I could feel James staring directly at me through the window of Ravenclaw Tower. Surely he had better things to do as, I don't know, captain of the team? He seemed to sense this, and went back to watching his teammates and shouting instructions. I no longer had to pretend to be doing my work and let myself become absorbed into the world of Potions. It was quiet; there were only a few people in the common room, spread out across different tables and all engrossed in their own books and papers. I loved my friends and all the laughter they brought with them, but I found it hard to study when they were around and preferred to sit on my own sometimes to block out the world around me.
Soon enough, I had finished what I thought was an adequate amount of work for the day (two essays and preparation for the mock exam in a few weeks) and looked back out onto the grounds. It had been around three hours since James had waved at me and the Gryffindor team were still going. Their next game against Hufflepuff was in a week's time and everyone was talking about it. Now I wasn't the biggest fan in the world, but I would be lying if I said I didn't know anything about the game. A few years ago, when Benji wasn't such an annoying teenage boy, we would play in the garden at home and I would play whatever position he wanted me to, usually Keeper, as he practiced being a Chaser. I guess it paid off because he was in the Ravenclaw quidditch team now, and pretty good too.
I watched as James flew to the far side of pitch with the Quaffle, the other Chasers in quick succession as the Beaters tried to attack. He threw the Quaffle gracefully through the middle goal hoop. Impressive. Circling back to the centre of the pitch, he called in the rest of his teammates as he did so for what I assume is an encouraging team talk designed to boost morale ahead of the big game. I even stayed watching this, for whatever reason, as I definitely couldn't hear what was being said, and all I could see was a small huddle of teenagers. I could just about make out the team: Chasers James Potter, Fran Walker, and a boy I couldn't quite see; Fred Weasley and Ethan Thomas as Beaters; Jacob Wood as keeper; and Lily Potter as seeker.
It's like James knew I was watching, because just then his head pops up and he turns to my window again. Oh shit, he knows I've been watching this whole time. We lock eyes for two seconds, and it almost looks like he begins to fly towards me. Thankfully, my friends choose this exact moment to enter the common room, shouting and laughing. I take this as an opportunity to break our visual standoff, and get out of my seat at the desk to greet them.
"Hey guys," I say, "Did you get all your work done?" Such a Ravenclaw question.
Mim is the first to respond. "Yeah, Riko and I were in the library. Quite busy today surprisingly, but I guess everyone's stressing out about the Potions quiz coming up."
"I did a bit of studying for that too! But just you two in the library? What happened to Margot?" I ask. When I left the table at breakfast, Margot and Emil were still chatting, but I assumed she would just go and join the others in library like always. Those three always worked in the library, I come up to the common room, and Mathilde would walk around until she found somewhere she liked away from everyone else.
Riko and Mim start giggling and Margot blushes. Mathilde, never one to beat around the bush, rolls her eyes and plonks herself down on a sofa. The rest of us join her, naturally.
"Go on, tell us!" Riko pushes, "Celia's here now, so you can't say we have to wait for her to be here!"
"Ok, ok... Fine. I spent the whole day studying with Emil. In Gryffindor Tower." Margot shares reluctantly, reddening even more than before.
I'm genuinely shocked by this news. "Um, is 'studying' code for something?" I half-joke, hoping she understands what I'm getting on to here.
"Oh God, no!" She becomes an even darker shade of red, which I didn't think was possible for a witch. "I promise! We literally just studied in his common room! And you know I would say if I did anything, right? We hugged and that was it, but I appreciate you all think that I'm capable of moving that quickly."
Mathilde turns to her and asks, "Oh so you like him? Since when?"
Although I can't deny that I would also like to hear the answer to this, I wish Mathilde had a bit more tact when it came to these situations.
Margot seems hesitant to answer. "Ah, well. You know..."
"No we don't."
"I mean, it's not like a recent thing. We sit next to each other in Ancient Runes. And because Flitwick always does partners alphabetically we're always put together in Charms!"
To be fair to the girl, she's telling the truth. The whole alphabetical partner thing in Charms was the bane of my existence because it meant I was always partnered with Wood. Good looker, great at Quidditch, absolutely god-awful at Charms. I guess I'd been so preoccupied teaching Wood theory he should've known in fourth year that I hadn't realised the chemistry between Margot and Emil.
"Yeah," I say, "She gets to be with her loverboy who actually knows what a cauldron is, meanwhile I'm supervising his best mate. Life is so fair."
