10 - Amelia Dumbledore Chapter 10

Instructions

As Amelia sidled into the Great Hall for lunch, she saw Amaya and panicked until she spotted Jake seated with a bunch of particularly boisterous Gryffindor boys and Deli. Looking around, she spotted Skye surrounded by a huddle of Slytherins. Harley was nowhere to be seen, probably in the school library. Warm smells of food tantalisingly beckoned her to sit down, so her feet instinctively walked her over to where Amaya sat, chatting to another Gryffindor girl. "Hi," Amelia said, shyly. "Hey," Amaya looked up with a broad grin. "OMG! I must introduce you girls!" Gesturing to me, she introduced, "This is Amelia Dumbledore," she nodded subtly at the other girl, "and this is Azara Slytherin." Azara winced at her surname. I could almost feel empathy for her, having the surname of a well-known wizard in your opposing house. I cleared my throat to tell her about Jake. Amaya beat me to it. "Guess what? Somebody used Polyjuice Potion on me earlier!" she described, animatedly. "It was thrilling - they locked me in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and I was stuck in there for hours!" Amelia privately thought that being locked in a bathroom by a stranger pretending to be you for hours was far from thrilling. At that moment, Jake and Deli walked over, hearing the end of the Amaya's excited speech. Jake cleared his throat awkwardly and his cheeks flushed bright red. Deli looked away, failing to hide her smirk. Remembering earlier, Amelia turned on Jake. "And I suppose you used polyjuice on Del as well?" It was Deli's turn to blush. "Uhh... Actually, Jake paid me for that." she muttered guiltily. Amelia raised an eyebrow at her in return. "Well... Devan's birthday is coming up, and I kind of need money..." Del cried in her defense. She raised her hands playfully in an 'I surrender' position. Before Amelia could lecture her anymore, the bell rang for the end of lunch. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day and night passed surprisingly rapidly, and soon Amelia walked out of Herbology with Hufflepuff for lunch. An annoying voice at the back of her head constantly reminded her that Jake was waiting for her at the quidditch pitch. Frustrated, she pushed it away and made her way through the swarm of children rushing to the hall. The voice nagged her along the way, making her feel uncomfortable. Without warning, a warm, slightly sweaty hand slipped into hers. Amelia noted how they fitted so snugly together. Deli was beside her, smiling an awkward, lopsided grin. "Um... would you like to come to the quidditch pi..." "No." Amelia said, sharply, telling herself as much as her friend. She firmly shook their hands apart, and waded through the mobs, losing her sense of direction. To her utmost annoyance, she found herself at the quidditch pitch a few minutes later. "Hey!" welcomed Jake as he sauntered over to her. "No..." grumbled Amelia, but she knew she was beaten. Against her conscience, she walked and chattered with him, trying her hardest to keep a scowl on her face the whole time. She failed. Miserably. The next day, she came again. And again. Gradually, days stretched into weeks. Weeks stretched into months. By the end of October, posters had arrived for the Halloween Ball. Jake asked her out, and, blindly, she had agreed. In between meeting Jake and endless streams of schoolwork, there was quidditch to look forward to. As Amelia got ready for bed on the 30th October, she thought happily about her first match against Gryffindor, in a week. But, first, there was the ball...