Overshadowed

Chapter 6

On the way to the Great Hall Justin and Susan updated me about my cousins upcoming death. Supposedly the divination teacher predicted his death and said he had the grim, whatever that is. We were still talking about it when we say down.

One of the reasons I loved Hogwarts was the food. The food was always delicious thanks to the house elves. Not many people knew about them, but it was common for us Hufflepuffs to sneak to the kitchens for snacks. I grabbed a chicken sandwich and some carrots for my plate. I also couldn't resist throwing a brownie on there too.

"So what is a grim?" I point my question at Ernie since he is most likely to know the answer.

"Its a death omen, apparently it often takes the shape of a big black dog," I gasp at his answer.

"I'll be right back," I walk around the Hufflepuff table to the Gryffindor table. Luckily, the tables are right next to each other and I don't have to awkwardly walk across the whole Great Hall to get there.

"Excuse me," I say to Ron as I push him out of the way to sit next to Harry.

"Hello to you too," Ron mutters but I ignore him, too focused on Harry.

"So I heard what happened in Divination, you know we saw that big black dog before we took the Knight Bus." I start rambling, "What if it really is the grim, you know how I believe the universe tries to tell me things. What if we both die, I'm too young."

"And I thought Harry was dramatic," Ron mutters again.

This time I choose not to ignore him. "What's wrong with a little dramatics, it keeps life interesting. Plus its really not that dramatic to believe that the dog we saw could potentially be the grim. We live in a world of magic and Harry has already almost died at the hand of some crazy person the past two years," I huff.

"Well, I guess when you put it like that..." Ron scratches the back of his neck.

"Not to worry you or anything, I mean it could have just been a dog, right?" I ask more to reassure myself.

"Honestly Delilah, I'll be fine. Like you said I've averted death enough times, even if it is the grim I'll probably find a way to evade that too."

"Good! I cannot go back to that house alone," I say.

"Well, I'll see you three in Care of Magical Creatures," I wave at Hermione, Ron and Harry.

I return back to the my seat and sandwich.

"Okay crisis averted, Harry and I just happened to see a large black dog after we ran away from home," I blurt out.

I take a big bit out of my sandwich. The chicken is perfectly seasoned, the bread perfectly toasted, some lettuce, tomato with a little bit of bacon.

"How is that a crisis averted, you potentially also saw a grim!" Hannah says exasperated.

"Well I'm not dead so as long as I don't see it again, I'm gonna count it as a win."

"There's that Dursley optimism," Ernie says.

I laugh because I'm really the only one in my family with it. It's more a Delilah trait rather than a Dursley trait.

"Thanks Ernie, I'm glad someone appreciates my optimism," I smile.

Ernie blushes a little and Hannah gives me a look from across the table. I just stick my tongue out at her, Ernie has always been prone to blushing. Despite being super smart and being all around nice, he has never accepted compliments well.

"Don't you think the snap of a carrot is such a satisfying noise?" I ask before I bite into a carrot to prove my point.

Hannah rolls her eyes at me, knowing I purposely changed the topics so she couldn't subliminally say something about Ernie and I.