James and Samantha managed to move some of the chairs from in front of the fireplace over in front of one of the windows in the common room with a levitation spell while the others talked in hushed tones.
"You know, it's so much easier to move stuff with magic, it's not even funny." Samantha said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, but then I think of all the Muggles doing it by hand and it's funny again." James said with a smile. Samantha smiled back then looked at the others. None of them were smiling.
"Guys, she'll be okay." Samantha said to them. None of them responded. Holly walked over to one of the chairs and sat down in it. Albus walked over to the window as Derek and Peter walked over to the other chair and had a whispered duel as to who got to sit in it. Albus sighed as the moon rose higher into the sky. Albus glanced around the common room to see that their small group was the only group down there. Not even a ghost in sight. Suddenly, a howl pierced the silent night.
"Did you all hear that?" Albus asked in a whisper, as if speaking too loud would attract it. Peter, who was left standing, nodded.
"Hear what?" Samantha asked, clearly pretending she hadn't heard the howl. James rolled his eyes. Holly glanced up from a book she was reading then looked back down at it quickly. More howls sounded and Albus felt his heart pumping.
"Werewolves are really loud tonight..." Derek mumbled, rubbing his right arm with his left hand as another howl rang out.
"That one wasn't a werewolf, Derek." Holly said softly.
"Well then, what was it?" Derek asked, giving his sister a look.
"A Grim." She replied simply.
"Oh, just great, so she's probably surrounded by werewolves with a death omen right in front of her! Perfect!" Albus said sarcastically.
"Albus, it's a common misconception that Grims are death omens." Holly said. Samantha turned away from the window, looking interested. Derek groaned.
"What are they, then?" Peter asked. Holly smiled.
"Well, I first heard it from my mum, but I'll try to tell it to you all, if you'd like." Holly said happily. Derek was the only one showing any opposition to this, so Holly began to tell the story.
"Long ago, there were two friends, Jezabell and Miria. The two were very close and shared many things with each other, and many secrets. One day, Jezabell told Miria a very different secret. She told her that she was somewhat like an animagus...that she could turn into a big black dog. But she had never really learned how, she just always knew how. Miria thought this was amazing, so Jezabell continued. She went on to tell her friend about her dreams... In all of her dreams, Jezabell spoke with people. Most of them were no longer living in this world, so Jezabell assumed they were figments her mind had created to keep her company in the night. The strange thing was, though, all of the dream-people where very close to Jezabell's friends in this world. Maria was curious, but slightly nervous about this. She didn't know what to say.
"After the two grew old, Miria decided to tell her grandchildren about the story, and in turn, they told their children, and so on and so forth. As these things go, the story got twisted around and the big black dog became known as a Grim...a death omen." Holly finished and Albus couldn't help but shudder. The story was fine, but oddly spooky...
"Okay, if the Grim isn't a death omen, how come all of those people who have seen it have died?" Derek said, voicing Albus' scepticism.
"Because they think it's a death omen, so they do something stupid that ends up getting them killed. It's their own stupid mistakes that gets them dead. Remember Uncle Albert?" Holly said, raising an eyebrow. Derek rolled his eyes.
"What happened to Uncle Albert?" Samantha asked quickly.
"He thought he saw a Grim, thought he was going to die, so he went skiing as a last hurrah. But he'd never been skiing before, so he ended up tumbling down a few too many times and he...uh...broke his neck." Holly finished softly.
"That's awful!" Samantha said, looking suddenly sad. Albus noted that sadness looked odd on Samantha. He guessed this was because she was always so happy...
"Nah, it's all right, we didn't really know him that well anyways." Derek said with a shrug.
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