Chapter 4 - First Day
Noah dismissed his Quidditch teammates after making copies of all of their schedules, with a promise to look into them as soon as possible and define a practice schedule for them. None of them was a Prefect, which meant they wouldn't have as many issues in making a schedule, but there were a couple fifth years who would soon start panicking over their OWLs.
Noah studied his own schedule more carefully as he ate. He had to worry with his own NEWTs, he supposed. His parents had convinced him to take as many of the important classes as he could this year, despite his Quidditch aspirations.
His first class today was Charms… with Ravenclaw. He remembered the conversation in the train with Josiah. The Ravenclaw Prefect had had a good point. He could always use some of the things he learned and apply them to his flying skills. And that meant trying to learn something in Charms.
Huffing out a sigh, he swallowed the rest of his bacon and eggs, picked up all the schedules and his bag and made his way to Flitwick's class.
Josiah arrived for Charms early, poking his head around the door and making eye contact with a short older wizard with a large mustache. Jo grinned.
"Morning, Professor," he called out, putting his bag on a nearby table. It wasn't a secret that Josiah had always been one of Flitwick's favorites.
"Josiah, my lad! Merlin's pants, you're early this morning."
"Actually, Professor, I had a question… do you have a moment?"
The two remained in quiet, speculative conversation about Patronus Charms until the rest of the class began funneling in.
Noah walked towards the classroom, dragging his feet, letting the small group of people gathered there go in first. There were only a few Gryffindors, the rest of them were Ravenclaws. He went in last, closing the door behind him. Taking his wand out of his back pocket, he slumped on a chair close to the window and laid the book on the table. It took him a moment to find Professor Flitwick, his small frame hidden by Josiah.
His thoughts slipped away from Quidditch for a moment, but he didn't want to be caught staring, so he looked out the window instead.
Josiah thanked Professor Flitwick for his time and made his way back to his seat, looking around the room at the students who had entered while he wasn't paying attention. Looking near the window, he spotted Noah, and his heart skipped a beat. Not wanting to get caught staring, he hurriedly fumbled around for his Advanced Charms book and laid his wand on top of it.
"Good morning, class!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, climbing up onto the box behind his teacher's podium. "I know you all are eager to get right back into the swing of things, so I thought we'd start off today's lesson with a little partner work and review!" A few Ravenclaws tittered excitedly, but Josiah was almost certain a few of the Gryffindors groaned. Then, the full scope of Flitwick's statement hit him – partner work. He looked over at Noah with the slightest glimmer of hope; his body felt very warm all of a sudden.
"We'll start with Imperturbable Charms, which you should all remember from last year's mock exam." The Professor looked around the class, who hadn't begun to move yet. "Well, pip pip!"
Noah looked around at the other Gryffindors. His best mate wasn't here today and the girls were all close to each other, so he didn't have an immediate option to partner with. That didn't stop a couple of the girls from leaning forward and asking him to choose them to partner with.
Noah offered a weak smile, but he had no desire of having either of those two as partners. The one he didn't choose would probably be upset with him. Trying to figure out how to get out of that situation, he searched the room until he met Josiah's eyes.
He didn't seem to have a partner yet, and he was good at Charms, if he remembered correctly. "Do you have a partner?" He asked him, trying to sound untroubled.
"Oh," Josiah said, as though this wasn't what he had been hoping for all along. "Um, no, not yet! Would you like to…? I'll go get us an ostrich egg…" he murmured, sliding his bag to the far side of the table so that Noah had room to put his things.
He walked quickly to the table where Professor Flitwick had arranged the ostrich eggs; a few classmates who had never seen one before were looking at them slightly puzzled. He picked up the nearest one and, cradling it carefully, made his way back to Noah.
"Erm, so, would you rather, or shall I…?" He said non-committedly.
Noah moved his things, his ears burning a little under the gaze of the girls as he turned his back on them. He scrambled through his memory, trying to make sure he remembered the charm correctly.
