* * *
"Hallo, Camila!"
She doesn't know how, or pinpoint when exactly, but she started blushing at the sound of Lauren's voice.
"Hi,"
"How are you today?"
Considering her early scuffle in the girl's bathroom because some bitch thought it was fun to stop the water from running while she was soaping herself in the shower, and since diplomacy simply doesn't really work around her, it eventually provoked her to throw a knee-reversal hex on the said bitch making it problematic for her to move on her duck feet, which a professor quickly found out and now she's supposed to have her first serving of detention this year and the bitch didn't even get anything for cutting off her shower water, well, let's just say Camila's day is starting out as peachy as a goddamn peach pie.
She doesn't say any of that but instead she replies politely anyway.
"I'm good . . . How are you?"
"I feel bloated. I ate a lot of that peanut butter sandwich with mango jam this morning. It's an interesting flavor profile, but now I think it probably wasn't the best idea,"
She smiles, amused.
The girl was a little dorky and so comfortable with herself, it is so endearing.
The fifth year Ravenclaw then sits right next to her, not minding the looks she was getting from all the other students in that room. She pulls out a small book and starts reading it.
Camila couldn't fathom why would this girl waste her time getting close to her. She could have befriended someone else. Someone who doesn't live under the dark shadow of their mother. But no. She picks to be close to her instead.
As much as she's feeling skeptical about it, like it was some kind of an elaborate cruel joke, it is also making the Slytherin girl feel fluttery in her stomach.
And she don't do fluttery shit ever.
Yet here she is.
Now, she is about to apologize for her behavior from the day before. And she never apologized for anything ever.
"Lauren, about my behavior yesterday, uhm . . . I'm sorry I was rude, leaving you like that. I shouldn't have ran off the way I did. I just didn't know how to respond to the things you told me,"
Lauren stops reading and looks at her, smiling softly, "It's alright. I apologize if I was too forward. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable,"
"No, I was just surprised. You're unlike everybody else,"
"Hmm . . . You're quite unlike everybody else too. And that has nothing to do with the woman who gave birth to you," Lauren shrugs, then continues reading, "It's like the saying goes, it's not who or where you came from, but rather who or what you choose to become,"
Camila felt more fluttery shit in her gut.
Curiously, the Ravenclaw girl leans close to her with an open page of her book, "Have you heard of this spell?"
She glances at the book and nods, "Yes. That is used for specific injuries in most animal limbs. But then, I think medicinal potions would be more effective,"
"I think so too. But then, it's not always easy to have an animal ingest something that surely tastes worse than a soggy cardboard. They're pretty similar to humans on that. Have you tried it?"
"Not yet. I hope I didn't have to. Why do you ask?"
"I'm very interested in healing spells," Lauren shrugs again. And somehow Camila thinks it's cute.
They continue to discuss the matter. Exchanging thoughts and opinions, debating whether reperio pinnae is more effective than reperio peribitis in treating a tiny bird's broken wing.
It dawns on Camila that this girl has a very interesting perspective on things. This particular Ravenclaw pipsqueak is a little funny and obviously smart, and the way her emerald eyes shine when she speaks is such a wonderful thing to see. It's enchanting. Camila finds herself very drawn to the latest resident of the house of Ravenclaw.
And don't get her started with those blue birds; some of the snobby asshats who make her life hell live in that house.
It isn't very often for her to have a happy smile on her face. But each time she talks to Lauren, that happy smile has quickly becoming constant.
Over the next few days, they have grown closer to each other. Camila is truly glad that she has finally found herself a friend. Someone to casually talk to about anything and everything; complain about all the injustices of the world, someone to share a meal and a joke, or just a simple comfortable silence. She has never laughed as boisterous as she does whenever she's with Lauren and that alone was already a dramatic change in her world of lonesomeness.
She always looked forward to her classes, but this time around, her enthusiasm has reached a new level, all because of one raven-haired Ravenclaw, who was just as savvy about knowledge as she is.
They spend more and more time together. And each time they grow closer, Camila realizes that she has grown more fond of the girl. She never meant to, because all of this seems too good to be true. And when things seem like that, it probably is wise to just stand back and reassess the whole situation.
But she just can't help it anymore. It really doesn't help the case when Lauren is so attractive too. Beautiful, smart and funny. Compassionate and kind. It wouldn't take too long for Camila to actually fall for Lauren if the girl keeps being unapologetically herself . . .
* * *
One day, it simply dawned on Camila that she is indeed falling for Lauren. Not that sappy crush thing kids their age gush about all the time, a fleeting thing that comes and goes.
