A/N: If you're here for the ship: This is that chapter. I have chosen not to use an underage warning or up the rating as the romance is so light, one-sided, and never acted upon. If you feel this is in error, please let me know and I can change that.
A few notes on the dialogue: Underlined dialogue is taken directly from the Farewell, My Prefect questline. A * at the end of dialogue means I've changed up the wording to make it sound more natural, but maintained the integrity of the line from the quest. Anything else is my own interpretation/addition.
Summary: These feelings will fade, Felix assures himself, they have to. It's not as if they have any other choice. Juniper Windsong is no more viable a prospect than Dragonology is a career.
One evening in April, a group of Slytherins holds an informal conference in the common room to discuss the issue on the mind of the entire house: the strange behaviour of their senior prefect, Felix Rosier. While uncharacteristically absent most of the first term, Felix has spent the second term breathing down everyone's necks like a vulture. He has little patience for anything he deems too frivolous (such as exploding snap or over-loud laughter), and none at all for attempts at outright rule breaking (a boy caught with dungbombs was given a weeks worth of detentions).
The general opinion of the older Slytherins, who know Felix from years previous, is that he must have had a secret dalliance that ended rather badly. It would explain the negligence of his house through the fall and his uncharacteristically vitriol spirits this spring. A lively debate ensues over the identity of this secret girlfriend or boyfriend (a consensus never being reached on this finer point), and it's an embarrassingly long time before anyone realizes that the prefect in question has entered the common room.
After docking twenty-five points from his own house for malicious gossip and sending everyone to bed, Felix sits on the sofa brooding until well after midnight. If they only knew how close to the mark that rumour really comes.
Felix continues to miss Sparky with a fierceness he did not know he possessed. The new term has allowed him to fall back into his old routines, and he has no end of classwork and NEWT revision to occupy his time, but he cannot put himself back together again exactly the way he was. Being a senior prefect and top of his class hold no satisfaction for him anymore. Nothing Felix has ever done sets his heart aflame the way the dragon did, and he understands now that dedication and passion are not quite the same thing.
Almost equal to the loss of his dragon is the loss of his fledgling friendship with Juniper Windsong. There's no denying that in one term Juniper has become the closest friend Felix has ever had. No one else, at Hogwarts or at home, knows him so well, and he feels certain his malaise this term would be easier to bear if he only had her to talk to again. But Felix has seen Juniper only a handful of times since January. His scattered attempts to engage her in conversation always end with Juniper being dragged away by Murphy McNully to talk Quidditch strategy, or Bill Weasley to discuss the cursed vaults, or that Ravenclaw troublemaker Tulip Karasu for Merlin knows what reasons. She has no end of friends of her own to revise with so Felix cannot even use schoolwork as an excuse to spend time with her. He reflects bitterly that while the dragon may have been his defining adventure at Hogwarts, it hasn't been much more than a side story for Juniper.
The perfect excuse finds Felix in the end when Professor Snape asks him to submit recommendations for next year's Slytherin prefect. He takes an evening off from revising to look over the house roster, but no name immediately stands out. One of Felix's greatest pet peeves is students who vie for the position of prefect merely to use the bathroom without paying a bit of attention to the duties that go along with it. He runs his quill down the list, assessing the leadership capabilities of each person and finding himself extremely disappointed. Having ticked off only a couple of names for further consideration, he comes to the end and sees at the very bottom: Windsong, Juniper.
Felix sits up a little straighter in his chair. Windsong. A prefect. Now there's an idea...
Her absolute unconcern with rules would, admittedly, be an issue. But perhaps not so much as he would have thought three years ago. After all, Felix himself has broken nearly as many rules as she has this year, and he still considers himself an excellent prefect, doesn't he? More important than mindless rule following, he now believes, is loyalty to one's house, dedication to one's responsibilities, and a genuine concern for one's fellow students: all attributes Juniper has in spades. It doesn't hurt that she's also been the top points earner for Slytherin three years in a row now.
