Half-breeds at Hogwarts: PART 1 [COMPLETED]

5. Poor Augustus Lime

As was her habit, Lila woke up at sunrise everyday. Sometimes she hoped Pippy the house elf would come and visit her again, but Lila drew her own baths in solitude. Defence Against the Dark Arts classes were a joke to Lila. Professor Biddable who gave lessons was a mousy witch who instructed them in nonverbal spells that Lila had already mastered years ago. 

Lila was missing her combat training. She felt restless as she fidgeted alone in the common room. Lila was growing bored with nothing to do except homework and hiding away from Tom. Her last encounter with Tom reassured her that until her initiation she should stay well away from him.

Lila tossed aside a book featuring a whiny protagonist that was hitting too close to home. Lila was worried that all she was doing was wallowing and procrastinating. She looked longingly at the pink-tinged sky. It was still one more week until Halloween. Lila was looking forward to getting out and visiting the all-magical town of Hogsmeade and then returning to Hogwarts for the Halloween feast. Her restive feeling mounted until Lila laced boots onto her feet and ran out into the deserted castle.

Lila mounted staircase after staircase, which in itself was an adventure, assome staircases moved, rotated or had vanishing steps. Lila ran until she found herself atop one of the towers. She sprang through a window and pulled herself up by the rafters until she could scamper onto a rooftop. The view was breathtaking. Lila drank in the sights of steel grey mountains and sprawling forests. A few owls back late from a night of hunting swooped around Lila. She laughed and tried to chase after them, feeling as if a whole new world had opened up to her. Daringly, Lila raced and threw herself from one rooftop to another.

A line of students was exiting the castle and filing down to the greenhouses when Lila finally decided she better be heading back inside. Unfortunately, she misjudged the distance of her next jump and as she fell she scrambled to grab onto anything. Two fingertips managed to grip a window sill, but Lila was still hanging about twenty meters from the ground before she dropped.

Lila was a decided mess as she snuck back into the castle. She was covered in damp mud stains. Lila wanted to hurry straight back to her room, when an odd sound came from behind a closed door off the entrance hall. It looked like the door to one of the empty broom cupboards. Lila tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Shhh," said a girl's voice from the other side of the door and she giggled.

Lila hurried to hide behind a tapestry as the door swung open. A very pretty girl with ruffled hair emerged ahead of Tom. She held her hand out as if expecting Tom to take it, but he swung his bag over his shoulder and said, "I've got to go. I'm late for Ancient Runes."

As Lila appeared from out of her hiding place, the girl started.

"Oh gosh, you gave me a fright," the girl said.

"Sorry about that," Lila said, watching Tom turn a corner out of sight.

"Tom, he's something hey?" the girl said.

"He's something alright," Lila agreed, noticing the girl's flushed face and rumpled clothes. "He didn't, I mean, not to pry or anything, but he didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Hurt me?" the girl asked surprised. "No, of course not. I was standing right here when I saw him and -". The flush on the girl's face deepened. "Well, you know, I was just thinking how I'd love to get a piece of Tom. All the girls are lining up to be part of his harem. I was kind of wishing he would pick me, when he came straight up to me, and... well, it happened just how I imagined...."

"Really?" Lila asked sounding fascinated.

"Yes, crazy isn't it? Just how I was picturing it."

"Almost like he could read your mind?" Lila said. "That is crazy."