𝕿𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖗 - ʳᵉᵍᵘˡᵘˢ ᵇˡᵃᶜᵏ

Chapter 30: Crush Crush Crush

[ March 9th, 1978 ]

     THEONA WAS impatiently bobbing her leg underneath the Gryffindor table, awaiting the arrival of food. The sooner dinner was done with and through, the sooner she got to attend her first ever apparition lesson with the rest of the sixth year students. She was excited to finally have something new to master, as—in all honesty, and very little modesty—her classes were starting to feel redundant.

     It had been postponed after the unfortunate disappearance of Lori Puffton, who was supposed to be their teacher. She had only recently been replaced, after a month and half without sight of her. The ministry was being unsurprisingly quiet about it all, as they were about most things concerning how the war was affecting the wizarding government. The Daily Prophet had no problem reporting on the deaths of muggles and muggleborns, but when the victim was a ministry official they were suddenly silent, keeping it under wraps. It was all a ruse to ensure the public's trust in them stayed intact, Theona was sure.

     Whatever the reasons behind their secrecy, it didn't work very well. All the more confidential news always found it's way into the rumour mill; Ministry worker parents who tell their kids who tell their friends who tell their friends, and so on and so forth. Theona was personally just glad her education wouldn't be stunted any longer.

     If only Dumbledore could shut his stupid trap so she could get on with it.

     "I have one last thing to say and then we can all tuck in," Dumbledore started, eliciting a sigh of relief from Theona that caused her friends to snicker, "Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you all that dogs are not on the list of approved pets, as Mrs. Norris had a run in with one in the hall outside my office. If you are in possession of a dog, please make an appointment with Professor McGonagall to arrange returning the pet to your guardians."

      "Looks like you're gonna have to make an appointment, Moons," Peter snickered under his breath, nudging Sirius with his elbow.

Theona didn't even have it in her to wonder what the hell that was supposed to mean. The boys said obscenely cryptic shit all the time, so she was used to it.

When the food appeared, Theona didn't miss a beat in loading up her plate.

     "Careful, don't eat too much," Remus warned, "Pete hacked up his dinner the first time he apparated."

     "Yeah, onto me!" Marlene barked, flicking a meatball at Peter's head.

     "Hey, I apologized!" Peter gasped, throwing the meatball back with far less finesse.

"I highly doubt I'll manage to apparate after only one lesson," Theona refuted, absentmindedly lifting her napkin to wipe the red sauce off of Peter's forehead.

"Don't be so sure," James said, resting an arm on Lily's shoulder, "Lilyflower managed it, and you're almost as smart."

"According it to my research, I have to go into it not expecting much," Theona informed, "if I expect too much from myself and get frustrated, I risk getting splinched."

     "Merlin, you're a swot," Sirius snorted, reaching around Peter to whack her on the back of the head.

     "Hey!" Theona pouted, ducking her head away from his hand, "forgive me for wanting to be prepared."