Ballet Shoes

Chapter 16

For the next few days, the entire school talked about nothing else but Sirius Black. Whispers and rumours buzzed around the castle, filled with theories of how he might have gotten into the castle. One of the older Hufflepuffs thought he might have disguised himself as a flowering shrub, and that was one of the more sensible theories.

The weather worsened steadily as the first quidditch match drew nearer. The Slytherins had pulled out of the match, claiming that their seeker was 'too injured', meaning that the match was now between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

The day of the match brought winds strong enough to topple a tree and rain pelting down through the sky. Lilleth, who was not fond of bad weather or quidditch, decided that she didn't particularly want to go, and no amount of begging from Blake, Piper and Dennis could convince her. She had made up her mind before the morning of the match, but did go to see Harry at breakfast.

"Hey." he grinned at the sight of her and pushed his glasses up his nose. "Coming to watch?"

"You know better than anyone that me and rain do not mix." said Lilleth, shuddering. "But don't worry, I'll come cheer you on your victory afterwards."

"Thanks." he said. "So what are you going to do instead?"

"I was thinking I might explore the castle." said Lilleth thoughtfully. "I haven't really had a chance yet."

"Ooh, I could lend you my copy of 'Hogwarts: A History' to help you learn about it." said Hermione eagerly. "I've filled it with notes about things that I've found."

"Oh – uh -" Lilleth went bright red. "No thanks, Hermione. I thought I'd just wander around and see what I can find."

"Don't get lost." said Harry.

"Good luck at the match." she said.

She bent down and quickly kissed him on the cheek, and then ran off again to join Piper and the other girls on the Hufflepuff table.

"Where are the boys?" she asked as she sat down.

"They're Gryffindor." said Piper. "We can't be seen to be consorting with the enemy."

Lilleth snorted, but the other girls all looked deadly serious. She dropped her smirk.

"Wait, seriously?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Quidditch rivalries are serious business." said Ella sternly. "Blake may be Piper's brother, but he's also a Gryffindor. And for today, a Gryffindor is a Hufflepuff's stern enemy."

"What were you doing at the Gryffindor table?" asked Missy, narrowing her eyes at Lilleth suspiciously.

"Oh, wishing Harry bad luck, of course." said Lilleth, nodding her head and trying to sound confident.

"You," said Piper, pointing a fork right between Lilleth's eyes, "are a terrible liar."

"I am not!" Lilleth protested.

"You have a tell." said Mira. "Your ears twitch when you lie."

"No they don't!" said Lilleth, subconsciously trying to cover up her ears.

"They just did again." Missy laughed. "So what were you really doing?"

"He's my brother!" Lilleth whined.

"Piper didn't go talk to her brother this morning." Ella pointed out.

"Yeah, but her brother isn't playing in this weather this morning." Lilleth retorted. "I don't understand how you can all get so agitated over quidditch. It's just some lunatics flying around on broomsticks."