All legal credit goes to J.K. Rowling.
Of Wires, Cords and Other Romances
"Don't forget, there'll be a test on this next Friday. Study, everyone!'
Molly Prewett collected her things and stumbled blearily out of her Muggle Studies classroom. She'd been having trouble understanding this unit, and was actually rather worried about the upcoming test. Her grade was already fairly bad. Or ... maybe not? She couldn't quite recall whether a C was good or bad. 'I can't even remember the Muggle grading system, how am I expected to remember the ... e- ec- eklectic appliances?'
She blew her curly red bangs out of her face with exasperation. Nearly every day now, she found herself wondering why she ever decided to take Muggle Studies. Stupid subject, really.
Suddenly, she fell forward with a gasp that caught in her throat, all of her things scattering in front of her onto the hard stone floor. Molly heard the crowded hallway burst into laughter and felt her elbows sting from the rough fall. She bit her bottom lip, fighting back tears, and looked behind her to see a fifth year Ravenclaw girl with her foot still a few inches off the ground from having tripped Molly. "What's the matter, Pudgy? You gonna cry?" she said harshly. Her gold blonde hair shimmered coldly as she looked down her sharp nose at Molly and sneered. It was sickening.
In fact, Molly did think that she may start crying. She could feel the angry heat in her cheeks that she was sure caused her face to match her hair. Unfortunately, the thought only made her blush harder.
Molly didn't say anything, but simply sat up instead. Her gold and scarlet tie was askew and her thick frizzy hair had fallen out of its loose braid, giving her the slight look of a madwoman. She was fully aware of all of this, but refused to give the Raven the satisfaction of seeing her try to fix her appearance. It would probably earn her another cruel comment on her looks anyway.
Molly kept her head bowed, sat back on her heels and began stuffing her books back into her bag.
A few more bubbles of laughter from the Raven's cronies, and then they were gone. Molly sniffed and wiped the back of her hand across her face before slinging her once-again-full satchel onto her shoulder. The same group had been bullying her with similar incidents for the past two weeks, and it was beginning to get to her. 'I'm not pudgy, I'm perfectly healthy,' she reminded herself. As a fourth year, Molly had plenty of hexes and jinxes up her sleeve that she could have retaliated with. But she didn't want to go causing any trouble. Or risk getting expelled, for that matter. Certainly they'd get bored soon and move on to another target. Surely, they must.
Molly planted one hand firmly on the floor - about to get up - when she saw a pair of legs stop in front of her.
"Here," an outstretched hand appeared in her vision, "need a hand?" The voice was boyish - she heard a smile in there somewhere - and kind. He somehow sounded trustworthy. Molly nodded silently without looking up, clenching her lips together. She feared that she would only let loose an involuntary sob if she tried to speak just yet.
She grabbed a hold of the pale and skinny - but surprisingly strong - hand in front of her and he pulled her up. She squeaked out a small, "thanks," and hurried away.
"Hey, wait!" the boy called out. "Wait up!"
Molly didn't stop, but he caught up anyway. Looking up at him (she had to look up, for he was tall and lanky in that funny teenage boy way and she was still far shorter than the other girls her age), she noticed that he had hair almost as bright as hers and intense blue eyes. They were clear and intelligent and, she noticed with a start, worried. Worried for her?
"Y-you're Molly, right? I'm in Gryffindor, too." He pointed from her tie to his and smiled kindly. "I'm Arthur. I think we're in the same year. Fourth, right?" Molly gave him another small nod and continued walking. He stuck by her side, the backs of their free hands brushing against each other occasionally. It gave Molly a jolt the first few times, until she finally pulled her hand away and wrapped it around the Potions book she had clenched to her chest. Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly and looked at her nervously out of the corner of his eye.
"Are you okay?"
Molly was taken by surprise. She looked back up into his eyes and smiled a little, grateful for his concern even if he was nearly a stranger. "I- yeah. Yes. Thank you."
