Trade Mistakes

The last day before the students would leave for Winter break was one of leisure and excitement despite the growing fears of the world outside of the stone walls of Hogwarts. Students that were going home were busy packing while those who decided to stay at Hogwarts were hanging around the Great Hall, sitting around the fire in their respective Common Room, or studying in the library. It was, in fact, a free day for most of the students…except for Trinity Diggory.

She had been anxiously awaiting the train ride home from Hogwarts. She wanted to stay at the castle but her mother had hinted in a letter she was able to send while her father was out that it would be lovely if she came home. Oliver was in England for the holidays and was currently staying at their house.

Another thing that worried Trinity was the fact that she would be going to a new home. Though their old home had been in a Muggle area, as well as their new home, she was familiar with the layout of Boston. London was a new place for her, probably bigger than Boston. If that wasn’t anything to be worried about with their new house, Trinity would have to get used to the layout, realizing that her new bedroom would probably not be like her old one.

No it wouldn’t be much like home.

“Hey, I got hot chocolate!” yelled Seamus, accompanied by Dean, carrying trays of hot chocolate for the older Gryffindors. A house elf was holding another tray to which made Hermione bristle, ready to scold the boys for making it help them, when Harry rested his hand on her arm. She took deep breaths to calm herself but still looked like she could murder the both of the boys. From beside Lavender, Trinity could see Ron rolling his eyes with a smirk. This must have been her usual reaction to anyone using house elves for work.

Soon everyone had a cup as they talked about everything that had happened over the past four months. The younger students gave them wistful glances, hoping they would be like them one day. Trinity realized after thirty minutes of talking with her other classmates that she was glad to be at Hogwarts. She didn’t even want to imagine another year at Julian’s. As she glanced at all the people in the group, she caught eye contact with Neville who was by the fire, talking to Seamus. He gave her a smile and turned back to Seamus. Trinity realized, in that moment, that she would have never been so close to Neville if she had returned to Julian’s.

^*~*~*~*^

The train ride was bleaker than the ride back on September 1. Trinity rode with Neville and Luna again, except that Ginny was with them this time around. In the last week of classes, Ginny and Dean had broken up, hence Ginny sitting in their compartment instead of Dean’s.

“So, are you coming over for New Year’s?” Ginny asked Trinity, hoping to have a friend at her home, which everyone referenced as the Burrow (something Trinity didn’t really understand but she guessed she had to be there to know).

“I don’t know Ginny. It depends on what my family is like now. They rarely ever let me go out back in Boston. But then again, I snuck out a lot with my older brother.” Trinity replied to which Ginny snorted. Trinity had to sneak out in order to go places, usually with Oliver when he still went to school with her and still endured the same treatment.

“Then sneak out! Bring your brother too! I have six of them, he'll be right at home.” Ginny waved her arms around to prove her point, almost smacking Trinity in the face. Neville chuckled in amusement at the scene while Luna was transfixed on the newest edition of the Quibbler. Trinity realized that their spacey friend had not spoken at all today and decided to start up a conversation.

“Luna, you haven’t really talked to any of us today. Are you okay?” Trinity asked, concerned. Luna usually had something to say, whether it was crazy or not. That was one thing Trinity found interesting about her.

She realized that in the past four months, the only times she had really talked to Luna was on the train ride in and before the Gryffindor/Slytherin game. Luna talked to Ginny but that was mostly because they were in the same year, just different houses.

“Oh Trinity I’m fine. My dad has resurfaced the technique about catching nargles in this issue.” Luna went back to the Quibbler quickly, ending the conversation. Trinity smiled at the girl’s imagination and returned her attention to Ginny and Neville who were talking about the Weasley’s New Year’s Eve party. Apparently she was trying to get him to come also.

“Gran likes to have family over that day, like Christmas.” Neville was answering when Hermione came barging into the compartment, plopping down between Trinity and Ginny. Everyone in the compartment was surprised by her interruption; even Luna looked fazed by her interruption. No one in the compartment said a word as they waited for Hermione to explain herself.

