Etched, Engraved, Everlasting (a Hogwarts Mystery Year 6 Retell)

6 - Em

I hated being called the baby in every situation.

Sure, I was younger than Clara, and much younger than Jacob, but that didn't mean I couldn't wrap my eleven-year-old brain around traumatizing events, like the ones Clara had been through. Growing up in a dysfunctional family helped me get over the horrors that circulated the hallways, from Jacob's disappearance and expulsion to everything that followed for my older sister. Both my older siblings have been through a lot--so much that they practically changed. I have seen it all before, and I was able to cope with it.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like everyone else thought so. They automatically thought that, since I was the youngest, I was the ultimate 'baby' who couldn't understand anything. Everyone in my year, at least, seemed to think I was dumb--some of them kept laughing at me whenever I made a mistake out of pure fear, others sympathized and helped me with my mess. Still, I hated being the hindrance to everyone's progress.

At least Clara's friends understood.

Many of them I've met at the Welcome Feast helped me get back on my feet in no time. Tonks always humoured me with her Metamorphmagus impressions, and even did a cool spell to turn the fur of my rat from white to cheddar as a welcome gift. Penny and Rowan both helped me with school work, patiently going over everything I was personally having trouble with and making sure I submitted nothing but my best work. Badeea dropped by once in a while to show me her new sketches for potential portraits and paintings she wanted to work on. Barnaby, Clara's sweetheart, came around with sweets he snuck from the train for me to eat. And Diego dropped by every evening to ask how I was doing, and making sure I was okay.

I truly appreciated their help, and I felt loads better after hanging out with them. After all, they got loads of help from Clara. I supposed they just wanted to return the favour for once.

But eventually, the first Hogsmeade trip of the year came around, and every one of Clara's friends had gone, leaving me alone to fend for myself completely. All night I feared the worst--me making more slip-ups than normal, losing House Points, and disappointing my sister and family. It was only waking up to the sight of the roses Diego gave me--petals still a brilliant scarlet under my care--that calmed me down.

I could do this, I thought.

Oh, how wrong I was.

---

"Hey. You. Yeah, you."

I was stopped at the door of the common room by a girl slightly older than I was, with short cropped blonde hair and sky blue eyes, wearing a black jacket torn at the shoulders. Her Hufflepuff tie was poorly donned over her white blouse, and her combat boots didn't match her overall ensemble.

"I've been waiting for you," she told me, cocking her head to one side. "You're Clara's little sister, aren't you?"

"Um. Yeah, I am," I responded with a nod.

"Good. I have a message for you." She leaned towards me now, her eyes narrowing as she glared into my eyes. "Tell your sister--and my sister--to stay away from me."

"W-what? Why?"

"Just do it. I don't want either of them to continue pestering me like I'm a trauma patient stuck at a hospital, alright?"

I frantically nodded as I fled out of the common room and into the corridors, accidentally dropping my Transfiguration essay in the process. I backtracked immediately, trying to pick it up, but a first-year Slytherin student--Travis Poulter--stomped on it as he came out without any mercy.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "Stop!"

"Sorry! No can do!" Poulter sang mockingly, laughing as I scrambled to pick up the papers.