"Sabrina! Are you coming?" I yell to my Slytherin friend, Sabrina Goyle, as I turn from the Hufflepuff table at dinner. Not her fault her brother is associated with Malfoy. She's on my team, and we desperately need her.
"Yeah! I'll be down at the barn in a minute!" She yells back.
I nod, and get a funny look from Makayla.
"What?"
"I dunno, just weird that a Hufflepuff like you is so close with someone like her."
"It's cause we're on the same team. We ride for Hogwarts, not our houses. I just wish more people acted like us." I shrug. She nods, and then says in a low voice
"I still don't like how her brothers friends look at us."
I turn and look, noticing the harsh stares I'm getting from the 6th year boys farther down the Slytherin table. Malfoy gets on my nerves. So much. He's such a slime ball. I don't understand how Gregory can be friends with him. But I keep my mouth shut, and mind my business.
"Hey, you guys have a race coming up, right?" Hermoine Granger says, walking up to me. I nod, and I must show my confusion on my face.
"Ginny is so excited, she hasn't stopped talking about how you guys are so good." She explains.
"Oh, yeah. We're going for our second sweep in a row. Last race it was me, Sabrina, and Eleanor, she's in Ravenclaw, but anyways, we swept the race for first second and third, and the goal is to do it again." I ramble, getting into it a little bit.
"Is it true?! Are you really riding Hercules, the grandson of Golden Miller?!" Ginny gushes, butting in to Hermoine and my conversation.
"Yeah, I am. I'm just hoping we pull off a win." I say, trying to stay humble. Hercules was not easy to get my hands on, and certainly not cheap, especially since I bough him here in England and once I graduate I'm going to have to have him shipped back to the states.
"That's so cool! What color is he? Is he big? Is he fast?"
I laugh, being so used to my little brother spitting questions at me this makes me feel like I'm back in Montana again.
"He's pitch black, almost as black as the night sky. He's big for a jumper, he's 17 hands. He's a Thoroughbred and he's one of the fastest horses I've ever ridden." I reply, big smile on my face.
"Is it true? Are you the captain this year? Wasn't your brother on the team before he graduated? Did he run Steeplechase too?"
"Yes, I am Captain of the team this year, yes one of my brothers was on the team, and no he did Cross country." I say, easily keeping up with the excited questions.
"How do you keep up with her?!" A confused voice says behind me. I turn around, and yuck it's Malfoy.
"My youngest brother is 8. He asks the most questions I've ever heard. Ginny reminds me of him." I say, breaking eye contact and smiling to Ginny so she knows I don't mind her at all.
"Youngest?" Malfoy continues the questioning.
"Yes, there's 6 of us all together. Benny is 8, Sammy is 13, then there Teegs, he's 18 and then there's Laken, he's 20, and then Bailey whose 21."
"How old are you?!" Malfoy asks.
"Ah chicken nuggets I gotta go I'm gonna be late!" I realize, seeing Sabrina enter the great hall in her riding gear. Talking to Ginny and Hermoine took up way too much time.
"Wait, what?" Malfoy asks.
I turn and bolt, halfway to avoid him and halfway to avoid posting without stirrups for an hour and a half as punishment for being late.
After rushing into the burrow, as we lovingly call our dorms, I run to my room, flipping open my trunk and pulling my gear out. Leaving my bed a mess of robes after getting my riding clothes on, I quickly shove my feet into my boots, being careful to avoid the spurs on the backs, while zipping them and grabbing my helmet.
Thankfully I braided my hair this morning, cause I have no time to do it now.
Being the only Turner in England is hard. All my siblings are back in the States.
Things weren't great in the states, and they wanted me to have a somewhat normal shot at an education. Once they realized I was the year below the chosen one they decided against sending Sam to Hogwarts. That hurt, because at that point I felt isolated. But I knew that I could graduate from Hogwarts, and that was the goal.
After running to the barn, I grab Herc and tack up. Thankfully I make it before I'm forced to post.
After warmups we split into groups of our disciplines, and start working on different skills.
Hercules and I focus a lot on balancing and finding each other while taking jumps, while Sabrina focuses on her flat work. We're all a team, but we all have individual skills to work on. We all wear the same jersey and have the same mascot, but at the end of the day we all have our own skills.
At the end of practice I'm sweaty and so is Hercules, but we both are happy.
I get back to the castle in time to see Malfoy arguing with Snape. Ignoring it, I make my way to my dorm. After writing a quick letter and sending it with my owl to the international mail station to go home to my family, I change into shorts and a t shirt and crawl into bed. I'm barley in bed for a minute before my roommate barges through the door and starts yelling something about Malfoy and Goyle and I roll over and look at her.
"Listen, I get your British but can ya try speaking English?!"
She starts laughing then more calmly states
"Malfoy and Goyle are outside the portal asking for you."
I go pale and sit in silence for a second before rolling my eyes, getting up, grabbing a cloak, and leaving the room.