AN: Hows it going? I would love to hear any and all feedback :D please let me know what you like and don't like ;) By the way, I don't own Harry Potter ;)
Before we begin Chapter 3 though, i would like to thank my very first reviewer/followers AppoloniaAstria and youmuststartanew. Thanks you two, you made my day ;)
Mackenzie was tired, boring prefect meetings would do that to a person she supposed. The meeting consisted of acknowledging the other prefects and being given their patrol schedules.
Mac was mostly partnered with her fellow sixth year Gryffindor, Darren Thewlis, and a nice looking Ravenclaw sixth year named Tony Hilliard.
When they had all done the 'hi my name is' section of the meeting, Mac had remembered why she hated being a prefect. She could feel people looking at her, judging and evaluating her.
Her somewhat depressing thoughts were disrupted as she realized that the meeting was over and that she could return to Isabel.
On the way back, Mackenzie tried to shrink back and be oblivious to those around her, as she didn't want to have to tell anyone off, lest that lead to a confrontation.
Mackenzie had the sinking suspicion that if anyone challenged her, she would crumble into a mess of tears. Unfortunately for her though, there was one scene that she could not avoid as it was literally in her path.
After five years of school with Teddy, Mackenzie would have thought that she would be used to seeing him pushing some kid against a wall in a threatening manner, as sad as that sounds. She wasn't used to it though and here he was.
Teddy's hair had changed to a violent shade of red, indicative of his anger no doubt. He had the brawny student pinned and had his wand jabbing into the flesh of his victim.
Mackenzie was horrified by the scene before her and would later blame her shock and tiredness for her bold words,
"Theodore Lupin, would you be so kind as to remove your wand from that boy's face?"
She watched as Teddy let go of the kid and pushed him away. Mackenzie's heart was thundering in her chest.
Oh, what have I done? She thought desperately.
The bold redness of Teddy's hair leached out and gave way to the usual bright blue.
He stood there as casual as can be, looking confidently attractive as his azure stare examined her closely.
Is he…Is he checking me out?
Mackenzie felt her anger stir at his perusal, Who does he think he is looking at me like that? Arrogant jerk.
Her irritation flushed her face, she could feel his eyes burning her so she kept her own averted.
"Mackenzie Madeline," Teddy's low voice stated
What? How could he know that?
Mackenzie reflexively glanced up, her gaze clashed with his. The connection sent her pulse into a frenzy, she pulled away in order to allow herself the ability to think.
I've only ever told Isabel what my full name was, this is so weird, I'd better get away fast, Mackenzie decided.
She shuffled forward, making her intention to get past obvious but Teddy seemed to take up more space even as she kept close to the side of the corridor.
Mac could have sworn that Teddy had leaned down and sniffed her on her way through but she quickly dismissed it as a figment of her stress.
She let out a puff of breath once away from him. Now all she had to do was make it safely back to hers and Isabel's compartment.
"Izzy, thank Merlin!" sighed Mackenzie as she slumped down onto a seat, "I blimmin hate being a prefect, have I told you?"
Isabel regarded her friend with a mixture of amusement and pity, "Yes, Mac, I believe you have mentioned it one or two hundred times. What's the matter now?"
Mac let out a low growl and just stared moodily out the window.
"Ah, I take that to mean it was Teddy again? Bullying another kid was he?"
Mackenzie gave a sharp nod then set about digging through her bag for her school robes.
While she pulled out the articles of clothing, she related to Isabel about her odd encounter with Teddy, Mac made certain to mention the disconcerting fact that Teddy knew what her middle name was.
Mackenzie had only ever told Isabel such details about herself. In the end she figured that Teddy must have just seen it written somewhere and that it wasn't a big deal, though she couldn't escape the feeling that it meant something.
She had only just gotten re-settled in her seat after changing her clothes when the compartment door slid open to reveal two figures.
One was, of course, Teddy and the other was his best friend Toby. They briefly fought over who got to enter the compartment first, the result was that they both tumbled in, sprawling themselves onto the seats and trying to act as if they had meant it to happen that way.
Teddy landed in a spot next to Mackenzie but turned his body so he could face her more directly. His friend sat in much the same manner but opposite Teddy, on the seat next to Isabel.
Toby was tall, lanky and had dark brown hair. His light brown eyes shone with a suppressed amusement that many of the girls at school found charming.
His was fairly good-looking but when next to Teddy he didn't stand out, but then again; no-one could stand out next to Teddy Lupin.
