(Celia POV)
"Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal. It's a wizard's bread and butter, really." Harry explains to the class as we all stood either side of the small walk way we made for Harry and Nigel.
"So come on, then, Nigel. Give it your best shot." We all watched the second year as he nervously gulps as he fixed his posture and then whacked his wand forward.
"Stupefy!" He shouts and Harry was knocked on to his back, we all look at Harry and then back to Nigel as he too was on the ground.
"Good. Not bad at all, Nigel. Well done." Harry praises as he got himself off the ground.
"You okay kid?" I asked as I walked over and helped Nigel up.
-
It was now other students' turn to use the spells that's Harry has taught them, he wanted me there to help out since I knew a lot of defensive spells.
"Don't worry. I'll go easy on you." Ron said to Hermione.
"Thanks, Ronald." Hermione said and then looks at me, I shrug my shoulders as they walked to the opposite ends of the walkway we've made.
"Come on, Ron." The twins cheer.
"Come on, Ron." A few other boys say.
"You can do it." Dean said.
I walked over and stood beside Neville as he shook his fist to Ron to cheer him on, Neville looks at me as I cross my arms and watch.
"One Sickle." George whispers to Fred.
"You're on." Fred whispered back.
"Wands at the ready," I say and they pulled their wands out, "go."
"Stupefy." Hermione said first and Ron yelps as he went flying back. All the boys groan as the girls surround Hermione as she laughs with them.
"Thank you." Fred said as George slapped the money into Fred's hand.
"Shut up." He grumbles.
"I let her do that. It's good manners, isn't it?" Ron awkwardly cleared his throat as Fred crossed his arms and gave Ron a look.
"It was completely intentional..." Ron mumbles.
"Right," I say sarcastically, "totally intentional."
"Shut up, yeah?" Ron grumbles and I snickered, "you against Harry, come on Mrs Smartass."
"I take that as a challenge," I told Ron proudly before looking at Harry. "Potter!" I shout and he looks at me, "you and me, let's go."
"All right," a few people 'ooh' as we stood into position.
"Are we just doing stupefy or can we block?" I asked him.
"Blocking is allowed," Harry told me and I nod my head.
"Should we show them an example?"
"Yep," we got into position, "want to show protego?" Harry asks.
"What's protego?"
"The Shield Charm, Protego, is a charm that protects the caster with an invisible shield that reflects spells and blocks physical entities. Conjurations can sometimes rebound directly off it back towards the caster, or in other cases, may ricochet off in other directions or dissipate as soon as they hit the shield. There were multiple variations of the Shield Charm." I explained to the group as I pulled my wand out.
"Ready, Malfoy?" Harry asks.
"Yes, Potter," I reply, I motioned him to go and he gave a quick nod.
"Stupefy!" He shouts.
"Protego!" I wave my wand in front of me and the stupefy spell was blocked.
"Whoa..."
Harry and I look at each other and smile.
"Dammit," I heard Ron groan as the twins laugh at him. I playfully wink at Ron as I look back at Harry and laugh.
—
(Another lesson)
"Now, focus on a fixed point and try again." Harry said as he walked around the room.
"Expelliarmus." Neville still hasn't succeeded in casting the spell yet.
"I'm trying," Neville said to me and I smile as I held his wrist and did the movement of Expelliarmus.
George was watching me with a smile on his face as me and Neville giggle, "no— okay, like this," I told Neville, giggling as I move his wrist in the movement.
"Like that?" I nod my head and pulled my wand out.
"Ready?" I grin, Neville nods and I showed him. "Together?" I counted down with my fingers and we did the movement together.
"Expelliarmus." We said together, then did the wand movement. I still had no idea that George was watching me as I tap Neville on the knee and he stood like I did.
"Ooh, getting there," I clap softly before we did it again. I tilt his arm up slightly. "Like that, okay?" He nods and then tried it again.
"Expelliarmus!" He was getting closer.
