The sun was shining and the birds were chirping and Enzo Berkshire was having an incredible day. One might call it one of the best days ever, though there were probably too many of those days to really pick a favorite. Still, he'd had a good day. Breakfast with his sister and best friends, Quidditch practice with his new team, and now his favorite class, Charms.
It seemed the entire world was getting along. Aria had adjusted well to Hogwarts and had made friends with Astoria Berkshire, whose sister was in Enzo's class. She seemed to get along with his best friends, especially Theo, who Enzo hoped could be like another older brother to her. Even Nora and Mattheo had been acting peacefully.
Yes, everything was wonderful.
Well, everything except for that asshole in the hallway, the one accosting the girl who clearly wanted to escape. Enzo didn't get a good look at her but he imagined she was relieved when he stepped in. He didn't know the guy very well but he thought he recognized him from Quidditch.Bloody git,he thought as a cloud appeared over his head. Enzo forced himself to take a deep breath before going into Charms.
The professor made a few remarks before pairing them up with partners that were meant to last a whole year. Enzo didn't mind. He liked meeting people and since he wasn't sure who "Crane" was, he had an opportunity to meet a new one.
"Hey,Macmillan, do you know who Crane is?" Enzo asked the guy next to him.
"Oh yeah, you two are going to get along great!" Ernie said. "She's up there in the corner."
"Thanks, mate," Enzo replied before grabbing his books and darting up to the corner.
The girl was digging into her bag when he sat down. "Sorry!" she said in a melodic voice that reminded him of butterflies. It was light and airy and quite nice to hear. "Just give me a second."
He hummed at the sound of it before remembering that most human conversations actually required aresponse."No worries." He hoped that didn't sound too idiotic, though he wondered why he cared. Enzo never really cared about others' opinions before so why now?It's probably just because you've never met her and want a good first impression.
She bolted up with a wave a blonde curls falling all around her head. They were long and went to her mid-back. Enzo wondered how on Earth she managed to take care of them and keep them so smooth. Merlin knew Mattheo took half an hour after each Quidditch practice making his look nice and he didn't even have a quarter of what this girl had.
"I'm Cass," the girl said. "Well, actually, it's Cassiopeia but everyone calls me Cass."
Enzo thought about how nice of a name that was. "Lorenzo," he replied. "But everyone calls me Enzo."
He grabbed his quill and began to fiddle with it while the girl collected herself. "So..." he began but then he stopped himself. Because when she finally looked up and the sun hit her face just right, she looked like a fuckingangel.
Her skin was glowing and her freckles looked like kisses of sunlight. Her curls were like a halo of sunbeams that framed her soft face. She had brown eyes that looked almost gold in the light and smile lines by the corner of her eyes. Cass's lips were curled into a smile that Enzo wondered if she even knew she was making; it seemed so natural, like it was just part of her. Her nose curved into a cute button and her dimples were wide. And she was fucking beautiful. Very fucking beautiful.
She was like the sun. Golden and effervescent and completely catching him off guard.
Enzo had never seen a girl this pretty before. Hell, he hardly even cared about girls at all—they were usually a distraction from his goals and he'd never really cared for distractions. But this girl could distract him all damn day and he'd let her.
Music was playing in his ears and his heart was beating a little faster as Enzo dropped the quill and whispered, "Woah."
"What?" she asked nervously as she began to fiddle with her hair and her clothes. She turned to look at him expectantly and probably saw the biggest idiot staring at her with his jaw gaped and his eyes wide.
"S-sorry," Enzo stuttered but then he cursed himself because heneverstuttered. He was confident—he was Lorenzo Berkshire, Head Boy and Quidditch captain for Merlin's sake, not a ninny—but this girl made everything go out the window with just one look. "Thought I saw something."
"Oh." Her smile was relieved. "So you're a Slytherin then?"
Please don't be a Slytherin hater,he begged because there were many out there, especially Gryffindors. Luckily, Enzo had friends in every house so he wasn't usually the target of ill-mannered jests but he never knew how someone new would react. "Yeah, I am. And you're Hufflepuff?"
"Yeah!" Cass said brightly.
Enzo hummed awkwardly before asking, "Are you enjoying your year so far?"
She smiled like she could sense how completely out of his element he was feeling. "Yeah, it's been alright. You?"
"Bloody wonderful," he whispered breathlessly before realizing how creepy that might have sounded. "I mean, yeah, it's been great."
