I wake up with my head pounding from last night, and I groan as my stomach protests.
I didn't think I would ever talk to Poppy again until my drunk ass decided to break that streak and reveal my innermost thoughts about what I thought about her. I felt bad. She's the one who pushed away from me, and I confronted her last night. I'm honestly surprised she even came with me to the dorm.
I looked up in shock as the events from the party slowly came back to me.
Oh, shit.
I kissed Garreth last night.
Does Poppy know? Is she upset? Should I tell her?
I put my face in my hands, pushing my head under my warm sheets.
If I was her, I would've punched myself so hard for kissing Garreth. He had no right to even come over to me. I would've assumed they broke up, but it's not below him to have another girl while flirting with another.
I also kissed Sebastian last night.
Damn. Drunk Aurelia is kind of badass when she's not whining to girls asking why they stopped being friends with her.
Why the heck did I do all of that? Merlin, I felt like such a slut.
I forgot I also left Garreth standing there to go find Sebastian. Which I still don't understand why I did, but now he's probably pissed. I probably should've at least had the common decency to tell him I was leaving.
And Sebastian was probably mad at me for last night.
So now both boys were probably mad at me, and I had to go talk with both of them now. I was dreading Garreth's more than Sebastian's, though. Although I do have a lot of explaining to do to him for just randomly kissing him.
Suddenly, my stomach lurched, and I ran towards the bathroom to empty the contents of my poor stomach.
Yeah, I'm never drinking ever again.
It was only 8 in the morning and I wanted to roll under my covers and die. But that wasn't an option, because I had classes to get to.
Putting in the least amount of effort possible, I brushed my unruly hair, only permitting it to stand up taller. One thing I hated about my hair is out of 365 days of the year, I would have one good hair day. Maybe two if I was lucky. Today was not one of them, so I resorted to my old best friend, the messy bun.
I didn't care about what I looked like. Honestly, I kind of wish I could scare Garreth off, so I didn't have to go talk to him. I hated talking to him. He's so dimwitted sometimes I feel like I would have better luck talking to a brick wall.
And I probably would. Can't I just skip classes and go talk to the outside of the Hogwarts Castle instead? I'll do anything to not go to Charm's class with all 3 of my problems facing me the moment I walk in. I'll organize the entire library. Suffer through Sophronia's trivia. Clean out the common rooms. Please, Professor Weasley, I'll do anything.
Through my daydreams of much better punishments than class, I knew I still had to go. I can't fail. I take a deep breath and start on the walk there, focusing on not passing out.
I walk into Charms class and I see Poppy and Garreth talking and I smile. Hopefully, they can patch up their relationship. They're a cuter couple than me and him ever were.
I take my usual seat next to Natsai when Sebastian comes in and takes the table next to me. He takes one look at me and laughs loudly, taking in my messy bun and my sallow skin.
"Someone have a rough night?" He asked, his voice sounding lighter than last night's bitter tone towards me.
Images flash through my mind. My hand on his neck. His hand on my waist. The way he closed his eyes when I kissed him.
I shake the memory out of my head, shoving it deep inside before he notices something wrong.
"I'm never drinking again," I groaned, dramatically laying down on the desk in pain.
He laughed softly and motioned me to lean in closer. "Just forget about last night, okay? It meant nothing."
I open my mouth to talk, but he gives me a look that quickly makes me close it.
"It meant nothing." He says, leaning away to greet the person who just walked in: pale skin, dark straight hair.
It's her again.
I narrow my eyes as she walks past. How can someone look so perfect at 9 am?
She sits down next to Sebastian, a seat that used to be claimed by me, and I look away, trying not to look bothered as he wraps his arm around her waist in a swift motion.
I stared straight ahead, trying to forget about the girl who was kind of taking my place. Was he going to date her? I thought I knew Sebastian well enough by now that he only dates people he has a history with. Ones who would know he drinks tea instead of coffee because it tastes like cigarette ashes. Or someone who knows his favorite color is blue and only likes the color green because he loves Slytherin House. (And maybe because of the color of Unforgivable curses, but he's denied it many times.)
Does she know all of that about him? Do they have inside jokes about Garreth, staying up until 3 am to come up with nicknames for him? I can't count the number of times Sebastian has done that for me on days I've felt especially sad about me and the shriveled tomato's breakup. I'll never forget when Sebastian randomly blurted that one out, waking up half the room with our laughter.
Has she met his family? Anne, his twin sister, who got expelled from Hogwarts for getting caught in the restricted section? It seems like a harsh punishment, but that's only because Solomon enforced it. That's Sebastian's uncle, AKA the devil on Earth. He thinks they're too much like their parents, getting into trouble and being sneaky and clever about it. Sebastian didn't get caught, but Anne did and Solomon had words to say about it, somehow getting her expelled. I missed her terribly. I was only close with her because of Sebastian, but I haven't seen her in months. Anytime I tried to plan a visit, Solomon shut it down, saying I was the reason they were as sneaky as they were. That I was a "bad influence" on them and I deserved to get expelled for my misbehaviors just as much as Anne did.
Even though Solomon shut the visits down anyway, I eventually stopped trying. His uncle hated me and there was nothing I could do about it. Sebastian's tried to talk to him, but it's ended up in late-night rants to me, while he sits there, numb, curled up on the couch with a cup of warm tea.
She saw me watching them and gave me a tight-lipped smile, looking down on me with pity. Yeah, such a shame she's taking my place.
Actually, it is. But if I pretend I don't care, maybe she'll stop throwing me glances. I'm getting tired of getting blinded by her piercing blue eyes.
The first time I saw this girl, I stopped straight in my tracks. I mean, she's beautiful, but her eyes looked like the ocean after a thunderstorm. Right after the sun comes up, and it reflects, making the ocean a beautiful, almost clear light blue. That's what her eyes looked like.