"Uh…" he hesitated, then lowered his wand. "You should protect it first. If I do it, we're probably going to need a new egg in ten seconds…"
Josiah swallowed the laugh that threatened to bubble up, settling for smiling consolingly. Pulling out his spindly willow wand, he waved it over the egg and said clearly, "Mitio!"
Nothing appeared to be different, but Jo felt confident that the spell had succeeded.
"You can have a go at it now," he grinned, standing back from the giant egg.
Noah eyed the egg for a moment, then raised his wand again and tried to Summon it. It didn't move. Then, he tried to levitate it, but it still didn't move.
"Hmm…" He narrowed his eyes, the competitor in him silently accepting the challenge. Clearing his throat, he murmured, "Diffindo!"
He gave Josiah a sideways look when the egg just lay there defiantly. "Seriously?" Still looking at Josiah, his wand still pointing at the egg, he said, "Confrigo!" hoping he could catch him off-guard somehow.
He sighed loudly, glaring at the untouched egg. "You're good," he admitted, with a hint of frustration.
Josiah grinned apologetically at Noah's frustration, lifting the charm from the egg. He was pretty cute when he was flustered….
"Your turn," he offered, trying to get a good angle.
Noah bit the tip of his tongue, determined to not make a complete fool of himself. He wasn't that bad at Charms. He had succeeded in this particular Charm before, if only a few times.
Rubbing the back of his head, he furrowed his brow at the egg, closed his hand tightly around the wand and said as clearly as he could manage, "Mitio!"
After a long moment of intense focus, he said, "Go ahead."
Examining the unsure expression on Noah's face, Josiah swallowed once and pointed his wand timidly at the egg.
"Expulso," he murmured. The egg twitched a bit, but didn't budge. He looked up at Noah again; if he went easy on the egg, he was surely going to realize, and then he would think that Josiah was mocking him….
Clearing his throat, he targeted the egg again and said more firmly, "Deprimo!" A gust of wind erupted from the end of his wand and swept up the egg, which twirled violently in midair. It was halfway across the room before Josiah could react quickly enough to summon it again.
"It was a good effort," he said in a small voice, trying not to sound braggy.
Noah glared at the egg Josiah summoned again, trying to will the heat out of his face. Damnit! He could do better than that.
"Again," he murmured, a little more abruptly than he wanted. He glanced at his partner. "Sorry… can we try again?" He asked more quietly. "I can do better than that." He didn't know why he wanted to make a good impression on someone he didn't really know that well, but it was stronger than him. He didn't want Josiah to think he was a failure.
His serious tone caught Josiah off guard, but he simply nodded, turning back toward the egg and furrowing his eyebrows in concentration.
"It usually helps me to envision it as something very important to me… something worth protecting," Josiah said rather shyly. "I know it's only an ostrich egg, but…"
Noah listened to him intently, then looked back at the egg. "Must've been something very important, then," he said, remembering Josiah's attempt. He wondered offhandedly if a Bludger would've been able to hit that egg, then. "Alright…"
He tried to think of something he'd want to protect. "Mitio!" He said one more time, completely focused on the object in front of him. Exhaling softly, he added, "Hit it."
"Expulso!" Josiah said confidently, happy to oblige. The egg remained stationary, and Josiah pursed his lips. "Diffindo! REDUCTO!"
The papers on the table blustered about, but the egg remained completely still, and Josiah grinned at Noah from the side.
"Must have been something important, hey!"
Noah laughed, his fist pumping. "Gotcha!"
His grin was wide and bright when he turned to Josiah. "Thanks, man! You really helped…"
Josiah's cheeks flushed immediately, grinning back at Noah a little reservedly. His heart sank a bit at being called 'man'… as much as he wished otherwise, it made it seem like Noah thought of him like one of his many male friends. He talked to Josiah the way he talked to his Quidditch teammates….
"You're welcome," he said softly.
Noah looked away in the sudden awkward silence, with the distinct feeling he'd said something wrong, but having no idea what. Not sure what to say, or why it seemed so difficult to find an interesting subject, he poked the egg with the tip of his wand.
"So… wanna try this charm again, or should we move to the next one?"
