Ballet Shoes

Chapter 18

The match that day was disastrous. Lilleth couldn't help feeling pleased that she'd avoided it, after she heard about the dementor attack that followed. Harry, in the hospital wing, was devastated at the loss of his broomstick, and although she wanted to help him, he shut her out, and she couldn't even speak to him.

Snow began to fall, coating the grounds in a thick, white blanket of frost, and all the students – mainly the younger ones – revelled in it, even when the air was cold enough to turn noses and fingers blue. Snowballs rained down on the weak and unsuspecting, and fortresses were built to defend from the attacks.

November passed in a hazy blur. By the end of it, there was nothing Lilleth hoped for more than a proper Christmas, unlike what the Dursleys did. Their Christmas celebrations were organised and prim and proper, with every decoration set a certain distance apart, a certain colour, and the presents were pathetic. So Lilleth couldn't wait for the Hogwarts Christmases that Harry had described.

The Hogsmeade weekend arrived very quickly for the older students who had permission – which, sadly, did not include Harry. But he disappeared from sight, while Piper, Mira, Missy and Ella had large amounts of homework, leaving Lilleth on her own and inexplicably bored. So she decided to go explore.

She wrapped up warm in her jumper and scarf and gloves and hat, and then made her way out of the warmth of the Hufflepuff common room and out to the grounds of the castle. She'd already explored everything inside, and was now desperate to know exactly what kinds of secrets the magic of the outside world might hold.

It appeared that everyone else was doing their homework as well – or else they were simply avoiding the frigid cold air – as the grounds were deserted for a change, not a person in sight.

But her eye did catch onto a large, black animal lumbering along the edge of the forest, piquing her curiosity. She stepped carefully across the snow towards it, and it looked up at her as she approached. She stopped a few feet away from it and crouched down.

"Hello." she said simply. "I'm Lilleth. Who are you?"

It felt silly, speaking to a dog even when she knew it wouldn't speak back, but then again, she'd encountered so many strange and unnatural things in this new and fantastical world that she wouldn't be surprised if it did.

The dog seemed intrigued by her, and it padded across the few feet between them and nuzzled its head up against her leg, covering her in dog hair, and then reached up and began to lick her face. She giggled and gently pushed it away, but gave it a nice scratch between the ears, which it appeared to enjoy.

"You're very nice." said Lilleth. "Very pretty."

It barked in her face and she jumped slightly, but laughed.

"I didn't think we were allowed dogs." she said. "Where do you live?"

The dog turned and looked at the forest, and then barked again and looked back at her, its tongue hanging out happily.

"Well I'm not allowed in there." said Lilleth, standing up with a sigh.

If dogs could glare, Lilleth knew that this one certainly would be, directly at her. It sunk its sharp teeth into her robes and began trying to drag her into the tall trees on the edge of the forest. She tried to fight it off, but this mysterious animal was determined, and managed to bring her several metres in.

"If you get me in trouble, I'm not going to be happy." said Lilleth sternly. "Stop dragging me!"

But the dog had no intention to stop and continued to tug on her robes, stumbling and sliding over the snowy ground.

"Alright, fine, I'll come with you, but you have to let go of my robes." she said, folding her arms across her chest.

At last, the dog let go, and it barked at her and then turned around to go in the direction. Lilleth groaned.

"I'm going to regret this." she muttered to herself.

They walked for a few minutes before they arrived at a small den, covered in leafy branches and snow, hidden mostly from sight. In fact, if the dog hadn't gone into it, Lilleth might never have thought it out of the ordinary to the rest of the forest.

There was a small opening in the side of the hideout, just large enough for the dog – or a crawling human – to fit through, so Lilleth got down on all fours and scurried through, emerging onto the other side.

It was filled with the most bizarre items. A copper tea kettle was hung on one of the walls, surely too high for a dog to reach, unless it stood on all fours. In the middle was a small pit with charred bits of wood in the bottom, clearly an old fireplace. Some ripped bits of fabric were littered across the ground, as well as some colourful feathers from the various animals that lived there. A Gryffindor scarf was sat on the ground near to the fire. Animal bones, too, were half buried in the snow, from small animals such as rats and mice.

"This seems quite cosy." said Lilleth absentmindedly, not looking at the dog. "Rather ingeniously built, for a -"

She turned around to look at the rest of the snug den, and let out a small shriek as she saw something else that had suddenly appeared in the den. Birds overhead fluttered away at the sudden, high-pitched noise, creating a rustling in the trees with the beat of their wings.

The dog had disappeared, and was replaced by the face of wanted posters that graced the entire wizarding world. He was older than his picture, the skin more gaunt and haunted, covered in various cuts and scrapes, his cheeks sunk and his eyes dark and dangerous. A thin line formed his lips across his face, with no colour and no light.

It was his eyes that terrified her. A storm fought itself behind the grey, a war of anger and pain, but she couldn't see any further than that. She couldn't see what caused the anger, or the hurt that he felt, and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't see what he wanted.

He towered at least a foot taller than her, and in the darkness from the den this was only made more prominent. Lilleth took a small step backwards in fear, although he himself didn't move. He simply stood there, staring at her.

It was none other than Sirius Black.

A/N

Sorry, that was a bit shit at the end there. But hey, it's Sirius!