Chapter Text
Primrose Sallow has been obsessed with The Beatles for exactly one year, two months, and fifteen days. In that time, she had collected one of twelve records — Magical Mystery Tour— and that was only because her cousin wanted to get her something before she was sent off to Hogwarts.
The Beatles had been broken up for exactly one year, four months, and twenty-one days. In simpler terms, it was September first, nineteen seventy-one.
“After hearing so many stories about the old Hogwarts Express, I’m sad to say I’m disappointed,” Sallow mused. She had probably been talking for about five minutes straight, which didn’t sound as long as it felt to the poor boy in the compartment with her. “I mean, there’s not even a record player! How am I supposed to-“
Needless to say, she was asked to leave. The poor boy —whom she never asked to introduce himself— pointed to a compartment across that had a visible empty seat and shut the door.
“I didn’t even get to ask him what he thought about The Beatles…” Either way, she started making her way through the moving train with her bag in hand. The environment buzzed with excitement. Or maybe it was the song stuck in her head.
She knocked on the door of the compartment to the beat of Penny Lane and opened it. Two boys were sitting on opposite seats.
“Would you lot mind if I sat here?” Primrose asked with a smile. The boys looked at each other. One of them had big, round glasses and smiled at her back, while the other was a bit round and kept looking at the first boy.
“Yeah, why not! Pick whichever side,” Glasses Boy said, gesturing to the seats. She noticed that he had a bit of a posh accent. Without hesitation, Primrose sat next to him. “I’m James Potter. This is Peter Pettigrew. Oh, we have another friend who was sitting here, but he left to go to the loo-”
“Hi!” Peter interrupted.
“Nice to meet you both, I’m…” She thought for a moment and realized that she could say whatever she wanted, and they would have no idea. “Penny! I’m Penny Sallow.”
James looked slightly curious at her moment of hesitation, but let it pass. He started to talk about the Hogwarts Quidditch teams, or more specifically, Gryffindor’s. Penny tried to follow along, but she had never cared to learn much about the game. Once Potter started talking about “how amazing a player has to be to catch the Snitch with their mouth,” she started fully tuning him out. Maybe this is why the kid from before kicked her out of the compartment. It wasn’t her fault The Beatles were the best thing to come out of Muggle music.
“I’m hoping my parents got me a new one for when I try out next year for Gryffindor-“
“Do you think you’re going to be in that house?” Penny interrupted.
“Well, my parents were both in Gryffindor. And they say I’ve got a fair shot at it. What house do you think you’ll be in?”
”Umm… Well, my mum was a Ravenclaw and my aunt was a Hufflepuff. I think I have a fair chance for any of them, really.” Thinking back on it, it seemed like no one in her family was a part of the lion-themed house.
“I think I’m going to be a Gryffindor, too,” Peter joined in. “I think I look the best in red.” James and Penny laughed with him.
“I just hope I’m not in Slytherin.” James scoffed, as if the idea alone was blasphemous.
“Why?”
“Sallow, you know all bad wizards have been in Slytherin-“ Before James could finish his sentence, the door opened. A boy with black hair let out a dramatic sigh and sat next to Peter. He didn’t seem to notice Penny.
“Welcome back, Black-“
“God, some blokes need to lighten up.” He ran a hand through his hair, “I went to take a piss, and this kid was looking at me like I trespassed on his property. He does not own the loo!”
“Black-“ James interrupted, trying to point out the fact that Penny was right beside him. It didn’t matter because Sirius was more interested in telling his story to James.
“I tried to chat with the fellow, and do you know what he told me!? He said ‘fuck off,’ it hasn’t even been a day and I’ve already-“
“Sirius!” James nearly shouted. “This is Sallow. Sallow, Black.” Sirius took barely a second to regain his composure before extending a hand to Penny.
“Sirius Black, nice to meet you.”
“Pr- Penny,” she corrected, “Penny Sallow.” She met Sirius’s light eyes and smiled. Sirius examined her and the bag resting by her feet.
“Is that a Beatles sticker?” Little did Sirius know, Penny had been waiting for someone to ask that exact question.
“Yes! It is! Do you listen to them?”
“Well, not really, my family aren’t keen on Muggle music. But my cousin sends me records now and then. I think the only Beatles I have is Revolver.”
