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highmarc · 1 year

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Happy. He was once. // Pt. 3

Pt.1 is here

Pt.2 is here

This one is not angsty, rather fluffy-ish? Like a piece of chocolate after a dementor attack.

Hope you enjoy it, even though lately I feel like deleting everything here, lmao.

GN main character. Ominis has feelings towards MC. MC doesn’t see that, because they basically live in guilt.

TW: stupid grammar? not proofread yet

Word count: 1422

The two friends stop in a tavern. Ominis’s auror friend practises their question-dodging technique, while he enjoys a chocolate frog and his friend’s company. The worse is yet to come.

Sadly, i don't know the original artist. If you happen to know them - please, write their name in comments, I'll add it here.

The tavern met the two with its usual hustle and bustle – loud guffawing, busy chit chatters, sweet scent of butterbeer mixed with something less nice – perspiration and awful odor of some unknown kind. But it all was far better than dark corridors of Azkaban, its labyrinthine passages, wet cold walls, hungry deranged stares of prisoners... The lack of dementors was a cherry on top of the cake called “The Three Broomsticks”.

Walking in, Ominis had nearly tripped because of all the people coming in and out, but his friend, again, was there for him and saved the situation, catching him by the sleeve.

The two took open seats somewhere in the corner – a luxury in such a busy hour – away from the prying eyes of curious patrons. Ominis still didn't look well with his skin pale and head down – he felt worn out. Both physically and emotionally.

“This is what you get for meeting dementors. Nasty creatures.” – he thought.

Gaunt let out a sigh and closed his eyes – it was too bright, so bright here that it made his head ache. Was it daylight or candles? Or even both? He didn’t smell candles, so, it must be a very sunny day today. He didn’t like days like these. He enjoyed gloomy autumn afternoons – the sound of rain tapping on the roof, gentle leaves falling to his feet, worrying birds flying here and there; he wasn’t fond of summers, as you can tell for sure. Summers gave him headache. And even more than summers he hated having to suffer from headaches. The loud atmosphere of the place didn’t help either.

Happily, the auror knew exactly what to do. They left their seat in haste, leaving their friend for minutes; they soon returned with two butterbeers.

“First aid coming!” – they hugged Ominis, patting his back.

“It's going to be all right. Here, have this.”

They took a chocolate frog out of their coat’s pocket and placed it onto their friend’s palm. He smiled and shook his head in disbelief.

“A chocolate frog? Are you serious? An auror with a chocolate frog in their pocket. Remarkable.”

Ominis chuckled. Sometimes he forgot how childish they could be in all their seriousness and coldness. An auror of such experience – daring, intimidating, even, was a walking soft spot.

But everybody has soft spots; and their were, definitely, chocolate, butterbeer and their friends. Ominis had hoped he was on the list of soft spots too. On a different one, though, the one which included, well, infatuations. Though, his hopes for closer relationships, proper wooing, always dashed against the cliffs of their “aurorship”. For them he would forever remain a close friend – nothing more – which must be protected from the darkness of the world and comforted every time he needed them.

“I'll say.” They smiled back and started drinking their butter beer, taking large sips, while Ominis was busy opening the chocolate frog.

“Which card did I get?” – he asked impatiently, showing the card to the auror from the wrong side. They gently turned it, so the picture would face them.

“Ah. Ignatia Wildsmith. You have three of these. If I remember it right.”

“Ugh. Yes. It's the forth. She’s so annoying. Keep it, it's yours after all.” – he said in a sorrowful manner and placed the card on the table. The pompous looking witch soon disappeared from the frame.

“So, you're feeling better, I see.” – Ominis’s friend smiled triumphantly, finishing off their beer.

“All thanks to you.”

“It's the least I can do for you.”

“You promised to tell me something.”

The auror sighed in annoyance.

“Oh, can we just drink butterbeer without discussing something this important...”

Gaunt chuckled, recalling how many times they had discussed “something important” here before.

“No, it's how one deals with trouble – butterbeer and the Three Broomsticks. A magical combination. Magical stress reliever!”

“Hmph. Joke as much as you will, but we could have been kissed by dementors. A few not so pleasant moments ago.”

The wizard felt his heart sink. Heavy silence fell between the two suddenly. Even a joking manner of telling such grave news didn't save the situation. The patrons became quieter – who could resist the urge to overhear a talk about something this dangerous and strange?