What she has realized she feels is in fact more than just physical attraction and admiration combined. She cares for Lauren more than she could ever admit to anyone. Probably more than she should.
It dawned on Camila one morning when another Slytherin slithered her way between herself and Lauren.
Literally.
"Hi! You're Lauren, right?"
Lucia Vives, a pureblood witch who belongs to an aristocratic family from Barcelona, stinking of wealth and privilege, wedges herself between Camila and Lauren while discussing their advanced lectures on Alchemy and how professor Pierce who was teaching it looks a lot like that cartoon character from that muggle tv show. The girl casually shoved Camila aside and faced Lauren.
Just a tad bit closer than Camila physically had been.
Wide-eyed and surprised, Lauren replies, "Y-yes?"
"My name is Lucia, but you can call me Lucy," she reaches out her hand, and Lauren politely shakes it.
"There's this afternoon picnic for all the quidditch players, I was thinking that maybe we should go there together, being that you are the new seeker in your house and I am the seeker in mine. While it is a very competitive sport, we here at Hogwarts are very welcoming to new additions such as yourself,"
Camila rolls her eyes. She and Lucy clearly has different interpretations of the word welcome because none of the other students made her feel that way.
She would also have voiced her opinion on the rudeness of Lucy's interruption of their conversation, but she didn't. She was too baffled by the overwhelming seething feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Like okay, Vives is pretty and rich but like where the fuck did all the manners go? You can't just barge into someone's conversation like that. And having shared the same house for five years now, she just knows that there is a little scheme behind that seemingly innocent invitation.
That's just how Vives works . . .
It kind of pisses Camila off big time as well because Lucy is kind of rubbing it in her face that she didn't make it to the team tryouts. Again. That they tried out for the same position and she lost. Again. That as long as Lucy Vives breathes her overprivileged life, Camila would somehow never be a part of a quidditch team.
"I-i, uhh . . . I wasn't aware that I officially made it to the team," Lauren replies awkwardly, "I mean I'm not the only one who was able to catch the snitch during the tryouts, Ally Brooke did it too, so yeahh . . ."
"Well babe, it's official. They picked you first and Brooke's just —what do you call it? Uhh —ah! A bench warmer,"
"How do you even know that?"
Camila questions, frowning. Not liking the endearment at all.
"I just do, duhh," It was as if it's only then Lucy noticed Camila's existence and just simply raises an eyebrow, dismissing her, "Anyway . . . So, you're with me later, alright, Lauren Morgado, the new seeker of the house of Ravenclaw?"
"Oh . . . Uhh . . . Uhm, okay I guess?" The girl is unsure, she looks at Camila as if in search of reassurance of some sort, "You're gonna be there too, right?"
Camila opens her mouth to reply but was immediately cut off by Lucy, "Oh no, she's not . . . The picnic is only exclusive for all the quidditch players,"
As Lauren begins to refuse, Lucy swiftly pulls her away from Camila, "How about you come with me now so we can discuss the picnic without any interruptions,"
It all happened so smoothly that Camila just sat there scowling at their retreating forms, and Lauren was way too shocked to process that she's being whisked away.
Lucy wasn't one of the vast majority who shied away from her because of her mother. In fact, she's one of the few who thought to bring it upon themselves to make Camila suffer for her mother's crimes. It was as if Lucy would prefer to challenge her at any given chance just to show she is better. She has this I'm above you kind of attitude and always considered Camila beneath her, and she always made it apparent by undermining her, treating her like she's less than the talented witch that she is.
But that's not what truly got Camila so irritated. She couldn't care any less about what Lucia Vives thinks of her.
It is the fact that she was able to swipe Lauren away from her, so fast and so smoothly. It somehow brings her blood to a boiling point.
Lauren isn't even Lucy's type because she only ever goes for those wealthy, popular boys, those who at least has a couple million bucks on their trust funds. Camila is absolutely certain that Lucy was plotting something and whatever it was, it was intended to do something not nice to Lauren.
She is just worried for the girl. Not that she was jealous or anything . . .
But two seconds after ruminating that thought, Camila sighed to herself. Who the hell is she fooling here?
She is jealous, alright.
It's only then that Camila realized that on top of her growing fondness and affection for Lauren, she also doesn't want anybody else getting in between them. She doesn't want anyone else taking Lauren away from her in any manner at all, just as much as she doesn't want someone like Lucy take advantage of her . . .
* * *
🙂