Beyond Hope

Entry #18

April 20, 1976

This is it. This is the day we go against the Ravenclaw house in quidditch once again.

I immediately wake up for the day and spend it in a haze, my body on autopilot as I go to each of my classes and do my assignments.

My mind entirely focused on the game as it always does when the Slytherin team has any matches against another house.

I didn't notice that I was being so distant from other people until Remus suddenly shook me while we were in the great hall, eating.

"El, Where are you?" He asks as Peter snaps to get my attention and James and Sirius look at me, worried looks crossing their faces.

"Ah." I say absentmindedly, shaking my head to get myself focused. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Peter scrunches his eyebrows as he narrows his eyes to look at me. "You look too tired." Peter says, voice full of worry.

James extends his hand and places the back of his palm on my head, checking my temperature.

"Are you sure you're alright to play today?" He asks me as his eyes look into mine.

I stare at him for a few seconds before I shake my head out of the trance he had placed on me.

"I'll be fine." I tell him, removing his hand from my head and placing it back down with a small smile. James's eyes remain trained on me as I try to avoid it, covering my eyes as I look at anywhere but him.

"I'll play for you if you need to rest." Sirius suggests, making me laugh.

"What?" He asks innocently.

I give him a smile. "Absolutely nothing Ri." A Gryffindor chaser playing for a Slytherin seeker, I would normally pay to see Sirius play for me, but not today.

He pouts as he turns his focus back to his food.

"You seem stressed." Remus states as Peter pushes a plate of fruits to me. I give him a smile as I take up a strawberry and eat it.

"I'm good." I tell him and look at my pocket watch. I had to leave early if I wanted the team to beat Ravenclaw today, I had to leave to go to the pitch soon. "I have to go." I told them as I got up to leave.

"You're going to the pitch aren't you?" Remus asked.

"Huh?" Sirius suddenly said, looking up from his conversation with Peter and his attention on his food.

"He said nothing, turn your attention back to eating." I sighed, ushering his attention away from me.

"Make sure you eat at least." James insisted as he pushed some fruits into my head. I thank him as I walk away to my room to change.

After I changed and got everything I needed, I made my way towards the quidditch pitch to meet with the rest of my team.

"What are we doing here?" Barty asks, groaning as stretches. "I'm supposed to be resting before the game."

"Ravenclaw was at our last practice right?" I inquire.

"Obviously." Dorcas says.

"Well, they were probably there to analyze our team and see our patterns." I tell them.

They all look on, waiting for me to continue.

"They're Ravenclaws. They would do that and honestly that's pretty smart, I wouldn't blame them."

"They've seen us play before, there's no problem with them watching us practice before." Pandora tells me.

"That's true. But they've never come to our practice before, so something is going on. It doesn't matter, we should still practice and get better." I insisted.