“Wh-“ Gaunt started only to be interrupted.

“I can barely cast my patronus now. Failed a few times before, actually.” – his friend started whispering.

They smiled, but how lucky they were that Ominis wasn't able to see it. A very bitter smile that was. Desperate. Deceiving.

“Is this even possible?” – he asked in frustration. – “I thought it's forever - once you learn it, then you just use it like any other spell.”

“No, it's more complicated than that.” – the auror started babbling.

“I just... Can't do it. Can't cast it. As of late. It's a miracle I did this time. maybe it's because you were there. In danger. I just remembered how happy we were. Once ... Even for such a short time. Then our years at Hogwarts together. Anne, Amit, Natty, Poppy. And you. Despite the guilt, we were still happy. Smiling. Being children. And it felt so good, so hopeful. My phoenix rose again to save me... no, save you.” – they took Gaunt’s cold hand in their warm hands.

Here were the words Ominis had hoped to hear. And the gesture. They really fancied him. Cared for him. Or was he fooling himself again, overthinking the simplest gestures of kindness?

“To be honest with you – I felt something then. A gentle... Warmth. Of some kind. I saw and heard terrible, terrible things. They were showing me... And then this came. A light. As if I almost saw it. Not like usual shadows and silhouettes I experience. Something rather otherworldly it was.”

“That was the power of the spell, Ominis. You were the part of it. An important one.”

The wizard smiled and closed his eyes, as if wanting to feel that again.

“Don't you daydream, you still have got to talk to Anne about our business.” – they nudged him gently.

“I know. Just give me a second.”

He certainly felt better – the smile spoke for him.

“Take your time. While I drink your-“

“No waaay!” – he moaned, opening his eyes. He wasn’t going to give his butterbeer away this easily.

“Ah, you're so precious when you make that face. Precious!”

The auror cackled, noticing the blush on their friend’s face. He still reacted to this phrase with a blush. After all these years… Alas, soon they won’t be able to see this precious blush of his. Or these pretty moles, which resembled a constellation. They won’t recognise him soon. The auror’s heart ached when these thoughts began to flood their mind.

“Don't call me that, were not sixth-years anymore!”

“Say for yourself, I still have a brain that of a sixth-year.”

The two chuckled.

“Me too. The wizard nodded. It's good we still think the same.”

“Yeah... It's good.”

“Is everything all right with you? You don't sound-“

The right questions. That is where you need to leave. Make up an excuse. And go. He doesn’t need to know anything.

For him they were fine. In their “almost next to best” state.

“I'm fine, just... just a long day. And it is, really, just morning. Bet they’ve sent a search party for me at work.”

“Yes, indeed. Then you're...leaving?”

“Well, yes, I'm afraid. Still have some work to do, you know. I think I was supposed to return an hour ago or so. But damn them all. Leander too. Bet he's going to bark at me again. That coward ass.”

“Then I-...” – the wizard sighed again. – “Be careful, please. And kick Prewett’s ass for me.”

“I will. Promise. You too take care of yourself”.

“I'll talk to Anne today. Wait for my owl later.”

“I always do. Good luck, Ominis.“

And with these words they were gone. The sound of their footsteps quickly faded away, leaving Ominis all alone with his thoughts. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he knew – they were bound to remain unanswered. The auror was good at dodging spells. They were even better at dodging unwanted questions.

“They’re up to something. I need to find out. Sebastian was like this just before he…”

A long day it was indeed. And it was going to be even longer with everything going on. At least this day wasn’t going to last forever.

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy fanfic #ominis gaunt x mc

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gruumpy-cat · 5 years

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The Art of Being Nonchalant (Or Not) / Chapter Eight

I got up from the armchair, grabbed the letter I just wrote and headed towards the portrait hole, intent on finally getting some answers from grandad. I just hoped he’d actually answer my letter. Contemplating if I should’ve also written to Ethan, I decided against it. If he was still on a mission, it was doubtful he’d be reachable.

James and Fred got up and started following me as I neared the portrait hole, clutching the bit of parchment in my hand.

“Where are the two of you going?” asked Ash, cocking an eyebrow at them.

Fred gave her a sly grin, “We have some…business to attend to.” James started chortling at that and he winked at me before they went out the portrait hole. We walked together down the staircase in silence, James occasionally checking the Marauder’s Map, but as we came to the fourth floor, they continued down the stairs, waving at me while I made my way through the corridors towards the West Tower and the Owlery.