“I’ll tell you later Ginny.” Hermione turned her body toward Ginny, cutting Trinity off from being able to talk to her. Trinity sighed, having to remember that Ginny was Hermione’s friend first.

By the time the train arrived in King’s Cross, everyone in the compartment was silent. It was a comfortable silence though. Trinity had moved to sit beside Neville and was now resting her head on his shoulder in slumber. Ginny, Hermione, and Luna gave Neville subtle smirks and smiles. Luna even whispered that she thought they would be a good couple, making Neville blush madly.

“We’re here Trinity. We have to get off the train.” Neville muttered in her ear, making Trinity shutter slightly at the warm sensation. She slowly opened her brown eyes to see his glancing down at her, smile across his face. She could feel herself blush. They were so close to each that if she moved her head upward, she could very well been kissing him.

He seemed to realize too how close he was to her and turned his head away. That let Trinity have a look around the empty compartment without feeling flustered and jolted up to a sitting position. Thankfully there were still many students on the train so they weren’t the very last.

“Sorry for falling asleep on you like that Neville.” She apologized, realizing she had used him as a pillow. He smiled, almost like he had enjoyed it, but Trinity dismissed it as she grabbed her trunk. Neville followed her as she pulled it out of the compartment and to an open door.

There were hundreds of the students greeting their parents and family that they had missed over the semester. Trinity smiled as she saw a collection of red hair along with Harry off a ways. Neville nudged her arm, subtlety pointing to an older woman dressed in the most awful array of clothes Trinity had ever seen.

“That’s my gran….um; do you want to meet her?” Neville asked her, suddenly very nervous. Trinity glanced over at him, surprised at his changed demeanor. He must really depend on his grandmother’s opinion of his friends, “Her bark is worse than her bite…I think that’s how the saying goes.” He looked at her, hoping he got it right. Trinity nodded with a small smile before following over to the woman.

“Neville, get a bloody coat on! It’s colder than Slytherin’s soul out here!” Ms. Longbottom barked at Neville who was shaking his head, looking slightly embarrassed. Neville was wrong, this woman’s bite would probably be worse than her bark, which would be saying something.

“Gran, I would like you to meet my friend Trinity Diggory.” Neville introduced Trinity without warning, softly pushing her closer to the woman. Ms. Longbottom was older with deep wrinkles but had blue eyes with youth that surprised Trinity. Despite her old age, it was clear that this woman still had a fight in her.

Trinity just hoped it wasn’t targeted at her.

“Nice to meet you Trinity, my grandson has written about you a time or two…Neville, coat, now!” Neville groaned slightly but pulled on the coat that had been hanging off his arm, “So you’re a Diggory? Are you Amos’s daughter?” Ms. Longbottom asked, suddenly very sympathetic, making Trinity do a double take.

“Um, no I’m his niece though. My dad’s his brother.” Realization dawned on the woman’s face and Trinity smiled, hoping it was a good thing.

“Oh so the Diggory boy who was killed in the Tri-Wizard Tournament was your cousin? What a shame dear…I think I did see you at the funeral actually…with your parents…” Ms. Longbottom paused there, “But you don’t look much like your father, or from what I saw of the bloke, but you look more like your mother. I do remember Frank being friends with her. Nice girl when she visited him and Alice.” Trinity raised an eyebrow. Who were Frank and Alice?

“Frank and Alice are my parents.” Neville answered the question for her, looking a little sullen. She took his hands in hers and squeezed it affectionately. He started slightly and turned his head toward her, blushing. She couldn’t help but remember how close they were on the train and felt warmth creeping up into her face. The clearing of someone’s throat caused the two to turn away from each other and to Neville’s grandmother. She had a knowing smile spread across her face, making Trinity feel uncomfortable.

