The Fools Who Dream

Chapter 19

After the match, James and Sirius were in a particularly furious mood, especially at the Slytherins, although most didn't seem to care. Slytherin were once again in the lead in the quidditch cup after the first match, and with their games against Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw still to come, they could get knocked out, but having seen the team play, Cynthia didn't think that likely.

Although, she was bearing the main brunt of their anger.

"I hate flying." mumbled Verity. "And I hate Mondays."

"Yeah, Monday is horrible." said Cynthia, sighing. "But how do you hate flying?"

"It's terrifying." said Verity. "Couldn't we do something easier? You know, on the ground?"

"You have to admit though, the match was exciting." said Alice, rolling her eyes. "I mean, that finish! The catch of the snitch was marvellous!"

"Glad to hear you approve."

They all jumped and looked around. Regulus Black was stood behind them, and while Alice gave a loud squeak of excitement, Cynthia just rolled her eyes.

"How are you everywhere?" she asked irritably.

"Awesome catch yesterday!" said Alice excitedly.

"Thanks." said Regulus, giving her a strange look, but he then turned his attention back to Cynthia. "Just wanted to warn you, James and Sirius are out for blood after yesterday."

"Trust me, I already know." muttered Cynthia, her hand jerking towards one of the many bruises that littered up her legs from trip jinxes in the hall. "They'll probably stop soon."

"Do they ever?"

"Maybe in a few years."

Regulus gave a sort-of half smirk, one corner of his lips twitching ever so slightly.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." he said simply, and then he turned and walked away toward his friends.

Cynthia sighed and turned back to look at Alice and Verity, but just as she did, the three bowls of cereal sat on the table in front of them all exploded with a loud 'bang', spattering them all with milky, mushy cereal, and Cynthia got a cut on her cheek from a flying piece of china. They all shrieked and jumped to their feet to get away, dripping with everything that had landed on them. The entire hall burst out laughing, particularly the Gryffindor table and even a few of the Slytherins.

Cynthia's cheeks flushed red, and not just because of the cut that was trickling blood down her chin. She raised a hand to her face and wiped away the cereal that coated her glasses. Alice and Verity were stood completely still, frozen in shock.

At last, Alice spoke, her voice wobbling slightly.

"Well it's certainly a new way to eat food." she said, forcing a tight smile onto her face. "Absorb it through the skin."

A small tear leaked out of Cynthia's eyes and tracked its way down her cheek, but it mingled with the blood and the cereal on her cheek.

The laughter in the hall died down, and then Slughorn appeared next to them, his face wrinkled slightly in disgust.

"You had better go get yourselves changed before your first lesson." he said. "And Miss Potter, please go to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing to clean up that cut."

"Yes Professor." they mumbled quietly.

All three were still blushing furiously as they picked up their bags and, with their heads down, walked as quickly as they could out of the Great Hall and away from the scene. Sirius and James were still cackling from their table.

"They've got to pay for this." growled Alice, brushing cereal off her robes.

"I've told you, it'll only make it worse." muttered Cynthia.

"You can't just let them walk all over you like this!" exclaimed Alice, grabbing Cynthia's arm and pulling her to a stop.

She didn't notice Cynthia's slight flinch at the sudden movement.

"If I do anything to them, they'll just get worse." said Cynthia quietly.

"No, you show them that you aren't going to take it lying down, and then they get bored once they realise that you aren't just some easy target, and they leave you the hell alone." snapped Alice.

"That's not how it works." said Cynthia, her voice rising angrily. "I've tried that. I've tried standing up to him, but it never goes well."

"Well there's a reason for that." said Alice, a grin forming on her face.

"What's that?" asked Cynthia irritably, folding her arms across her chest.

"You didn't have us before." said Verity. "We can help."

Cynthia sighed and glanced back and forth between them.

She didn't want to be afraid anymore. She didn't want to live her life looking over her shoulder in case James or his friends were coming to attack her. She didn't want to keep falling over, an invisible force wrapped around her knees, every time she happened to walk past James and Sirius in the corridor. She just wanted to be free, for once.

"Okay." she said at last. "What's the plan?"

"What's one thing he can't live without?" asked Alice immediately. "Like he would literally die."

"Glasses." said Cynthia. "We're both blind without our glasses. I once sprained my ankle because he broke them and I tried going down the stairs outside of my room."

"Ouch." said Verity. "But how would we get his glasses?"

"We'd need to learn a spell that would get them for us." said Alice, stroking her chin in thought. "Without him noticing."

"Hang on." said Cynthia, grabbing Alice and Verity's arms and pulling them forward. She yanked open the door that led to the staircase down to the Slytherin common room. "Right. Now we can talk."

"We can't ask a teacher to help us, they'll just get suspicious." said Verity. "But what about an older student?"

"I'm pretty sure that they're the ones we're trying to fight against." said Cynthia pointedly.

"Wait, who was that girl you talked to on the first day of term?" asked Alice, snapping her fingers. "She's in your brother's year!"

"Lily." said Cynthia, nodding in agreement. "She hates James' guts because he never leaves her alone and is always asking her out. And he bullies her best friend."

"And Regulus might know something as well." said Alice. "They could teach us spells that would help defend you in the hallways as well."

They had reached the door at the bottom. Cynthia stopped and turned to grin at her two friends on either side of her.

"Thank you." she said sincerely. "For sticking by me."

"Hey, my hair was perfect before they exploded cereal all over me." said Alice. "I want my revenge too."

Cynthia laughed. "Of course, you only spent eight hours on it this morning."

A/N

I'm back! Sorry for my absence, but I had a massive block and exams and school and shit, but I managed to actually write a chapter for once!

Enjoy, and sorry again. Hopefully see you next week!