Picking and Choosing (Tales of Hogwarts Romance) Chapter 5

Picking and Choosing (Tales of Hogwarts Romance) Chapter 5

So, Hogwarts was worth waiting an extra year to go, especially since she had a better knowledge of most subjects than a majority of the fifth years. Days passed to weeks and though McGonagall had refused to crack and send her to more advanced classes she had sent severally specialty books to Illy. The guys had become like a second family to Killious, Cedric Diggory had even played boyfriend for a day or two her but she had quelled his interest quietly, preferring men that had nerve to break some rules, even Ron had enough backbone for something like that. Harry was slowly warming up to her, which made spending time with Ron much easier; the trio spent hours gushing over quidditch games and players, obsessing over the odds of the next match, and more importantly the turn out for the cup. Dolan and Christian were almost more like siblings than Ron and the twins, always fighting, always ending up begging one another for homework or some other useless item they couldn't live without. They loved involving Illy in their quarrels on a regular basis, which usually meant that she had to lend a wand, potion, helping hand, or spell book to them at least once a day.

She had grown obscurely close to Draco, spending almost an hour every night practicing new spells or charms with him, during which they talked about women, school, and anything else that came to mind. Draco had even helped her get onto the quidditch team as a chaser, and he loved to pull together mini-quidditch matches with Ron, Harry, Fred, George, Christian, and herself; mostly so he could de-broom Potter and follow up with a pointless fight which ended up in jealous rage as Illy fled to the side of the wounded party to nurse them, and yell at the offender. Draco seemed to take these fights better than Harry most of the time, and was pleased to be given any attention that couldn't leave them being faux siblings, whether it be maternal, or adversarial; his sick sense of romance had even determined that any time Illy slapped him on the back of the head, called him a douche, or shoved him on the ground could be misconstrued just as much a sign of affection as nursing any scrapes or cuts he had with a washcloth and a charm. The Weasly's and Christian could only laugh whenever she left the field momentarily and Harry and Draco clamored to inflict pain on themselves somewhere that was covered by clothing, even though Fred and Ron had been known to do the same thing on more than one occasion, whereas Christian and George where happy enough to observe in hysterics and narrate with ample perversions included.

Harry and Ron had found their niche in her life however, as the men that kept her fed. They ended up sneaking to the kitchen four or five times a week, and while they claimed she should just eat more at meals they secretly appreciated being up at all hours of the night with her, especially if the third party was swamped with homework or some other distraction to the fun. On any given night they were likely to decide not to wait for Illy's three AM wake up to go get food, and had been known to show up at her door with parcel of food.

Jackquinn had formed a study group with Clause, a green haired, golden eyed, 6' 3" very muscular Ravenclaw, and Illy. They met every other day to finish off homework study, and gossip about everyone at school. Jackquinn seemed exclusive in his immunities to Illy's charm, and took her enjoyment in dotting upon him with kisses and caress as the foul joke she meant it to be for all of the other boys. Clause had made a habit of picking up the two, but seemed content to leave with Jackquinn if Killious was distracted or tied down, and was always in better moods when such opportunities arose. On days when Draco had given Jackquinn an especially hard time or when his parents had sent him especially emotional letters the two were usually waiting in the library for a good hour before Illy arrived. Jackquinn's relationship with his family was hard to describe, they were inexplicably close, even though it seemed that only his mother ever send him letters and Jackquinn's hyper-emotional personality could only take so much time away from his mum. On one such days Illy had noticed Jackquinn's wet and cloudy eyes, just after he had opened a letter and she had decided to come to the library good ten minutes late, as she searched the tables in the back of the library that the group usually occupied she almost audibly let out an "Awww" when she found the two boys. Clause had Jackquinn's hand in his own and was staring intently into his eyes as he did his best to calm and clearly distressed Jackquinn. She approached the table loudly after a few moments, but when she came to sit down Jackquinn gathered his books and turned to leave, "His mum, she's a muggle, and…she's just really sick, she worrying too much about him and whenever she has to hear about the things kids say to him in Slytherin, well it just really hurts her." He sighed and shrugged, "I guess we'll just have to finish the essays tomorrow, rain-check ok?" He asked. Illy shook her head and departed after giving Clause a hug and going to find the twins.

Fred and George took her in like a sister. She was never left out of a prank that took more than one participant, whether it be as simple as water balloons full of curdled milk or as complex as indoor blizzard's, though she seemed to be immune to any form of detention if she was caught by Snape, or almost any teacher for that matter, excluding McGonagall who was utterly lost when it came to Illy and what course of punishment to take with her. Fred, George, and Illy would often spend entire weekend afternoons plotting new things to do to fellow students and faculty; their latest plan involved changing the picture of the Fat Lady outside the Gryffindor common room into a very ugly duckling, with more than one odd skin complication.