Of course, Juniper is only a third year. She won't be up for the position until next spring. But that doesn't mean Felix can't recommend her. And, perhaps... prep her a little for the role? A plan begins to form in Felix's head and he feels more animated than he has in months.
Felix sends Juniper an owl on the last Saturday of the Easter break asking her to meet him in the common room at her earliest convenience. Nearly all the other students will be in Hogsmeade or the library that day, he reasons, so they should be able to steal a bit of privacy. Except that her earliest convenience turns out to be just before dinner, when everyone has arrived back from their outings and there isn't a free corner in the whole common room.
Felix is more than a little put out at having been kept waiting all day, and he regards Juniper superciliously as she picks her way through the crowd to the back of the room where he's been forced to stand.
"Well, well, the curse-breaking Slytherin finally comes to see me."
Juniper has the decency to look a little sheepish.
"Sorry, couldn't get away." she says vaguely. "What's up? Your letter said it was a personal matter*."
Felix clears his throat, aware of the eyes of the surrounding students on him as he speaks. "When we first met, I had just become a prefect. Now I'm a seventh-year, and come June I will leave Hogwarts forever. "
The corners of Juniper's lips twitch, and Felix can tell she's having a time of it keeping a straight face through his ceremonial little speech.
"Don't worry. I won't let you down. I'll make sure Slytherin crushes Gryffindor at every opportunity." she quips through stifled giggles.
A fourth year at the table next to them gives a little cheer at this and Felix scowls. For once, he would rather the entire house wasn't listening to what he has to say. He glances sideways at the eavesdropping students before continuing.
"I know you will. It pains me to admit it," Felix sighs heavily for effect," but you are the finest student in Slytherin. After myself of course."A fair bit of laughter and a few scattered cries of "What?!" and "Since bloody when?" erupt from the students around them, and Felix has to raise his voice to be heard. "I want to teach you a few things. Skills that will prepare you to be a leader of the house."
Juniper cocks her head, ignoring the minor uproar around them. "Like what sort of skills?"
Felix lifts an eyebrow mysteriously. "Meet me on the training grounds after dinner. It's time to begin our final lesson."
Juniper strides purposefully across the grounds as Felix finishes setting up the dueling dummies. He's surprised to see she's wearing her Quidditch robes and carrying her broomstick.
"Skye wants to try and squeeze in extra chaser trainings every night until the cup match." she explains upon seeing his expression. "So I can't stay long." Juniper takes in the dummies lined up on the field ahead of them. "What's all this about, then?" she asks curiously.
They're alone, finally. Felix has been waiting for this moment all term, but now that it's here he isn't sure what to say. It's been months since they've talked, really talked. Felix knows they used to chat easily, he just can't remember how they went about it. He falls back on formality.
"I want to teach you the freezing charm, Immobulus."
Juniper's eyes widen in recognition.
"Immobulus has served me well - especially when it comes to helping Slytherin win at Quidditch." Felix winks. "Just don't tell Madam Hooch."
"As if Slytherin needs to resort to such tactics to win at Quidditch!" scoffs Juniper indignantly.
Felix smirks. It's true. They're favoured to win the cup for the first time in years, due in large part to her. "Pick a dummy and I'll talk you through how the spell works."
Felix spends the next hour correcting her stance, her wand movement, her pronunciation, while Juniper, as always, asks too many questions. As they discuss the minutiae of the spell, he's relieved to find them slipping back into their old banter like a favorite jumper and for the first time since before Christmas, he feels truly relaxed. Standing just behind Juniper to monitor her arm raise, Felix recognizes the scent of lavender and something else that hangs around her. He's smelled it often enough before, but for some reason it seems exceptionally pleasant now. Probably because it reminds him of their nights spent with the dragon, he decides.
Juniper is uncharacteristically slow to master the spell. Felix is forced to repeat his instructions and demonstrations more than once, and in spite of her caveat that she cannot stay long, Juniper takes her time perfecting her movements. Felix wonders if she's missed spending time with him as much as he has with her. Finally, as the light begins to fade, she throws a perfect freezing charm at the middle dummy making it go entirely rigid.
