Ballet Shoes

Chapter 10

"Lilly, have you drawn on my textbook?"

Lilleth, who was sat on her bed doodling on a piece of paper, looked up at Ella, who held up her textbook. The front few pages with no text on them were covered in drawings of colourful blobs. She went bright red.

"I've been looking for those!" she exclaimed. "Sorry, I thought that was my textbook."

"I should probably learn to write my name in all my textbooks." Ella joked, rolling her eyes. "Here, do you want them?"

"Yes please." said Lilleth.

She jumped to her feet and took the textbook from Ella. The drawings were leotards that she had designed, having never had one of her own. The Dursleys had never bought her anything to do with dance, and always did everything they could to stamp out her passion for it, so she took to designing her own leotards that she dreamed of owning someday. Some even had those puffy skirts that she had seen dancers wearing in the books she'd read, tutus, which she longed for, almost more than anything. She quickly copied the designs down onto the back of the parchment she'd been working on, and then handed the textbook back to Ella.

"Sorry about that." she said awkwardly. "I probably should put my name into my textbooks too."

"Is anyone else going to mention the fact that we should get getting to Defence soon?" asked Piper, glancing at her watch. "Lunch break is almost over."

"Good point." said Mira, getting to her feet. "Do you think we need our textbooks?"

"It's a practical lesson." said Missy. "I think Professor Lupin said we only need our wands. We don't even have to bring our bags."

"We've got potions afterwards. Do you reckon we'd have time to come back and get them?" asked Piper. "I don't really want to risk being late to Snape's lesson."

"Good point." Lilleth agreed. "We can bring them, but leave them outside or something."

"I'll just bring my wand and my potions textbook." said Ella. "It's easier and means my bag won't be quite as heavy."

"Come on, let's go." said Piper, shoving her potions textbook into her bag.

Lilleth jumped as Mourka suddenly leapt up onto her shoulders and settled himself there, and she glared at him sternly.

"Mourka, we've been over this. You can't come to my lessons." she scolded. "Well, you can come to History of Magic. I appreciate the company. But you're not allowed to come to Defence, and definitely not Transfiguration or Potions."

"Bring your bag, he could hide in it." Missy joked.

"It doesn't work." said Lilleth sadly. "Professor Lupin is amazing when it comes to finding cats. It's like he's got a sixth sense. Worse than Professor McGonagall."

"Come on." whined Piper, grabbing Lilleth by the arm. Mourka hissed and jumped down from her shoulders, landing on the bed. He curled up into a small ball of fur, waving his tail irritably in the air and glaring at Lilleth through one of his great big green eyes.

"Sorry Mourka." said Lilleth. "I'll see you after Potions. Go hang out with Professor McGonagall or something."

The girls all left the dorm and traipsed up through the castle towards the Defence classroom. Professor Lupin had very quickly become one of the favourite teachers amongst most of the students – other than the Slytherins. Especially for Lilleth. Although she didn't know for sure, given her last name, he could be related to her.

"I wonder what the practical lesson is going to be about." said Piper excitedly. "Maybe we'll get to face a kappa!"

"You know, Harry's been learning about them this year as well." Lilleth remarked. "I wonder why first years and third years are learning the same lessons. Just in different orders."

"Who cares?" Ella snorted. "It's fun!"

They laughed, just as they arrived at the classroom, and pushed the door open, heading inside to join the Ravenclaws.

"Don't bother sitting down." said Professor Lupin pleasantly. "We won't be staying here for long."

"Where are we going?" asked one of the Ravenclaw boys.

"I'll explain once the rest of the class gets here." said Professor Lupin.

It didn't take long for the rest of the Ravenclaws to show up, as well as the Hufflepuff boys, and Professor Lupin gathered them all around the front of the classroom.

"Now, who can tell me what a boggart is?" he asked.

Farhan Parker instantly put his hand straight up in the air.

"It's a shapeshifter, sir." he said. "It changes to show the worst fears of the person facing it."

"And do you know what a boggart looks like?"

"No one does, sir." said Farhan. "It changes according to each person, depending on their fear."

"Good, ten points to Hufflepuff." said Professor Lupin, smiling at him. "Now, the trick to defeating a boggart is laughter. Take your boggart and turn it into something funny. The incantation that you will need to say very clearly, is 'Riddikulus'. Everyone say it, without wands first."

"Riddikulus." the class chanted together.

"Good." said Professor Lupin. "Now, the reason we're doing a boggart now is because one has been found in the castle. I've requested that it be left alone so that I can use it. This is the second boggart that's been found in the castle this year. I used the first one in a class with my third years, as some of you may know, and you all get the lucky opportunity to face it. It's in a desk in a disused classroom on the ground floor. What do you all have next?"

"Potions." said Piper.

"Then you'd perhaps better bring your bags with you." said Professor Lupin, chuckling. "Save you having to come back up here afterwards. Anyway, let's go then. Oh, and think of what your biggest fear is and how you might make it funny on the way."

He led them out of the classroom and took them back down the hallway that they had travelled up on the way to Defence, down all the stairs.

"You know, if this is really a disused classroom, you could use it for dancing." Piper whispered to Lilleth as they walked down. "I mean, you haven't found a place yet, have you?"

"And it's near the common room." Lilleth agreed. "That might not be a bad idea, if it's got no desks in it."

A/N

New change:

Lilleth never took dance lessons as a child - let's be real, the Dursleys would never allow her to do that, let alone pay for uniforms and shoes. She loves it with all her heart, but has to do it in secret and learns from books.

It will all become clearer later on, I just wanted to let you all know in case you got confused.