Chapter-2

The staring continued.

As you can guess, it was damn annoying and unnerving. Finally, having had enough of it, I decided to do something about it. Confront him. I got the chance the very next day after I made the decision, at my DADA class. As usual, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had class together.

"For this lesson, you need to pair up. Girls versus boys. Let's see who wins. Pick your partners." Professor Smith said cheerfully. She always did love pairing people up and holding contests.

Quickly, I scanned the room until I found him talking to his friend, at the back. I moved past everyone until I was right in front of him.

"Dimitri." I called, praying for my voice not to shake. His eyes registered surprise as he turned to look at me, and then fell cautious. His face betrayed nothing.

"Will you be my partner?" I asked, and after a moment of hesitation, he nodded.

"Today, we are practicing the shield spell. Anyone know what that is?" Professor Smith asked as we faced each other and I tried my level best not to look into his eyes.

There were a few murmurs, but no definitive answers, so I raised my hand, wanting to distract myself from the stare that was burning a hole on the side of my face.

"Yes, Ms. Weasley?" Professor Smith called.

"Shield charms are used to stop two wizards from going at each other. They create a barrier to block physical objects and spells, to protect the wizard who cast it, or to protect people who the wizard wants to protect." I answered quietly, without looking at anybody.

"Very good, Ms. Weasley! Do you know the spell?"

"Yes, Professor Smith. There are many versions of the spell, but the most common of them all is just 'Protego'."

"Correct. As Ms. Weasley pointed out, there are many incarnations of the spell, some of which are Protego Duo, Protego Totalum and Protego Horribilis. But today, you will only be practicing the simplest incarnation, which is just Protego." She elaborated.

"Alright, is everyone paired up? Ok. Attackers, you may only use Stupefy . Defenders, be quick on your feet. Let's begin!" she clapped her hands enthusiastically.

"Are you going to avoid looking at me for the whole two hours?" a thick Russian voice came and, I had to stifle a gasp. That was only the second time I'd heard that voice. I'd forgotten how smooth it could be; how silky, and yet rough. The same voice that had asked me if I was okay that day. The same voice which then had been filled with concern, now filled with amusement. I sighed in resignation, and looked up. A mistake. I was instantly drawn into his eyes, twin oceans of endless blue. As I watched, his eyes visibly darkened a little.

"Shall we start?" he asked, and I nodded, unable to say anything coherent.

"I'll attack first." He said, and before I could react, I was frozen immobile. A second later, he withdrew the spell.

This happened three more times until I finally decided enough was enough. I took a deep breath, concentrated with all my might, and just as he raised his wand, I shouted out.

"STUPEFY!"

"PROTEGO!"

And miraculously, his spell bounced off me, casting a mild blue light. Immediately, I shouted out the Stunning Spell, too, but he was able to deflect it with just a swish of his wand and a muttered word.

This happened twice more until I sighed in defeat. He was from Ravenclaw. I should've known that he would beat me without blinking an eyelid.

"Bravo! Bravo! Look at that, everyone!" Professor Smith called out gleefully, and I realized that we were the only ones who had progressed to actually blocking each other. Others were ducking out of the way or swishing their wand in hopes of blocking the spell.

"Ms. Weasley , Mr. Rudofsky. Well done! 10 points to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw!" she congratulated us, and I smiled at her feebly. Dimitri remained stoically silent. I knew that I had just passed up a good chance to confront him, for she was sure to ask us to change partners now.

"Professor Smith." Dimitri called suddenly.

"Yes, Mr. Rudofsky?"

"Do you think we can attack with tougher spells?" he asked, and I tensed. Tougher spells? What did he mean?

"Sure, sure. Just be careful not to use ones that are seriously damaging, Mr. Rudofsky." She said happily, and I was on high alert. Something bad was going to happen.

We turned to face each other again.

"Well, aren't you going to do it?" he asked as we circled each other.

"Do what?" I asked in surprise.

"Confront me. Isn't that what you partnered with me for?" he asked with a sly smile on his lips, and I was taken aback.

"How do you-"

"-know? Well, the staring had to get to you someday." He smiled a real smile, and I was surprised by the effect it had on his normally scary face. Beautiful, I could only think. Then his words registered.

"You tyke! You wanted me to confront you, didn't you?" I demanded, growing angry.

"Why?"I asked.

He took that opportunity to throw a hex at me. And so help me, he chose the Bat-bogey hex. But I wasn't that distracted, and managed to block him. The spell bounced off of me harmlessly.

"Why?"I asked again, and his mouth tightened.

"Because I wanted to know the truth." He answered, and I froze.

"What truth?" I asked, my voice a whisper.

"The truth about what happened that day."

"Well, I'm not telling you." I said firmly, gaining back my voice, and I decided that he had talked enough.

"ABLATTERO!" I shouted, and he deflected it again, his time with visible effort. Good. I was getting better.

"Then I guess I'll just have to find out. I'm sorry for this." He said grimly, and I was thrown off track for a moment. He was apologizing? For a spell? How bad could it be?

I found out the answer to my question as he cast his spell.

"LEGILIMENS!"…