"Well done!" Felix compliments her, clapping her on the shoulder. The contact makes his hand tingle slightly; he isn't sure why, but he removes it quickly just the same. "If you ever want to trip a Gryffindor, use Immobulus on his shoes."
"Or a dragon?" jokes Juniper, looking at him sideways.
Felix smiles wistfully at the memory. "I'd recommend starting with something a bit smaller."
Juniper tucks her wand away and faces him. "Well, thank you for teaching me." she says in mock solemnity.
There's a brief pause in which Felix wonders how long he can press her to stay, when they hear a whistle from the direction of the castle. He turns to see Skye Parkin tapping her foot impatiently and pointing to her broomstick.
Juniper sighs. "I've got to dash."
"Wait." Felix blurts out before she can disappear. "We're still not done." She looks at him quizzically and Felix casts around for something else he can show her.
"There's a potion that Snape hardly ever teaches but you should know it all the same. Meet me Monday night in the potions classroom."
Juniper's brow furrows a little, but she nods. "Alright."
"Windsong! C'mon!" yells Skye, and Juniper sprints toward her without a backward glance.
Felix is already seated at a cauldron, potion book and ingredients laid out in front of him when Juniper bursts into the dungeon, late and wearing her Quidditch gear.
"There you are." he sniffs disapprovingly.
"Sorry!" Juniper pants, out of breath, flinging herself onto the stool next to Felix. Her face is red and sweaty and she's still carrying her broomstick.
She must have run directly from the Quidditch pitch, Felix realizes, and he feels a brief pang of guilt for monopolizing her limited time. But the thought of talking to Juniper again has carried Felix through the intermittent days in exceptionally high spirits and he can't bear to disappoint himself now by sending her back to the common room. So he gets right to the point.
"I'm going to show you how to brew a potion that Snape would never teach you." Juniper looks up interested, as he continues. "It's called Babbling Beverage."
She emits a snort of derisive laughter, then taps a finger to her cheek in feigned thoughtfulness. "Let me guess.Drinking it makes you babble."
"With a mind that sharp you'll be head girl one day." Felix comments dryly. " Yes, drinking babbling beverage makes you talk uncontrollable nonsense."
Juniper cocks her head to the side. "This seems like a particularly pointless potion."
"Really?" Felix lifts an eyebrow. "You can't think of anything to do with it*?"
Juniper shrugs. "I don't know. Use it to get out of class*?" Her face lights up as a thought strikes her. "I could trick a teacher into drinking it. If they couldn't talk the class would be cancelled*!"
Felix's eyes widen a little, and he smiles, impressed. "You are wicked, Juniper Windsong."
Juniper nods her head in a sarcastic acknowledgement of his faux praise.
"Grab your cauldron and I'll show you how it's done."
Felix reads off ingredients and instructions while Juniper pours over her cauldron. He's picked the most finicky, overly complicated potion he's ever heard of that can be completed in one sitting. Partly, to make their lesson last as long as possible, and partly because he's interested to see how she'll react. Prefect duties are often tedious, and Juniper, while patient and focused with things that matter to her, tends to balk when forced to spend too much time working on anything she considers unimportant.
Felix is therefore rather proud when she sees the potion through, though not without a good bit of complaining and mild cursing. Its just after midnight when Juniper finally pushes away from the table and runs her hands through her hair, now soaked flat to her head with perspiration.
"Well done!" applauds Felix. "Even Snape would be impressed."
"I doubt that." Juniper yawns. She squeezes her eyes shut and grinds the heels of her hands against them hard, as if to rub away her exhaustion.
"Now for the best part." announces Felix with relish, unable to suppress a mischievous grin. "The taste test."
Juniper's eyes snap open to stare at him. "Why do I feel like this is the real reason you showed me this potion?" she asks suspiciously.
"I'm not going to apologize. I could use a good laugh."
