Extraordinary (Sign it Series; BOOK 2)

Chapter 51

In Simon Lomen’s professional opinion, Quidditch was not nearly as fun when he wasn’t watching Maddy demolish the other team’s players with bludgers. Allie had a similar comment, as the two, along with Polly, sat on the first row of the Gryffindor stands decked in various shades of red and gold. He could barely keep up with the thrill of the game, the way people scored and blocked, and smacked others with bludgers.

The only highlight was the parody the Gryffindor’s made on the Slytherin’s Weasley is Our King song. Simon himself did not sing, but he tapped his foot along as Allie and Polly figured out the words and sang along loudly, swaying with the wind. Simon knew Maddy would enjoy it, and vowed to scribble the lyrics down so she could read them at the start of the summer holidays. Gryffindor winning too, was a highlight, and a shocker too if Simon was being honest. With Ron’s stroke of good luck, he, the chasers, and the seeker, Ginny, carried the team. It was impressive how they managed to dodge the incoming bludgers when the beaters were not able to.

Simon ignored all celebrations, cooping himself up in a small corner of the Common Room with his head resting on a throw pillow as Polly and Allie danced around, the pull of the older student’s excitement getting to them. He would have gone to his dorm, if not for the fact that he knew the other first years were loudly playing board games as he heard them plan the night before. The music pounding in his ears dulled his senses though, and he wondered briefly if dealing with a bunch of screaming first years who’d call him names would be better for his sanity than here at the party.

“Hey, Simon.”

Ginny Weasley sat on the ground beside his chair, a drink of some kind clutched into her hand like a lifeline. Her red hair was matted to her neck with sweat, and the rush of victory was as present on her cheeks as her freckles.

“Hi.”

“Are you alright?” Ginny physically recoiled at her own question, as if realising the words leaving her mouth were dumb. She hadn’t spoken much to Simon in the past two months, since Maddy’s expulsion in April, but based on the younger boy’s monotone expressions, she could assume the worst. “That was dumb, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” mumbled Simon, “I’m fine, just a bit tired. Go and enjoy the party. You basically won for Gryffindor if I followed along properly.”

Ginny stared in contemplative silence before standing up again. “If you need anything, I’m here, alright? If you need someone to beat someone up, I’m your girl.”

Simon kept the fleeting thought of his dormmates with bloody noses to himself and just nodded as Ginny was whisked away with the crowd.

◼◻~◻◼

June brought stress to Hogwarts, as finals rapidly approached. The fifth and seventh years had it worse, the anticipation that their entire lives could rely on one test was far too much for most people to handle. The other years were not immune to this stress either; Simon broke down once in the Hospital Wing at the thought of transfiguring a porcupine quill to a pin needle in front of Professor McGonagall. Madam Pomfrey had to help calm down his staggered breathing and had him rest instead of restocking the shelves as he normally did. It didn’t help that as his anxieties about bad performances (which, given his grades were drastically worse now than they had been) increased, his nightmares increased. The other day, he had dreamed that his sister, and for some reason Maddy, had been caught in the explosion with his parents, and when he opened the door as he did when he was a child, instead of just his parents mangled bodies, he saw Maddy’s and Dari’s too, clots of blood surrounding their heads and limbs. He had woken up that morning at three and ran to the Hospital Wing sobbing, with his stuffed animal under his arm, unsure of how to cope with his own emotions, and Madam Pomdrey made him miss classes to take a dreamless sleep potion.