Arthur nodded firmly, as though trying to reassure the both of them that everything was, or soon would be, alright.
They continued walking down the hallway side by side and Molly began to wonder if she should be worried about this boy following her. After all, same House and year or not, she barely knew him! However, it definitely felt nice to have someone kind by her side after the Raven's latest attack.
Arthur looked down at a book peeking out of the top of her bag and his eyes lit up. "Hey, Muggle Studies! You take that, too? Almost no one does anymore. Do you like it?" He didn't wait for an answer, but just ploughed ahead excitedly. "I think it's positively fascinating. Especially ekletricity. It's amazing what they've managed to do without magic! I know I couldn't do it."
"Oh, I'm sure you could. It seems like most everything is just pushing buttons or flipping switches," Molly added softly.
His voice took on a softer, nearly reverent tone when he spoke next. "No, I meant like, ... making it. Whoever came up with it is a genius. All those wires and cords and bulbs. Eklecrticity is literally one hunk of metal sending a message to another hunk of metal. And sometimes those hunks are super small, but they send maybe an even more powerful message than the bigger hunks of metal might. And they can do all sorts of things. It's like muggles have created their own metal wands. It's absolutely amazing." He spoke with his hands when he was excited, and they fell to his sides now that he was finished speaking. Arthur stared ahead of him with a fascinated look on his face, as though he was trying to imagine the inner workings of some muggle contraption.
The two walked in silence for a few long moments and Molly realized that she'd nearly forgotten what had happened in the hallway earlier. She also realized that Arthur may be able to help her out in a way.
"Arthur?"
"Mhmm?"
"Did you start Muggle Studies last year?"
"Oh, yes. Didn't you?"
"Gosh, no. I took Care of Magical Creatures last year, but found it wasn't exactly to my liking. I only started this year - I'm in a class with the third years - but I'm afraid I'm feeling rather lost with bits of it." They'd come to a stop in front of her Charms classroom. Molly hadn't known they had this class together. She supposed they'd never met before because there had been a sudden influx of Hogwarts students in their first year, causing abnormally large classes.
"Aw, I'm sorry, Molly." Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, clearly not sure how he should respond.
"It's alright. But, uh, anyway, I was wondering if you might be able to help me out a bit?"
"Oh?" Arthur's face reddened slightly, but he looked quite interested.
"Yeah. Do you suppose you could meet me in the library this Wednesday? So we could study together, I mean?"
"Why not the common room?" he questioned.
She shook her head. "It's too loud in there. I can't focus."
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that." His light eyebrows met in the middle, as though checking his mental schedule. "I've got chess club until five. Um, I could come around five thirty. Would that be okay with you?"
"Sure! Sounds great," Molly said with relief in her voice and a sincere smile spreading across her face. Yes! There's no way I'll fail this test now! "Library at five thirty on Wednesday."
"Yup. Five thirty on Wednesday in the library," he repeated. "I'll see you then." The pair walked into Charms class and each turned towards their own group of friends. They were headed towards opposite corners of the room.
Molly turned back to face him again, waved and called out, "See you then, Arthur!" She gave him a huge grin that she couldn't completely wipe off of her face before sitting down next to her friends.
"Lindsay told me that the Raven struck again after Muggle Studies, and I was going to ask if you were alright, but you seem just fine, Molly! Even more than fine, perhaps?" Nicole said teasingly as she elbowed Molly and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes, well," Molly said, sitting up and feeling rather proud of herself. "It just so happens that I may or may not have a study date!"
Nicole squealed a little. "Oh my gosh, Molly! That's fantastic!"
"I know," she sighed. Molly looked at the back corner of the room where Arthur was surrounded by his friends. They were all laughing happily and patting him on the back. Arthur caught her eye and waved sheepishly.
"Wait, you said may or may not?"
Nicole's confused voice made her turn around again. "Oh, definitely 'may,' I think," she replied confidently.
"Library at five thirty on Wednesday," Molly repeated under her breath happily. She had a strange feeling that this could become much bigger than just a study date.