Courage

-65-

Book: Courage
Chapter 65
Word Count: 8147

Layla was first to wake up in her dormitory next morning. She lay for a moment watching dust swirl in the ray of sunlight coming through the gap in her four-poster's hangings, and savoured the thought that it was Saturday. The first week of term seemed to have dragged on for ever, like one gigantic History of Magic lesson.

Judging by the sleepy silence and the freshly minted look of that beam of sunlight, it was just after daybreak. She pulled open the curtains around his bed, got up and started to dress.

Layla spent most of her morning in her dorm, catching up on homework and writing letters to Sirius and Remus, but after lunch, she headed down to the Quidditch pitch for practice.

All her teammates but Angelina were already in the changing room when they entered.

"All right, LayLay?" said George.

"Yeah," said Layla, heading off to get changed.

"OK, everyone," said Angelina, entering from the Captain's office, already changed. "Let's gel to it; Katie and Fred, if you can just bring out the ball crate for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out there watching but I want you to just ignore them, all right?"

Something in her would-be casual voice made Layla think he might know who the uninvited spectators were, and sure enough, when they left the changing room for the bright sunlight of the pitch, it was to a storm of catcalls and jeers from the Slytherin Quidditch team and assorted hangers-on, who were grouped halfway up the empty stands and whose voices echoed loudly around the stadium.

"What's that Weasley's riding?" Draco called in his sneering drawl. "Why would anyone put a flying charm on a mouldy old log like that?"

Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson guffawed and shrieked with laughter.

"Ignore them," Layla he said, kicking off from the ground and flying over to Ron, "we'll see who's laughing after we play them."

"Exactly the attitude I want, Layla," said Angelina approvingly, soaring around them with the Quaffle under her arm and slowing to hover on the spot in front of her airborne team. "Okay, everyone, we're going to start with some passes just to warm up, the whole team please—"

"Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle, anyway?" shrieked Pansy Parkinson from below. "Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"

Angelina swept her long braided hair out of her face and continued calmly, "Spread out, then, and let's see what we can do..."

Layla reversed away from the others to the far side of the pitch. Angelina raised the Quaffle with one hand and threw it hard to Fred, who passed to George, who passed to Harry, who passed to Ron, who dropped it.
The Slytherins, led by Draco, roared and screamed with laughter. Ron, who had pelted towards the ground to catch the Quaffle before it landed, pulled out of the dive untidily, so that he slipped sideways on his broom, and returned to playing height, blushing.

"Pass it on, Ron," called Angelina, as though nothing had happened.

Ron threw the Quaffle to Layla, who passed back to Fred, who passed to Harry...

"Hey, Potter, how's your scar feeling?" called Draco. "Sure you don't need a lie down? It must be, what, a whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that's a record for you, isn't it?"

Harry passed to Angelina; she reverse-passed to Harry, who had not been expecting it, but caught it in the very tips of his fingers and passed it quickly to Ron, who lunged for it and missed by inches.