Leandra woke up feeling tired. The nightmares had worsened over the last few months, and so had her headaches.
-You don't look so good, Lea - Millicent commented.
-Definitely not good enough to fly - Daphne added.
- Fly?! That's today?!
-At two thirty in the afternoon, Leandra.
Leandra jumped off bed and got ready in a hurry, throwing some sport's pants on top of her bed to be easier to change into later. That afternoon, they would have their first flying lesson.
-Did you know your father was a seeker, Leandra?
-He was?
A sock flew across the room, a cuss word was said, and Leandra got hit across the head by Daphne.
-Slytherins don't curse, Leandra.
-Blame my dead parents, you idiot, they're the Gryffindor blood in me!
-I can't blame your dead parents, that's rude!
-I blame you for my bad mornings, Potter - Parkinson piped in.
The collective eye roll was felt all through the dorm room. Soon, everyone was ready and out the door for breakfast and classes.
That Thursday morning seemed to drag by. Leandra sat with her brother for DADA and again with Neville for Potions. History after lunch was especially boring and sleep-inducing. And then it was finally time for flying.
Leandra had prepared for a really big amount of situations. A lot of her classmates would probably be flying for the first time, there were probably students afraid of heights (she knew at least Neville and Hermione did).
She had not prepared for Neville to be so afraid he'd fly off accidentally. She did not panic at that moment though, after all, they were being supervised. She started panicking when he fell down but surely, surely, the professor would use some kind of cushioning charm.
When Neville did fall and broke his wrist, Leandra had to take so many deep breaths she didn't notice Malfoy picking up Neville's remembrall, or Harry protesting against it. She vaguely noticed them soaring away and the ensuing battle for the memory ball. She finally came to herself when McGonagall showed up, yelling at her brother. But McGonagall wouldn't hear her about Hooch's lack of responsibility.
She spent the next hour in the infirmary keeping Neville company, with Madam Pomfrey muttering under her breath about "those doomed flying lessons" where "every year there's at least one student here".
The next day at breakfast, when a suspiciously shaped package arrived for her brother, Leandra had to grip her seat until her knuckles were whiter than Malfoy's hair.
-I can't believe this - Jackson commented - They gave him a broom? Yo, Malfoy, you should have let yourself get caught along with him!
-You think the school gave him a broom, Mud-
One timely cough from Millicent had Malfoy reconsidering his words.
-Jackson - he said instead - I bet he just wants attention and thinks he can get away with anything so he ordered a broom!
Leandra noticed Blaise had a devilish look to him.
-How about we bet on it, Malfoy? If the school gave him a broom, you have to wear donkey ears for a week, and if he just got it to show off, I'll do something equivalent. You decide what.
-He's not that stupid - Daphne muttered.
-Easiest bet ever, Zabini.
Malfoy went off to wait outside the Great Hall then.
-You're welcome.
As they learned later that day, Malfoy would have to, indeed, wear donkey ears for a week.
-I was so nervous! But McGonagall just wanted me to join the Quidditch team! Turns out they didn't have a seeker after the last one just graduated.
-Oh, so instead of holding out trials, she's bending rules by placing a student who can't even follow rules to be seeker - Leandra summarized - Hermione, you should have asked to be in some other house. How's Neville?
-He had to stay the night in the infirmary, and he didn't show up for breakfast, so I guess he's still in there - Harry shrugged.
-Doesn't it bother you? - she asked, sitting herself down next to her brother for the Potions class.
-That Neville broke his wrist? Of course it does, but Madam Pomfrey is a great healer, she'll heal him fine.
-I didn't mean Neville, I meant why he is in the infirmary to begin with - Leandra pointed out - Our professors are all magical, I talked to Millicent about it, they don't let squibs teach. Hooch's been teaching for years, she should be able to do a quick cushioning charm. And yet, Madam Pomfrey just yesterday was muttering under her breath about how every year someone gets hurt. Neville could have hit his head, Harry.
-Maybe she panicked?
-After years of teaching flying and refereeing Quidditch matches? And it's not just Hooch, Harry, professor McGonagall clearly showed favoritism yesterday. Do you think if Malfoy had been caught instead, she would have been so nice? She would have him in detention for half the semester, and the only reason expulsion wouldn't be on the table is Malfoy's father. And my oh-so-dear godfather? Who's been straight up bullying my potions' partner for weeks?