"Oh," Cass said politely. "Any particular reason?"
You,he wanted to say but he knew that sounded insane so he just said, "Yeah, I'm Quidditch Captain this year."
"And Head Boy?" She pointed at his other badge on his robes.
"Yeah, that too."
"Congratulations. Those are both great honors."
His chest swelled with pride and his heart beat even quicker at her words. Enzo wondered what it would be like to see her in the stands with a little Slytherin flag in her hand, cheering as he flew by. The thought made him smile to himself. "Erm, thank you," he said and she smiled. Enzo stared at her for another second before asking, "Have we met before?"
"No, I don't think so." Her voice sounded truthful but her eyes began to dart around the room. And Enzo realized just how familiar she really looked.
"Oh yes, we have! But you looked different back then. Did you curl your hair or something?"
"No, sorry." She frowned and looked down at her desk, attempting to close herself off. But Enzo didn't let her. He had to figure this out.
"Your name is Cass, right?"
"Yeah?"
"That's it!" he exclaimed with a smile, happy to finally figure it out. Enzo didn't figure things out often so he was rather proud of himself. "I've met your sister... Andie? Yeah, that was it. She's a brilliant Quidditch player."
She looked down at the desk and smiled, playing with her quill. "Yeah, much better than me. I'm so uncoordinated."
"I doubt it!" He laughed brightly. He remembered meeting a girl named Andie Crane off the Quidditch pitch a few times. She was a little taller than Cass so she must have been her older sister. Enzo wondered if the girl graduated and went to play professionally. He thought she was good enough to. "I'm sure you're great. Especially if your sister is such a wicked chaser. I have a hard time believing you aren't at least okay."
She looked up at him and flashed him another smile. "Then you'll have an even harder time believing we were twins. She got all of the athleticism."
"No way! I have to take you out on the pitch. I think you'd be better than you think... wait. Did you say you 'were' twins?"
"Yeah... um... she passed away in January. Muggle car accident," she whispered.
And just like that, the lightness fell from his chest as he realized how insensitive and careless he had been. The girl's sister passed away and he was talking aboutQuidditch,when he was sure that the last thing she wanted to think about was Quidditch. Bloody hell, he really could be clueless. The smile fell from Enzo's face. "Oh, Merlin, I'm such an ass... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up—"
"It's fine." But he could see the sadness in her eyes. He knew itwasn'tfine and it was all his fault. How did he manage to screw things up with her in a matter of a few minutes?
Before Enzo could apologize any further, Flitwick came to the front of the room and squeaked out, "That's all the time for today. You are dismissed."
Enzo turned to Cass to talk to her more only to see that she'd already grabbed her bag and was halfway out the door. He cursed himself and grabbed his books, running after her as quickly as he could considering the crowd of people who tried to talk to him. Some of them grabbed and held him back, like Gregory Goyle, whose bloody strength despite the cupcakes he ate should be studied. "Hey Enzo, how's the team looking—"
"Not now, Goyle, sorry!" He saw a flash of blonde go down another hallway. Enzo continued to run and called out, "Cass! Wait!"
She stopped and turned around to look at him with a confused glint in her eyes. "I'm really sorry I brought it up," he breathed. "I can be so clueless sometimes. I should have known—"
"Enz," she said softly, placing her hand on his arm with a gentle smile. He froze at the contact. Her skin was so warm, even through his robes. His heart started doing that irregular stuttering thing again because it felt so good and so natural to be touched by her. And she called himEnz.A nickname already, just for him. He wondered if he'd actually fallen and hit his head when Goyle grabbed him. "It's fine. I actually thought it was nice. Most people only ever bring up the accident but she was someone before her death too, you know?"
"Yeah," he breathed because the sun was hitting her hair just right and her skin looked like it was glowing and she looked like the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "Yeah, I do."
"Well, it was nice meeting you Enzo," she said with a gentle smile. "I'll see you around?"
"I hope so," he said honestly. Her brown eyes widened as a faint blush hit her cheeks. She waved as she walked away and he could do nothing but wave back as he watched her go.
When she finally turned the corner, Enzo blinked.Okay, you like this girl. That much is obvious. So what do you do?
Well, the answer seemed simple to him. Enzo was a chaser. So he'd chase.
I love Enzo so much. He's such a sweetie (especially compared to Daddy Tom but y'all know I love him too). But Enzo holds a special place in my heart because he reminds me of my husband 3
