It's really quiet in the library.
Brittany's looking for Madam Pince, but it seems like she's only there when she's getting into trouble, so Brittany might as well look for her.
She walks through shelves of books, the smell of musty pages and yellowing paper intoxicating her. It's kind of nice, actually.
It's almost eight, and the library's about to close. Maybe she should just wait at the counter for the librarian. She turns around and realizes something. She's lost.
She decides to walk back and turn left every third book shelf she passes. Five minutes in, and she notices that she's more lost than ever. She looks at the books' titles, hoping that if she knows what section she's in, she'll know how to get out.
Law and Literature, Legislative Guide to the Proper Use of Magic, Magical Misdemeanours in the Modern Law…
When did the library ever have a legal section?
She's so fucking screwed.
She wonders about how much trouble she'd get into if she lets fly a signal with her wand when she hears the shuffling of paper. She quietly looks behind a shelf and sees a girl.
She's gorgeous.
She's reading through a book so big that Brittany feels intimidated just looking at it. Her face is leaning on the open palm of her left hand, and her arm is propped on the table near the side of the book. Warm brown eyes are framed by glasses, and a curl of jet-black hair is tucked behind an ear. The girl pushes her glasses up her nose, and brings her right hand to her mouth and licks the tip of its thumb, and uses it to turn the page.
Brittany thinks she's in love.
The lamps dim, and the girl looks up, her lips in a straight line, as if she's annoyed at the library deciding to close. She looks to the corner of the page, maybe to take the page she's on to mind, and stands up. She brings the enormous book to her chest, holding it with two arms, and makes to leave. Brittany notices that she's wearing skinny jeans, which hug a perfect ass and long toned legs, and it's only when the girl disappears behind a staircase that she decides to follow her. She silently catches up to her, and they go through tens of unfamiliar bookcases until Brittany wonders if she's lost too. Suddenly, the girl stops, and she places the huge book back into a shelf. It's a little bit above her reach, and she stretches to lift the book up, her shirt riding up to reveal a slip of skin, making Brittany blush a little bit.
The book's back in its place, maybe a bit too over the edge for Brittany to feel safe, but the girl is satisfied, and proceeds to move forward. Once again, Brittany follows her, but just then the enormous book falls on her, and using lightning-quick reflexes, she catches it, and, god, she wonders how the girl was able to put it up in the first place. It's fucking heavy.
The girl turns around to the sound of the book landing in Brittany's arms, but Brittany already rolled under the table (thank Merlin there were no chairs), and she holds her breath. She figures that if she's caught, she'll look like a major stalker. She doesn't want that to be the girl's first impression of her.
Moments pass and no one has yet checked to look under the table, so Brittany figures she's safe. She gets out from under the table and manages to see a whip of hair as the girl takes a bend around the bookshelf, and Brittany places the book on the table before following the girl.
She takes the bend and finds herself looking at the counter. Madam Pince is there with a disapproving look on her face, and Brittany manages to remember why she came here in the first place. She moves to give the book she borrowed, House Elves & Self-Hatred, the first book she could find with the words 'house elves' on it because she wanted to figure out why they've been reading her diary, when she realizes that she dropped the book after the other book dropped on her. She tells the librarian to wait, and rushes to where she almost got squashed. She finds the book and rushes back to Madam Pince. The librarian gives her a lecture on punctuality and the like, and all Brittany does is nod her head and tap her foot impatiently. All she wants is to burst out of the library doors in time to see that girl leave.
The lecture ends and she apologizes to the librarian as she runs out the door. She's too late.
The girl's gone.
She goes back to the library everyday. That's a lot, even for a Ravenclaw.
"Are you going back to the library, again?"
Her roommate Quinn thinks so too.
"There are books there Quinn. I thought you liked books."
Quinn rolls her eyes.
"Why don't you just borrow one?"
"I haven't found the right one yet. What's it to you, anyway?"
"It's kind of suspicious. I mean, you've never gone there that much before, and you always go right before it closes."
"I—" Quinn's too smart for her own good.
Quinn smirks at her from the bed across, and then suddenly, her eyes light up, as if struck by a revelation.
"It's a boy, isn't it?"
Oh god. Quinn's got it totally wrong.
Brittany shakes her head, but Quinn's on a roll.
"Is it Artie Abrams? He's pretty cute. Really good in Charms too. Oh, but he's with that Hufflepuff Cohen-cha—Noah Puckerman? No, he's a knucklehead. Finn Hudson—no, god, you hate him. Uh, let's see—"
Quinn rattles on, and Brittany checks her watch. Fuck. It's a half-hour until closing time. She jumps out of bed and rushes to the library, Quinn's voice fading as she rushes on.
