"Cheers."
The new school year's customary welcome party for first-years was once again underway in the Hufflepuff common room. To the accompaniment of the Weird Sisters, the children were "dancing," if it could be called dancing at all.
Phoebe looked well, and many people greeted her. Nymphadora Tonks was surrounded by quite a crowd. Even in the Wizarding World, a shape-shifting Animagus was rare, and people gathered to watch her transform. Tonks readily agreed, and her performance added plenty of laughter to the party.
Tonks was the daughter of Ted Tonks and Andromeda Black. Unlike Sirius Black, Andromeda had been sorted into Slytherin. No one knew when the pure-blood Andromeda had fallen in love with Ted, who came from a Muggle family. Andromeda had even broken away from her family. Rather than marry the match her family had chosen, she married Ted.
That alone was shocking enough, Pomona thought, finishing the last of the Shrivelfig juice in her cup before leaving the common room.
When the common room door closed behind Pomona, the noise and music within were cut off. The corridor was utterly silent.
This silence was different from last year's. There was no unease or panic. The scent of food drifted from the kitchens, sweet fragrance filling the air alongside the faint tartness of fruit.
"...I'm still scared of those paintings..."
Just as Pomona was about to head for her office, she heard a girl's voice from the end of the corridor.
"I'm here. You're not alone," said a boy. Pomona narrowed her eyes and looked carefully. He seemed to be a Gryffindor.
"I'll protect you," the Gryffindor boy continued, sounding as solemnly certain as any man unafraid of being struck by lightning.
But the Hufflepuff girl believed him. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
It