Trade Mistakes

Nothing else exciting happened in November for Trinity. Quidditch practices were long and tiring, classes were tedious, meaning that she thought often about her strange dream she had the night after the match, and it still perplexed her. It wasn’t like a dream, more like a memory, but it was tampered with. There would be no other explanation for it to just darken. Later she realized that her mother’s hair was changed to brunette instead of its usual blond. This was the case with tainted memories. Something must have happened that the person who tampered with her memory didn’t want her to find out about. But what was it? That was still the mystery.

It did not help that Slughorn wouldn’t leave her alone with his invitations to his parties every weekend. He seemed to like her because of her nationality though technically she was British. She was only taken over to the United States when she was only a few months old. Slughorn wouldn’t see reason though and wanted her to be a part of his Slug club, which she had tried to refuse to be a part of. The first two times, she was able to decline with a valid excuse. The third time Slughorn did something she would never forgive him for.

It had started in the Great Hall a week before winter break when the Gryffindor was eating breakfast with Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Dean and Neville. Ron had begun to sit with Lavender and Parvati at meal times so he was sitting a few seats down, glancing over apologetically a few times between stuffing his face and snogging Lavender.

Hermione looked like steam should be shooting out of her ears every time she caught eye contact with Ron. Harry nervously and awkwardly sat beside her, munching on his toast while Ginny and Dean silently ate, not looking at one another.

It was clear that Ginny and Dean’s relationship was being strained. Neither of them had been happy since the argument right after the Slytherin match. Trinity had tried to ask Ginny what had happened but she pushed her away, saying that she didn’t want to talk about it or that it wasn’t worth her breath. Once, in the past week, she had heard them when walking from the Quidditch pitch. It seemed like having Ginny and Dean together on the team was not the best decision made by Harry. Or maybe this was why he chose Dean for Harry seemed happy that the couple was fighting.

“So, you think it’s going to snow today? It looks like it’s clouding up.” Neville asked her, motioning upwards with his head. He was trying to make small talk to avoid the tension at the table that morning. Trinity was grateful for the distracting conversation.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. It is December after all.” She replied with a wry smile. Neville let out a small chuckle and continued to eat his food.

They fell into a comfortable silence until the fluttering of the wings above alerted their attention to the post that was now coming their way. People around them received letters from home while others were given packages, probably from family or friends not in school.

Suddenly, Trinity was alerted by a huge black owl that was swooping down right above her. Ash was the owl’s name and he stopped right beside her plate, sticking out his leg. It was rare that she ever saw him unless it was terrible news; news she should concern herself with. Sighing, she managed to untie the envelope from the raptor’s leg, staring at it like the fleas that contained the plague were inside, inches away from being released.

“Well, it’s not going to open itself.” Neville commented, motioning to the envelope. She sighed heavily before tearing back the green seal that had her father’s initials on it. Why would he write to her? Whenever she was away at school, he never wrote. Of course, it was always Suzanne and Oliver that received letters from ‘Daddy’ as Suzanne called him.

Just the thought of her sister made Trinity bitter. It was her who had belittled her all these years. Suzanne was always Daddy’s little girl from the time she was a young girl. She even looked like him with the dark hair and steely blue eyes. Suzanne always found this as an excuse to bully Trinity.

Oliver, whenever he could, tried to defend her. To Trinity, Suzanne seemed unstable, mentally unstable that was. Before she had left America, Trinity rarely ever saw her but when she did, she was vicious in how she talked, would curse Trinity for no apparent reason, and always had a maniacal smile on her face.

Suzanne actually reminded her of Bellatrix Lestrange, the Death Eater she had seen in one of papers last week about suspicion of her whereabouts. She shuddered slightly at the memory of that woman’s heartless dark eyes as they glared from her mug shot they used from Azkaban. She would thrash against the chains that bound her, screaming at the camera, but was unheard. She now pictured Suzanne in her spot and realized she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two.

It frightened Trinity and she could see that Oliver and even Cedric, when he was alive, had noticed with discrete glances over at Suzanne with concern. There was nothing they could do though. Suzanne was 24; she could do whatever she wanted. Their father wouldn’t do anything anyway. He seemed to enjoy Suzanne’s madness.

Trinity had to shake herself out of her thoughts to pull the parchment out of the envelope with Neville’s eyes on her. Her father had folded it articulately and she rolled her eyes at his want for perfection.

