On Saturday, (Y/n) strode quite casually into the medical wing. Madam Pomfrey gave her a brief glance before looking back down at whatever she was doing. She looked back up again.
"(Y/n)!" Madam Pomfrey greeted nervously. "You never check in by yourself..."
"No..." (Y/n) said. "But this is the only place I can go to get away from people without getting in trouble."
"You can't just check in whenever you want to, you know?" Madam Pomfrey mused.
"But I sprained my wrist with all the writing I've had to do," (Y/n) defended.
"Looks like you've taken care of it," Madam Pomfrey said, nodding her head down at (Y/n)'s wrist.
"Yeah," (Y/n) murmured. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just don't want to be around anyone right now because they're going to force me to do this I need to do but I can't bring myself to do it."
"What do you mean?" Madam Pomfrey pressed.
"Eating," (Y/n) mumbled. "It feels more like a chore than a... means of living. I still eat, but not enough to satisfy them, I guess." Madam Pomfrey looked extremely off-put at the news that (Y/n) wasn't eating as much as she should be.
"You have a therapy session later today, correct?" Madam Pomfrey asked slowly.
"Um... Well..." (Y/n) averted her eyes.
"(Y/n)," Madam Pomfrey said softly, "you need to talk to someone— and not just anyone," she added the moment (Y/n) opened her mouth. "Someone who has studied human emotions
"I know," (Y/n) mumbled gloomily. "Maybe I'll write to my therapist and apologize for ghosting her."
"That's a great start," Madam Pomfrey praised, bringing (Y/n) an apple juice patch. "And sometimes, it's okay to face the things you're dreading," she added in a knowing tone. (Y/n) looked down at her lap, silently drinking the apple juice pouch.
"Happy birthday, 'Mione," (Y/n) said, strolling over to the lonesome Hermione with a present in hand. Hermione beamed positively, adding (Y/n)'s gift to the two others she had from her parents. (Y/n) then set down the red velvet (per Hermione's request) cake down before sitting across from Hermione.
Ginny was the one to give the suggestion of an early birthday celebration for Hermione due to her birthday being on a weekday and to have a nice wind-down and offer Hermione the appreciation she deserved.
"Thank you," Hermione said. "Harry and Ron just went to get my gifts..."
"I just sent Ginny down to the kitchens because I couldn't carry the drink platter," (Y/n) said.
"Laid-back type of day, then?" Hermione asked. (Y/n) nodded.
"And after dinner, I can get you and Ginny into my dorm or we can go to one of yours," (Y/n) added.
"Mine?" Hermione suggested.
"Yeah. It's your choice," (Y/n) shrugged. "I wish there was more we could have planned... But there's not much we can do at Hogwarts without getting in trouble for it... We could've done a party, but I know you aren't big on them." Hermione shook her head in confirmation.
"A small company, cake, and your gifts are more than enough," Hermione smiled. She paused for a moment. "Did you like your party?" (Y/n) smiled strained, giving Hermione all the answers she needed.
"I just wish they waited a year," (Y/n) admitted. "What's so special about sixteen?"
"You can drive," Hermione shrugged. (Y/n) gasped.
"My license! I never took the test," (Y/n) murmured. Ginny snorted from behind her.
"This is the right thing, right?" Ginny asked, holding a stack of cups and a pitcher of Butterbeer.
"Mhm," (Y/n) nodded. Ginny set down the pitcher and drinks before sitting down beside (Y/n).
"What're we talking about?" Ginny asked.
"Parties," Hermione answered. Ginny rose an eyebrow. "(Y/n) was telling me that she thinks she'd enjoy her party more if it was postponed a year." (Y/n) stared at Hermione in betrayal.
"Ah," Ginny hummed. "It was an attempt to cheer you up... A failed one, I guess," she shrugged. (Y/n) looked extremely tense, frightened she upset Ginny. "What?" Ginny blinked.
"You aren't mad at me?"
"Why would I be?" Ginny snorted. "I didn't plan it and Luna's dad even advised heavily against it... but Mum was insistent... Don't tell her I said this, but... I reckon she was trying to get you to lash out so she'd have an actual reason to dislike you."
"Huh?" Hermione and (Y/n) asked at the same time Harry and Ron finally reappeared with their presents for Hermione.
"What makes you think that?" Hermione asked. "I thought your mum got over her dislike for (Y/n)..." Ginny half-grimaced as though she didn't want to talk about the matter.
"Well... Mum thinks (Y/n)'s going to unintentionally use someone to get over Warrington," Ron said slowly. (Y/n) frowned deeply, pausing her action of cutting Hermione's cake.