"Keep trying, you'll get it, I promise," I assured him as I kept walking around, Harry and I High-five as we walked past each other.
—
(Another lesson)
"Very good. Keep your concentration." Harry told Cho as the others were holding Nigel in the air was a charm.
"Great. A little higher." Harry pushes her arm softly up, Cho was so distracted that Nigel fell on to the ground with a groan.
"I'm okay. I'm okay." Nigel says as he sprung up and dusted himself off.
I facepalmed while the twins laughed at me, "shut up!" I whined.
—
(Another lesson)
"Stupefy."
"Stupefy."
"Diminuendo." Nigel shrunk the target as it wheeled away, I nod my head as I watched them take turns.
"Working hard is important, but there's something that matters even more: Believing in yourself." I told them as they were split in individual groups hitting the targets created.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Levicorpus."
"Got it."
"Think of it this way. Every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now: students. If they can do it, why not us?" Harry said.
This was going perfect, my eyes wander over to George as he concentrates on hitting the target.
"Stupefy!" I nod my head while crossing my arms.
I point my wand to the mini target and sigh, "Engorgio." The target grows back to its normal size and I motioned them to start.
"Stupefy!" Ginny knocks it forward and smiles proudly.
"Expelliarmus!" Neville shouts and it too knocks into a different direction.
"Yes, Neville!" I clapped as they continue to knock it around.
"Expelliarmus." Cho said and it gets knocked to Luna.
"Expelliarmus." Luna said in her usual dreamy tone as it continues to rotate around the circle.
"Reducto." Ginny said and the target turns to ash. We were all impressed with Ginny as she sheepishly smiles.
"Could you...?" I nod at Harry and waved my wand as a new one was created.
"And go!"
—
(Christmas lesson)
"Expelliarmus!" Cho whipped her wand and I nod my head in approval, I was eager to see Neville try as I wandered.
"Expelliarmus." Another person says.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Expelliarmus." Neville whipped his wand and Parvati's wand flies out of her hand, a big smile wiped across my face as he scoffs in astonishment.
"Fantastic, Neville. Well done, man!" Harry praises as everyone ran up and congratulated him.
I ran up and jumped into his arms in a hug as we all cheered for Neville and his success.
"I told you!" He laughs, hugging me as I squeezed him, out cheeks were together as we giggled.
"Thanks for helping me!" His face was red as he carefully put me down.
"It's what I'm here for!" I was really happy for him, not knowing a certain redhead was jealous of the scene before him as I gave Neville a kiss on the cheek and grinned at him.
-
"So that's it for this lesson," Harry told the group as they stood around and listened to him, "Now, we're not gonna be meeting again until after the holidays. So just keep practicing on your own as best you can. And well done, everyone. Great, great work."
We all clapped before going to gather our things to leave.
"Well done, mate." Ron told Harry.
"Thanks." He replies.
"See you after Christmas!"
"See you in the Common Room, Harry." Hermione said as she and Ron were leaving.
"Thanks a lot, Harry."
"No worries." He replies to them.
"Thank you so much!" I felt someone grab my shoulder as I grabbed my things, I stood up and saw Neville.
"Hey," I smile, "I'm so proud of you for finally being able to produce the Expelliarmus charm." I told him with a smile.
"Thank you so much," Neville said to me with a grin, "I owe it to you and Harry though," he says, "so I wanted to say thank you."
"Hey, anytime," I say to him, "oh, I actually have a present for you," I told him as I opened my travel bag and then pulled the present out.
"Oh?" He was surprised as I handed it to him, "wow, thank you so much," he says and I motion him to open it.
"Go on," I say and he opens it and gasps, "I found it in a book shop, very hard to come by... but I thought of you when I saw it." I told him.
"Wow!" He pulls me into a hug and I giggle before giving Neville a hug back, "thank you so much, Celia! Wow!" He let me go but he had an arm around my shoulders as he opened it.
"I also..." I smiled as I point, "took the liberty to track the author down for you," I told him as we stare down at the Herbology book.
