Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Not So Typical Fairy-tale (Frank Longbottom)

It seemed like they'd been talking about this since the moment I turned 16 - and that was only the conversations that they had in front of me. I had no doubt that they'd been having these conversations long before my 19th birthday. Again, without seeing the need to face me, mother dismissed me without a second glance and not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I hurried out of the drawing room and back to my bedroom.

Stepping into the room and closing the door quietly behind me, I turned instantly towards the window where an owl was waiting, tapping its beak repeatedly against the glass. Hurrying across the room to open the window, I stroked a finger apologetically across the top of its head when it perched on my window sill.

"Poor thing," I murmured, recognising the owl as Frank's personal owl and taking my letter from it. "Who knows how long you've been waiting out there."

Grabbing some owl treats from the bowl on my desk, I fed the owl a handful before gesturing for it to leave. The first few times the owl had visited me, it had stubbornly waited for an answering letter that I had no intention of writing. And now, about two dozen times later, it had accepted that I wasn't going to send a letter back to its owner. Once it had recovered from the strain of its flight, the owl turned and flew away.

Closing the window once again, I opened the letter and read over its content. Really it was nothing special; just Frank checking in and talking about how he had spent the last week of his holidays and his regret that we were returning to Hogwarts for our final term. It was nothing much - nothing at all, really - and yet it made me smile.

Carefully folding the letter again, I replaced it in the envelope before setting it on the growing pile of letters on the corner of my desk. Each of them was from the same sender and each had gone unanswered. This time would be no different.

**********

Summer had once again returned to the school and the students made the most of each sunny day; Salazar knew how long the weather would last before taking a turn an eventual for the worse. My friends and I had naturally gathered around one of the trees bordering the school once we had finished our final lessons of the day. Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the tree trunk with a content smile. Even though we all had work to be doing, an afternoon lazing around in the shade was just too hard to resist.

Eyes closed, I listened to my dormmates as they chattered quietly about the rumours about Snape and how the stupid git had been caught by one of the younger years with the mark on his arm. Avery and the rest of the boys that were part of that slimy gang, had crowded around the fifth year and forced the boy into submission and the house all kept Snape's allegiance to ourselves. Whilst most of us might not all have agreed with what Snape was clearly rooting for, we were loyal to each other. We protected each other because Merlin knew that no one else in this school would.

"How stupid does he have to be in order to be found out by a ruddy fifth year?" I wondered aloud, my question met my murmured agreements which were soon overpowered by the sudden peals of laughter.

The joyous sound pierced through the quiet and I reluctantly forced myself to sit up properly, opening my eyes as I grumbled, "Bloody Gryffindors."

And sure enough, as I turned towards the sound, I pursed my lips at the sight of the five boys with red and gold ties wrapped around their necks - well, Black had his tied around his head and it seemed that Potter had chosen to ditch his altogether. One by one, my friends did the same and looked towards the group of Gryffindors with disdain.

"How old are they?" Leslie grouched with a sigh as we watched the seventh year male Gryffindors toss what seemed to be an enchanted frisbee around.