The castle seemed deserted as I walked through the empty corridors and climbed the tower. It seemed a lot of people were lounging outside, catching the last bits of sunlight and relatively warm weather before autumn rolled around with the usual heavy rains and cold winds.

My mind was filled with thoughts about the fucking article, but, as I climbed higher and higher, I put those thoughts away, imagining what grandad’s face would look like if he ever caught me believing anything written by Rita Skeeter. I would send this letter and not think about it until I got a response.

The Owlery was empty when I got there so I only had the owls for company, most of them asleep. I looked around to see if I could spot Antigone, hoping that she wasn’t sleeping. I didn’t have to look far because she was almost at eye-level with me, her yellow eyes looking at me expectantly. I took out some owl treats from my pocket and offered them to her. Antigone hooted happily as she flew over, landing on the empty perch next to me. She ate the treats and held out her leg so I could tie the letter. I stroked her feathery head and with another hoot, she flew away through one of the windows, soon becoming just a speck in the distance.

I leaned out the window opening and looked at the grounds below to see Dom, unmistakable for anyone else with her shimmering silver hair, walking towards Hagrid’s hut, most likely to look in on Quickclaw. She must’ve been in better spirits than earlier if she was up for walking around instead of being buried in our dorm with all the curtains closed, which is what she was doing before I left the common room. Squinting, I could just make out Sean following behind her, looking somewhat like a lost puppy, carrying a bucket. I didn’t think he realised what he got himself into when he decided to date Dom.

As I descended the stairs of the Owlery, I could hear someone coming up and after a while, I came face to face with Nicholas Osborne. He was taller than me but I was two steps higher. He sneered when he saw me and I felt the anger I always carried around for the bloody git bubbling up inside me, coupled heavily with all the bottled up feelings I usually kept well hidden in the depths of my mind.

“Well, if it isn’t Quinn Jones! Your parents split up yet?” he asked and leaned on the wall, barring me from passing him, his haughty face splitting into a huge grin, obviously enjoying himself at having me cornered. What a fucking idiot.

My eyes turned to slits as I frowned at him, “Only fucking idiots read Rita Skeeter. You’re her second biggest fan, right? Can’t beat her own niece, sadly,” I sighed and shook my head, “Isn’t it hilarious your fanboying is yet another thing a girl does better than you?” I mocked him, fully appreciating how the ugly red colour spread out from his neck to his face. You could always rely on Osborne to be riled with a mere mention of a girl being better at something than him.

“No, then?” he continued, a repulsive leer forming on his face as he looked me over, “I’d have thought your mum would’ve been ditched for sure after getting it on with half her team…Can’t blame the team, though, I wouldn’t mind a piece of that –”

My hands formed into angry fists without me even realising until it was too late and I had already punched him with all the power I could muster and sent him sprawling down the last couple of stairs. I was furious but the audible crunch I heard when my fist connected with his face gave me little satisfaction. I suddenly appreciated my boxing sessions a lot more.

“What the fuck?” another voice yelled from the bottom of the stairs and I descended from the tower. Jax Wood was standing over Osborne with a curious expression on his face, leaning over Osborne, who was clutching his face and groaning, a jet of blood trickling down his shirt.

Jax looked up from Osborne to my smirking face and started to laugh, nearly doubling over and clutching his sides. When I remembered that we were standing in the middle of a corridor, I grabbed his hand and started to run, dragging him with me until we came to the tapestry of Ignatia Wildsmith. I pulled it aside and entered the secret passageway it was hiding, Jax following close behind me. We were both gasping for breath, though Jax was still laughing, apparently unable to stop himself.

“You,” he started, slowly getting his laughter under control and looking at me in wonder, “You broke his nose!”

I shrugged my shoulders and frowned, “He bloody well deserved it. Wanker.” Realising my fist hurt, I turned it over and saw that my knuckles were red with Osborne’s blood. For a moment, I was tempted to smear it across my face, like a warrior coming out of a battle, but that would’ve been weird so I merely let it fall back and leaned against the wall.

“He’s an arsehole. But won’t he tell?” asked Jax, still grinning and running a hand through his dark blond hair, the action immediately reminding me of James. I smiled as I imagined the look on James’ face when I tell him about my escapade.

