Trade Mistakes

The next few weeks flew by faster than Trinity had thought they would and found herself completing her first month at Hogwarts without any trouble. Her dream had been long forgotten under all of the homework that piling up. Trinity spent most of her free time during the weekdays getting her work done so she could rest on the weekends.

Her work load was affected greatly by Quidditch practice that ran from around five in the afternoon to around seven. Sometimes Harry made them miss dinner. Trinity didn’t care however. She felt free when she was on her Firebolt.

The only thing that Trinity really worried about was her parents moving to London. Her mother had written her, saying that her father had gotten a job position at the Ministry at the Magic there. She didn't say what position he held but only mentioned it was important. Trinity didn't like the sound of that, seeing as there were disappearances all over the country now that You-Know-Who was really back. Though she often disliked what her father did or how he acted, she still didn't want him to be caught up in the war. He was still her dad, the one that provided for her and her family even though he never acted like a father figure.

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It was the second weekend of October, which meant it was their first Hogsmeade trip of the year. Thankfully Trinity had remembered to get her mother to sign the one that came in her letter back in July. She had waited in the common room for the rest of the group, considering it was a weekend. The first one downstairs besides her was Hermione.

“Hey Hermione,” Trinity greeted her nicely. She looked up at Trinity and smiled. Since the Quidditch tryouts, Hermione and Trinity were on better speaking terms. She sat down on the armchair while Trinity stayed on the couch. Moments later, they were joined by Neville who looked happy to be up. He grinned as he joined Trinity on the couch.

“Are you going to Hogsmeade today?” He asked, glancing between the two of them. Hermione nodded.

“I’m going with Harry and Ron, like usual. Are you going to stay here again Neville?” Hermione asked him. Neville greeted this with a shrug but the smile on his face faltered a bit. Trinity couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him.

“I’ll go with you Neville, if you want.” Trinity suggested, searching his face for an answer. The grin that had disappeared reappeared once more, but then a questioning look came across his face.

“You want to go…with me? Are you sure?” Neville questioned. He apparently didn’t think he was entertaining. Trinity smiled sweetly at him.

“I’m sure Neville. I wouldn’t want to do anything more.” She reassured him, reaching around his shoulders to hug him. Trinity could see Hermione from behind Neville and saw she was grinning from ear to ear. In an instant, she began to blush when she realized what Hermione was implying.

After a warm breakfast, Harry, Ron and Hermione split away from Ginny, Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Trinity. Soon Seamus split from the group to try to get Lavender to join him at the local tea shop. Dean and Ginny went to Zonko’s which had Going out of Business plastered on the windows. Trinity couldn’t see the happiness in the village except for the sweet shop.

That was the first place Neville had taken Trinity, letting her buy as much candy as she wanted to as well as sharing his with her. She never had candy from the wizard world, seeing as there was never a good play to buy it.

“This is much better than Muggle candy though I wish I had a Hershey bar right now.” Trinity remarked as they settled down in the much warmer Three Broomsticks. Neville glanced at her weirdly, then she remembered he had no idea what a Hershey bar was, “It’s a chocolate bar made in America. It’s fantastic really. It’s named after the man who first made it and the town where the factory is located is also called Hershey.” Trinity added, realizing he was probably bored from her droning on.

Surprisingly, Neville kept staring at her with interest. His blackish brown hair was hid beneath a hat that went over his forehead and the tips of his ears. His green eyes were wider than she had ever seen them. Taking a drink from her butter beer, Trinity saw something out of the corner of her eye. Katie Bell, one of her Quidditch team mates, was fighting with her friend over something in a long white box.

Trinity nudged Neville who was taking a swig of his butter beer and nearly drowned in it before gulping, glaring at her.

“What was that for?” He asked a little upset. Trinity motioned to Katie and Neville registered what she was thinking about, “What about it? Katie and Leanne usually fight.” He simply mentioned and went back to his butterbeer. Trinity kept watching them with mild curiosity. She just knew that this wasn’t a normal fight. It had something to do with that box.

“Neville, do you want to go back? It’s getting late.” Trinity asked Neville, taking her eyes off of the two before they walked out of the pub. He nodded. The trip was nice but she could tell it wasn’t like the usual trips to Hogsmeade. Stepping out into the slight snowy landscape, Trinity couldn’t believe it was already snowing. Back home, it wouldn’t start until the middle of November. The snow and bitter wind biting at her wasn’t the thing she was worried about though. It was the white box that Katie and Leann were fighting about.

They were ahead of them by a group of three people. Trinity had to squint before she realized they were none other than Harry, Ron and Hermione. She grabbed Neville’s hand in hers and raced to join up with them. Hermione glanced back and smiled kindly at them.

“Have fun?” She asked but their conversation was cut off by Katie and Leanne’s argument now. Trinity could see that Leanne was trying to jerk the box out of Katie’s hands. She went to take it back but the box opened by accident on the snowy lane.

