The Forgotten Sister [Harry Potter Re-Write]

Chapter Thirteen- Silent Steps

"Eleven. Twelve next year." I state, then remembering the point she was making. 

"Yeah, growing up fast is kind of one of the necessities for having a sister like Hermione." I give her a sad smile. 

We continue walking round the back of the school, the scenery only getting prettier as the sun lays lower towards the ground.  

Emma slows her pace and I end up walking a few steps Infront of her before I turn my body around so I am walking backwards. 

"What do you mean by that?" She questions. 

I stop walking and my eyebrow raises. 

What did I say to make her confused?  

"Oh well I am a bit younger than most in my year I think-' 

"No not by that." She chuckled by my misunderstanding. 

'Why do you have to grow up fast? Isn’t your sister older than you?" She asked. 

"Yes, she is but.'  

I try and think of an explanation to my thoughts.  

'See. Hermione is really good in school. Personally, I am surprised she's not walking back to the Ravenclaw common room right now but I also know why she's not." I pause as Emma's eyebrows move into question. 

"She isn't afraid to be right." 

 Her eyebrows raise. 

I turn around and start walking again, Emma is right beside me.  

"That's why Hermione isn't in Ravenclaw. She speaks her truth and she isn't afraid of others' opinions, of her opinions." I smile to myself. 

 Reminding myself of how much I look up to my sister and what a great person she can be.  

Makes me sad to think about what she might think of me now. 

Walking along the path behind Hogwarts, the sun threatening to leave this side of the world in complete darkness. The walk goes quiet. Only the sounds of footsteps through gravel and the calm rustling of the tree leaves as the cool breeze sweeps past. It was peaceful. 

"So what was your sisters reaction to you being in Slytherin?" She asked me casually whilst walking ahead, crossing her legs over each other when walking. 

"Well I haven't exactly spoken to her so I can't really tell what she's thinking.." I drag on, not wanting to talk bad about my sister. 

"But you think she hates you from the way she looked after the hat chose your house. The way she didn't try and talk to you after the ceremony and the way she spoke about the house as a whole even before you got here. Correct?" Emma finished my sentence for me, checking off points with her fingers and finally stopping and looking back at me.  

My legs stopped moving too. My mouth opens to speak the little thoughts going through my head but Emma speaks before I can. 

"She doesn't hate you.' She reassures, 

'I can tell by the way you talk that you think she automatically hates you, I can tell you this is not true. You just need to find the right time to talk to her okay?" 

And I nod my head. 

We start to hear chattering again as we near the front of the school. The sun is so low now that there's barely any light outside. All of the windows to the school building were lit up with a warm yellow glow. 

I slow my pace down so I can take in the view of the castle. It really is marvelous. The Quiddich pitch is just behind us and I imagine what it would be like to ride a broom.  

Chasing after the snitch, going left, right, up, down at lightening speeds. The air flowing through my hair. I close my eyes, imagining the fun of it all.  

This could be a really great future. 

"Whatcha thinking 'bout squirt?" Emma's voice cuts through my daydreams. I open my eyes, a small smile playing on my lips. She's now ahead of me along the path, only by a couple of steps though. 

"Quiddich." I say. Still smiling. 

She lets off a soft 'ah' and smiles at me. Then her eyebrows are furrowed. 

"How do you know about that? I never knew what quiddich was until I went to my first game, behind muggle-born and all."  

"Hermione's books. I did read some of them, the ones that looked interesting." I laugh softly. 

She nods her head and we carry on to the front steps of Hogwarts. Emma stops and I, being right behind her, stop soon after. 

She pivots on the spot, turning to face me. She takes a deep breath. 

"Hufflepuffs are great people. They're the house Slytherins most commonly get on with. We usually have a few classes with each house but them mostly because of the friendship track record, you know?" She pauses. Thinking of what to say next. 

"We really aren't bad people. Just usually misunderstood. We act cold and judgmental only because that’s what people expect us to do and-' another breath, 

'I guess everyone wants to live up to people's expectations, right?" Emma puts a finger to her chin, still seemingly thinking of another point to pick. 

Right before the steps leading into Hogwarts I start moving me feet, 

I don’t know what to do with myself. How long is she going to be? I'm starting to get cold and I have no idea what she's going to say next. 

I think she can see my apprehension because she puts her hand back down to her waist and looks at me. 

"Sorry, I'm trying to think of all the questions I didn't answer for you or the conversations we didn’t finish. It's just a thing I do, I don’t like uncertainty." She says with a half-smile on her face. 

I smile back at her and an idea stuck. 

"How long does it take to get to the Slytherin common room?" I ask her, 

"Like ten minutes." She replied, also being struck by the same idea as me. 

"You're going to say that we can start walking up and I can think of what I am wanting to say on the way so that we don't have to stand out here in the cold for any longer." She states, giggling at the obvious idea. 

"I swear you can read minds." I say as we both start climbing the few stairs to the big front doors. 

She chuckles and replies with a shrug of the shoulders.  

And we start walking through the massive building. 

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