➵ Choice ➵ {DM and HP)

➵ Chapter 6 ➵

Not that I've tried to talk to her, which is the problem. She interests me, and yet I haven't had a real conversation with her. I want to, but there's something in the way her eyes shift uneasily that tells me there's more to her than meets the eye. She's interesting, yes, but there's also a part of her that sets me on edge. She's so hidden and calculated, that I feel like if I try to talk to her, I won't be able to tell truth from fable. I'm not sure if trusting others is in her nature.

But then again, it isn't in mine.

I'm suddenly torn from my thoughts by a sharp voice.

"What, Potter?"

My eyes find her guarded caramel eyes and I freeze before stammering. "W— What?"

Damn you Harry Potter, why can't you be normal for once?

Her gaze softens somewhat and she responds in a more delicate tone, "You keep staring at me."

Oh god, why was I so obvious?

"Do you want to ask something?" she asks, her eyebrow raising slightly.

I freeze. Did I? I can't remember, my brain feels like sludge. I feel heat rise to my cheeks like fire and I pull my eyes off of hers and down to my wooden desk.

"Alright then, I'll start. Eloise Foster." I can hear the slight hint of amusement in her voice and I look up to see her hand extended for me to shake.

"Harry Potter." I say, shaking her hand quickly. I pray my hands aren't sweaty as she smiles slightly.

"I know. It's nice to meet you."

And with that, she turns back to the front, and I'm left staring at the back of her head in confusion.

She's so confident with her words, the complete opposite of my stammering, awkward self. It was such a brief conversation, I barely had time to register anything but I could see the defensiveness in her eyes. She's built walls, I know she has, but against what, I don't know.

Eloise Foster is a riddle and I have a feeling that I'll need to fight to solve it.

⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝

Eloise Foster

⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝ ⇝

Was that fear I saw in his gaze? There was definitely interest in those green eyes, but I thought I saw a hint of fear. He had looked down so quickly I barely had the time to see.

I'm pulled from my thoughts by the opening of the classroom door and I look behind me to see the toad lady enter, covered from head to toe in a nauseating pink.

She smiles wide, a hyena worthy smile, and says in a prim voice, "Good morning children."

I glance around me and see everyone's uneasy faces as she walks slowly down the aisle towards the front of the class, her pink heels clacking in the silent room. She lifts her wand and starts to write on the chalkboard.

She reads the words as they're written in a loopy writing on the board, "Ordinary, Wizarding, Level, Examinations. O-W-Ls." She reaches the front of the class and turns. "More commonly referred to as OWLs." She smiles again, and I feel a twinge of annoyance at her grin.

"Study hard, and you will be rewarded." She surveys us, her beady eyes roaming the class. "Fail to do so and the consequences may be," She takes a breath before saying carefully. "Severe."

She points her wand at a stack of books behind her and they fly forward, slowly distributing one to each student. A book drops sofly in front of me and I read the cover. Dark Arts Defense: Basics for Beginners