Book: Courage
Chapter 71
Word Count: 5221
As the date of their departure back to Hogwarts drew nearer, Layla's mood began to drop. She'd enjoyed her Christmas spent with the Weasleys, with her dad, with Sirius, with Tonks...
For Layla, going back to school would mean placing herself once again under the tyranny of Dolores Umbridge, who had no doubt managed to force through another dozen decrees in their absence; there was no Quidditch to look forward to now that she had been banned, there was every likelihood that their burden of homework would increase as the exams drew even nearer.
On the very last day of holidays, Ginny came barging into Layla's room, causing Layla to jump and immediately push something under her bed.
"Oh! Gin, can't you knock?"
"Sorry," said Ginny guiltily. "Was that the Cedric box that you were looking at...?"
"Yeah," said Layla vaguely, shrugging. "Um, what's up? Did you need something?"
"Right," Ginny seemed to remember why she had barged into the room. "Snape's here."
"Huh?"
"Snape," said Ginny. "He's just come inside. Come on, he might still be in the hall."
So, the two girls hurried out of the room and to the staircase. They looked down, spotting three figures downstairs. It was easy to identify Snape's long black cloak and hooked nose. Layla noticed that the other two down there were Sirius and Harry. Sirius looked furious, Harry confused. Snape's long oily hair hid his expression. Snape led the way down the corridor out of sight, the other two following close behind.
"What do you reckon that's all about?" wondered Ginny, but Layla had no clue.
Ginny was distracted, however, a quarter hour later when Mr Weasley returned from the hospital with Mrs Weasley.
"Dad!" she said brightly. "They fixed you then."
"Sure did," he hugged his only daughter.
"We should go find Harry," said Mrs Weasley. "I'm sure he'll want to know that you're okay."
They went downstairs and opened the door to the kitchen.
"Cured!" said Mr Weasley happily. "Completely cured!"
They paused. Sirius and Snape both had their wands pointed at one another, and Harry was clearly trying to force them both apart. Layla wasn't sure why she was surprised.
"Merlins beard," said Mr Weasley, the smile sliding off his face, "what's going on here?"
Both Sirius and Snape lowered their wands. Layla looked from one to the other. Each wore an expression of utmost contempt, yet the unexpected entrance of so many witnesses seemed to have brought them to their senses. Snape pocketed his wand, turned on his heel and swept back across the kitchen, leaving. Sirius glared after him, his wand at his side.
"What's been going on?" asked Mr Weasley again.
"Nothing, Arthur," said Sirius, who was breathing heavily as though he had just run a long distance. "Just a friendly little chat between two old school friends." With what looked like an enormous effort, he smiled. "So... you're cured? That's great news, really great."
"Yes, isn't it?" said Mrs Weasley, leading her husband forward to a chair. "Healer Smethwyck worked his magic in the end, found an antidote to whatever that snake's got in its fangs, and Arthur's learned his lesson about dabbling in Muggle medicine, haven't you, dear?" she added, rather menacingly.
"Yes, Molly, dear," said Mr Weasley meekly.
That night's meal should have been a cheerful one, with Mr Weasley back amongst them. Layla could tell Sirius was trying to make it so, yet when he was not forcing himself to laugh loudly at Fred and George's jokes or offering everyone more food, his face fell back into a moody, brooding expression.
They were to return to Hogwarts on the Knight Bus the following day, escorted once again by Tonks and Remus.
After a hurried breakfast, they all pulled on jackets and scarves against the chilly grey January morning.
Layla grabbed the box from under her bed, placing it beside her trunk and pet cages. With a hesitant sigh, she opened the box and pulled out Cedric's Hufflepuff sweater, lifting it up to her nose. She could barely smell Cedric's scent anymore... but still, she pulled the Hufflepuff sweater over her head before heading out of her room, calling for Kreacher to bring her things to the front door. As Layla headed downstairs, she spotted the Weasleys surrounding the front door.
"Goodbye, Layla, take care," said Mrs Weasley, hugging the young girl.
"See you, Layla!" said Mr Weasley genially, grinning.
"Look after yourself, kid," Sirius hugged Layla, who grinned up at him and kissed her second father's cheek.