The library's a lot more crowded than the first time she saw her, but the legal section is always empty save for the girl, and Brittany thinks that's why she's always there. She knows she gets all these books from other sections, and they're all enormous and heavy, so she doesn't know why otherwise.
Sometimes Brittany would look at the books she reads, and they're all really advanced. She's pretty sure the girl's not from Ravenclaw, since she knows practically everyone there, or at least those in her year. So what house is she in?
The girl is there as always, and she's sitting in her favorite chair, the one on the left side of the table. three places from the end. Her hair's tied up in a loose ponytail, and Brittany sees she's wearing a sweater that's a bit big on her. It's cute.
Sometimes, Brittany would want to just march up to her and introduce herself, but then the girl would sneeze or scratch her nose or just do something unbearably adorable and Brittany would just lose courage.
Shit. She doesn't even know her name. It's been weeks now, and she doesn't even know what her name is. What kind of stalker is she?
And let's not talk about how very stalkerish this is.
She feels hot air on her neck, and she turns around and almost screams when she sees Quinn mere centimeters from her face.
She has this infuriating know-it-all look on her face, and Brittany blushes, either from anger or embarrassment or both. She grabs Quinn's hand and drags her out of the library, going the long way. The hallway is empty, but Brittany can barely raise her voice above an angry whisper.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"So, Santana Lopez, huh?"
It's Quidditch Season, and their match against the Gryffindors is fast approaching.
They've been training for weeks, and Brittany's pumped. She's a hundred percent sure they're going to win. There were rumours going on about the new Seeker that the opposing team have been keeping a secret, saying that he was the best since Harry Potter himself, but she knows they can handle him.
The day arrives, and they're walking into a field full of screaming underaged magicians. She transfigures the butterflies in her stomach to adrenaline. She's as ready as ever. Both teams take to the center of the field, and Brittany can see that the Gryffindors were still hiding their Seeker, as he was flanked by his team mates.
No worries. She'll find out who he is anyway. It won't change anything.
The Captains, Sam Evans and Wes Leung shook hands. Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and they took air.
No way. Their new seeker… It was her.
"Brittany, the Quaffle!"
Brittany heard Quinn and just managed to grab on to the ball with her fingertips. She kickstarted her Nimbus 2032 and flew across the field. She weaved in and out of opposing Chasers and dodged a Bludger aiming for her. The keeper was on the other hoop and there was no way for him to block the ball. She was about to throw it in when a flash of gold passed nearby. It was followed by a streak of crimson and the smell of well-loved books.
Santana.
"Brittany, watch ou—"
An opposing Chaser got hold of the Quaffle, and flew over to the other side of the field.
"Keep your head in the game Pierce!"
Shit. Wes was right. All heart problems later.
Hours passed by and the snitch wasn't caught yet. Don't get her wrong, Santana was as brilliant as they said she was, but the Beaters on Brittany's team were always aiming at her, since she was the only threat to them winning.
The Gryffindor team were exceptionally bad. She heard of an epidemic in Gryffindor caused by Fever Fudges gone bad, and it seems that most of the team haven't recovered yet. The score was 150 to 10, and if they kept on playing like this, Brittany knew that the only way they would win was if Santana caught the Snitch right there and then.
As if she heard, Santana dived down, faster than lightning. The Ravenclaw seeker, Adi, went followed her, just as quick. Brittany doubted if he saw the Snitch at all.
They were both heading to the ground fast, and then suddenly Santana pulled out. Adi wasn't as luck. He hit the ground. Hard.
Wes called for a time out as Madam Pomfrey came to fix Adi up.
God. Santana just did a Wronski feint.
In a few minutes they were called back into the game. The worse of Adi's injuries were fixed up, but Brittany's sure he was dazed, which was practically what Santana was aiming for.
The game continued, and the Beaters were still giving Santana hell. Sam was able to get a goal in, but Brittany got scored two and Isabelle got one, so all in all the score was 180 to 20. No chance in hell of the Gryffindors winning now.
Santana thought so too.
She spied the Snitch hovering above the left hoop on Ravenclaw's side, and managed to dodge two bludgers aimed at her. Adi saw it too, but it was too late. In a few seconds the Snitch was in Santana's hand.
But Ravenclaw won.
The stadium erupted in cheers and boos. Both teams flew back down. Brittany's team congratulated each other, but Brittany saw that Sam was scolding Santana. Wes gathered the team for a group hug, and Brittany gladly joined. Over Quinn's head she saw Sam stop and hugged Santana. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead her off the field.
Fuck it. They won.
But Brittany has never felt so worse.
"God Q. Why did I think I had a chance? She's straight. Straight and dating Sam."
Brittany's crying into her pillow. Her bed's curtains are closed and Quinn's sitting next to her. She cast the Muffliato Charm to prevent Alicia and Lucy from hearing anything.
