Potter

Chapter 89

The letters arrived at two in the afternoon on a Friday.

"Mail!" Sirius called from the kitchen, prompting me up from my cozy spot on the living room chair to join him there.

The kitchen was crowded with the usual suspects; Sirius, sitting at the table and accompanied by Theo and Blaise while they played a round of wizard's chess that seemed to be going forever.  Harry was spending the day at the Burrow, while Draco had fallen at some point on the couch, but that was to be expected on long summer days.

"Anything for me?" I asked as I took a seat beside Blaise, noting briefly how the chess game was going– Theo appeared to be winning for once– before I looked up to my dad. Sirius shrugged, flipping through the mail briefly before he offered a crisp, pale blue envelope out to me. When I took it, he then pushed a similar one over to where Theo sat.

"Looks like Saint Mungo's got back to you," Sirius said, his tone deceptively casual. I nodded, a little wary of the blue envelope held between my fingers. My future, about to be laid out for me by a piece of parchment.

Brilliant.

"So, should we open them at the same time?" Theo asked as one of his  rooks took out Blaise's pawn in a swift motion. I nodded, looking up to my friend with a small frown.

"What if one us didn't get in?"

Theo shrugged. "Well, one, that's highly unlikely. And two, if it doesn't happen, then we'll riot until they let us both in."

"Sounds good," I said, then slid my finger under the envelope to rip it. Theo merely used a severing charm, the paper splitting smoothly under the tip of his wand, but the gawky feeling of opening up the envelope with my hands felt satisfactory.

Briefly, and not for the first time, I wondered what my parents would think of it; would my dad be proud, my mother perhaps a bit puzzled, but pleased all the same? Would they resent that I had been thrown into the world of magic at all?

"I got in," Theo's voice interrupted my thoughts, and I looked over to him. He had opened the letter and unfolded it quickly, dark eyes scanning over it before he looked up at everyone. "I actually got accepted."

"Congrats, Nott," Sirius said, clapping him on the shoulder and looked rather amused when Theo appeared surprised by the gesture. Theo nodded, for once looking a tad bashful, before his eyes sought me out.

"What about you, Brownie?"He asked, hesitancy in his tone. There was no hesitancy in my movements as I pulled out the parchment and unfolded it, my eyes scanning the paragraphs briefly. The results hit my chest first, relief blooming as I let out a low breath and looked up to the people around me.

"I got in," I said, the words tight in my throat. It was like a hidden weight on my shoulders had been lifted. Theo grinned, and Sirius's smile was bright. Beside me, Blaise smiled, and nudged me with his elbow.

"Congratulations. To both of you, of course."

"Thanks," I said, unable to keep from smiling. I scanned through the letter again one more time, taking in the details I had neglected the first time. It contained a congratulations, and a list of the necessary items like trainee Healer gear and a book that would surely be a pain to read. My first day would be September seventh.

Theo seemed to have read that bit the same time as me, as his expression appeared even brighter than before.

"Ha! We get one more week of summer than you," Theo told Blaise triumphantly. Blaise shrugged, moving a chest piece and appearing quite pleased with himself when Theo's queen fell.