“Oh, I’ve wanted that vinyl since forever! Merlin, you have to play it for me eventually. I only have Beatle right now… But I want to collect them all before leaving Hogwarts.” Penny smiled proudly at herself. Her mother was kind enough to get her started, but she needed the whole set! Sirius and James laughed; Peter joined after a second.
“Maybe,” Sirius said, which wasn’t a no.
———
The sorting hat ceremony was a grand one. The room sparkled like gold, and even from a distance, Penny could smell the bountiful feast that awaited her. By the second name called, she had decided to tune the whole thing out. She thought about what she always did, The Beatles. Penny thought about how many more albums they would have created if they hadn’t broken up. Definitely at least two. Maybe three.
“James Potter!” The green-clad professor called. Penny smiled at her new friend when he passed by to get to the hat. Though she knew what the answer would be. In seconds, he was off to the lion-themed table.
Though if The Beatles had never broken up, then they wouldn't have had their solo careers, and Paul wouldn’t have created Wings. She liked Wings, but not as much as The Beatles.
“Primrose Sallow!” Without disrupting her thoughts, Penny made her way towards the chair and hat. The moment it was near her head, it started to talk.
“Interesting. You’re filled with so much potential. If you wanted, you could fit in anywhere.”
What house would John Lennon be in if he were a wizard?
“What?” The hat asked. He kept muttering about ‘potential’ and ‘power’ within her, but she was more focused on thinking about what house each Beatle would be in. “You have the wit for Ravenclaw, like your mother. If you wanted, you would make a fine Slytherin like your-“
“I don’t want to be in Slytherin.”
“Are you sure?” The hat asked, raising a fabric-made brow. “I suppose if you are, then I say…. Gryffindor!”
Penny couldn’t really see James in the crowd of Gryffindors, but he seemed like the type to clap extra loudly. She walked towards the table with thoughts of The Beatles. But she knew she’d have to save the house, assigning it to a later topic.
“Sallow!” A familiar voice called. It was James and the boy from her previous compartment. She walked over and sat across from the Potter.
“Long time no see.” She greeted with a smile.
“So… Primrose?” Potter teased, Penny felt herself flush.
“Call me Penny. And hello there, nice to meet you fully.” She looked at the other boy. “I’m sorry for how I acted on the train; I was a bit nervous for the whole ceremony.” It was a complete lie, but she thought that she was convincing enough. The boy squinted at her, almost offended.
“Yeah, I was just introducing myself too,” James smiled and looked at the other boy. He had shaved light brown hair and slightly torn robes.
“Remus Lupin.” He sounded Welsh, noticeably different from James’s almost noble-sounding accent. The boy seemed like he didn’t want to be there. Which made Penny feel like she had to be his friend.
“Would you rather be called your first name or your last?” She asked. Lupin looked conflicted and toyed with the collar of his robes.
“Remus.”
“Okay, and I really am sorry for being a nuisance on the train. Let me know when you want me to stop talking, and I’ll try my best.” Her smile was so big it nearly hurt. Before Remus could respond, the name Peter Pettigrew was called. James and Penny turned their heads to watch the shorter boy be sorted. To her own surprise, the hat shouted her own house’s name.
“Long time no see, Pettigrew,” Penny repeated, which gave her a feeling of deja vu. He nodded at her and smiled at James. She wondered how long they had known each other; it had to be before today, she decided. Her final guess was that they had known each other for three years, not for any real reason. Three years ago… she thought, the Beatles released their self-titled album. The one with Helter Skelter! Her cousin loved that song.
“Sirius Black,” the professor called. The crowd went nearly silent. It seemed like the Slytherins straightened their backs. She looked across and saw James’ look of conflicted emotions. Penny put a hand gently on the one he rested on the table.
“You can still be friends in different houses.” Though she was trying to be nice, it seemed that it didn’t matter, because the enchanted accessory called out
“Gryffindor!” The table erupted in applause, and Penny wasted no time in joining. This meant that there was a better chance that Black would let her listen to his record!
Said boy walked slowly. As if he were trying to avoid his destination altogether. Now and then, he looked at the green table and deflated even more. The Slytherins looked extremely upset.
