-Mrs Magic-
-loosen my mind from within-
-before it starts to wear and thin-
By the time the Gryffindors had arrived to the tower, it was nearing three in the morning. No one spoke the whole time, and when they got to the common room everyone was awake.
"What happened?" Asked Angelina.
Vena knew that with all of the yelling and sparks in the air people had to of woken up.
It was mostly the older kids that were awake, as they were the most curious. There were still a few younger students, but most of the first and seconds years were still asleep.
Seamus and Dean gave a dramatic retelling of the story, with hand gestures to emphasize their point.
Vena didn't bother listening to their summary of what had happened. She didn't need to relive Professor McGonagall getting hit with four stunners to the chest. It was incredibly serious that she had gotten hit that many times.
One stunner would knock a person out, but four? It was a possibility that she wouldn't wake up.
Everyone went to bed after that. The fifth years were mentally and physically exhausted from tonight, and those who were asleep before were hoping to get a few more hours asleep. By the time everyone had gone to their dormitories, Vena was the only one in the common room.
She couldn't go back to sleep.
Once Vena woke up for the day, that was it. She never went back to sleep, or took naps. She knew that her lack of sleep would hit her around mid-afternoon, but she'll push through. Keeping her usual sleep schedule is very important to Vena.
Vena didn't sit in her chair, but chose to lay on the floor. She couldn't give an exact reason, but the floor looked very comfortable and it seemed like a good decision.
She could feel the coldness from the hardwood floor, contrasting to the warmth from the fireplace. She felt her muscles relax into the ground, like she was melting into the floor.
She didn't close her eyes, or occlude, she just laid there.
Vena didn't know how long it's been since everyone had went to bed, but at some point she heard footsteps and saw Harry come tumbling down the stairs.
He tilted his head curiously at her, a smile gracing on his face. "Comfortable?" He asked, grinning down at her.
"Very much. Come on," she said, patting the empty space to the right of her.
He chuckled to himself, and walked over to where Vena was laying. He plopped down next to her, and turned his head towards her. "So... What are we doing exactly?"
Vena put her pointer finger to her lips. "Shhhhh. Just, lay there. It's relaxing."
She turned her head to stare at the ceiling again. It was nice, for a few minutes, but Harry kept staring at her and she didn't know why. "Are you going to keep staring at me all night?" She asked, a smirk forming on her lips.
She saw him blush from the corner of her eye.
"Sorry. It's just... Never mind."
A beat of silence.
"I hope Professor McGonagall is going to be okay," she whispered.
"She's a fighter. There's no way she'll give those people the satisfaction."
"I just can't believe it. It's a serious injury. I don't know how many people her age that could fully recover from four stunners," she said, frowning. "It's horrible."
"Yeah," he whispered.
She could still feel his eyes on her.
She looked at him, playfully glaring. "Stop looking at me!"
Harry tilted his head, still smiling at her.
Vena liked it when he smiled.
Every time she saw his grin, it felt like a special occasion. Vena noticed that he had many smiles.
Sometimes he had half-smiles, usually when he felt like it wasn't a good time to be smiling. Other times he smiled with no teeth showing, which meant that he had something on his mind.
He had this one smile, one that was very smug and arrogant, usually reserved for her brother, when they were arguing and he got the last word.
He had a smile that was more like laughing, it lit up his eyes and it was as if whatever was happening was the funniest thing in the world.
Then, there was a smile that he seemed to only do with Vena.
She knew it was just for her; she had spent some lessons studying his facial expressions, and never had he used that smile on anyone else. Vena liked that smiled the best. His shoulders were relaxed, and he had that look in his eyes.
That damn look in his eyes.
"I know something that could cheer you up," Harry said in a sing-song voice.
"What?"
"I could teach you how to produce a Patronus," Harry grinned.
"Right now?" Vena asked, excitement already dripping from her voice.
"Yes, right now," the boy smirked.
Vena immediately grabbed her wand from her pocket, and stood up. "Okay, what do I do?" She asked, staring down at Harry.
He lifted his hand in the air, and Vena rolled her eyes before grabbing onto it. She grunted as she pulled him up, but she knew that he was doing most of the work.
Harry took his wand out of his pocket. "You have to think of your happiest memory. Or, that's what it works for most people."
"Isn't that what you do?"
Harry scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks growing red. "Not really, no. When I first casted my Patronus, I thought of what my life would've been like if my parents were still alive. I imagine how happy I would've been, and from that thought I was able to produce my stag."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Vena cleared her throat and raised her wand so it was pointing at a more down angle. "Do I hold it like this...?"
Harry moved closer so he could adjust her position. "A little higher," he said, moving her arm higher so it was at the same level as her nose.
A moment went by before Harry said, "Yeah... Good."
He stepped back and it wasn't until then did Vena realize how close the two were standing. Harry had come closer to adjust her wand, so the boy had stood behind her right shoulder.
Vena blushed at the intimacy of their stances, for the two had never been so close to each other unless they were sitting down. There was something so intimate and protective about the way that the two stood, with Harry towering over her.
Clearing her throat, Vena focused on her happy memory again.