“Quinn?”

I turned to look at Jax and rolled my eyes, “Naah, Osborne would never admit a girl broke his nose. Especially me,” I said and a devilish grin spread across my face, “But he’s seriously deluded if he thinks I’m going to keep that particular bit of information to myself.”

Jax suddenly moved closer and took my bloody hand in his own, “You’re something else, Quinn.” He looked up from the hand he was holding and there was a hungry look in his dark blue eyes, a look I haven’t really seen before, his face usually smirking or casually flirting.

He was quiet as he put his other hand around my neck, tangling his fingers in my hair, holding my head and leaning down, all the time looking into my eyes. With merely an inch between us, he stopped and I blinked, biting my lip, remembering last night, how I tried to comfort him and how we kissed, though it was only a casual kiss without any real meaning. Throwing reason and the fact that I’ve been steadily refusing him for a couple of years just because it was fun watching Jax Wood struggle with something, to the wind, my hands found their way into his hair and my lips found his own. It was all the incentive he needed as he pressed me against the wall, his hand finding the rim of my shirt and holding me around the waist, slowly teasing the exposed skin. My own hands ended up underneath his shirt, tracing his muscles, enjoying how he groaned when they found a particular spot.

His lips were rough as they kissed me, his stubble scratching my face, but I didn’t mind. Right now, I needed rough, needed something different, needed someone who would take me as I was, do things just for fun without all the drama. Someone who wasn’t Al.

Light spilt into the passage and Jax let out another groan at having been interrupted. A tiny girl, a first or second year by the looks of her, was blushing furiously and she ran away, leaving us in the semi-darkness once again. Jax leaned against the wall opposite, visibly flushed, staring at me.

“Come to Hogsmeade with me,” he croaked, his voice sounding hoarse, and he had a smug look on his face, “It’s the weekend after the next one.”

A mischievous grin made its way to my face and I walked up to him. Standing on my toes so I could reach him, I put a hand on his chest as I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Hogsmeade? I do think I have other plans for that particular trip…” I drawled and kissed his neck, “But just imagine…” another kiss and he shuddered, my hand travelling lower down his chest, “What happens if we meet in another abandoned corridor…” He caught my hand and I moved away from him slightly, still grinning. The feeling of power I held over him was overwhelming and I couldn’t look away from his tense face. I gave him a quick peck on the lips and walked away, looking at him over my shoulder, only to be met with a tortured look. He was going to have to stay in that passage for a little while.

I couldn’t stop grinning during the whole trip back to the Gryffindor common room with the horrible article temporarily out of my mind. It wasn’t Jax that made me happier than I’ve been lately, it was the way he looked at me, it was the fact that I liked feeling wanted, it was because I liked the way he kissed me. And hooking up with someone always made me feel better. Endorphins. It also helped that I managed to fucking break Osborne’s nose.

As I climbed through the portrait hole, I heard laughter from the common room and when I looked up I saw a crowd around Fred who was telling them something. James was sitting in front of the fireplace, looking into the fire with a frown and Ash was sitting next to him, holding her face in her hands but also laughing.

I walked over to the two of them and sat down in one of the empty armchairs.

“What’s with the crowd?” I asked, nodding my head in Fred’s general direction.

James looked at me with an angry expression on his face, “What were you doing with Wood?” When he said this, Ash buried her head behind a book.

I rolled my eyes at him, “Were you stalking me on the Map?”

He blushed, “I…No! I was looking at it because Fred and I were going back here and then I saw Osborne stopped you so I just wanted to…” He trailed off, avoiding my gaze. I chuckled and smiled at him, “You’re cute when you worry, but I swear to Merlin, you’re worse than Ethan sometimes. And, eww, you made me say the word cute. Now I have to swear at someone just to feel like myself again!”

James shook his head but turned serious again, “So, what were you doing with Wood?” Ash was looking at both of us over her book and Fred joined us, leaning against the fireplace, the crowd he was in now dispersed throughout the common room, even though their laughter could still be heard.

I raised my eyebrows at James, “He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him after I punched fucking Osborne and broke his nose,” I raised my fist, turning it so the three of them could see the blood. Ash’s book fell to the floor and her mouth was open, forming a perfect O. Fred started laughing, much like Jax did, but James just stared at the blood, looking livid.

