Lover of the light Chapter 10
AN: Hello lovely readers! I hope you like the chapter :) Thetigerlilly beta'ed it, and I strongly recommend that you read some of her stories, she's written plenty, so there's should be something for everybody and she is a terrific writer! J. K. Rowling owns EVERYTHING (except a few things).
After a little while Fred, George and Jo left and I scooted back next to Neville who was staring at his red remembrall with a scrunched up face.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"It's a remembrall, gran knows I forget things so she sent me one. It turns red when you've forgotten something," he held up the scarlet ball, "but sadly it doesn't tell you what you've forgotten."
I didn't get a chance to answer, because Draco Malfoy who was passing the Gryffindor table snatched the ball right out of Neville's hand. Harry and Ron both jumped to their feet, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.
"What's going on?"
"Malfoy's got my remembrall, Professor!"
Malfoy dropped the ball back onto the table.
"Just looking," he said and left with Crabbe and Goyle behind him like bodyguards.
At three-thirty that afternoon all of the Gryffindor first years hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for our first flying lesson.
The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying neatly on the ground. Madam Hooch, the grey haired flying teacher, arrived.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up. Stick your right hand over your broom," called madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'up'!"
"UP," everyone shouted.
I looked at my broomstick that moved up a few inches. I tried to say it more forcibly and after three tries it went into my hand. Harry, who was standing on my right had his broom on his first try already.
"Congrats!" he said with a smile on his face.
"Thanks, you too."
I looked to my right and my smile faded. Neville's voice was cracking and his broom didn't move at all when he called for it.
Madame Hooch also showed us the correct way to sit on a broom. Harry, Ron and I grinned when she told Malfoy that he had been doing it wrong all along. Malfoy's ego really needed some deflation.
"Now when I blow my whistle, you kick off the ground, hard," Madam Hooch said. "Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down leaning forward slightly. On my whistle – three – two - "
But Neville, nervous and jumpy of being left on the ground, pushed off the ground before the whistle could even touch Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" she shouted.
I tried to grab the broomstick at the end to pull Neville down, but Harry pulled me back as Neville's broom suddenly jerked backwards and then went astray and shot straight up to the sky. Then he fell forward and crashed.
"Neville!" I screamed as I ran toward him.
Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as pale as his. "Broken wrist," I heard her mutter. "Come on, boy. It's all right, up you get."
"Madame Hooch," I exclaimed. "May I come with you? I mean, he's my friend; I want to make sure he's alright and all."
Madame Hooch nodded and turned to the rest of the class.
"None of you is to move while I take this boy into the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."
When I left the hospital wing it was dinnertime, so I went to the great hall. I wanted to stay with Neville, but Madame Pomfrey insisted that I should go to eat and let him rest for now. She said he would be alright.
I entered the Great Hall and the first year Gryffindors immediately began questioning me about Neville. I told everyone he was alright and sat down beside Dean because I couldn't spot any other vacant seats.
"Hey." I looked up to see Harry and Ron standing behind me. Harry was holding Neville's rememberball in his hand.
"Neville dropped this when he fell..." Harry explained. I took it from him and thanked him.
"Don't mention it," he said.
When he walked off I put the ball in my pocket. "Nice of him to pick it up," I said.
"You didn't hear?" Seamus asked bewildered.
"Hear what?"
Seamus and Dean told me about the duel Harry and Malfoy had had on broomsticks over Neville's remembrall and about how Harry caught the ball after Malfoy threw it away.
I remembered that Harry had grown up with muggles, meaning this was probably the first time he had flown on a broom, so that was quite impressive.
"He didn't get into trouble, did he?" I asked worriedly.
Dean shrugged "I don't know, McGonagall took him along, but he didn't seem upset when he showed up here. I don't think he's expelled."
I quickly finished eating my dinner and left the hall. I was going to go straight to the dormitory, I was quite tired and my head was starting to ache from the pressure of the day.
But as it tends to happen in Hogwarts, my plans were interrupted.
"Hey, kid, wanna buy some hardcore drugs?" I heard a crude voice hiss behind me. I turned around to see Jo doing her best to hold back laughter.
I snorted at her sneaking up on me. The three of them seemed to always do that.
"What's up, Jo?"
"We think Lee found a new secret passageway out of the school. You can come along if you're itching for an adventure."
I'd thought I'd had enough adventures for one day, but I was totally up for another one. Besides, the idea of getting out of school even for a little while was quite appealing. Getting a little rest for my mind seemed like a really good idea.
Jo's mouth stretched into a huge smile and her bright blueish-green eyes twinkled with joy when she saw me nod. I pushed down my guilt over breaking the rules.
"This'll be fun, I'm telling you," she kept saying as we were walking to the Gryffindor tower to grab some stuff and meet up with the boys. "I'm really glad I'm not the only girl anymore, you know. Even if you are a bit younger than us, that'll just leave you to carry on the legacy when we graduate."
"Hey, take along some money if you have any. If we're lucky and this passageway works, then we're heading straight to Zonko's. And hurry up!" she told me as we were heading up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Then she went to the 3rd year's room and I to the 1st years.
The dormitory was empty. It was too early for anyone to go to sleep yet, I was kind of thankful because I really didn't want to explain to anyone what was going on. I grabbed the pouch where I kept the few galleons mum had given me for the school year. I thought it would be enough for me.
I quickly put on a sweater to keep warmer outside and stormed downstairs to meet up with my friends.
AN: I hope you liked it, I really wanted to make it a bit longer, but I had a long weekend with the whole summer solstice celebrations in my country and I also went to a Green Day concert yesterday (it was AWESOME), so i didn't have much time to write. Feel free to leave some reviews (pleeeeeeeeeeeeease I love communicating with you all SO much, let's get some discussions going here). Until next chapter!