AN:- I named this one after the same chapter in the book because I was lazy and couldn't think of a better title. Chapter#s good though!

Chapter Eleven: Grim Defeat

As Flitwick had predicted the weather got worse and worse through the week. By the time Saturday came the rain was lashing at the castle walls hard enough to rattle the windows in their panes, and the wind howled through every nook and cranny, snatching at the student's robes even inside. Outside for Care of Magical Creatures, or during the short run to Herbology, was a nightmare. More than once an errant First Year had to be helped back down to Earth by their friends.

Lily watched as one such first year got caught by a gust of wind and momentarily took flight as she hurried across from the greenhouses back to Defence. Inside she had no time to dry off, running across the Great Hall dripping water everywhere as she ran up the Grand Staircase. She burst onto the third floor just as Snape was opening the door to the Defence classroom.

"Inside, all of you," he said to the assembled Slytherins. They filed in, most of them still trying to wring some of the water out of their hair or robes. Lily wasn't sure why Snape was there instead of Lupin, but she had a feeling she wasn't going to enjoy the lesson.

"We will be studying werewolves today. Please turn to page three-hundred and ninety four."

Looking around to see if everyone was as confused as she was, Lily took out her book and turned to the right page. It was much further than they had studied so far.

"Your instruction in this class has been sloppy so far. I will thus be taking you in hand and I will expect from you the sort of hard work and dedication that Slytherin is known for."

Very tentatively Daphne raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Uhm, I just… is Professor Lupin alright?"

"He is unwell. I will be taking this class for the duration of his sickness. Now, can anyone tell me the difference between a wolf and a werewolf?"

As they struggled through the difficult class Lily kept wondering about what Snape had said. The last time they had seen Lupin he had looked absolutely normal. What could have struck him so quickly that meant he could no longer teach?


Two days later the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff Quidditch match was upon them. Lily woke early and got showered as quickly as possible before Pansy woke up. She was out in the Common Room, dressed in her jeans and a heavy overcoat, before any of the other girls were even stirring. There was no one in the Common Room so early and although it was before breakfast she slipped out into the dungeon corridors anyway.

She ambled through the dark hallways, wishing that the lanterns were lit a little earlier. She considered taking her wand out, but she knew the way well enough that she was coming up to the Entrance Hall before the darkness got too scary. It was always a little creepy when at any moment one of the ghosts could come bursting out of a wall at her.

It was still quite dark outside, but the gigantic windows of the Entrance Hall allowed in enough light to see by. Wind was rattling the giant windows and rain was turning the grounds outside into a mud bath. She watched it pour for a while before she heard the sounds of someone else on the stairs behind her. She turned to see the Gryffindor team descending the stairs, Oliver Wood in the lead looking pale and wan.

She watched them file into the Great Hall, but strangely Harry Potter wasn't among them. Once the final Weasley had stumbled inside, still looking half asleep, she went in as well and saw them gathering around Potter at the Gryffindor table. She was the only one from Slytherin there, but a couple of early morning debating Ravenclaws had shown up. Lisa wasn't among them, but she did recognise Luna's platinum head.

She sat and spooned herself out some porridge, then took an entire stack of toast with butter melting over it. To the porridge she added the biggest spoonful of brown sugar she could manage, and waited as it melted and caramelised. Although her parents did most of the cooking at home with magic they both insisted on making porridge by hand. Her father insisted that porridge made with magic didn't taste as nice. And as she took a spoonful and thought of the House Elves working below in the kitchens she had to agree.

The rest of the school started to arrive, first a couple of teachers, then the older year students, then the excited first years, and finally the middle years, which included her own. Thankfully Pansy and Malfoy both slept much later on the weekends so she was mostly left alone. She watched the teachers table, as she often did on match days. But McGonagall and Sprout were not as fun to watch as Snape and McGonagall. They were talking quite intently, but Lily didn't think it was to do with the Quidditch.

Just as the door opened and Pansy and her cronies came in she saw Lisa standing up from the Ravenclaw table. She got up as well and headed for the door, being met by Sally before they came into the Entrance Hall. The three girls threw their arms around each other and made for the front door.

"Ready for the rain girls?" Lisa asked, shoving the door open.

The wind almost knocked them backwards, and the rain soaked them almost to the skin before they even crossed the threshold. The three of them bent their heads against the wind and trudged forwards onto the path, which was covered in sludgy mud. The route down to the Quidditch pitch was mostly over a dirt path, which was now nothing but mud that they sank nearly ankle deep in. Lisa led the way forwards, making a path more from determination than anything else, and the others followed her closely.

They scrambled up the slick steps to the Hufflepuff sides of the stands and settled into the most protected corner they could find. Lisa and Sally had on brightly coloured raincoats that stood out against Lily's black robe. The stands were starting to fill on the other side as well, and Lily could see Malfoy settling into place, no hint of a sling on his arm as she was surrounded by his giant henchmen.