“You broke his nose?” Ash asked in wonder, causing Fred to howl with laughter at the question. James stood up, and before I could answer, took my hand and stared at it.

“What the fuck,” he started, in a voice so low I strained to hear him and he looked so very angry, “did he do to you?”

Noticing that other people were trying to listen to our conversation because Fred announced to the whole common room what happened, I shrugged, not wanting everyone to know how furious Osborne managed to make me, “Oh, he was…rude.” James seemed to get the idea because he let go of me and sat back down, though he continued to stare at me.

Ash twirled a strand of hair around her finger and wiggled her eyebrows, “So…Wood asked you out?” Fred wolf-whistled and I rolled my eyes.

“He did.”

“And? What did you say?” asked James, an even deeper frown forming on his face, “He’s the enemy, you know.”

“I don’t remember you having objections when I shagged the Ravenclaw Beater last year –”

“That was different! He’s not the –”

I raised my voice a little, stopping James from going into an anti-Jax campaign and glaring at him, “and anyway, I said I had other plans.” This rivalry between him and Jax was all well and good on the Quidditch Pitch but lately, James seemed to have given a whole new meaning to the word rivalry.

“You shagged Wood? And you didn’t tell me!” Dom shrieked from behind us, which meant that the whole common room heard her, causing another round of laughter and more gossip with numerous eyes peeled on me. I groaned as she sat down on the armrest next to me.

Fred looked very amused, “Wood asked her out, though I concur they might’ve shagged…But then again, I’d have thought Wood had a bit more stamina, Quinn wasn’t gone all that long…” he trailed off and scratched his chin, presumably thinking about Jax and his shagging technique. An ink bottle that was on the table next to James’ armchair cracked and the ink spilt all over the fluffy red carpet for no apparent reason. Ash waved her wand with a lazy flick and the ink disappeared. I looked around to see if anyone was practising spells nearby but there was no one. It must’ve been cracked already and came to its end date.

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. Since when were you so interested in Jax, anyway?” I asked Fred but he didn’t bother with an answer, he just laughed at me while Dom looked thoroughly disappointed.

Ziggy made his way towards the fireplace and settled himself in front of the fire, turning his back on us and pretending we weren’t there. Fred crouched and tried to pet him, but Ziggy only hissed and moved away from him.

Ash picked up her book from the floor, trying to find the place where she stopped reading, but soon her eyes were on me again. “Wait…what plans for Hogsmeade? I thought you didn’t want to go?”

“Well, yeah, I’m going to read and hang out with Ziggy. Those are plans,” I answered as I scowled at her. She scowled back but Dom burst out laughing.

“Now that I think about it, I do need to buy food for Ziggy,” at the mention of food Ziggy turned his head and looked at me with what he probably thought was his cute face, but it was actually the sort of scary and psychotic face he had when he caught a mouse or a gnome or something.

“But we’ve only been at school for a week, how could he have eaten all his food already?” asked Dom.

I looked at her and sighed, “It’s almost like you don’t even know Ziggy. He makes it his mission to first find out where I hid the box with his food, then he breaks into the box and gorges on the food.” Ziggy huffed at that and walked away from us, waggling his fluffy tail.

“So, who is going to Hogsmeade with me?” I tried to look cute but from the look Fred gave me, I think I was as successful at that as Ziggy was.

James laughed at my pathetic attempt, “Fred and I can’t.” He started laughing again and I had no idea what was so funny. I looked to Fred who was snickering.

“Longbottom gave us detention for the next two weekends,” he said and now Ash was laughing as well. It seemed only Dom and I didn’t know what was going on.

“What? Why? What, in the seven hells, did you do?”

“Well, we decided that today was as good a day as any to do our traditional Slytherin prank –” James started.

“So Al let us in their common room –” said Fred.

“And we transfigured all the Slytherins’ underwear into spiders –”

“Of course, not Al’s –”

“And then all the spiders escaped the castle –”

“There was a lot of screaming –”

“And now the Slytherins are left without their unmentionables,” James ended with a devilish grin.

“Really, we shouldn’t have gotten detention,” said Fred with a revolted shake of his head, “I think Cavendish ought to have awarded us at least twenty points!”

I was speechless for a few moments, just looking from one to the other until I started laughing and couldn’t stop for a whole minute. There were tears in my eyes from laughter.