Dear Trinity,
I have recently received a letter from Professor Horace Slughorn about your absence at his parties. He mentioned that you have missed two of his most important ones and wants you to attend his Christmas party before you come home. From now on, you are to go to his parties whether you like it or not. Trinity Diggory, just when I thought I was able to keep you in line at Hogwarts, you disappoint me by having an owl sent home. No matter what it’s about, I never want to hear from your professors again. I cannot be bothered that my youngest is a wild child.
Miles Diggory

p.s. Hi, sweetie it’s your mother. I intercepted the owl before he could get too far. I just wanted to say that I love you and that I’m proud of you. Don’t feel bad for missing Slughorn’s parties either. They were boring as hell!

Trinity crumpled up the piece of parchment and used her wand sent it on fire. Neville chuckled but he looked a little worried. She sighed and extinguished the fire before placing her head in her hands.

“What’d your father have to say?” Neville asked after a minute of silence. Trinity groaned before looking up at him with a frown.

“He wants me to attend every party Slughorn throws, including his Christmas one. I swear he wants me to suffer! And he signed his full name instead of father and he did not say once in there that he loved me. Cruddy father I have!” She complained as she roughly took another bite of her sausage.

“Be glad you have one though. Neither Harry nor I have a father to complain about.” Neville commented quietly, looking away from her. Trinity glanced up at her friend, stricken by his confession. She knew Harry didn’t have a father since being the Boy Who Lived and all but Neville?

Trinity should’ve realized that since he mentioned his Gran a lot and not even a word about his parents. Quickly she felt terrible for complaining about her father. No matter how insignificant he made her feel at times, she still had a father.

Now, there was another thing she wanted to know. What happened to Neville's parents?

Before she could say anything, Neville stood up quickly and raced out of the Great Hall. Trinity's heart plummeted. It must have been something dreadful to have him react like that. Standing, Trinity gathered her things, along the stuff he left behind, and followed him out of the Hall. The group shouted behind them, asking where they were going but she did not hear them.

"Neville," She called out as she saw him run up the stairs. He was faster than she expected him to be for he was up three sets of stairs by the time she was in the Entrance Hall, "You forgot your books!" She hollered up to him. Students passing her gave her strange glances, looking up to where her gaze was held in mild curiosity.

"He's good as gone Diggory, though I never thought Longbottom would be that fast." She heard someone say from beside her. Trinity dropped her gaze to the person and found that it was Malfoy.

From up close, he looked dreadful. The dark circles under his gray eyes were purplish blue and looked a little like someone had broken his nose. The veins in the whites of his eyes were blood shot too. She could tell he was really tired and weak for he was skinnier than the last time she had been this close to him.

“Why are you talking to me Malfoy?” She asked impatiently, taking a few steps over to the stairs to start her pursuit after Neville. He cleared his throat and Trinity heard his footsteps until he was somewhat close to her. Thankfully, nobody was around to see their confrontation. She glanced over her shoulder to find him close to her, his gray eyes staring at her.

“I don’t see the resemblance at all.” He muttered more to himself than her and surprisingly, it was in a softer tone. She furrowed her brows. What the hell was he talking about?

“What now?” She asked, turning fully around to stare at him with a confused and aggravated expression. He mirrored her expression until she saw a sly smirk spread across his lips.

“You don’t know, do you?” He asked her, clearly enjoying her confusion. She stepped back from him, nervous that he was going mental.

“Apparently I don’t.” Trinity retorted and turned to go up the flight of stairs before he could stop her. She did not look back until she was at least up three flights of stairs. Malfoy was still standing in the Entrance Hall but wasn’t looking at her anymore. In her moment’s pause, the staircase Trinity was standing on began to move. Shit! she cursed inwardly as she held on. Even after being at Hogwarts for over four months, Trinity was still not used to the moving staircases.

The staircase stopped moving when it connected with a platform leading to a silent corridor. Trinity still hadn’t successful navigated the whole castle by herself and honestly, she did not want to. Hogwarts was an amazing place to Trinity but it was also daunting with its many chambers, corridors, and not to mention the many nooks and crannies through the place. She was lucky she had not gotten lost yet.

She made her way down the corridor, cringing slightly when she heard her footsteps echo loudly along the walls. The whole hall was made of stone and had windows on each side of her. There were occasional walls with either tapestries covering them or a stone bench.

Trinity could see the end of the hall, which was a huge stone wall. As she got closer, something about the wall began to…change before her very eyes. A door began to materialize before her and she stopped dead in her tracks. Was that normal? She had lived in the Wizarding world all her life but she had never seen magic like this. Her parents lived in a Muggle neighborhood and Julian’s was possibly the worst Wizarding school of North America.