"Why's everyone dismissive of her feelings?" Hermione asked.
"I know..." Ginny agreed. She paused and turned to (Y/n). "But you already know what Mum's been saying, don't you?"
"I do," (Y/n) said quietly. "I know what everyone says and, gosh, I just want to close my stupid mind but Dumbledore's doing nothing to help..."
"I can't tell if he's slacking off, too caught up with the Order, or purposefully trying to get us riled up," Harry said furiously.
"I doubt Dumbledore's slacking off," Ginny said. "And why would he want us riled up?"
"Isolation," (Y/n) said.
"Huh?"
"Make us think no one's there to help us and then swoop in at the end to be the valiant hero and that we need to pledge our loyalty to him," (Y/n) said.
"No..."
"Is it that far-fetched?" (Y/n) frowned.
"Ginny?" Hermione gaped. Her jaw was practically on the floor at the sight of Ginny strolling into the Gryffindor common room with a fennec fox in her arms. Harry's mouth fell open and Ron rose both of his eyebrows.
"What a cute cat!" Parvati exclaimed from where she sat with Lavender, Dean, and Seamus.
"Cat?" Hermione repeated, dismayed.
"I don't think that's a cat, Ti," Lavender said.
"It's a fox," Dean instantly concluded. "Where on earth did you get one of those?"
"This is (Y/n)," Ginny said simply, setting (Y/n) down on one of the couches in the common room. (Y/n) stretched her hind legs out and tucked her front legs beneath her, resting her head on Ginny's lap and, despite being a fox, looking as though she was going through it.
(Y/n) was the size of a kitten due to the fact that her Animagus was only two years old. Even as she grew, whenever she was a fox, she would not get larger than a cat.
"Real funny."
"I'm serious," Ginny said. "She's made headlines. How don't you know she's an Animagi? Her name's on the Ministry's records and everything."
"But how do you know that one's (Y/n)?" Dean pressed.
"Have you ever seen an animal look so depressed?" Ginny said. (Y/n) changed back to her regular self in an instant.
"Get lost, ginger," (Y/n) jeered. Ginny gasped with feigned offence.
"Oh, my stars!" Parvati exclaimed gleefully. "What's it like being a fox? Are they more similar to dogs or to cats?"
"Both, I guess," (Y/n) shrugged.
"Are you... soft?" Parvati asked.
"Very," Ginny answered.
"You think?" (Y/n) smiled. Ginny nodded.
"Why were you a fox?" Dean asked.
"I don't know," (Y/n) shrugged. "It's my spirit animal or whatever."
"No," Dean laughed. "I mean, why were you your Animagus?"
"Oh," (Y/n) mumbled. "Well, I was going to go off into the forest before Ginny spotted me and I couldn't shake her off, so I just let her take me here." Ginny beamed proudly. (Y/n) looked over at Dean. "Were you able to see Power Rangers?"
"Yeah," Dean said. "Thuy Trang was replaced with Karan Ashley but you already know that if you watch Mighty Morphin."
"I think I know what I want to be for Halloween this year," (Y/n) said.
"Power Ranger?" Lavender guessed.
"Ding, ding, ding."
"You're five people short," Dean said.
"If I've got time to, I'll make extra costumes," (Y/n) shrugged. "And if not, I'll be a solo Power Ranger... Realistically, I'd probably be able to duplicate it through magic, but that only works for someone that's close to my proportions..." She flew to her feet and made for the portrait hole with a new light to her, one that had not been present for quite some time. "This is so exciting!" She opened the portrait, instantly gasping over just barely missing Fred, George, and the group of weary first years they were with.
"Oh! I'm so sorry," (Y/n) apologized to the first years, who smiled shyly in reassurance.
"I don't accept your apology!" Fred said dramatically.
"Well, good thing I wasn't apologizing to you," (Y/n) said, patting Fred's arm. Upon realizing that, for once, the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and (Y/n) all had a window in which there were very minor distractions, (Y/n) grabbed the twins' hands. "Excuse us," she said to the first years. "Ginny!" (Y/n) whisper-shouted, nodding Ginny over.
Ginny groaned and complained for a moment before reluctantly walking over to where Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat by the fireplace. She joined (Y/n) on the floor, their backs to the fireplace. Fred and George were parallel to them, looking thoroughly bewildered. Getting the hint, Hermione moved to sit to Ginny's right and George's left. Harry and Ron sat across from her.
"What?" Ginny finally asked.
"Well," (Y/n) said. "We've all got packed schedules, apparently, and I don't know if there would be an opportunity where we'd be able to plan together."
"Plan what?" George asked.