“Hey mate,” James smiled cautiously. “Good to have you.” Sirius only nodded and sat beside Penny. Remus said nothing. Peter looked at James and tried to determine if he should say something.
“If it makes you feel any better, at least you're with us.” Penny tried to comfort him with a smile. Black made a face at her.
“For hundreds of years, every Black has been in Slytherin. I’m sorry, Sallow, but I don't think you would understand.” He was right, and she knew it, but he didn’t have to be rude about it. Penny decided that she didn’t want to argue on her first day at Hogwarts. Her mother would be simply furious if she did.
She wondered what Ringo Starr would say in her situation. The Beatle known for ‘peace and love’ would probably have some proper answers to keep the peace. While Black sulked, Penny started humming ‘All You Need Is Love.’
———
“Do you really need three Beatles posters, Sallow?” One of her new roommates questioned. The girl was pretty, had decently long red hair with a slight wave. Penny was almost jealous; she wished she knew a spell to force her curls into straight lines. Either way, she should have been more focused on getting the poster to stay up.
“You’re right, Evans, I need more!” Penny sighed and collapsed onto her bed. Lily Evans had introduced her to two other girls, but Penny had already forgotten their names. It had only been a few days, so she didn’t feel bad about forgetting. “I at least need to get one of Paul McCartney.” She thought for a moment, “And George!”
Evans sighed and continued laying her own decor out. She had a Jim Morrison poster. Penny thought and realized that she had never listened to the artist, at least knowingly. Her second Beatles poster (one of ‘A Hard Day's Night’) started to droop in the corner of her eye.
“Hey, Evans,” she called. “Do you have any records with you? I have a player.” Penny gestured to the bright yellow record player beside her. Even though she wanted to add stickers, she was worried that it would have made her look childish. The other girl looked at her with a smile.
“I only have one, but I left it at home.” After a moment, the ginger girl seemed to get an idea. “I could bring it after the winter holiday.”
“Sounds good.” Penny nodded along to the beat in her head. She leaped onto her bed.
Penny grabbed her father’s notebook and quill to start the thing she had been waiting for, The Beatles Hogwarts Houses. She was humming along to ‘I Am The Walrus’ and thinking harder than she ever had. Was George Harrison a Ravenclaw, like her mum?
“Sallow, I’m sorry, but could you go to the common room? I’m trying to get ahead in the textbook, and you’re distracting me.” Without a second to spare, she left the ginger alone and descended the stairs.
The common rooms were rather loud, even by her standards. It seemed like nearly every first year was chatting up another. Part of her wanted to look for the group of boys she had become acquainted with, but she had a mission that she had already been sidetracked from. Though she decided to look for a quiet place in the hallway.
She sat on a bench by a window and began her work.
The Beatles Hogwarts Houses
By Penny Lane
She decided that if she was going to change her name from Primrose to Penny, she might as well go with the full pseudonym. It wasn’t hard to assign the first two Beatles. After only a few moments, she decided that John was definitely a Gryffindor. He definitely seemed the type to be brave and loyal. She couldn’t remember many scandals involving him. Though her mum did go through her mail, so she could have blocked a muggle magazine or two.
John Lennon is a Gryffindor because he is brave and loyal!
George Harrison is a Ravenclaw because he’s calm and doesn't talk too much, so he has to be smart.
But would Ringo be in Hufflepuff? Then that would make Paul a Slytherin, and that didn’t feel right. But Ringo couldn’t be a Slytherin! Should she redo the list entirely? After a moment of hesitation, Penny scribbled out the entire page.
How did the hat do it? How could it simplify an entire person by a few traits and put it in one house? She was mindlessly doodling in the margins of her notebook. Little stars and swirls and maybe a few lyrics that she couldn’t escape.
“-She just wouldn’t stop talking!” A voice called, walking down the hall. Someone laughed. “I mean, who likes a muggle band that much?”
“Don’t act so proud, Black. I saw your collection of records. You’re also obsessed with Muggle musicians.” A familiar light and noble voice called. Potter?
