Lonely

Chapter Nine

Leo awoke early the next morning, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she pulled her quidditch practice uniform over her head. Thankfully, even with all the restrictions and rules that Snape had put in place, quidditch was still allowed for the time being. Although Slytherin's team received the best training times and resources.

For this reason, Leo trudged through the early morning dew, hands already freezing, with the rest of the Hufflepuff team to practice. She led them through a few standard drills before giving in to everyone complaining about the temperature and calling it quits. Zacarias Smith, one of the Hufflepuff chasers and the loudest complainer of the morning, was the first off the pitch with the rest of the team soon following.

Leo took her time descending from where she had been flying above the group. Wayne Hopkins, the team's keeper, circled back toward her. "You alright Captain? Don't worry about Smith, it was a good practice everyone's just a bit cold I think!" He shot her a grin which she returned half-heartedly. Wayne was one of the nicest people Leo had ever met and she knew straight away he was lying. With the early morning weather conditions, the practice had been horrible from take-off. Quidditch was always one of the few things she could count on, but even it wasn't bringing her much joy recently.

"Nah, I'm not bothered, Hop, just taking my time with the landing. Thank you for checking though!" Wayne nodded at her and seemed to realize that she wanted to be left alone. He turned and flew back toward where the rest of the team had trudged off toward the changing rooms. Leo felt the sting of the cold wind against her face as her feet touched down on the wet grass. She wished she could take off on her broom and fly home, that maybe her father would be there waiting with the rest of her family. A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away, muttering at herself.

"Leo? Are you alright?" She looked up quickly and saw the Ravenclaw quidditch team approaching, led by Michael Corner. Leo blushed, swinging her leg over her broom and gathering it up under her arm. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just so cold. I see Ravenclaws practice slot isn't much better than ours!" She joked. Michael smiled at her and thankfully either hadn't seen her crying or decided to let it slide, which she appreciated. "The team isn't very happy about it, but oh well, I guess we can't all be Slytherin!" He said, laughing as he adjusted the sleeves of his practice kit.

The rest of the Ravenclaw team caught up to Michael where he was standing with Leo and began to kick off of the ground to start their practice. Leo took this as her cue to leave, not to mention the fact she definitely could no longer feel her fingers and toes. "Well, enjoy your practice!" She said, smiling at Michael and beginning to walk in the direction of the changing rooms. "Hey, Leo?" She turned back to face the boy. "Yeah?" Leo said, blowing on her hands to warm them from the cold wind. Michael paused for a moment, glancing up at the rest of his team who had started with laps around the field. "It's nothing, just... Let me know if you need anything, alright? Even just to chat or something."

Leo cringed internally, realizing he had seen her crying and most likely now assumed she was an emotional mess. Still, his words were filled with genuineness and when his eyes met hers they weren't filled with pity, but kindness. Leo nodded and smiled wryly. "You sure your teammates won't mind you fraternizing with the enemy?" She teased. Michael's face broke into a grin. "I think Slytherins are the only real enemy at this point, plus they'll understand when I tell them I need you to boost my transfiguration grade." Leo clutched her chest in mock indignation. "You've cut me deep Corner, but at least you're honest." Michael threw his head back and laughed before climbing onto his broom and hovering slightly. "I mean it though, we can always talk about anything."

He took off before Leo could respond, joining his teammates as they circled the field. She watched him for a moment before once again turning and heading to the changing rooms. As Leo walked she thought about what Michael had said. It was nice to have someone else to talk to, although Leo knew she was being irrational, she already had plenty of friends who would always be free to listen to her.