CHAPTER 4
For the following week, Kurt's sleep was plagued with nightmares.
They didn't terrify him, but they were just… Weird. He dreamt of bloodied floors and dark forests, of red-stained sheets and far-away screams. Nothing truly horrifying happened in them, but they continuously woke him up at night.
And he knew he wasn't the only one. Although none of them spoke about it, he'd noticed the dark bags under Rachel's eyes and the growing number of coffee cups Santana would drink at breakfast. Even Sebastian seemed affected, zoning out when they spoke about Quidditch at lunch.
It was now Friday, and Kurt had enough of it. He wanted his beauty sleep, thank you very much. He refused to take any more potions for his skin (or really, any more than he already did). And so, with a vast knowledge of potions behind him, Kurt set off to brew himself a Sleeping Draught.
He'd modified the potion himself, allowing him to wake up easily in the morning to the sound of his owl. However, that meant the ingredients had been harder to find, considering the limited amount of potion ingredients readily available for students. Kurt had to go into his own secret stash of ingredients, using the last of his Asphodel.
He'd left the potion to brew in his room that early morning, after he'd been awoken by yet another nightmare hours before he was due for breakfast. This left him ample time to wander the Hogwarts grounds in search for any Asphodel plants to restock his supplies with. With the promise to regroup before their evening Prefect patrol, Kurt left Rachel outside the Great Hall, making his way through the main entrance of the school and into the courtyard, down a set of stone steps towards the Groundskeeper Hut.
It wasn't an unknown fact that the Hogwarts grounds contained some of the most valuable potion ingredients for the students, but Kurt just hoped that the nipping September cold hadn't gotten to the Asphodel yet. He knew the soil around the Groundskeeper Hut was especially fertile considering the pumpkin patch nearby, so with a bit of luck by his side and his scarf warmly wrapped around his throat, Kurt made his way to the hut.
He carefully searched the ground for any sign for the plant, hoping that he hadn't been too late. Maybe he should start growing his own supply somewhere hidden, maybe in the abandoned greenhouse no one ever seemed to be able to enter (unless you pushed onto the twentieth glass pane from the left side of the door, of course). Kurt kept searching, only interrupted by an unfamiliar gruff voice.
"You alright kid?"
Kurt spun round to face the man standing at the door of the hut, dark blue overalls worn over a red plaid shirt. A Muggle cap was placed at the top of his hairless head, his arms crossed expectantly as he watched Kurt.
"Yeah," Kurt nodded, unfazed as he continued looking, "I'm trying to find Asphodel."
"Potions, right?" the man asked, pointing to the other side of the pumpkin patch, "Think I saw some over there the other morning."
"Sleeping Draught," Kurt confirmed, "I need to find some sleep, somehow."
"Hold on," the man stopped him, stepping back into the hut momentarily. Kurt considered just leaving, because quite frankly, the man seemed odd. However, the man quickly emerged, a dark blue tin in his hands.
"Charmed camomile," the man offered, handing the box over to Kurt, "My wife's invention. She's one for tricks like that."
"I-Uhm, thanks," Kurt stuttered, quickly composing himself. He stuck with his well-trained manners as he asked, "Are you the new Groundskeeper?"
"Sure am," the man nodded, "But you can call me Burt."
"I'm Kurt," Kurt nodded, slightly amused at the similarity in their names, "Thanks for the tea. If it gets me to sleep, I'll be forever grateful to your wife."
Burt smirked, a knowing look in his face, "I'll let her know."
Truthfully, Kurt hadn't expected the tea to work. It had tasted, well, normal. There were no magical aromas to it that Kurt could pinpoint, and quite frankly, just tasted like normal camomile tea.
However, the effects were indisputable.
Kurt had the best sleep of his life following the evening camomile tea. His sleep was dreamless, thankfully, and he'd slept so soundly that he'd even missed the Saturday morning breakfast. Kurt was amazed that he'd never heard of the invention before. Maybe it was one of those herbal magic remedies, the ones Kurt could never quite buy into.
He walked with a pep in his step to the library. The sleep had been invigorating to say the least, and he was ready to dive head-first into a detailed Astronomy essay before trying to figure out what the hell was going on with The Blood Order.
He had yet to hear anything since the night he'd burnt his rose with his friends. He refused to mention anything, however, as he feared he'd been rejected from the Order after all. Regardless, Kurt kept his head held high. The Blood Order were very secretive about the selection and initiation process, so Kurt decided to spend his time worrying about other matters.
Such as the cute dark-haired Hufflepuff boy, otherwise known as Blaine Anderson.