“It’s called the Room of Requirement. We found it last year when we created Dumbledore’s Army or D.A.” She heard Neville’s voice, which made her shake out of her reverie and look over at her friend. He was the one who had stepped through the door that disappeared right after he was in the hall with her. He stared at her with tired eyes.

“Neville…” She started but trailed off, not sure where to start.

“My parents were…they had the Cruciatus Curse used on them. They’re still alive, in St. Mungo’s, but they’re not…in their right minds.” Trinity could tell this was a sore subject with Neville and didn’t pressure him into telling her anymore. Instead, she grabbed both of his hands and held them tightly in her’s. This wasn’t the first time they had held hands but this time, something was different about the gesture. It felt…good to be holding Neville’s hands like this in an intimate way.

“If you ever need me, for anything, I’ll be here for you. Sure, I don’t know how it feels but I’ll be here if you ever need to hash.” She told him truthfully. Neville was her friend and she would be there, no matter what.

“Erm…thanks Trinity.” He muttered, watching her as she stood there beside him, holding his much bigger hands in smaller ones. There was an unreadable expression in his eyes that made her wonder what he was thinking about. As they stood there, Trinity realized that she was still holding his hand and let go quickly.

“You’re welcome Neville.” She replied and he nodded. A smile spread across both their faces and Trinity knew then that all was forgiven.

_#_

The day of the Christmas party came before Trinity knew it. Her mother, who had comforted Trinity through a letter, had sent one of her party dresses to wear. Thankfully, her mother understood her pain but didn’t voice her opinion about her husband. He kept her mother under tight wraps. She was not allowed to go out without him so she was cooped up in their home all day while he did God knows what.

“That looks amazing on you Trinity. I know you will attract many guys.” Ginny told Trinity with a wink. Trinity blushed slightly. She never thought guys liked her, especially at Julian’s since they were all scared of Suzanne and never went near her. Things at Hogwarts were different. All different kinds of guys stared at her, which was very new for Trinity. Cormac, the one who was practically chasing Hermione, gave Trinity a once over almost every time she passed him. It made her cringe slightly just thinking about that pompous idiot staring at her tonight.

Trinity’s dress was shorter than she had remembered as it went above her knees. It was black with a modest neckline that swooped down in the front near her cleavage with two thin straps going over her shoulders. Trinity had her blond hair down and was in the process of curling it with her wand. Her mother has taught her the spell to make her straight hair into beautiful spirals.

“Thanks Gin. So are you and Dean going together?” She asked, considering their constant bickering lately. Ginny’s face hardened but she nodded. Trinity decided not to ask anymore as she proceeded to curl her hair. It wasn’t as good as when her mother did it but it was good enough.

Once Trinity and Ginny were ready, they exited the dormitory and met their escorts, Dean and Seamus. Trinity asked Neville but he had told her that Slughorn had requested him to help with catering, which had angered Trinity. Did he not have any decency to actually hire caterers? Neville blew it off but she could tell he didn’t like it either.

She was only going with Seamus because he was the only one left that she remotely trusted. It was clear he liked Lavender and when she asked him, Seamus had said yes loudly for Lavender to hear on the couches as she snogged Ron. There wasn't much of a reaction then but when he left, Lavender sent Trinity a glare from over Ron's shoulder while they were hugging. It was start for Seamus...and Hermione.

When they entered the chamber, the party was in full swing. A classical music band were playing near the corner, people were standing around conversing, and others were eating food that Neville was walking around with. He had a white fancy button up cloak with black pants. He looked quite handsome and Trinity had to look away before she began to stare too long.

“This is even boring than the ice cream parties.” Ginny yawned, which made Trinity laugh. Thankfully, she had not been subjected to that.

“I hope we can leave here as soon as possible so I get out of this dress.” She replied to which Ginny nodded. Her eyes were scanning the room and Trinity knew she was looking for Harry. Her boyfriend seemed to get it and stalked off with Seamus. Trinity was confused, if he knew Ginny didn't like him, why was he still with her?

“You want any food?” She snapped her gaze up to Neville’s brown-green eyes. She shook her head, glancing down to see the disgusting dragon balls that were on the tray, “I don’t blame you. My Gran made this when I was little and they made me sick. Hermione just had three though, which surprises me. Harry told me she was dodging McClaggen, which is understandable.” He told them. Ginny snickered while Trinity stared down at the dragon balls.