Mackenzie tried to take up as small a space as possible and glued her gaze to the scenery swiftly moving past them out the window, unfortunately she couldn't help but be acutely aware of the exact number of inches between her and Teddy's relaxed form.
Out the corner of her eye, Mackenzie noticed that Teddy and Toby had not changed into their robes. This was good as it meant that she had an acceptable reason for them to leave.
When they get too annoying, I'll remind them that they have to go and change and then they'll have to bugger off!
"So, how have you two lovely ladies been? Hey, Mac, did you enjoy telling me off earlier?"
Mackenzie could hear the smirk in Teddy's voice and, if she had looked at him, she would have seen the cheeky wink that accompanied it. She decided his questions were not worth answering.
"Ooh I think she did," Toby responded, "I think she enjoyed it as much as you did Ted."
The last part of that statement was laden with extra meaning, enough to make Teddy's face turn a faint pink as he turned his head to stare at his friend. Isabel looked back and forth between the two guys, sure that she was missing something,
"What are you doing here boys? What do you want?"
Teddy broke off the intense but wordless conversation he was having with Toby. He turned his attention to Isabel,
"To see you both, of course. You might want to change your attitude a bit though love, you wouldn't want us to be under the impression that you don't want us here."
Mackenzie made a derisive sound and spoke the words she couldn't contain,
"The correct impression you mean, as we do not in fact want you here at all," she was shocked that she had said anything; Mackenzie was usually not one to speak when not asked a direct question.
Her mother had always been particularly harsh to Mac if she talked out of turn so it had become a habit to keep her thoughts to herself. Mackenzie mentally blamed her outburst on her earlier, unnerving meeting with Teddy and braced herself for an insult or reprimand like she would normally receive at home.
None came. Mackenzie chanced at look at Isabel. The girl was wearing a surprised and amused smile, encouraging Mac to glance over at the azure eyed boy on her left.
Teddy's expression was a stronger version of Isabel's as he said, "Oh, come on now Mackenzie, I know you want me," There was that cheeky wink again.
"You know nothing of the sort, Lupin," Mackenzie replied, "What I want is to know when your appointment for getting your ego deflated is. I would hate for you to miss it."
Oh boy, you've done it now, Mackenzie thought bitterly, why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? What's my problem today? Oh yeah, it's Teddy Lupin.
"Seems he just had it," Toby chuckled.
"Sure did," Teddy agreed laughing, "You know, Mackenzie, I think I speak for both of us blokes when I say, I really like seeing this side of you."
To her complete horror and Teddy's great delight, Mackenzie blushed. She then looked to Isabel for help and their many years of friendship allowed Izzy to pick up the hint,
"Shouldn't you two go and put your robes on?" she asked pointedly.
Toby and Teddy stood up as slowly as they could and made a big show of stretching their bodies, they missed the eye rolls of the two girls who had turned away to face the darkening view outside.
"See you beauties later then," Teddy called as they left the compartment.
"Argh, can you believe those guys?" Izzy muttered, "Let's make sure we don't have to ride with them in the carriages to the castle."
Less than an hour later, Mackenzie and Isabel found themselves in one of the many Thestral-driven carriages and on their way to Hogwarts.
Mac and Izzy had squished themselves together on one side, mentally glaring at the other occupants, namely Teddy Lupin and Toby Isaacs. There were two others there as well but they were second years and kept to themselves.
Mackenzie was annoyed at how the guys had forced their way in; they had literally pulled out the other second years that had been already in place, just so they could ride in this particular carriage.
Mackenzie had a knack for ignoring people as she had often found that best way to survive her mother's rants was to not listen.
Mackenzie used that skill now and faced Izzy, "Did you read the book I lent you over the summer?" she asked quietly, as to not gain the attention of the others.
As their book discussion continued, Mackenzie and Izzy lost their hushed tones and talked freely and normally.
Mac was thoroughly enjoying debating who was the best character with Izzy when she abruptly realized that someone was watching her.
That someone was Teddy. His intense stare and the knowledge that he had listened to them, caused Mackenzie's cheeks to become stained with embarrassment.
Teddy smiled at her, it wasn't his usual smirk or cheeky grin, it was more of a gentle smile, possibly even tender. Mackenzie's heart gave an almighty stutter.
Why is he looking at me like that?
She panicked. Izzy spoke up then,"Stop staring at my friend Teddy, you're not allowed," Isabel realized how silly she sounded but persisted anyway, "Stop it now."