"Sure," Josiah agreed, smiling again. He turned to look at the chalkboard, where Professor Flitwick had listed their assignment. "I think we're supposed to make the egg do a gymnastics routine next – it says 'two somersaults, a backflip, and a three second spin.'"
Noah groaned, casting the window a wistful glance, wishing he could be outside enjoying the last few sunny days. "He's really going to push us this year, isn't he?" He asked.
Josiah chuckled, resisting the urge to give the other boy a pat on the shoulder as he waved his wand over the egg nonchalantly. It tumbled forward, then backward, and settled in the middle to spin elegantly before landing softly back onto the table. Professor Flitwick, who was walking in between the rows to observe the progress of each group, clapped his hands delightedly.
"Five points, Mr. Johnston! Wonderfully precise, as usual…" Josiah gave his teacher an embarrassed half-smile, thanking him with a nod and turning back to Noah.
"Aye, but I suppose he's got to, hasn't he? I've heard the Charms NEWT is the second most failed, right after Potions…" Josiah paled at this thought, wondering if he would be among that second number.
Noah couldn't help but feel a little disheartened at that. "Why did I think it would be a good idea to sign up for Charms again?" He mumbled.
"Congratulations!" He said when Professor Flitwick walked away. He poked the egg before attempting the movements himself. It looked like a drunk bee, but he managed to do them all. He snorted at his own display. "I guess it's better than Potions…"
"Anything's better than Potions," Josiah grumbled, watching Noah guide the ostrich egg through the prescribed motions. He clapped in a loving imitation of Professor Flitwick at the display's end. "Getting it on the first try is nothing to snort at," he assured the Quidditch Captain, motioning with his head in the direction of the group across from them, who were trying to clean up the slimy remnants of their egg. He looked up at the clock; there wasn't much time left.
"So, erm… how are Quidditch tryout preparations coming?"
Noah looked over at the other table. "Yeah, at least our egg survived! Maybe we should find a name for it," he said, offering the other boy a lopsided grin.
He fidgeted on his chair at his question. "Sorry I'm not a very good partner. You'd probably earn more points if I wasn't slowing you down. I'm a little distracted because of all the arrangements. I didn't know it was so much work being Captain. " Noah straightened up on the chair. "I just… I want to do things right. It's my last year; my only chance to prove I can do it as team Captain, and maybe someone in professional Quidditch will look my way…" He trailed off awkwardly, realizing he had been babbling about his own concerns to the Ravenclaw Prefect in the middle of a Charms class.
"Looks like a Jack to me," Josiah grinned, touching the egg gently. He looked over at the other boy as the mood changed, and he lowered himself into the chair next to him to listen.
"I'm sure that just being Quidditch Captain means a great deal to a professional team," he tried to assure the other. "It's a lot of responsibility to organize things like that, with your entire house looking at you… Prefects have three years to practice, but you only had one. If it's overwhelming at first, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself."
Noah gave Josiah a doubtful look that said 'Are you crazy?', but then he gave a resigned chuckle. "You're not the first one telling me that. But I don't know how to be any other way. If I didn't push myself, I wouldn't even get this far. And it's the only thing I'm really good at. The only way I can make people proud."
Josiah was quiet for a while, pondering Noah's words. He wanted to tell Noah that it was alright – even if nobody else thought so, Jo thought he was perfectly fine even without Quidditch. But that was embarrassing, and would lead to more questions than answers.
"It's not all you're good at," he settled for stubbornly. After these words, the magical clock on the wall chimed a cheery tune to signify the end of class. Josiah silently waved his wand, packing his things in one movement.
"Um, I'll see you later, then?" He said, barely audible over the shuffle of his classmates.
-/-/-
Dan made her way down the stairs to the dungeons, heading towards the Potions classroom. She felt more than a little nervous at the perspective of the next three hours. Slytherin had Potions with Ravenclaw. That would've made her ecstatic, if it didn't mean Ezra Greengrass would be in the same room as well; unless he hadn't taken Potions this year, but she wasn't holding her hopes up over that possibility.
