To Be Luminous || HP [REVIVAL 2021]

Chapter Five

"Are you going to clean?"

"No."

"Well, there is no reason for you to just sit there, then," she reasons. "You may go."

"You're telling me to go?"

She nods, grinning even wider. At times she finds his act almost humorous, although if he were to know that she's certain he would become ever meaner. "Do you think I am blessed by your presence?" she asks him rhetorically. "Either serve your detention with me, or leave. It truly makes no difference to me."

His fake defiant nature shows.

"I'll do my work," he jabs at her. Pointing his wand at the nearest candelabra, he says, "Tergeo."

The candles rocket out of the holders and spin on the table, and the candelabra itself does a sort of heavy-footed tap dance before falling on its side with a resounding THUNK. Kiara laughs aloud.

"Do you think something's funny?" he snaps at her.

"You are the only wizard who could ever make a bigger mess with a cleaning spell!"

He points to the fallen candelabra with his wand and mutters the incantation again, firmer. It sits there, still and mocking this time. Unable to help herself, Kiara takes out her own wand from her sweater sleeve and points it at the candelabra. The wand always feels foreign in her hand, but she is confident in her spells. Saying the incantation with different emphasis than Scorpius had, she watches pleasantly as the grime and dust begin to wipe away, revealing a bright shine and looking brand new. She does this with another, and then another, no candles falling out as Scorpius's had.

"I can't believe it," he says dryly. "The witch that's scared of magic isn't absolutely useless after all."

"Hm."

"And now you've done it," he continues, walking closer to inspect her work. He picks up a candelabra and turns it in his hands as though it weighs nothing at all. "McGonagall said we couldn't use magic."

"You started it."

"You started it," he retorts.

Kiara looks into his grey eyes and waits until she knows he's uncomfortable with his childishness, before she says, "Maybe she will give us detention together again." She holds his gaze until he scoffs and looks away.

"I'd rather eat slugs, then waste another night with you."

She shrugs, hopping up onto the table and laying down. Her eyes flick toward the stars and her body language is dismissive. "I told you to leave," she reminds him.

"I don't take orders from you."

"Do you know what I think, Scorpius?" she asks, noticing past her cheekbones that he still hasn't budged an inch from his spot. "I think if you did not want to be around me, you would have left. It seems you are trying very hard not to admit that you would like to spend time with someone, by acting as though you would not. And the more you insult me, the more time you get to have social interaction and forget how terribly, utterly alone you actually are, all while staying true to this negligent caricature of your personality—or, in your case . . . the lack of one."

Scorpius, appearing dumb-founded, looks blankly at her. Kiara waits for him to spit something back about her English, or the way she enunciates her words, which is the usual defensive tactic people use when she says something she ought to not have. But he stays completely still and entirely silent.

"Goodnight now, Scorpius."

He takes his cat up in his arms and leaves. It's an hour and a half later that she heads back to the almost-empty Ravenclaw girls' dormitory, rests her head on the pillow, and stares up at the ceiling.