Impossible Love
Chapter Three – A Taste of Things to Come
A pair of firm hands grasped her by the waist, pulling her close to the planes of his muscular chest. Lara's fingers scraped through his dark hair, eliciting a deep groan from him as he kissed her neck. She tugged gently on his hair, and his eyes met hers. They were storms of inky blue with passion searing through them. He raised a hand to her cheek and inched closer.
When their lips finally met, the kiss started slow and languorous, but soon built to a heated battle for dominance. Lara grazed his lower lip with her teeth which was rewarded with a firm grip on her arse.
The windows of the greenhouse were lightly misted, and the air inside cool on their skin. Neville stepped forwards as they continued the kiss, forcing Lara back against a table. He lifted her onto the surface with a thud; his fingertips kneading her upper thighs. Lara felt a need inside her. No touch was quite enough. Neville leaned forward, temporarily breaking contact with Lara, as he swept aside the assortment of Herbology equipment which landed with a clatter on the floor.
"Lara…" he urged in a low voice, pushing her knees wider as he stepped in between her legs and pulled her flush against him. The heat between them magnified.
Another thud could be heard, but this time there was nothing to knock off the table that could have caused the sound.
.
"Lara… are you up yet?" said an impatient raised voice.
Lara opened her eyes. She had been in the middle of a wonderful dream and was now experiencing the aching comedown that the most perfect dreams inevitably brought. She stretched her legs out under the covers.
"Seriously Hepworth, wake up," shouted Jamie through the door. "Class starts in ten minutes."
Lara sat up with a jolting realisation: the thud, as she was lifted onto the table, was in fact a knock on her door; the clatter of Herbology paraphernalia to the floor was another knock; and the voice, that called her name with such urgency and need, was Jamie's.
Feeling uncomfortable with what that voice did to her in the dream, Lara took a moment to regain the ability to speak. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. Its hands whirred round quickly making absolutely no sense to her. Sometimes Lara missed the simplicity of a normal Muggle alarm clock.
"Are you alive in there or…" called Jamie.
"I'm up," replied Lara hurriedly as she scrambled to her feet. "What time is it now?"
She could practically hear Jamie's eyeroll through the closed door.
"It's ten to nine, Sleeping Beauty. You best get a move on if you're going to get to period 1 on time."
Precisely 7 minutes later, Lara stepped out of her bedroom. With her uniform skewed and her hair dishevelled, it wasn't exactly the start she had planned for, but Lara had no time to waste on taming the tangled nest on her head.
Jamie held out a conciliatory slice of toast.
"When I didn't see you at breakfast," he began. "I figured you'd need this. Sorry if I was a bit of a dick last night."
Lara scoffed but took the toast gratefully, taking a large bite as she hurried down the spiral stairs with Jamie close behind.
"Bad dream?" asked Jamie.
Slightly panicked, Lara turned and raised her eyebrows questioningly as she tried to swallow her toast.
"I just thought I heard you moaning," said Jamie.
Lara gulped.
"Err no, not a bad dream," she fumbled as she picked up her bag. "We best get going. Defence Against the Dark Arts first, isn't it?"
Jamie followed her out of their quarters and into the corridor outside. Most students were already waiting outside their classrooms with a look of eagerness on their faces.
"Yeah, we've got Professor Weasley this year," he replied.
Bill Weasley had worked for Hogwarts for the last few years after seeking a job closer to his family. He taught a mixture of Defence Against the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes at O.W.L and N.E.W.T level, and students were always desperate to be in his classes. Lara had been lucky enough to have him for Ancient Runes, but never Defence Against the Dark Arts. She quickened her pace as they weaved through the emptying corridors.
"Hopefully we're not too late," said Lara.
The door to classroom 3c was already shut when they arrived. Jamie gave a half-grimace and pushed the door firmly open.
"… so these will be your duelling practice partners for the next term," Professor Weasley looked at the two latecomers and slightly shook his head. "You will not only test each other in this classroom, but also help to prepare each other for your final exams. Now that our Head Boy and Head Girl have joined us, you can begin. Let's see what you already know."
The desks in the classroom had been levitated to the sides of the room, and the other seventh years stood facing each other, wands out.
Professor Weasley approached Lara and Jamie, quirking an eyebrow at the state of Lara's hair.
"Now you're here, you best get on with it," said Weasley with smile. "Thirty minutes duelling followed by conflict theory for the rest of the lesson."
Flashes of purple and white light filled the classroom as spells were fired rapidly across the room. Occasionally the spells were audible, but most were nonverbal, meaning the outcomes were a surprise to the recipient.
Lara glanced down the two rows of her classmates to see Hestia, a blur of flashes and arm movements, duelling Akari Eto, a willowy, graceful Ravenclaw with straight black hair down to her waist.
"Are you still asleep, Hepworth? Or too afraid to take me on?" called Jamie from the opposite side of the classroom. His wand was out, and his eyes sparked.
Lara rolled her eyes. This boy never stopped.
"Bring it, Burke," Lara replied. "Let's see what you've got."
10 inches, walnut, reasonably springy with a core of unicorn hair, Lara's wand had served her well over the years, and today was no exception. A flurry of red sparks headed her way, which she blocked with ease before sending back a barrage of stunning spells with the odd Furnunculus curse thrown in for good measure.
"For. Merlin's. Sake. Lara."
Each pause was punctuated with a jab as Jamie sent spell after spell at her.