She was confident she had nailed the False Memory Charm. She also knew she wasn't going to be able to spend the whole school year without talking to Jo again; she already felt about to explode.
She was one of the first students arriving and leaned against the wall. Holding her bag with one hand and biting a nail with the other, she waited for whoever came first, hoping it was Jo so she could at least ask him if he still wanted to partner up with her.
Josiah was very aware of the feeling of Ezra Greengrass's gaze boring into the back of his head. He tried to walk quickly and efficiently, like he hadn't noticed, but the damage was already done. He had been successfully intimidated.
The Slytherin boy had been walking behind him since the west 4th floor staircase; he had looked behind himself by chance, and made direct contact with those smoldering, piercing brown eyes. He had whipped his head around again so fast that he thought he might get whiplash.
As he approached the dungeons, he saw Dan standing near the entrance, probably waiting for him. He was eager to talk to her, so eager it was painful, but it would be such a risk…
He used his eyes to motion forcefully to the side, hoping Daniella would get the hint.
Dan's heart clogged her throat when she saw Jo approaching. She started to motion towards him, but his signal and, a second later, the Slytherin's appearance stopped her. She didn't hide the frustration when her eyes met Greengrass's for a moment.
She couldn't talk to Jo yet, not without his agreement, so there was only one way. Without looking at her friend, she lowered herself to the ground, her back braced against the wall as she searched her bag. She pulled out the black notebook and a quill, and wrote:
«Greengrass is the only one spying on us, I'm certain. I can use the Memory Charm after class… if you want to partner up.»
She waited, but didn't look up from the notebook, trying to look as if she was simply taking notes to herself.
Jo lowered himself into a seat in the corner, rummaging through his own bag at the feeling of temporary heat radiating from it. He pulled out the notebook and read Dan's message, then picked up his quill.
«If you're sure.»
It was all he wrote before closing the notebook again, stashing it back into his bag and looking towards the front of the classroom morosely. Potions was bad enough, but to have all this drama involved…. Stupid Ezra.
Dan bit her lower lip as Josiah's words showed up on the page. Why did it have to be a secret, why should they feel guilty? What could be so wrong about them being friends?
She eyed Greengrass again, trying to read his thoughts, trying to understand what he would do if she sat next to Jo. She didn't believe he would make a scene during class. And it wouldn't be very difficult to catch him before he had time to send a message to her brother.
But he had offered her friendship, if she had understood him correctly. He was probably just saying that to get close to her and find out more to tell her brother; he didn't have any real interest in her friendship or anything. Him, of all people! It wasn't a secret how he felt about Muggleborn wizards, so he knew she couldn't possibly believe his intentions. So, why tell her those things?
Professor Slughorn waved his hand, calling them into the classroom. Shaking off those thoughts, Dan exhaled a long breath. She had to make a decision now.
She picked up her things and went inside, taking her seat next to Josiah, trying to keep her hands steady and her expression even, while her heart raced.
Josiah attempted to give Dan a comforting smile, which ended up being more of a petrified lip quiver as he caught Ezra's eyes boring into him again. He let out a loud, audible sigh. He might not be a Gryffindor, but he couldn't just let himself be pushed around this way. It wasn't logical.
He pulled his sturdy, pewter cauldron nearer to the center of the table, inspecting the inside for cleanliness. It shined dully back at him.
It would be fine if they just acted like normal. If they did, Dan would only have to change the person that was her partner in Greengrass's memories. Simple enough, right?
She set the Potions book carefully in front of her, at a safe distance from the cauldron, so it wouldn't get dirty, then the kit she'd bought at the Diagon Alley with all the ingredients perfectly lined up in front of her, ready to be used. She placed her own cauldron a little to the side, just in case, though she believed they would be working in pairs, if she knew Slughorn well enough.
The familiarity of that small routine helped settle her nerves. When she was done, she looked up at Jo and managed a real smile, even if it was a little shaky. "I missed you," she whispered.
Ezra tried to look nonchalant, but as his gaze skimmed over the pair of them together, he felt something surge through him; something unpleasant. She had made her decision, and it defied all logic, as per usual. She was making his job extraordinarily difficult.