Next moment, Layla found herself being shunted out into the icy winter air, with Tonks (today heavily disguised as a tall, tweedy woman with iron-grey hair) chivvying her down the steps.
The door of number twelve slammed shut behind them. They followed Remus down the front steps. As she reached the pavement, Layla looked round. Number twelve was shrinking rapidly as those on either side of it stretched sideways, squeezing it out of sight. One blink later, it had gone.
"Come on, the quicker we get on the bus the better," said Tonks. Lupin flung out his right arm.
BANG.
A violently purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out of thin air in front of them, narrowly avoiding the nearest lamppost, which jumped backwards out of its way.
A thin, pimply, jug-eared youth in a purple uniform leapt down on to the pavement and said, "Welcome to the—"
"Yes, yes, we know, thank you," said Tonks swiftly. "On, on, get on—"
And she shoved the children forwards towards the steps, past the conductor, who goggled at Harry as he passed.
"Ere — it's 'Arry—"
"If you shout his name I will curse you into oblivion," muttered Layla menacingly.
"I've always wanted to go on this thing," said Ron happily, looking around.
The Knight Bus was three decks and it was crammed with an assortment of mismatched chairs grouped haphazardly around windows. Some of these appeared to have fallen over when the bus stopped abruptly in Grimmauld Place; a few witches and wizards were still getting to their feet, grumbling, and somebody's shopping bag had slid the length of the bus: an unpleasant mixture of frogspawn, cockroaches and custard creams was scattered all over the floor.
"Looks like we'll have to split up," said Tonks briskly, looking around for empty chairs. "Fred, George and Ginny, if you just take those seats at the back... Remus can stay with you."
She, Harry, Layla, Ron, and Hermione proceeded up to the very top deck, where there were two unoccupied chairs at the very front of the bus and three at the back. Hermione had offered to sit with Tonks at the front, even though Layla to do so, and although Hermione would have loved to sit with Harry and Ron, she wanted Layla to make up with Harry even more.
Stan Shunpike, the conductor, followed Harry, Layla, and Ron eagerly to the back. As Harry, Layla, and Ron handed Stan eleven Sickles each, the bus set off again, swaying ominously. It rumbled around Grimmauld Place, weaving on and off the pavement, then, with another tremendous BANG, they were all flung backwards; Ron's chair toppled right over and Pigwidgeon, who had been on his lap, burst out of his cage and flew twittering wildly up to the front of the bus where he fluttered down onto Hermione's shoulder instead. Layla smirked in amusement when Harry had to seize a candle bracket to stop himself from falling. Harry glanced at Layla, who immediately looked away and focused her attention out of the window. They were now speeding down what appeared to be a motorway.
"Just outside Birmingham," said Stan happily. 'You keepin' well, then, 'Arry? I seen your name in the paper loads over the summer, but it weren't never nuffink very nice. I said to Ern, I said, 'e didn't seem like a nutter when we met 'im, just goes to show, dunnit?"
He handed over their tickets and continued to gaze, enthralled, at Harry. Apparently, Stan did not care how nutty somebody was, if they were famous enough to be in the paper, thought Layla with a roll of her eyes. The Knight Bus swayed alarmingly, overtaking a line of cars on the inside. Looking towards the front of the bus, Layla saw Hermione cover her eyes with her hands, Pigwidgeon swaying happily on her shoulder.
BANG.
Chairs slid backwards again as the Knight Bus jumped from the Birmingham motorway to a quiet country lane full of hairpin bends. Hedgerows on either side of the road were leaping out of their way as they mounted the verges. From here they moved to a main street in the middle of a busy town, then to a viaduct surrounded by tall hills, then to a windswept road between high-rise flats, each time with a loud BANG.
"I've changed my mind," muttered Ron, picking himself up from the floor for the sixth time, "I never want to ride on this thing again."
"Tell me about it," said Layla with a scoff. "You should have seen Hermione at the start of the holidays on our way to see you guys. She was holding onto me for dear life and refused to look up once. It was extremely funny."
"Listen, it's 'Ogwarts stop after this," said Stan brightly, swaying towards them. "That bossy woman up front 'oo got on with you, she's given us a little tip to move you up the queue. We're just gonna let Madam Marsh off first, though—" there was a retching sound from downstairs, followed by a horrible spattering noise "—she's not feeling 'er best."