“Why the fuck didn’t you use the invisibility cloak?” I asked after I calmed down.

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “We did. But in all the screaming and running, someone stepped on the cloak and it slid off just when North came into the common room to see what was going on.”

Dom had a confused look on her face, “But why did Al let you in?” she asked.

“I bribed him,” said James with a smirk.

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, I told him I’ll bring him Quinn’s knickers,” he said, nodding his head and I nearly choked on a glass of water I was in the process of drinking.

I put the glass on the table and closed my eyes for a brief moment, “You…What?”

Fred was doubled over and in danger of falling on the floor, he was laughing so hard. James winked at me, “I’m just yanking your wand. He, uh, saw you snogging Jax last night so he wasn’t opposed to little revenge…And I gave him ten Galleons.”

I rolled my eyes at both of them and got up, “Right, sure. Tell Al that he should probably just look under his bed next time you want to bribe him.”

“And what about the two of you?” I nodded to Ash and Dom who were both busy pretending they don’t see or hear me. “Well?”

Dom turned scarlet and started playing with the silver dragon pendant her uncle Charlie gave her. “Well, I’m meeting Teddy.”

“You’re mental,” I told her, “What are you and Teddy and Vic and Sean? A love rectangle? Is that even a thing?” Dom turned an even deeper shade of red and Ash laughed at my quip though I could see that Dom didn’t really think it was that funny.

I nudged Ash with my leg and she rolled her eyes at me. “Nathan Wilde –” she started and Fred’s eye twitched at her words.

“Oooh…He finally slithered in, didn’t he?” I said with a knowing look. Ash placed a hand across her face and looked at me through a gap between her fingers with an exasperated look. “You tell really bad jokes, Quinn.”

“What? He’s a Slytherin and he slithered in. It’s not like we all didn’t know he fancied you. Who else would’ve continued being your Potions partner even after you blew up a cauldron in his face?” Fred looked like he was about to say something but stopped himself and Ash was still glaring at me. I shrugged my shoulders and made my way to the table where I left my Transfiguration essay. James and Fred joined me so we could all finish the damn thing. Fred poked a hole through the parchment while writing the title.

“You’re such a bloody coward,” I muttered as I scratched out a word. James stayed silent but Fred stopped writing.

“I’m a coward?” he asked.

“Yep,” I answered, not looking up from my essay but taking out A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration from my book bag to consult it, “Instead of twitching any time another bloke shows interest in Ash, why not just ask her out yourself?” After writing another sentence I finally looked up at him. “I’m not entirely ignorant. Though, if I could notice you’re hung up on her, I’m sure Ash knew ages ago.”

Fred didn’t say anything, just dipped his quill into ink and continued writing the essay. James literally cackled and spattered most of his parchment with ink. I must’ve looked very confused because James stopped cackling and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “They snogged at your birthday party,” my eyes went wide at this revelation and I looked from Fred to Ash, throwing her disbelieving looks, “Ash doesn’t remember, though. She was pissed that night,” he continued and Fred rolled his eyes.

“Some cousin you are,” he snapped and promptly poked another hole in his parchment.

“Come on, Quinn would’ve wheedled it out of me at some point after she finally caught up to the fact that –”

“Oh yeah? When do you think she’ll catch up to the fact –” Fred started but stopped, and after looking at James, he just shook his head in frustration and stared at Ash instead with a scowling face. After a while, he went back to the essay, leaving me to temporarily wonder what the hell that was all about. James peered over my shoulder to see what I’d been checking in the book and I absentmindedly pushed it towards him so he could have a better look.

“Thanks,” he said smiling at me and the moment our eyes met, I had the inexplicable urge to smile back, forgetting that I was slightly annoyed with him.

By the time lunch rolled around the next day, everyone seemed to know that I broke Osborne’s nose, mostly because I couldn’t stop bragging about it, which obviously annoyed him and in turn, made me very happy. They also seemed to think I shagged Jax, courtesy of Dom’s exclamation in front of the whole common room, and no amount of saying otherwise, which I didn’t even bother with after the first two people asked, did anything to dissuade them.

The ceiling in the Great Hall showed the stormy clouds outside and the pouring rain. Quidditch practice this evening was bound to be rough in that weather. I sat down next to Ash and James, piling roast beef on my plate. Ash was reading Witch Weekly propped up against her goblet filled with pumpkin juice. I threw a glance at the article but it was only about some new publishing house founded by a recent Hogwarts graduate, Ayesha Khan.