“Yeah, but I like a lot of them! I’ve got Bowie, The Doors, T.Rex! Merlin, I barely remember the bird’s name. All I recall about her was ‘Beatles Beatles Beatles!’” Sirius did a poor impression of a girl and used his right hand to demonstrate someone talking. Penny felt her face get warm and shut her notebook. She outlined the initials carved in the cover to keep her calm, C.G.
“I actually asked her to leave my compartment. Cos she wouldn’t stop talking about the bloody band.”
“Yeah? Imagine having her as a potions partner. Every time I try to do my work, she’s humming to some song. Prolly Beatles if I had to guess,” Potter quipped.
A burning feeling started in her stomach. She realized that she had to leave as soon as possible. It would be so embarrassing if she cried, especially in the public halls. Penny got up with her notebook and ran down the hallway back towards the Gryffindor portrait. Or at least she tried. On the way, she bumped into Sirius Black’s shoulder.
“Oi! Watch where you’re….” Black paused once he realized who she was, but Penny kept walking. “Oh shit.”
“Penny-“ One of them called.
She mumbled the passcode and entered, walked right through the crowd of first years, and back into her dorm. After collapsing on the bed, she grabbed her pillow and yelled into it. Well, there went her possible friends. Rude boys.
“Primrose, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Evans. ‘Fanks for asking,” Penny mumbled into her pillow. She wished she could just be alone.
“Are you sure? You might feel better if you talk about it.”
“I’m quite fine, Evans.”
“But, you’re crying! Are you sure-“
The burning feeling had started to return. The crying girl got up and left the dorm. For a castle so huge, it felt like there was no space for her to just exist alone.
The huddle of children in the first year weren’t happy to be pushed through yet again, but Penny went on and out of the portrait hole once more. She noticed just how dark it was outside. What time was it?
Either way, she pulled up her hood and walked down the halls. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but she needed a place where she could just be alone!
After a while, she wasn’t sure where she was. It was still her first week being inside the castl,e and it’s not like they handed out a map! Wait, the prefect did. And the map was probably sitting on her bed, all wrinkled and useless, because a stupid group of boys decided to be cruel.
She ducked into the next room she could find. The smell of old books and comforting candlelight brought her to the corner of the room.
“Well, this is just great,” she mumbled. She looked through the books and tried to ignore the stinging in her eyes. It was obvious that she needed to think about something that wasn’t her beloved rock band or the stupid boys in her house. Her fingers brushed against a copy of ‘The Basics of Spell Casting’ and she opened the cover.
————
Penny tried to get over the group of boys' rudeness; she really did. She tried especially hard not to let it impact her ability to focus on what really mattered: The Beatles and her newfound love of reading.
Every now and then, she would go back to her Gryffindor dormitory to hang out and do work, but Lily wasn’t fond of her humming. It wasn’t Penny’s fault; it helped keep her focus!
“Ugh, everything’s against me,” she whined and pulled at her face with her hands. “I swear, even my record is.” Said record had started developing a skip in it from her abuse, but she tried to ignore it. Even when it skipped during Penny Lane.
“Sallow! You’re here!” Evans chimed. Penny truly didn’t know where she stood with the girl. She wouldn’t mind being friends with her, but it seemed like Evans had gotten rather close with their other dorm mates. Mary something and Martha? Maggie? Something similar. Penny didn’t stay around often enough to know them well. Her time was better spent in the library.
“Hello Evans, nice to see you,” She smiled her classic Primrose smile: so big it hurt her cheeks but didn’t quite match her eyes, the one her mother loved.
“I feel like I never see you in here anymore. Where do you go?” Evans looked genuinely concerned, which gave the other girl a pit in her stomach.
“To be quite honest, I spend most of my time in the library,” she readjusted her hold on her current book, ‘The Stars and Signs: Basics and More.’ Penny was falling in love with the subject. Before Evans could reply, Mary ran into the room.
“Hurry up, we have to get to potions!”
“Oh no, I completely lost track of time,” Evans said, rummaging through her things to grab her book and proper items. With a sigh, Penny grabbed her book. Ever since she overheard the boys in the hall, potions had been a nightmare, and she hadn’t asked her professor to change partners yet. A part of her still hoped they could all be friends.
For the first time that year, Penny walked with Lily Evans to potions. Secretly, she hoped it would become a more common occurrence.
