The Fifth Marauder (Under Editing)

Chapter 3: Food for Flight

Adelle woke early the next morning. Her stomach gave a loud gurgle. It was only now she realised, she hadn’t eaten since the previous morning. She dressed and headed to the Entrance Hall. She wanted to speak to her brother first. She sat on the marble steps and waited patiently. After a considerable time, Adam appeared from the staircase that led down to the dungeons. He was walking and laughing with Severus, and two other boys. She stood so he could see her. One of the other boys sniggered when he noticed her.

“I’ll meet you in there,” Adam said to his companions. He jogged over to her side.

“I see you’re making friends,” Adelle said, sitting back down.

Adam sat down on the step next to her.

“Yeah, they’re really cool guys. A few of us stayed up last night chatting, Malfoy and Lestrange’s families are pure bloods, they’ve got plenty of stories about their ancestors.”

Adelle felt as though she were talking to a stranger. ‘How can he be so calm when I feel so uneasy?’

“That’s fascinating Adam, but what am I going to do?” she said, with an edge of panic on her voice.

“I don’t know, you’re the one who became a Ravenclaw. What did the hat say? You were up there forever.”

Adelle didn’t feel much like sharing her secrets with her brother now.

“It just, you know, ran through all my characteristics and where I’d fit in each house, then it yelled Ravenclaw.”

“Well that’s what you get for spending all your bloody time with your nose in a book,” Adam retorted.

Adelle stared at her feet. The empty pit in her stomach now seemed to have nothing to do with hunger.

“Hey, cheer up sis, we’ve got Herbology together this afternoon,” Adam said with a smile.

“What’s a Herbology?” Adelle asked dully.

Adam was taken aback.

“It’s the study of magical plants and their properties. I swear I saw you reading that one...”

“I know what Herbology is Adam,” she cut in, “I was trying to be less of a Ravenclaw.”

“Ha!” Adam scoffed, “It’s a little late for that.”

Adelle sighed and looked at the ground again.

“Come on, you’ll make friends,” Adam said nudging her arm.

“Oh yeah, with this bunch of party animals, how can I not?” Adelle said sarcastically, as two, very serious looking, sixth year, Ravenclaws walked past.

Either they hadn’t heard her or they were pretending not to because they didn’t give so much as a sideways glance to acknowledge the twins’ existence. Adelle suspected it was the latter. She smiled a little as she thought this.

“Can we have breakfast now?” Adam whined, “I’m starving.”

Adelle left her brother and sat at the Ravenclaw table, with a pair of first year girls. They introduced themselves as Colette Dodson and Merinda Kyle. Adelle sat down shyly, and helped herself to some muesli and yoghurt.

“We’ve got Potions first, with Hufflepuff, can you believe it?” scoffed Merinda.

“Actually I can,” retorted Colette, “My sister told me all about it, they’ve been doing it for years, they bunch the Hufflepuffs in with the Ravenclaws, on the more intricate subjects, in the hopes that they’ll learn from us. Pathetic really. What have we got after that?”