Hello! Welcome! Take your seats grab some popcorn or whatever the hell you're gonna snack on and join me in this wondrous adventure through the wizarding world. No but seriously ya I started writing this a while ago and decided finally to post the first chapter just to see what people think so comments or ideas/ constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Anyways, enjoy!
A Bleeding Raven
Ah Summer, such a lovely time. Not having to deal with teachers, wear silly robes, and being back at home is quite satisfying. Not that I don't miss Hogwarts, heavens no, it's just good to have a break, if you could call it that.
Being home unfortunately doesn't mean being off the hook. Living in the shadow of a long line of Ravenclaws allows for no such thing. My parents both expect me to graduate two years early then move on to become the Minister of all things. Their plans are rubbish to me, I want none of it. Either way I still have to basically memorize my text books before I start my fifth year.
And this is what I think of every night sitting up in a tree in our backyard looking at the stars, which I may or may not have enchanted to form a ladder in the bark on the side when I approach it, but I couldn't possibly get in trouble with the rest of my family doing magic around the house.
*WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH* (lame attempt at TARDIS ringtone)
"Ugh who would be calling me at this hour?" I pull out my phone and answer Michaela's call.
"So you're gonna do it tomorrow right?!"
"Hello to you too, Michaela, I'm doing well, thank you. How's your summer been?"
"Ugh cut the crap Jeremy, you told me you're tutoring him tomorrow, are you gonna ask him out or not? You would be such a cute couple, and you clearly like him, oh I hope he says yes!"
Trying to cut in, "Yes I'm tutoring him tomorrow, and I don't know Michaela, we're good friends but I don't think he sees me that way. That and-"
"Jeremy, you need to learn to take chances otherwise you're going to be alone the rest of your life."
"Rrr fine I'll do it."
"YAAY Oh my gosh okay, I'm so excited, you two will be perfect together, make sure you tell me every detail. Call you tomorrow!" And with that she hung up.
Seeing the time on my phone I realize I should go back to my bed. Careful not to wake my younger brother Daniel I open the window and climb in bed to await the new day.
As I fall asleep I contemplate what my life would be like if I was dating Dylan. We could picnic near the lake and just fall asleep together enjoying the silent company, the castle behind us, one hand twirling a bit of his hair, the other loosely holding his, and it all just seems... perfect.
The next morning goes as usual, "BREAKFAST!", announces my mother.
Groggily I make my way to the kitchen beaten by my sister as always to start on the feast covering our table. One of the perks of being in a family of wizards, is food can easily be prepared and served by my mother's expert wand skills, however she's currently working on a way around the property of magic preventing the direct conjuration of meals. My sister babbles on about next year being her first at Hogwarts, as she does constantly... She is the oddball of the family, actually hoping that she is sorted into Gryffindor which would suit her, as she's the most outgoing of us. My brothers however are the loudest, so as they join the table I just try to drown everything out in my toast.
Halfway through my first slice I remember my plans for today and race back to my room barely noticing the alarmed look on my sister's face having just interrupted her plans to be the keeper for the Gryffindor quidditch team as well as the slight grimace from my mother. I quickly comb back my hair with my wand instantly poofing it up the way I like it and change into some jeans a black tee and put on my jacket hoping not to be late.
As I double check that everything is in order I put my wand up my sleeve like I usually do as you never know when you'll need it. My wand is fairly average, dragon heartstring, 9 ½ inches, pine, like I said, average. Anyways, late, I'm running late. I race down the stairs to the fireplace say bye to mum and grab a pinch of Floo Powder to throw in.
"LEAKY CAULDRON!" I shout as I pass through the flames. Suddenly I'm being pulled and spun and jerked about for what feels like at least 30 seconds but I know to only be about 2, until I land, as I commanded, in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron bar/hotel/secret entrance to Diagon Alley.
Good I'm not late. I think, relieved that I don't see him yet as I brush off the soot on my jacket and face. I walk toward the bar, "What can I get for ya Jeremy?" asks the barman Tom as he notices my arrival.
"Two butterbeers please."
"Oh got a friend comin' along then?"
"Uh ya, a friend."
"Alrighty I'll be right back." As he turns to leave I hear a thud come from behind me by the fireplace and I look over to see who it is that just came through. Sure enough there he is, getting up off the ground. He takes off his glasses while I'm walking over so that he can wipe the soot off and I try very hard not to stare at his face. I love it when he doesn't wear his glasses. They suit him don't get me wrong, they make him cute, but when they're off...
"Hey, rough ride?"
"Haha ya just a bit, need to work on my pronunciation."
"Well at least you landed here and not Hogsmeade." We both laughed as we walked back over to the bar to pick up our drinks then to a table to get to work.
"Alright so Transfiguration, I assume you have your book?"
"Yes it's right here. So my main problem currently is changing inanimate objects into living things. Last time I tried changing a piece of paper into a butterfly and it ended up looking like a butterfly, sort of, but was the same color and couldn't move."