"I missed you too," Josiah whispered back, preparing to open his Potions book at Slughorn's orders. "Do you think he's going to stare at us the whole time?" He looked a little apprehensive about this, hoping that Dan would be able to offer him some comfort.
Dan glanced at Greengrass out of the corner of her eye. A shiver ran down her spine, but she couldn't tell if it was fear or embarrassment. If looks could kill… she thought, but returned his look with as much determination as she could gather. She wasn't doing anything wrong, and she wouldn't let anyone convince her of the opposite.
Exhaling softly, she looked straight ahead, at Professor Slughorn, who was now giving them the instructions for that class, the words appearing on the blackboard behind him at the same time. A blended antidote, which they had learned to make in their sixth year. The instructions on the blackboard were missing a few steps, which meant they would have to remember all the details and twists to it.
A small smile blossomed as she looked back at Jo. She was at home in this kind of challenge. "He better not, if he has any intention of succeeding in today's class." Her eyes skimmed over the list of ingredients Slughorn had given them and she started to separate the ones she'd need. "So," she started lightly, teasingly, "is there something you want to tell me?"
Jo tried and failed to suppress a grin at her question, dragging out the few ingredients he remembered.
"It has porcupine quills in, right?" He mused, then shook his head at this distraction. "Do you think if I wore a Gryffindor support button to their matches, it would be too much?" His cheeks were lightly flushed as he added, a little more quietly, "He asked me to be his partner in Charms, Dan! All on his own!"
"Yes, but only a couple, or it will make it too strong and bitter… not that someone who was poisoned would worry about that, but still," Dan shrugged. "Just because it's supposed to save someone's life, it doesn't mean it has to taste like punishment."
She snorted softly, trying to keep it quiet. "I don't know, how much do you want to be beaten up by your own housemates when Ravenclaw plays against them? Especially if he cracks open someone's skull in that game!" She teased, setting the fire under the cauldron to the correct intensity. "Alright, official stirrer, start stirring. Clockwise, slowly. I'll chop these boomberries first."
"And you get to have your favorite class with him too? How lucky," she raised her eyebrows, amused with the look on his face. "What did you tell him?"
Josiah pulled two quills out and set them beside the cauldron, still smiling blissfully.
"Oh, think of all the Ravenclaws you know… do you think any of them could beat anyone up?" He said with mock seriousness, picking up the heavy, pewter stirring rod and beginning to stir slowly clockwise. His brow furrowed with concentration, but he managed to gush anyway.
"I told him yes, obviously!" he said a little louder than he intended. Thankfully, everyone was too busy concentrating on their potion to notice. "Like any sane, normal person with good eyesight."
Old habits set in quickly, and after a couple of minutes, Dan was happily chopping and peeling ingredients into the cauldron, the familiar activity making her mood improve by the second.
"Hmm, true, I guess. He's no effort to look at. Which reminds me, doesn't he have a giggly group of fangirls on his tail all the time? But he chose you instead?" She winked at Jo. "I'm glad he's smart enough to choose his companies wisely."
"Yes," Josiah conceded, slightly put-out at this thought. Perhaps he had just been the safe option out of a choice of a dozen other Noah fans. He pushed this thought out of his mind and smiled again. "But you won't find me complaining about that, anyway."
"And what about you? You know, I read an article in Witch Weekly that said if you don't make at least three romantic connections by your last year in school, then… oops!" A small spray of purple potion had slopped out of the cauldron during his too-excited stirring, and the desk hissed and smoked where the concoction had landed. He fanned it with his hand and stopped talking, resuming his focused stirring.
"You're a far better choice than any of them, in my opinion," Dan said encouragingly. "I think there's a chance for you." She pondered for a moment, looking at board, then searching her memory to see what else was missing from the potion. As a last second experimental thought, she decided to add a tidbit of cinnamon to it. "Does he talk about anything other than Quidditch?" She asked curiously.