Margot throws a cushion at me and we all break out into a cushion throwing fight until there are no more to throw and several cushions are lying on the floor. We talk for a while about nothing in particular: lessons ("You know Longbottom was half an hour late to Herbology the other day?"); drama ("Did you hear that Elsa Skeet and Connor Finnegan broke up?"); the upcoming Quidditch game ("I can't believe it's a Hogsmeade weekend and there's a game! How exciting!"); and finally, the Yule Ball.
"Can you believe it's nearly Christmas? I can't wait for the holidays! And the Yule Ball!" Riko exclaims.
"Riko, it's only the 2nd of November!" I cry. Christmas was always a fun time of year, and of course I was excited, but it was barely November. I always thought the build up to Christmas was more fun than the actual day itself, but I didn't want to get too excited too early. Although the Triwizard Tournament was no longer held after the death of Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts had decided to bring back the Yule Ball celebration after the Second Wizarding War. And now, it was one of the only things to look forward to in the school calendar.
"You can never be too prepared! And besides, it's our last year here - am I not allowed to be so excited?" She responds.
"I guess..." I say. Wow, she had just reminded me that it was our last Christmas here and I felt a pang of sadness. I didn't want to leave! No more dorms, no more Great Hall, no more Hogwarts. Just the big wide world ahead of us. I push the thought aside and come back into the conversation.
"So... who do you guys think you're gonna go with?" Mim asks. Unfortunately for us, we were all single. Not that people hadn't shown interest, but we were all prone to being more interested in our books than in having relationships.
We all look at each other and pull a face.
Contrary to what you might think, I did go out with someone in fifth year for a few months, a Hufflepuff called Charlie Ainsworth. He was lovely, but just didn't seem to understand that I actually liked reading and that I wanted to study. We nod at each other in the hallways sometimes, but he's with Molly Weasley now, another Hufflepuff in the year below. I know Mim had snogged her fair share of boys in broom closets, but she never seemed to be with them for more than a few weeks before calling it quits. Mathilde had just broken up with her long-time Muggle girlfriend, who wasn't sure about the whole 'being a witch' situation (that probably explains why she's being so snappy recently). As far as I was aware, Riko had never been in a relationship and neither had Margot, although the Emil news might change that.
Margot says that she thinks Emil might ask her but she isn't sure and could I please please please bring it up casually this Thursday on my Prefect round with him. Ugh, I had forgot about that too, what with all my studying today and the arrival of James Potter in my life. I wonder who he and his friends were going to go with. They were some of the most desired boys in school so they definitely had a few choices, back-up choices, and back-up back-up choices.
"Do you think James is gonna ask you?" Riko asks. It's like she'd read my mind.
"Uhhh..." I start. If I had a drink right now, I'd spit it out. I'd barely talked to him before today!
Mathilde interjects, "God I fucking hope not, he's infuriating. All of those Gryffindors and their stupid red and gold scarfs. What do they want with you anyway?"
"He wants to be friends for the sake of inter-house unity, apparently. Just friends," I add when I see Margot and Mim exchange a glance. "And anyway, isn't your sister in Gryffindor?"
"Yeah, I saw Celeste and her little first year friends running round the castle earlier actually. She's sweet but I wish she was in Ravenclaw instead so I could keep an eye on her more." says Mathilde.
Mim snorts, "She's 11, Tilly! What's she gonna do? Kill someone? Relax, I promise she'll be fine. Now back to James Potter, Celia."
"Only Celeste can call me Tilly," I hear Mathilde grumble, but she doesn't say anything else.
I don't know what else to say at this point - I had already told them about what happened this morning (still embarrassed, by the way) and they were there at the table when James and his gang came over to eat.
"Well sure, I think he's nice to look at, but doesn't everyone?" I say. Mathilde mutters no, and I continue. "Guys, I really don't think he wants to ask me out, and if he did it would be a ploy to get my Transfiguration notes. I'm not too interested anyway. There's more important stuff, like not being late to astronomy because they've pushed it back to 1am this term and I don't know how to stay awake an extra hour."
"I know we're Ravenclaws, but you are such a Ravenclaw."
"When Rowena Ravenclaw founded this house, she was actually just thinking about you."
"You're such a nerd."
"Gee, thanks." I laugh, "Let's go to dinner now, I'm starving."
At dinner, everyone sits with their own houses. I don't know if this is an actual rule or not, but we all seem to do it without anyone actively enforcing it. Luckily, this means I don't have to be worried about James coming to sit next to me and quizzing me about why I was watching him practice if I didn't want anything to do with him. I was good at academic quizzes, but found it hard to answer real people questions without getting all tongue tied.
