dursley [h. g.]

••dursley•• || damon's summer

there are mentions of some homophobic/gaslighting behavior at the end of the chapter <3

The rest of the summer passed with a surprising amount of rhythm. Hermione seemed to have decided that since neither of them was in relationships anymore, it would be perfectly alright for them to be friends. So when Hermione wasn't dealing with Harry's temper tantrums (which were the most explosive and frequent that Kendra had ever seen- though she stayed out of it, she knew he was grieving for Cedric and all he felt right now was anger), her and Kendra would go through the collection of books in Grimmauld Place. The time Kendra didn't spend with Hermione, she spent with Ginny or Sirius, both of whom had come to be her good friends.

But eventually, summer ended, and September came. It was the first time that Kendra was sad to be leaving for Hogwarts. She had found something new in the ancient townhouse, something she couldn't have gotten at Number 4 Privet Drive. But she wasn't upset as she boarded the train and waved goodbye to "Snuffles" and the rest of their accompanying crew. She was excited to see the friends she hadn't seen since before the world had changed. She was excited to be learning again, though she had already read through the defense against the dark arts book and she didn't have high hopes. She was excited to be study buddies with Hermione again. And though she wouldn't say it to his face, she was excited to be out of the house with Harry and put some distance between them.

He was still grieving, and Kendra couldn't fault him for it. But she did not deal well with anger; it made her feel like a small child in trouble with her father. There was a deep psychological connection between yelling and the feeling of her father's belt against her bare skin that she couldn't get rid of. She would have felt guilty to tell Harry to stop because she was perfectly aware that was how he dealt with things, that was how he had always known things to be dealt with, and it was only now in his life that he felt safe enough to release his anger at the world. It was better to remove herself from the situation and let Ron and Hermione deal with it. Hermione had said she didn't like the yelling either, but she understood it enough to not let it bother her.

She was grinning as she found Lisa on the train. The brunette lept up, grinning wildly. "Kendra!" Lisa squealed unabashedly. The two embraced and Kendra knew at that moment just how much she had missed Lisa. She had felt as though a part of her had been missing until they were reunited.

"Hey, Lis," Kendra said, smiling still as she sat down in the carriage. That was when she noticed that Emelia Thimbleton, who would normally sit with the other Slytherins, was curled up in the corner of the compartment, smirking at the reunion. "Oh, hi, Emelia, how was your summer?"

Emelia scoffed. "Don't ask, you don't wanna know. I should be asking you that. You became quite the subject of gossip when you collapsed at the third task and no one saw you for the rest of the term." Kendra shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the third task. She forced a smile on her face.

"Well, if there was so much gossip, wouldn't you know?" Kendra asked. Emelia smiled dryly and waved her hand about.

"Oh, you know how it is at Hogwarts, Dursley, don't pretend. If it's a secret, the whole school knows. If everyone's talking about it, then no one knows, but everyone thinks they do. Just because I know all the gossip doesn't mean I don't know if it's true or not," Emelia stared at Kendra expectingly.

"I told everyone you got poisoned," Lisa said cheerily, opening a pack of Drooble's and popping the gum in her mouth. Emelia held out her hand, her expecting eyes not glancing away from Kendra.

"Thank you," Kendra said, smiling at Lisa. Her smiled flickered as she turned back to Emelia. "It's not a very fun story. I had a heart attack, and they had to put me to sleep for a month to save my life. I had to get a few surgeries too."