"Stop aiming for the face," said Jamie, with an elaborate flourish as he aimed a Full Body-Bind curse at her.
Lara blocked the curse and laughed. Of course, he cared about his face – he wouldn't want anything to hinder his pulling power with the female students.
The students continued shooting spells back and forth. There was the occasional shout of pain, or apologies, as each student tried to best their opponents. Stamina as well as concentration was required in this class.
"Wands down!" Professor Weasley shouted from the front of the classroom.
The duels came to halt, with the exception of Hestia and Akari who were still absorbed in a fierce battle.
"Smith. Eto. Stop." Weasley commanded and their wands eventually lowered.
Hestia made eye-contact with Lara and grinned. Usually Hestia and Lara partnered together, and Lara always felt like Hestia held back when duelling her, but against the Ravenclaw, Hestia had truly let loose.
"Not bad," said Professor Weasley, with an encouraging smile. "You're all fairly proficient, if a little predictable at present. We'll spend the rest of the lesson on conflict theory. Open your textbooks to page 17."
With a motion from Weasley's wand, the desks rose in the air and back to their usual positions. Lara made her way to the second row, taking a seat next to Hestia. Hestia's cheeks were aglow as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Bloody hell, who knew Eto could duel like that? I'm going to need a shower before Herbology," whispered Hestia before continuing with a giggle. "Good job you've not got Herbology with me though … you'd need a shower afterwards."
Lara's mind jolted back to her dream, the early morning visit to the greenhouses and Professor Longbottom's wandering hands. His wandering hands and his hard … She blushed but ignored Hestia's dig.
The rest of the lesson passed quickly and soon the class were packing their textbooks away.
"Before you head off to your next lesson," Weasley announced. "All seventh years are required to attend a brief assembly in the hall now with Professor McGonagall."
On the way down to the Great Hall, Lara filled in Hestia on her shared living arrangements for the year.
"That is the funniest thing I've ever heard," stated Hestia. "He's your duelling partner and flatmate? The poor house-elves will be cleaning up blood before Christmas; I guarantee it."
The Entrance Hall was bathed in light which twinkled on the House point hourglasses. Gryffindor had an early lead, but the diamonds in the Hufflepuff hourglass placed them in a respectable second place. Lara smiled to herself. Maybe this year it'd be Hufflepuff's turn to lift the House Cup.
The students turned right through the imposing double doors into the Great Hall where McGonagall, some members of staff and the rest of the seventh-year students were already assembled.
"I trust you've all had a challenging and punctual start to seventh year," McGonagall began. "I've called you here as this was the first opportunity to speak to you all as a year group."
The students looked at each other, puzzled. This wasn't the norm was the first day back, and apprehensive expressions were on the faces of many of the students.
"It has been decided by both the Ministry and the Board of Governors that Hogwarts needs to change to offer students the best preparation for future careers and the competitive jobs market," continued McGonagall. "This year seventh year students will sit their exams a month earlier and will complete a month-long work placement at the end of the academic year."
Muffled whispers interrupted McGonagall's speech as the students processed the surprise news.
"Ah-hem," silencing the year group, McGonagall continued in her lilting Scottish accent. "The internship will allow you to explore a possible career as well as forge links with potential employers. The Ministry will be offering placements to students, and you also can seek your own internship from a private body. You will be representing the school but importantly yourself as you approach the end of your time here at Hogwarts."
McGonagall paused, taking in the general air of excitement around the hall. This was the biggest change to the Hogwarts' curriculum in living memory.
Lara clutched Hestia's arm as thoughts of being on the site of an archaeological excavation in Egypt or southern Italy filled her mind.
"In order to support you through this process, I will be allocating each student a mentor from members of staff," said McGonagall. "This will be a teacher who doesn't teach you at N.E.W.T level but will be able to offer insight and guidance in scheduled meetings across the year. They will be a valuable port of call in the decision-making process, and I trust that each of you will live up to their high expectations."
"The staff mentors will be announced at the end of day and your first meetings will take place this Friday. Now off to lessons with you."
McGonagall exited the hall, and the students excited chatter filled the silence.
"What did I tell you," Jamie said to a group of seventh year Slytherins. "My father said they were doing this. I just hope they give me a good mentor. I don't want someone without connections to mess up my chances of getting a placement in Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Mate, you're the Head Boy," replied Adam Nott, clapping him on the back. "Pretty sure they have to give you the placement you want."
Hestia turned to face Lara and smiled wickedly.
"Given your start to the year, I would put a galleon on your mentor being Professor Longbottom."
Lara went white.
"Don't even joke about it," she replied. "I don't know what I'd do. Apart from die of embarrassment of course."
The students made their way to class, each group buzzing with the news and their future placements.
However, Lara cut a solitary figure on her way to Ancient Runes. She thought she knew what to expect from seventh year, but so far there'd been so many surprises: the living arrangements with Jamie, earlier exams (which would mess up her already-planned revision timetable), the work placement and a staff mentor. As she weaved through the empty corridors, she paused to look out of a window down towards the greenhouses where Hestia was beginning Herbology with Neville.
If he is my mentor, at least I can apologise for the train misunderstanding, and then I wouldn't feel so awkward. That must be the reason for that dream.
Except Lara knew the dream was prompted by more than just feeling awkward. She hoped for her own sake that her mentor would be anyone but the blue-eyed, cardigan god who was currently elbow deep in snargaluff roots in the greenhouses.