“Well we’ve got to get going…Neville, get your trunk you lazy sod!” She snapped at Neville who turned his head toward Trinity and rolled his eyes before picking up his trunk to put on the trolley sitting beside him. She tried to bite back a smile but failed miserably, “Trinity, for future reference, you don’t have to call me Ms. Longbottom. I’m fine with Augusta or even Gran.” There was an amused glint in the woman’s eyes as she flicked them between Neville and Trinity, “I hope I see you more often.” With a wink toward her grandson, she began to push the trolley through the wall, leaving the two alone.

Neville stood awkwardly beside Trinity, blushing and unsure of what to do as Trinity scanned the platform for any sign of a family member. No one was there. She would’ve expected Oliver to come pick her up but it seemed like she would be waiting for a while.

“I’m sorry about Gran.” Neville sounded so sincere that Trinity grasped his hand in hers, something that had become second nature with her within the past four months. It amazed her how close she had gotten with Neville since she met him.

They had known each other during the Tri-Wizard Tournament but he was rooting for Harry Potter, which was fine, but she was mainly rooting for Cedric since he was her cousin. Due to this, they barely talked during tasks. It was only when she talked to Ginny who she had met when they both yelled at her older brothers Fred and George for taking bets on which tribute would win that she ever said anything to him. She was thankful they had picked up their friendship again when she started at Hogwarts.

“It’s fine Neville. Your gran is a very nice woman and I hope to see her again.” Trinity told him, taking his hand in hers again. He gave her a goofy smile before leaning forward and giving her a kiss on the cheek, shocking her. Neville seemed to have shocked himself and opened his mouth to say something but Augusta was making her way back to them, wanting Neville to come with her.

“You can come with us Trinity,” Augusta told her, making Trinity raise an eyebrow in confusion, “Through the wall I mean. It seals itself up after a period of time and I would hate for you to be stuck here when I could’ve easily prevented it…now let’s crack on shall we?”

~#~

The cold bitter wind was biting at her exposed skin on her face as she sat in the train terminal. After Neville had left with his grandmother, Trinity had waited for any of her family members to show up. She didn’t know where the house was. Her mother said that Oliver would be around to pick her up in a letter last week while their father was gone. So far, there was no sign of him anywhere.

While she waited, Trinity had gone back into the station to keep warm but with the openings where the trains arrived and departed, it wasn’t much better. As she had sat on one of the benches, she watched pedestrians pass, thinking of where they could be possibly going. Her thoughts also strayed to Neville and how his lips had felt on her cheek. If only she had turned her head a little to the side…Trinity shook her head to rid herself of what if’s.

Twenty minutes later, a guy sat next to her with headphones over his ears, blaring something that sounded like rock n roll, a Muggle music genre. He was odd with long blond hair that went to his shoulders, plaid shirt over a black t-shirt with the word Oasis sketched across the torso along with what looked like American jeans though she couldn’t be certain. He had brown eyes that scanned the train station.

The music playing sounded like something she had heard just recently and Oasis sounded like a name of a band she overheard a muggleborn talk about a while ago. She found herself tapping her foot along with the music as they both sat there. A gust of cold air swept through the station, causing Trinity to shiver. Glancing over at the guy, she realized he was wearing less clothing than she was and he wasn’t cold.

How odd! she thought silently to herself as she studied him once again. Suddenly, she saw something sticking out of his left pocket, which was on her side of him. It looked like a wooden stick…almost like a wand. Furrowing her brows, she glanced up to see his brown eyes staring at her, studying her. Then a grin spread across his face.

“Tri-…wow, I didn’t know that was you!” she recognized the voice right away and scooted closer to him to give him a hug. He returned it with quickly, kissing the top of her head.

“I can’t believe we were sitting right next to each other for fifteen minutes!” Trinity exclaimed, feeling like an idiot. She had been sitting on the same bench as her brother Oliver Diggory for quarter of an hour without realizing it!

As Trinity pulled back from the hug, she studied her brother and widened her eyes at how different he looked. Oliver must’ve have noticed her expression and grinned.