Killious' weekends were a daze of activities ranging from official quidditch team practices that resulted in rather large bruises, cuts, scrapes, and the occasional concussion as a product of the not exactly humane practices that the Slytherin players were subject to, something that Harry had often blamed on Draco's brutal influence on the team, all the way to drawn out expeditions to the library with Hermione, who had seemed to warn up to Illy after finding out that she read more than even Miss Granger. Of course she had to make time to run off with the twins three or four times in the two days of free time she had, and then there were the morning jogs around the lack and all the homework she helped Harry and Ron with. The two had deduced that since she had already finished homework with Jackquinn and Clause that she must be readily available to help them with any astronomy questions they had. Illy herself had been excused from the class due to her official star, palm, and omen reading certification; which was requirement for all Gringott's deliverers, seeing as pre-takeoff tea readings, star checks, and fire omen's were standard procedure to ensure maximum package safety during her flights. The bank itself took up a large part of Illy's weekend; she still worked from eight A.M. to four thirty P.M. every Saturday and Sunday running to and from Gringott's for more local, and lower profile delivery's, excluding the one's that she did around the school, and in honesty if it wasn't for her extra class period during what would be Astronomy she probably would have been quite a mess, but quick naps and extra time to do homework and reading saved her from her habitually exhausting work schedule.

The sorting hat had also befriended her in a sort of way, even thought now she had to go to Dumbledoor's office to speak with the hat because McGonagall was less than fond of the idea of having Illy in her house, or having students know where the hat was kept. He enjoyed listening to the events of her day whenever he could, however one night as she sat with him he reminded her of something that she had completely forgotten.

So, did you already meet the boy? "What boy?" You dote! The one that you kissed! The one from Gyffindor, the one whose name you wouldn't let me tell you! "Shit!...You're right I'm supposed to meet him tonight! Dammit, I have to go and thanks for reminding me Libious" Hold it! Do you have any one to put into your polyjuice potion? "Well, no...but I'll use a girl in my dorm" Why bother, he only wants you anyway. "I can't do that...I have to go, I'll be back tomorrow." She set the hat down and pulled a small cake out of her pocket to feed to him before running towards her dorm with gale force speeds. She ducked down a secret corridor and ran head first into an also quite rushed set of Weasly twins, Fred chuckled and helped her to her feet, steadying her swaying body, "I Can't talk guys, pull the prank without me, or get Peeves or something I have to go!" She said as she ran off, not bothering to thank friend, or ask why George was blushing like a madman.

She took a strand hair from a fifth year in Slytherin with long wavy chestnut locks and emerald eyes that were lightly lined with freckles. She changed into a normal looking uniform, complete with proper length skirt, and took off down the halls again. She quickly adjusted the clasp of her crystal ball necklace around her neck, deciding she'd rather be found out than be apart from it. It was one of the few things her parents had left for her; Annabelle had given it to her on her 14th birthday, along with instructions to never be without it because it was charmed with good luck.

Skidding around the same corner where she had first met the boy she quickly found the fat lady, well now a duck, and gave her the password, which had been changed for the ninth time this week, and given to her by Ron. She crept into the common room with shaky but, silent stealth and after tip toed up the stairs. Two steps from the top she paused momentarily, she could hear two boys fighting from the door to her left.

"She won't be here, so why bother?"

"She will...I'm sure"

"Than why haven't we heard her yet? Tell me that"

"She's sneaky?"

"Oiye! My arse 'she's sneaky' what a load of bullshit!"

"I'm going anyway, I'll be back later!" She could hear one of the boys stomping down the hall in her direction. She swiftly headed to her destination, practically running into three beds on the way. She stumbled down the stairs in a hurry and crept into the shadows in the corner of the room to wait.

Only ten seconds after she had gotten into place she could hear someone coming down the stairs behind her. He stepped slowly into the room, hesitating before moving into the light from the barred window, shaggy blond hair shown on his head, and his dark eyes flickered in the moonlight. She stepped forward sheepishly, playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Hi-" was all she could muster, planning to continue, but stopping at the shock of hearing her uncharacteristically quiet voice. He smiled warmly and came to wrap his arms around her waist, resting one hand on each of her hips, thumbs on her pelvic bones and fingers on her back.

"I knew you'd come..." He said as he moved his hands to her upper back and hugged her tightly, she was awkward at her shorter-than-usual height but she was immersed in the feeling of his arms around her.

