Meticulously annotating her Potions book, Caroline barely noticed the shuffling of her boyfriend's legs under the table until a socked foot slid up her calf. "Klaus," she warned, not bothering to look up. "I'm studying."
"You're always studying," Klaus groaned. He leaned back, ignoring the dirty look Madam Pince shot him for speaking above a whisper.
"Well," she replied in a mock conciliatory tone, "some of us have to keep our grades up if they want to stay in the country." Glancing at his childish pout, she smiled in reassurance. "I just want to finish this section before heading back to the common room. A little patience is all I'm asking."
Rolling his eyes, Klaus retracted his foot from her personal space. He leaned forward on the table, casting an inconvenient shadow over her page. "Would your mother really transfer you back to Ilvermorny for one missed study session?"
Caroline shrugged. "I don't think so, but I refuse to give her any excuse to even consider it," she answered, adamant.
Liz Forbes had been less than pleased when her only child orchestrated an intercontinental school exchange all on her own. It was hard enough to learn her daughter was magical when invited to attend Ilvermorny years earlier, but sending Caroline overseas made the small-town sheriff too nervous.
With the paperwork all but ironclad for her sixth year to occur at Hogwarts, Liz's only valid threat to hold over her head was to make her return home for her seventh and final year at Ilvermorny. Caroline's stubborn nature would be more than enough to exceed all of her mother's expectations on principle alone, but also her desire to work in international wizarding law demanded a more diverse education.
Caroline would be damned before she let her mother bring her back to the States without taking her NEWTs at Hogwarts. Klaus being bored was not an acceptable reason to jeopardize that plan.
As a seventh year, Klaus ought to have been feeling the academic pressure more strongly than Caroline. However, his natural athleticism and leadership made him a great captain for the Slytherin Quidditch team and an even better prospect for joining the professional league after graduation. Two offers had already come from respectable teams, and Klaus could admit the safety net made him lazy in his remaining schoolwork.
Sighing, Klaus knew Caroline was serious in her determination. To distract himself, he started sketching on a spare sheet of parchment. Familiar curls took shape as his charcoal filled in the details of her hair, a never-ending source of inspiration to his hidden artistic side. A smirk pulled at his lips, grateful his utter fascination with drawing her was endearing rather than creepy.
After all, it was the only thing that had convinced her to take a chance on him when she first transferred to Hogwarts.
He had been skulking in the corner of the Slytherin common room the night she was Sorted among the first-years, peeking up at her when he thought she wasn't looking. At the time, she hadn't noticed the sketchbook perched on his knee. What she thought was a mild flirtation was more a complete fascination on his part, though a fellow sixth-year had warned her about Klaus Mikaelson.
"He doesn't do serious," Katerina Petrova had gossiped, taking it upon herself to claim the new girl as her own. "The boy can talk a good game, but don't believe a word of it."
Caroline had taken the advice to heart, rolling her eyes every time Klaus would approach her with small talk. He always seemed to be around, though he rarely tried to chat her up after the first few failures.
Then, the notes began to appear:
Caricatures of the faculty, tucked into her Transfiguration textbook the day after she embarrassed herself by mistaking Professor Sinistra for Professor Vector in the Great Hall.
Detailed illustrations of various plants found on Hogwarts grounds, slipped into her tote bag after an Herbology lesson excited her about the ancient magical oddities that just grow near her, like they're the most normal thing in the world.
Her.
The first one shocked Caroline, though perhaps she should have expected her secret admirer to be more direct eventually. She was laughing in the common room, bent over a book with Katerina pointing out a particularly doddy professor wagging his finger from the author's picture. While Kat's massive curls were just barely shaded, each of her own blonde spirals was carefully sketched out. Even the pencil tucked behind her ear was painstakingly detailed as it shoved a lock of hair out of place.
She found it by her plate during dinner, surprising her that no one else had mentioned it. Caroline quickly pulled it closer, a feeling of being watched washing over her. Glancing up, she saw a bashful Klaus duck his eyes and immediately stand to leave. She made her own excuses, following him out of the Great Hall toward the grounds.
"Hey," she called, barely able to keep up with Klaus as he made his way to the Quidditch pitch. "Wait a minute."
When he abruptly turned, she stumbled right into him. His hands went to her shoulders for stability, his cheeks flaming red at the contact. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Caroline narrowed her eyes in consideration. "Sorry for drawing me, or sorry for me finding out it was you?"
