Meant To Be

True Friendships

I walked into the Hufflepuff dorms and immediately ran upstairs to my shared room. No one gave me a second glance as I walked through the door to change into new robes, only turning to see who it was before going back to what they were previously doing.

I took my time getting ready, knowing that I wasn't going to be late for anything seeing as it was still early.

Ollie was the only one who was seeking my attention, mostly playing with my tie or any loose piece of clothing that he could pounce on.

"You're just a little ball of energy this morning, aren't you?" I asked Ollie, attempting to pet him as he tried to bite and bat at my hand.

I finally got to pet him right before I had to get down to breakfast, letting everyone else leave the room before me so I would be the last person out the door.

As soon as I arrived in the Great Hall I made the quick decision to sit at the Hufflepuff table today, placing myself in my usual seat next to Charles.

"Good morning, Avery," Charles greeted as usual.

I smiled at him. "Good morning, Charlie."

"Oh I almost forgot again," He said before searching for something. "I have the old book that you let me borrow awhile ago."

Sure enough he handed me my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them that I had let him borrow a little under a month ago, it was one of our books that we needed for our first year at Hogwarts but it was still interesting enough to read for fun.

I took the book back. "Thanks."

The two of us slowly began talking about different things like my first Quidditch match that was coming up soon, discussing things that I would need to know before the match and during it.

<><><>

I was walking down the hallway to my class, stuck in my own little world. That is, until Marc and Penny showed up.

I couldn't help but jump whenever they both put there arms on my shoulders, taking me by surprise.

"Sorry Avery," Marc apologized. "We just wanted to ask if we could walk with you and you weren't answering."

I blinked away the fog in my mind. "You're fine, I was just thinking about my first Quidditch match."

"That's in two days isn't it?" Penny asked.

Marc nodded. Of course he knows, the match is Hufflepuff v.s Slytherin.

"How do you feel about going up against your favorite friend?" Marc questioned, gesturing to himself.

"I wasn't aware the match was against Ravenclaw," I responded, looking between him and Penny.

Penny laughed and dragged me with her away from Marc, not looking back at his betrayed expression.

"Let's get you to class before you make Marc cry, shall we?" Penny snickered.

I looked back at him. "He's still standing there looking wounded."

Penny turned around for a second, shaking her head. "At least he didn't dramatically fall on the floor."

"True," I agreed. "That would have just made it weird. Although Marc is weird, my point still stands."

Penny was still laughing as we walked through the doorway of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

<><><>

As soon as classes were over I was off to the library, homework could not wait until later. Even if I wanted to wait to do it I couldn't, for once I was stuck with a pile of things that I had to do with mostly only one night to do them.

"You okay?" Sebastian asked, looking at my current state.

It was clear on my face that I did not want to be there at all, I was barely even paying attention to what I was writing and I was just hoping it made sense.

"As okay as I can be with this," I gestured to what I was working on, a paper for potions about poison antidotes.

"Could I be of any help?"

I stared up at him. "Please?"

He pulled out a chair and sat next to me, beginning to help me on my homework as he also worked on his own. It was impressive to witness him multitasking reteaching me the stuff I didn't understand and working on a paper of his own from a different class.

My eyes were wide, it was impressive to even witness what was happening. "How many times have you done this?"

He shrugged. "I've lost count of how many times I've had to help Marc with his work while having to do my own as well."

It made sense that he'd have to help Marc with his work, he almost always didn't pay attention in class. Mostly because whenever him and Daniel are in the same place they tend to draw attention to themselves when they crack jokes, once Marc starts it's hard to get him to stop.

"How many times have you had to help him this week?" I was genuinely curious.

Sebastian leaned back in his chair, his head slightly tilted as he thought. "Uh, I'm not sure. Sometimes he asks for help more than once, besides I'm usually trying to forget my quality time with him."

"He does his weird dramatic stuff in public around you doesn't he?" I watched as Sebastian nodded. "Thought so, I don't know how he's not embarrassed by some of the things he does. I'd cry if I was the creator of an awkward public situation."

"Not gonna lie, I probably would too," He admitted. "Now back to our actual topic at hand, the rest of these papers aren't due tomorrow so you'll have time to work on them later. You should probably get back to your dorm to sleep."

I nodded and grabbed my things. "Thanks for your help today Seb."

"Anytime," He replied. "And I mean it. If you ever need help, you can come to me."

I smiled at his words all the way back to my dorm, knowing he was telling the truth.