Dursley's Daughter (A Harry Potter Next Generation Fan Fic)

24. Hogwarts Express

Holly tackled me in a bear hug before I could even see her coming. One moment I was waiting quite calmly outside the dining hall for the others to arrive and the next there were blond curls in my mouth and strong arms trying to squeeze the life out of me.

"Guess who isn't a failure after all?"

"Um, I don't know," I said. I scratched my chin as though deep in thought. "Is it you?"

Holly grinned ecstatically and, releasing me, danced in a circle. The boys, walking at a more respectable pace, joined me in watching her.

"So she passed her classes?" I asked Sawyer.

"Yep," he said. "With flying colors in some of them, thanks to her organizational system."

I forced Holly to pause in her victory dancing long enough to hug her. "Congratulations, Holls. I knew you could do it."

She beamed. "My cards were all a bit bent after that stunt Scorpius pulled in the library" - here, she shot him a dirty look -  "and the cards that clumsy Sawyer managed to rip up" - Sawyer received his own version of the glare now - "but I made do and it really helped! I'm so pleased!"

"We're well aware," said Sawyer, watching as she restarted her dance routine. A group of younger students walked by, giving her bemused looks. "As is the rest of the school."

Scorpius nudged me as Holly shot death glares at the students watching her do her victory dance. "So, Dursley. Did all those tutoring sessions pay off?"

I gave him a huge smile. "Most definitely. I got an E," I said proudly.

He whooped. "If you continue improving at this rate, you could get an O in your N.E.W.T.s and be good enough to become an auror or something!" He threw an arm around my shoulders. "I always believed in you, Esther."

"Thanks for all your help," I said. "Couldn't have done it without you."

"Sure you could've, Ms. Auror."

I gave an exaggerated shudder. "Let me tell you, I am not auror material."

"No? I'm pretty sure you could singlehandedly take down some dark witches and wizards. You would've easily broken Sullivan's nose."

I laughed. "I'm thinking more along the lines of working in potions or in medical magic. So I can easily fix Sullivan's broken nose."

"Not that it'd deserve fixing," said Sawyer, pulling a face.

"As long as he learned his lesson, I would have no qualms about fixing him up."

Scorpius laughed. "That's because you're a such a fair person, Esther. A model Hufflepuff."

I rolled my eyes. "It is my house," I said, "and there are worse things than being fair."

We were almost at the entrance to the dining hall when Scorpius grabbed my arm and held me back. We stopped walking and I gave him an inquisitive look.

"Esther? Can we talk later?"

"Of course," I said. "I'm always available to talk with you. But why later?"

He looked awkwardly at Sawyer and Holly, who had realized we were lingering behind and were waiting several feet ahead and then glanced back at me.

"I guess I want to talk in private. Can we meet where we did our Defense tutoring?" he asked. "After dinner?"

Noticing his discomfort, I squeezed his shoulder. "I'll see you there."

In the dining hall, we split up to sit at our respective tables. As soon as Scorpius had given us his usual half wave and headed to the Slytherin table, Sawyer raised his eyebrows at me.