We had a roast for dinner and I helped myself to a generous serving of roast potatoes. Arguably the best part of a roast dinner, alongside a good Yorkshire pudding. Back when my mum was still here, she loved to cook for us when she could, and this was one of her best dishes. Benji and I would always fight over who would get the crispiest potatoes and when our dad would get annoyed, Mum would join in, just to wind him up even more. I miss those days a lot, but the roast dinner at Hogwarts made me feel all warm inside, as it reminded me of her.
I look over to the Gryffindor table and see James laughing with Wood and Weasley. They're throwing peas around like children. I scoff and carry on with my meal.
Apparently I had washed down my food with too much tea and water, as by the time dinner was over I really, really needed the toilet. Normally I would just hold it until we got to the tower, but I could not walk all the way to the tower and then up all those stairs with this much liquid in my bladder.
"I'll meet you in the dorm, I had way too much to drink and now I have to piss so badly!" I tell my friends as we leave the hall. I break away from them and run to the nearest toilet, finally relieving myself. When I exit the bathroom to get back to the tower, I spot a shadowy figure watching me.
"Ahhhh! Merlin's balls, James! Why are you there?" I shout to where James Potter is sitting on the windowsill opposite the toilets.
"Celia, I was obviously waiting for you!" he says. "Your friends said you would be here."
Why did they tell him? I've come to the conclusion they like seeing me in uncomfortable situations.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I ask. I'm fully aware curfew isn't for another two hours but it's worth a shot.
"You know curfew isn't for another two hours, right?" Fuck.
"Yes." It's always better to be honest.
"Well, I just wanted to talk." He says.
"So talk."
"No I mean like, have a chat. That's what friends do." He nods proudly. "I'll walk you back to your tower."
"Oh alright then, come on."
He begins, "You know you shouldn't go to the toilets alone. Didn't you hear about the troll in the girls' bathroom?"
"Everyone and their mum knows that story, James. But it's just an old wives' tale. You shouldn't believe such silly things."
"HA!" he yells.
"What?"
"I know something you don't! It's a true story! That 'old wives' tale'-", he does air quotations, "-is actually the story of my dad, my aunt and uncle! So there!"
I had always prided myself on not believing in superstitions, urban legends and folk stories. But not believing in this one had really backfired. I hated being wrong, so this one stung, especially because it was James who had proven me wrong.
"So tell me what happened then." Every opportunity is a learning opportunity I say. Now this is something I can add to my "proven true" stories pile. (There aren't that many of those.)
And on he went, recounting his father's memories in great detail, as we walked through the castle and waited for the staircases to change, seeing the odd group of people here and there. I let him describe the troll animatedly and he seemingly gained pleasure from reenacting the fight scene, showing me how his uncle threw the metal pipe at the creature and then ending his performance with a bow. I couldn't help but chuckle at his little display, and he seemed pleased.
"That's the first time I've seen you smile." He smiles at me in return.
"Hey I actually smile a lot!" I say indignantly, although I can feel my face settling back into a frown as the words leave my mouth.
"I would've protected you today," he states, "if there was a troll in the bathroom you were in."
"Thanks, but I don't need to be protected. I would have let you help me fight it, if that makes you feel any better."
"Alright. Anyway." He seems baffled, but resumes talking. "I saw you watching our practice earlier! What did you think?"
What did I think? He was amazing at Quidditch which he already knew, and I didn't want to blow smoke up his arse anymore.
"I was spying on you for the Ravenclaw team." Good one, Celia. Could be taken seriously or as banter.
I know he doesn't believe me, but decides to humour me anyway. "Oh really? We're gonna beat you in a few weeks anyway, so whatever you saw was just a taste of what's to come." He pauses, then adds, "I think your brother is captain material when he's old enough. Seriously. He's a decent chaser."
Benji would absolutely kill to hear James say that, but I'm not gonna tell him, just cos he's an annoying little twit. But I still feel a stab of pride and thank James.
"You're more than welcome to watch any of our practices. It's not exactly a private pitch." Well, that does makes me feel a little better about being caught.
"Even though I'm a spy?" I ask.
"Even though you're a spy." He answers.
We've reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room by now, and I can just about hear people talking inside.
"Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me here. You really didn't have to do that." I say.
He rakes his hand through his hair and says, "Don't mention it. I think we've going to be friends just fine."
Just as James turns to leave, the eagle door knocker begins his riddle. "Which room is most edible?"
I think for a minute, and just as I open my mouth, beside me James says, "Mushroom?"
The door swings open for me. As he walks away, he calls out "Night, Celia!"
hey everyone, i am so so sorry for literally abandoning this two chapter fic for two years! i had planned it out and everything but then i began uni and suddenly i became so busy that i forgot to write. hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, whether you read this before or are a new reader! let me know what you think is going to happen next and what you think about the characters. all feedback is appreciated + thank you for reading :))