A few minutes later, the Knight Bus screeched to a halt outside a small pub, which squeezed itself out of the way to avoid a collision. They could hear Stan ushering the unfortunate Madam Marsh out of the bus and the relieved murmurings of her fellow passengers on the second deck. The bus moved on again, gathering speed, until—
BANG.
They were rolling through a snowy Hogsmeade. Layla caught a glimpse of the Hog's Head down its side street, the severed boar's head sign creaking in the wintry wind. Flecks of snow hit the large window at the front of the bus. At last they rolled to a halt outside the gates to Hogwarts.
Remus and Tonks helped them off the bus with their luggage, then got off to say goodbye.
"You'll be safe once you're in the grounds," said Tonks, casting a careful eye around at the deserted road. "Have a good term, okay?"
"Look after yourselves," said Lupin, shaking hands all round before reaching Layla last and pulling his daughter into a hug. "Don't forget to write, honey. I'll see you soon."
"I'll write to you first thing tomorrow, dad, I promise. I love you," said Layla, reaching up to kiss her father's cheek. "I'll miss you."
"I love you, too, Lay. And I'll miss you every day until I see you again. Like every year," Remus chuckled. The father and daughter smiled at each other before Layla turned to quickly say her goodbyes to Tonks and give her a quick hug.
The six children then struggled up the slippery drive towards the castle, dragging their trunks. Hermione was already talking about knitting a few elf hats before bedtime.
Layla spent most of the next day wishing she was back at Grimmauld's place with Sirius and Remus. Her morning double-Potions lesson did nothing to make her want to remain at Hogwarts any more, as Snape was as unpleasant as ever. Layla used to love Hogwarts. She remembered the day she'd received her letter. She had never been so excited in her life... she just wish she'd known the downfalls of the wizarding lifestyle. She even found herself wondering quite often if life would've been much easier if she was a muggle, going to a muggle school, with muggle friends, and no wand or evil dark lord in sight.
That evening, the common room was packed and full of shrieks of laughter and excitement; Fred and George were demonstrating their latest bit of joke shop merchandise.
"Headless Hats!" shouted George, as Fred waved a pointed hat decorated with a fluffy pink feather at the watching students. "Two Galleons each, watch Fred, now!"
Fred swept the hat on to his head, beaming. For a second he merely looked rather stupid; then both hat and head vanished.
Several girls screamed, but everyone else was roaring with laughter.
"And off again!" shouted George, and Fred's hand groped for a moment in what seemed to be thin air over his shoulder; then his head reappeared as he swept the pink-feathered hat from it.
A part of Layla wanted to go over there and join in on the fun, and ask if she could try on the hat for herself. But the other part of her was the part that won. The part that refused to let her get up from her seat by the fireplace as she simply stared, almost entranced, at the flickering bright flames, her revision in front of her long forgotten about.
The next morning, Layla had decided to join Ginny for breakfast but she didn't touch a single thing to eat, feeling slightly nauseous.
"Can I borrow that?" asked Layla, gesturing to the Daily Prophet in front of Ginny.
"Sure," said Ginny, handing the newspaper over. Layla grabbed it, eager for something to do, and eager to find out what was going on outside of the walls of Hogwarts.
Layla's eyes widened. There were ten black-and-white photographs that filled the whole of the front page, nine showing wizards' faces and the tenth, a witch's. Some of the people in the photographs were silently jeering; others were tapping their fingers on the frame of their pictures, looking insolent. Each picture was captioned with a name and the crime for which the person had been sent to Azkaban.
Antonin Dolohov, read the legend beneath a wizard with a long, pale, twisted face who was sneering up at Layla, convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.
Augustus Rookwood, said the caption beneath a pockmarked man with greasy hair who was leaning against the edge of his picture, looking bored, convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic secrets to He Who Must Not Be Named.
But Layla's eyes were drawn to the picture of the witch. She had long, dark hair that looked unkempt and straggly in the picture. She glared up at Layla through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant, disdainful smile playing around her thin mouth. Like Sirius, she retained vestiges of great good looks, but something — perhaps Azkaban — had taken most of her beauty.
Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom.
Layla, now overwhelmed with curiosity, read the article.
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT' FOR OLD DEATH EATERS
The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban.
Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals.
"We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half years ago when the murderer Sirius Black escaped," said Fudge last night. "Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban, would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals, and we beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached."
Layla instantly ripped open the newspaper and began to read the report inside.
TRAGIC DEMISE OF MINISTRY OF MAGIC WORKER
St Mungo's Hospital promised a full inquiry last night after Ministry of Magic worker Broderich Bode, 49, was discovered dead in his bed, strangled by a pot plant. Healers called to the scene were unable to revive Mr Bode, who had been injured in a workplace accident some weeks prior to his death.
Healer Miriam Strout, who was in charge of Mr Bode's ward at the time of the incident, has been suspended on full pay and was unavailable for comment yesterday, but a spokeswizard for the hospital said in a statement:
"St Mungo's deeply regrets the death of Mr Bode, whose health was improving steadily prior to this tragic accident. We have strict guidelines on the decorations permitted on our wards but it appears that Healer Strout, busy over the Christmas period, overlooked the dangers of the plant on Mr Bode's bedside table. As his speech and mobility improved, Healer Strout encouraged Mr Bode to look after the plant himself, unaware that it was not an innocent Flitterbloom, but a cutting of Devil's Snare which, when touched by the convalescent Mr Bode, throttled him instantly. St Mungo's is as yet unable to account for the presence of the plant on the ward and asks any witch or wizard with information to come forward."
The name Bode rung a bell for Layla, and then it hit her as fast and as hard as a brick being launched at her. She'd seen him. Bode was in the bed opposite Lockhart's in St Mungo's, simply lying there, staring at the ceiling. And Layla saw the Devil's Snare arrive. The Healer said it was a Christmas present.
There was only one topic of conversation in the corridors now: the ten escaped Death Eaters, whose story had finally filtered through the school from those few people who read the newspapers. Rumours were flying that some of the convicts had been spotted in Hogsmeade, that they were supposed to be hiding out in the Shrieking Shack and that they were going to break into Hogwarts, just as Sirius had once done.
Those who came from wizarding families had grown up hearing the names of these Death Eaters spoken with almost as much fear as Voldemort's; the crimes they had committed during the days of Voldemort's reign of terror were legendary. There were relatives of their victims among the Hogwarts students, who now found themselves the unwilling objects of a gruesome sort of reflected fame as they walked the corridors: Susan Bones' uncle, aunt, and cousins had all died at the hands of one of the ten.
It was now quite common to come across two or three teachers conversing in low, urgent whispers in the corridors, breaking off their conversations the moment they saw students approaching.
"They obviously can't talk freely in the staff room any more. Not with Umbridge there," said Hermione in a low voice, as she and Layla passed Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout huddled together outside the Charms classroom one day. "Reckon they know anything new?"
"If they do, we're not going to hear about it," said Harry. "Not after Decree... what number are we on now?"
For new notices had appeared on the house noticeboards the morning after news of the Azkaban breakout:
BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-six.
Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor
This latest Decree had been the subject of a great number of jokes among the students. Lee Jordan had pointed out to Umbridge that by the terms of the new rule she was not allowed to tell Fred and George off for playing Exploding Snap in the back of the class.
"Exploding Snap's got nothing to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor! That's not information relating to your subject!"
When Layla next saw Lee, the back of his hand was bleeding rather badly. Layla recommended essence of Murtlap.
Layla had thought the breakout from Azkaban might have humbled Umbridge a little, that she might have been abashed at the catastrophe that had occurred right under the nose of her beloved Fudge. It seemed, however, to have only intensified her furious desire to bring every aspect of life at Hogwarts under her personal control. She seemed determined at the very least to achieve a sacking before long, and the only question was whether it would be Professor Trelawney or Hagrid who went first.
Every single Divination and Care of Magical Creatures lesson was now conducted in the presence of Umbridge and her clipboard. She lurked by the fire in the heavily perfumed tower room, interrupting Professor Trelawney's increasingly hysterical talks with difficult questions about ornithomancy and heptomology, insisting that she predicted students' answers before they gave them and demanding that she demonstrate her skill at the crystal ball, the tea leaves and the rune stones in turn. Layla thought Professor Trelawney might soon crack under the strain. Several times Layla passed her in the corridors — in itself a very unusual occurrence as she generally remained in her tower room — muttering wildly to herself, wringing her hands and shooting terrified glances over her shoulder, and all the while giving off a powerful smell of cooking sherry.
