Begin Again

Chapter 4

Pandora and Stephanie quickly parted ways, not wanting any one to catch them together and snitch to Pandora's parents.

She walks back to the compartment she was sharing with her four friends. Hermione and Ron on the left bench and Harry and Luke on the right one, the middle seat between them empty for her.

She sits down before Luke lays his head on her lap causing her to start running her fingers through his hair. Harry leans his head on her right shoulder while holding on to her right arm.

She was used to the Potter brothers being so affectionate with her, and she didn't mind at all. Over the years their relationship blossomed. At first she saw them as the little brothers she had always wanted but around third year is when she became quite protective of them in a motherly way.

They even had an ongoing joke between them where they would refer to her as 'mum'. That happened after a certain conversation she had with them in the summer before their third year.

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Stephanie woke up from her sleep with a slight jolt. She didn't know what caused it but a feeling in her gut forced her to wake up from her slumber.

As she sits up on her bed, she glances around the door. Taking in the sight of the many bookshelves that lined the wall, the closet door, the bathroom door, the desk, her bedside table and Hermione's bed that she laid asleep on.

Her window that was right beside her bed had its curtains drawn open, illuminating the room with the pale moonlight.

Everything was normal.

Her picture frames, plush toys, books, posters, vinyls, record player. Everything was in its designated spot. And Hermione was asleep.

So why did she feel the need to wake up?

She got out of bed, making sure not to make any noise to not wake Hermione up, and put on her sandals.

She felt such urgency that she didn't even bother to put on a cardigan or a robe to protect herself from the chilly night.

She wore normal pajama shorts and a long sleeve shirt with a frill of lace on the low v neck.

She walked down the long hallway of the Thornhart Manor before stopping in front of the door that belonged to the boys' room. She slowly opens the door before looking inside and finding two out of the three beds empty. Ron asleep on his bed without a care in the world while snoring.

She closes the door before walking down the long staircase. She checks the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, and every other possible place before seeing the back door unlocked.

She quickly closes the door behind her before pulling down her sleeves over her hands and wrapping her arms around herself. Looking for a way to shield herself for the chilly weather.

She looks around; the pool area was alone, the water fountain running like normal and the quidditch pitch was alone.

As she looked down the several yards of her backyard, she knew they had gone into the woods. She had shown them in the summer after their first year, that after walking about ten minutes into the woods, there was a lake.

Stephanie and her brothers have lived at the Thornhart Manor their entire lives but no one knew about that lake until she was three years old.

Her and Chris, who were three and four, had decided to go exploring after their older brothers ignored them. They, more like Chris who forced Stephanie to go with him, figured it was a good idea to go into the woods. After what felt like an entire to little them, they arrived at the lake.