Chapter 4
The next day I decided that I was going to show the real me to Hugo, and maybe a little of the real Kiera, too. I knew I had to be subtle, he didn't know I knew he liked her. Lily and I walked down to breakfast together. When we made it to the Gryffindor table, I spotted Hugo, and with out thinking, my face lit up. I knew Lily saw it, because she trailed behind me, her face clouded in thought. I sat down beside Hugo and Lily sat down beside me.
"Hey, Christina" he said with a crooked grin.
"Hi Hugo, how's it going?" I asked, silently amazed by how brave I was being.
"Pretty good, uh… I was wondering, why you came to Hogwart's?" he asked.
He had been thinking about me! I explained about my parents going to Antarctica and how I had been accepted to Hogwart's, even though I didn't live in England; how I had moved to my cousin's house,
"Is your cousin a witch or wizard?" he asked.
"Yah, she's a witch." I said reluctantly.
"Who is she?" He asked, inevitably.
"Kiera Southwell." I saw the definite recognition in his eyes.
"SHE'S your cousin?" He said with shock. I nodded
"She looks nothing like you." he said, attempting to hide the look of pure shock on his face.
"I'm proud of that fact." I said with a bit of resentment.
"Why, she's gorgeous…" he said obviously forgetting who and what he was talking about.
"What am I then?" I said, acid dripping into my voice.
"I-I- didn't mean…I'm…uh" he stuttered.
"Just forget it." I said my voice acidic. "I'll see you in class." I stormed out of the great hall fighting tears. I looked at my watch. I had half an hour until class.
I used the fifteen of those thirty minutes to mull over my thoughts in the Gryffindor common room. After that I went to find Lily. When I found her she gave me a confused look but waved me over. I made sure Hugo was no where in sight before I went to her side. She made idle chatter on our way to class I wasn't paying attention, thinking about how to show Hugo I wasn't usually so harsh.
"Christina? Christina!" Lily said.
"What, what!" I said snapping out of my stupor.
"I just asked you a question." She said sounding irritated.
"I'm sorry, what was it?" I asked.
"What do you really think of your cousin, and please tell the truth!" she asked looking hopeful
"You aren't going to tell her, are you?'
"No!"
"I really can't stand her." I told her waiting for her reaction. When she looked relieved I got curious.
"What do you think about her?"
"I can't stand her either, she's a bully and makes fun of anyone who she thinks slighted her in the smallest way possible. She even pokes fun at those who score higher than her on tests!"
"It's good to see she hasn't pulled the wool over your eyes." Lily chuckled at that.
"You won't find many girls here that have been fooled by her, the guys on the other hand... especially Hugo." She said under breath.
"He doesn't see her for what she really is."
"None of them do! All they see is, and these are Hugo's words, 'How amazingly gorgeous and hilarious she is'."
"He- I mean, they don't see that her hilarity is at the expense of other people."
"Exactly," Lily said contently.
My first class wouldn't be torture, because the teacher was new. No one knew her and she would be introducing herself to everyone, not just me.
"Good Morning, welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts class everyone. My name is Professor Chang. Today I will be testing you on what you know. Once I do, I can plan the lessons from there." That was even better, it wouldn't matter if I was ahead or behind, she would plan the lesson on all of us, including me. After attendance, she told us told us to arrange ourselves boy, girl, boy, girl etcetera. I thought to myself "How is it that, out of all houses to have with us, it has to be Hufflepuff." There was a mad rush for seats. I frantically searched for Hugo. When I spotted him sitting with an empty seat beside him I was nearly sprinting, and when I saw Kiera heading in the same direction I was. She was right there when I slipped in front of her into the seat. There was a furious look on both their faces that I decided to pretend not to see.
"Hi Hugo! You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" I asked with a cheery and innocent tone.
"No," he grumbled, cursing under his breath. I watched as Kiera sat at the only vacant seat, beside a boy with greasy hair and a face full of pimples.
"This is where you will be sitting for the next year, unless I should feel the need to move you." Professor Chang said. I suppressed giggles, as Kiera realized just who she was sitting beside (who I might include, had been glowing like the setting sun). I stole a look at Hugo. He didn't look angry anymore, I thought it was safe.
