"So then I told Ernie like a million times that we were done and guess what he did?"
"Erm... listened and left you alone?"
Margot sighed with annoyance. "No, Cass, because boys don't listen. He spent all summer writing me letters and showing up at my house."
"And that's..." Cass trailed off and let Margot finish because she could never know the right answer to a tirade like this.
"It was so romantic! I mean, how many other girls have boys writing them letters every day about how much they love them and showing up outside their windows just to see them? It's like straight out of one of those muggle movies you showed me! Maybe one day, they'll write stories about us..."
Cass didn't mean to start to tune out Margot as the two of them stood in the corridor. It just kind of... happened. Margot had the tendency to babble for hours on end if you let her and the subject of her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Ernie Macmillian, was no exception. At this point, Cass could never tell Margot's true feelings on the subject because she was pretty sure Margot didn't know her true feelings either. But that wasn't why she'd kind of, sort of, accidentally began to tune out her best friend.
It was the boy on the other side of the corridor, staring at her like she was an angel come to Earth.
Lorenzo Berkshire stood with three of his friends—Slytherins that Cass vaguely recognized as Theodore Nott, Mattheo Riddle, and Draco Malfoy. The four of them were in the middle of a conversation—who was she kidding? The curly-haired boy was doing most of the talking. But Enzo stood there, tuning it out just as Cass was tuning Margot out.
With a soft smile that made her feel like she had a flock of butterflies in her stomach, Enzo waved at her. "Hi, Cass," he mouthed.
"Hi, Enz," she mouthed back with a smile of her own.
"...so then he made bread pudding—and you know his mother's bread pudding is absolutely to die for because it has all the nuts and the raisins and—Cassiopeia Crane. Are you even listening to me?" Margot snapped as her face appeared in the middle of Cass and Enzo's staring contest. "This is ridiculous!"
Margot turned around and sighed overdramatically. "Again, Cass? Really? He's been staring at you like this all week! When are you two actually going to talk?"
Cass shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't want to talk. He doesn't owe me anything."
Both of the girls looked at where Enzo's eyes were shifting between his friends and her, smiling to himself as if he knew the greatest secret in the world. I wonder what secrets you have, Lorenzo. She wondered if he had any.
"Are you daft?"
"What? Margot, that's rude!"
"Well, you're acting daft. A boy doesn't stare at someone like that just because. He thinks you're cute!"
Cass felt her cheeks heat into a pale shade of pink just as Enzo laughed with his friends. He has a really cute laugh, she thought. "No, he doesn't! We're friends. If that, even. Just Charms partners."
Margot snorted. "You are daft. But whatever. You keep living in fairyland. Let me know whenever you wise up and join the real world."
"Come on, my overdramatic bestie," Cass giggled as she looped her arm through Margot's. "Let's go enjoy the sunshine. It's a beautiful day."
"Yuck. Don't spread your fairyland propaganda around me! I can only take so much." Margot pretended to gag, which only made Cass giggle even more.
As they passed the group of boys, Cass waved with a bright smile. "Hi, Enzo."
"H-hi, Cass," Enzo stuttered back, causing the group of boys around him to snicker loudly.
Margot snorted. "'Friends', huh? We'll see how long that lasts."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Hey guys," Enzo said brightly as he sidled up next to where his other friends were laughing at Theo choking on a puff of cigarette smoke. After talking with his baby sister and hearing that she was actually enjoying her time at Hogwarts—with a friend, too!—he was in a great mood. Enzo always wanted Aria to be happy and it seemed like within just a couple of short weeks, she was already hitting her stride. He'd never seen her open up like this so much. It made him wonder if Beauxbatons was never the right place for her, though he always figured she loved it there since she spent almost every break at the school. "What's up?"
"Looks like ole Theodore's time on this planet is up," Draco jeered. "Finally had one too many cigs, didn't you?"
"N-never," Theo stuttered through the coughs while Mattheo rubbed his back with warm brown eyes full of mischief.
"That's it, lad. Get it out," Mattheo cooed.
"Shut the fuck up, Riddle! And stop rubbing my back! You're making us look like bloody lovers!" Theo exclaimed through his struggles with a scowl that rivaled Tom's.
Mattheo grinned. "'Look like' lovers? You make it sound like we aren't."
"I'm going to strangle you!" Theo growled as the two of them began to tousel in the hallway.
