Whispers of a Snake (Chamber of Secrets)

Chapter 9

Time flew by as October arrived, heavy storms following closely behind. There was no more sunshine as clouds blocked the sky, raindrops the size of a bullet thundered onto the castle. Students and teachers were forced to wear their robes as a chill crept into the castle, causing the Hospital Wing to fill up with children and adults with severe colds. Nothing she couldn't fix with her Pepperup potion but they left with steam pouring from their ears. None of them complained as the steam kept them warm for several hours. 

But Cedric didn't let rain stop him from dragging the Quidditch team out of the castle for practice. Lea simply grunted before kicking off the ground, few strands of hair that escaped her high ponytail plastered onto her face. 

Luckily, they were only in the air for half an hour before Cedric called them down and told them to go into the locker rooms to talk strategics. They all trampled over one another in order to get faster into the dry, warmth of the room and escape the rain, which got heavier by the minute. 

Lea set off in a jog, not desiring having to slip and fall in the mud or get a bruise from her teammates. When she stepped into the locker room, Dylan and Chris were stripping off their robes and shirts, staying only in their dripping pants and socks. 

She squeaked and averted her eyes, blushing heavily from seeing their toned abdomens. 

"Boys, have you no shame?" Zoe yelled, slapping a hand over Lea's eyes, "There is a young present!"

"I'm twelve, not eight" The girl grunted, batting away the 4th year student's hand before peeling her robes off. The rest of the team laughed as the blush on her face didn't waver and she turned her back on the half-naked boys. 

The rest of the team, unlike Dylan and Chris, only removed their robes, shoes and socks before they sat down on three benches lining up in front a board. Lea sat down on the first one, hoping neither Dylan or Chris would sit beside her. Thankfully, Zoe sat down beside her before her mind could jump to the worst-case scenarios. 

Cedric, who had been laughing, turned serious and pointed out a couple of flaws he noticed when they were flying in the air before the conversation turned onto the Slytherin team. 

"Heard they've all got Nimbus Two Thousand And One" Jason piped up from the last bench, sitting beside Louisa, whose nose was starting to turn red, "And that they got a new seeker"

"Yeah, the Malfoy kid" Chris said, frowning, "He's always showing off all the pretty little stuff his parents send him. I know he's going to be a pain in the-"

"It doesn't matter that they're faster" Cedric said quickly, "I overheard from Fred or George- don't know, you can never tell them apart- and they're all just flying about. No ordination as a team, which gives us a big advantage to beat them"

"But they're pretty rough, always managing to injure at least one person from the opposing team" Lea mentioned, the others giving off noises of agreement. 

Cedric erased the board, making sure nothing could be detected by the other teams, "Which is why, we will continue to practice rolls, swerves and turns. Rain or not. It is most likely we will get rain when we play but we'll be better prepared"

They all left the locker rooms, drier when they came in, after they successfully convinced Dylan and Chris to place back on their shirts. Louisa started sneezing violently in the hall and everyone except Jason immediately took a step back. 

Jason had scolded them for looking out for their own healths before others before leading the sneezing girl to the Hospital Wing. 

The next day, Lea spotted Jason in the corridors with steam drifting out of his ears.