-Speak of the devil - Harry motioned towards the front of the class.
Leandra spent the rest of the class holding back her sharp remarks and her rage, but when class was over, and everyone left for lunch, she told her friends to go ahead without her. She needed to ask the professor something.
-Do you need anything, Lea-
-Why is Madam Hooch still teaching?
-Wha-
-Why are you still teaching for that matter? Did you even notice there was a student missing? Did you know Neville fell off during flying lessons and broke his wrist?
-Ok, calm down, Lea-
-Calm down?! CALM DOWN?! A student could have died and you're telling me to calm down?
-It is completely normal for injuries to occur during-
-CUSHIONING CHARMS EXIST! - she bellowed and Severus thanked his past self for deciding to engrave a runic circle for muffling sounds on the room, else everyone in the castle would have heard her - YOU'VE GOT SO MANY AT HOME THAT I CAN BARELY EVEN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE WOOD FLOOR AND THE ACTUAL CARPET!
-Those are runic circles - uncle Sev pointed out - A charm would wear off and I'd have to keep reapplying it.
Leandra chose to ignore him.
-And why, pray tell, are you always bullying my friends? Don't give me that look, you know damn well I'm right! It's like you've got a personal vendetta against them and what did they do to you? Get sorted into "enemy territory"? I'll have you know Neville is a great friend, and a brilliant potioneer, who knows more about ingredients than you could ever hope for!
At that, uncle Sev rolled his eyes.
-No first year is a brilliant potioneer, and no first year knows more about the ingredients than a potions master.
-THEN WHY DO YOU KEEP TREATING THEM LIKE THEY SHOULD?
-They're Gryffindor.
-BULLSHIT!
-Language.
-OH CUT IT! You promised. You said you wouldn't be mean to Harry and yet… And why Neville? I know you were in love with my mother once upon a time, so maybe Harry resembles father a little too much for your liking, but why are you mad at Neville?
Uncle Sev opened his mouth and then closed it. He really didn't know.
-Gryffindors are mean? - he tried.
-Get your act together, damn it, you're an adult, even Malfoy knows bullying is wrong, he does it on purpose.
With that, she left a very unprepared-to-deal-with-third-years-as-of-right-now Severus Snape, who still had a long afternoon of classes ahead of him before he could finally retire to his quarters.
That night, while everyone was leaving Astronomy class, Leandra hid and then came back to stare out at the black lake. It was beautiful from up there. The grounds looked so calm and there was so much silence. Precious silence. She missed it. She and Emily used to stay up for hours every Friday, just reading. No other sound other than the pages being turned. She missed Emily, and she missed the mum and dad she had known all her life. They hadn't replied to any of her letters yet. It was so weird to not have them in her life, not even through exchanging letters. Surely they had gotten the letters, right? What if something had happened to them? What if they had moved? What if… what if they didn't like her anymore?
-You need a tissue, Potter? - a familiar voice called her out of her musings.
She hadn't noticed she was crying and hastily wiped her eyes.
-You really do have to stop following me, Jackson.
He sat down next to her and didn't say anything for a few minutes.
-You're going to get cold out here, you know? They really ought to make a warmer uniform for the girls to wear during winter, I mean, they don't even have you wear thighs? It's the same as if they'd make me wear shorts for the whole year!
Leandra chuckled.
-Do you want to talk about it?
Leandra hesitated.
-Emily and her parents haven't answered any of my letters yet - she said at last.
Jackson didn't know what to say to that so he just let the silence fill the space between them and stared with her out onto the lake, until Leandra yawned, and Jackson commented they'd better get to the common room. With a lot of luck they managed to avoid both Filch and his cat, Ms. Norris, through the whole trip down to the dungeons, and Leandra went to sleep thinking about the missing letters.
Jackson didn't go to sleep though. He feared he might know what had happened to Leandra's muggle foster family. At the break of dawn, he decided: he had a lot of questions to ask around the teachers about missing letters. He also had a spell to research. Never hurt to be on the safe side.