"Remember when you told me that you'd help me sneak back my mum's journals over winter break?" (Y/n) asked. "Why not plan now?"
"What if we forget?"
"I don't forget," Ginny said.
"She really doesn't," Ron murmured.
"If we continue pushing it off, we might not be able to meet together until we're back at Grimmauld Place," Hermione murmured. "And it'd be risky to make any plans while we're there."
"Can't we just plan it on the train?" Ron suggested.
"What if Umbridge pulls some stuff and makes us have assigned seating?" Ginny asked, pursing her lips. "Besides, we won't all fit in one compartment... Why're you guys so against the idea?"
"We aren't," George shrugged. "Just giving some suggestions."
"Any ideas?" Hermione asked.
"We need to know where the journals are first, don't we?" Ginny said.
"My Cloak," Harry said. "I'll spend the first day searching and you guys can cover for me."
"I don't think it'll be in a place easy to access," Hermione said. "My guess is Sirius's room."
"That would make the most sense," (Y/n) agreed. "And Harry can use his Cloak to confirm if there's anything... off?"
"Mad-Eye can't be there," Ron said. "He can see through it, can't he?" he asked, looking to Harry, who nodded.
"(Y/n)'s a temporary member, isn't she?" Fred said. "She can make sure Mad-Eye won't be there."
"But how will she tell us?" George asked. (Y/n) beamed.
"I can think of something," (Y/n) said. She peered down at her watch and tapped at a few things. "Give them a few moments."
"Give what a few moments?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Just wait," (Y/n) mused, peering at her watch. Ginny leaned over slightly to see what (Y/n) was looking at. Ginny had no clue what she was expecting, but an upside-down view of the Hogwarts corridors was not it.
"What is that?" Ginny gaped.
"Remember those spiders we battled with for my birthday?" (Y/n) said.
"The ones with those controllers?"
"Yeah," (Y/n) confirmed. "When I was rudely ignored for a week, I rewired them to also be connected to my watch... By December, I'll probably be able to make it so they can deliver messages too."
"How do you have so much time?" Ron cried.
"I don't," (Y/n) said. "I just know how to manage my time."
"You haven't slept for, like, five days, (Y/n)," Fred said bluntly.
"What? What makes you think that?" (Y/n) asked, instantly averting her eyes.
"Five— How aren't you dead?" Hermione gasped.
"I'm getting sleep, guys!" (Y/n) fumed. "And my sleep schedule will be back to normal now that I don't have detention..."
"When was the last time you slept?" Hermione asked.
"Today," (Y/n) answered. "At Madam Pomfrey's."
"Before today?"
"Last night?"
"Before then," Hermione huffed.
"Yesterday during lunch," (Y/n) answered. Before Hermione could say anything, (Y/n) continued, "If you're going to lecture me, I'm going to leave."
"All right," Hermione mumbled. "So, the plan..."
"Hey, want to attend a Defence Against the Dark Arts class?" (Y/n) asked, breaking the silence between herself and her roommates.
"Huh?" Cho and Marietta asked in unison.
"We've already got one," Cho said.
"You know what I meant," (Y/n) huffed. "Harry's agreed to teach anyone who will listen all that he knows."
"Like what Bill did in our first year?" Cho asked.
"No. It's got to be off-campus because of Umbridge," (Y/n) said, rolling her eyes with the word 'Umbridge.'
"Where?" Marietta asked.
"In Hogsmeade," (Y/n) answered. "This weekend. Harry wants to see who'll come to learn how to defend themselves."
"I'm in!" Cho chirped. Marietta was far more hesitant at the thought of breaking rules.
"You know that Umbridge can revoke your prefectship, right?" Marietta said nervously. "If you're caught, I mean."
"There's no way she's allowed to control what we do outside of school hours," (Y/n) objected.
"She's still with the Ministry!" said Marietta. "If she doesn't accuse you of forming an army on campus, she'll accuse you of forming an off campus and you'll probably get a larger punishment, too!"
"Don't you want to learn to defend yourself, Mari?" Cho chimed.
"Of course I do!" Marietta said. "But we aren't going to and forming an underground group most definitely won't help either!"
"If they don't catch us, what's the harm?" Cho pressed. "Won't you at least check it out?" she asked, pouting pleadingly. "If you don't like it, you don't have to come back, but I hope you'd at least keep your secrecy on our behalf." (Y/n) joined Cho's pleading pouting and Marietta huffed in exasperation.
"Peer pressure is not nice, you know?" Marietta fumed. Cho batted her eyelashes. "Fine!" Marietta huffed, her face nearly as red as her hair. Cho and (Y/n) cheered and Marietta crossed her arms, trying not to smile.