(2) Patrimony (H. Potter)

Chapter Seven

Harry sits on the end of Rhiannon's bed as she packs up her trunk for Hogwarts, a lot of her new supplies having been delivered to Grimmauld, she assumes they are from Dumbledore, as she literally has no one else that could have possibly organised it for her. She sets a stack of letters from Viktor into the trunk, she's had to be careful about what she's written to him, just in case her mail was to be intercepted, but she's been lucky. So far all of her letters have gotten through to him, she assumes anyway because he has written back to all of them.

"And you just draw them on your skin with your wand....?" Harry muses, and Rhiannon hums and nods. He's asking her about her runes.

"It's sort of like infusing something, whether my skin or a rock, with a spell...." She explains.

"And they all mean something different?" She nods. "What about that one?" He asks pointing at the faded rune on the back of her neck. Rhiannon reaches back and touches it.

"Okay, so don't judge me" She starts as she turns to face him. "It's a memory one" She admits. "I can activate it when I'm studying, and it helps me absorb the information" He chuckles and shakes his head.

"You cheat" He points out, she shakes her head.

"Urm...no" She defends with a smirk. "I use the skills that are available to me..." She offers, and he gives her a look back. "I still study hard, I work really hard" She points out. "It just helps information go in..."

"What are you two talking about?" Ron asks as he and Hermione walk into the room.

"Rhian's runes" Harry answers as he looks at them. "It's pretty amazing" Rhiannon shrugs.

"It is" Hermione argues with that shrug. "It's rare magic, Rhian, not many do it because it is so hard to master...I would never even attempt it"

"How many do you have?" Harry asks Rhiannon.

"A few" She answers. "I don't use them very often....and not in excess" She touches the one on her wrist, her fingers soft and her eyes sad.

"What's that one?" Ron asks her.

"I..." She starts. "It's a memorial one" She looks at him. "For Diggory" She pulls her sleeve down over her arm to cover it again. "It doesn't actually do anything, it's just...." She shrugs. "To remind me...." She turns away from them and adjusts the books on the small dresser.

"Can you draw them on other people?" Hermione asks, changing the subject to protect her friend from having to be reminded about what happened last year. Rhiannon shrugs.

"I've never tried, but in theory.....possibly..." She answers and turns back to them. "There is a certain degree of risk" She explains. "If I get it wrong, well, anything from burning the skin...to....driving the individual insane...."

"Starting to understand why it's frowned upon" Ron mumbles, Rhiannon hums in agreement.

"It's why it's more accepted to draw them onto objects...." She offers. "I use stones mostly" She lets out a breath and shrugs a little.

"Have you thought about what house you're going to be sorted into?" Hermione asks, changing the subject to school because she's excited about having her friend around again, she loved having Rhiannon around, having someone smart enough to go toe to toe with. Rhiannon shrugs. She's thought about it. but to be honest, she didn't really pay all that much attention to the other houses last year. She was more concerned about staying alive.

"Well, was placed with the Slytherins last year, they're cunning, intelligent, determined......figured that's my place" She answers.

"Come on, you're not Slytherin bad" Ron offers, Rhiannon, Hermione, and Harry all turn to stare at him. Rhiannon lets out a barking laugh.

"Oh, ho..." Rhiannon teases, dropping her arm over Ron's shoulder. He rolls his eyes but smiles. They've bonded slightly in the time they've spent together here, she's dropped her Durmstrang shell and shown the real real Rhiannon, and she's...not as bad as he thought. "Hear that" She looks at Ron. "Not Slytherin bad, huh? Gleaming review, Ronald, but" She softens. "Not all Slytherins are bad or evil" She offers. "I met some nice ones last year, they weren't all pureblood elitists..." Ron gives her a look. "What?" She asks him as she pulls her arm back from him. "They're not all terrible people" She defends. Harry smiles softly knowing that it's just her. It's why he is sure she is actually going to be a Hufflepuff. Yes, she is brave, intelligent, and cunning, but they're not her most defining or most important traits. She is kind and compassionate, above all. Ron nudges Rhiannon.

"Don't make me take it back" He counters. The four of them laugh together, a lightness that contradicts everything going on around them. Harry shakes his head amused watching his friends and....well, whatever Rhiannon is to him. Sirius knocks on the door frame and hates to interrupt hearing them happy. When they see him, they all fall silent, realisation hitting them, their good mood disappearing. Harry looks down and lets out a breath.

"Are you ready?" Sirius asks Harry who shrugs a little and glances at his friends, each of them giving him a reassuring smile, but none of them knows how this is going to turn out. None of them knows what is going to happen. Hermione suddenly hugs Harry tightly.

"They'll have to let you off, Harry...you were defending yourself. I checked the laws"

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry tells her warmly when she pulls back. Ron glowers slightly at Hermione.

"What does he get a hug for?" Ron asks.

"When you have to go to a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic, I'll hug you too" Hermione counters, Harry and Rhiannon share a look, she smirks and wiggles her eyebrows, and he smirks and looks down.

"Oh sure, that's why" Ron mumbles. Rhiannon moves closer to Harry as Ron and Hermione continue to argue. Rhiannon touches Harry's hand and slides a stone into his palm. He glances at it, drawing his thumb over the rune on it.

"It's for luck" She whispers warmly as she hugs him. Harry hugs her back, hand clutching at the back of her shirt and playing with her hair.