Finally the teachers got into place, but only a few of them had braved the weather, and it was McGonagall who nodded down to Madame Hooch. The commentator's microphone turned on but was almost impossible to hear over the roar of the rain and the wind. Fourteen indistinct smudges walked out onto the pitch to join Madame Hooch in the middle. Lily joined in the cheer as the Hufflepuffs encouraged their team on, but she wasn't sure if they heard it.

"This is nasty!" Lisa yelled in her ear as the starting whistle blew.

It could have been the most exciting game ever, but none of them would have had any idea of it. They could barely make out the blurs of the players through the rain, and the dings of the hoops being scored were indistinct to the point that no one actually knew who was winning.

After a long while the whistle blew again and the blurs returned to the ground.

"What's going on?" Lily shouted.

"Time out!" Lisa told her. "They can't keep this up!"

"What's the time?"

Lisa tried to check her watch, but the whistle blew again and they looked back to the game.

"Can you see anything?"

"Eighty Forty to Gryffindor," Sally said.

"Has anyone seen the Snitch?"

But no one around them seemed to have seen it, and the weather was definitely getting worse. Some of the students were even leaving the stands and running back to the castle as the grass of the pitch was turned to a swamp. Lily was feeling horribly cold, and she bundled her robes around herself as she stared up at the action, trying to find the shape of Oliver Wood, who was always her favourite player to watch.

The cold in her chest was becoming much stronger, and she became slowly aware that it was more than the wind and the rain. She reached out and grabbed Lisa's sleeve.

"What?"

"Don't you feel it?"

Lisa pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You're freezing. What's wrong?"

Other people around them were starting to feel it as well, and she could see several people pulling their robes tighter, or turning to friends for warmth.

"Oh no," Sally had stood up a little, and was leaning over the rails in front of them. "Look!"

The crowd sounded so uncertain now. Several people were cheering as Cedric Diggory went into a long flat dive, clearly after the Snitch. Harry Potter was already on his tail, but there was a black cloud moving across the bottom of the pitch, resolving into dozens of ragged black cloaks.

Lily had tried her best to ignore the Dementors. Even when they had needed to pass them to go to Hogsmeade it had been easy to just hurry past them. But there were hundreds of them filtering into the stadium, and it seemed to her that they were looking up at the players. She looked up as well and saw Potter's broom slipping to one side.

Half the crowd screamed as he fell off, nearly sixty feet over the pitch. His broom carried on without him, and none of the other players had noticed. He dropped like a rock, the wind and rain letting up slightly and giving them all an unobstructed view as his limp form raced towards the ground.

Lily felt vice-like fingers on her arm as Sally shrieked close by, but when he was barely feet from the floor he suddenly slowed, splashing into the mud with a nasty thump, but not a bone shattering one, hopefully. There was a massive explosion of silvery light and the Dementors retreated from his fallen body. Dumbledore was striding onto the pitch, as full of rage as Lily had ever seen him. His voice echoed around the stadium as he ordered them off the pitch. The dementors just stared at him through their faceless hoods and he shouted again, the silvery light gathering and advancing towards the figures.

They backed away, slowly, but leaving nonetheless. Lily was hanging off Lisa now, clutching a hand over her chest and trying to keep her chest warm. She felt empty inside, not even cold but numb. She realised Lisa was talking to her but she couldn't hear the words. To her it seemed that the wind was still roaring in her ears. She felt another hand on her cheek and turned to see Lisa staring down at her with concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine," she choked.

Sally was there as well, holding her up on the other side. "I'm fine."

"Sure."

The rain was beginning to let up now, but it was still hammering on them. They looked over the edge of the railings to see people crowding around the place where Harry had fallen.

"Back away," McGonagall's voice rang very clearly over the crowd. "Give us room."

"Rematch!" Someone was yelling. "Rematch."

"Not now Diggory."

"Is he okay?"

"That's Hermione," Lisa said. "How bad is it?"

"Must be pretty bad," Sally said over Lily's head. "Look."

They looked down to see Dumbledore floating Harry onto a stretcher.

"He's not moving," Sally said.

"Madame Pomfrey can fix him though. She can fix anything." Lisa was trying to sound upbeat, but there was a quaver in her voice. Once he was safely off the pitch she turned back to Sally and Lily. "What were the Dementors doing?"

"I don't know."

"Let's get back to the castle," Lisa tugged a little on Lily's sleeve and she nodded.

"Okay."

They stumbled back down the stairs surrounded by the Hufflepuffs, who were all still a little confused about who had won. The entire school was shambling back through the mud and the rain to the castle, trying to get an answer on the score. Eventually the news got back to everyone that Cedric Diggory had caught the Snitch just before Harry fell off his broom, but no one was celebrating. The Gryffindors were alternating between depressed and worried and the Hufflepuffs were all anxiously asking their captain what he was going to do next.

