┏ ೋღ : 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂. ೋღ ┓

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓;
𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔶 𝔟𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔡𝔞𝔶

┗━━ ೋღ : ©-fictophilic : ೋღ ━━━┛

𝕲RINNING TRIUMPHANTLY, you gazed at the letter marked in red ink on the top of your paper.

"O".

That was the grade you had gotten for the assignment that you had done and turned in last week; an assignment where you had to choose a charm that you've learned so far this year — revised charms included — and do an essay about it; history, use, light color, hand movement, and other various things about the charm.

You had chosen to do your assignment on the revised Fire-Making Charm — A.K.A. "Incendio".

"Oh, come on!" Rowan groaned, staring at his grade. "A 'P'? Helga, I thought I did well on this assignment!"

The Gryffindor-Hufflepuff group that you surrounded yourself with on the first day of Charms soon became the usual and you found yourself seated amongst them right now, in the same arrangement as that day.

You weren't particularly close with them, but they were just about the only people you knew in this class, so you were currently seated with them as you worked on the classwork Professor Flitwick had assigned at the start of class.

"What did you get, Lee?" Rowan questioned, leaning over to peer over Lee's shoulder.

"I've gotten an 'A'," answered Lee, grinning proudly.

"Georgie and I both have gotten an 'A' as well," Fred commented, he and George turning their papers to show off their newly marked papers.

"Quite amazing we are, if I do say so myself," George added, tilting his head upward proudly.

"Only because Oliver and I had to force you two to study," Angelina remarked, her eyes slightly narrowing.

George shivered and grimaced, remembering the times when Oliver forcefully dragged him and Fred to the library. He then peeked over Rowan's shoulder to glance at Oliver, who you learned was the boy who sat next to Rowan when you were in your normal seats. "I swear, he's like the devil when it comes to Quidditch."

"Wouldn't even let us fail so we could stay on the team," Fred added, grinning. "It's 'cause we're such great beaters."

"I believe you're correct, Freddie," George agreed, nodding.

"Oh please. Don't be getting a big head when you've both barely passed the exam," Angelina scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I got an 'E'," she added, though her tone held disappointment despite it being a good passing grade. "But I wish I had gotten something better."

"Well, an 'E' is still good," Cedric reassured charmingly with a smile.

Rowan chuckled and slightly rolled his eyes. "You're saying that as if you didn't get an 'O' again."

"I never said I did," said Cedric, and his brows raised while he shrugged his shoulders.

Rowan looked at the Hufflepuff boy incredulously, his brows raised in disbelief. "Oh yeah? Then what did you get?"

Cedric paused, chuckling airily. The corners of his mouth were turned downward, but he was somehow still smiling — a charming upside-down smile, you could say. "...No comment."

"He looks guilty," you accused jokingly yet mindlessly, speaking up for the first time in a while.

He laughed and shook his head. Averting his eyes to you, he asked, "Oh yeah? Well then, what'd you get?"

"The kid genius probably got an 'O' as well," Fred teased, snatching your assignment from the desk's surface.

George leaned over his twin's shoulder and peered down at the red mark on your paper. "And right again you are, Freddie."

"Really?" Angelina questioned, peering over Fred's other shoulder. "Godric, (Y/n). You have to help me out sometime. Are you just good at everything?"

Rolling your eyes, you struggled to bite back a smile at the sudden ego boost. "Uhm, no, not really. I just had a lot of time to review this certain spell, so I decided to do the essay on it."

The Fire-Making Charm was first taught to first-years, then revisions were introduced to second-years, and more revisions were introduced to fifth-years. Since the spell was in the first and second-years' curriculum, you spent a lot of time teaching this spell to Theodore in the last few tutoring sessions you had.

"Yeah right," Lee scoffed, slightly laughing. "You're a third-year in fifth-year Charms, not only passing but also acing the class. It's a surprise you still find time for Quidditch and such."

"Well, my parents are always on my back about getting good marks," you said nonchalantly, shrugging your shoulders and rolling your eyes as if it didn't bother you. "And, uhm, I guess my dad said Quidditch is a good sport to play."

"Speaking of Quidditch, are you ready for our match next month?" Fred piped up curiously.

"Uhm, I guess so," you answered unsurely. You glanced down at your paper, quickly writing down one answer before continuing so that you don't have to finish the work outside of class. "Davies is increasing the practice time though, which sucks."

"Tell us about it," Angelina groaned.

"Except Oliver's like that all the time," George scoffed playfully.

"He's absolutely mental when it comes to Quidditch," Fred added, grinning. "You Ravenclaws better be ready to face his insanity."

"Noted," you replied shortly with a nod, letting out an uneasy chuckle before shooting him a confident smirk. "We'll try our best."

"I already know I'm rooting for Gryffindor," Lee voice out proudly, sending you a glance. "No offense, (Y/n)."

You shook your head, cracking a small smile. "None taken."

"Everyone's a little bias for their house teams," said Cedric, his face dawning a smile.

"Now, that's gotten me curious," George chimed in, slightly narrowing his brown eyes at Golden Boy Diggory.

