01


THE SUMMER OF 1994, HAD BEEN QUITE EVENTFUL for Clover Carstairs and although August had rolled around- the madness had yet to cease. The girl had practically spent the entirety of the summer with her closest friends and their fun wasn't over just yet as the Quidditch World Cup seemed to creep closer. The girl was now at her home in Wiltshire, standing in her childhood bedroom over her trunk as she packed away her clothes and school uniform. Clover roughly had another hour until Cedric was due to arrive and the girl was criminally unprepared.

Clover had met first Cedric Diggory on the train, during their journey to Hogwarts in first year. The two hit it off immediately and began talking but after a mere five minutes of sitting together, another girl joined them. The girl had to hide her surprise when Juliette Garrows entered the carriage, for Juliette had been the first young witch Clover had ever spoken to. The girls had quite literally bumped into each other, knocking one another to the floor of Diagon Alley during the Summer, and after the two profusely apologised to each other, they went their separate ways.

The three were quick to become friends, and after they'd miraculously all been sorted into Hufflepuff, their friendship held strong. However, the three soon became four within a day after they arrived at the castle when Cedric introduced the girls to his roommate, Hugo, who at the time was a rather quiet, reserved boy. The two girls welcomed the boy into their group with open arms and from that moment, the four formed an unbreakable friendship.

"Where exactly are you going?" A voice spoke up, forcing Clover to snap out of her nostalgic thoughts and to whip her head towards her mother, who was standing in the frame of her bedroom door.

"Cedric's." The girl answered, "You met him a few weeks ago when he and his father came by with my quidditch ticket?" The girl's mother scrunched her nose in confusion. It was safe to say that the woman wasn't entirely up to speed with her daughter's wizarding lingo. Upon seeing her mother's expression, Clover pointed to the quidditch poster above her bed.

"Quidditch is that sport played on broomsticks." Clover explained, for what had to be the millionth time. The girl felt bad that her frustration leaked through her words, knowing that her mother couldn't help her lack of wizarding world knowledge.

"Oh..." her mother replied sheepishly, her arms folding as Clover went back to packing her bag. "When are you coming back?"

"I'm staying at Ced's until school starts again, so probably Christmas." The girl answered, using her fingers to count off the things she needed, Clover looked up to see a look of concern plastered across her mother's face causing the girl to flash the woman a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, mum, I'll write every week, I promise!"

"And the owl..." her mother trailed off, pointing towards Herold, (Clover's owl), as it sat in its cage.

"It'll bring you my letters like usual, all you have to do is untie the letter, feed him some treats and attach your reply, see, it's easy!" Clover spoke, closing her trunk with a small bang as she brushed off her hands.

"What treats exactly?" Her mother asked unsurely, her eyebrows furrowing. Clover wanted to rip her hair out piece by piece. The girl had informed her mother about all these details hundreds of times beforehand but she never seemed to grasp the gist.

"The treats labelled 'owl treats' under the sink." Clover replied after a few seconds, "-and if they run out, just apologise to Herold, he may peck at you in revenge but eventually he'll understand."

The two found themselves slipping into a very uncomfortable silence. This wasn't an unusual occurrence for them but the awkwardness never failed to make the girl cringe. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable around her mother, it's just that they truly had nothing in common. Her mother didn't understand that the world Clover knew and loved was so much more exciting than the world Louise Carstairs resided in.

"Is Winnie in the garden?" Clover spoke up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she broke the silence.

"I think so, yeah."

"I'm going to go find her and say goodbye before I forget."

With that, Clover left her mother lingering as the girl wandered out of her childhood home and out onto the vast land surrounding the house. She found herself on track towards the giant oak tree located off to the right of the home, a place where Clover and her sister regularly retreated to for peace. The two sisters were close, often finding themselves being extremely comfortable being around one another. There may have been a two year age gap between them but that never seemed to be a big problem for the two. The girl made her way up the small path as the figure of the tree grew closer and closer. She finally stopped meters away from the tree, before looking up into the branches, spotting her sister amongst the leaves, with a book clasped in her hand.

"You going to come down or do I have to come up?" Clover questioned teasingly, causing the younger girl in the tree to look down at her suddenly.

"Well, I'm comfortable up here so..."

"Alright, looks like I'm coming up then."

Clover pushed her sleeves up beyond her elbows before hoisting herself up the tree, climbing it until she was level with her sister. The girl sat back against the large branch, propping her feet up as Winnie placed her book face down on her lap.

"I'm leaving soon." Clover blurted out, as she fiddled with her fingers anxiously. "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

"Oh..."

"-But I'll be back at Christmas, right? And we can go sledging and make mum wear the ugly jumper we got her last year?" Winnie nodded silently, her eyes gravitating towards her sister's, for the sake of making the older girl look less worried, the girl plastered a smirk across her face.

"As long as you bring home some of those wizard sweets you're always on about, I'll be happy." The younger girl started, "...And maybe, also a wizarding book?"

"Absolutely." Clover replied as she felt a small smile creep its way across her face. It was a small tradition of theirs, that every time Clover returned for the holidays, she would come bearing at least one book from the wizarding world to gift to her sister. The older girl didn't mind doing this at all if it meant that the relationship between the sisters stayed steady.

