Hufflepuff In The Family

Idiots

When I finally got back to the dormitory, I jumped to see Kelly and Danielle sat on the end of my bed, whispering to one another. I cursed silently. I'd hoped they'd be asleep. Our fellow Hufflepuffs were dead asleep in their beds and so our low voices made no difference to them.

"How was it?" Danielle squealed only to quickly be hushed by Kelly and me.

"It was fine until Draco decided to tell me he has feelings for me and Harry showed up," I sighed, flopping onto the bed. Kelly looked at me in shock. I quickly explained what had happened and only stopped afterwards to see their shocked faces.

My own jaw dropped. I hadn't told them Harry and I were together yet. "I umm I mean that he... said that we... I..." I stumbled over my words, unable to make an excuse.

"Damn it!" Kelly hissed and I looked at her in confusion. She dug into her bag that was sitting on the floor and drew out a galleon. She begrudgingly handed it to Danielle who was doing a mini dance on the bed.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked them. Guilty looks dawned on both of their faces as I tapped my foot waiting for an explanation.

"Danielle and I have had a bet going on since the Yule Ball last year," Kelly responded. Despite the fact they were pretending to feel bad, they obviously didn't. They were both barely containing their laughter. "I said that you'd clearly end up with Draco but Danny was insistent that you and Harry were 'soulmates'.

I sighed at my two idiotic best friends. "Really? You've been making money off of who I liked?"

"Well you never talked to us about romance and so we took it upon ourselves to see who knew you better. Clearly," Danielle added with a smirk, "I was right."

I threw a pillow at her, knocking the smug look from her face. We talked for a while more before Danielle began to fall asleep on Kelly's shoulder and we all decided to sleep. The dormitory is silent at the minute. I waited until I was sure they were all asleep before I pulled my diary out to write in it. I'm currently hunched over with my wand between my teeth in an attempt to illuminate the page as I write. Hopefully, tomorrow is better than today's disaster.

***

I woke up the next morning to an empty dormitory. It was Saturday which meant I didn't have any lesson but last night, Kelly, Danielle and I had all decided to get an early start on revision. We did have our OWLs this year which absolutely terrified me but with Kelly's help, I'm sure I will do fine.

I quickly dressed myself in simple jeans a cropped yellow jumper that Danielle had knitted for me over the summer break. Her knitting skills had grown incredibly over the summer.

I pulled my vivid red hair back into a messy ponytail and slowly made my way down to the Great Hall. A few students entered at the same time as me and we appeared to be the only ones not already in there. The place was packed, almost every seat taken.

I walked over to the Hufflepuff table, glancing over to where my brother and Harry sat. Ron turned to smile at me as I sat down and while his head was turned, Harry winked at me. I swear my cheeks turned as red as my hair.

Turning my attention to my friends, I started putting food on my plate. The food at Hogwarts was nothing compared to my mum's food but god, it was still beautiful. I glanced at Danielle who was grinning like a schoolgirl.

"What?" I asked.

"You think we didn't notice that?" She replied, gesturing to Harry. Kelly kicked the blonde underneath the table.

"Danny, shut up!" She hissed. "Gina specifically told us they aren't telling people so you have to control your inner fangirl and pretend you don't know." Kelly ran an impatient hand through her hair then turned the page of the book sprawled out in front of her.

"Pretend you don't know what?" A voice asked. We turned to see Jacob and Becki stood behind us. Their emerald robes stood out stark against the sea of yellow surrounding us. Becki moved forward and put her arms casually around Kelly. Her chin rested on her head and Kelly's hand moved up to rest on her girlfriend's, all without breaking eye contact with her book.

It was Jacob that had spoken and immediately I looked down. "Nothing," I replied, dismissively. "Just girl stuff."

"I've been friends with four girls for five years now; I think I can handle girl talk." His tone was light and joking but his eyes displayed his curiosity. His black hair was long but styled perfectly as usual in a quiff.

Becki pulled away from Kelly and moved to sit in a seat at the Slytherin table, on the side closest to us. Jacob took his place next to her.

I rolled my eyes and returned to my book, dismissing him once again. The second we finished eating, I tried to whisk Danielle and Kelly off to the library as quick as possible to avoid further questions but, of course, Kelly had to say goodbye to Becki. She promised to catch up with her later.

Becki had always been a quiet part of our group. She'd never really spoke much and I assumed she was just quiet but after Kelly asked her to the Yule Ball, she'd completely changed. There was an ease to her that hadn't been there before. But that easy-going, happy mood dissolved almost the second you mentioned anything about her family.

Her parents had wanted her for years to be with Jacob, I mean he was the perfect candidate; pureblood, Slytherin, dark hair and incredibly handsome but they hadn't been all too impressed when she'd announced she was not only dating a Hufflepuff but a half-blood, female Hufflepuff. That had gone down like a led balloon.

As they were discussing when they would meet to catch up, Jacob sidled up beside me and whispered in my ear.

"What are you hiding, Weasley?" I turned to him and his eyes glittered mischievously. I shook my head and turned my focus back to Kelly and Becki who were hugging.

"None of your business, Jacob." My tone was curt and final but the Slytherin was not so easily strayed.

"Come on Gee, we've been friends for five years now, you can tell me anything. I won't tell anyone, not even Becki." He held out his hand, his pinky finger raised. I chuckled and linked his with mine.

"Fine but you can't tell Becki... or anyone!" He mimed a cross over his heart. "Harry and I... we... well we're kind of together."

Jacob looked at me in shock for a moment and then he grinned widely. "Gee! That's amazing! God, I was starting to think you two would never happen."

I chuckled and he began to interrogate me, asking for all the details. I brushed him off, excusing myself to go to the library with my two best friends. He made me swear to tell him everything later and I grinned, agreeing.

The three of us slowly made our way to the library, Danielle and I preparing for the hard morning ahead of us.