“So, uh, Evans, do you enjoy potions? I know you usually partner with that Slytherin boy.” Penny would never say she was good at socializing because that would be a lie.
“Well, yeah, I like potions. Sev is really good at it, so I guess that adds to the reasons I like it,” the ginger girl chuckled.
“Sev?”
“Oh, sorry! Severus Snape, he’s the Slytherin boy I partner with. We’ve been friends for years.” Before Penny could reply, Evans added, “And yes, I know that he’s a Slytherin and we’re not ‘supposed’ to be friends.”
“I wasn’t going to say that…” Penny mumbled. “I think houses shouldn’t matter that much. I mean, I think most of The Beatles would be in different houses, and they still made a lot of amazing music!”
“Didn’t they break up, though?” Evans gave the other girl a look, making Penny deflate.
“Don’t remind me…”
The walk to potions was somehow too short and too long at the same time. They were still in the basics of lessons; learning what ingredients were most important, where they were found, the boring stuff. If she could, Penny would sleep through the class.
Unfortunately, though, her Potter Problem still existed.
“Psst, Sallow.” She didn’t remember when he stopped referring to her as Penny, but she didn’t mind. Only friends should call her Penny. “Listen to any Beatles today?” At one point, she would’ve thought he was genuinely asking, but his wicked grin told her otherwise.
“Go away, Potter. I’m trying to focus.” Penny took her notes rather seriously, but not as seriously as The Beatles.
“Hey, Sallow, are you thinking about your muggle band?”
“…”
“Sallow, how long has it been since The Beatles broke up?” He must’ve been peeking at her notes. Her counter was in the top right corner, right by where Potter sat.
“…”
“Sallow, did The Beatles ever make potions?”
“If anything, they probably made drugs.” She huffed. That shut him up for the rest of class, which surprised her. Penny didn’t know he could do that. She also didn’t know if any of The Beatles ever made drugs. Maybe she should ask her cousin.
At the end of class, Professor Slughorn announced that they were moving on to the practical part of the class. With a sigh, she got up to talk to the teacher. If she didn’t ask to change partners now, she never would.
————
Before she knew it, it was October. The first month of classes wasn't too bad in Penny’s opinion, after requesting a new potions partner. But not many people were keen on talking to her, as it seemed like she had gained a fast reputation for being “obsessed with that muggle band.” It was to the point that even Muggle-borns would avoid her.
That didn’t matter, though! Penny had a knack for most of her classes, especially Transfiguration. Although she wasn’t Professor McGonigall’s favorite pupil, she’d like to believe that she was at least on the list. And higher than Sirius Black. But her best class had to be Astronomy.
“Excellent once again, Miss Sallow,” Professor Astor said with a smile. The teacher had beautiful blonde hair and seemed to love the muggle hippie vibe. Every now and then, she’d see Astor with the Divinations teacher. “I’m starting to think you were the one who put the stars in the sky!” Penny laughed.
“Maybe I’ll add my own one day,” she mused. Astor laughed and looked at Penny.
“You’re my best student in this class, Sallow. I mean it. I believe that you have the ability to teach your peers. Perhaps you could become a tutor later on in this year or the next.” Professor Astor ran a hand through her blonde hair. Penny could see her ear piercings; she looked so cool. “You can change your mind, but my dear, you have a gift.”
“Sure, Professor, I’d love to!”
It would have been a bit strange to tell her teacher —or whatever poor soul she had to explain things to— that her favorite method of memorizing was finding a Beatles song that reminded her of the specific topic and playing it while studying. So instead, she spent the next few days reading about teaching methods.
Penny decided to prepare her for tutoring next year; she would start a study group. The library had a board of different club meetings and tutor group times, so she simply added her piece of parchment promoting herself for first-year Astrology.
The first study session was fine. Maybe even a bit boring. She helped a Hufflepuff named Stephanie Stebbins and her friends for three hours straight. They went over the locations of the basic stars and constellations (the Big and Little Dippers, the North Star, etc), and Penny quizzed them until most of the girls got them right, which took forever. Whenever she could, Penny would think about The Beatles. She never did finalize their houses.
Her second session of her study group was slightly more difficult. Peter Pettigrew sat in the opposing chair from her and looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. With a sigh, she sat in front of him.