Klaus smirked, his dimples making a brief appearance to cover his nervous shifting. "That depends," he teased with a feigned smugness. "Are you finally going to acknowledge my presence?"
"Kat said you were a charming one, but she didn't mention stalker sketches."
Clearing his throat, he had seemed angry at the jab. "They're not- Katerina presumes too much," he defended.
"So you're not the House asshole who flirts with everyone to get what he wants, whatever that may be?" she challenged, crossing her arms across her torso. "I'm too smart to be seduced by you, romantic drawings or not."
His eyes glinted in awareness as he took a step closer. "Romantic?"
Caroline had rolled her eyes, but she was unable to hide the pleased smile pulling at her lips. Smiling at the memory, Klaus made sure to put that small grin on the sketched Caroline's face as she pretended not to notice his sudden levity.
The minutes flew as he worked, steadily placing the freckles across her nose and cheeks until she finally closed her Potions book.
"All done," she announced. She craned her neck to see his parchment. "Ugh, I knew I had a zit coming in."
"What was it you said?" he asked. "No photo-storing your likeness?"
Sticking out her tongue, Caroline packed up her supplies so they could leave the library behind for the weekend. "PhotoShopping, Mr. My Wizarding Family Goes Back Generations And Never Cared For No-Maj Things," she retorted, accepting the hand he offered as they walked back to the common room. She had asked him not to ignore her flaws when drawing her, but she didn't have to like the reminders. He seemed to like them just fine, though, which made her squeeze his hand affectionately. "Are you sure you have to go home this weekend?"
Klaus groaned. "I wish I didn't, but Finn and Sage have promised I could stay with them after graduation if I minded the twins from time to time," he answered. "The time has come, unfortunately."
"I can't really picture you babysitting," Caroline admitted. Her boyfriend wasn't exactly the warm and fuzzy type, their relationship aside.
"With my family, you get a lot of practice," he said, shrugging. "Charlie and Anne aren't so bad now that Finn has started schooling them, but they will insist upon a Gobstones tournament."
His disgusted face made Caroline giggle, the noise bouncing off the stone walls around them. "It can't be that bad."
Confused, Klaus's brow scrunched. "What Gobstones tournament have you played that didn't completely ruin whatever clothes you were wearing, freshening spells or not?"
"I've never played."
Caroline's arm suddenly wrenched back, and she realized Klaus had stopped dead while still holding her hand. "What?"
Shaking his head, he seemed bewildered. "I know Muggleborns have a bit of a learning curve, but you've never played Gobstones? Ever?"
Though she knew it was a popular game for children and a more devoted adult following in Europe, Gobstones had never really caught on at Ilvermorny. "We didn't have it back home," she explained, "and Kat warned me that only first-years really played it here. Plus, I'm more of a chess girl."
With a familiar glint in his eyes, Klaus quickly pulled her toward the dungeons. "Tell me, love," he said wickedly. "Would you like to make a wager?"
Waving her wand, Caroline quickly cast a shield to block the slimy green oil from hitting her face. "You did that on purpose," she accused Klaus, as he had just knocked her second to last Gobstone right in front of her.
"That's the game, sweetheart," he answered with an innocent grin. "I have to knock them off the field, if I can."
"But not toward me," she whined, using her wand to move the stinky little thing far away from her.
Klaus had briefly explained the game to her before filching his younger brother's set. It was basically marbles, Caroline had realized, just with the added consequence of your marble spitting the nastiest-smelling gunk at you if knocked off the target. He had already beat her once in their best of three match, and there was too much on the line for Caroline to lose again.
With a determined frown, she lined up her remaining Gobstone to attack the two Klaus had landed on the makeshift bullseye he had chalked onto the common room floor. If she could get one, the draw would keep Caroline afloat; if she got both, she could have a win under her belt with only one game remaining, winner take all.
Caroline was too competitive, and a draw wouldn't be nearly as satisfying as a win. She considered her strategy, looking for opportune angles to knock out both opposing Gobstones.
"Tick tock, love, my train leaves soon," Klaus teased, running his hand along her ankle stretched toward him. "Better make your move before I win by default."
"Hush," she chided, settling herself so she could flick her thumb just so and- "Yes!"
Her Gobstone had hit both of Klaus's in success, hard enough to roll them off the target while still keeping hers in play. She had tied their records, causing her to do a little victory dance where she sat.
