Bound By Blood (Muggle Meets Magic #2)

THIRTEEN - Odd One Out

On the morning of Callie's Quidditch match, I was up early, buzzing with excitement, and found Veronica and Will downstairs in the common room already.

"Oh good!" I said, joining them as we headed for the doors. "You're attending too, then?"

Both of them looked at me with confusion, and I frowned.

"The quidditch match?" I added lightly, and realization came over both of their faces. They exchanged a glance.

"Right. Quidditch," Veronica said, as if she'd only just noticed how the majority of Ravenclaw students were hovering near our house's quidditch team and wishing them good luck.

"You're not going?" I realized finally, and they returned their gazes to me.

"Well, actually Aly, since you've been gone, it's been rather dull around here," Veronica said.

"Yeah, so we've both taken up clubs," Will replied, raising a hand to the back of his head in embarrassment. "We were going to tell you, of course..."

"What kind of clubs would be operating today, of all days?" I pressed. Quidditch was the most popular game in the school, and the majority of students attended for the excitement of it all, if not to support their friends and houses.

"Well, the Domestics Club, for one," Veronica said, and I frowned again, trying to decipher what that could possibly be. "Household spells," Veronica clarified. "You know, charms to make dishes clean themselves and brooms sweep on their own. I thought it would be handy to know, as we don't really get taught this in our classes and I don't fancy doing it by hand when I'm older."

"You're going to miss quidditch to do housework?" I replied faintly. Veronica looked to Will, who added,

"And I've got Chess Club. Most of the members aren't big on sports anyway, so we only lose a couple of people during quidditch season."

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Besides," Veronica piped up quickly. "It's Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw, and Ravenclaw always beats them, so what's the point really?"

That snapped something in me. How could she just assume Callie would lose?

"Well, fine I guess. Enjoy your clubs," I replied shortly, heading past them for the door. "But I'm going to go support Callie, and Ravenclaw house."

I knew my comment made zero sense—they couldn't both possibly win—but I didn't care. Head held high, I marched out of the common room and down to the Great Hall for breakfast. By the time I'd descended a couple of flights of stairs, my anger had fizzled a little. I mean, quidditch wasn't compulsory or anything... but it would have been nice to go together and watch the game. And it was Ravenclaw's game, after all!

I ate alone at breakfast, munching on marmalade toast and sipping orange juice, before following the excited crowd out to the pitch to watch the game. Through the hordes of students, I made my way towards the Hufflepuff stands and ran straight into someone with long, black hair.

"Watch it!" a familiar voice snapped, but then they froze. I looked up and came face to face with Eleanor Ambleforth, who was staring down at me with shock.

"Alyssa," she said finally, and straightened.

I opened my mouth to greet her, when two nasty voices echoed from behind her,

"Ew, the muggle's back again?" a snobby Slytherin shot at me, folding her arms.

"Eleanor, I thought you said she'd been expelled?" the other insisted. Eleanor went slightly red, and an apologetic look flashed briefly in her eyes. But then her gaze hardened, and she flicked her long hair over her shoulder and looked me up and down.