Her father had made them when she was around eight years old, experimenting with the recipe, and made her eat three of them. She did not know it then but she was allergic to the nasty things and had an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients. Her mother took her to the Wizard hospital where they were able to help her. They did not tell the mediwizards that her father had made her eat the food. It wasn't like it was her fault she was allergic to them. He didn't know.

“Trinity, are you okay?” Ginny asked, shaking her shoulder. Trinity shook out of her thoughts and stepped back from Neville and the plate. They both gave her looks of concern.

“I’m fine. I just remembered I’m allergic to an ingredient in the food. My father made them one time and I ate a few of them.” Trinity replied. Neville moved the plate to his other hand and away from her.

“Did they affect you any?” Neville asked her, voice full of concern. She shook her head.

“I haven’t had it since so I wasn’t sure what would happen. It seems like I have to ingest it though since it was next to me for at least a few minutes.” Neville sighed a breath of relief while Ginny sighed disappointingly, hoping she would have an excuse to leave the party but was let down.

Suddenly, the doors to Slughorn’s chambers were burst open to reveal Filch, the nasty caretaker, and Malfoy. Everyone jumped in surprise at the sight. Malfoy’s ear was being pinched by Filch’s grungy fingers, making Malfoy curse the man.

“Get your filthy hands off of me!” Filch drug the boy over to Professor Snape who was cleaning what looked like to be vomit off his black shoes. Trinity smirked in amusement but her eyes were drawn to Malfoy. He had stopped trying to move out of Filch’s grip, “Ok, I was party crashing! Now let me go!” He yelled at the caretaker, glaring at him. Snape moved in and seized Malfoy’s ear this time. He yelped in pain, making some people snigger.

“I’ll take care of this Professor.” He drawled out and dragged the blond haired boy out of the room. Everyone was silent for a minute before resuming in their conversations. Trinity noticed Harry sneaking out, which Ginny noticed too for she went to take a step forward before Trinity grabbed her forearm, holding her back. She silently pleaded for Ginny to stay no matter how badly she wanted to go. Ginny stopped before glaring at Trinity.

The party went on for a little bit after the interruption and Trinity was almost bored to tears. Ginny kept sending her glares every minute, angry about having to stay behind while Harry was out and about the castle. Dean and Seamus stayed away from the girls and Trinity couldn’t be happier. That meant there were no arguments between Dean and Ginny. Neville made his rounds, stopping by to talk to Ginny and Trinity every once in a while. He also talked to Luna Lovegood who was Harry’s “date” to the party.

Trinity couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy whenever he talked to Luna. Luna seemed more like Neville than Trinity did so they had more in common. Luna had lost her mum when she was only nine due to an experiment gone wrong. Neville divulged this information with Trinity when she could see Thestrals, the horses only visible to those who had seen death that pulled the carriages up to the school. She was in her own little world, one where creatures that didn’t exist did. Trinity wanted to be in that world and believe the things Luna did but could not no matter how hard she tried.

“We should go. It’s getting late.” Ginny commented after a while. Students were now leaving since it was almost midnight. Slughorn had dismissed Neville as well so he left with them.

“That was so boring! Trinity you should have let me leave when I could!” Ginny complained later as they started to climb the stairs. Dean and Seamus shared confused looks but did not say anything. Neville didn’t say anything either but he was about to fall over he was so tired so it didn’t surprise anyone.

“Would you like to risk being caught by Filch, or worse, Snape? I highly doubt it Ginny.” She told her, folding her arms over her chest as they walked up to the Gryffindor Tower. It had been a long night and Trinity was tired.

Once in the Gryffindor Tower, the group descended their respective stairs minus Trinity and Neville who had rarely talked that night. Neville looked exhausted, especially now that he was in his normal cardigan and pants. He smiled down at her while running a hand through his short brown hair. Trinity was still in her dress but her hair was becoming more matted than curly.

“If it means anything, you look beautiful tonight.” Neville commented with a grin. She tried to not blush but failed miserably, “But you’re beautiful whether you dress up or not.” Trinity shuddered slightly at his words. Not many people had told her that she was beautiful, only her mother and mothers were supposed to say that to their children.

“Um, thank you.” She muttered before adding, “You looked quite handsome tonight, if it means anything...” Trinity didn’t realize what she said before it left her mouth and she bit her lip nervously. Her heart was racing, pulsing pumping heavily in her ears. Neville seemed taken aback by her comment, probably not expecting her to respond back to him like that, but soon a blush slowly crept across his face along with a goofy grin.

“Thank you.” He replied, clearly nervous, “I’m knackered so g’night Trinity.” She nodded and went to the girl’s dormitories, hands shaking from her own nervousness.