Hogwarts: A History [Harry Potter Fanfiction]

Chapter 30 - A Change in the Wind

The first day of winter was fast approaching, and while it had not yet managed to seep its stealthy iciness throughout the school, an unremitting chill began to overtake the grounds of Hogwarts. Gizelle and Benjy were spending the day together, having taken shelter from the chill behind a tight knit group of dead Venomous Tentacula vines, which had sprouted away from the Forbideen Forest and had dried in such a way as to form a private nook of their own. Hidden safe away from the biting air and prying eyes, they were cosied up to one another, enjoying their time alone.

“No, no, I promise, they’re better than I’m making them seem.”

Benjy chuckled, his arm was loosely wrapped around Gizelle’s shoulder and her head was rested against his chest. They were sitting beneath their newly found haven; the fierce wind that had sent them running for cover was barely audible behind the thick brush.

“So everyone sits together in this... what did you call it?”

“Cinema,” she said with a smile, nestling closer into his chest.

“Right, right. Cinema,” he nodded his head, “And you watch these pictures move for hours; and this is all for personal enjoyment?”

“Yes,” She said slowly, looking up at him through narrowed eyes, a grin threatening to betray her somber expression.

“Why would you want to look at a photo for hours?”

She laughed, “It’s not a picture that you’re watching,” she struggled to find the right words, “It’s a story, a moving story that people act out.”

He brushed his nose against hers, staring into her eyes. “Hmm,” he murmured and grazed his lips against her cheek, “That sounds very interesting.”

She smirked, dimples forming in her cheeks, “I can think of something more interesting.” She reached up over her head, fingers fluttering through his hair and then down the back of his neck to the base of his shirt collar, but before she had the chance to pull him into her lips, the sound of breaking twigs snapped them from their dreamy embrace.

Gizelle’s breath hitched in her throat; she froze in mid-motion as her fingers clasped tightly onto Benjy’s collar, expecting a teacher to barge in through the vines and berate them for hiding in such close proximity to the Forbidden Forest.

A nasally voice greeted them before they saw who it belonged to.

“Have you both taken the necessary precautions to protect the premises from the current outbreak of Hinkypunks?”

She breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing the voice, loosening her iron grip on Benjy’s shirt.

“Hello Eloise,” Gizelle greeted as the slight, short witch emerged from behind the thorny boughs. Her hair was in its usual two plates, socks supporting the tops; her garlic sash hanging over the two Ravenclaw ties she was using as braces. She did not respond to Gizelle, but stropped over to the pair with purposeful distinction. 

“Benjy, you know it isn’t safe to be wandering this close to the Forbidden Forest,” she berated him, tsking her disproval, but not seeming to notice the compromising position he and Gizelle were currently tangled in.

“We’re hardly near the border,” he defended, gesturing towards the length of dirt that separated them from the thick woodsy area.

Eloise raised her eyebrows at him, as if daring him to continue. He pursed his lips closed and after a moment Eloise continued.

“Mother says that you must listen to everything Dumbledore instructs. If he wishes us to keep away from the forest, then we shouldn’t be near it.”