Juniper heaves a dramatic sigh. "Alright." she concedes, with the air of a martyr. "Consider this your going away present." And before Felix can stop her, she ladles a bit of the potion out of the still steaming cauldron, and gulps it down.
Felix is entirely speechless. He had meant it as a joke, fully expecting her to refuse. It never occurred to him for a second she might actually drink the bloody thing. Juniper smacks her lips, face screwed up at the taste of the potion.
"Well, what do you think?" asks Felix with anticipation. He has never seen this potion in action before, never known anyone foolish enough to drink it, and he has no idea what will happen. An echo of the excitement Felix now associates with dragons creeps through his veins.
Juniper opens her mouth cautiously.
"I think it tastes very- " is all she's able to get out before a stream of nonsense syllables erupt from her mid-sentence. She claps a hand to her mouth, eyes comically wide and laughter explodes from Felix, louder than he knew was possible.
Juniper seems more shocked by his response than her own reaction to the potion, and opens her mouth again, probably to comment on it. But all that comes out is gibberish.
Felix actually pounds the table with his hand, tears leaking from his eyes at the force of his laughter. Distantly he knows it's not even that funny, but a dam has broken somewhere inside him and all the emotion he's kept pent up this term bursts forth behind his hysterical laughter.
Juniper watches him in some concern and tries to speak again, babbling nonsense with an inquisitive inflection at the end.
Felix wipes the corners of his eyes and attempts to pull himself together. "Okay, okay. Stop talking before I pass out from laughing so hard."
Now distinctly pink, Juniper folds her arms crossly and mumbles something else Felix can't understand. His grin is still glued to his face, but his laughter subsides.
"Well I suppose that's it for tonight. Can't do much else with you babbling like a lunatic. " Another chuckle escapes him and Juniper glowers. "Can you meet me in Greenhouse Three tomorrow after dinner*. I have a plant I want to show you."
Juniper shakes her head and points at her Quidditch uniform.
"The next night, then?"
She continues to shake and point.
Felix huffs impatiently. For some reason, the thought of her spending so much time with other people makes him irritable.
"Okay, well when are you free?"
Juniper pulls a timetable out of her bag and consults it. Felix is more than a little surprised to find her so organized. He makes a note of this in the mental file he's compiling of her potential prefect skills.
She taps a space to indicate a morning the day before the last Quidditch match. Felix hesitates. He has a revision session with the other prefects that day that he really shouldn't miss. But a sudden recklessness in him rears its head, as if it's missed throwing his common sense to the wind since the dragon's been gone, and Felix agrees before he can stop himself.
In the days leading up to their next scheduled meeting, Juniper occupies Felix's thoughts more than his rational side thinks she should. He finds himself going out of his way to take hallways he knows Juniper frequents in the hopes of receiving a wave and a smile as she passes. A girl with similar coloured hair sits a few rows in front of him in Transfiguration, and he can't stop himself from glancing at the back of her head every few minutes. And something in the Potions classroom one lesson emits a powerful waft of lavender that distracts him so badly his Draught of Living Death is unusable.
Felix tries to assure himself that this is normal. People enjoy having friends and miss them when they're not around, that's all. He has spent the last seven years cultivating accomplishments, not friendships, so it's only to be expected that the newness of the experience excites him. The rational part of his brain finds this theory hard to swallow, but Felix ignores it (he's an expert at that now). Instead, he channels his energy into planning out the details of their next meeting.
For once, Juniper is not only on time but actually arrives at Greenhouse Three before Felix. She turns as he walks in and flashes a smile that makes his stomach lurch. Just a typical friendship response? inquires his rational voice. Felix banishes it with a grimace.
"Watch yourself." He says, his greeting a little brusque to cover his sudden self-consciousness. "There's a Snargaluff over there and it could attack you when you least expect."
Felix gestures over Juniper's shoulder and she spins around quickly, taking a step back. He notices with a pleasant shiver how much nearer she is to him now. His rational voice wonders why this observation is relevant.