Kurt knew it had to be a coincidence that they shared Thursday and Sunday Prefecting patrols, as well as a number of classes together. He ignored the pretty colour of his eyes when he spoke about things he loved, and Kurt definitely didn't spend any time thinking about how adorable Blaine had looked when he had worn thick, black-rimmed glasses to breakfast the previous morning
Nope. Kurt definitely wasn't thinking about Blaine Anderson.
He wasn't thinking about the fact the boy had somehow managed to make him rethink literally every little detail about his future. He wasn't thinking about how much he wanted to mess up his gel-clad hair, or how much he wanted to find out exactly what the Hufflepuff common room smelt like. Nope, wasn't thinking about that at all.
"Well, hello."
Kurt had been so preoccupied with thinking about not-thinking-about-Blaine that he hadn't noticed he'd walked straight into none other than James Kirk, who was just on his way out of the library.
"Watch it Kirk," Kurt snapped, easily settling back into his comfortable Vinson bitterness.
"You're the one who ran into me," James smirked, "Can't stay away, can you?"
"Bye," Kurt deadpanned, trying to push past the boy. However, James' strong grip stopped him as he grabbed Kurt's bicep.
"Slow down Vinson," Jame smirked, "I'm not letting you get away that easily."
"You don't have a choice," Kurt snapped, ripping his arm out of James' grip.
James rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, "What have I ever done to you anyway?"
Kurt blinked, "What?"
"You and your friends," James continued, "None of you have made an effort to get to know me, yet you all hate me. Why?"
"You're friends with Sebastian, and Sebastian is an asshat," Kurt explained plainly, "Which makes you one by association."
"Santana and Sebastian hook up all the time," James pointed out, much to Kurt's displeasure.
"That's because they're both very disturbed individuals," Kurt replied easily, "Now, if you excuse me-"
"Give me a chance."
Kurt turned to look at James in confusion, "What?"
"Look Kurt," James sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "It's no secret that you're one of the most sought-after guys in this school. Hell, I'm sure Santana would jump to the opportunity."
"She's offered," Kurt replied honestly, despite his best efforts of ignoring James.
"I mean, look at us Kurt!" James exclaimed, "We're both attractive, and from incredibly respected families. We're the perfect pairing."
Kurt stayed silent for a few moments, before; "Is this a really bad long-winded way of asking me out?"
James smirked, his cockiness returning full force, "People are talking Kurt. They've seen you with Hudson out of all people. We're both on the list to join The Blood Order, and we're both on the Quidditch team, we're perfect."
Kurt couldn't deny that James had a point. On paper, the two were perfect for each other, but in real life… Kurt couldn't see it. There was something off about James, and Kurt couldn't quite put his finger on what.
"You're delirious," Kurt concluded.
"Go with me to the Winter Ball," James offered, "Rumour says that Figgins is going through with it. One night to prove to you that we're destined to be the next big thing."
"No," Kurt protested, "You don't get to ask me out just because it's convenient for your reputation. Goodbye, James."
"Kurt-"
"I said goodbye," Kurt nearly yelled, attracting the stares fo multiple students. Kurt spun on his heel, marching away from the library. His essays would have to wait.
"…Why the hell didn't you slap him?"
Kurt had marched straight to the Slytherin common room after his confrontation with James. He'd stormed passed all of his friends and up to his dormitory, slamming the door behind him. Santana and Rachel had been the first to follow him into the dorm, followed by Quinn, who proceeded to cast a simple muffling charm on the door.
He'd told them everything James had said, and how at the end of the day, he'd been right.
"Listen Kurt, I know my own budding romance with Finn is somewhat of a controversial topic right now," Rachel began, earning herself a well deserved eye-roll from both Quinn and Santana, "But don't think for a second that you need to date someone like James Kirk to help your reputation."
"He had some good points," Kurt mumbled, hugging his pillow to his chest.
"We're not letting you date James Kirk, and thats that," Santana concluded, seating herself next to Kurt on his bed, "He's such an asshole, honestly, and that's coming from me."
Kurt was silent for a few moments before continuing, "Do you guys actually believe in house rivalries? Like, outside of Hogwarts?"
The three girls looked at each other hesitantly. Eventually, Quinn spoke up.
"I don't think we should limit our whole lives based on seven years of our lives," Quinn began, "But… Slytherin shapes who we are, you know? Why should we stray from that?"
"I guess," Kurt sighed, "Thanks, you guys."
It was the last Thursday of September. Kurt and Blaine were sharing their Prefect patrolling duty once again, and Blaine had adorably insisted on going to the astronomy tower.
"Just for a bit!" Blaine had giggled as they'd walked through the double doors, "I want to watch the stars."
Of course, Kurt just couldn't say no, especially after they'd laid down together on the floor, their bodies angled in opposite directions but their heads next to each other, watching the stars through the large glass ceiling.
