Courage

-55-

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."

Layla folded up the letter, thinking. If she was honest with herself, she really wanted to see Sirius again. She therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon — double Potions — feeling considerably more cheerful than she usually did when descending the steps to the dungeons.

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something Layla couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as Harry, Layla, Ron, and Hermione approached.

"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart.

Layla saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands — Witch Weekly. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Werewolf Girl!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Layla, who caught it, looking confused. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside.

Harry, Layla, Ron, and Hermione headed for two tables at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of todays potion on the blackboard, Layla hastily rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the center pages, Layla found what she was looking for.

Harry Potter's Secret Heartache

A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, daughter of a werewolf, Layla Lupin. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.

Miss Lupin, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for triwizard champions. Since she has begun a supposed relationship with former Hogwarts heartthrob Cedric Diggory, Miss Lupin has been toying with both boys' affections. Diggory, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Lupin, has already invited her to spend the summer holidays with him at his own home.

However, it might not be Miss Lupin's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.

"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she is friends with Hermione Granger, and they're both quite brainy. If they'd worked together, they'd be well up to making a Love Potion. I think that's how Lupin is doing it."

Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate.

"What did you do to Rita Skeeter?" hissed Ron from the desk behind Layla and Hermione's. He had leaned over the desk to catch glimpses of the article over Layla's shoulder. "She's made you out to be some sort of — of scarlet woman!"

Layla stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter.

"Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Layla, still giggling, as she threw Witch Weekly onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."