A/N: Another short one. So I honestly didn't have plans for Quinn and a relationship for her but I had some people asking about possible faberry or whatever Quinn and Mike's ship name is. I guess I'll leave it up to you all to chose so let me know. But this is Brittana's story so whichever you choose it will just be a footnote really.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback! I just hope everyone is enjoying this.
"Let's go over it again," Santana said from where she sat on the bookshelf.
Brittany was across from her, sitting on the table with her feet on the bench next to Quinn. The champion had her fingers wound through her hair and her forehead slumped on the pile of strew-out books in front of them. Brittany smiled at her with a glint in her eyes and reached out to pat Quinn on the back.
A muffled noise came from the champion and Santana rolled her eyes.
"I can't hear you, Fabray," Santana said, reaching inside her robes and pulling out a nail file.
Quinn lifted her head enough for her words to be clear. "We've repeated the bloody thing enough times, you recite it."
"Oh but it's much more fun to hear you say it," Santana smiled before laughing lightly and beginning to work on her nails.
It was February 23rd, the day before the second task, and the sun had already begun to set. It cast its long rays through the tall windows of the library, making everything glow orange. The room had been restored to its former self once more. Every time Santana looked up at Brittany, her breath was taken away by the way her golden hair reflected the sunlight. She looked like pure magic and Santana was growing even more impatient with their current task of riddle solving.
She thought it would be simple with two Ravenclaws and herself. She supposed Quinn had come to the same conclusion yet there they were with less than twelve hours to go and only a portion figured out.
Quinn sighed and sat up straighter, making Santana smile in victory.
"Once filled with life from whence my pages came," the champion recited slowly.
"Right, so the forest," Santana said.
"Yes, I know, Santana," Quinn snapped. "Don't interrupt me."
"Hey, you asked for our help, remember? So I'll help you how I please," Santana growled back, lowering her file.
"It's probably the Forbidden Forest, since it's the only one around here," Brittany said, picking up an abandoned quill from the table she was sat on.
"Yeah, most likely," Santana concurred, "continue, Quinn."
Quinn huffed before the finishing the first line, "now masked in silence and filled with eerie dread."
"Well silence can't be that bad," Santana shrugged.
"Yeah well obviously something is wrong," Quinn countered. "Why would the woods be silent? What happened to all the creatures?"
"I think that's what you're supposed to figure out, Q."
"Oh shut it, Santana, you don't know either," Quinn snapped, turning on the bench to face her.
Santana tensed her jaw, fingers gripping the edge of the bookshelf. She opened her mouth to argue back but was interrupted by Brittany.
"Well the eerie dread, what is that related to? What's the next part again, Quinn?"
Quinn glared at Santana but the brunette merely raised an eyebrow in return. The other Ravenclaw turned back towards the table and shifted the books if front of her around until she was able to pull the now-familiar silver book towards her.
"You must find happiness to set them free, and escape from the shadows, no longer bound by sleep and fearful dreams," she spoke slowly.
"Okay, so the shadows. They're eerie," Brittany mused. The sun danced across her face, making her blue eyes stand out like flames when she looked to Santana for agreement. They matched the blue of the tie lying loosely around her neck. "And like, scary dreams and stuff."
"Shadows can't hurt you, Brittany," Quinn said, leaning back in defeat.
Brittany's face fell and her eyes turned down to the quill feather she was playing with in her hands. Santana shifted on the bookshelf.
"Well maybe there's something up with these shadows. Maybe they can hurt you," Santana said, trying to defend her girlfriend.
"How can a shadow hurt you?" Quinn huffed.
"Well I don't know but I'm trying to think outside of the cauldron here, okay?"
"No, I think you're right, Santana," Brittany said, sending her a shy but grateful smile.
"Alright, fine," Quinn consented, "let's just say the shadows are the eerie, dread-y part of this game. What do they mean by 'no longer bound by sleep and fearful dreams'?"
"Beats me," Santana said.
"Thanks, super helpful you are," Quinn deadpanned. "Britt, what do you think?"
"Why don't you try this one, Quinn," Brittany said softly and it made Santana smile. It was Brittany's sneaky way of telling Quinn to do her own work for once.
"Fine," Quinn said, obviously annoyed. "I don't know, what do we keep in our dreams?"
"Scary stuff," Brittany said with a pout.
"Those are nightmares, Britt," Santana pointed out.
"No, nightmares are just scary dreams," the blonde countered.
Santana didn't have a choice but to agree. As usual, her girlfriend was correct. "Well my dreams are usually sexy," she said with a wink towards Brittany.
"I don't think these dreams are of the sexy, lesbian persuasion, Santana," Quinn said, her annoyance evident in her tone once more.
"Your loss," Santana said, shrugging once more and returning to her filing.
"Clearly," Quinn mumbled.
"And speaking of nightmares, want to tell us what's up with that Boggart of your or what?" Santana suddenly remembered, sitting up straighter.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Quinn said, feigning ignorance.
"Yeah," Brittany said, perking up slightly. "Why did it look like yo-"
"Okay! Back to focus," Quinn cut her off. Santana narrowed her eyes at the champion who had closed her own for a minute before returning to the books on the table. Quinn flicked through a few pages before giving up. "I mean, is there something that can hurt us in our sleep? Why would that have to do with the forest?"