“Can you believe this?” I said and James looked up from his potatoes, “I overheard the Quigley twins in the loo saying I shagged Osborne and it was Jax who had his nose broken, and not by me, but by Osborne!” Ash snorted at that but didn’t look up from the magazine.

James cocked an eyebrow, “Do they not know who you are?” he looked over his shoulder at the Hufflepuff table where the twins were talking animatedly and occasionally glancing at us. “You’d think the whole school would know about last year and the horn incident,” he said. The incident in question involved me getting into the Restricted Section to do some research for an essay Cavendish gave us and trying out a random transfiguration spell on Osborne which made him grow horns that weren’t removable by a spell. He had to walk around with them for a whole month before they disappeared. I like to think it was one of my brightest moments.

Ash rolled her eyes at James, “It’s more fun for the story to be the way they tell it.” I looked at her in disbelief.

“What?” she asked.

“What do you mean, more fun? Isn’t it enough that I broke his nose? I call that fun!”

She took a sip of pumpkin juice before answering, “I sometimes wonder how you grew up…Both your parents are famous Quidditch stars and yet you still think violence is more interesting to people than sex. And enemies who shag is definitely more scandalous than Quinn Jones committing an act of violence. That’s basically your everyday behaviour.”

I stabbed a piece of meat, “Grandad doesn’t subscribe to newspapers and he always told us journalists are all bloody tossers. I haven’t really seen any evidence that would contradict him.” I shrugged my shoulders and continued to eat while Ash rolled her eyes and muttered something to herself.

Lysander and Seth shuffled towards us from the end of the Gryffindor table looking forlorn and still hungover. They sat down and Seth laid his head on the table, groaning.

“Do we still have practice today? Even in this weather?” Lysander asked and promptly earned himself a whack on the head from me.

“Next time there’s a party remember you’re a lightweight,” I said, scowling at him.

James had a dark look on his face, “You don’t have practice only if you’re lying in a hospital bed,” he turned to me and smirked, “What do you think, Quinn? Ten laps around the Pitch?”

I pretended to think about it, “Ten? If that’s what you say Captain…” I grinned wickedly, “Ten and he has to polish all the team’s brooms after practice,” I said, nodding my head seriously.

James cocked an eyebrow at Lysander and stared at his stricken face, “Well, you heard our resident Quidditch team disciplinarian. Better perk up by the time we have practice tonight or you might find yourself walking around with a broken nose and horns that don’t come off.”

Lysander got up looking dejected and walked towards the Entrance Hall, dragging his feet. Seth groaned again, “I’d rather take the horns,” he said.

“That can be arranged,” I told him brightly, twirling my wand which sent off some menacing red sparks in his general direction, “What’s up with you anyway, Blackwood? You’re definitely not a lightweight.” He backed away from me, coming so close to Ash that he almost ended up sitting in her lap.

“Lost a bet,” he grunted, “so I had to drink a bottle of Dragonbreath last night.”

I exchanged an amused look with James and bit my tongue so I wouldn’t start laughing. Rose mentioned a bet yesterday, though I was now sure whatever bet she proposed, she rigged it somehow so Seth would lose. She always liked to get revenge. As I caught sight of her at the Slytherin table with Hugo, I noticed she smirked each time she saw Seth rubbing his eyes or holding his head.

“If you don’t show up for practice, I’m banning you from alcohol,” said James and got up from the table, picking up his book bag, motioning for me to follow.

Seth looked at him, horror-struck, “What? You can’t do that!”

James put his hand on Seth’s shoulder, squeezing slightly and grinning at him, “I’m the bloody Captain. I can do anything.”

While we walked towards Charms, and without anyone trying to listen in, I told James the whole story of why I punched Osborne.

“What a git,” James muttered as we entered the Charms corridor.

We were met by Osborne and his friends in front of the classroom. His nose seemed like it was back to normal though it might’ve been a trick of the light or my imagination, but to me, it looked like it was slightly crooked. He made as if to pull out his wand, but James was a lot faster and before Osborne could do anything, with a flick of James’ wand he was floating in the air upside down. His friends pulled out their wands and pointed them at us but the doors started to open and just before Flitwick opened them fully, James let Osborne fall down.

