Growing Through Time (A Harry Potter au Story)

5

The great hall was buzzing with life that night, the muffled murmurs of the students laying across the grey tiles in their purple sleeping bags, that Dumbledore magically summoned, resonated through the stone walls. After the teachers found out about the attack on the Fat Lady, they quickly ushered the students down to the Hall: not just the Gryffindors, for safety reasons they collected the other students from other houses too. Now all stuck in the hall scattered across the floor, they awaited any news on the incident. At least the ones that were awake.

Brody laid down near the empty fireplace, Kurtis and Tom by his side. Tom was dozing of, his head falling forward everytime his eyes shut, as if a weight was weighing him down. Kurtis just stared ahead. After arriving in his common room alone, replaying the days events over and over again, Brody sat in a corner by a bookshelf. Sinking into the old armchair he drifted off into a book, only later to be told to leave the place as an emergency occurred. Now in the hall, he sat waiting for the rest of his friends to arrive.
"Hey. You alright?" asked Paula as she slowly approached with Mindy, Molly and Bryony, stepping carefully around other people as to not wake them up.
"Yeah. Are you alright? What happened? Apparently Sirius Black attacked your common room." Brody whispered, sitting up slightly. The friends took the surrounding spare sleeping bags and laid down, Paula sitting nearer Brody. Kurtis at that point was with Mindy in a hushed conversation talking over Toms sleeping body.
"Sirius Black did attack. He ripped the Fat lady painting."
"Oh.", was all Brody was able to say about the topic, so he brushed his hair to the side and changed the subject,
"So... what happened in the Hospital wing?"
"You went to the Hospital wing?" Kurtis asked turning to look at Paula, who sat awkwardly, not used to being the centre of attention.
"Yeah." Mindy, Brody and Paula answered simultanously. Briefly telling Kurtis what happened at Hogsmeade, Brody gestured Paula to continue with the rest. Almost instantly everyone leaned in (apart from Tom who was still sleeping). Taking a deep breath she began telling the events.
•
The second she sat down, Kurtis leaned over, "Hey. I'm sorry about what I said earlier today. I...shouldn't have said that."
"It's alright." Mindy whispered back, looking down at Tom, who seemed to not feel or realise that Kurtis was using him as a table, resting his elbow on his back.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
•
"-and then they asked to be friends..." Paula was getting to the end of her story and by this point she was whispering, partially because she was tired and partially because she was nervous to see her friends reactions. Looking around she saw similar expressions on everyones faces:
shock.
Grabbing her shoulder gently and turning it so Paula was face to face with her, Mindy exclaimed,
"What?"
"I hope you said no." Molly intervened, speaking for the first time during that night, "After all they hurt you, don't forget that."
"Yeah, but I'm fine now." She layed down in her sleeping bag her voice muffled by the thick material, "And for your information I said yes."

Well this took a while to write...

I hope its alright...