Hagrid was not putting up a better show than Trelawney. Though he had shown them nothing more frightening than a Crup — a creature indistinguishable from a Jack Russell terrier except for its forked tail — since before Christmas, he too seemed to have lost his nerve. He was oddly distracted and jumpy during lessons, losing the thread of what he was saying to the class, answering questions wrongly, and all the time glancing anxiously at Umbridge.
It seemed to Layla that Umbridge was steadily making her life at Hogwarts even more of a hell than it already was. The only thing keeping Layla from demanding that Remus take her out of school was the DA meetings.
All of them, even Zacharias Smith, had been spurred on to work harder than ever by the news that ten more Death Eaters were now on the loose, but in nobody was this improvement more pronounced than in Neville. The news of his parents' attackers' escape had wrought a strange and even slightly alarming change in him. He was improving so fast it was quite unnerving.
With so much to worry about and so much to do — startling amounts of homework that frequently kept the fifth-years working until past midnight and secret DA sessions — January seemed to be passing alarmingly fast. Before Layla knew it, February had arrived, bringing with it wetter and warmer weather and the prospect of the second Hogsmeade visit of the year. It just so happened that the Hogsmeade visit was on Valentine's Day, and since Layla didn't want to have to deal with walking past lovey-dovey couples around every corner of Hogsmeade, she was planning on skipping it. That was until, out of everyone, Dean Thomas approached her.
"Hey, Layla," Dean grinned. "How are you?"
"Um, fine," said Layla as she walked down the corridors, Dean at her side. "And you, Dean?"
"All good," said Dean cheerfully. "Here, let me help you," and he took some of the books out of Layla's hands, helping her carry them. Layla's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Oh, um, thanks. Sorry, did you need something?"
"Funny you should ask," Dean immediately said as if he was waiting for Layla to ask. "Are you free on February the Fourteenth?"
"You mean Valentine's Day?" Layla scoffed. "Of course I'm free. Do you see me with a boy toy?"
"Fair," Dean chuckled. "Well, since it's also the day of the Hogsmeade trip, I was just wondering if you wanted to come along with me."
"To Hogsmeade? On Valentine's Day? Me?" Layla questioned, beyond surprised. Sure, she would occasionally speak to Dean in classes and in the common room, and they briefly said their greetings in passing in the Great Hall or in the corridors, but they weren't very close at all.
"Yeah," said Dean. "Is that okay? You don't have to, I just thought that it would be nice. Just the two of us. Maybe the Three Broomsticks? I'll pay. Or—"
"Dean," Layla sighed, "be honest. Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Yes," said Dean proudly. "Yeah, I am. I hope that's okay."
"Of course it's okay," said Layla.
"So, that's a yes?" Dean looked really hopeful.
Something in Layla's heart skipped a beat as Cedric flashed through her head. Cedric, the boyfriend whom she'd lost not even a year ago. Cedric, the boyfriend she was still mourning. Cedric, the boyfriend who Layla felt like she'd be cheating on if she went on a date so soon.
But also... Cedric, the caring, understanding, loving boyfriend who would want her to move on and be happy.
"Okay," Layla gave in with a sigh. "Okay, let's give it a try. One date and we'll see how it goes, yeah?"
"Yeah," Dean grinned happily as they reached the library where Layla had been heading. "Sounds great. So, I'll meet you in the courtyard right before the Hogsmeade trip."
"See you then," said Layla as Dean helped her place all of her books on one of the library tables. The two waved goodbye to each other before Dean left.
On the morning of the fourteenth, Layla decided to skip breakfast, which was nothing new. Instead, she spent the breakfast period getting ready for her date with Dean. She had trouble finding what to wear since the only date she'd ever been on was with Cedric and she was much more comfortable and 'herself' around him compared to Dean, who was more like an acquaintance than anything.
Eventually, Layla settled on a dark red, lantern sleeve, shirred back, bustier crop top. She then paired it with some light blue skinny jeans and some converse. After simply brushing her brown and pink hair, leaving it down, Layla applied some light, natural makeup to her face and then nodded in approval at her reflection in the mirror. She was satisfied with her casual date outfit.