“Polyjuice potion,” he mumbled with a chuckle, “I stole this guy’s hair thirty minutes ago. I needed to have a disguise for when I came to get you. It took me a while just to corner the poor boy.” He paused to look at his sister, a worried expression appearing on his face, “I think dad may be in trouble…with, um, you-know-who.” He whispered the last part as he made sure nobody was overhearing their conversation. Oliver was very good at spotting people using disillusionment charms to blend in with the background so Trinity was pleased when he sighed in relief.

“How do you suppose that?” She asked as they walked out of the train station, “That’s a huge accusation to make, you know.” He looked like he wanted to laugh but considering the severity of the situation, he kept it in.

“I know but I’ve noticed Dad has been staying at home more these past two weeks. Then there were some Death Eater sightings not far from home. He’s been really agitated lately too. I’m really worried that we’re being targeted.” Oliver concluded, pulling her into an alleyway. Thankfully it was secluded as they strolled further in to make sure nobody on the streets on either side would hear or see them Apparate.

Trinity was turning the idea of Death Eaters targeting their family in her mind. Maybe this was what Malfoy was hinting at a while back. Maybe he knew they were going after them. That git, Trinity thought as they stopped to Apparate.

However, they didn’t get to Apparate when someone from behind a dumpster yelled ‘Petrificus Totalus’ . The spell missed Oliver by an inch and he whipped his wand from his pocket to perform the same spell. A thud could be heard from behind the dumpster and Trinity went to step forward but was stopped by Oliver’s hand. She glanced over at him to see his eyes, now blue, were staring intently at the dumpster.

Suddenly she felt someone’s hand on her left shoulder and she turned, grabbing her wand from her jacket pocket and quickly holding it up to the person’s throat. She didn’t know who the person was but she knew he was up to no good. Oliver turned his body sideways, pointing his wand at the man that was now snaking his arm around Trinity’s waist despite her wand to his throat.

“You won’t hurt me Sweetie. You would be expelled from Hogwarts and you don’t want that, especially halfway through your sixth year.” The man cooed in her ear as he pulled her wand from her hand forcefully with his hand that wasn’t touching her and pulled her closer to his chest. The man was disgusting; reeking of what Trinity could only figure was cow dung. His breath didn’t smell any better either.

Trinity could see Oliver trembling as he watched the older man practically groping at his sister, “Let her go! She’s done nothing to you!” Oliver yelled. The Polyjuice potion was beginning to fully wear off as he grew almost a foot in the matter of three seconds. His blond hair was growing shorter until it was barely covering his forehead, sharp features of his face given to him by their father appearing. Trinity could tell it was hurting him but he kept the pain in pretty well as he stared down his wand to possibly his death. In fact, it looked like he was just waiting for his cue to attack the man with any spell he could muster. It really wouldn’t surprise her if he was running through every spell that would cause any pain through his mind. That was how Oliver was.

“Oh she hasn’t, has she? She’s the product of a half-blood, blood traitor, and American to top it all off.” The man sneered as he lifted his wand up to Trinity’s neck, making sure she didn’t hit him or anything. Just as the older man finished his sentence, red sparks flew from Oliver’s wand and Trinity was released seconds later. Before she could think of anything else, she lunged for her wand that the man was clutching in the hand that didn’t have hold his own. It was easy to take it since Oliver had magically tied his hands and feet together, rendering his arms useless. She also snatched the man’s wand as well.

“Don’t you ever come near my sister again or I won’t hesitate to hex your balls off!” Oliver yelled, “Petrificus Totalus!” The man must have been off guard because he was instantly frozen, completely still, “I still need to check the other one.” Oliver leaned into her, whispering. She nodded and raised her wand to protect herself in case another man came up from behind, “He’s knocked out! I think he hit his on the dumpster when I performed the curse…” He was cut off by the sound of a curse banging off the wall a few inches above his head. Oliver turned and darted over to Trinity, quickly grabbing her hand and Apparating.