dursley [h. g.]

••dursley•• || toast

Kendra didn't sleep that night. She had read about plenty of times that the judges had ben mauled or the competition had ended because someone had gone missing. And now Harry, someone who had been more like a brother to her than her own twin, had found himself in the thick of it again.

She hadn't seen him in the Great Hall that morning, nor had she seen any of her friends. Instead, she very quickly drank a glass of orange juice before spotting Hermione, who was leaving without Harry or Ron. As fast as she could without hurting herself, she hurried towards Hermione.

"Hermione!" She called, accepting that she wouldn't catch up with the Gryffindor. She placed her hand on her chest, feeling the pounding of her heart through her ribs. Hermione spun around, a few slices of toast wrapped in a napkin. She relaxed when she saw who it was.

"Hello, Kendra," Hermione said. "I was just on my way to go and see if Harry was awake yet, you're welcome to come with me." She started walking again, this time with Kendra by her side.

"You don't think he's entered himself, do you?" Kendra said, clutching the handrail as she climbed the stairs. After years of battling the castle, though her struggle with the less-than-Kendra-friendly layout had eased somewhat, stairs were still her worst enemy.

"Of course not," Hermione said, shortly, as though there wasn't another option to be had. "He's got enough going on in his life already, he clearly wasn't all that interested in entering when we spoke."

"But Ron's sure he did?" Kendra asked. "Or he's just jealous?"

"Jealous, I think," Hermione sighed, slowing her pace so Kendra could catch up to her. "He's always seen himself as second best, whether it's to his brothers, to Harry. And now Harry's gone and gotten himself in a contest for eternal glory and money, not that he needs either of those things, and Ron feels like he's been cheated."

"He'll come around," Kendra sighed. They had reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common rooms. The woman in the portrait opened one eye at the two of them as they approached.

"Password?" the woman in the portrait asked. Hermione complied and the portrait door swung open. Kendra had been in the Gryffindor common room only once before, sometime in her first year. Harry had invited her in to spend time together, though it had all just been a ruse to get her to help him with his homework. It had been sometime before he had become friends with Hermione- a story that Kendra had nearly gone into shock because of at the time and now laughed at freely. A sharp pain in her chest brought her out of her memories and back to the nearly empty common room.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Kendra said suddenly, feeling compelled to ask, like she was a visitor in someone's home. The walk from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor common rooms had been a long one, up many flights of stairs and she was tired.

"Sure," Hermione said, shrugging, turning towards a set of stairs. Kendra sank into the couch, feeling very out of her element but also like she could fall asleep right there on the squishy arm chair. Harry was coming down the staircase just as Hermione was about to go up.

"Hermione?" he asked, confused. He saw Kendra in the chair and his confusion deepened.

"Hey, Harry," Kendra said, waving slightly from her spot. Harry blinked.

"Hello," Hermione said, thrusting the stack of toast into Harry's face. "I brought you this. Want to go for a walk?"

"Good idea," Harry said, grateful of Hermione's suggestion. Kendra disagreed with his assessment. Part of her wanted to stay on the squishy couch forever, and that part of her was promptly squashed simultaneously by the part of her that wanted to support her cousin and the part of her that wanted to walk alongside Hermione through the grounds, holding her hand. That thought got her on her feet, walking alongside Harry and Hermione.