"Lillian Black, do not take another step!" Professor Boome panted, coming to a halt at the top of the sloping white marble staircase which she had just chased Lila up. The plump professor's usually cool and composed face was turning an unnatural shade of tomato-red and she wheezed as she spoke.
Lila almost felt sorry for her. Her pale blue silk robes were almost definitely ruined, thanks to the exploding potion that had actually been meant for Professor McClair; the cruel, snide potions teacher. However, as Professor McClair's hands had been conveniently full, Professor Boome had willingly offered to help, resulting in singed hair and blackened robes. Lila couldn't help it, no matter how sorry she felt for Professor Boome, she would surely be expelled if she didn't keep running. Once Lila caught her breath, she whipped around ready to run again, only to collide immediately with Madame Maxine.
Lila screwed up her eyes in frustration and ran her hands through her long, deep crimson hair. She looked up to the giant of a lady that towered above her, blinking her big green eyes innocently.
"Not going to work." Madame Maxine informed her, placing a heavy yet oddly delicate hand on her shoulder and guiding her through to her office, "You're in trouble this time, Miss Black. Big trouble."
Lila sighed; she slowly followed Madame Maxine into her office, swinging the huge, heavy, cherry-wood door closed behind her.
"Never in my life have I seen a student with such disrespect for authority! Lillian, this has gone too far. I'm afraid I can't have you at this school anymore, I'm sorry but you are herby expelled from Beauxbatons Academy." Madame Maxine revealed.
Although she said she was sorry, there was no emotion in her voice. "You have an hour to pack; someone will be here to pick you up at three o'clock." She then got up from behind her massive desk and gestured for Lila to leave. All the while, different thoughts were running through Lila's head; W ehaven't been back from the holidays a week and I'm already in huge trouble! They are going to kill me, I'll never see my friends again! Where will I go to school? Will I have to go back to that awful orphanage?
As Lila's mother, Emilee Black, died whilst giving birth to her and her father, Sirius Black, had been falsely imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years, Lila was an only child and had lived in that same, ghastly orphanage since she was two. Every memory she could recall was centred around that place. Lila had absolutely no idea where her father was although she was aware- as well as every other wizard or witch was- that he had escaped from Azkaban two years before.
And as she didn't have godparents or any other family that she knew of, she was forced to stay at the orphanage over every single summer holiday, though she usually remained at Beauxbatons during any other holiday. She was dreading going back, how could she possibly apply to another school without help from anyone else in the wizarding world.
Lila sighed and made her way up yet another marble staircase, heading for her dormitory. Her friends were lounging on the slim beds which somehow managed to make the large and airy room look cramped. As Lila burst in, they all jumped up.
"Where did you get to? We were worried." Gabrielle gushed.
"What happened? You didn't get caught, did you?" This time it was Victoire, her pale golden hair was falling from the intricate crown that she'd delicately twisted it into; she'd obviously been halfway through when Lila had burst in.
"Oh no, you got detention, didn't you?" This was Angelique, the last girl in the room and Lila's best friend. She knew how to read her and could tell when she was sad; though this time she was off by a long shot. Lila made her way to her bed, dragging the pale blue trunk from underneath and beginning to load her clothes into it.
"Well, it's a bit more serious than detention." Lila answered darkly; she looked up into the beautiful faces of her three best friends and couldn't help it. A tear leaked out of her right eye and rolled down her cheek. She was crying. Lila, who never cried. "She expelled me, I've got an hour."
"Oh, Lila." They sighed in unison, crowding round to hug her.
An hour later, when everything was packed and Lila was sat on the front steps of the Beauxbatons palace with her friends, a woman she had never met before approached her from behind. The click of heels on the marble floor grew closer and closer until she was stood less than a meter away. Lila turned around slowly.
"Lillian Black?" She asked in a sugary, feminine voice. When Lila nodded, she continued, "Your guardian is here." With a few more tearful goodbyes and promises to write every week and visit in the holidays, Lila left her best friends of four years and followed the sugary woman down the front steps and through the gleaming front gates, embossed with the Academy crest. A man with a scarred yet kind face and sandy brown hair stood waiting for her.
"Hello Lillian. I'm Remus Lupin, an old friend of your father's." He introduced himself politely and extended a hand, which she shook. What he had just said suddenly registered itself to Lila.