𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂'𝓈 𝒜 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝓌𝒾𝓃'

September 1st, 1994

Watching Theodore move to the center of his seat, Sally-Ann smirked, her grey eyes nothing but trouble, "Still some room for you, Nott."

He rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest while he looked down at his feet, "I will manage over here."

Sally-Ann's smirk didn't even twitch as she lowered her voice, her words only audible to one person, "Sure he'd find you sitting on his lap a more tempting offer."

Iris pinched at Sally-Ann's leg, smiling to herself as the girl jerked. Listening to her grumble, Iris just laid her head on top of Sally-Ann's, letting her eyes close.

And there, the carriage went still and quiet. A shared moment of peace between the friends before they would start their school year.

Well almost.

Iris' eyes shot to Theodore with a glare, her foot kicking one of his, "I don't smell like wet dog."

A shared giggle went through the space, even Iris having to smile despite herself. Watching the discrete smile that sat on Theodore's lips at his proud bit of comedy.

She kicked his foot one more time before closing her eyes once more.

~~~~~~

The short trip from the carriages to the entrance hall was chaos. Students practically ran towards the castle doors, soaking their feet in puddles and slipping on the slick stairs.

A relief fell over everyone as they finally escaped the storm outside, but they still had a journey to make as everyone began the slow shuffle to the Great Hall. Iris stood quietly, separated from her friends and pulling endlessly at the scrunchie in her hair, finding her wet hair more uncomfortable by the second.

But she was distracted from her discomfort when she caught a familiar mop of black hair sneak in behind her. His two friends never far behind. She had turned to greet them, just catching Ronald Weasley complaining about something, when instead, she saw him hit square on the head with a bright red water balloon.

Iris had just about burst into laughter, but karma met her quickly as she was met with her own green water balloon straight to the face. Face hardened immediately, she shot her eyes upward, spotting the cause of the attack immediately. The jester of a poltergeist... Peeves. Only really funny when he wasn't focused on you.

He was some distance up above, pelting water balloons down on the already soaked-to-the-bone students. His prank was nothing more than an added annoyance but one Iris very much wanted to see revenge for.

And well, ask, and you shall receive, for out of the Great Hall burst none other than Professor McGonagall, "Peeves! Peeves, come down here at once!"

She had slipped briefly, hand finding support to balance herself in taking hold of Hermione Granger's neck... Iris was a bit less angry that time when karma sent her another water balloon as a second lesson.

Threatened with the Headmaster, Peeves was soon off, not without sending one last balloon wildly into the air.

And with that unexpected interaction ending as quickly as it had begun, Iris finally managed to turn to Harry Potter, giving him one strained smile, "Please tell me that isn't some yearly tradition for Peeves."

Harry blinked at the initial confusion that went through him, not having seen the girl for some time, but after a second, he smiled, "I've never had a normal trip back to Hogwarts."

Iris sighed, watching as Ron grumbled past them into the hall, Hermione expertly avoiding eye contact as she followed, "Well, I am just hoping the rest of the night goes by without any more water balloons, at the least. See you around, Harry."