Moonlight in the Darkness
an excerpt

“Kettleburn didn’t hear what you said, exactly. You know how harpies are—the littlest thing sets them off. I don’t think he’ll stop the lessons with them, probably just keep the boys back like he does with the unicorns. Good thing too,” the boy said with a grin, “don’t think I’d be able to concentrate much in class with their,” he made a cupping motion around his chest, “right in my face, y’know?”

The tall boy with red hair she recognized from the library nudged the stocky one to be quiet. The blonde boy glanced at her as if he had forgotten she was there and mumbled an apology, but when he turned to his friends, they were all snickering.

Hester felt herself getting quite indignant again. “What did you say?” she demanded, frowning at her brother.

Sam rolled his eyes and laughed in an embarrassed way. “I merely… complimented the harpies on their fine...figures.” He glanced over at his friends and laughed weakly, his hand on his midsection. “For some reason, one of them took offence and decided to try and remove my stomach and small intestine.”

“I believe your exact words, mate, were, ‘Whoa! Nice tits!’” laughed one of the boys with dark sandy hair and a heavy Irish brogue.

“Like I said, I didn’t think she heard me,” Sam repeated, to much laughter.

Hester glared at her brother. “You idiot!” she hissed, which only made the boys laugh harder. She glanced up at them and then pressed her lips together, trying to do her best to become invisible.

The sandy-haired boy continued to talk. “You’d think a woman would like hearing appreciation for her finer assets, am I right?” He addressed the last part of his comment to Hester, who turned pale and then flushed, mouth opening and closing like a befuddled goldfish.

“Lay off the little girl, Fergus,” the red-headed boy said nudging his friend and favoring Hester with a kind smile, which only served to make her blush even harder so that her face matched his hair. “And a word of advice, Sam—women always hear what you’re saying, especially if you’re talking about them. My mum can hear a whisper across the house. I swear they’re part bat. Speaking of bats,” he muttered as Professor Snape swept over.

“Visiting hours are over,” he drawled. “Time to let Mr. Moon recover from his most unfortunate injury.” The tone in his voice made it perfectly clear that he was on the harpy’s side. The boys began stretching their limbs and disentangling themselves from the chairs around Sam’s bed. Hester, uncertain, stayed near the bedside table, wanting a few more moments with her brother.

“And five points from Gryffindor,” Professor Snape continued, in almost a sudden burst of inspiration. “For inappropriate language, Mr. Finnegan,” he added as Fergus opened his mouth to protest. Snape raised his eyebrows and inclined his head in Hester’s direction. Hester quickly looked down at her hands, a miserable sort of expression on her face.

“Off to supper, the lot of you,” Professor Snape swept his hand toward the door. The boys shuffled out amidst much grumbling under their breath. Professor Snape glanced back toward Hester, who had only moved a few steps away from the bedside table. She glanced between her Head of House and her brother and then scampered back to the bed to give her brother a quick hug.

“You’re still an idiot,” she whispered as she threw her arms around his shoulders and gave him a fierce squeeze. “I’ll visit you tomorrow?” Her brown eyes were huge and questioning.

“Sure, Hess,” he made a move to rumple her hair. Hester gave him look that was part amusement, part disgust, as if this was a routine they had been through many times over the years. She straightened her headband and hurried over to Professor Snape, who was waiting for her by the door.

“Boys,” she said under her breath with a world-weary sigh that was at least five years too old for her. Her eyes were focused on memorizing the route to the hospital wing and she therefore missed the tiny, knowing smile on Professor Snape’s lips.