"I want a rematch," he kept saying adamantly. "That wasn't fair."

They were nearly to the castle when Oliver Wood suddenly muscled through the crowd to confront Diggory. Everyone froze to watch what happened next.

"I'll ask for a rematch," Diggory said before Wood could say anything. "It wasn't a fair catch, it wasn't a fair win."

"No." Wood sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "You caught the Snitch. All by the rules." He held out his hand. "Congratulations."

Diggory brought his hand up but didn't shake. "Are you sure man?"

"I'm sure. It was fair."

Diggory nodded, then shook his hand briefly. "Thank you."

Wood just nodded, and indeed it seemed like he wasn't able to speak. He dropped Diggory's hand and nodded again, then turned on his heel and led his team back into the castle.

Sally was frowning. "That was weird."

"He's a good sport," Lisa said. "Good for him."

The crush of students dispersed as they got through the doors, and the girls made it over to their usual spot near the statue of the Architect to watch the rest of the students going back to their dorms. "We need chocolate," Sally said. "Come on, I know where to go."

She led them down the stairs and along the corridor the Hufflepuffs normally went down.

"You live next to the kitchens?"

"Not quite next to. But close."

They came across a giant picture of a bowl of fruit, which Sally reached out to, tickling one of the pears. It laughed and squirmed before turning abruptly into a green doorknob, which Sally turned, opening the painting to one side to reveal a cosy looking room beyond lit by a dozen fires. They walked in and were immediately surrounded by a dozen House Elves, all grinning at them and chattering.

"Hi guys," Sally said.

"Hello Mistress Sally," one of the Elves piped up. "What can we be doing for you today?"

"We need chocolate. And lots of it."

"Coming right away!"

The Elves scurried away, leaving the girls free to make their way to some of the short wooden stools lined up along the edge of the room. Lily was starting to warm up a little with the fire and her friends there, and as they sank gratefully onto the stools she looked around the room. It looked a lot like the Great Hall, only with an extra bit at the end for the kitchens. There were the four house tables, arranged just the same as they would be above, and with the golden platters in the same places as well. At one end of the room an enormous fire raged, but there were lots of little fireplaces set into the walls that were blazing happily as well.

Lisa still had an arm around her, and she leaned into it, still huddling her robes close to her chest. "What time is it?" She asked.

"Nearly eight."

"That match must have gone on forever."

"I think they spent more time with Harry than we realised."

"I feel really horrible."

"Hey." Sally joined in on the hug. "It's all over now. And look, chocolate!"

The House Elves had come back with trays full of chocolate cakes and steaming of hot chocolate and gigantic slabs of chocolate that they arranged in front of the girls.

Sally's eyes had gone the approximate size and shape of Sickles. "Wow."

"You did say lots of it."

"Yes we did. Thank you this is lovely."

"Let us know if you need any more."

"No. But is it okay if we just sit here for a bit?"

"Of course miss."

The House Elves disappeared into the kitchen, giving the girls a chance to collect the food and start eating. The minute Lily took a sip of the hot chocolate she felt herself warming up and feeling better. Her tensed muscles started to relax and she leaned back properly into Lisa's shoulder. They sat for several minutes like that, working their way through the feast of desserts, before Lisa finally spoke up.

"Can I have my arm back?"

"Does that mean giving up my pillow?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then no."

Lisa smiled. "Oh good, you're back."

"Yes, I am." Lily sat up and let Lisa free her arm, then very slowly and deliberately lay down across her lap.

"Okay now that's just silly."

"You only asked for your arm back. But I claim the rest of you for Lilytopia."

"For what?"

"Lilytopia. It's the name of the island I will one day own."

"Did they slip something into the hot chocolate when I wasn't looking?"

"I'm just happy." At Lisa's slightly disbelieving eyebrow Lily nodded. "No I really am. The Dementors made me feel bad but actually everything's been really good the last week. I'm thirteen now, we're all still in an amazing school for magic, I think Terry might have asked me to go the Quidditch match with him…"

"What!"

Sally had actually sprung out of her chair, and was now kneeling next to Lily, looming over her with both hands pressing firmly onto her stomach. "Terry did what?"

"Uh, he asked if I would watch the Quidditch with him. I think it was just as friends though."

"No, boys never do stuff like that. He would only ask you if he had been obsessing about it and practicing loads to make sure he sounded normal." She shoved their faces inches apart. "Did he sound normal?"

"Completely."

"Oh then he must have been practicing and practicing in front of a mirror every day to make sure you didn't suspect his poor lovelorn heart was yearning for you!" She swooned dramatically back. "it's all so romantic."

Lily and Lisa exchanged a look. "It's really not, "Lily insisted.

