The Big Dipper

The Writing on the Wall

October rolled in, accompanied by a damp chill that covered the grounds and infiltrated the castle. Madam Pomfrey was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students. Though her Pepperup Potion worked instantly, it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterwards. Enormous raindrops pounded on the castle windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid's pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds.

The Slytherin team's new brooms allowed them to shoot through the air at top speed. Practices left them drenched to the skin and splattered with mud, but were exhilarating all the same. To lesson the arduous task, although not by much, of cleaning the mud from her hair, Ursula's skill at braiding had improved considerably. Three nights a week she trudged back to the common room after practice, unwound her elaborate braid, and cleaned the mud from her curls.

It was after one such muddy practice that she had stayed behind in the changing room to clean and polish her broom, and she was surprised to see Adrian wait for her, as he had no reason to.

"Hey," she said, storing her broom away. "What are you still doing here?"

"I, uh..." said Adrian awkwardly. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Alright," said Ursula, trying to coax him into continuing. "What do you want to talk about?"

He rubbed the back of his head and avoided her gaze.

"I want to ask you something."

She waited for him to go on.

"So there's a Hogsmeade trip on... on Halloween... would you maybe want to go... with me?" he said at last, looking at her both hopefully and fearfully. She was speechless for a moment.

"Like on a date?" Ursula asked, a blush rising to her cheeks. It took a lot to make her blush, but this did it.

Adrian nodded.

"Um... sure," she said. "That would be fun."

His face lit up.

"Are you sure?"

Ursula laughed.

"Yes, I'm sure."

They both looked out at the rain that stood between them and the castle.

"Should we run for it?" said Adrian.

"Definitely," Ursula replied.

They sprinted across the lawn, the rain pelting them furiously, until they reached the castle, laughing and soaking wet.

"At least the rain washed some of the mud off," said Ursula, wiping her eyes.

In silence they descended the stairs, leaving a trail of wet footprints and both grinning as they headed for the common room. Ursula went straight to her dorm to shower and then finish her homework while she brushed her hair. Gemma was hard at work on an essay for Professor Snape, and she barely spared Ursula a glance when she entered.

A series of sharp, incessant raps sounded on the door of their dorm some time later and Ursula opened it to reveal Lilian, her eyes frantic and a beaming grin stretched across her face. She grabbed Ursula's arm and yanked her out of the dorm before Ursula could even ask what was going on.

"What is it?" asked Ursula, as Lilian shoved her into her own dorm.

"What is it? What is it?" hissed Lilian. "Adrian asked you on a date and you didn't tell me?"

"It happened, like, an hour ago," said Ursula. "How did you find out?"

"Adrian told Cassius the second the two of you got back, obviously," said Lilian. "And Cassius told me."