I know it seems weird, but this book was written by one of the greatest Herbologists in the entire wizarding world.
"How can I repay you?" Neville asks me in pure awe as he touched the signature.
"It's a Christmas present, Neville, no need to do anything," I say to him.
"This is just..." he was lost for words, "thank you."
"It's not a problem, Neville," I say before he hugs me again, I pat his arm and then shut my eyes.
"You're amazing you are," he told me as he let me go, I open my eyes and saw Fred and George talking to Harry.
"Thank you," I smile and then he nods as he walks off. I sigh as my shoulders slump while I trudged over to the Weasley pranksters.
"Sounds great, guys. Would you excuse me?" Harry asks them and then they saw me.
"See ya later, Potter," I say as the three of us walked away from him.
"Bye and thank you for helping!" Harry shouts and I wave to him before turning the corner with Fred and George either side of me.
"How was it with your boyfriend?" George asked as we briskly walk down the corridor so we wouldn't get caught by Filch.
"I have a boyfriend?" I ask in confusion, "damn, I didn't know that, they should've told me." He wasn't looking at me as I stopped and peeked around the corner before waving them to go past.
"He's talking about when you jumped into Nevilles arms," Fred whispered as he walked past.
"I'm proud of him!" I hissed back at them, "he's not my boyfriend, I don't like— whatever." I roll my eyes and went a different direction.
"I know, but he's jealous," Fred told me, winking, "night Malfoy."
"Mhm," I grumbled, walking down the corridor alone with a small wave.
—
(Next day)
"Going to HQ for Christmas feels weird," I told the twins as we walked down the corridor with our trunks behind us.
"Yeah, I kinda miss home," Fred said to us.
"Me too," George agreed, I was still mad at him.
"I wish I was seventeen," I sighed out in a small whine.
"Why?" They asked me.
"Apparation," I told them, "oh, hey Lee!" I wave and Lee saw us and waved back, Lee walked over and joined us.
"What are you guys doing for Christmas?" Lee asked us.
"The usual," George grins, "creating new products, mess around and annoy mum."
"I already feel sorry for Mrs Weasley." I told Lee.
"Yeah, me too," he says and we both laugh as the twins glare at us.
"Anyway, going to see my boyfriend since someone thinks I have one," I grumbled, walking away.
"Who is it?" Lee asked me curiously.
"I need to find Neville, I forgot to give him his bookmark for his herbology Christmas present!" I yell down the corridor as I turn around and jogged off.
—
"Celia!" I look over my shoulder as Draco jogged up to me.
"Hey, Fred?" I ask, he turns around and saw Draco before looking at me, "could you...?" He nods as he took my trunk and George took my cat cage.
"See you on the train!" I wave and then face Draco.
"I miss you at home, sister," Draco told me as he put his hand on my shoulder.
"Isn't it better that I'm gone than there?" I asked him in confusion, "dad and Mum didn't even want me, I'm better off with them." I say as I watched Fred, George and Lee muck around while laughing.
"I know," I look back at him and open my arms, Draco hesitates before hugging me, I just squeeze his body tight and shut my eyes, hoping that all his sadness would wash away.
"I love you, Draco," I whispered into his ear as I slowly pull away and kiss his forehead, "you may be a slime ball, but you're my brother, I still love you."
"You're going to miss the train," he told me as I fix his hair for him and nod, he slowly let his focus fall on to his shoes as I watch him before walking away.
"Bye Draco," he nods his head slowly and then turned away from me while I walked towards the train.
I got on and found the compartment Fred, Lee and George were in.
"That looked rough," Lee told me.
"Calm down, commentator," I told him jokingly as I sat down in the corner and look through the window.
"Ten points for Hufflepuff on that sassy remark," Lee grins and I roll my eyes.
"Ding!" I giggled as I look back at my friends. "I wish you had more free rein on the commentary."
"I try not to be biased when Gryffindor plays," Lee replies and I pout.
