𝓔𝓵𝔂𝓼𝓲𝓪𝓷
Chapter 8 - Library Rendezvous
-𝓬𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽-
(Y/N) POV
As Halloween grew closer the days had been getting colder and the nights grew darker. The wind whipped our hair as we stumbled down the hill, bundled up in layers of coats, scarves and jumpers.
"It's fucking freezing!" Charlotte complained as we walked towards Hagrid's hut "Why do we have to have class outside anyway?"
"It is Care of Magical Creatures, of course it's going to be outside." I laugh as we finally arrive at the small hut, greeting Milo as we arrive.
"I feel like my fingers are going to fall off." Charlotte whined as we waited for Hagrid to come out and teach us.
Ever since the Hippogriff incident Hagrid had seemed to lose his confidence and had been making us look after Flobberworms. The most boring creatures to ever live and we have had to spend three hours a week shoving shredded lettuce down their slimy throat, with loud complaints from most of the other students.
Hagrid emerged from his hut finally as the last of the students arrived. He instructed to do the same as we had been doing for the past two weeks. Charlotte groaned next to me as the rest of the class rolled their eyes and muttered complaints. The loudest being from Ron Weasley who was stood just in front of us.
"You are so dramatic sometimes Ron." The sudden voice of Hermione Granger came from beside me.
'She wasn't there a second ago.' I thought as I saw her tucking something that looked like a necklace of some sort into the front of her jumper.
She must have felt me staring as she turned to look at me, a surprised expression on her face as she saw the confused one on mine. She became slightly flustered as she realised what must have been going through my head and she looked away quickly.
I frown but let it go quickly and walk over to join Charlotte by one of the raised beds that was full of Flobberworms, grimacing slightly at the sight.
"Can't believe that oaf is still allowed to teach after what happened." I hear Draco Malfoy muttering to his friends who were at the raised bed behind us. I roll my eyes, sick of his constant complaining about Hagrid, his arm was fine now and it was barely even a scratch.
The class continued and Hagrid gave us homework to write one roll of parchment on Flobberworms and how to keep them alive.
By the end of the lesson we were all cold, bored and fed up with Hagrid's lack of new content for our lessons. We made our way back up the grassy hill and back into the castle that was nice and warm and not filled with gross, slimey Flobberworms.
We walked slowly, not really wanting to go to our charms class.
"I hope Flitwick doesn't give us any homework." Charlotte mutters as we climb the stone steps to the third floor.
I hum in agreement, thinking of the other homework assignments I have to work on.
"Do you want to work on the homework that Hagrid gave us after lunch?" Charlotte asked as we stopped for a second as the staircase moved beneath our feet.
"I can't sorry, I have to work on my Muggle Studies assignment in the library."
"Oh," She says frowning "Milo said you decided to work with Lorenzo." She sounded skeptical.
"Yeah, why?" I ask, confused by her tone.
"Nothing it's just, are you sure it's safe to be alone with him? You know who his friends are."
"I know you are just looking out for me but Enzo is nice and I don't think he would hurt me." I reassure her.
"Ok, just be careful."
I smile at her and take her hand, dragging her along the corridor and towards the Charms classroom.
I understand why she would be worried about me hanging around with Enzo because he's friends with Draco and Mattheo but Enzo has given me no reason to think he is anything like them. Neither Charlotte or I had spent much time with their group so how would we know what really happens with them and what they are really like, all we have to go on are rumors and whispered stories.
We enter the Charms classroom, looking to the front to see that Professor Flitwick was already standing in front of his desk ready to get the lesson started.
"Welcome class, please take your seats." he says, motioning for us to sit down quickly.
"Today we will be going over the general counter spell 'Finite' or 'Finite Incantatem'. The first half of this lesson you will be leaning the correct pronunciation and the wand movement, as well as what it can be used for. And the second half we will be practicing casting the spell correctly in pairs."
We all get our parchment and ink out to take some notes on how the charm is supposed to be used and what it can be used on.
The first half of the class passes slowly as Professor Flitwick drones on about what you can and can't use the charm on and lecturing us about having to remember this for our OWLS which aren't until next year. The second half was a lot more enjoyable as we got to use the charm we had been learning about, which was always fun.
By the time the class ended I was so starving and thankful that we had lunch next. Charlotte and I made our way quickly back down the stairs and into the Great Hall.
"I have never been so happy to see a sandwich in my entire life." Charlotte said as she sat down next to Ivy at the Ravenclaw table.
Ivy looked over at Charlotte, wrinkling her nose in disgust as Charlotte tucked into the second half of her sandwich after scoffing down the first half in less than a minute.
"You're going to give yourself heartburn." She says with a disapproving tone.
"You're so dramatic." Charlotte says with her mouth still full of sandwich, making Ivy move up the bench, away from her.