Mackenzie's face grew warmer; she slowly spun back to her friend and whispered, "Izzy! Shush, you're making everything more embarrassing. You know how I hate attention."
Mackenzie risked a glance back over to Teddy to see if he had heard what she had said, he was looking out of the window and it appeared he hadn't been listening to them. Izzy gave Mac a sheepish smile,
"I know Mac, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. But anyway, how about that cliff-hanger at the end of book eight eh?" and with that, the discussion recommenced and the carriage ride sped by.
As they disembarked, Mackenzie wondered briefly if Teddy had been staring at her the entire journey. She shrugged it off, thinking that he may have just been spacing out, she couldn't be sure that he was actually looking at her at all, it wasn't as if she had checked or anything.
Ooh the Welcoming Feast! Mackenzie's thoughts drifted away from the strange behavior of Teddy Lupin as she grabbed Izzy's wrist and started pulling her up the stone stairs, into the Entrance Hall and towards the Great Hall.
Students partially blocked the large doorway, all anxious to get to their seats but creating a bottleneck effect.
Mackenzie and Isabel had barely made it through the door when a heavy arm settled around Mac's shoulders. She jumped slightly and peered up at Toby as winked and he said,
"Mackenzie, my darling, did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Cause you're an angel."
She hated the sense of being trapped that rose up within her at the feel of his arm around her, she flushed red. To Mackenzie, it seemed as if everyone was staring at her, her heart began to beat faster. A voice interrupted the air around her,
"Hey mate, just leave her alone for five minutes," To Mackenzie's great surprise, it was Teddy that had spoken.
The four of them walked slowly over to the long Gryffindor table, Toby replied,
"Nah, I don't think I will Ted. If I want to be around my angel and talk to her, then I will."
This statement caused Mackenzie's panic to go into overdrive, her eyes frantically searched for a way to escape. She knew she was being silly but it had long since been ingrained in her to keep herself away from eyes of those around her.
Izzy and Teddy seemed to notice Mackenzie's distress and tried several times to get him to leave Mac alone.
In the end Izzy resorted to kicking Toby in the shin and while Toby was distracted by Izzy, Mackenzie slipped away and headed towards the girls from her dorm. Mac plonked herself down next to Melinda Cresswell, Olivia Peasegood and Sarah Montague.
She stared at the long table and absent-mindedly traced the grain of the wood, trying to calm her nerves back down. She felt a presence beside her and watched as Teddy sat himself on her left, she went back to gazing at the table.
"Toby can be such a jerk sometimes," Teddy said by way of an apology as he looked over at her.
"Just like you," Mackenzie muttered under her breath, not sure if she wanted him to hear that or not. Thankfully by then, most of the school had been seated and the Sorting Ceremony began.
Mackenzie was proud of herself, she had managed to pay attention to at least the first five new students being sorted, after that however, was a blur of cheering and clapping. Now was the part she had been looking forward to, the Feast.
Dishes of every variety appeared before them, the delicious scents encouraging everyone around to dig into them and take their fill.
Once all of the students and faculty had devoured their dinner, dessert appeared and they all dove straight back in, there was nothing quite like the food at Hogwarts.
While involved in eating, Mackenzie had also managed to ignore Teddy for the most part; it wasn't too difficult because he wasn't talking, he seemed to be deep in thought.
Mackenzie had thought that, with Teddy being a teenage boy and all, he would be eating at least a few platefuls but here she was, being surprised by him, he only ate a plate of dinner and one of desert.
Mackenzie didn't have much time to dwell on Teddy's eating habits however because the feast then ended and after Headmistress McGonagall gave out the usual start of term notices, Mackenzie was called upon to perform her prefect duties. Darren Thewlis jumped up and came over to Mackenzie as she stood. He knew that she was the shy type so he took command,
"First Years over here!" he called, "We'll show you to the common room, come on, this way."
She was exhausted. Mackenzie, dressed now in her pajamas, flopped down onto her four poster bed in the sixth year girls' dorm, letting out a moan before she squirmed about and climbed beneath the covers.
Isabel was the only other girl in yet, the others were undoubtedly still in the Gryffindor common room and flirting with the guys there. Izzy jumped into her own bed and rolled over to face Mackenzie, "So Mac, are you ready for this year?"
"Yup," Mackenzie yawned, "I have a strange feeling that this year is going to be different though."
There was a pause before a slightly confused Isabel replied, "Why Mac? What's different?"
Silence met the questions. Izzy huffed, Mackenzie had fallen asleep. Now the answers had to wait until the morning.