"That would've been fun to hear."
"McGonagall always warns me before the game to not go overboard," Lee chuckles as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"I remember Harry's first game and I told Flint off for foul play," I laugh, "that was horrible, keepers shouldn't be able to use the beaters bat to knock the opposing team out."
"Marcus Flint is a prat," George sneers, "he thinks he's the big man when all he really is, is a buck tooth moron." We all laughed at his comment.
"So, how was Neville?" Fred grins and I groaned.
"Can we not?" I ask, "he's not my boyfriend, I don't like him like that, give up." I told them sternly, "I'm single for the rest of my life because no one likes me, give it bloody up."
"I dunno," George said, "you seem to be in love with Neville."
"My Aunty ruined his life," I said bitterly, "sorry that I want him to know that someone else other than his grandmother likes him." I glared at George and he guiltily smiles.
"So you don't fancy Neville?" George asked.
"I like him as a friend," I said, "nothing more, nothing less." George nods before turning his head away from me. "Keep my pretty name outta ya mouth, Weasley, badmouthing me cause you're jealous." I scoffed and he turned to look at me.
"Jealous?" Fred and Lee glanced at each other before leaving back in their seats. "I'm not jeal—"
"Oh bullshit," I snapped, "you're jealous of me giving others more attention than you."
"Am not," he scoffed.
"Are too," I reply, "oh, and who kissed me?" I said and Fred's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Ooh snap."
"Hey— no!" He spluttered, cheeks glowing hot with red, "shut up." George hissed at me, so I moved closer to him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did that annoy you?" I ask sarcastically, "cause you being jealous and saying he's my boyfriend annoyed me." I was almost in his face.
"Well, I should apologise now, shouldn't I?" George asked me.
"Yes." I reply, "you should before I backhand you."
"Well, Celia Malfoy," George smirked at me as I was inches from his face, "I'm sincerely sorry for annoying you." I glare at him before sighing.
"You're forgiven," I sat back down and then scooted away from George.
"Are you okay now?" Lee asked.
"Sure."
"Whatever."
—
"Mr Midnight," I smile as he meows back at me, the train was moving smoothly and the boys were all asleep.
"Do you think we're going to be safe?" I whisper to him as he sat in my lap comfortably.
"Meow!"
I only giggle at his reply before petting the furry creature in my lap; my attention turns to the landscape outside the train and I shift so I was more comfortable to watch.
My back pressed against the wall as George's head was on my shin, I almost felt like kicking him from how he was acting earlier.
But I didn't because I would never hurt George.
"I hope so," I whispered, I felt George shift and I glanced at him before I continue to watch the landscape.
"Hey," George said groggily, "what are you doing?"
"Ignoring you," I reply.
"Hey," he whined quietly, so I look at him, George rested his head on my knee and I rose an eyebrow.
"What?" I asked him, his eyes go round, he looked like a kicked puppy.
"Forgive me?" He pouts, I just blankly stare.
"Fat chance," I mutter, "you angered me." George sat up and Mr Midnight hopped off my lap and went to Fred across from me.
"Can you..." he tapped my knee, so I moved my legs as he slid between them and then collapsed on top of me.
"Why?" I groaned. He hugs me and I sighed, wrapping my arms around George.
"Because I don't want you to be mad at me." George mumbled, he was so warm too.
"You're going to put me to sleep," I muttered.
"Then fall asleep," he mutters back.
"Not with you on top of me I won't," I grumbled, his arms tighten and I suddenly was on top of him, "whoa— bloody hell," he snickers at me.
"There," he got comfortable and then tapped my leg to bring it up.
"Isn't this weird to you?" I muttered.
"Nope, you've done this to me before." I just sigh before getting comfortable.
"All right, wake me up in fifteen minutes." I yawn.
"Okay." My eyes fluttered closed, I tuned into his heartbeat as he softly rubbed my back, how he knew I liked that, I had no idea.
Best sleep I've had in a while.