Chapter 9: Check Yes, Juliet

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the related characters. The Harry Potter series is created by J.K. Rowling and owned by Warner Bros. Pictures. All rights of Harry Potter belong to Warner Bros. Pictures. This entire story is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment purposes only. I am not making a profit from this story.

Notes: This chapter is inspired by the song "Check Yes, Juliet" by We The Kings.

Spring 1998

I knelt on the bottom bunk of my bed trying to concentrate on analysing the star charts that I'd drawn during Professor Sinistra's Astronomy class. Our N.E.W.T.s were coming up in June and I barely had any time to myself with homework, prefect duties and D.A. meetings filling up most of my schedule. Parvati and I had returned home for spring break and I was trying to get some additional studying done before our birthday dinner.

"It amazes me that you can continue to study on our birthday when Death Eaters have taken over our school," Parvati deadpanned from the top bunk.

I leaned out and peered above at her. She was sitting cross legged and painting her fingernails red while regarding me in distaste.

"We all know that Harry will arrive just in time to save the day and exams will take place as scheduled," I shrugged.

"Ever the optimist," Parvati muttered, blowing on her finished hand.

"Someone has to be. And this coming from the girl currently giving herself a manicure?" I teased, pulling out a quill to retrace some fainter symbols on one of my star charts.

"Hey, if I'm going to die anyways, I want to look good," she fired back and a chill ran down my spine.

"Don't say that," I said sternly, upset at her passivity. I don't know what I would do if anything bad ever happened to my sister.

"I'm sorry," she apologised, averting her eyes in regret before suddenly frowning.

"You know, it's quite rude to enter a woman's room without knocking," Parvati sniffed in disdain.

I looked up expecting to see Vijay, but I was shocked to find Dev leaning against the closed door with his hands in his pockets instead. At least he appeared to be in a better mood than he was at the last holiday party.

"Woman? And what's this - the homework club?" he quipped. I jutted out my chin and glared straight at him.

"That's right. We turned eighteen today. Technically, we already reached adulthood in the wizarding community last year. But now, we're considered adults in the muggle world as well. Not that you would know since you've missed our past few birthday parties," I coldly interjected.

"I know when your birthday is," Dev drawled. Reaching into his unbuttoned coat, he retrieved a Honeydukes bag of deluxe sugar quills and tossed it up to Parvati. She quickly thanked him and immediately tore open the package to indulge.

Then, he slowly walked over to me and gingerly deposited a Scrivenshaft's bag beside my stack of star charts. I peeked inside. A beautiful luxury eagle quill lay at the bottom, filling me with house pride. I meekly offered him my thanks. 'This is the second expensive gift that he has bought me. What could it mean?' I wondered.

"Do you like Astronomy?" he asked curiously, interrupting my thoughts. I bristled a little as he picked up my textbook to peruse it.

"I've always found the night sky fascinating. There's something breathtakingly mysterious and romantic about it. But, Ancient Runes is my favourite subject," I confessed, before quickly remembering who I was speaking to.

Dev hummed as he flipped through the pages. 'Of course he wouldn't be interested in a child's hobbies,' I thought bitterly.

After a few awkward moments, I perked up in relief when I heard my mother's voice calling us for supper.

"Vijay had better not finish all the dosas again!" Parvati hollered. She climbed down the ladder from her top bunk, wrenched open the door and sprinted down the stairs.

"I doubt that really matters since she just spoiled her appetite," I muttered. Dev chuckled.

I put away my notes and got up to follow her. Just as I reached the door, Dev's gentle voice halted me in my tracks.

"Don't you want your textbook back?" he teased.

I stiffly turned around and held out an open hand. Dev carefully placed my textbook and the eagle feather quill that I hadn't realised he'd taken into my outstretched hand, before heading downstairs without looking back. I could faintly smell his sandalwood and ocean breeze scent in the air of my bedroom. 'Merlin's beard I cannot believe he was in here!' I belatedly realised in mortification. Thankfully, the place was clean and devoid of personal items as most of my things were in my dorm.

I was about to put away my textbook, when I noticed that the corner of one of the pages was folded. I opened the book to smooth it out and my heart stopped when I saw a neat but unfamiliar scrawl at the top of the page about the Peter Harrison Planetarium in muggle London.

March 21st 12pm

That was tomorrow.

I closed the book, threw it onto my bed and ran downstairs to the dining room where I was greeted by a delicious spread of food. As Parvati had predicted, the dosa platter was empty and Vijay was unsuccessfully shielding himself from the barrage of jabs that my sister and a very pregnant Sarika were inflicting upon him.

Dev was watching them in amusement from the back corner of the room. When he saw me enter, he met my gaze and winked.

I gave him a confident smirk back. Oh, it was SO on.

Notes: We're officially at the halfway mark of this story - hooray! There's also a subtle reference to another one of my favourite cartoons, Hey Arnold!, in which Gerald asks Arnold why he always has to look on the bright side and our lovable football head simply replies, "someone has to" :)