Another Chosen One-A Harry Potter Fanfiction

6

Time passed slowly in the Hufflepuff common room, with the Hufflepuffs spending the majority of their time chatting to one another, no matter where they were. While I was all too happy to get into unnecessary discussions with some of the Hufflepuff third years, I noticed Patrick getting bored with some of the conversations he found himself in. He called the background hubbub, made up of giggles and excited conversations, in the Hufflepuff common room 'suffocating', even going as far to say that the mustard yellow walls aggravated him more than he thought anything ever could. 

I didn't hear him complaining about the endless supply of food available at any time through the nearby kitchens, though.

James refused to speak to me in the coming weeks, clearly insulted by my remarks on his attitude toward his brother being a Slytherin. Potions classes with the Hufflepuffs were incredibly awkward-James was, after all, my Potions partner, but refused to speak to me. He kept his head down, not even wanting to see my face. It was uncomfortable enough, sitting through classes in unfamiliar Hufflepuff robes (our Gryffindor clothes had been taken from us once we'd changed dormitories) without James' coldness toward me. 

Quidditch was my only reprieve from life as a Hufflepuff-McGonagall had allowed me to train with the team under the condition that training was not after 4 in the afternoon and before 6 in the morning. With the first match in less than two weeks, Fred had been slaving to come up with new strategies, working the team harder than ever for the face-off against Slytherin. As usual, Arthur and I worked together like a well-oiled machine-he distracted long enough for me to take a shot at the goalposts. 

Ace slid back into his role as Seeker with ease, not a single hair on that perfect head tousled as he time and time again beat out the reserve to the Snitch. I, of course, slid back into my pattern of crushing on him, both on and off the pitch, with just as much ease (much to my chagrin.) 

Quidditch first, feelings later.

I barely saw Konjit and Matteo anymore-they weren't at Quidditch practice and we didn't have much of an intersecting timetable either-so I saw more and more of Ace, leading us to get much closer. He was really the full package-an amazing flier and an excellent student (not to mention incredibly attractive.) Being around him made me feel so incredibly self-conscious, and for some reason, I enjoyed that. We were currently sitting at a table in the Great Hall, Ace helping me with my Transfiguration. 

"...Professor Chang loves attention to detail with her essays too, so make sure you elaborate on all of the features of the transfiguration sequence." He turned toward me, and I once again lost myself in those gorgeous eyes-so gorgeous that they shouldn't have been allowed to exist..

"Yup! Got it, Ace! Makes sense, Ace!" he chimed sarcastically. I straightened my back, grinning. "Makes sense." And with that, I turned back to my essay, hopping my hair would hide the blush quickly spreading  across my cheeks. "Felifors, which can be used to transfigure a cat to a cauldron, presents an intriguing transfiguration sequence..." I mumbled, writing as I did. "...the unique texture that can be observed halfways through-"

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my face. A soft, trained hand. The hand of a Seeker. Ace flinched when I turned around, going red. "J-just an eyelash..." 

Why, in the name of Dumbledore, was Ace Jackson blushing?

"Thanks!" I replied a little too enthusiastically, making Ace blush harder.

"Um, here's your-your lash," he stuttered, trying to hand it back to me only to watch it fall into the space between us.

"I'll get it!" we both exclaimed, leaning down...

Until Ace's face was about half an inch from mine.

I jerked back, laughing more awkwardly then I thought was possible, when Ace started laughing too, the two of us cracking up for no apparent reason. For the first time ever, I felt confident around Ace. Like I could do anything at all, just as long as I had him cheering me on. 

Just as long as he was there.

A strangle, tingling sensation overtook my stomach, an overwhelming wave of shock and giddy excitement hitting me. I'd never felt this before. This was unfamiliar, weird... and amazing. It was a box of chocolates truffles, a beach on a warm day, a hot chocolate accompanied by the bitingly cold winter wind. 

This feeling, whatever it was, was welcome.

As the laughing ceased, I found myself once again looking into his eyes, realising he was looking into mine, his gaze sharper than a laser. "Wow, Evans. Hanging around with a fourth year? That's your ultimate comeback?"

I looked up, finding James sneering at me. These were the first words he'd spoken in my presence in three weeks. "You've made it perfectly clear that you don't give a damn about what I do, James, so why don't you move along?" I replied. Ace's eyes widened as James shot me another dirty glance. 

"Why not jump the gun and join my brother and Malfoy's little group?" he remarked snarkily. Ace got to his feet for no apparent reason, as did I. 

"What's going on here?" Ace asked, his tone not at all friendly.

"Ask your dear friend Anika," James answered, turning on his heel and leaving. 

"An, what's he going on about?" Ace asked once James had left, looking concerned.

"A couple weeks back, James freaked out about how his brother got sorted into Slytherin and I told him he was being a git," I replied. Ace nodded, brows creasing.

"You would think James Potter wouldn't care about any of that, wouldn't you?" Ace speculated before dismissing the thought. "Anyways, I completely agree with you. He's being a git. Now, how are you going with that essay?"

I smiled, glad to know that I had in the midst of all the chaos that had come from this new threat, from James' completely backward thinking and from all the stress stemming from classes, I had found a reprieve other than flying.

I had found Ace.