“You’re going to regret this Jones,” Osborne hissed at me, but it was hard to take him seriously and not laugh at his words while he was sitting on the floor, his clothes and usually perfectly styled hair messed up. One of his friends helped him get up and as he passed me, he violently bumped into my shoulder, making me sway and almost fall. James steadied me and looked threateningly at Osborne with the same angry expression he wore last night. Osborne just smirked at him and sat down at one of the tables.

“You okay?” he asked as he held me, not letting go of my waist, and I nodded. I was tempted to just walk in there and throttle Osborne with my bare hands so it was lucky that James didn’t let go of me. While I was quietly contemplating all the ways in which I could murder Osborne, Fred came running towards us, his robes billowing behind him.

“I’m not late!” he exclaimed in a disturbingly bright tone which made me scowl at him. He looked at us wonderingly and then his eyes passed over my head to see Osborne. “What did I miss?” he asked, but James and I only shook our heads as we entered the classroom and took our seats.

We were supposed to be practising the Protean charm and linking two parchments together to show the same message. I was still furious and all I managed to do was to make one of the parchments disintegrate instead.

“What do you want to do about Osborne?” asked James after he filled Fred in on what happened.

“Is murder on the table?” I muttered, “No? I’m out of ideas then. He doesn’t actually deserve the brain power I’d need to think of something we haven’t already done to him.”

“At least we have Quidditch later,” said Fred. Just as he said that thunder rumbled outside and heavy rain battered the windows.

I looked through the window at the muddy grounds and the Pitch in the distance, almost invisible through the rain, “Yeah, that’s bound to be wonderful.”

The only thing wonderful about Quidditch practice was that I could fully unleash my anger when hitting the Bludgers, though if they hit a target it was mostly on accident because I couldn’t see much farther than my bat. Lysander kept almost colliding with me and his coordination was almost non-existent, but he pushed through it. James kept us in the air for two hours and by the time practice was over we were all soaked to the bone.

When we entered the locker rooms, I was shivering so badly that I had to pull off one of my gloves with my teeth. Nobody spoke and we all went to the showers in silence. The fiery water felt heavenly on my skin and I stayed in the shower for the longest time, letting the warmth spread through me until I could no longer take the heat. I turned off the water and wrapped a towel loosely around myself. I couldn’t hear a sound so I assumed everyone had already left so I casually walked over to the lockers only in the towel.

James was sitting on the bench and his eyes went wide when he saw me, and again there was the unusual red tinge to his cheeks. “I…Why aren’t you dressed?” he asked, averting his gaze to give me some privacy.

I opened the doors of my locker and stood behind it, taking off the towel and starting to dress myself behind it. “I thought I was alone,” I said, my voice muffled by the shirt I was in the middle of pulling over my head. I looked over the doors to see him still pointedly looking in the opposite direction. “James, you’ve seen plenty of girls naked before, why are you making this into such a big deal? You haven’t even actually seen anything!”

“Yeah, well, none of them were you,” he croaked, his voice strangely raspy.

I closed the doors of my locker with a bang and rolled my eyes at him, “You’re being silly.” He took the hand I offered to help him get up, but instead of getting up he dragged me down, making me collapse on top of him.

“You should think twice before telling your Captain he’s silly,” said James, his eyes twinkling with mischief and I knew what was coming before he could make his move. I quickly jumped away and ran for it, “You’re not tickling me again!” I yelled over my shoulder as I ran out of the locker rooms into the pouring rain, James running after me. It soon turned into a race and he actually beat me by mere inches in getting to the Entrance Hall.

We were soaked again but this time I wasn’t even feeling the cold as James took my hand, both of us laughing, and he dragged me to the kitchens to grab some dinner.

“Quinn?” said James after finishing his chicken. I looked up from my food and raised my eyebrows. “Are you worried about the first match? This practice wasn’t what I’d call successful –”

“Oh stop it, James, we’re lucky we all didn’t end up flying off to the mountains with the visibility the way it was. So just… I’m the best fucking Beater this school has and you’re the best –”

A huge smirk spread across his face, “So…you think I’m the best?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I rolled my eyes at him and stayed silent, but a small smile crept up on my face.

“Yeah, well…don’t let it go to your head.”

#fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #james sirius potter #harry potter #next gen #the art of being nonchalant

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