Pragma // s.b.

1

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The morning sunlight pouring over the cozy room was almost as warm and bright yellow as the quilt that stretched over my four poster bed. I could hear birds chirping merrily outside the small circular window located above me, and the fresh scent of herbs filled my nostrils. I allowed my eyelids to flutter open, and my gaze fell upon the vase of pink peonies sitting on my nightstand that I had taken from the greenhouse the day before when we arrived at the castle, fresh from summer break.

My bed dipped and I felt light paws padding towards me. I sat up. "Good morning, Poppy", I whispered. My fluffy white kitten purred loudly, rubbing up against my arm, her wet nose causing a shiver to run up my spine. "Shh", I placed a kiss on the top of her head, "You'll wake the others". I knew none of the Hufflepuff 6th year girls would be awake this early, you don't share a dormitory with four girls for the past five years without getting to know them pretty well.

Letting out a deep yawn, I smiled to myself. It felt good to be back. Hogwarts was my second home, and while I loved my parents and the small farm we lived on, I had always yearned for something more. I had a deep respect for what they did. The fact that my dad tended to the animals and gardens without magic for my mom's sake, even though he's a wizard, always made it very clear to me that my parents are madly in love to this day.

They raised me and my younger brother with fierce love, teaching us how to be bold and work hard, so it made sense that I was in Hufflepuff and Ronan, now 14, was in Gryffindor. Life on the farm was simple and good, but, I always knew there must be something else out there for me. Something bigger than growing radishes and potatoes and making sure the chickens were fed, as cliche as that sounds.

I glanced up at the large clock stationed by the door of the dormitory between two large bright green dangling plants. It read 6:30 AM. I peaked around the room. As I suspected, the rest of the girls were still sound asleep. One of the curses of growing up on a farm is that most of the work has to be done before the sun even has a chance to rise. I didn't mind though, it just meant I got first pick of breakfast foods in the Great Hall.

Poppy mewed softly and I grinned down at her, quietly filling her bowl with water using a spell that came easily to me. Like most Hufflepuffs, my strength lies with Herbology. However, it came as quite a shock to everyone that the person who always got the highest score of our year in potions was "that short Hufflepuff girl". Shockingly, I was amazing at brewing and concocting every type of potion imaginable, and though I would never admit it out loud, it was my favorite class.

Slipping into my robes, I ran a brush through my strawberry blonde hair and did my makeup as quickly as possible in the bathroom. I tiptoed back through the dormitory and noticed that Poppy had joined the rest of the girls in sleeping. Slinging my book bag over my shoulder, I smiled slightly, content with everything in my life at that moment, ready for the year and whatever it may bring me. Oh, if only I had known what it would bring me.

****

It was another hour before anyone joined me at the Hufflepuff table. I was already halfway through my second lemon poppyseed muffin and on my third cup of coffee. "I see some things never change", a sweet voice laughed from behind me. I quickly shut the book I was reading and smiled over at my best friend, "Enjoy sleeping in?", I winked. Olivia twisted her dark brown hair into a messy knot at the back of her head and rolled her eyes, "8:00 is not sleeping in". I giggled and stabbed a sausage onto my fork, then took a bite, savoring the flavor as it melted in my mouth. Nothing beat Hogwarts cooking, and living so close to the kitchen meant us Hufflepuffs got the best of the best, because we often dropped by to grab a snack or offer our assistance to the house elves.

"Morning, Olivia! Morning, Briony!", the two shining faces of the twins smiled as they waved in unison. "Good morning", Olivia said through a mouthful of eggs, "Summer treat you well?". The two girls burst into a chatter about their holiday in France. It was incredible how much Amber and Skye looked alike. They were like carbon copies, each with tanned skin and curly blonde hair. The only way to tell them apart is the pair of fashionable glasses worn by Skye, which we were all secretly very glad for.

"Any signs of life from Maggie?", I said glancing around for our final roommate, "I don't want her to oversleep on the first day of class". Amber shook her head and Olivia shrugged. "I'll go wake her up, I'm not too hungry anyway", Skye said, standing, "The first day of classes always makes me nervous". We all nodded and the three of us remaining broke into conversation, laughing about the slight mess that was Maggie, with her lilac colored hair and inability to get up before noon. We were soon joined by a group of rowdy Hufflepuff boys, which just so happened to include Amber's annoying, but very sweet and loyal, boyfriend Tanner.

I looked at the smiling faces around me and couldn't help but feel a wash of gratitude. I couldn't believe I had such amazing friends, ones who made me smile everyday and accepted me for who I was. I opened my mouth to respond to a question Olivia had just asked me, but never got the chance too. A loud crack sounded from the Slytherin table followed by a scream and then obnoxious laughter. Everyone's heads turned to try and see what had caused the commotion. Severus Snape stood out of the crowd of parted Slytherins, covered in a buffet of breakfast food and looking murderous.

The entire Great Hall was silent. A flash of bright red hair flitted past the Hufflepuff table and I heard Lily Evans' voice, "Come on, Sev. Let's get you cleaned up". She dragged him out of the room, and after a slightly awkward moment, conversation quickly began to pick up, until it was back to loud chatter. "You know, I really thought they'd wait at least a day before trying to cause unnecessary trouble", I breathed out, annoyedly shoving another sausage into my mouth.

Olivia's eyes followed mine to the Gryffindor table to see who I was looking at, but she really didn't need too. There sat Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew all looking smug and like they had just won the lottery. "Oh, loosen up, Bri. Let them have their fun. It's not like it effects you at all", Olivia said in a calming voice. I tried not to get worked up, it was too early in the morning and year for that. "I don't have a problem with fun, I just have a problem with people that need to embarrass others to have it".

She nodded, knowing there was no use fighting me, we had had this conversation many times. I shook my head, hoping to get rid of the negative feelings towards the four boys across the room. "What class have we got first?", I said, gathering my things and standing. "History of Magic with the Ravenclaws", Liv said, following my lead. She linked her arm with mine. We would have waited for Amber, but she was a little preoccupied with Tanner after not seeing him all summer. "This is going to be a year we'll never forget, Liv", I let out as we made our way out of the Great Hall. "You think so?", she cocked a thick eyebrow at me. "I know so", I winked back, and the pair of us continued down the hallway, a noticeable spring in both of our steps.

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