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A story for the Happy Things Writing Challenge over at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
larinzia.
Title: Finding Herself
Claim: The Hufflepuff House (Rose Zeller, Megan Jones)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 721
Prompt: 13 – Finding a Place for Yourself (and also 36 - Magical Creatures atpotterverse100)
Author’s Note: This is part of the Hufflepuff story that deals with the war (which I put in Harry’s Year 7) and quite a bit in front of the story as it’s been told so far. I liked the idea so I wrote it!
“This bed is yours.”
Rose tried not to start shaking again. The school was gone. The Hufflepuff den was gone. The whole greenhouse structure was nothing but twisted metal. When she had thought of the war and the Death Eaters, it was always something that was happening “out there” and never something that would ever affect her. Her parents were Muggle, after all. They didn’t even know what was going on or that there was even a war. There had never been a good time to tell them.
“Eat this.”
This large room was nothing like the Great Hall. There were people of all ages huddled over lukewarm plates of food that neither looked nor smelled appealing. She tried to eat something but it always threatened to come back up. Even if there had been a selection, she didn’t think she’d be able to eat anything. What she really wanted was some water but she knew she’d never ask for any.
“Who are you?”
No one looked familiar. This was the war. Where were the Hufflepuffs that had left school to come fight? Where were the teachers that had been missing all year? Surely there was someone who might know her, might tell her what was going on. She couldn’t make any sound come out, even when she concentrated. When her glasses had been lost, she’d given up trying to see anything but the hands in front of her face when she put them up to make sure they were still there. If there was no way to tell anyone who she was, she was afraid she’d be lost in the shuffle.
“Rose?”
She had forgotten what it was like to touch another living, breathing person. For weeks, she’d been left to tend after the thestrals. No matter what happened, she didn’t scare them with the screams like the others. She wasn’t sure these strange creatures could be called animals. Whatever they were, they certainly ate a lot, which let to quite a job for her to clean out their stalls when they weren’t being used. She hadn’t even noticed when Megan came walking by and would have continued raking fresh straw into the confined space until someone came to get her for dinner.
“What are you doing here? Everyone thought you’d been… no one told me that they’d found any survivors… how did…”
Rose wanted to tell her what had happened, how she’d been trapped under a beam for what seemed like hours – how she’d found that her voice had been left at the burning ruin of the castle. Instead, she hugged the older girl close and cried tears she hadn’t known were still inside. For long moments, they held each other, each remembering others that had been lost.
“Come to the kitchen and let me feed you. You look like a stiff wind will blow you over.”
But she shook her head. This warm, smelly place had become her place away from the chaos of the groups of people still reeling from their own losses. She picked up the rake again and held it out for Megan to see. There was no way to indicate that she would see her later so she shrugged and smiled warmly, turning back to continue her work. There was a steady stream of visitors that day, friends coming to give her a hug and tell her they were glad she was safe. More Hufflepuffs (and even a few Ravenclaws she hadn’t know were aware of her name) came by than she’d seen since the school had been whole and she’d only been concerned with learning to swish and flick correctly.
“I see you’ve been found.”
Rose smiled up at the man who helped her muck out the stalls as he walked by the Hufflepuff table that night at dinner. It was just like old times, except that the small round table barely held eight people around the parameter and many of the group were forced to stand nearby or sit on the ground. None of the discomfort seemed to matter because they were together again. Rose nodded happily at the man and turned back to her friends. For the time being, this was normal. She was content as long as she had her friends back and a reason to get up every morning.
larinzia.Title: Finding Herself
Claim: The Hufflepuff House (Rose Zeller, Megan Jones)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 721
Prompt: 13 – Finding a Place for Yourself (and also 36 - Magical Creatures at
potterverse100)Author’s Note: This is part of the Hufflepuff story that deals with the war (which I put in Harry’s Year 7) and quite a bit in front of the story as it’s been told so far. I liked the idea so I wrote it!
“This bed is yours.”
Rose tried not to start shaking again. The school was gone. The Hufflepuff den was gone. The whole greenhouse structure was nothing but twisted metal. When she had thought of the war and the Death Eaters, it was always something that was happening “out there” and never something that would ever affect her. Her parents were Muggle, after all. They didn’t even know what was going on or that there was even a war. There had never been a good time to tell them.
“Eat this.”
This large room was nothing like the Great Hall. There were people of all ages huddled over lukewarm plates of food that neither looked nor smelled appealing. She tried to eat something but it always threatened to come back up. Even if there had been a selection, she didn’t think she’d be able to eat anything. What she really wanted was some water but she knew she’d never ask for any.
“Who are you?”
No one looked familiar. This was the war. Where were the Hufflepuffs that had left school to come fight? Where were the teachers that had been missing all year? Surely there was someone who might know her, might tell her what was going on. She couldn’t make any sound come out, even when she concentrated. When her glasses had been lost, she’d given up trying to see anything but the hands in front of her face when she put them up to make sure they were still there. If there was no way to tell anyone who she was, she was afraid she’d be lost in the shuffle.
“Rose?”
She had forgotten what it was like to touch another living, breathing person. For weeks, she’d been left to tend after the thestrals. No matter what happened, she didn’t scare them with the screams like the others. She wasn’t sure these strange creatures could be called animals. Whatever they were, they certainly ate a lot, which let to quite a job for her to clean out their stalls when they weren’t being used. She hadn’t even noticed when Megan came walking by and would have continued raking fresh straw into the confined space until someone came to get her for dinner.
“What are you doing here? Everyone thought you’d been… no one told me that they’d found any survivors… how did…”
Rose wanted to tell her what had happened, how she’d been trapped under a beam for what seemed like hours – how she’d found that her voice had been left at the burning ruin of the castle. Instead, she hugged the older girl close and cried tears she hadn’t known were still inside. For long moments, they held each other, each remembering others that had been lost.
“Come to the kitchen and let me feed you. You look like a stiff wind will blow you over.”
But she shook her head. This warm, smelly place had become her place away from the chaos of the groups of people still reeling from their own losses. She picked up the rake again and held it out for Megan to see. There was no way to indicate that she would see her later so she shrugged and smiled warmly, turning back to continue her work. There was a steady stream of visitors that day, friends coming to give her a hug and tell her they were glad she was safe. More Hufflepuffs (and even a few Ravenclaws she hadn’t know were aware of her name) came by than she’d seen since the school had been whole and she’d only been concerned with learning to swish and flick correctly.
“I see you’ve been found.”
Rose smiled up at the man who helped her muck out the stalls as he walked by the Hufflepuff table that night at dinner. It was just like old times, except that the small round table barely held eight people around the parameter and many of the group were forced to stand nearby or sit on the ground. None of the discomfort seemed to matter because they were together again. Rose nodded happily at the man and turned back to her friends. For the time being, this was normal. She was content as long as she had her friends back and a reason to get up every morning.
