"Did you do the homework?" Maggie asked Moonshine as they made their way to their next class, Potions. "Homework?" Moonshine asked, although she was only half-focusing. She was thinking about last night. "Yeah, you know, the essay on Laughing Potions? An essay's a bit much for the first day, in my opinion, especially if you only have on night to do it. But you know Snape, I'll bet it's a straight detention for not doing it." "Detention?!" Moonshine cast a frantic look at Maggie. "I can't get detention on my first day! My Dad will k!ll me!" She dragged her thumb across her throat dramatically, and Maggie laughed nervously. "But you did it, didn't you? We did it together last night, remember?" "Oh, yeah," Moonshine swung her satchel round to her front, and unbuckled the top. She rummaged through it. "It's not in here!" she bit her lip. "I must have left it in the Common Room before we went up to bed!" she put her head in her hands. "Well, there's nothing you can do about it, now," Maggie said solemnly. Moonshine sat in Potions with her hands twisted in her lap whilst Snape went round collecting in everyone's essays. When he reached her table, her stomach did a backflip. Maggie locked eyes with her from the other side of the room, and she gave her an encouraging smile. "Riddle?" Alexandra passed Snape her essay. It surprised Moonshine to see three pages stapled together, all full on both sides. "Wow, Riddle, I'm impressed." Snape said, although he didn't look it. "Maybe the Sorting Hat put you in the wrong house." Alex tucked a strand of purple hair behind her ear. "Cabanero?" Flick gave Snape his paper with apparent flourish. "Here, sir, I spent ages on it," Fred snorted. Flick had written three lines. "I can tell," Snape said grimly. "Weasley," he sighed. "Didn't do it, Professor," he said happily. "Why not?" "Couldn't be bothered, to be honest, but if you want a better excuse, my owl might have eaten it," "That's enough, Weasley," the professor snapped. "And you, Griffith?" "Um..." Moonshine bit her lip. "I don't have it, sir." "And why not?" "I did do it, I swear, I just left it in the Common Room," Snape groaned. "That's detention for both of you, tonight you'll be aiding Mr Filch in polishing the trophies. Meet him by the trophy case tonight at six o'clock. Don't be late." And he strode off. Alex glanced at me. "Did you really do it, Moonshine?" she asked. "Because earlier you told me you stayed up all night doing homework." "I did it!" I protested. "I promise!" "Detention together, Griffith!" Fred nudged me. No one else in the class had detention, not even Fred's brother, which Fred was blatantly annoyed about, and shook his head at George all through the lesson. Later, Moonshine said goodbye to Maggie at the Ravenclaw table at dinner, and stood to leave. Maggie wished her luck, and she left her talking to Jayde, a new friend of theirs made in the dorm. She remembered exactly how to get to the trophy room, as she had been shown their by a Gryffindor prefect, or Fred's older brother, Charlie. She met Fred just outside the door of the great hall. They walked together towards the trophy room. "So, that was your older brother earlier?" Moonshine said. "He seemed nice." "Yep," Fred said. "We've got a huge family. Mum, Dad, then I've got Bill, who jut left Hogwarts last year, Charlie's in his seventh year, Percy's in his third. Percy's annoying. But I bet you he'll become a prefect. Then I've got George, obviously, my fave." Fred grinned. "And Ron's two years younger, he'll come up in two years, and then Ginny'll come up in four. She's my only sister." Moonshine nodded. "And you?" "And you?" "Only child," Moonshine lied. Fred nodded, and then Moonshine shook her head. "I mean..." she stopped herself. She couldn't tell him... "I have a brother, but he ran away. It's been two years now, so..." "Oh," Fred fell silent. "I'm sorry." "It happens," she shrugged as they entered the trophy room, but Filch wasn't there, it was Snape. "Mr Filch has come down with a terrible cold," he said. "So I'll be taking your detention." Moonshine and Fred exchanged glances.
Thanks to @Alexandra_Riddle for her character Alexandra!
