Dursley's Daughter (A Harry Potter Next Generation Fan Fic)

6. Could-Be Drama

"So then, even though we were complaining that we already had foot long essays to write for Potions and Charms, he still assigned another one!" Holly was ranting to Sawyer and I, who had joined her at the Ravenclaw breakfast table, waiting for her to finish eating. She had a textbook propped open in front of her plate as she teared through a piece of toast, gnawing angrily, her curly hair wild and unbrushed.

"Sucks," Sawyer said. He picked up one of Holly's books and managed to rip one of the pages almost immediately, so he surreptitiously passed it to me so I could fix it.

"That's not the worst part," Holly said. She waved her arm at the rest of the room, which was empty as most of the other students had already eaten their breakfasts. "Of course I had to sleep in late! Now I've got to finish this stupid piece of toast and rush up to the library, because I'm not going to get another chance to find the right books until -"

My arm was tapped and I twisted in my seat to see Hugo, clinging nervously to his school bag with a worried expression on his face.

I immediately mimicked his look of concern, tuning out Holly's continuing rant. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"It's Cassie," he said.

I knew as captain I had to be goodnatured about things like defeat, but I couldn't help but let out a sigh. Hugo nodded in agreement. After the game everyone had been kind and supportive, because Hufflepuffs were great at accepting defeat, even if it was disappointing considering all the hard work we had put into preparing. Most of the team was a bit down but generally okay, except for Cassie. She had disappeared into her room and hadn't emerged once, not even for meals.

"What's she doing now?"

"Posie said that she's been skipping classes."

Holly and Sawyer were listening now, their eyes darting back and forth between Hugo and I.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"Her dorm."

I nodded to Hugo and stood, handing Sawyer back the textbook. "Thanks for letting me know, Hugo. I'll go talk to her now."

"Good luck," he said. "Posie couldn't even get her to respond."

~~~

"It's okay," I told Cassie for the thousandth time. "One loss means nothing. It was only the first game."

Cassie was in her bed in her dorm room, the canopies pulled shut so I was talking to a wall of cloth. But apparently I was doing better than Posie had, because Cassie was actually talking, if only to put herself down.

"I'm a let down to our team," she said. "You shouldn't have taken the chance on me, Esther. I'm not good enough."

"That's not true. I chose you because you were the best for the job."

"I'm clearly awful at it."

"You're not! I can clearly see the potential in you. Hufflepuffs are known for our diligence, and with some more practice, you'll be catching snitches left and right!"

I knew it wasn't in Cassie's nature to give up, that she was only sulking in the aftermath of an embarrassing defeat. The Slytherin's jeers had been particularly bracing and Cassie hadn't been able to make it into the castle until bursting into tears, even with Oliver and I threatening our taunters with hexes.

"Cassie, you're going to be a great seeker," I said. "I'm not giving up on you." 

All I got were muffled sobs in return.

"I can't even say there's something wrong with my eyesight, because that would be a big lie. I'm just clumsy and bad at flying and -"

"You're not," I said, but that was all I could think of to say. I had used up every compliment and reassurance in my repertoire on Cassie, and so far nothing had worked.