You sucked on the end of your recently purchased sugar quill and stared out the massive window of the History of Magic room. You were lost deep into your thoughts, thinking of various topics: Honeydukes sweets; the Bubotuber plants you'd repotted in herbology; how you could get WiFi in the Hufflepuff common room; what kind of animal you would be if you were an animagus; if you were going to join the quidditch team; just the regular, pointless thoughts one had when sitting through History of Magic.
The quill was sweet in your mouth; Professor Binn's droning voice lulled on, and the sunlight streaming through the wrought-iron windows bathed you in warmth. You were rocked into a gentle sleep, dreaming of badgers riding broomsticks in a golden stadium during the Quidditch World Cup, Fizzing Whizbees exploding over the stands and the goalposts being replaced with giant swirling lollipops.
"(L/N)!" A voice barked, interrupting your bizarre but delightful dream. Your eyes lazily opened, scanning the room. The sugar quill was still clutched loosely in your hand, and a puddle of drool had collected right on top of a painting of "Urg the Ugly," a goblin rebellion leader.
"What?" You muttered, meeting the eyes of your fellow students, who were all staring at you. "What's happening?"
"Sleeping in class!" Professor Binns barked, looking sternly at the drool on your textbook. His dull, grey eyes met yours. "10 points from Hufflepuff. I expected better from you."
You felt as if your cheeks were boiling. "I-I'm sorry, Professor-"
He silenced you with a stern look. Then, he saw the sugar quill perched in your hand. His eyes bulged out of his head, and he pointed at the quill with such a disgusted expression you could have been holding the stinger of a Blast-Ended Skrewt.
"A sugar quill!" He shrieked. The students blanched collectively; no one had ever seen Professor Binns angry (everyone was too bored to misbehave). "What filth, what rubbish.. distracting students from my lessons, lessons that I slave over! You should be ashamed of yourself, (L/N)!" He stormed over to your desk and snatched the sugar quill from your hands. His eyes were really bulging now; it looked as if they were going to fall out. "A detention, and 40 more points from Hufflepuff!"
You gasped, your face going white. 50 collective points and a detention!
Some students snuck you looks of sympathy. Others shot you looks of disgust.
He stormed up to his desk, slamming the quill down, and pulled out his wand from the pocket of his robes. His face beet red, spittle flying from his mouth, and eyes practically popping out of his sockets, he shouted, "Reducto!" And the quill exploded. You winced.
Fortunate for you, the bell rang. "My office, 6 o'clock tonight, (L/N)! Don't be late!" Professor Binns shouted at you as you hastily gathered your things.
Shame washing over you like a tidal wave, you ran from the classroom as fast as you could, feeling like the worst Hufflepuff Hogwarts had ever seen.
~~~~~~~
"Professor Binns?" You knocked on the teacher's door timidly. It was 6 o'clock on the dot. You wanted your detention to be over with as soon as possible.
The door opened. A glowering Professor Binns looked down at you. "Come in," He said gruffly. He held open the door for you as you shuffled inside his office, feeling very guilty.
His office was very plain; a fireplace sat dormant in a corner, with a plain blue rug laid before it; a boring desk with little decoration- and equally boring chairs resting in front of it, covered in dust- sat in the center of the room; bookshelves lined one side of the office, shelved with books that you could see were organized with the Dewey decimal system. A door was partially hidden in the back of the room, which you assumed was Professor Binns' living quarters.
"Sit," your professor told you. With shaking hands, you pulled out one of the dusty chairs in front of his desk and sat down.
"We're waiting for one more student and then we'll begin," He instructed. "We're just discussing their test grade. You'll be working together."
You nodded nervously.
There was an awkward moment of silence as you observed the blank walls and lack of decoration in the room.
"Er, Professor," You stammered suddenly. "I-I wrote an essay on the goblin rebellions of 289 BC and the rising of goblins in the wizarding community t-to try and make up for my actions... I really was listening, I didn't mean to fall asleep, I had just been up all night-" Professor Binns cut you off.
"Will you show me the essay, please?" His expression was still stern, but seemed slightly more forgiving all of the sudden.
"Right, yes," you cleared your throat and bent down to pull it out of your bag.
As you were searching, you heard the door open and close softly.