Klaus was too busy grinning at her to notice his Gobstones ready to spit, and it was only Caroline's fast shield that kept him from a miserable train ride to his brother's house. "Thanks, love."
"You're welcome," she giggled, reaching over to kiss his cheek. "I guess we'll call it a draw, since you have to leave."
"Damn," Klaus sighed. "I was really looking forward to my winnings."
Blushing, Caroline rolled her eyes. He had wanted her to pose for a more personal sketch, an idea she had yet to admit she found intriguing. "Keep dreaming," she muttered as she cleaned up their game.
"Same goes for you," he warned, though mentally reminding himself to leave her one of his shirts to sleep in anyway. She always wanted to steal one, and this had been her chance to win it fairly.
"I'll live," she answered airily, smiling as he pulled her closer. His nose skimmed her throat, and she craned her neck to give him more access. Luckily, the common room had mostly cleared for the night, giving them a semblance of privacy. "But I am going to miss you."
Grinning against her skin, Klaus hummed. "It's just a few days," he said quietly, reassuring himself as much as her. He leaned up to press a kiss against her lips. "You'll probably spend most of it studying anyway."
Her mouth pursed in benign annoyance as he moved past her toward the boys' hall. "You better believe it," she called, lightly swatting his behind before he got too far.
"Thank you for the shirt. I love that it smells like you."
Klaus received the note by owl the next morning, his foolish grin enough to catch the attention of his sister-in-law over breakfast.
"And what has you so happy?" Sage asked, pointing her fork at the giddy young man. "You were kicking up quite the fuss yesterday about wasting your weekend here."
"I bet it's from a girl," Anne whispered, giggling like the six-year-old she was. "Auntie Bekah told me he likes a girl named Caroline."
Leaning over, Charlie tried to peek at the letter. "It looks girly," he accused with a scrunched nose.
Klaus affectionately rubbed his nephew's head, pushing him away before he could try to read Caroline's message. "I left my girlfriend a present and she's thanking me, that's all," he explained.
While Sage and Anne tittered over the admission, Klaus found himself smiling again at the note. Knowing that Caroline was wearing his shirt soothed the werewolf in him, the fact that his scent was running along her skin comforting his possessive nature when he wasn't near her. It wasn't something he considered often, though he knew Caroline didn't mind as long as he didn't try to boss her around. She had dated a werewolf back home and was rather more sympathetic than Klaus was used to, but she still expected a sense of independence that would never be infringed by his wolfy instincts.
Though he had no desire to restrict her in any way, Klaus couldn't help but enjoy the few opportunities he found to lay his claim upon her - much like a scent-laden shirt.
Like lightning, an idea struck him suddenly. "Sage, when you and Finn get back tomorrow," Klaus said, "could you help me with a Charm?"
Sage raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly. "After putting up with these kiddos for a whole day and a half, I have a feeling I'll owe you one," she answered. "Charlie got a new Gobstones set from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, just for your visit."
Klaus laughed, figuring it was only fair for what he would ask of his sister-in-law the next day.
Caroline was catnapping in the Slytherin common room when Klaus returned, a book resting open against her chest. He smiled as he gently lifted her feet so he could sit underneath them, jarring her awake.
"Hey," she greeted sleepily before her nose wrinkled. "You stink."
"Gobstones," he answered with a wink.
Shaking her head, Caroline sat up to lean closer. "No, it's more like you took a shower in your cologne," she said, sniffing at his shirt.
Klaus sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket. "You caught me," he said. Pulling out a small velvet bag, he opened it to pour a Gobstones set into Caroline's hands. "Enchanting an already magical game is tricky, apparently."
Still groggy, Caroline glanced down to the marbles. "What?" she finally asked.
"I figured you could use your own set for when you inevitably challenge me to a rematch," Klaus replied, shrugging. "And when you lose, I like the idea that you'll be covered in my scent rather than spoiled milk."
Caroline bit her lip to hide a smile as realization dawned on her. "You enchanted Gobstones to spray me with your cologne?" she asked teasingly. "It must be hell inside your wolfy head to be so possessive."
Wrapping an arm around her, Klaus just chuckled. "Says the girl who's already mapped out a tiebreaker tournament," he guessed, kissing her temple.
"Fair point," she muttered, snuggling closer as she stared at her pretty new Gobstones.