Hidden Within Me (Sequel to Hidden In the Pensieve) (HP)

Part 2:

Part 2:

August 31, 2018

Hello, diary...journal...should I give you a name? Would that be strange? Should I pretend you're a person I'm writing to? I dunno. I'll figure that out later.

Guess what?! It's my birthday. I'm officially fifteen years now...or will be in two days. Since I'll be away at school, we've chosen to celebrate it today. It's rather funny that I should be spending this day on packing (which I'm supposed to be doing right now...I'll do it after I'm finished writing), but I don't mind. No matter the amount of homework, I absolutely adore Hogwarts and would probably spend ALL year there, if I could. (I'd likely miss my family too much, though.)

Speaking of which, Uncle Draco will be teaching Potions class this year, because Slughorn, who I've met once and thought was completely mental, croaked. I can't wait to have him as one of my professors. Not to mention, Stori's probably throwing a temper tantrum at the length of time he'll be away, and it is always amusing when Stori's unhappy. I must say that it gives me much pleasure to see the wicked witch discontent. After all, it seems that she exists to make me miserable. Might as well return favor, right? Or at least sit back and laugh, while the universe does it for you?

I've gotten off track now, though. I was speaking of my birthday. For the first part of the day, we made a family trip to the Diagon Alley. Mum and Dad bought me some new robes for school at Madam Malkin's, in which Rose made a great fuss about:

"Why does Demi get new robes, while I have to wear her old robes?" Rose whined.

To my satisfaction, dad's reply was, "It's her birthday and there's nothing wrong with wearing your sister's old robes. Plus, it saves me a load of money, therefore you're going to wear them until they no longer fit you."

"Now, now. Let's not quarrel. Let's make this day a happy one. Plus, we're going to have Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Uncle George, your cousins, your grandparents, Uncle Draco, and even Astoria and Scorpius over to celebrate tonight," my mom announced, patting my back gently.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed, when I heard that Scorpius and Stori were coming too, but I can always count on my mum to put the "special" in "special occasion", so I wasn't going to let the presence of evil spoil my night.

Before my fitting at Madam Malkin's, I caught sight of Jamie Wood...the love of my life...not really, but I've only fancied him ever since I saw him that first day at Hogwarts. He was a third year, on the quidditch team, with short brown hair, a slightly olive complexion (which I assume comes from his mother's side), chocolate brown eyes so deep that any girl would simply collapse right into them (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture, don't you?), so you can imagine my attraction towards him. Better yet, now he's taller, muscular, and positively to die for! I'm blushing now just thinking about him.

Anyway, to my surprise, Jamie actually noticed me and came over to talk to me. (Ahhhhh!):

"Demi! What a surprise! How are you?" Jamie called out, walking towards me.

Attempting not to blush severely, I answered, "Hello, Jamie...oh..um..I'm doing well. It's actually my birthday today."

"Oh, that's right! Happy Birthday! Are you fifteen years now?" Jamie asks, smiling brightly, his eyes twinkling a bit.

"Yes. Thank you. I...didn't think you remembered," I said, failing in my resistance against the terrrible blush, that always seems to creep into my cheeks when Jamie is around.

 "You give me little credit," Jamie teases, playfully. "I don't think I'm any more important than anyone else at Hogwarts just because I'm in my seventh year."

 Not thinking rationally in the presence of Jamie, I hadn't detected that he had only been teasing me. "Oh no, that's not what I meant-I just...-"

"Demi, I'm only teasing," Jamie laughs, resting his hand on my shoulder.

"Oh," I laughed, feeling slightly foolish.

"I guess I should let you get on with your fitting," Jamie announced, after an awkward pause. "I'll see you at school, then," he added, then stunning me somewhat by hugging me goodbye.

Bewildered, but secretly thrilled, I hugged Jamie back. My heart seemed to speed up as his chest, sculpted from hours upon hours of quidditch, pressed against mine. I can't be sure, but it seemed as though he held the embrace for much longer than a normal embrace is usually held for. Not to mention, he smiled at me, as well, during the embrace! Maybe he fancies me too! I'm sure it sounds ridiculous to assume such a notion based on one embrace, but it's possible that I'm right.

Unfortunately, after Jamie smiled at me, he then pointed out that there was a bit of Floo Powder on the sleeve of my shirt. How embarrassing?!! I'm completely mortified. It's times like these when I so yearn for a cloak of invisibility, like my Uncle Harry. Okay, maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, because he did, at least, brush the Floo Powder off my shoulder for me. SWOON!

It's not necessary to relay the details of the rest of my fitting, because what I've just told you is the highlight of it and the rest is rather boring.

To tide us over until dinner, we indulged ourselves with ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. My usual ice cream flavor of choice is fudge brownie, but I opted for cotton candy this time. I felt like eating something sweet. And yes, it has EVERYTHING to do with Jamie; I will not deny it.

As for the actual party, the first half consisted of the cousins, with inclusion of Scorpius (yes, for once, he was civil!), playing and talking amongst themselves, while I spoke with the adults, who kept telling me of what a "woman" I've become and asking me how my studies are.

After dinner and cake, it was time for me to receive my gifts. I could go through every gift that I received and which person gave it to me, but I don't feel like it. Instead, I'll just re-tell the highlight of the party :

"Say, did that journal ever get to you?" Uncle Draco inquired, smiling kindly.

 I gasped, pleasantly surprised. "That was you?!"

Uncle Draco chuckled just a bit, then grinned. "Yes. Yes, it was. Do you like it?"

"I love it! It's absolutely wonderful. Thank you!" I cried, standing up, swiftly, to hug him.

My mum interrupted, informing me, with excitement bursting in her eyes, that I had one last present to open from her.

She handed me a box, carefully wrapped in shiny gold wrapping paper and a shiny gold bow, before sitting down again on the sofa. I untied the bow slowly, removed the paper, by pulling at the ends, but not destroying it, and lifted the lid off of the box. I gasped at what I found inside; mum's gorgeous, silk, periwinkle dress robes, that she wore in her fourth year at Hogwarts for the Yule Ball.

I pulled the dress out further, taking every detail of it. If I hadn't seen mum's wedding dress, I would have thought it was the most stunning thing I'd ever seen. It certainly deemed worthy of second place, though.

"I love it, mum. It's absolutely gorgeous. I know it means a lot to you and it really means a lot that you would give it to me. Thank you sooo sooo much," I said, standing up and marching over to the sofa to hug her.

Like mother like daughter, as her eyes welled up with tears as we hugged, so did mine. Of course, everyone made an "aww" sound.

"I must ask, though. Why is it that you are giving it to me? ...Now, I mean. I would have thought you would have saved it for my sixteenth birthday," I questioned, quite curious, now thinking about where I could possibly be wearing it to.

A gleam surfaced in my mum's eyes and she just smiled.

"Now, I'm technically not supposed to reveal this to you, but the Triwizard Tournament is to be held this year at Hogwarts, as well as the Yule Ball," Uncle Draco shared.

I grinned, completely delighted by this news. Of course, when I heard the word "ball", my mind went wild, envisioning Jamie and I dancing, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Yes, it's all very cliché, but that's what I thought of, okay? ...Don't judge me (but of course, you can't; you are a journal).

Isn't this just wonderful news, though?

-Love, Demi