After heading down out of the common room, Layla proceeded to the Entrance Hall to meet Dean, feeling apprehensive and wondering what on earth they were going to talk about.
Dean was waiting for her a little to the side of the oak front doors. Layla walked towards him.
"Hi," said Dean with a soft smile.
"Hey," said Layla.
They stared at each other for a moment, then Layla said, "Well, er — shouldn't we go or something?"
"Oh — yes..."
They joined the queue of people being signed out by Filch. When the two of them reached the fresh air, walking in a comfortable silence, it was a fresh, breezy sort of a day and as they passed the Quidditch stadium, Layla glimpsed Ron and Ginny skimming along over the stands and felt a horrible pang that she was not up there with them.
"You really miss it, don't you?" said Dean. She looked round and saw him watching her.
"Yeah," sighed Layla. "I do."
"Umbridge is out for us Gryffindors, I'm positive. She is a right old toad," said Dean, and Layla found herself laughing at the common.
"Yeah, exactly! I completely agree. Like, what is her problem? Does she have nothing better to do than bully children?"
"I know," Dean chuckled.
Layla found herself actually enjoying her time with Dean, but the main reason for that was probably because they spent the entire walk down to Hogsmeade insulting Umbridge behind her back.
Layla could hardly believe how easy it was to talk to Dean — no more difficult, in fact, than talking to her friends Ron and Hermione — and she was just starting to feel confident and cheerful when a large gang of Slytherin girls passed them, including Pansy Parkinson.
"Lupin and Thomas!" screeched Pansy, to a chorus of snide giggles. "Urgh, werewolf girl, I don't think much of your taste... at least Diggory was good-looking!"
"You mention Cedric again and I can promise you now, you'll be heading back up to Hogwarts with every single one of your teeth missing, along with a broken jaw," Layla threatened, already beginning to advance towards Parkinson, who shrieked dramatically. Dean quickly put his hand up in front of Layla to stop her.
Layla groaned as she watched the Slytherin girls hurriedly leave before turning towards Dean angrily.
"Why did you stop me? I was getting excited to shove my fist down her throat!"
"I'm sure you were, and any other day, I'll be there cheering you on," Dean, amusement flickering in his eyes. "But this is our first date, and hopefully, it won't be our last. Can we enjoy it without the fights?"
"Fine," Layla gave in with a defeated sigh. "So, where d'you want to go?"
"Well, it's a bit chilly," said Dean. "I think the Three Broomsticks might be a little crowded. What about Madam Puddifoot's? Have you ever been there?"
Layla remembered the few times that she had walked past Madam Puddifoot's tea shop. It was a cramped, steamy little place where everything seemed to have been decorated with frills or bows. It was basically a tea shop version of Umbndge's office.
"Um, I'll pass," said Layla. "What about checking out the shops until the Three Broomsticks dies down?"
"Oh," said Dean. "Um, sure."
The High Street was full of students ambling up and down, peering into the shop windows and messing about together on the pavements.
Layla and Dean wandered towards Dervish and Banges. A large poster had been stuck up in the window and a few Hogsmeaders were looking at it. Layla found herself staring once more at the pictures of the ten escaped Death Eaters. The poster, 'By Order of the Ministry of Magic', offered a thousand-Galleon reward to any witch or wizard with information leading to the recapture of any of the convicts pictured.
"It's funny, isn't it," said Dean in a low voice, gazing at the pictures of the Death Eaters, "remember when that Sirius Black escaped, and there were Dementors all over Hogsmeade looking for him? And now ten Death Eaters are on the loose and there are no Dementors anywhere..."
"Yeah," said Layla, tearing her eyes away from Bellatrix Lestrange's face to glance up and down the High Street. "Yeah, that is weird."
The ten escaped Death Eaters were staring out of every shop window she and Dean passed. It started to rain as they passed Scrivenshaft's.
"The Three Broomsticks might have a table available now," said Dean. "Want to grab a Butteebeer?"
"Yeah, all right," said Layla, looking around. 'Let's go."
And with that, the rest of the date went by smoothly. And although Layla felt guilty whenever Cedric crossed her mind, she found that hanging around with someone new was exactly what she needed. All in all, it was an amazing date.