The Hufflepuff

Three

On Wednesday Eleanor trailed along beside Cynthia as they made their way outside into a surprisingly warm day for their Herbology class with the Gryffindors.

"Tryouts are this afternoon," says Cynthia for the fifth time that morning.

"I'm not gonna miss them," Eleanor says, "Who would you have to take such great shots of the newly formed Hufflepuff team if I did?"

A smile tugs at the corner of Cynthia's mouth. The walls of the Hufflepuff common room were adorned with pictures of every Hufflepuff team they had had since Eleanor had started at Hogwarts and found her love for developing the moving pictures.

"Are you going for chaser again this year?"

"Probably. I had thought, you know, that I'd really like Seeker - but what with Ced-. Nevermind, I'm used to playing chaser anyway."

Eleanor turns to look at Cynthia whose face has become clouded, brows furrowed like she's deep in thought. "He would've said to go for it, he was always fair and there is no way that he would want you to miss out on an opportunity like this."

Before she can reply to this Professor Sprout emerges from one of the greenhouses and calls everyone into class. Inside Eleanor notices the odd behaviour of some of the Gryffindors who keep casting glances towards the back of the group where Harry Potter is standing with his friends.

"Let's join them," Eleanor says, pointing the group out to Cynthia who hesitates only a second or two before following.

As they join the group, muttering a quiet hello and Cynthia staring down Lavender Brown who is blatantly watching them, Eleanor watches her fellow prefect Ernie Macmillan approach.

"I'd just like to say Harry, I believe in you one hundred percent. My family has always stood firmly behind Dumbledore and so do I."

Eleanor smiles a little at the ever pompous Ernie, also making an effort to show Harry that at least the Hufflepuffs weren't going to judge him - apparently unlike the rest of Gryffindor, several of which look deeply perturbed by Ernie's declaration.

Cynthia, who still seems to be internally struggling with her recently proclaimed desire to be seeker, also turns to Harry, "Yeah Cedric was a good friend and the fact that beast of a woman is making you serve detention for standing up to her about what happened with him and you-know-who is disgusting."

With that the conversation is apparently over and as class begins Eleanor and Cynthia work in silence with Harry and his friends until the end of the lesson. Walking out of the greenhouse, covered in considerably more dirt and stickier than when they walked in, Eleanor calls out goodluck to Cynthia before hurrying off to the Hufflepuff common room to change quickly into clean pants and a shirt, snatching up her camera on the way out into the corridor.

The walk down to the Quidditch pitch was fairly quiet as anyone going to see the tryouts had gone straight after class and there were only a few students returning to the castle. Eleanor hoped she could borrow Cynthia's cloak to watch tryouts as the sun crept closer to the horizon and she scolded herself for not thinking ahead.

A dozen or so students are up in the stands watching the tryouts that have already begun. Knowing the captain won't mind her being on the ground as long as it means there are decent pictures of the team Eleanor heads straight across to where Cynthia is pacing on the spot.

"I'm just going to go for chaser," she says when Eleanor is in earshot, despite the fact that she clearly can't take her focus off of anything but the little golden snitch that is sitting away in the trunk to the side of the field.

"No. You're not."

Summerby, the captain, is a few feet away talking to some other hopeful students when Eleanor marches up to him, Cynthia watching in a mixture of awe and horror.