She was grateful for Jo's incident with the potion; maybe he wouldn't notice her cheeks heating up at his comment. "Three? I guess I'll be in trouble, then…" She said dismissively, but couldn't help glancing at Greengrass out of the corner of her eye. "I have enough trouble as it is…"
She took the rod herself. "I'll stir for a while, your turn to add last ingredients Slughorn wrote on the board."
Ezra didn't even realize he was staring at Daniella until she met his gaze with another furtive, displeased glance. He set his jaw and looked back to his cauldron, which contained a lumpy, hard-to-stir olive green mixture. He poked it thoughtlessly with his stirring rod, and it depressed and re-expanded like a sponge.
"You seem distracted," Sabrina, the all-too-willing partner he hadn't wanted, said in her perpetually-bored-sounding monotone voice.
"Sorry," Ezra replied, trying to be patient with himself and others and finding it a struggle. He waved his wand and vanished the failed potion, gathering the ingredients again. "Let's start over."
"Well, you know what they say," Josiah backtracked, trying to be comforting. "Witch Weekly is a rag anyway."
He inhaled a whiff of cinnamon. "But yes, he does. Well, sort of. He talked to me about his feelings, if that counts. His feelings about Quidditch, but still."
Dan chanced another glance at the Slytherin Prefect, watching him vanish the contents of his cauldron. It seemed like Josiah had been right when he asked if Greengrass would be watching them the whole time. She stopped stirring, staring at the cauldron without really seeing it. It might have been an interesting daydream to wonder his reasons for doing so, but she knew better, she told herself. He was just gathering information to tell Logan, that's all. And he was with Sabrina – again – which meant he had just really been trying to mess with her mind and her feelings.
The potion bubbled threateningly, demanding her attention. She resumed stirring before it got ruined. "He did, really?" She turned her thoughts back to what Josiah was telling her, smiling at him. "When's the first match?"
Josiah tossed in the last of the ingredients, and the potion turned a nice plum color.
"Is it done?" He asked cautiously, giving it a good sniff. It smelled good enough; if he had been poisoned, he would have put it in his mouth without much complaint. "Anyway, it's next month I think. They haven't even had tryouts yet."
He looked around the room to see how everyone else was faring, and caught Ezra's eyes yet again. He paled, looking down at the table.
"Merlin's beard, he's like a dementor," Jo said dryly, wiping a bit of spilled solution off with a damp cloth. "Except he sucks out your soul with his eyes instead of his mouth."
Dan examined their potion, took a good sniff, made it swirl slowly. "Yes, this is good. We just have to let it sit for a few minutes now, and we're done. Good job, partner!"
"You can always watch their practices, if you want. Are they private?"
Josiah's last comment guided her thoughts in a direction she hadn't meant them to follow. She blushed a little and tried to make a joke out of it but couldn't think of anything witty. She sat on her stool, propping her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand. She shot another glance at Ezra. "I can't figure him out…" she murmured.
"Well, even if you could, we don't have enough time right now," Josiah murmured with a glance at the clock. "We've got about 4 minutes to spare." He slid his book and kit back into his bag, then conjured a slim potion vial and handed it to her.
"I've got free period next; I'll write you, okay?"
Four minutes?! That reminded Dan of what she had to do when the class ended. She tensed, going through the steps of the spell to change Ezra's memory in her mind. Taking the vial, she filled it and quickly made her way to Professor Slughorn's desk.
She returned to her seat to pack her things. "I'm pretty sure we just earned our first 10 points in Potions this year," she said, grinning at Jo. She lowered her voice a little. "I have Herbology next, so I'll try to sneak out right after Greengrass and…" she gave Jo a pointed look. "…you know." She huffed out a breath, biting her lip. "Wish me luck! I'll tell you later if it worked."
Josiah left, but Dan stayed behind for a few moments, letting the rest of the class leave the room, never losing track of where Greengrass was. She really hoped Sabrina wouldn't cling to him until the next class, she didn't want to start leaving unconscious bodies on her path so early in the year. She finally stood up and left the classroom, keeping a safe distance from her target, nervous but determined.