His Hufflepuff ; Fred Weasley

51

The home cinema was filled with laughter from my friends and I. We had decided to watch a comedy horror film which Nick surprisingly went along with. One of us would at one point make some kind of joke and we'd laugh. We'd also laugh about how stupid the victims in the movie were. Running upstairs when they have the front door right next to them?

When I think about it, I would probably do the same.

I would never survive a horror film. I'd probably be the first one to die.

It was nice sitting here with my friends, sharing two buckets of popcorn with them. I sat on the front line with Seth and Melba while Callie, Nate and Nick sat on the row behind us. Seth sat between Melba and I, holding a bucket of popcorn so the two of us could reach for it better.

Being here with the five of them made everything so much better. We hadn't had a movie night in years and it made me feel happy, made me forget everything else that was happening in my life at the moment.

Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. We were one week from entering the new year and I was excited because I had the feeling that 1996 would bring more joy than 1995 has. This year I was cheated on, I spent months heartbroken and then I let him in again but then I found out my best friends likes me which has caused tension between him and my boyfriend. I found out my dad had lied to me my whole life, that I do have a mother who loves me and then my dad hit me when I confronted him about it.

Yeah, this year hadn't been very pleasurable but I was sure the next one was going to get a whole lot better. Fred was tracking down my mother and my brothers for me so maybe 1996 would bring me back to the family I've longed for my entire life.

The first thing I did when the movie ended, was announcing that I needed a smoke. I really did crave it and Seth invited himself along, following me outside into the cold after we had slipped on some shoes and our coats.

"Are you excited for Christmas?" He asked and helped me light my cigarette before lighting his own.

I inhaled, holding the cigarette between my lips. I felt the smoke reach my lungs and I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the feeling. When I opened them again and exhaled, I noticed that Seth was staring right at me while inhaling his own cigarette.

"Excited?" I questioned. "Excited to spend it with you guys, yeah—"

I sat down on the rock that stood next to the front door, then sighed and looked up at Seth while I inhaled again.

"Knowing I don't have my own family to celebrate with kinda ruins the mood though." I exhaled. Seth crouched down next to me, then let himself fall to his behind to sit against the wall of the house.

"Family doesn't necessarily have to be blood." He explained to me. "Family is loyalty, selflessness, love and genuine care and concern for others. For each other. You choose your family, J."

While keeping my eyes on him, I guided the cigarette back between my lips and inhaled sharply. Then I exhaled after a moment.

"Well, then I choose you." I said. "You five have been more of a family to me these past six and a half years than my father has."

Seth's eyes lit up a little and a smile spread on his lips before he scooted over to make room for me on the ground, so I moved down to sit next to him.

"Fred is gonna try and track down my mum and my brothers." I told him and he turned his head, leaning it against the wall as he watched and listened to me talk.

After taking another puff of the cigarette, I coughed into my fist, then continued. "You know, I've never wanted to know her because I thought she left me but now I know she left my dad and I want to know more than the stupid diary can tell me."

Seth hummed in response, taking a puff as he moved his head back to look out at the garden in front of us.

"What do you reckon your mum's like?"

"I don't know." I breathed and it was true. I had absolutely no idea. The thought had crossed my mind several times. I'd imagine what she was like but it was hard and I had to not hope for the best so I didn't get disappointed if she wasn't nice a all.

"How do you think she'll react if you find her and finally meet her?"

I chuckled and looked at him as he smiled. "What's with the questions?"

"I'm just being curious." He chuckled, nudging me with his elbow. "C'mon. What do you think'll happen?"

"You're not being curious, you're being nosy." I joked before I shrugged and leaned back against the wall, inhaling my cigarette before exhaling the smoke. "No uh— I think either she'll be happy, hug me and introduce me to my brothers. Maybe she'll cry either of happiness or because of the shock of seeing me. Perhaps she can't recognize and maybe she won't even want to know me. She's lived seventeen years without a daughter and only her sons. Maybe that's enough for her. Maybe she doesn't want more. Maybe she doesn't want me."

"Oi!" Seth playfully smacked his hand against my knee. "Anyone would be lucky to know you and if she doesn't want anything to do with you, it's her loss."

I smiled at him and when I finished my cigarette, I extinguished it before putting it back into my pack of cigarettes to throw it out later. Seth was still only halfway on his own cigarette so I decided to stay out here and wait for him to finish.

"I think..." Seth's voice sounded and I looked at him as he stared up at the dark sky full of bright stars. "... there might be something out there."

"Huh?"

He grinned as he looked at me with one eye closed while taking a puff of his cigarette.

"At the start of the school year you asked us if you though aliens existed."

He remembered that?

"That was such a meaningless conversation." I chuckled. "But— so you do think they're real?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know about aliens, but I do think there is some type of life on other planets."

"What kind of life?" I asked him. "Humans? Animals? Plants?"

"I don't know." He laughed, shaking his head. "Maybe plants, yeah."

I nodded.

"Wouldn't that mean there'd be water as well?" I asked. "And with water humans should be able to survive."

"Perhaps." He grinned and removed the cigarette from his lips, holding it between his thumb and his index as he looked at it with narrowed eyes. "We should quit smoking."

I couldn't help but laugh as I nodded in agreements and he looked at me, joining in on the soft laughing.

"We really should." I said. "It's a disgusting habit."