Katie suddenly rose into the air and Trinity realized at once that whatever was in the box was something dangerous. She froze to her spot like the other’s who watched her rise six feet into the air. Then a scream was let out into the air. They went to help her to the ground but then fell into Harry and Ron’s arms who carefully sat her on the ground. Trinity could only watch in horror as Katie began to slide across the snow, thrashing her limbs around. This wasn’t natural.

Harry soon sped off to get help while the others could only watch in terror. The content of the box was lying on the ground. Trinity went to get a closer look when she heard the voice of Hagrid, the huge game keeper telling her to back off. Carrying Katie who was a bit calmer, the group quickly made their way to the castle.

Trinity had been right about the package. As she exchanged sideways glances with Neville on the way back to the castle and closely following the others, he acknowledged she had been right all along. Any other time, she would’ve been smug about it but now wasn’t time for rubbing anything in anyone’s faces.

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“Why is it that when something happens, it's always you three." Professor McGonagall asked Harry, Ron and Hermione before turning to whole group.

"Honestly Professor, I've been asking myself the same question for the past six years." Ron muttered, hoping to lighten the dark mood in the room. Professor McGonagall didn't even acknowledge his remark and turned to the whole group.

"Now, what happened?” McGonagall asked the six of them as they stood before her desk. Looking at the woman closely, it wasn’t hard to see that she was tired, looking like she could break any moment with bags under her eyes and almost blood shot eyes. Trinity felt for the woman. With the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, McGonagall must be on guard at all times.

“She went to the bathroom and came back with that white box, saying it was for Dumbledore.” Leanne started. McGonagall’s face hardened with this information. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Trinity gasped. Professor McGonagall gestured for Leanne to continue, “I tried to persuade her not to but it was like she was under some sort of curse.”

The room grew quiet and the sound of the blizzard wind could be heard from outside. Trinity gripped at the desk she was leaning against, feeling numb from head to toe. It didn’t help that the temperature in the classroom wasn’t much warmer than outside.

“You wanted to see me Minerva?” A cold voice drawled from behind the five of them. Each one of them turned their heads to look over their shoulders. Professor Snape.

“Yes Severus. A student has been cursed! She had this is her possession when she was cursed.” Snape glided across the floor and held out his wand. Using his wand, he lifted up the necklace and for the first time, they saw the gray metallic necklace.

“Where did she get this?” He asked in his cold voice and glanced over at Leanne who was uneasily staring at the necklace. It was creepy to even look at. Trinity’s stomach churned in fear. Leanne snapped her attention from the necklace to Professor Snape.

"Professor, she returned from the bathroom with it. I asked her what was in it and she told me it was for Professor Dumbledore. It was then that I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen." Leanne retold her story again, this time on the verge of tears. Trinity felt sympathy for the young girl. Her best friend was cursed and she tried to stop it. She couldn't comprehend how she was feeling.

"You may all be excused." McGonagall suddenly told the six. Neville, Hermione, Ron and Trinity went to leave but Harry stepped forward.

"Malfoy did it." He stated with a hint of anger. Everyone looked at him with surprise. McGonagall and Snape stared at him, appalled.

"That's quite a serious accusation Mr. Potter." McGonagall replied curtly, "But despite your theory, Mr. Malfoy was at the castle serving detention for me." She added. Harry's face fell but anyone could tell he wasn't ready to give up on this, "Now go."

Trinity and Neville left the classroom behind the trio, amazed at what had just happened. Harry was an idiot for accusing Malfoy when he wasn't even there. It was unfair. She stopped her thought process there. Was she really feeling sorry for Draco? Shaking her head, Trinity noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione were arguing in front of them with Harry saying the map never lies.

What the hell were they talking about? Trinity thought and glanced over at Neville who hadn't talked since before the incident. He was staring down at the stone floor as he walked with his hands in his pockets.

"Are you okay Neville?" Trinity asked, concerned for her best friend. He glanced up from the ground to her brown eyes. A smile spread across his face.

"I'm fine Trinity. I was just wondering...Who would do something like that to Kate? She's always been so sweet." He asked. Trinity put her hands in her coat pocket. From the Quidditch practices with Katie, she had never once heard her or do anything that would cause her to make any enemies. Katie was just a kind-hearted girl. Then she thought of something.

"I don't know Neville. Do you really believe that Malfoy is that gifted with magic? He's a sixth year and all but do you think that Harry is right?" She asked him. Neville rolled his eyes but frowned.

"From all the times he had put the Body-Bind curse on me, I think he was somewhat gifted with magic. Not to mention that his whole family are supporters of You-Know-Who. They probably taught him some things earlier than he would here." He paused and so did Trinity. They had gone halfway up a staircase. Many people were passing them but they never thought to stop to listen, "I think Malfoy had something to do with it but didn't mean to curse Katie. Even someone like Malfoy wouldn't hurt her on purpose." Neville explained. Trinity nodded and the pair continued up the stairs.

Once they were upstairs and in front of the portrait hole, Trinity turned to Neville with a smile.

"Thanks for taking me on my first visit to Hogsmeade. I appreciate it." She told him, giving him a small hug before uttering the password to the Fat Lady.

"No problem." She heard Neville mutter before they both entered the Common Room and split ways.