"Snargaluff?" Juniper asks in some alarm.
"It's a violent plant known for its green pulsating pods." explains Felix automatically, relieved that he prepared what to say in advance since the dialogue in his brain is very distracting. "Sixth years learn to extract them. I'm going to teach you."
"Sounds brilliant." Juniper says enthusiastically as Felix leads her to the back of the greenhouse. He's hyperaware of her shoulder brushing against his slightly as they walk, and the fleeting contact is so distracting he can only nod and agree, "Snargaluff is amazing.", then groan inwardly at how inane this sounds.
The plant resting placidly in its pot seems harmless enough. Its long tendrils rustle very slightly as if in a breeze, though the air in the greenhouse is still. But Felix knows better than to be fooled by the Snargaluff's benign appearance.
"But it's wild. It requires cunning to keep it contained." Felix glances at Juniper. "Perfect for a Slytherin."
Juniper tugs on her dragon hide gloves and inspects the plant in front of her, head cocked a little to the side. She reaches a cautious hand toward one of the bulbs and the Snargaluff springs to life in an instant. Its vines writhe and strike like angry snakes, complete with a sinister hissing sound as the bulbs rub together. Juniper draws her hand back quickly.
"So...is there a trick to this I should know?" she asks, keeping her eyes on the angry plant.
"You distract it with one hand, while the other immobilises it." Felix replies with a small smile. "Here let me show you."
Juniper waves her left hand in the air above the Snargaluff, its tendrils stretching so far to reach her the pot almost tips over, while Felix closes his fingers around the back of her right.
"Plants like these need a firm hand." he murmurs as he guides Juniper's hand to the plant's base and shows her exactly where to grasp it to soothe the Snargaluff's frantically waving vines. Immediately, the plant's movements subside to a gentle rustling again, and Juniper can now use her free hand to collect the pods.
Felix steps closer, under the pretense of showing Juniper an easier method of extracting a pod and breathes in her perfume again. It's as strangely exhilarating as it was on the grounds, but he refuses to be baited by the part of his brain that questions this. His decision to remain standing directly behind Juniper while she works is entirely for her protection, and has absolutely nothing to do with how much he enjoys being close to her.
Juniper does an excellent job, as Felix knew she would, gathering the pods from the plant's bulbs decisively. But as she extracts the last, her hand on the stem falters and the newly awoken Snargaluff shoots an angry vine toward her face with lightning speed. Juniper jumps back at the same time Felix grabs her shoulders to pull her away, so that she falls against his chest momentarily before righting herself. The unexpected contact sends lightning through Felix, and his brain becomes strangely fuzzy. He gasps a little at the powerful sensation, but Juniper does not appear to notice.
"The vines of that Snargaluff nearly got me!" she exclaims, glancing reproachfully at the plant.
Felix clears his throat and smooths his hair back unconsciously. "You did well. I'm impressed." he mumbles, then clarifies hastily, "With how quickly you collected those pods."
Juniper beams at Felix and his stomach flips again. "Is that it, then?" she asks, carefully moving the bucket of pods out of reach of the violently thrashing Snargaluff.
Felix makes a supreme effort to clear his head. He doesn't want this to be over, but he can't think of anything else to show her. He stalls.
"Well, you learned to cast Immobulus, you brewed babbling beverage, and you learned how to extract Snargaluff pods." He ticks off their lessons on his fingers, wracking his brain for any excuse to keep her here a bit longer or to see her again later.
"Yes..." agrees Juniper suspiciously. "And thank you for all that. But I still don't understand why you're showing me all these things*."
Yes, why has he done all of this? demands his rational side. His flimsy excuse of determining if she's really prefect material just won't hold water with his better sense anymore. Juniper hasn't proven anything about herself that he didn't already know.
Well, I've missed spending time with her, then, that's reasonable isn't it? We're friends! Felix clings to this argument like a life jacket in which his rationality immediately pokes holes. Being friends doesn't explain the strange visceral reactions her presence is causing in him, sensations he never experienced in all the time they cared for the dragon together.