Used to this behavior from the two best friends, Draco turned to Enzo as they both began to ignore Mattheo shouting, "Hey! Don't fuck with my hair! That took two rounds of conditioner!"
"Well, you're going to want to condition it again after I'm done shoving your head up your ass!"
Draco rolled his eyes. "So, what's new with you? Head Boy and Quidditch Captain?"
Enzo winced. Normally, he would be proud of the two positions but this was Draco and Draco normally didn't take to being second-best well. Just look at his relationship with Harry Potter... Those two had been enemies ever since Draco realized he wouldn't be the most infamous wizard in the grade. Well, there was also Mattheo, but for some reason, Draco stopped considering the boy as a threat when Mattheo accidentally got a potato stuck in his ear when he attempted to make it smaller with a potion that wore off when it was halfway down the canal. Never mind why he was even trying to put a potato there in the first place...
"Yeah," Enzo said carefully as if he were walking on dragon eggshells. "How are you feeling about that?"
"I don't really care," Draco said with a shrug, much to Enzo's relief. "I've got enough on my plate and you deserve both of them anyway. We both know that if anyone is Hogwarts's golden boy, it's you. Plus, after spending, like, two months at that Quidditch camp this summer, it would have made no sense if you weren't named Captain. Congrats."
Enzo sagged, satisfied that the blond wasn't going to bite his head off. Draco was right. Enzo had worked hard for years to become Quidditch captain, spending almost his entire break save the last few weeks at an intense camp in Northern Ireland. His mind was already brimming with strategies to use this season. And as for the Head Boy, he didn't think he'd ever be given quite an honor like that, so the surprise was even more welcome. "Thanks, mate. Busy with wedding planning or something?"
"Or something." Draco frowned.
"How is that going?"
"I don't want to talk about the wedding or Daphne." Draco turned to look at Enzo with those sad grey eyes and Enzo had a feeling that he was missing something again. That there was something going on that he couldn't quite figure out. But before he could ask what, Mattheo and Theo suddenly stood up with their arms wrapped around each other like they were best friends again, the previous squabble more forgotten than the morning after a Mattheo party.
"We talking about women?" Mattheo asked with a grin. "Well, Draco's saddled up with someone none of us expected and Theodore has about as many dames as days without cigarettes so that leaves me and Enz."
"No one wants to hear about whatever girl you're shagging," Theo muttered. "We've heard enough about them over the years."
"Yeah, there's been a lot," Mattheo said with a happy sigh. "Especially your mother."
"My mother is dead, you dumb fuck."
"Yeah, you had to go and ruin all those jokes for me?"
"I'm sorry. Next time my mother dies, I'll make sure it's after you make a joke about fucking her." Even Theo's glare couldn't diminish Mattheo's goofy smile. And even though Theo would have slugged anyone else for saying something like that about his mother, he just rolled his eyes and bumped shoulders with his best friend. Once again, everything was normal.
"Okay, so Draco, Theo, and I can't talk about girls. Enz, got any updates? Who am I kidding? If her name isn't 'Quaffle', you don't pay attention to her..."
But Enzo stopped listening. Because right then, a blonde girl with curls that looked like a spiraled halo walked into the corridor accompanied by a brunette with a pixie cut that stuck out in about a million different directions. The brunette seemed to be going on and on about something while Cass giggled. Even from across the corridor, Enzo swore it sounded like the soft chiming of bells. His stomach did about a million backflips just at the sight of her sweet smile. Cass's skin seemed to glow golden in the sunlight, illuminated more by the freckles dotted across her nose.
She's so beautiful, he thought as he watched her. Her deep brown eyes slid over to him while a pale blush filled her cheeks. Cass nervously bit her lip and Enzo wondered what it would be like to bit it for her. To kiss her freckles and feel her soft pink lips against his. To run his hair through her corkscrew curls and feel her body pressed against his.
Enzo threw thoughts of her body out of his head. He wanted to remain respectful, keeping his eyes always on her face—which usually wasn't hard because her face was lovely and he could look at it all day. But today, it was hard not to notice the way her camisole hugged her curves underneath the soft yellow cardigan that reminded him of ducklings in a meadow, especially with the way it had daisies dotted along the fabric. It was even harder not to notice the way her jeans hugged her curvy ass...
"Damn. That girl is fine," Mattheo whistled. "Where'd she come from? Might need to introduce myself to my future wife. She has an ass for days."
Enzo frowned. "Leave her alone. She's off-limits." Cass smiled at him. He couldn't help but wave and say hi to her. It was hard not to jump for joy when she waved back.
