#22 - Alone

Ok, so that wasn't it. Elizabeth knew that was a possibility. But thinking about the mail that morning had got her thinking about a different possibility, one that seemed much more likely. Well, considering she knew that her last guess was definitely incorrect everything was more likely than that, but still.

"L - for letter." That would fit. Elizabeth had just been complaining about how she had been sent a letter she didn't like, so maybe the word should've come to her more naturally. Then again, if it was another incorrect guess, maybe it was bad luck that she had been thinking about it.

Now she had three words down, and three to go. The three remaining were tricky, but still, more filled in than at the start. She considered picking between the 2nd and the 4th words, the middle one still looking a bit intimidating to her. Maybe it was time for another vowel.

"O - for owl." Elizabeth wasn't sure if she meant the bird or the test but considering that both were frequent sights in the castle, maybe it was best that the word had more than one meaning. She had hoped that if she had made prefect, she would be able to have her own owl, but never really asked about it. Perhaps over the summer, when she received her OWL scores.

Elizabeth looked at it, and a phrase floated in her mind, but she wanted to be sure. She still had three incorrect guesses left. It was beginning to look a little bit up, as if maybe she was going to guess the phrase correctly. She had been having much more fun with this than she thought she would. Perhaps they should turn it into a game.

"F - for future." Another topic on Elizabeth's mind. Although she knew her parents had their own ideas for her, and she didn't really have any for herself, she thought maybe it would be nice to keep learning things or at the very least put her studies to use. Her OWLs would determine a lot of it, she thought.

Perhaps Elizabeth was a bit too cautious for this game, because even though she had most of the words and a pretty good idea of what the partially empty ones could be, she still wanted to make sure she had it absolutely right. What if the letter she thought was in one place was incorrect and the whole thing came falling down? That wouldn't do at all.

"H - for house points." Elizabeth thought of the certainty she felt that Slytherin was going to win. It was nice to be in one of the less rambunctious houses, especially when she considered how awful it would be to have to be chasing around Gryffindor first years who thought they were the only person who ever held a wand in the whole world.

Maybe she should write the Gryffindor prefects a nice card. Or Professor McGonagall. How exactly did one politely say, 'I'm glad I'm not you?'

Elizabeth grinned. Now she was certain. She was willing to take a little risk, here. It wasn't the greatest one, but hopefully it would pay off for her and she wouldn't be pouting her way through the rest of the day.

"A feather short of a letter." Elizabeth said clearly. It was a thought she had experienced a few times before, though not in the same terms. It was a rather clever phrase, actually. Perhaps she would start saying it.