Chapter 4

"Lily! Eat something before you go!"

            "Kate, I'm in a hurry," I yelled from my dorm. "I was due in the library ten minutes ago."

            "You can't study on an empty stomach," Kate bustled out of her office, conjuring a plate of bread and butter as she went. In the common room Cissa was rushing about trying to find various bits of her uniform – she and Luc had been rather 'busy' earlier.

            "No, I've got to go, Kate," I said firmly, waving the food away. "Bye." I wanted to be well away from the dungeons before Cissa left.

            I slammed the door behind me, and hurried around the corner and behind a tapestry, where I'd hidden my broom and sports robes the night before, then legged it to the mirror on the fourth floor, where one of the secret passages began.

            I'd been doing this every evening for about a week now. Kate, Mike and Cissa thought I was part of a study group that met in the library. Instead I was in Hogsmeade, practising with the Horntails. I felt really bad about lying – as well as scared stiff that someone would see me somewhere they shouldn't. I kept telling myself it wasn't like I was doing anything wrong, per se. I mean, I wasn't getting pregnant, or stealing, or torturing Muggles or anything. I was just playing Quidditch, trying to get better at something I was already good at.

             And I was getting better. James was such a brilliant coach, it was impossible not to learn from him. He spent a lot of time with me, Abby and the other Chaser, Rosmerta from the village, working on our teamwork and teaching us fancy moves we could use on the pitch. He worked us pretty hard, but the four of us had a good laugh too. The more we trained together, the more I liked him.

            Abby was always flirting with him, and staring at him when we were training. James would've been blind not to notice, but he never gave any sign that he had. I wondered if he fancied her too. I couldn't tell. Still, it wasn't really any of my business…

            The day of our first match of the summer tournament against the Chiswick Cheetahs came around, I felt nervous, but I couldn't wait to get out on to the pitch. This wasn't like playing out on the Hogwarts lawns, or the games in our training sessions. This was the real thing.

            "All right, Lily?" James asked me quietly as we filed out of the changing rooms.

            I blushed, and Abby, who was just ahead of me, turned around curiously to look at us. Don't ask me why I went red, I don't know – I just did. "Yeah, no problem," I muttered.

            "OK, go out there and do your stuff," James said, and turned away.

            And suddenly, when I was out on the pitch, everything seemed to come together. Joining the Horntails had been the best thing in my whole life so far, and I'd loved the training sessions, pushing myself harder and getting better and better. But out on the pitch, playing a real game, was what it was all about. Adrenaline raced through me as we gathered around the centre circle, waiting for the referee to release the balls. I was up for this, and I was going to do my best.

            Mel was right. The Cheetahs had a great defence, and it took us a while to break them down. An hour into the game, only three goals had been scored against them, whereas they'd managed five. After another half-hour with a couple of missed penalties, Abby slotted a Quaffle to me, exploiting a gap left by the Beaters. I swooped up and hurled the Quaffle through the hoop.

            "Yes!" I yelled. My first goal in a proper, real-life match! I was so excited, I cartwheeled across my broom, before loop-the looping exuberantly. As the other girls rushed over to congratulate me, I looked over at James. He was grinning at me, and I glowed with pride.

            After that, we were unstoppable. We won the match 270-80, with a spectacular capture of the Snitch by Verinelle, our Seeker. I was ecstatic – I couldn't give this up. Even if I had to lie to keep on playing.

            After that, I began to relax a bit, and the days settled into a routine. Most evenings after lessons I'd collect my bag from behind the tapestry, and dash off to training. Afterwards I'd give my dirty kit to Abby and she'd take it to the house-elves – I couldn't risk Kate catching me with it. The team were still playing in the first few rounds of the tournament, and we had several more matches. We won them all, and I scored some crackers, as well as setting up goals for the others. When we had weekend games, it was more difficult to get away, though – I had to tell Kate I had Head Girl duty, or I was tutoring students. Luckily none of the teachers seemed to notice that my work was not improving, despite the hours I spent 'studying'!

            I was getting on better with Kate too, because I'd agreed to wear a little make-up. I even helped out in a couple of her lessons when I had free periods.