It was a sharp contrast, her bright blue eyes, and her stark black hair. I guess that's why Sebastian took a liking to her. She was unlike any girl I've seen before.
Natsai nudged me, asking about Charms homework, making me forget my daydream for a minute. I answered her quickly, striking up a small conversation about Matabeleland and her family before I went back to staring out the window again.
This time, a low, deep laugh brought me back to reality, and I glared over at the culprit, none other than Sebastian.
"You're so funny, Violet."
Hmm. Violet. It suits her. I wondered when Sebastian figured that out, or when she told him. What else didn't I know about this new girl of Sebastian's? And are they dating? And why do I care?
She laughed, and the sound was short and pretty, very unlike mine that I've been told sounds like a muggle car alarm. She lay a hand on his arm and I stood up abruptly, causing Natsai to react.
"Are you okay, Aurelia?" She asked in her thick accent.
I sighed. "I'm fine, thanks for asking, Natsai. I just...remembered I have something to do." I said slowly, trying to come up with an excuse mid-sentence.
She raised her eyebrow but didn't question me. Once she looked away, I rushed to the other side of the room and saw Poppy standing alone, Garreth long gone, and I smiled. I wanted to make a better impression than my drunk self last night.
"Hey," I said simply, playing with a loose thread on my skirt, not willing myself to look at her. Hopefully, she wouldn't walk away or slap me for what I said last night.
Thankfully, her tone didn't reflect that. "Hey. How's the hangover?"
I put my hand on my hand and groaned. "Terrible. The sunlight is making my headache so much worse." As if on cue, a stream of sunlight burst through the window and I winced as my head throbbed.
She smiled and lay a hand on my shoulder. "After this class, tell the Professors you couldn't sleep last night because of Imelda's snoring. Garlick and Fig will let you lay your head down." She winked.
I laughed, trying to hide my surprise. How she came up with that excuse, I'm not sure. Although it may just be my foggy brain making everyone out to be geniuses who came up with one idea just because I know I can't answer a single question right now.
"Thanks. You're pretty clever for a Hufflepuff, you know that?" I said, smirking.
She looked away for a moment before turning back and smiling. Although this one seemed less than genuine. "Yeah. The hat said I could've been a Ravenclaw."
I gasped. "Never. You're too sweet and hardworking for that house." I said, complimenting her without meaning to.
She forced a laugh. What was going on with her?
"Says you, miss Slytherin. Maybe you'd be a good fit for Hufflepuff."
I rolled my eyes. No way I would ever be a Hufflepuff.
"And I've officially stopped listening," I say, putting my hands up and slowly backing away.
She laughed again, a more genuine-sounding one this time. "I'll get you to change your mind! Don't worry!"
I smiled and walked back to my seat, ignoring Violet giggling near me. Two problems taken care of. One more left.
If they were going to be loud, it wasn't my problem.
"Hello, class! Today will be a bit of a review since none of you seemed to remember the incantation for a simple color-changing charm." He narrowed his eyes at our class before bursting into laughter. "Never matter! As long as you pass your OWLs, it is no issue for me."
Sebastian and Violet ignored him and continued talking quite loudly. If you want to talk over Professor Ronen, at least be quiet about it.
"Mister Sallow and Miss Rivers, would you like to share your insights with the class?" They both went silent and turned tomato red, causing the class to snicker. Serves them right.
"Anyway, today we are re-learning the Levitation charm, Wingardium Leviosa. Does anyone know what the wand movement is to cast this charm?"
I smirked and raised my hand. Just because I was getting over a hangover didn't mean I couldn't participate in class.
"Yes, Miss Gray?"
"Swish and flick," I said, eyeing Sebastian as he glared at me for stealing his answer.
Didn't think I could be smart today, Sebastian, did you?
"Very good. 5 points to Slytherin. Now, what is the use for Wingardium Leviosa?"
I raised my hand again, high up in the air.
"Mister Sallow?"
I rolled my eyes and risked a glance over at him again.
"It is useful for lifting heavy objects in the air for a short time." He said monotonously, almost robotic. Just because we've already learned this doesn't mean he can't be happy about class.
I didn't realize I was still staring at him until he side-eyed me, causing my face to heat up and make my heart beat through my ears. I averted my gaze quickly and attempted to listen to Ronen talk, but he became completely ignored in my mind.
I didn't know Sebastian could still affect me this much.
Before we even got to cast the charm, it was time to go to lunch, and we all filed out of the room quickly. As soon as I got through the doorway, I noticed Garreth behind me. Oh heck no.
I started walking faster, seeing Sebastian walking alone, so I caught up with him so I wouldn't have to talk to Garreth.
"Hey," I said breathlessly.
"Hi. Seemed keen on taking my answers in class today, huh?" He said playfully.
I laughed. "You seemed genuinely angry about it. If looks could kill, I'd be a ghost floating around Hogwarts."
He laughed with me before the laugh slowly died down and turned into silence. Usually, our silence was comfortable, but this felt weird. Not like usual. I was trying to think of something else to say when Violet's friends Adelaide, Nellie, and Samantha all crowded around Sebastian, circling him like crows to their prey.
"Um... Bye, Sebastian?" I mumbled. He looked back at me without saying a word and left me standing in the hallway, alone.
Thank you guys for all the support! Every read, vote, and comment makes me so happy <3 oh, and also, I promise I'm not making fun of Hufflepuff as everyone else does. I'm a proud Hufflepuff myself- and I have been since I was 8. But again, thank you so much! When I released the first chapter of this, I never thought I would get a couple of reads and now we're at almost 500. Thank you guys for helping my dream become a reality ❤️