There were so many to choose from; winning the house cup, her and Draco receiving their Hogwarts letters, Vena and her mother planting forget-me-nots in the Malfoy Garden. There was also any time she was with her friends, even Theo.
She thought of pushing Draco into the swamp, and knocking him off of his broom when they were on the pitch that one day. Vena quickly thought of all the times she had believed to be the happiest, until she settled on her perfect one.
"Expecto Patronum," she whispered softly, and out of her wand came a Hippogriff.
"...Brilliant," Harry said.
"I didn't think I would be able to do this on my first try," she told him.
"Yeah, not many people can. It took me a few tries to fully get it down."
Vena focused on it for a minute, amazed, until she had burst out laughing. "My Patronus looks extremely similar to Buckbeak, don't you think?"
Harry chuckled. "It really does."
"Well, that was fun," she said, turning around and smiling at him.
He smiled back down at her. He frowned for a few seconds, like he was debating if he should say something. "If you don't mind me asking, what was your happiest memory? It must of been quite strong if you were able to produce a Patronus on your first try."
Vena laughed quietly.
"It was when me and Draco were 8. We were feeding the Peacocks with my parents, and everyone was so happy. I don't remember the last time my father had a genuine smile. We were laughing and smiling, and it was so beautiful and sunny that day. My mother gets this gleam in her eyes when she smiles, and my father couldn't stop looking at her when her eyes sparkled. My parents don't show a lot of affection towards one another nor to me and Draco, but I could feel the love that they had for us that day. I could tell that they were enjoying every moment. It's my fondest memory."
Harry paused, taking in her words. He then took a step closer to her and said, "that's beautiful, Vena. But, I do have one question."
"What is it?" the girl questioned, taking another step closer to Harry.
Harry took one more step, and the two stood so closely that it would've been strange if not for their vast height difference.
Vena could smell the distinct scent of pine trees off of the boy, which didn't make sense since Harry was no where near trees tonight. She had never stood this close to him, and his scent was overwhelming to her.
His scent was addicting; and she didn't know if she could ever get enough of it. Vena thought that the scent was so perfect for Harry.
"Those peacocks don't happen to be white, are they?," Harry breathed, tilting his head down and leaning forward.
"As a matter of fact they are," Vena remarked playfully.
Then, Harry started laughing.
"What is it?" Vena asked, confused.
Still laughing, Harry stumbled, "At the Quidditch World Cup last year, did your tent happen to have white peacocks in front of it?"
Vena groaned. "Don't remind me. My father only brought them there to show off, I was so embarrassed when we were walking back to the tent and everyone could see that my family was the gits who wanted to bring animals for no apparent reason."
Harry laughed harder. His shoulders were shaking, and it looked like he had no other care in the world. She wished that Harry was like this more often. She hopes that one day she gets to see him laugh like this again.
"They were so loud too! My father had hired some people to move them to the campsite, and they were screaming for no reason. Or, I think it was screaming. I don't really know how to describe what a peacock sounds like when it's mad, but it's loud. Really loud. So loud, that I could hear them from the opposite side of the Manor."
He kept laughing. Vena didn't want him to stop.
"The people were moving them at like, six in the morning too! And you know what time I go to sleep, so you know it wasn't the most pleasurable thing to wake up to."
Harry finally calmed down, clutching his stomach. "Well, I think a Hippogriff suits you quite nicely."
"Why's that?"
"Hippogriffs are known to be fiercely protective over those they love. They also demand respect and expect nothing less. I always thought you were quite intimidating when we were younger." Harry said softly, taking a step closer to her.
"You think you know me so well," Vena said, taking a step closer.
"I may not know everything about you, but I have a couple of ideas," Harry said, leaning towards her face.
"Don't go making any assumptions," Vena said breathlessly.
Harry leaned down even further, and Vena tipped her head up so they were only an inch apart. "I only make assumptions when I know I'm right," Harry said.
He looked down at her mouth. Vena subconsciously licked her lips, and Harry's eyes darted to her tongue. She could feel his shaky breath on her, and his scent was so intoxicating that Vena thought she might pass out.
Vena never noticed how good pine trees smell until this moment.
The two were leaning closer, and closer...
Until the sun had shone through the clouds. It was like a light had turned on in the sky.
Harry and Vena were so immersed in Patronuses and more so each other, that they hadn't even noticed the sunrise.
Pulled away from their moment, the two jerked their heads to the side as if they had been slapped.
Both blushing furiously, Harry and Vena packed up their things and quickly made their way up the staircases, not once making eye contact with each other.
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AN:
Today was my first in person day of school!1!1!1!1!1! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, tbh for me it felt pretty much the same beside like school policies and stuff so it's nice to be back. But today was all of my easy classes and tomorrow will be all of my hard ones and I know that today I will start learning and stuff so that is going to suck so much. Honestly I'm kinda scared that I will oversleep and I don't want to because my friend takes me so I hope I don't lol plus I get ready like really slow in the mornings so we'll see how that goes. I also know for certain that I will have to take a short hiatus soon because I am no where near where I would like to be for the half blood prince so I will need to catch up on that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter tho!!! And just remember, I did say this was a slow burn and ik u are sad abt the almost kiss but just think about the tension. If you read all of this I will be very impressed
-M