"Are you going to have a nap before Astronomy Ivy? It might help with your attitude." Charlotte says after swallowing the last bite of her sandwich.
"No I don't think I will." Ivy said snippily.
"Please do, for the benefit of the rest of us." Charlotte retorted.
"Maybe you should both take a nap and stop winding each other up." I say finally, as I had finished eating and was sick of their bickering.
They both huffed a muffled retort that I didn't quite catch.
"Anyway I have to get going soon, I have to meet Enzo in the library."
"Oh a secret rendezvous in the library, how romantic." Ivy teases as she sips her cup of coffee.
"It's not like that, we're just working on a project together." I say defensively.
"Sure it's not." Ivy says, clearly not believing me.
I roll my eyes, saying a quick 'goodbye' and 'see you later' to the two smirking Ravenclaws and made my way out of the Great Hall, trying to avoid walking into any of the students who are now entering through the large wooden doors.
I make my way up the large stone staircases that lead towards the library. I shiver slightly at the cold breeze that blows through the quiet halls of the castle, making me pull my jumper closer to me as I continue to walk at a slightly quicker paise.
I made it to the library quickly as I didn't feel like hanging around the deserted halls. I enter through the double doors, avoiding looking over at Madam Pince as she is undoubtedly giving me some sort of dirty look as I make my way to the tables at the back.
I look around the tables, only a few being taken by some other students working quietly. I walk over to one next to a window and put my bag down on the seat next to me, pulling out my Muggle Studies book, parchment, ink and quill.
Looking out the window I see the wind is still whipping through the trees and at the edge of the forest I can see that the whomping willow has now dropped all of its leaves. The forbidden forest was painted in reds and oranges, really making it feel like autumn now. Halloween wasn't until next month but there were already people planning their parties and thinking about the Hogsmeade visit the weekend before to get more sweets.
"Hey, sorry I'm late." Enzo says, snapping me out of my daydream.
"It's fine." I say smiling over at him as he takes his seat opposite me.
"Any ideas of what to do the project on?" He asks as he takes out his books and some parchment.
"Um I was thinking maybe how muggles use electricity in houses or for travel." I say, thinking about what else we could do.
"The housing one sounds good." Enzo says, giving me a bright smile.
I nod and flip to the right page in the textbook before talking a good look at the boy sitting in front of me.
His fluffy chestnut brown hair was drooping slightly over his eyes making him brush it aside lightly. He had a concentrated expression on his face as he read over the pages, biting his lip slightly as he continued. Sometimes I think he looks like a puppy with his beautiful eyes and eager expression and smile when I talk to him.
As if he could feel my stare he looked up and gave me one of the aforementioned smiles that makes my heart melt ever so slightly.
"You ok?"
"Huh?" I say veigly, still thinking about his hair. I couldn't help think about what it felt like.
"I asked if you're ok." He says, laughing slightly at the confused expression that was no doubt present on my face.
"Oh yeah I'm fine." I mutter, looking down quickly as I feel my cheeks heating up.
"Ok." He laughs at my response.
We continue to read over the pages we needed to and then discussed what we would need to cover in the essay. He had some good ideas and by the end of the hour we had come up with a good plan to start. We decided to meet again in the next few days to work on the rest of the essay.
"Do you have the rest of the day off?" Enzo asks as we pack up our stuff.
"Yeah but I have astronomy at midnight with the Gryffindors." I say, sighing at the thought of having to stay up until midnight.
"Oh that sucks."
"Especially because it'll be freezing on the astronomy tower." I whine, remembering last year when Charlotte and I were shivering under the stars, our fingers feeling like icicles.
"Well I hope you don't freeze to death, I'd miss having someone to talk to in class." Enzo said, smiling at me from across the table.
"You have Milo and you're other friends." I say rolling my eyes.
"Yeah but you're different." He says quietly.
I look up at him, not exactly sure what to say to that.
"Anyway I have to go, I have Transfiguration next." Enzo says quickly, picking up his bag and smiling at me before he left.
I frown, not exactly sure what just happened but I decide to leave and find Charlotte and see if I can copy her answers for the Care of Magical Creatures homework.
I walk through the towering shelves of books, the eerie silence making me shiver slightly. All I can hear is the wind and rain battering the large windows. I zone out slightly as I walk towards the front of the library, not paying much attention to my surroundings.
"Hey." I hear a sudden voice from beside me causing me to jump, turn and drop my bag somehow at the same time.
"Shit!" I mutter as I bend down to pick up my bag.
"Sorry." The voice said, not sounding at all sincere.
I look up to see the person who was practically mocking me at this point. As I make eye contact with the mystery person I am not at all surprised with who I see.
"Oh it's you." Theodore Nott stood in front of me, a stupid smug smirk clear on his face. "Aren't you supposed to be in transfiguration?" I question bitterly.