"Ah, Mr. Scamander, thank you for joining us," Professor Binns said. His tone seemed to you to be less steely than it was when you first answered.
Apparently the way to Professor Binns' heart wasn't through his stomach, but through an essay.
You straightened your back and handed the essay to Professor Binns. You glanced at the student who walked in; he was a Hufflepuff (you recognized him from the common room) boy who seemed to be slightly older than you (or maybe you just hadn't noticed him before; he seemed very quiet).
Professor Binns scanned the essay. He glanced at Mr. Scamander, as he had called the boy, and said, "Your peer has written an excellent essay on the goblin rebellions of 289 BC. Maybe you should follow her example and spend your free time studying rather than playing games."
The boy blushed. You couldn't help but admire his features as the blush spread across his face. With sandy hair, subtilely playful features, and freckles scattered across his adorably crooked nose, you found him quite easy to look at.
"I-I'm sorry, Professor," He stuttered.
Professor Binns took a deep breath. He looked at you, then at Mr.Scamander. You glanced at the Hufflepuff boy, who caught your eye, and you both seemed to feel the same innate desire to walk out of the room punishment-free.
"I-" Professor Binns started, but he was interrupted by a large crash from the right. His face went red. "PEEVES!" He roared, standing up from his desk and rushing to the door. He paused, looking at you and Mr. Scamander, and said with a slightly disgusted tone, "Just go. We'll discuss this in class tomorrow," Then he rushed out of the room.
There was a moment of silence as you sat in shock. You could just... leave?
"He's just going to let us go?" The boy piped up, reflecting your thoughts. You turned your eyes on him, internally taking pleasure in the fact that he was talking to you.
"I guess so," you shrugged.
The boy glanced at the door. Then, at you. You smiled a little, blushing.
"I'm Newt," he finally said, the tiniest of smiles making its way onto his face.
"(Y/N)," you said with a broad grin. You loved meeting new people.
"You're a, uh, Hufflepuff, aren't you?" He questioned shyly, pink infusing itself into his cheeks.
"Yeah. You are too, right? I think I've seen you around before," you cocked your head.
"Y-yeah." The red on his face deepened. A blush of your own found itself upon your face.
"Well, it's nice to meet you," you said with a smile, picking up your bag and standing from the chair.
"You too," Newt replied, his lopsided smile flashing itself at you. "Oh, er, what books did you use for your essay? I should probably study t-the goblin rebellions, if I want to pass," he joked shyly.
You grinned. "I'll tell you a secret," you approached Newt, leaning in slightly. "I made it all up."
You drew back, a mischievous smirk playing on your lips. Newt looked at his feet and laughed slightly. You found yourself liking the crinkles around his eyes that formed when he laughed.
"I think you and I should spend some time together," he proffered amicably.
You beamed. "You reckon so?"
"Yeah," he shrugged, grinning again. "It seems Professor Binns was right; I could learn a thing or two from you."
~~~~~~~~
Wow??? I actually??? Wrote?? Another part???? That's insane???
Thanks @mylibrary for having Harry Potter so I could read it again, and thanks @harrypotter for getting me in the writing mood™️ again. I'm sure ppl who read this regularly (or did since my last update was months ago, oof) appreciate it.
Fun facts about me: I am a Hufflepuff. I would be a Chaser on a quidditch team. After graduating Hogwarts, I would be a magical herbologist but sometimes pull a Charlie Weasley and do some cool dragon stuff.
Also, I was reading It's a Hard Life to see how my writing has changed and I realized that it's been over a year since I published this??? And I'm like wow!!! That's crazy!!!! Cause I've had so much incredible support for this I thought I'd never get and I never thought this would happen and boy oh boy, does time fly.
I'm staring a book/writing club so hopefully I'll be more motivated to write. If I'm not, dm me and threaten me with some form of torture. I will hopefully write something else. I feel like owe it to y'all for being the best.
Also, once again, thanks y'all so so SO much for winning me the best one shot book in the fanfiction awards. That's seriously AWESOME. I am so grateful to all of you.
Finally, vote to keep net neutrality. Help the environment. Punch a nazi. Remember that men ain't shit. I love y'all.
-Elise/merrychristmooose
also checkout my Spider-Man one Shots ;)))