"Hmmm… Show me how you were moving your wand, " he proceeded to give an example with his pencil, " Ah, there's the problem right there, you have to spin it around the paper counter clockwise three times while saying the spell, then tap it with your wand…" This is basically how the rest of the morning went, then, come lunch, I decided we should go back to my place.
0oOo0
"Oh welcome back dear." My mom greets me while I shake off the soot, "How was it with Dylan? Oh!" she exclaims as he came out of the fireplace.
"Ah you must be Dylan, I'm Sara Holland. Can I get you boys anything to eat? I'm already making sandwiches for your brothers. Here I'll clear off the table for you." She flicked her wand and the cluttered papers flew up into the air and reorganized themselves in the desk on the other side of the room.
"Um actually mom we were gonna hang out in the backyard."
"Oh, alright just don't forget to clear the spider webs and watch out for the gnomes they've managed their way through the fence again."
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Holland."
"You too dear." and with that we went out into the backyard.
"Sorry about all that, she can be quite a handful." I say jokingly as we set our books down and sit in the grass.
"Oh, no she seems great, could really use a sandwich." he said with a bit of a smirk, "So what do you want to do?"
We ended up just sitting there in the grass for a while talking about school next year and laughing about things that we heard from classmates and reminiscing about our first few years of Hogwarts. We're definitely close friends and we talk and laugh a lot, but this is a big step forward to being more than that. He's never been to my house and yet he seems to fit in perfectly. Robin and Daniel came out for a while to practice riding their brooms and we joined them, playing fake quidditch with tennis balls that I may or may not have enchanted to fly around. Then Guin came out and had a fit that we never invited her to play going on about needing the practice to make the Gryffindor team. So she joined us and kinda killed it by trying to force the boys to play by the standard rules but it was still fun.
We all came down after about an hour for lemonade and then Dylan and I were left alone again outside as the sun was going down. We both were leaning up against my tree and just sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity.
Honesty time: I've been friends with Dylan since we met on the boats in our first year. I was sorted into Ravenclaw and he into Gryffindor but we remained friends. We somehow managed to have most classes together so I ended up being his go to for help with homework. Which in turn meant we spent more time together. Basically we've been friends for so long that I can't imagine my life without him. To my horror a few months ago, I realized that I had begun to fall for him, big time.
I've always known that I'm into guys, I spent a long time in denial, not wanting to deal with everything that comes with living that truth, but after I realized just how head over heels I had fallen for Dylan, the fact became unavoidable. Obviously my feelings are not shared, otherwise I'd be the one dating him, not Trianna Saxon. They started going out after she kissed him under the mistletoe at Slughorn's Christmas party about 6 months ago.
Since then I've seen him much less. He started sitting with Trianna in class and at Quidditch games and can now be found with her pretty much whenever he would usually have been hanging out with me. The worst part is that Trianna's not a horrible person, she can be a snotty at times but she deals with a lot from other girls. As a metamorphmagi, she's used to being made fun of, called a freak, only because they wish they could change their own appearances at will. I often wish she was born with a drive for evil, or had some quality that I could hate her for, but thinking that just makes me feel even worse about the whole situation.
I mean, why wouldn't he like her? She's beautiful, she's Gryffindor's seeker, and she's even a prefect. I would like her too if I wasn't playing for the other team.
Dylan snores snapping me back to reality and reminding me that I told Michaela I would do it. I look over at him, he'd somehow managed to fall asleep while still holding his glass of lemonade so it was at risk of spilling into the grass. It occurred to me that I had never seen him asleep before, he wasn't the type to sleep in class and usually when we hung out we would get into long conversations about conspiracy theories or muggle tv shows. I'm looking at his face and all I can think of is how badly I want to reach out and touch him. For him to kiss me.
He snores again and I shake the thought out of my head and laugh aloud. This was apparently enough to wake him and he asks "What's so funny?" his eyes still closed.
"You were snoring" I sneer.
At that he perks up and playfully punches my arm stating "I do not snore"
"Well you just did so, don't know what to tell you."
He laughs and looks at his watch, "How long was I out for?"
"Only a few minutes." He pushes up off the ground to his feet and pulls out his phone.
"I should probably get going now. Tri is expecting me to call her tonight."
"Oh okay," I try to hide the disappointment I feel as best as possible.
"Thanks for having me over dude, this was fun. We should try and hang out again before school starts."
"Definitely" I reply as we walk back inside and towards the fireplace.
"Catch you around" he says with a smirk, throwing a pinch of floo powder into the flames.
My mind is on overdrive screaming at me that this is my last chance, I have to say something, I have to do something, but all I can manage is to say "See you later."
I watch as he walks into the green flames and disappears. Leaving me to walk to my room and lie in my bed staring at the ceiling and thinking over each opportunity I had today to finally tell him how I feel.
Thank you so much for reading, it's been a while since I've done fanfiction so hopefully my posting this will actually drive me to finish editing the next few chapters and continue the story from there, so stay tuned for the next part and have a good day!