"Oh but it is. You have to sit with him next Quidditch match. NO!" She sprang back to her feet, waving a piece of nougat emphatically. "You have to go out with him next Hogsmeade weekend! It'll be Christmas, the snow will be falling. It'll be great."

"Yeah," Lily mumbled around another bite of chocolate. "Great."

AN:-Some quite big characterisation stuff to talk about for this one, and the third book is probably the most appropriate place to address it. More on that in a moment though.

I loved the thought of the wind being so strong it literally lifts ickle firsties off the ground.

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. I added the 'Page 394' bit because I love it. As always it's never clear whether in the books Slytherins and Gryffindors have their classes together. I have opted for not in the case of Defence, because there's literally no mention of them sharing Defence.

Whether to have the girls figure out the Lupin/Werewolf thing. Snape sets the homework specifically to set students on the trail. Lily and Lisa are smart analytical thinkers, Sally is an outside-the-box genius and easily believing of seemingly large logical leaps. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that they might at least get curious and start noticing that Lupin's frequent absences also correspond to full moons. I'm still not a hundred percent sure about it though. I'll just have to see where the story develops.

When it comes to magical cooking I kind of believe that some spells are very generic and basic, which produces food more like when you microwave a ready meal or something. Then if you practice them a lot you can make nicer and nicer meals until with someone like Molly you wouldn't know the difference between magic cooked and hand cooked. Particularly given the sort of lives Selene and Vincent Moon live I didn't imagine either of them caring much about their meals. partly because I love the idea of them in their early twenties in some grotty flat in London, Selene trying to finish her first book while Vincent looks for Airthmancy jobs, and they share the equivalent of microwaved meals while listening to the wireless. I have a lot of Selene and Vincent backstory which is probably going to go entirely unremarked upon in story, so I have to get it out somewhere.

It's established Malfoy has his bandages off by Monday after the match, but I imagine he also used a sling around the school for dramatic effect, but didn't bother when he'd already got what he wanted from the injury.

The timing of the match is a little weird on this one. They usually start not long after breakfast, but that could be anywhere from 6/7am to 10am on a weekend to my mind, and Wood explicitly says during the time out that they'll be playing into the night if they go much longer, which to me suggests 8/9pm onwards. Which means that potentially the people in the stands have been there for nearly twelve hours in the frigid pouring rain, to watch a match they can barely see. Which just struck me as a little weird.

Which leads me neatly into my next point, and the serious stuff I hinted at earlier. Including a minor personal confession.

I have struggled with depression a lot since I was about 14, so 10 years now. And a lot of my experiences with it, especially high school depression, are being given to Lily (granted she's a year ahead of me, being 13.) And I want to get it right. Which means going quite deeply into some quite bad times for me. JK expressly wrote the Dementors to deal with her own depression, so I feel that this is the book I have to kick start that plotline. Which means moody Lily, Lily who snaps at a friend for helping her. There have been aspects of it showing up before, but it's about to go into overdrive. And the way this relates a little here is in both her abrupt mood change and the weird time effect. Depression has that odd effect of sometimes making time seem a bit off. Things which take hours go by in a flash because you're locked in your little world and five minutes can stretch on forever because you got so caught up in overanalysing your own actions. So although Lily barely notices a pause between Harry going down and being stretchered out, it could actually be nearly a half hour or more of the teachers checking him and sorting out the other students.

The second thing is her abrupt mood change when she gets to the kitchen and eats chocolate. This is another thing I have personally observed, particularly in regards to large crowds vs privacy. The typical expression is that extroverts gain energy from social interaction (Sally a very clear example of this) while introverts expend energy for it. Which I find to be true in the broad strokes but lacking in the details. For example if I am in a large crowd of strangers I will get very tired and low very quickly. But if I'm in a small crowd of friends, or particularly one on one with a close friend, I feel energised and alive. And it's the same with Lily. In a large Quidditch crowd with a big emotional moment plus the addition of depression causing Dementors she's basically been entirely drained of a couple of days worth of energy. But then she gets alone with Sally and Lisa and they bring her mood right back up.

This author's note is getting stupidly long but there's a couple more short things.

1. Oliver Wood and Cedric Diggory being very good sports with each other. I love seeing this sort of interaction in sport and I wanted to represent both of them as being honourable in both victory and defeat, however murky those terms were.

2. Originally Lisa and Sally were planned as huggers, while Lily was the physically uncomfortable one. Then Lisa changed a bit to become less cuddly, so now Sally initiates hugs with both of them and they reciprocate, but neither Lily nor Lisa would initiate a proper hug with Sally except in exceptional circumstances like end of term. However, a quite new emerging thing is that I find I like having Lisa and Lily be more intimate with each other. It feels like a quite comfortable little dynamic that's evolving here, mostly without me planning it. Hopefully it feels organic to everyone else reading.

Phew! Until next time comic fans!