            Everything seemed to be going brilliantly. My family was happy, the team was happy – I was happy. It was perfect.

            You know what?

            It couldn't last.

            A few weeks later, I was in the changing rooms, getting dressed after a training session. I'd kind of got used to getting changed in front of the others now, and I didn't feel uncomfortable sitting there in my sports bra and shorts next to Abby, while I took off my trainers.

            "Is that right then, Lily?" Becca, the Keeper, asked me as she towelled her hair dry. "Your family have no idea you've been playing all this time?"

            I shrugged. "Nah, they haven't." Now I felt more comfortable around the other girls, I'd let them in on my little secret.

            "Where do they think you are, then?" Mel asked.

            "School." I pulled off one of my trainers. "They think I've joined a study group."

            "Blimey." Mel looked a bit startled. "That's not on."

            "Slytherin girls aren't supposed to play Quidditch," I explained helpfully.

            "That's a bit backward, innit?" Mel remarked, picking up her towel.

            "Yeah, but it ain't just a Slytherin thing, is it?" Abby cut in. "I mean, how many people come out to support us?"

            Mel ignored her and grinned at me. "So, are you betrothed to someone? I heard all the Slytherins had arranged marriages."

            "Nah, I'm Muggleborn," I said. "My blood's too dirty for an arranged marriage." All the other girls in the changing room were listening now too. "My cousin's getting married soon, but that's a love-match."

            "What's that mean?"

            "It's not arranged," I replied.

            "So, if you can choose," Becca said, looking interested, "can you marry anyone you like?"

            I shook my head. "Slytherin's full of purebloods, none of them would have me. Hufflepuff, nope. Ravenclaw, maybe. Gryffindor, I'd be disowned. And you don't want to see what would happen to me if I wanted to marry a Muggle." I drew my finger across my throat.

            Mel and the others looked shocked.

            "So you'll probably end up with a Ravenclaw, then?" Abby asked, packing our kit away in her sports bag.

            "Probably."

            Mel was shaking her head. "I don't know how you put up with it."

            I shrugged. "Kate and Mike are my only family. Where else would I go? And Slytherin's a different culture – I'm not certain I'd survive a rebellion – after all, I'm an orphaned Mudblood, no connections, no other family. Anyway," I said, trying to lift the tension I'd created, "it's better than sleeping around with boys you're not going to end up marrying. What's the point in that?"

            They all burst out laughing.

            "That's the best bit!" giggled Verinelle, the Seeker.

            "Yeah, you should know," Becca retorted.

            They all laughed even harder. I turned pink, and pulled my school robes over my head.

            "When are you going to get a decent broom, Lily?" Abby asked, as we went outside. "You want a Nimbus 1000, like mine. It's only been out a few years, it's amazing compared to the Cleansweeps or the Comets."

            "It looks a bit pricey," I said doubtfully, but I was thinking hard. If I was going to take my game seriously, I really should get my own broom. At the moment, I was still using the tatty one James had given me. There must be a way I could get the money for a new one…

            I headed back to Hogwarts, dumped my bag behind the tapestry as usual and went back to the common room. Kate was sitting on the sofa, scaring the first years. She was marking essays while watching a film on her Ocu-globe with Quintius Umfraville, her favourite actor. I was knackered, and was dying for something to eat.

            "Kate," I said in my sweetest voice, "I'm really starving. I had to work all through lunch today. Is it alright if I go down to the kitchens?"

            Kate had been fussing around me ever since I started my 'study group' so I was hoping there wouldn't be a problem. Instead, she just stared at me.

            "Where's Narcissa?" she asked, looking over my shoulder at the door into the room. "She went to the library to find you, you need to be measured up for dress robes for the wedding, and I didn't want you to be late."

            My stomach flipped over and my heart began to pound. It was so loud, I was surprised Kate couldn't hear it. I was desperately trying to think of an explanation which would cover me, when the door opened.

            Total panic. I looked round as Cissa came in, looking pissed off. She gave me a filthy look, and I gulped.

            Was she going to give me away?