We Will Shine {Book 6 in the Star of Gryffindor Series}

Chapter 6 - A New Partner

~Wren~

"Why haven't we gotten our Hogwarts letters yet?" Albus asked, glumly staring out the window at breakfast one morning. Normally, they came the third week of July, but it was a week into August now, and no sign of them.

"What, worried you won't get in?" James asked, snickering.

"No! I want my O.W.L. results!"

"Oh. Right." James shrugged, glancing at Mr. Potter.

Mr. Potter sighed. We'd had this conversation every morning for a week. "I'm not sure why."

"Go ask Kimmel what she thinks she's doing, please," Albus said. "I'm getting very stressed out."

I was also nervous about the results of our exams. However, that worry paled in comparison to literally everything else in my life. I had sympathy for Albus, of course, but I couldn't work up more than a little agitation about it. It wasn't like we wouldn't be allowed to come back to school, after all, and I was sure they had records of our exam results on file. Our Hogwarts letters being late wasn't as big a deal.

"I'll look into it, Al," Mr. Potter said, standing up. "Kimmel might have just gotten busy and hasn't had time to get them all out yet. And it's Elaine's first year as deputy headmaster, so she's probably trying to figure everything out."

"Wait, what?" James said, dropping his toast. "Haverna is the deputy headmaster? Since when?"

Mr. Potter raised an eyebrow. "Last June. Kimmel announced it at the feast on the last day of school."

We'd skipped that, actually. Astra had rattled off several reasons, but I think the biggest was the fact that they had been trying to cheer me up. I glanced at James, who had pursed his lips and was staring at the table. Albus was the one who chuckled nervously. "We, uh... we didn't go to that."

"Why not?" Mr. Potter gave us a weird look.

"Didn't feel like it," James said, waving his hand. "Why on earth is it Haverna?"

Mr. Potter shrugged. "I have no idea why Kimmel picked her. I know she accepted because it is an invaluable place to have a DA member, especially one who isn't quite as obvious as Neville."

After he'd Flooed off to work (and a DA mission that was supposed to last all night), James hopped up. "Something's up."

"What?" I asked, but Albus and Lily were both nodding in agreement.

"His voice always goes up weirdly when he's lying," Albus said, frowning. "Why wouldn't he tell us the truth?"

"About what?" I asked.

"Our Hogwarts letters, of course!" James sighed in frustration.

"You think they'll let us go back to Hogwarts, right?" Lily asked, biting her lip. "I'm already going mad stuck here, and we have a month left of the holiday."

"I'm sure if he didn't tell us something, there's a good reason," I said quickly.

"Easy for you to say," Albus said. "You always get to hear everything we don't."

I blinked. "If I knew something about this, I'd tell you!"

"Not necessarily," Albus replied. "You hardly told us anything for a year!"

I blinked. That wasn't my fault. He knew that, right? Did he... Did he really think that? And if he harbored thoughts like that, who's to say Astra didn't, as well?

"Shove off, Al," James said hotly. "That's not all right."

Albus colored immediately, hanging his head. "Sorry, Wren. That wasn't fair. I'm just really nervous about my results."