter since he's a fifth year. I decided to go and have a shower, bringing a clean uniform with me so I can just head straight to the tail end of lunch. Having lived with the Malfoys and having mandatory meals with all of them, I couldn't get back into the habit of not eating breakfast, which means I'm not really hungry at the start of lunch here. I'm so glad that breakfast and lunch are free for all when it comes to when you can enter and leave the Great Hall. I want to get to the Great Hall later than most so I can eat and head to class before being noticed by a lot of people. I know most people go at the start of lunch so they can have the rest of the lunch period to socialise or study at various locations across the campus.

I went to the girls' showers and quickly washed my hair and body before getting out and drying off. I didn't want to be in the showers too long because if I stayed in there as long as I felt I wouldn't be able to slip in and out of breakfast unnoticed. I wanted to be as unnoticed as possible this year. I put on my clean underclothes and my uniform, before tying my tie and slipping on my Mary Janes. With a quick comb through my hair, I toss it in a half up ponytail then rush off to the Great Hall. I rush into the Great Hall and sit down close to the doors. I grab some toast with some jam, a few bits of fruit and an apple juice. I slowly eat, so I don't get the hiccups, and drink my juice. While I ate, I went over how I was going to approach dad about forgetting to have him sign my permission slip for Hogsmeade. Once I was done eating, I went directly to the potions classroom.

As I walked in the classroom, no one but Cassilynn was in there. I looked around for dad, but I couldn't see him. As I walked closer to Cassilynn, I continued to look around the room trying to find dad. He was still nowhere in sight by the time I got to the front of the room.

"Cassi, where's dad?"

"He'll be back soon. He had to get some last minute things for today's lesson."

No sooner did the words leave her mouth did Dad come into the classroom. He had his arms full of vials, jars, and more. I never realised how much stuff really goes into one potion before seeing dad carry multiples of around twelve ingredients. There had to be at least forty kids in today's lesson alone. Twenty Slytherins and twenty Gryffindors, if not more of each. Third years aren't the biggest class of students at Hogwarts, but we're one of the top three.

"Girls, what do you two need?" Dad asked as he set stuff down on a table near the stock corner.

"Sorry to be a bit early to lessons. But we forgot to get you to sign our permission slips over the summer."

"I see. Well, we can't have a simple mistake keep you from having fun on the weekends with your friends. Bring them to my desk and I'll sign them for you. I'll even turn them into McGonagall myself for you."

Cassilynn and I walked up to his desk and placed the parchments on top. We both then walked to the back table of the room, closest to the door, and sat down. We got out our parchments, quills, ink, and notebooks in preparation for the class. Soon enough our classmates started to slowly trickle into the room and take their seats. It felt awkward being the youngest, and the shortest, in the entire class. I was so used to being the tallest in my class, I was usually made fun of for it, but the laughs ended when I came to Hogwarts. Now, though, I fear I may be made fun of once more, but this time for being a year ahead and being the shortest third year in the school.

"Cassi, can I sit with Ally alone for a moment? I promise I won't be long, and you can sit with her soon."

"Sure Harry."

Cassilynn got up and Harry took her place. I looked at him in confusion.

"Ally, there's something really important we need to talk about."