Fred followed his twin, also narrowing his matching-colored eyes at Cedric. "Who are you gonna root for?"

The Hufflepuff went slack-jawed and his mouth parted as he gaped. He blinked rapidly and hesitantly at the two expectant Gryffindor boys — with the now added edition of Lee.

You and Angelina made eye contact before both shaking your heads and returning to finish your classwork.

Cedric raised his hands just above his shoulders, next to his head, as if he was a child forbidden to touch something. "Don't bring me into this. I'm rooting for all of you. You're all my friends."

The twins and Lee scoffed and rolled their eyes. Cedric beamed like a kid, proud of his answer.

You bit the inside of your cheek, a smile blooming on your face when you heard that Cedric considered you his friend. Despite his statement though, you still didn't consider you guys that close — at least, not as close as you were with Kyra, Luna, or Violaine.

"How very stereotypically Hufflepuff of you, Cedric," you joked with your eyes stuck on your classwork as you worked on it, attempting to get out of your shell more.

Cedric considered you a friend. Now you just needed to feel like it.

He shrugged, jokingly fixing his yellow Hufflepuff tie with a grin. "Well, I do pride myself in being a Hufflepuff."

Lee then turned to face Rowan, who sat on his right. "Well then, who are you gonna root for, Rowan?"

Rowan hummed and crossed his arms across his chest. His lips pulled into a thin line and his brows furrowed as he pretended to be in thought. "Hm..."

After a moment, Rowan shrugged carelessly and uncrossed his arms, resting his forearms on the desk in front of him. "I don't really care who wins that match. Hufflepuff's not playing." He then subtly sent a nod over his shoulder. "And as long as Slytherin doesn't win the cup, I consider it a win."

Your eyes followed to where he was gesturing to — a pack of Slytherins crowding around two desks. Among them was Adrian Pucey, one of the Slytherin Quidditch team's chasers.

Lee nodded, agreeing with Rowan's statement. "That's fair."

"Okay, uhm, hold on..." You trailed off, glancing around the library with Theodore sitting across from you.

This was another one of your tutoring sessions — around your fifth one, the second one of the month of October.

It was ample time for people to become friends with someone — well, for other people at least. For now, you'd stick to calling Theodore an acquaintance.

You were more okay with speaking to him now, albeit only in this section of the library. You weren't quite close enough to him to bully him as you would with Kyra, or even try joking with him like you would with your Charms group.

This corner of the library was quiet, as per usual. Nothing was able to be heard except for the muffled, low chatter of the far away students and the ticking clock that hung high on the wall.

The setting sun started hiding behind a far hill and the sky was a dark ombré of warm colors turning cool to match the moon that would soon appear. Sparkling stars barely appeared, only flashing every once in a while to make their presence known.

Glancing down at your neck, your eye catches the sight of the simple necklace tht hung around your collar. Shrugging, you unclasp the necklace and hang it in front of your face to gaze at it as if to observe it.

After a second of deciding, you pull roughly at the thin chain and snap the thing into two separate chains.

"Oh, Godric!" Theodore uttered in surprise, seeing you break the necklace in half. He was also slightly surprised that you had broken it so easily. "Why on Earth would you do that?"

"Practice the charm on it," you explained shortly, setting the necklace down on the surface of the wooden table.

Right now, you were helping Theodore perfect the Mending Charm — a charm that was taught to first-years.

He nodded briefly before clearing his throat. Pointing the end of his wand at the broken thin chains, he waved his hand in sharp backward 'G' shape and said, "Reparo!"

The ends where the necklace had snapped lifted up into the air, slowly hovering closer together. They connected together, fitting like puzzle pieces, and gently fell back onto the table.

"That was good," you complimented, raising your eyebrows in surprise. You lifted the necklace up carefully and inspected it before reaching behind your head to clasp the ends together.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Theodore questioned genuinely, watching the necklace drop to rest around your collar. "I still can't quite tell with you yet. You're a hard person to read."

"Maybe I like it that way." You shrugged, humming in an enigmatic manner. Crossing your arms, you laid back lazily in your wooden chair. "So, any other spells you want to work on?"

"Well, we just learned the Seize and Pull Charm," he stated, shrugging.

Nodding, you filtered through your memories to remind yourself of the spell that you had to teach yourself. "Do you remember the words?" You asked, resulting in a nod.

Your eyes scanned your surroundings and you turned around, pointing to a book that was shelved on one of the higher shelves. "Use the charm to get that book."

"Alright," he hummed in compliance. Theodore pointed his wand at the book and said the words to the charm, "Carpe Retractum!"

Nothing happened.

"You forgot the hand motion," you noted, glancing back at him before gazing back up at the book. "It's a simple 'V' shape."

Raising his wand again, he brought it down diagonally and brought it back up, forming a 'V'. "Carpe Retractum!"

An orange rope of light shot out of the wand. Lurching forward, it wrapped around the covers that squished thick stacks of pages.

"Now, just pull," you told him, ducking slightly so that it wouldn't hit you.

He reeled his wand back like a fishing rod, jerking the book towards him. The orange rope shortened as the book neared Theodore.