Juniper is watching him expectantly while his brain battles itself, and he has to say something.
"You haven't...figured it out?" stutters Felix, doing his best to seem enigmatic instead of just as perplexed as she is.
Juniper tries to raise her eyebrows, that ridiculous looking expression that crinkles her forehead. Only now, Felix realizes it's actually adorable. He wonders how he's never noticed this before.
And then something clicks in his brain. Felix understands. His eyes widen involuntarily. Some primal instinct demands that he run, and for once his rational side is more than happy to obey.
"Think on it. Then meet me back in the common room later." says Felix abruptly, already moving past her. He comes dangerously close to the wriggling Snargaluff in his effort not to touch any part of her.
"What? When?" Juniper calls after him, confused.
"I don't know. After dinner." He babbles without thinking. For the first time that day, Felix's entire brain is focused on the same goal: getting out of the greenhouse and away from her as fast as humanly possible.
At the beginning of Felix's fourth year, competition to be the next Slytherin prefect was vicious. It seemed everyone his age was dead set on the position, and perfect grades and a nearly flawless school record would not be enough to guarantee anyone the title. Felix was just beginning to despair that the badge he so longed for would slip through his grasp, when a miracle occurred: the Celestial Ball. Almost overnight, hordes of formerly serious students dedicated to their grades and their goals now had eyes only for each other, leaving the path to prefect wide open for someone who could just keep their focus. Felix was more than happy to take advantage of his peers' childish behavior, and he assured himself smugly that he would never allow himself to become distracted by anything quite so ridiculous and fleeting as feelings.
Which makes his newfound fancy for Juniper so much harder to bear.
Safely ensconced in his dormitory, Felix buries himself under all the blankets he can conjure until his outline is barely distinguishable, attempting to hide from his own embarrassment. Why her, he thinks desperately, of all people? She's almost four years younger than he is, and nothing special to look at it. She's rash and reckless and unreasonable, far too many Gryffindor-like traits for any self-respecting Slytherin. Admittedly, she has talent and power, but her academic carelessness and general disregard for order has always driven him mad. Do they have anything in common except their house and a predilection for dragons?
There is no reason, insists the rational voice in his head. It isn't logical. It's a sickness. You catch it from the people you're closest to. This revelation soothes Felix's humiliated ego just a little. It isn't his fault. He's just spent too much time with her this year, that's all. More time than he's spent with any one person.
Felix sits up slowly, disentangling himself from the bedclothes. He takes several deep breaths, willing the horrid fluttering in his stomach to settle so he can come up with a plan. If it's being around her that causes him to feel like this, then that's easily solved. He graduates in a just over a month; all he has to do is stay away her till then. And since finding any time to spend together this semester has been such an arduous task, avoiding her for just a few weeks should be no challenge at all.
There's a familiar wave of grief rising in him, but Felix stifles it, flattening his hair to his head ferociously. These feelings will fade, he assures himself, they have to. It's not as if they have any other choice. Juniper Windsong is no more viable a prospect than Dragonology is a career.
Felix seriously considers skiving off his meeting with Juniper as part of his new resolution to keep his distance. She might not even notice, he thinks bitterly; she has so many other friends, she probably won't have the time to come looking for him if he stands her up. But this line of reasoning runs dangerously to the question Felix refuses to ask himself under any circumstances whatsoever: how Juniper might feel about him. There's no good answer, and he wrenches his mind away from the thought forcibly.
In the end, the part of him that still aches from the abrupt loss of Sparky insists on saying some sort of goodbye. Closure will allow his feelings to fade more quickly, he decides, therefore seeing her one last time is a rational decision.
The common room is less crowded than it was the last time they met here. A few scattered fifth and seventh years are using dinner to catch up on revision at the study tables, and both sofas remain vacant, but Felix eschews the available seats. Just looking at the sofa calls to mind all the times they've sat there together this year, everything she's said to him and every emotion he's been forced to confront.
