~Simply Fantastic~

One

    The Great Hall was noisy, as usual, when Odessa sat down to eat her breakfast. Her clean, yet wrinkled Slytherin robes were draped lazily over the bench beside her as she loaded her plate with sausage and pancakes. Her friend, Daisy, sat across from her complaining about her latest potions grade.

  "Honestly, Daisy, if your grades bother you that much then why don't you pay more attention in class?" Odessa sighed. Daisy scrunched her face in disgust. 

    "Let's stick to logical options," Daisy replied. Both girls giggled as they continued to enjoy their meal.

  "H-hey, give that back!"

    Odessa and Daisy turned their heads to the front of the room. A couple of fifth-year Gryffindors had taken A Hufflepuff's book.

  "Who is that?" Odessa asked, her blue eyes were focused on the Hufflepuff's distressed face.

    "I don't know, but a lot of people pick on him in the halls. Poor kid," Daisy said through a mouthful of eggs. Odessa furrowed her eyebrows and used her sleeve to wipe her face.

  "Well, that's not right," She mumbled as she clumsily climbed over the bench and walked over to help the boy. "What's all this then?" She asked as she stood beside one of the Gryffindors.

    "Just messin' with, Scamander!" Alex Anderson, a tall brutish boy, snickered as his target, Scamander, huffed in defeat.

  "Well, why don't you just let him enjoy his morning, ya know?" Odessa snatched Scamander's book from one of the other bullies and glared at the group. They scoffed and walked away, murmuring about the cheeky third-year Slytherin. Odessa huffed and turned to the Hufflepuff standing behind her.

    "Thank you,"

  "You're welcome. No one should be picked on," Odessa gave the book back to him but not before glancing at the cover. "History of Magical Beasts? Do you like magical beasts?" She asked. The ginger boy stared at the cover of his book and half-smiled.

    "Yes, I find them quite fascinating actually," He said with a nervous tone as if he was scared that Odessa would make fun of him.

  "Me too."

~***~

    "So I told him to bugger off!" Daisy finished telling Odessa and two other girls a story when Odessa spotted The boy from earlier sitting alone in the courtyard.

  "I'll see you guys in the common room," Odessa said as she left the group. She walked toward the boy who had his head hidden behind a book. When she plopped down next to him, he jumped. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to say hi."

    "Oh, well, hello," He said, only sparing a side glance at the girl. A moment followed as the two sat in silence.

  "What's your name?" Odessa suddenly asked. Once again, the boy jumped.

    "Newton."

  Odessa paused. "That's a nice name! I'm Odessa," She smiled kindly. Newton placed his book down in his lap and turned his head toward Odessa.

    "I'm sorry, but what exactly did you want?" The boy surprised Odessa by looking directly into her eyes. She was left speechless by his bright seafoam eyes. She blinked a couple of times before shaking her head.

  "Oh, I didn't mean to bother you. I'll just go," Odessa stood up and started walking away then she paused and turned back around, "By the way, I hang out in the library after lunch if you ever feel like not sitting alone," She smiled and waved before leaving the boy to his book.

~***~

    The library was quiet except for the quick scribbling of a quill on parchment. Odessa ignored a hand cramp as she kept righting her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. It was due in the next class and she couldn't fail this assignment. She was muttering to herself as she wrote, her handwriting getting increasingly sloppy. Odessa suddenly stopped. A groan ripped through her throat as she let her head drop onto the table. The librarian shushed her, however, the girl ignored her and remained in her defeated position.

  "I-I think that you'll find the information you need in chapter fifteen, it's in a footnote."

    Odessa picked her head up to find the source of the voice. It was Newton, fiddling with his sleeve. Quickly, the girl grabbed the book and rapidly flipped to the fifteenth chapter. She scanned the pages until she found what she was looking for. She laughed loudly in victory, earning another hiss from the librarian. Newton muttered an apology for the girl as he sat down.

  "Thank you, Newt," Odessa sighed, "I had been trying to find the answer since I started writing!" She finished as she wrote down her information.

    "No one's ever really called me 'Newt' before,"

  "Really? Don't your friends give you nicknames?"

    "I don't really have any friends, most people find me annoying," Newt told the girl who was furiously writing on her parchment.

  "Well, I guess I'm not most people," Odessa said absent-mindedly. Newt smiled at her, however, she was too absorbed in her assignment to notice.

~***~

    Odessa was on her way back to the common room. When she turned the corner she saw an unmistakable head of unruly curls, she smiled. Newt was trying to walk past two Slytherins in their year, but they kept stopping him. They were laughing and pushing Newt back.

  "Hey! What are you doing?" Odessa called. The two Slytherins turned around, it was Nicholas and Adam, they were the brothers that thought they owned the school. 

    "Beat it, Finchley," Nicholas said.

  "This is none of your business," Adam added.

    "It is my business, that's my friend!" The girl's face was scrunched in anger as she pointed to her frazzled friend. Nicholas and Adam laughed.

  "We said to leave, little mudblood, or we'll make you," Adam stepped closer. Odessa shoved him backward.

    "I'd love to see you try, Zambini."

  "Odessa," Newt grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her away from the two larger boys. "I think we should leave." Newt lead Odessa away from her housemates and down the corridor. They walked quietly for a while, neither of them knowing what to say.

    "Why did you do that?" Newt broke the silence. Odessa shrugged and twirled her hair around her finger.

  "I don't like it when my friends are being picked on. I couldn't just walk away, ya know?"

    Newt looked over at the brunette and studied her. He found her interesting; no one else in the school had taken this sort of interest in him. He nodded.

  "I think I'm starting to."