"Yes but I thought I would take a little detour to find Enzo."
"Enzo left for class."
"Clearly." He drawls.
"Anything else you want to say to me or can I go." My tone bored but I could feel my heartbeat quicken in my chest.
He huffs slightly, moving to let me past. I was about to pass before I remembered something.
"How do you like the book?"
He pauses for a moment, apparently trying to think of an answer.
"It's not the worst thing I've ever read." He mutters quietly, making me scoff.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that." I smirk, taking a step towards him.
"You heard me and I'm not saying it again." He said, not making eye contact with me.
"No I really don't think I did."
"Fine!" He exclaims, taking a step forward and finally looking me in the eye. "It's not the worst book I've ever read." He says through gritted teeth.
I smirk at him, feeling a sense of accomplishment before I realise the position we are in. In between two bookshelves, inches apart. Our noses almost touching as he looks into my eyes angrily, grey eyes glinting in the candle light.
I feel my cheeks starting to heat up and I took a quick step back, looking away from him. He smirks, realising what had just happened.
"Do I make you nervous (Y/N)?" He smirks, looking down at me.
"Shut up." I mutter, not looking him in the eyes.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't hear you." He mocks.
"I said shut up!" I say, looking up into his eyes, "Now don't you have a class to be in, Professor McGonagall will give you detention if you're late."
"And why do you care if I get detention." He says smugly.
"I don't." I say finally, deciding I was done with this stupid conversation.
I attempt to walk away but Theodore puts his arm out to stop me.
"Theodore let me past."
"Don't call me that." he says his tone changing slightly and his brows furrowing.
"What?"
"Don't call me Theodore, only my parents call me that."
"Oh." I say stupidly.
"Just call me Theo."
This conversation has taken a strange turn from him mocking me to him asking me to call him 'Theo'. Real rollercoaster of emotions on his part I guess.
"Ok." I mutter, ducking under his arm and walking to the door of the library. Theo makes no move to follow me and I assume I am safe to leave.
I frown thinking about the events of the past hour, Enzo leaving suddenly and then Theo appearing out of nowhere and his strange up and down behaviour.
'Slytherins are weird' is the thought that paiged my mind as I made my way to the Ravenclaw common room.
Charlotte and I sat on my bed as I explained what had happened in the library as we waited out the clock to go to our Astronomy class. Ivy decided to take a nap before the class and neither Charlotte or I had the courage to wake her up before we really had to.
"So you just left?" Charlotte asked.
"What else was I supposed to say?" I asked incredulously.
"Tell him to get therapy, I don't know!"
"Don't shout you're going to wake her up." I whisper yell.
Charlotte looks over at Ivy's bed before returning to a reasonable volume.
"What are you going to do anyway, avoid him?"
"I can't really, we have a few classes together and he sits in front of me in Potions."
"I guess you're right." Charlotte sighed as she looked over at the clock, 11:30PM.
"We should probably start getting ready." I say, looking over at Ivy again. "Rock, paper, scissors on who wakes her up?"
"Sure."
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot." We both say in unison as I pull scissors and Charlotte pulls paper.
"Damn it." She mutters before making her way to Ivy's bed.
I get off the bed, pulling out a pair of fluffy socks and a think jumper out of my chest of drawers. Layers are the best option when it comes to studying on the astronomy tower. I also find my woolen hat and gloves as well as my large coat.
We all continued to bundle up, Ivy complaining that she was still tired and Charlotte saying she should have stayed awake like the rest of us.
Our class gathered in the common room, having to all go together as to not get yelled at by Filch. We walked in tired silence, carrying out bags and dragging our feet.
We meet the Gryffindors at the foot of the tower, we tiredly greeted Amber and continue to walk up all the stairs. By the time we get to the top most of us are out of breath and all of us don't want to be there.
The cold wind hit us like a brick wall, making us all shiver. Professor Sinistra greets us, telling us to get our telescopes and books out.
I pull my coat closer around me as the wind continued to blow around us.
I feel the sudden presence of someone next to me and I look over my shoulder and see the figure of Hermione Granger standing behind me, she wasn't there a second ago. Once again I see the gold object in her hands.
'Is that what I think it is?' I think to myself, shrugging it off as we have to start the lesson.
The class went surprisingly quickly, probably the combination of freezing cold weather and wanting it to be over as soon as possible.
We pack up quickly, almost running back to the common room to be warm again. Charlotte, Ivy and I push into our dorm room and get into our pyjamas that we had laid on the radiator earlier that day. We bundled up in blankets and some fluffy throws and try and drift off to sleep, trying not to think about the early start we have tomorrow.
𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓼 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮
Hope you all had a happy Halloween, have a new chapter!
Some parts are a bit rushed so sorry about that but I hope you enjoy, it honestly tuned out better than I thought it would.
Please don't forget to vote and comment!