'This isn't romantic', Kurt insisted to himself, 'We're not even friends. A Hufflepuff would never want to be friends with a Slytherin.'
"My mother used to take me to the planetarium when I was younger," Blaine explained in the silence of the dark tower, "It was my favourite thing to do as a kid. She got too busy with work eventually, but it was nice, you know? It was our thing."
Kurt smiled in the darkness, only illuminated by the stars and the moon, "Yeah, I get that."
"It's stupid, but I go there whenever I'm home," Blaine continued, "They have a ceiling like this, only less, you know, magical. I lie under it for hours sometimes."
"It's not stupid," Kurt reassured him, "It's quite cute, actually, that you have such a strong relationship with your mother."
"I honestly don't know what I'd do without her," Blaine replied, because despite her endless shifts at work, she was also his rock, "What about you? Are you close with your mother?"
Kurt's smile dropped. His face paled as he coughed awkwardly, "She, uh- she died when I was four. So I don't really remember much about her."
Blaine sat up, turning to Kurt quickly with a crestfallen look on his face, "Kurt, I'm so sorry, I-"
"It's fine," Kurt interrupted, refusing to look at Blaine, "It's not really a sore spot anymore, you know?"
"Still," Blaine sighed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"
"You didn't know," Kurt interrupted, the room once again falling into silence as Blaine laid down once more. After a few minutes, Kurt continued.
"Her name was Elizabeth," Kurt smiled in the darkness, "She loved music and art and anything that would make her dad angry. That's why she gave up her family legacy and had me. But when she, uh, died; my dad couldn't cope. When my grandparents offered to take me in, he let them. I haven't seen him since."
"Thats… Wow," Blaine breathed, "That's not what I expected."
"Excuse me?" Kurt asked, sitting up and turning to Blaine as he did the same.
"Not in a bad way!" Blaine quickly corrected once he noticed Kurt's scowl, "It's just that you, uh, hold yourself so highly, you know? It's like you're untouchable and nothing could go wrong in your perfect world, but you're actually just really, really strong."
Damn Blaine and his Hufflepuff adorableness.
"Oh," Kurt breathed, "Well, um, thanks I guess."
"This is nice," Blaine continued, "Talking to you without the whole house rivalry thing."
"We shouldn't limit our whole lives based on seven years of our lives," Kurt shrugged, repeating Quinn's words from last week, "I mean, sure, I'm probably always going to get along with Slytherin-types of people better, but it doesn't mean I should limit my whole life to that."
Blaine smiled, turning away to face up at the ceiling and the stars. He stayed like that for a few moments, with Kurt watching him intently. Eventually, Kurt laid back down, his eyes fixated on the sky.
"I got beat up before the first week. That's why I had that bruise on my face."
Kurt's head turned to look at Blaine, who was just barely lit by the moonlight. His face was turned away to the sky, but Kurt could still make out the tense lines in his back.
"My parents have this house in Westerville we apparate to sometimes in the summer," Blaine began slowly, obviously hard for him to delve into, "My brother Cooper is an actor, so he was staying there for a film. He invited me the the last few weeks of summer for some 'brotherly bonding' before he had to leave for another project.
"It was the last day before I was meant to go home. I went to the store to get some things for Cooper before I left, and I walked past this playground just as the sun was barely beginning to set. There… There were these teenagers, all muscles and all crowded around this one younger kid. They were obviously picking on him and-and I couldn't just leave him, you know? S-So I grabbed him and told him to run and-"
A sob broke through Blaine's story as Blaine ducked his head away from Kurt, tears beginning to pool in his eyes. Before he knew what he was doing, Kurt slid forwards next to Blaine, his hands gently rubbing his back as he whispered words of encouragement.
"They beat me up pretty badly," Blaine continued bitterly, still refusing to look at Kurt, "Thank god Cooper found me before anyone else did. He's pretty good with healing spells, but for some reason that damned bruise wouldn't go away. Miss Pillsbury tried too, but nothing was working. It-It was just embarrassing, you know?"
"No," Kurt protested, Blaine looking up at him in surprise, "You did something brave to save someone else. That's in no way embarrassing."
Blaine smiled tearfully, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the last of the tears, "Thanks, Kurt."
Kurt smiled, looking away awkwardly, "Guess we all have some baggage, huh?"
"I guess," Blaine laughed weakly, "We should probably get back to patrolling. I don't want to be caught in here by Professor Sylvester."
"Good point," Kurt agreed, standing up and offering his hand to Blaine, "After you."
A/N: I am VERY AWARE that there are two ways of spelling camomile/chamomile. Please bare with me on this one. And also, thank you all so much for the reviews so far. I didn't expect this story to be perceived so warmly, so once again, thank you so much xx