"Dude, does Enzo have a crush?" Mattheo teased.
"I think he does. Look at him. He's practically pink," Draco chimed in.
"Aw, little baby Enzo with his first crush!"
"Shut up, Riddle. You act like Berkshire hasn't scored before."
"Well, he hasn't very much. Hard to find time for a good woman when you spend all of your free periods on the Quidditch pitch."
"Maybe if you did the same, you wouldn't be losing to Nora Rosier," Enzo shot back with a smirk, loving the way that it immediately riled his friend up.
"Oh, you shut the fuck up about Nora-bloody-Rosier! That little—"
"Language, Riddle. There are first years around."
Theo snorted. "Yeah, listen to the new Head Boy, Matt."
Before Mattheo could retort, Cass and her friend walked past them. "Hi, Enzo!" Cass said with a voice that sounded like sunshine and a face to match.
Merlin, she's so beautiful. She's like— Wait. Don't be creepy. Say something back! "H-hi, Cass," he stuttered. She giggled and walked away just as her brunette friend was rolling her eyes.
"Bloody hell, you were actually right for once, Riddle. Berkshire does have a crush," Theo said in awe.
"See! I told you— Wait. What do you mean 'for once?' Are you trying to get your ass beat again?"
"Well, it's not like I can beat your ass, since your bigass head is still in it."
Mattheo lunged for Theo but Draco quickly stepped in with narrowed eyes. "Shut up, you two. I want to hear about Enzo's crush. Don't make me pull the prefect card."
"Yes, Daddy Malfoy," Mattheo snickered before cursing in pain when Draco's foot connected with his shin. "So Enz, tell us about the girl."
"There's nothing to tell." Enzo shrugged. "We're partners in 've been working on some assignments together for a couple weeks. We're just friends." If a friend could make your heart feel like it's beating a thousand times a minute and make your hands all sweaty and your head all woozy. Those lessons with her were what Enzo looked forward to every day, when he could smell the sweet scent of lilacs and fresh linens as he tried not to stare at her too much. She was so smart, always leading the two of them in everything they worked on together—though that also could have been because his brain turned to mush every time she was around. "What do you guys know about her?"
Everyone turned to look at Draco. "What? Why is everyone staring at me?"
"Because you shove your big albino nose into everyone's business," Mattheo retorted.
"I am not— Nevermind. I'm not arguing with you." They all stared at him expectantly. "Fine. But I only know this because I swear, everyone always tell Astoria everything." Enzo wasn't sure what Astoria had to do with anything but he didn't press. "Her mum's a muggle from America and her dad works at the Ministry. She had a twin sister who was a chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team—"
"Andie Crane. Good face, medium ass. Don't worry, Enz, Cass's is better."
"Who died last January riding something muggles call 'automobiles.' Something about a crash in an ice storm."
"And now I feel like an ass," Mattheo muttered. "Sorry, Andie, I'm sure your ass is great in heaven."
"Bloody hell, Mattheo," Theo said as he shook his head in disbelief, taking another long drag of his cigarette. Every time you thought you were used to Mattheo's antics, he'd come out and say something like that.
"Anyway, as I was saying before, Andie was the spunky twin. Cass has always been the nice one." You've got that right, Enzo thought. She's more than nice. She's lovely. "Decent grades, friends with Margot Moore. Was in about a year-long relationship with Zacharias Smith—another Hufflepuff chaser—but they broke up before her sister's accident. Thought I heard something about him cheating on her so it was only a matter of time before the girl wisened up..."
What idiot would cheat on a girl like her? Enzo wondered. Throwing away someone so incredible... There is no one better than her.
"So you got all that from 'Astoria', huh, lad?" Mattheo smirked. "Told you. You stick your big albino nose in everyone's business."
"Shut the fuck up, you—"
"So the lad got friendzoned by the pretty little Hufflepuff," Theo butted in. "Mattheo is two seconds away from fucking his enemy, Draco is engaged to a girl who is... well, Daphne, and I— Nevermind on me. Can't any of us just have a normal relationship?"
Mattheo grinned and wrapped his arm around Theo. "Nah. We're the Slytherin Boys. Nothing about us is normal."
Enzo smiled. "You got that right."
I love this chapter a lot more than I thought I would, which is stupid because anytime we get the boys together being complete idiots, I have a grand time. Hopefully, you agree. xx