"You don't know that."
"God, Q! Are you blind! She's always with him and him with her, and, ugh! And she's so gorgeous, and smart, and athletic, and just so fucking perfect, a—and I'm ju—just me."
Brittany feels Quinn's hand on her back, rubbing it comfortably.
"You're better than you think you are, B."
Brittany holds on tighter to her pillow.
"I just wish I was good enough for her."
Brittany stops going to the library. When she passes by Gryffindors she sticks close to the walls, and looks down at her feet.
She's trying to erase Santana from her mind. So far, it's working.
It's working, that is, until Professor Slughorn praises her for another perfectly well-made draught during Potions.
It's working, that is, until she passes by the field and sees her training with the rest of her team.
It's working, that is, until she sees her laughing at Sam, in the Great Hall during breakfast.
It's working, that is, until she knocks into Sam and sees that as she apologizes, they leave, holding hands.
It's working, that is, until she realizes that no, it isn't working.
It isn't working at all.
"Brittany, someone's looking for you."
It surprises her. Their near the end of the school year and everyone knows that you shouldn't disturb a Ravenclaw when the exams are coming up. This better be important.
"Who is it?"
"She's outside."
Brittany looks up at Quinn and sees that she's nervous. She knows better than to call on her for it.
The door opens and she steps outside.
The hallway is surprisingly empty. The only person out is—
It's Santana.
She's in shorts and a too big shirt and her hair's slightly rumpled. All in all, it looks like she just got out of bed.
She's gorgeous.
She's biting her bottom lip and fiddling with her fingers when she looks up and notices that Brittany's there. She's blushing, and Brittany realizes that this is the first time she's seen her without glasses. Their eyes lock on each other, and she's pretty sure she won't be able to look elsewhere even if she tried.
Santana's lips dive down and the connection is broken.
"What do you want from me?"
Brittany never meant for it to be so harsh, but pain gets to you and seeps into your very bones. It's not her fault.
Santana's surprised by the tone of the voice, and she stutters when she answers.
"I—I noticed you haven't been going to the library in a while."
Fuck. She knows that she's been spying on her?
"You did?"
"Ye—yeah. The legal section's pretty unpopular and I'm usually the only one there."
Okay. That confirms it. What does she do?
Brittany decides to tell the truth. Maybe she'll get weirded out and never even bother to look at her again. That might actually do her some good.
"I found out you were dating Sam."
Brittany sees Santana put on a confused look. It's adorable and she can't bear it. The sooner this girl is out of her life, the better.
"What does Sam have to do with anything?"
"I—I like you okay! This is the first time we've ever talked to each other but the first time I met you, I just fell, and now I'm just so hung up over you but I know you're straight and with Sam and after this we'll probably never speak to each other again and that's good because I'll finally be able to move on with my life!"
Brittany's breaths are short and ragged, but it feels good to finally let out all her emotions.
"Muffliato."
Instead of running away, Santana steps closer towards Brittany and moves to hold her hand.
"I'm not dating Sam."
Warmth rushes through her fingers and spreads throughout her whole body.
"I'm not straight either."
Her heart rate increases.
Santana pulls Brittany so that they could sit down.
"I saw you months ago in the legal section and I liked you instantly. And you kept coming in everyday, but I told myself that you were there for something or another. Why would Brittany Pierce like me? You're smart, you're popular, you're kind, you're the best Chaser in Hogwarts, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Why would you like me? And then you stopped coming and would barely notice me when I pass by, and, I—I just wanted you in my life. Even if we never talked. I don't want Sam, Finn, or any other guy. I just want you."
Brittany sees that they're both crying, and she wonders how people who've never even met could affect each other so much.
"I want you too."
They're smiling and hugging, and Brittany's surprised that this is the first time they've officially met. It's like they've known each other all their lives
.
A/N: I forgot that not all people read HP OTL
Madam Pince - School Librarian
Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin - Houses (students are divided into four and sorted into these)
Quidditch - it's basically a ball game played on broomsticks.
transfigure - change from one thing to another (e.g. rock to a sandwich)
Madam Hooch - Flying teacher; Usually in charge of Quidditch teams
Nimbus 2032 - some broomstick I made up which is part of the canon Nimbus line
Fever Fudges - candy that when ingested can cause the user to become sick long enough to be excused from class. This one causes fever.
Madam Pomfrey - School Nurse
Wronski Feint - really difficult Quidditch move.
Professor Slughorn - Potions teacher
Great Hall - Hall wherein most major assemblies are held. It's enormous, and this is where students take their meals.
Muffliato - a spell which causes those in the area affected to hear humming, causing it to be hard to overhear conversations
More info can be found in harrypotter. wikia. com
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