Mudblood

Gryffindor Versus Slytherin

Lyssa was fuming at his remark, yes, those may have been her only goals this game but that was their strategy. It wasn't until she saw Flint wink and give her a thumbs up that she calmed down enough to keep her head in the game.

The game continued and Slytherin kept scoring, they were 150 points up when she saw Harry dive for the snitch. Higgs was close behind but Harry was closer. Flint and Pucey looked at her, they would not let this game end in a tie. Flint intercepted a pass by the Gryffindors and sped up the pitch, the two of them followed closely. Flint passed to Pucey as they reached the goalposts, but Lyssa could see he didn't have a very good shot, Wood was in the way. Just when she thought he would attempt the shot anyway Pucey did something that surprised everyone, including Lyssa.

Pucey passed the quaffle across the pitch to Lyssa. She didn't even have time to think as she hurled it through the goalpost. They were up by 160 when a moment later Harry nearly swallowed the snitch.

"And after a valiant effort by the Gryffindors and Harry Potter's marvellous capture of the snitch," the announcer sighed, "Slytherin wins 190-180."

The Slytherins in the crowd roared with delight as the players landed on the grass. Flint engulfed her in a hug and Pucey lifted her onto his shoulder. The whole team was cheering as they filed into the locker room. Only then did Pucey put her down.

"We won!" Lyssa cheered and her teammates laughed. They all chatted amongst themselves as they changed into their everyday clothes. Lyssa was the first to finish but before she could leave Flint dragged her back to her spot on the bench and told her to stay. He left the room briefly and the others finished changing. Everyone crowded around Lyssa when Flint returned. He had something behind his back that she couldn't see.

"I was hoping we would win today," Flint said, "otherwise this would've been a lot less fun." He pulled the thing from behind his back and Lyssa saw that, much to her delight, it was a cake.

The team didn't sing happy birthday, this would have been much too cheerful for their tastes. But they all wished her a happy birthday nonetheless. They chatted and ate cake and overall just had a good time celebrating their victory. Even Campbell Burke, the beater who had insulted her at her first practice, seemed to be having a good time.

When they were walking back to the common room with their things Lyssa pulled Flint aside. "How did you know it was my birthday?" she questioned.

"I'm a masterful legilimens," he joked, "Also, a certain professor informed me that it would be prudent to get a cake." Lyssa knew at once which professor he was talking about and made a mental note to thank Snape the next time that she saw him.

𝀈𝀈𝀈

It was quite late that day when Lyssa vacated the common room and headed to her dormitory. She hadn't wanted the day to end. It was easily the best day she had had since she got to Hogwarts. But when she reached the door to her dormitory it was locked. Odd, she thought and pulled out her wand. She cast the unlocking charm over the door and the lock clicked, but, when she tried to open it it still didn't budge. She pushed harder but nothing happened. The girls must have put something in front of the door to keep her out.

"Very funny guys!" she shouted but no one responded. She shook the door again. "Let me in!" Lyssa pleaded to no avail. It was twenty minutes before she gave up and returned to the common room. She curled up on a couch in the far corner and closed her eyes.

She knew Pansy and her other dormmates weren't thrilled about her making the quidditch team, and even more upset about the attention she had received following her performance in the game. But, come on, Lyssa thought, she was still a Slytherin and she had earned them lots of points today.

Sleep did not come easily that night or any of the other nights that week. All of which had been spent on the same couch in the common room. After the second time, Lyssa had hidden a blanket behind the couch, just in case. The bags under her eyes grew darker with each passing week she spent locked out at night. She had started skipping breakfast in order to have enough time to get ready for classes.

Lyssa didn't tell anyone though. Not when Flint and her other teammates joked about how tired she looked. Not when Malfoy or Pansy or anyone else asked if she had enjoyed her breakfast. Not even when Snape called her into his office to see how quidditch was going. This was a fight Lyssa was going to win on her own, even if it took her a bit to figure out how to do that.

They had been given the last Friday before Christmas off so that students who were going home could pack their trunks. The train left from the Hogsmeade station at twelve on Saturday but Lyssa's trunk had long been packed. This was her first countermeasure once she realized that her expulsion from her dorm was a permanent thing. The others couldn't open her trunk, a feature of all Hogwarts luggage to prevent thievery. So she spent the last day before her break wandering the halls of the castle with no particular rhyme or reason to her journey.

Lyssa climbed high into the castle stopping on the seventh floor. Thoughts of her sleeping predicament seeped into her mind and she began to pace back and forth to steady her thoughts.

"If only I had somewhere else to go," Lyssa thought, "Then I'd at least be running on enough sleep to figure out how to stop them." All of a sudden a large wooden door appeared on the wall next to her. She thought this peculiar, but, stranger things have happened at Hogwarts than magically appearing doors.

So Lyssa opened the door. Inside she found a small room furnished with a bed, nightstand, and a small desk. Off to the side was another door, which she found upon opening it, leading to a bathroom. Lyssa was confused until she remembered a small footnote in a book she had read during her preparation for her life at Hogwarts. It is rumoured the castle contains a room suited for any witch or wizard's needs, but the Room of Requirement's existence has long been disputed as very few people have ever found it, let alone remembered its location.

Lyssa left for the break more well-rested than she had been in weeks and had already started plotting her revenge. Pansy wouldn't know what hit her when she returned from break.

𝀈𝀈𝀈

Christmas holidays flew by. Lyssa's days were mostly spent regaling her many magical adventures for her younger brothers. Though, she often embellished them a little, leaving out the fact that she didn't really have any friends or that she'd spend nearly six weeks sleeping on a couch. Their favourite story was how she won the first quidditch match for Slytherin and they begged her to take them flying on her broom.

"I can't!" Lyssa would say, "I didn't even bring it." But that didn't stop them from asking. They were quite upset that she didn't even show them any magic over the course of her holidays but Lyssa insisted that she wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school.

She enjoyed being home though, her dad took her ice skating on a pond near their house and she baked cookies with her mom. Lyssa pretended not to notice the way her mother always seemed a little nervous around her or how she was never in a room with her brothers alone.

On Friday the third of January Mr. Wiley once again took Lyssa to King's Cross station in London and he walked through the barrier to platform 9¾ with her. Lyssa saw the way her fellow Slytherins looked at her and her dad as they said their farewells, but she ignored them. Her dad loved her more than anything and that was what mattered. Who cared if he couldn't turn a match into a needle or fly around on a broomstick, muggle or not Lyssa was lucky and she didn't care what anyone else had to say about it.