Beyond a Constellation (A Lucissa Fanfic) (Prequel)

Squirrels and Standards

"He is looking at you again!" Valerie Fawley squealed. She nudged Narcissa, nearly smacking the fork out of her hand. She had been going on about this for almost two years.

Narcissa squeezed her eyes shut and sighed loudly, "Val, please! I am trying to enjoy my lunch in peace!" she complained.

"Isn't he attractive?" Valerie snuggled up to her friend, resting her head on the crook of Narcissa's neck.

Narcissa looked down at her friend with complete repulsion. Valerie smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Why don't you go ask him out then? Honestly! Sometimes, I don't know whose side you are on!" Narcissa pulled away from Valerie, who propped herself straight with a huff.

"I ditched Eddie to sit with a wet blanket..." Valerie mumbled under her breath.

"You are welcome to join the two idiots if you want. I am staying here..." Narcissa stabbed the chicken on her plate, and Valerie could sense her frustration. Still, this was Narcissa, and if anyone was an uptight princess, it was her.

"You are so arrogant!" Valerie shook her head and decided to go back to her meal.

"It's called having standards..." Narcissa looked at Valerie from over her shoulder.

"Higher than Lucius Malfoy?" Valerie questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"So?" Narcissa asked with the same arrogance.

"He is popular..." Valerie enticed one more time.

She was right; Lucius was the most popular student at Hogwarts. Apart from being on the quidditch team, he was rich and, on top of that, handsome. He had a reputation for spoiling his love interests but another for not committing to any of them. These short-lived romances gave him a reputation as a player in Hogwarts.

"Valerie, I just want to eat right now. I missed breakfast, and I have been starving all day..." Narcissa complained.

"I told you to tie your hair into a bun and get it over with..." Valerie rebutted.

"I would rather die..." Narcissa cringed.

On the other side of the Great Hall, Heather Dixie frantically passed along the Gryffindor table, scanning every student. Her long, black, wavy hair flowed behind her as she walked back and forth.

With lost hope, she walked over to the Ravenclaw table, marching straight towards Xenophilius Lovegood. He was easy to spot as he always adorned strange accessories.

"Where is Marlow?" she tapped his shoulder and spared no moment to interrupt his mealtime.

Xenophilius lifted his sun-shaped sunglasses and looked up at the irritated girl before him. "Hello, Heather..."

"Where is he?" she demanded.

"Not sure; I haven't had classes with him yet. Why don't you ask Frankie? He might know..." Xenophilius shrugged.

"Yeah, right! Like I want to be seen with that loser Longbottom!" she huffed.

"Suit yourself..." Xenophilius popped back his shades and continued eating.

"Why are you-" Heather wanted to ask him why he wore sunglasses indoors, but she didn't have time for him to baffle her with his brilliance. "Nevermind..."

Heather marched out of the hall and towards the quad, where she spotted a student kneeling on the ground. As she squinted to get a closer look, she recognized that shaggy mane of brown hair and those round glasses.

"There you are! I have lost my mind looking for you!" Heather stood, tapping her feet.

Marlow Augustine rose from the ground with what seemed like an injured squirrel in his hands. "Sorry about that. I was on my way to the hall from the greenhouse, but then I found this little fella and-"

"You are never available!" Heather cut him, fed up with all the nonsense he got himself into. "You care about your stupid animals more than me!" she went off, "At first, it was cute! Now it's just annoying!"

Marlow raised his brows in bewilderment; he didn't understand why she suddenly went at him this way. "That's not true! I spend a lot of time with you!" he defended.

"Really Marlow? What's my middle name?" she asked.

Marlow froze. He cradled the squirrel closer to his chest as he thought.

"We have been dating for six months. You should know this by now..."

"Come on, Heather!" Marlow huffed, but she wasn't amused.

"Go on, what is it?" she asked once again.

"Jane?" Marlow stammered with a low tone, almost whispering with uncertainty.

"It's Anne!" Heather frowned.

"Close enough!"

"You can memorize the entire Care of Magical Creatures syllabus but can't even remember my middle name!" She folded her arms, and blood coursed through her veins.

"You...You never told me!" Marlow stuttered, still taken aback by what was going on.

Heather gasped. He was right; she never told him, but that was beside the point. "Well, you were never interested enough to ask!" she said accusingly.

"For heaven's sake, why are you overreacting!" he sighed.

Heather's nostrils flared, and her teeth clenched, "Overreacting?" she mumbled before lashing out, "Screw you, Augustine! Had I been a fucking troll,l you might've been more interested!"

Marlow quickly regretted his words and began apologizing, "Heather, I am sorry. I will make more time for you, okay?" he peered into her hazel eyes, but she just seemed to burn with anger.

"No! I am done with this! We are through..." She declared.

Marlow's jaw dropped, and he tried to say something, but she had decided. Noticing he had nothing to say, Heather shook her head and stormed back into the castle.

Marlow tried going after her, but it was pointless. He wished he could go after her and ask her to reconsider, but a part of him felt a sense of relief. She always wanted to hang out with him, which he didn't mind at first, but when it began to turn into nagging, he was done with it. He looked down at the injured squirrel and sighed in relief. Perhaps she was right. If she craved constant attention, he definitely was not the one for her.

"Humans, am I right?" Marlow gently stroked the squirrel. "Come on, buddy, let's take you to Professor Kettleburn, and we will have you sorted in no time..."