Clover remembered how gutted the younger girl was when she turned eleven and a letter from Hogwarts or a professor in extravagant robes failed turned up. She remembered Winnie refusing to sleep that night just in case the letter got lost or they'd gotten the wrong house. Clover remembered watching her little sister's heartbreak as her parents told her that the probability of her getting a letter as her sister had, was low. It was a look of utter disappointment and despair that Clover never wanted to see on her sister again.

"Where are you going?" Winnie asked suddenly, causing the older girl to tilt her head. "...I didn't ask when you told me you were leaving."

"I'm going to Cedric's," Clover explained, her fingers fiddling with a leaf. "and then in a few days, the Quidditch World Cup, then I'm going back to school."

"Is Cedric the tall one who showed up last week with his dad and gave mum a heart attack?" Winnie questioned with a faint smile as she reminisced the event.

"Yes, that was him." Clover chuckled, but suddenly there was a loud crack in the distance and a shrill scream interrupting the serenity the two sister's had felt. "-And it looks like it just happened again." The girl began to descend down the tree, her hands gripping the branches tightly as she climbed. Clover jumped slightly, letting her feet hit the grass beneath the tree.

"You coming, Winnie?" She called up, watching as the younger girl stare at the house in the distance. Winnie nodded and swiftly clambered down the branches before hopping off the last branch and landing beside Clover. Together, the two walked back towards the house where the screaming had seemed to stop. Clover was quick to enter the small household and was immediately met with the sight of Cedric, standing by the kitchen sink looking rather uncomfortable while Amos wandered around the living room as her mother followed behind nervously.

"Sorry, I went to find Winnie." Clover apologised, causing the two adults and Cedric to look towards the girls. The older girl grinned and engulfed her friend in a small hug. "Good to see you, Ced."

"Ready to go?!" Amos asked wholeheartedly, rubbing his hands together while Louise Carstairs stood beside Winnie as if hoping the younger girl would bring her peace.

"Yup!" Clover nodded, "I've just got to grab Herold and my trunk!"

"Right, why don't you go grab your things?" Amos said, clapping his hands while Clover nodded and began to retreat to her room with Cedric by her side to help. The two quickly gathered the girl's items before walking back out to the living room where Winnie, Louise, and Amos stood awkwardly.

"Alright, Ced, give me the owl." Amos spoke, gesturing for the boy to hand over the bird, "Good, good, now...Clover, we'll wait outside while you say goodbye!" Cedric and Amos hastily left the small household, leaving the three Carstairs' alone. Clover cleared her throat, before stepping forward and hugging her mother and sister.

"Uh...I guess this is goodbye until Christmas." Clover hesitated as she sent a sheepish smile towards her sister and mother. Louise Carstairs took a deep breath in as Clover met the woman's eyes.

"Stay safe." She told the girl all while her eyebrows pulled together in worry and concern.

"I always do."

CLOVER FLOPPED DOWN ON TOP OF THE SPARE BED THAT had been set up for the girl in Cedric's room. The girl had spent many of her summer days at the Diggory household so the girl wasn't a stranger to the boy's cosy home. Cedric closed his door slightly, leaving a small gap before jumping onto the bed beside the girl.

"So, let me get this straight-" Clover began, turning her head to look at the boy. "Juliette is going to the match with her cousins and Hugo told you to 'piss off' when you offered him the ticket?!"

"Yeah," Cedric nodded, "I mean, I expected that reaction from Hugo, we all know how much he despises quidditch." Clover chuckled as she remembered the boy's utter hatred towards the wizard sport. Hugo never fully explained his dislike for the sport but when asked, he often muttered something about his aunt, Eudoria and her 'stupid, fucking greenhouse'.

"Hugo is just something else." Clover laughed, rolling her eyes. "-And I thought Juliette didn't get along with her cousins? From what I've heard they're twats!"

"Yeah, I don't know what's happening there," Cedric shrugged, "That's all she told me."

"Odd..."

"Agreed."

Clover turned onto her side to face the boy, "Y'know what?" She told him, earning her a frown of confusion in return. "This reminds me of second-year summer holidays."

"What does?" Cedric questioned, causing the other girl to chuckle. "Us talking about Juliette's god-awful family?"

"No..." Clover said thoughtfully as a bemused smile began to sneak its way through her features. "Your quafted haircut."

"Oh," Cedric exclaimed, tackling Clover while she shrieked in surprise. "You. Are. DEAD!"

"Get...off...me, you oaf!" Clover choked as the boy sat on top of her, shaking her shoulders vigorously.

"Not until you admit that my haircut is amazing!"

"NEVER!"

"THEN I'M NOT MOVING!"

[unedited]

Hola, Ciao, Guten Tag, Bonjour, Hallo, Hey, Nǐ hǎo!

Welcome to the first chapter of Home!! This chapter is mainly to show Clover's relationships with different characters in this book, so lemme break it down for you.

CEDRIC IS LIKE A BROTHER TO CLOVER! CEDRIC IS LIKE A BROTHER TO CLOVER! CEDRIC IS LIKE A BROTHER TO CLOVER! CEDRIC IS LIKE A BROTHER TO CLOVER!

And Winnie is a baby. PERIOD!

Chile anyways, feel free to vote and comment, and I'll see you soon babies <3

LOVE YALL!

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