"So are we just going to stay here for the next hour?" She asked, breathing into his neck.

"That would be fine with me." He said, as he began to kiss her neck affectionately. She smiled to herself, but she couldn't stop panicking, worried sick that both Fred and George, or Ron, or Harry would be storming down the stairs any moment now, for some undisclosed reason. She sighed and tried to dwell on the moment that was presenting itself, as he slowly made a motion to undo the first button on her shirt, pushing it to the side as he kissed across her collar bone softly. She melted into his grasp, finding herself closer and closer to detachment every second.

"Yeah, maybe that's not such a ba-" she gasped as his thin wet tongue moved across her collar bone, before stopping and kissing her throat. "…Or I have another idea." She said, trying to regain her thoughts. She stepped back from his grasp and faced the window, mobillibars she shouted as the window opened itself entirely to the outside night sky. She turned to look at the boy who seemed to now be thoroughly confused.

"Ok, so I'm going to jump down and you'll just use a leviosa to keep me from falling to my death, alright?" She said grinning, seeming to have fully recovered from her momentarily subdued personality.

"You're kidding, I'm a reckless fool, but you could really die if something went wrong!" He exclaimed.

"Right then, here goes!" She said climbing into the window, and readying herself for the fall. He rushed to he side, but before he could pull her back into the room she jumped, his mind snapped into reflexes instantly,

"Wingardium Leviosa!" He shouted just before she collided with the earth below her.

She stepped back just a little ways and looked up to the window, giggling uncontrollably.

"Your turn!" She hollered up to him. He hesitated then slowly dropped himself out of the window. "Waddiwasi!" As she spoke the words the boy was sent flying strait up into the air, half laughing half screaming the entire time, as she sent him on an invisible roller coaster ride. After thirty or forty seconds she set him back down on the ground with a soft thud. He shook for a few moments before he leapt to his feet and came running after her, full speed. She made it a few feet but her thin unexercised legs were dropping out from beneath her, and after a few more seconds he wrapped his hands around her waste and pulled her to the ground with him.

"That was a wicked trick you pulled back there." He spoke through his laughter. She brushed some of the blond hair out the way of his warm brown eyes, running her fingers through it as she pushed is aside.

"Thanks…I do what I can." He gave her an odd smile, before starting to get up. "What was that for?" He just laughed and waved his hand about in a, "it was nothing" sort of way. She reached out for his hand and smiled before dragging him in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

"Where are we going?" He asked as she ducked down small paths and checked marks on trees, half caught in euphoric excitement and half wondering why the dementors around the grounds hadn't noticed the two of them.

"It's a secret, and it's right...here." She pushed through a patch of tall Flitterbloom, and led him to a clear open field.

"Look at this" She said as she guided him to a seat in the grass next to her. She pointed up through the trees, the area above her head was totally clear of branches and leaves, all of a sudden the starlit sky in the great hall seemed dim and foggy in comparison to the brilliance of the stars above them. He lay back in the grass, arms behind his head as a pillow.

"Come here you." He said, reaching for her waist awkwardly, refusing to sit up. She lay down next to him with her head on his chest, tuning her breathing to his.

"So," he said softly "I'll have to find out who you are eventually, so tell me one thing about yourself and I'll do the same, and then we'll figure it out slowly." His voice was warm, and sweet, like thick syrup, devoid of the inflections it had the first night she had met him, but just a thought to toffee and she nuzzled in closer to where he was.

"Okay, well, I've ridden a dragon before."

"Oh that's not fair!" He burst out, "that's not even really something relevant, it's just some weird fact."

"Hey you made the game, you didn't make rules" She said chuckling softly and throwing her arms around his torso, cheek to his ribs, listening to his heart beat methodically.

"Okay, fine, I've eaten at a muggle fast-food restaurant." She rolled over some so that she was on top of him, propping myself up with my arms.

"That's worse than mine!" She said "I mean really, who hasn't"

"I can name three or four people…" He said before knocking her arms out from under her, landing her right on top of him, "But there are better things to use your mouth for." He said before gently cupping her face in his hands and pulling it close.

Just as the evening was coming together perfectly, the potions decided to give out.

She ran her hands through his hair, and began to notice that it was getting somewhat longer and thinner. I broke from the kiss,

"We have to go, the potions…" She whispered. He shrugged and pulled her back into the kiss.

"No, I mean it, we need to go."

"Fine, I'll stay here a bit longer so you can get back without seeing too much of your real face…" He seemed sad, but it was what needed to happen.

(AN: If you enjoyed it, please R&R)