"That'll be fun, wont it?" I asked.
"Sure," he said exasperated, but he gave me that crooked grin I can't get enough of.
Before the class could get talking again, Professor Chang rolled in an old chest.
"Now I know what you're thinking, 'Oh no, she's brought out a boggart, I've done this a million times' but, I should remind you that, I'm a new teacher, I need to see what you know. Let's start with a volunteer, shall we?" She said. No one moved.
"No? Well then, I'll pick." Now I knew that you shouldn't cower in your seat if you didn't want to be picked, but I had had a bad morning so…
"How about you Miss Brown? You give it a go!" I reluctantly got out of my seat and walked towards the chest. I'd been praying my fear would have nothing to do with Hugo.
"Ready?" Professor Chang asked. I nodded, wishing no was an appropriate answer. She opened the chest and I fell out.
A/N: I'd just like to take the time to talk about suspenseful endings. I'm not going to do that to you… ha! Who am I kidding of course I am! But don't worry the chapter doesn't end here, I just wanted to annoy you!
It was me only I was dead. I was bloody and my eyes were rolled into the back of my head. I felt like I was going to faint, when some other part of me told me to do magic.
"RIDICKULUS!" I shouted, louder than necessary. The other me grew blonde hair, blue eyes and got significantly taller. It rose up, like a marionette, and started a crude dance. I looked back at the class. Everyone was laughing, except Kiera. She was glaring.
"Splendid, Miss Brown!" Professor Chang said. "Who would like to go next?"
The rest of the day, anytime Kiera saw me, she flashed me a dirty look. Hugo, on the other hand warmed to me, started talking to me like we'd been friends forever. My heart skipped a couple beats that day. It also seemed that Hugo hadn't recognized the boggart. He also sat beside me in History of Magic, which he slept through. During supper I mentioned that I had nothing to read. Hugo offered to take me to the library; I took that offer with open arms. As I looked for something to read (Hugo told me that Hogwart's had only recently received a fiction section) we talked a little about classes, I also made a remark about sleeping History of Magic.
"Apparently, my dad did the same thing." he said, his ears turning red.
"I thought it was funny." I said as I picked up a romance novel.
"That one's not bad, maybe a little too mushy…" he trailed off, his ears turning red as I gave him an astonished look.
"My mum and sister don't have a large array of books, I'd read all the others" He said defensively. He looked confused as a huge smile broke on to my face.
"No, I like a guy who can show a feminine side." I said, once again amazed with my courage.
"Well, you won't find many of them in that book." he said urgently trying to change the subject.
"What do you suggest?" I asked coyly. He ended up picking an adventure/romance where there is not just a hero, a heroine, my perfect book, and coincidentally Hugo's favourite book. We walked back to the common room, we said goodnight. Just as I was about to walk up the first step to my room, Hugo caught my arm.
"Look, I'm sorry for what I said at breakfast, I wasn't thinking." He said earnestly.
"It's all right; I forgave you the minute I left the Great Hall." I said unable to meet his eyes. We said goodnight again and I ran up the stairs, my heart leaping. Lily was the only girl in the room.
"Where are the girls?" I asked her.
"They went out." she answered revealing nothing.
"So what did you do after supper?" I asked.
"I came back here to read." she said. I nodded. This was really awkward. Something was up I and I knew it.
"I'm gonna cut to the chase." Lily said.
"Okay." I said a little confused.
"I've seen the way you look at Hugo; talk to Hugo, always trying to sit with him. You nearly dragged him to the library, tonight. What is going on with you?" She asked her eyes saying "I already know don't try to lie."
"Fine, I like him; I've liked him since I first saw him!"
"Finally you confess it!" she said laughing. I threw a pillow at her, also laughing.
"You're so obnoxious!" I said, as she threw the other pillow back. We collapsed on her bed, in fits of laughter.
"You know, I would rather Hugo like you than Kiera." she said.
"Me too," I said sadly. Lily knew and I can't say I really liked it, but if I had known what was coming I would have wanted her to.
A/N: Well, there's the suspense, keep reviewing and telling me what you want to see. I seriously need you to, because I have writer's block! Hope you liked the chapter and the chemistry between Hugo and Christina is really coming together, no?