Hide & Seek

Chapter 8 - Abditory

Chapter 8
ABDITORY

abditory
(n.) a place to which you can disappear; a hiding place

THE familiar screeching cry of the mail owls echoed across the expansive ceiling of the Great Hall on Wednesday morning. Streaks of Autumn sunlight lit up their wings as the masses of feathers darted back and forth.

They swooped up and down, delivering their letters and parcels to outstretched hands in flashes of white, brown, and grey. Harry watched anxiously as they ducked through the open-paned windows, fingers crossed over one another.

Hermione placed her hand over his fidgeting ones, clasping them reassuringly beneath her palm.

"He'll write soon, Harry. I know he will," she said, trying to give him the most boisterous smile she could.

Harry gave her a tight-lipped tilt back. Gemma and Ron gave each other sidelong glances, attempting to look just as hopeful as Hermione.

Harry had been tense all week, still not having heard back from Sirius since his last letter. Every day when the mail arrived, his friends could see the semi-permanent crease of his brow furl even more.

It was difficult to watch, and Gemma couldn't help but to wish there was something any of them could do.

Unfortunately, all there was to do was wait.

Even their fellow peers could sense something was wrong with Harry and had taken up to trying to raise his spirits whenever they could.

"Hey! Hey, guys look," Seamus shouted over the chatter of the hall as he came rushing down the long aisle between the house tables.

He had a scroll of parchment clutched in his fists and was waving it wildly above his head. Sliding into the seat between Ron and Neville, Seamus slapped the flyer down on the wooden surface, grinning breathlessly.

Curious at what could've possibly had Seamus so excited this early in the morning, the fourth-year Gryffindors all craned their necks to get a look at the black ink.

"Officially Unofficial Quidditch Match. October 24th on the pitch at Midnight," Ron read, eyes widening as he went, "Hosted by Fred and George Weasley. Bloody hell!"

"Let me see that," Hermione snatched the paper from under the boy's noses, her and Gemma hunching over to see what else it said, "All team practices are to be held in secret, opponents will be announced the day of."

Hermione looked up bewildered.

"Are they insane? They could get expelled for this!"

"Oh, come on Hermione. Everyone's bored waiting for this stupid tournament to start. It's just a Quidditch match," Ron grumbled, shaking his head at her cautiousness.

"Yes, an unofficial Quidditch match. What if someone gets hurt? There won't be any supervision."

"Yes there will be," added Seamus.

"Who?" Hermione asked, annoyed at the flippancy of her classmates.

"Us," came two voices, perfectly in sync.

All six heads whipped around to the tall set of twins, each grinning widely with their arms folded across their chests. Their red hair was almost identical in shade and cut to Ron's, and it clashed in its usual way with the maroon of their robes.

"You two don't count as supervision," said Hermione.

"We're super," said Fred.

"And we have excellent vision," George piped in, snatching Harry's glasses off his nose and putting them on.