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────────────── 'BUTTERFLIES' ──────────────
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The next day, History of Magic seemed to drag on forever. The slow pace of the coursework combined with the monotone voice of Professor Binns was a recipe for overthinking, and the warm sunlight seeping through the window onto the side of her face almost sent her to sleep.
Mina felt guilty about leaving Harry alone on the Astronomy Tower the previous night. He had just been trying to help her, to care for her as a friend, but she'd brushed him off because it was as a friend—nothing more. It was a selfish move on her part, she thought. It's not as though she'd ever told him her feelings—how could she expect him to just sense them and feel the same?
She hated her sensitivity: the way her eyes still felt sore and puffy just because of one kiss.
Professor Binns was still droning on about something—she had zoned out for too long to understand exactly what he was saying—and the other Hufflepuff's and even some Ravenclaws seemed as bored as she. Unexpectedly, a small piece of paper floated into her line of vision and landed on her desk.
Mina glanced up to Professor Binns, but he hadn't noticed. She looked around, and from a few desks across from hers—over the heads of a sleeping Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw reading a book open beneath their desk—she noticed Charlie looking back at her with a grin as he mouthed, open it.
Turning back around, she unfolded the torn scrap of parchment. Inside was a—surprisingly good—drawing of the classroom. Professor Binns was standing at the front of the classroom with a speech bubble above his head that said 'blah, blah, blah...' whilst the students were drawn as skeletons at their desks. It was captioned '100 YEARS LATER...' in charismatic lettering.
Mina laughed but quickly covered it with a cough as Professor Binns turned around for a moment from the blackboard skeptically.
She glanced over her shoulder again at Charlie—who seemed to also be holding in a laugh—before quietly tearing a corner off of her own parchment and pulling out her quill to write on it.
'Where did you learn to draw so well???' She scribed and tossed it lightly over to Charlie's desk, watching as he opened it and scribbled down a response. It took him a while to do so, however, so Mina averted her attention back to the Professor. After a couple minutes, the paper landed on her desk again.
'My dad—he's a cartoonist for a muggle newspaper'. Below his words was another sketch—but this one was much more detailed than the other.
It was of her.
Or, what he could see of her from his desk. It was of her side profile. There were long black strokes for her hair, and tiny faint dots on her cheek for the small freckles one could only see when up close.
She felt a rose blush warm her face as she noticed a small heart floating by the side of her head. The astronomy tower mishap had completely left her mind by now.
Mina could feel his eyes on her, and she sent him a bright smile; slipping it inside her pocket just as everyone began packing their things as Professor Binns—finally—dismissed them for lunch. As students began filing out of the classroom, she noticed Charlie—with his bag slung over his shoulder—wading between the desks toward her.
"So, uh," he began with a nervous edge to his voice. She smiled patiently in encouragement. "The first Quidditch game of the season is tomorrow—Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me? As a date? And then we could sit by the lake or go on a walk, maybe?"
Mina hesitated a little. She'd completely forgotten about the match—and found herself wondering what Harry would think of her sitting in the Ravenclaw stands instead of Gryffindor. He noticed her hesitation.
"It'll be a lot better than that party yesterday—that stuff's not really my thing anyway, I just thought—"
"I'd love to!" Mina grinned, almost on instinct. She felt butterflies emerge in her chest—a different kind than with Harry, but evidently still there—and suddenly she felt a little nervous looking into Charlie's warm brown eyes.
"Really?!" His face broke out in a smile; only stimulating the wings.
"Really."
"Great!" If it was possible, his smile grew. "Shall we, then?" He motioned to the door where students had already started filing out of the classroom for the Great Hall. She nodded, at a little loss for words, and trailed after him between the desks and out the door.
As the two walked amidst the large bustle of students in the hallway—standing closer than usual, given the sheer amount of people around them as loud, hungry chatter bounced off the walls—Mina felt her chest tighten as her hand accidentally brushed against his.
She tried not to think about it, as he didn't seem to notice, but yet again they brushed, and then again—and it felt like she couldn't breathe as he entwined their hands; his warm palm soft against hers.
Mina snuck a glance at him, but he was looking straight ahead—if not with the hint of a smile on his lips. She ignored the buzz in her stomach and took a breath; calming herself. In and out. In...and out. Her hand loosened a little—no longer stiff—and finally adjusted to his gentle hold; feeling a jolt of giddiness just as they reached the Great Hall.
As they stepped to the Hufflepuff table to sit together, Mina laughed at a small joke Charlie muttered into her ear. At that moment, she glanced across the Hall, and her gaze fell onto the Gryffindor table—just to catch a certain raven-haired boy eyeing their entwined hands with an expression she couldn't quite decipher.
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a/n: omg hi it's been forever IM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IVE BEEN SO BUSY W SCHOOL AHHHHH i swear i haven't forgotten about my books and i really really wanna keep updating, i hope u all understand!!!!!! NEXT UPDATE SHOULDNT BE TOO FAR AWAY BUT PLS BE PATIENT LOL BYE -g <33