Santana let out a short breath but supposed it was not the time to bring up Quinn's unusual greatest fear. She would let the champion tell her on her own time if she ever felt comfortable enough with her to do so. Santana looked across the small aisle towards her girlfriend who rolled her shoulders before speaking.
"But it says 'no longer bound by sleep', Q," Brittany reminded, sounding slightly annoyed with their lack of progress.
Quinn dropped her head to the table with a loud thud and groaned. "How is this the only riddle I can't solve?"
"Well we've gotten some of it," Brittany empathized.
"Yeah: a forest and scary shadows. We're making progress," Quinn huffed sarcastically, lifting her head slightly. "But now we don't have a clue why the riddle mentions sleep and what the bloody hell is it talking about finding happiness?"
"Well," Santana said, sighing and sliding off the bookshelf. She took a short step towards Quinn and placed a hand on her shoulder before leaning down to be at her level. "Quinn… are you happy? Have you been experiencing any moments of intense insanity? Lack of judgment? I think I saw you ogling that gargoyle from W.A.D.A. at the Yule Ball."
She heard Brittany snort and stiffen a laugh from beside her and grinned at herself.
"Shove off, Lopez!" Quinn growled, giving Santana a good push and causing the Slytherin to fall loudly against the bookshelf. Several books fell to the floor with loud thuds drawing the attention of some of the students around them. Soon the librarian was also giving them an evil glare.
Santana saw Brittany mouth the word 'sorry' as she bent down to gather some of the fallen books.
Quinn groaned and ran her fingers through her hair again, pulling at the loose and shortened ends. "You know, I bet Harry Potter wasn't up the night before the second task with a bunch of tossers in the library trying to figure out his riddle."
"Hey, who you calling a tosser?" Santana huffed. Quinn just rolled her eyes. "Besides, my bet goes towards that Granger girl solving all that kid's problems. Boy didn't have a clue."
Brittany giggled and pulled out her wand. She twirled it a few times between her fingers before pointing the tip at the quill feather in her other hand and muttering a few words. Santana watched as the feather began to turn different colors and smiled. Brittany looked up with a grin on her face and it made Santana's heart melt. She pushed off the bookshelf, walked over to the girl and rested her hands atop Brittany's thighs.
"Besides, I think you're looking at this all wrong, Q," Santana said, mouthing 'I love you' to Brittany before turning to face the other blonde. "The riddle says you must find happiness, right? Instead of thinking about what that means why don't you think about what makes you happy."
"A lot of things make me happy, Santana," Quinn said in defeat.
"Yeah, I know," Santana said, thinking about how happy playing Quidditch made her or how much she enjoyed her potions classes. She turned back towards her girlfriend. "But what's that one thing that makes you happiest? Brittany makes me happy," her words were directed towards the blonde, "and sometimes that's all I need to get by."
Brittany smiled down at her, dropping the colorful feather and covering one of Santana's hands with her own. The last rays of setting sun were casting their final farewell against Brittany's fair skin and Santana held her gaze.
Quinn hummed next to them, breaking Santana's daze and drawing her attention to her now nodding head. "Well I'm happy for you guys but that doesn't help me."
"That's for you to figure out, Quinn," Brittany said, "I'm not sure we can help you with that."
Quinn groaned rather loudly making Santana chuckle. She turned back towards Brittany only to find her girlfriend deep in thought.
"Hey, what is it, love?" Santana asked quietly.
Brittany looked up at her and Santana watched her eyes widen. "Happiness, Santana. You must find happiness. San, what if they mean the Patronus charm?"
Quinn's head snapped up and Santana took a step back to get a better look at her girlfriend. It all made sense as she thought about it. She turned towards Quinn.
"So do you think I'll need the Patronus to help me complete the task?" Quinn asked.
"It makes sense," Santana said. "What comes after that; 'to set them free and escape the shadows?' You probably need the charm for that."
Quinn nodded but Santana noticed her face falling. Brittany beat her to the question before she could ask it.
"Have you managed to conjure one yet?"
Quinn remained silent before looking away and Santana instantly felt her heart sink for the other girl.
"Wait, didn't you guys practice before finals last year?" Santana said quietly.
Quinn looked up at her with a glare in her eyes and it made Santana feel even worse.
"I haven't been able to produce a full bodied Patronus yet. I can cast the charm but," Quinn's voice faded away.
"You'll get it, Quinn. I know you can do it," Brittany said softly.
"Yeah well, I don't have a memory," Quinn said, shoulders slumping. "I don't know what makes me happiest or what my happiest memory is like you two do."
"Then find it," Santana said, standing taller. "I know you can. It will come when you need it most."
Quinn didn't answer but looked up at Santana with a crooked and helpless smile. All Santana could do was nod and let her know they believed in her.
"Okay," Santana said, breaking the silence since she was beginning to grow uncomfortable with the sentimental atmosphere around them. "What does, 'take to flight to reach the skies and burning light,' mean?"
"Hell if I know," Brittany said with a laugh.
Quinn rolled her eyes and groaned, the soft thud of her head hitting the books for the third time echoing along the rows of shelves and through the library.