“Hello, Pettigrew.”
“Hi, Sallow,” the poor boy looked like he wanted to cry.
“Let me see some of your papers. We need to figure out what's not working here.” She took the papers quietly, but hummed ‘Here Come The Sun’ under her breath. Peter perked up at the melody, and Penny pretended not to notice. She was sure that he and his friends were contributing to her current social situation. Or lack of. Stupid little boys.
More importantly, Penny might not have known the boy in front of her very well, but she could tell that he copied his work and that whoever he copied from would need to see her, too.
“You got this answer correct here,” she pointed, gesturing to their latest labeling test, “but marked a different one here.” Professor Astor had left a ‘trick question’ by putting some of the same stars on both testing papers. It was probably the hardest part of the whole test, which didn’t mean much to Penny.
“Pettigrew, be honest, did you copy some of your answers from someone else?” Said boy looked away to the wall of the library and then back to his paper, then eventually looked Sallow in the eye. He nodded with pink cheeks.
“It’s okay, I won’t tell Professor Astor. But after our session, I don’t want you to cheat in this class anymore. I don’t really care about the other ones,” Penny sighed. If Pettigrew wanted to copy off of Potter’s or Lupin’s work, he could have at it. But not while she was helping him, she wanted Professor Astor to see how good she would be as a tutor.
After determining the best course of action, Penny started to go through the coursework with the smaller boy. Even though it was difficult to get him to fully grasp some of the star connections and meanings, he got there eventually. After the first ten minutes, Pettigrew had started to look her in the eyes.
“Okay, without looking at your map, what constellation is between Aquila and Cepheus?”
“Um… It's something with a ‘C’ for sure. Is it… uh, Synuts?”
“It’s pronounced Cygnus, but good job! You’ve been making some good improvements, Pettigrew.”
In just an hour and a half, Peter had managed to map most of the basic constellations and name them. He wasn’t perfect, but considering he didn’t know any, Penny was proud of the progress.
They agreed to meet up the next day too because they had a test coming up. Penny had just finished with Stebins before Pettigrew appeared.
“Okay, today we’ll go over the entire map, okay? You did pretty good with labeling yesterday, but you’ll need to know how to label all of them for the test.” Penny used her memory to draw out the entire chart. “Professor said we don’t need to draw them, so I won’t make you.”
Pettigrew seemed to appreciate that. He smiled slightly, at her or his own thoughts, Penny wasn’t sure. She hummed to Here Comes The Sun as she finished the drawing and handed it over to the boy.
“I’m going to let you take as long as you need for this one, but after, I’ll time you. We’re only getting twenty minutes to do it on the exam.”
While Pettigrew tried to label his maps, Penny thought about Halloween. It was only a few days away. How would the castle look? Would students go out of their way to scare their friends? She sighed at the thought. The main benefit of not having anyone to hang out with was that her grades were a beautiful sight, but that was the only good thing she could think of. She doodled and wrote some lyrics that had been stuck in her head in the notebook, waiting to pass the time.
Out of six fully labeled maps, only two of them were entirely accurate. And Penny didn’t even time him like she said she would.
“I’m sorry, Sallow, I feel like I’m just wasting your time,” Pettigrew looked sadly at the table filled with his incorrect maps.
“Okay, this might take a bit longer than I expected, but it’s okay! We will get through this.” She hummed quietly to herself as she redrew the map for the seventh time. “Do you want to know what helped me memorize the map?”
“Yes please…”
“Well, when I study, I play the same song on repeat. And when I need to remember the material, I just think of the song. It’s worked for me so far.”
“Songs?” He asked, “Like what?”
“I try to find something that I like and can somehow connect to the subject. Like for Astronomy, I use ‘Here Comes The Sun’ because the Sun is a star, and well, it's a really good song.” She smiled, and for the first time, Pettigrew smiled back.
“Do you use it for other classes too?”
“I do, but I can’t give you all of my secrets, Pettigrew,” Penny teased. “Now, can you think of a song you want to hear on repeat?”
In the end, he chose ‘Here Come The Sun.’ Penny used a spell to play the song from her memory (she found the spell in the charms section of the library a week ago, and bothered Professor Flitwick until he agreed to help teach it to her). The song ended up looping twenty-four times before Penny felt satisfied with his work.
