❝ i'm chaos walking . . . ❞
❝ then i'll walk with you.❞
「 Liliana Granger knew chaos like the back of her hand.
It confronted her, challenging her to find calm wherever she could.
But some days...
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❝ I don't like to break promises. ❞
⋅☾☼☽⋅
As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. When the sun peered out from behind the winter clouds, Liliana would take her walks outside.
On occasion, she would see the Gryffindor Quidditch team practicing above the pitch. Their season had begun. On Saturday, the first match would take place: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship.
Liliana was as excited as the rest of her peers. Well, all beside Harry. He had been Gryffindors coined secret weapon for all of three weeks before his secret as Seeker had leaked out somehow. Talk soon went around that he'd either be brilliant or chased around with a mattress held beneath him.
Sometimes, when Harry had practiced to exhaustion or was drowning beneath his Oliver Wood induced stress, Liliana and Hermione would take time from their study sessions to help him with his homework. When that became too much, he liked to talk Quidditch with them to calm himself back down. With his every word about the sport, the spark Liliana developed for it grew brighter.
Hermione and Liliana had become a bit more relaxed about breaking the rules since Harry and Ron had saved them from the mountain troll, and they were much nicer for it. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and Hermione had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard.
Harry noticed at once that the Potions professor was limping. He, Ron, Liliana, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were unsure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.
"What's that you've got there, Potter?"
It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him.
"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," Snape said. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."
"But it's not a copy from the library," Harry argued. "It's mine."
"I don't recall asking," Snape said coolly.
"What rubbish," Harry muttered, staring angrily after Snape as he limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"
"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," Ron said bitterly.
The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Liliana sat together next to a window. The sisters were checking Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them. They never let them copy ("How will you learn?"), but by asking them to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.