Lost in his memories, Felix is suddenly startled by a tentative hand on his arm. He turns to find Juniper watching him warily.
"Is everything alright?" she ventures cautiously. Her fingers against the exposed skin of his forearm set his nerves on fire, but he steps away purposely, rational side fully in control.
"Oh, Windsong, there you are." comments Felix airily. "I was just looking around the common room. I'm going to miss our den of mischief when I graduate." He executes a perfect smirk and eyebrow raise combo.
Juniper tilts her head a little, bemused, and Felix knows she's trying to see past his affectations. He redoubles his effort to remain aloof.
"And all of Slytherin will miss you." she assures him before pressing on, refusing to be distracted. "But seriously, Felix. What's going on? Why did you give me all those lessons?"
"You still don't know?" Felix allows his smirk to widen. "Come on... surely you have an idea what I want you to do." He can practically see her brain working behind her eyes, trying to pick apart his strange actions over the last few weeks and discern his motives.
"I don't know, earn more house points*?" Juniper shrugs. "Or make up an excuse to give me house points*?" She narrows her eyes at him slyly but he only continues to look inscrutable.
"Something else, then." Her jocularity vanishes, replaced by the focused expression she wears when she's concentrating on something important; a face so familiar to him now.
"You said... you were teaching me leadership skills. You want me to step up and be a leader?" Juniper finally concludes, cocking her head to the side curiously. "Like you?"
And in spite of his carefully crafted dispassion, Felix feels warmth spread through his chest the way it always does when she compliments him, when her attention belongs to him fully. He can't bring himself to voice his haughty rejoinder. He wants her to smile at him. To see him in that way only she seems to, where he isn't disappointing or unworthy or unsuitable.
"That's exactly right, Juniper." answers Felix softly. He watches her face light up just a little and he wants more.
"You are a born leader." He tells her in a voice entirely free of sarcasm or humor. "I see the potential in you. You're going to bring pride to our house."
Juniper blinks, so thrown off guard she forgets to hide the expression in her eyes. And for a brief moment, the two Slytherins each see the other without masks. He wonders if the same feeling is spreading through her chest, like a brilliant bubble inflating and inspiring him with confidence.
"And I am awarding Slytherin twenty five house points for all your hard work."
The moment ends, and Juniper laughs, shaking her head at him. "I knew it."
"I'm also going to put in a good word with Dumbledore and Snape." adds Felix. "I'll tell them you would make an excellent prefect."
That stops her laughter in its tracks.
"What?" Juniper cries, so loudly a fifth year near them hisses at her reproachfully. "You're joking, right? A prefect who's broken nearly every single rule at Hogwarts?"
Felix smiles at her. A real smile. "There's more to being a leader than following rules."
Juniper looks at him as though seeing him for the first time. There's so much in her eyes that can't be identified. Felix wishes desperately to know what she's thinking now. Rationality wants to refuse him hope, the hope that maybe he means something special to her as well. That one day, maybe...
"Felix," Juniper intones his name. Her gaze is almost too much for him to bear. "Thank you." is all she can say.
His disciplined rationality is strong, but it's never encountered this, and Felix cannot suppress a tidal wave of desire. He wants her to look at him like that a bit longer. He wants to be standing closer to her when she says his name. He wants her to be seventeen, leaving Hogwarts with him, maybe running off to find dragons together. At the very least he wants to hug her, to feel the tingling sensation that comes with her touch again.
Before he can think about it further, Felix reaches out his hand for her to shake. It's an acceptable compromise. Juniper looks at his hand and then at his face before extending her own and clasping firmly.
Felix knows he will miss her. Knows how badly it will hurt later when he's gone. But she won't be fourteen forever, and if he's learned anything from her its to expect the impossible. The thought of Juniper Windsong is a small ray of sun that breaks through the darkness of his future.
"Good luck with the rest your Hogwarts journey." offers Felix simply. "Hopefully we'll meet again years from now."
He gives her one last smile and lets her hand go.