“Do you want to keep going or stop for today, Pettigrew?” She asked. “Your maps are looking beautiful and consistent. Consistency is the important part.”
“You can call me Peter if you’d like. Pettigrew can be a mouthful…” Peter trailed off, looking more confident than before. She nodded cautiously and repeated her question slowly.
“So, Peter, do you want to stop our session for today or keep going?”
“I’d be okay stopping. It’s nearly time for dinner,” The boy helped Penny gather the papers and smiled at her, “Would you like to walk with me there?”
She felt entirely conflicted. On one hand, this could lead to a possible friendship, and perhaps maybe his friends would get over themselves and leave her alone. Though, on the other hand, it could be a perfect spot for said boys to be even cruller.
But then again, a Gryffindor was nothing if not brave.
“Sure, Peter, thanks.”
Penny hadn’t been eating in the Great Hall for the past week. She would make her plate and eat outside or by a window, then return the plate and utensils for the house elves to clean. It was a simple routine, but it kept her away from most of the other students, so it worked for the moment.
The pair walked mostly in silence, except for Penny’s humming. Every now and then, a different student would shoot a weird glance at Penny and say something under their breath. A Slytherin even called her a “dirty mudblood,” which wasn’t the first time it happened. She wondered what exactly she did to make people dislike her that much. Maybe Penny was a bit weird about The Beatles, and yes, she did think of them rather often, but did her fascination with a rock band deserve this much attention?
“You know,” Peter started, readjusting his grip on his books, “I’ve never said a bad thing about you.”
“But your friends have, right?” Penny was quick to say. He didn’t know how to respond.
They reached the Great Hall faster than she wanted. Though she only agreed to walk with Peter. She never said anything about eating with him.
“Are… Do you want to sit with me? I understand if not, but it might not be so bad.” Penny stopped humming entirely and lost her mental place of Come Together. She sighed and nodded. If she needed to, she could go visit Professor Astra or McGonagall; she wanted to get closer to the green-clad professor.
“Hey, guys!” Peter smiled at his friends and sat next to Potter. The three other boys looked surprised when they saw Penny. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought Penny.”
To her, it seemed like they did mind but chose not to say anything. With no other choice, she sat next to Peter. Which happened to be across from Black and Lupin.
“Hello,” Penny smiled slightly, trying to remain polite. Maybe they forgot about her entirely, not like it was a bad thing.
“Hello, Sallow!” Potter chimed. “It feels like we haven’t seen you in so long, how’ve you been? Still with The Bottles?” He, Sirius, and Lupin laughed. Peter looked back and forth, unsure. At this point, Penny was gathering her food and mentally preparing to go out to her favorite window near the library. She hummed along to a random Beatles song she could think of. With A Little Help From My Friends was the first to pop into her head, ironic.
“I think you mean The Beatles, Potter. Thanks for inviting me, Peter, but I think I should be taking my leave now.” She smiled at the shorter boy and got ready to turn and leave when he gently grabbed her arm.
“Guys, stop,” Peter said quietly. Penny appreciated his attempt but doubted that they could hear him. In a moment of pure impulse, she placed her plate down and stared intently at the boys.
“I don’t know exactly what I did to tick you lot off, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make it a school-wide affair. If you have an issue with me, be it my Beatles obsession or what, tell me off about it. Don’t go parading around the halls whining about me,” She said as calmly as possible, looking at each of the boys sitting near her. Though she probably didn’t sound as calm as she thought she did.
“I have Slytherins assuming my blood status, calling me horrible words, and-“ she cut herself off; she felt a burning feeling in her heart. She had to calm down. With a deep breath, she continued. “Thank you, Peter, for inviting me, but I’d rather not sit with a group of bullies who get off on making others' lives miserable.” She got up with her plate of food and left the table.
“Sallow, wait-“ Penny ignored the boy and kept walking out of the room. She considered going back to her spot in the library, but she needed to hear her record.
Luckily, the other girls were still in the Hall eating, so she had the entire room to herself. On autopilot, she placed Magical Mystery Tour in her player and let it loop. She didn’t care that it was only on the A side.