You watched amused as he failed to catch it, instead catching it with his head.

"Ah, bloody hell!" Theodore winced and covered the bump that started to form on his head, the book loudly falling onto the wooden floor panels.

You coughed out a choked laugh, slapping a hand over your grin as you gazed at the boy who sat across from you.

He removed the hand from his head and stared at you in disbelief with his brows raised and furrowed. "Dude!"

Removing your hand from your mouth, you shake your hand. "Sorry! I— I swear I'm not laughing!" You kissed your teeth and bit back an obvious smile.

"It's not funny," Theodore said seriously. You nodded, still struggling to stifle the growing grin. Seeing you struggle to not laugh caused him to chuckle and he smiled, now finding the situation a little more humorous. "I said it's not funny!"

You nodded, grinning and reiterating his words. "It's not funny."

"Hey, (Y/n)!" A voice called out to you. You paused your steps, turning around to gaze down the semi-empty corridors.

Cho smiled, walking up to you as she sidestepped a few wandering students. "Are you headed to practice?"

You nodded silently, not finding the need for words.

It was a different day than when you had tutored Theodore, the time being just after class had ended. Just out the window, you could see the light gray clouds being lined with the orange dim light of the currently setting sun.

"I'll come with," Cho beamed, her steps coming to a short stop in front of your figure.

"Mkay," you said meekily, adding a slight hum to your soft tone.

Pivoting around and starting to continue your walk down the hall, Cho's steps fell in alignment with yours. The soft clicking of your guys' short heeled black shoes, accompanied by the quiet talking of a few other students in the halls, was all that was heard.

At first, there was nothing but silence between you two. To you, it was awkward, but you didn't want to break it in fear of making it even more awkward by saying something wrong. You tensely tightened your grip on your school bag instinctively.

As you exited the castle and started making your way to the changing tent that was seen in the very distance, Cho started to speak, "So, the first Hogsmeade trip of the year is coming up. Since it's your first year going, any ideas on where you're headed first?"

You shrugged, the gravel crunching beneath your feet. "Not sure."

"I recommend Honeydukes," Cho suggested, a kind smile etched on her features. "It's a sweets shop. I love going there whenever I go to Hogsmeade."

Nodding, you hummed in thought. "That's not a bad idea. I think I'll give it a visit."

"Do you like sweets?" Cho questioned curiously.

"Yeah," you answered simply. Before it could once again return to the awkward silence you very much feared, you added, "what about you?"

"Oh, love them!" Cho said cheerfully. "Pumpkin Pasties are my favorite, but Wizochoc is amazing as well."

You gasped upon realizing you found someone who liked a usually hated candy as well. "I love Wizochoc! Kyra says it taste terrible, but I don't know what she's talking about."

"No no, Wizochoc is amazing," Cho emphasized. "I recommend Charm Choc if you like Wizochoc. They're kinda similar, but also a little different."

"I'll be sure to look for it when I go to Honeydukes."

Ah, Astronomy...

'Screw Astronomy!' You mentally cursed, pressing your hand against your face and sliding it downward, dragging the skin down slightly as well.

This day has been dragging on for what you felt like was forever.

There was Divination, which wasn't as exciting as some other classes, but definitely tolerable now that you and Dean were at least semi-friends now.

He was outgoing, yet understandable when you were still quite closed off. Dean's quite easygoing though, so it was somewhat natural to speak to him at times.

Then there was Potions. It was terrible. You sat in the same place in unequivocal silence, next to Mattheo and surrounded by his little clique.

Theodore never talked to you in that class, or anywhere anytime outside of your tutoring sessions — you didn't mind though.

You could help but feel like something was going on in that class though — something that you were a part of but didn't know about. Pansy and Draco kept giving Lorenzo these frequent glances and the Berkshire boy would adamantly try talking to you.

You obliged, albeit a bit hesitantly, to his attempts at conversation. It was always surface stuff after all, nothing personal was spoken about — only Potions work.

In Transfigurations, it was fine, you guess. You didn't talk in that class and just kept to yourself until the class was over, but it still dragged on for what felt like an eternity.

Now, being stuck in Astronomy was not how you wanted to spend your last few hours of being 13 years old.

That's right.

Your birthday was tomorrow.

And you wouldn't be spending it with your family. Instead, you'd be celebrating your belated birthday with them during holiday break — in around two months.

Your eyes scanned the starry night sky, attempting to locate a constellation so that you could draw and replicate it on the piece of parchment paper that was smooshed between your palm and the cold, hard flooring.

Blinking your eyes tiredly, you stifled a yawn and traced your inked quill across the paper, copying down the starry outline that you had seen in the sky. You briefly brouht your eyes back up, trying to remind yourself of how it looked like so you could continue your drawing.

"Pst, hey, (Y/n)," Kyra whispered softly, catching your attention.

"Hm?" You hummed. Shifting your eyes away from the scenery, you stared questioningly at Kyra.

She raised her wrist, tapping the face of the watch that was strapped around it.

'12:02' was what the time read.

Kyra smiled, whispering, "Happy birthday."

You nodded slowly, biting back a