Turning Tables

Chapter 15 - Trials

(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)

Breakfast in the Great Hall was briefly interrupted on Saturday morning by the arrival of the Head Boy. Already in his Quidditch practice uniform, he slammed open the doors with a loud bang and stormed his way up the length of the Gryffindor table until he reached the Head Girl, who was quietly reading a book over breakfast. He straddled the bench next to her, flung the newspaper he had been carrying down directly in front of her, folded his arms and scowled at the room in general.

Lily was still holding her glass of juice in mid-air, her eyebrows raised in an expression of bewilderment. 'Did someone break your broomstick?'

'Funny. Read the front page and see what it does for your sense of humour.' He cocked an eyebrow in the direction of his discarded newspaper, and she pulled it over and unfolded it.

'IS DUMBLEDORE LOSING THE PLOT?'

The headline screamed from the top of the page, and Lily quickly read the accompanying article.

It more or less outlined what had happened on the train last week, and attributed the attack purely to Dumbledore's incompetence at protecting his pupils. It was the last paragraph however, that had particularly provoked James' ire, and Lily could feel her temper rising to meet his as she read it. The author of the piece – a Matilda Meeking, apparently – had felt the need to make an extended comment on Dumbledore's choice of Head Students. The last paragraph in particular ignited her fury.

"As neither of this year's Heads have any measurable talent to recommend them for the position, we can only assume that Dumbledore is now appointing students to positions of authority within the school for his own dubious reasons. Parents have reason to be concerned that these particular students were not good choices, as the debacle on the Hogwart's Express clearly demonstrates."

Lily met James' eyes, and he saw the same outrage in her eyes that he had felt rolling in his stomach since he had read the paper half an hour ago.

'How bloody dare she?' Lily choked out the words, almost too angry to speak. 'She knows nothing – nothing – about you, me or Dumbledore. Who does she think could do a better job protecting this school? Parents send their kids here because they know it's safe; and it's safe because of him!'

'I know love. There's no point telling me, I'm as angry as you are.' He took in her clenched fists and fuming face, and he sighed. He hadn't meant to rile her up this much, just to prepare her for the inevitable taunts from some elements within the school. He should have given himself a bit longer to calm down before he spoke to her.

'Look.' He reached out and pushed some of her hair back from her face. 'You and I know it's not true, and so does everyone who matters. You earned this, no matter what some old hag writes in the paper. Everyone here knows what happened on that train couldn't have been prevented.' She was biting her lip so hard he was surprised she hadn't drawn blood.

'I just don't understand. No-one outside of Hogwarts has given a damn about Head Students appointments before.' She paused for a moment to take a sip of her juice; she could feel the colour slowly leaving her face, could no longer hear her blood pulsing through her temples, but the flush of anger ebbing away left nothing to drown the misery of being judged. 'Of course it's been a while since there was a Muggleborn Head Girl.'