Seeker of my Heart

3. Defense Against the Dark Arts

Yoongi looked up at the annoying chirper Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, waiting for the punch line. This was a joke, wasn't it? As it seemed like everyone else was pulling their books to their chest, gripping their wands in annoyance but still complying with the Professor's order, Yoongi remained in his seat.

First he was not moving to meet someone else, they could come to him. Second, he did not just hear that name tied to his own coming out of the Professor's smug mouth?

Yoongi froze in frustrated disbelief as the seat next to him was filled and the disgusting scent of cinnamon and nutmeg overwhelmed him. He crinkled his nose and narrowed his cold gaze on the man in front of him. Yoongi couldn't be sure but he swore Professor Finnegan was watching him specifically, waiting for a response.

Yoongi managed through years of practice to keep his mouth shut if for no other reason than he didn't want to give the Professor what he wanted. And he really didn't want to show the Gryffindor who tried to kill him that he was at all perturbed by her presence next to him.

"Very good," Professor Finnegan said a moment later when the noise of everyone moving died down and it seemed like the whole class had relocated to new seats. "You are not required to sit in the exact seats you occupy now but you are required to sit next to your current partner for the remainder of the year."

"What is the meaning of this?" Yoongi demanded, his soft tones unyielding as they slithered from him in cold, furious waves. He saw as the girl winced and ducked away from him but he was too irate to care.

"What is the meaning of what, Min?" Professor Finnegan asked, his tone cool and a slight smile on his face. Yoongi watched him in disapproval, trying to convince himself that this wasn't a personal attack from another Gryffindor who hated him simply for being from a different house.

Yoongi could see the stubborn line of his shoulders and part of him knew that he wasn't likely to get his way. Professor Finnegan could come off as goofy or a bit of an idiot at times, but Yoongi knew from personal experience that the Professor was unreasonably stubborn. Still, Yoongi had never butted heads with the Professor openly and he was willing to try his luck, anything was better than having someone who already tried to kill him as his partner.

"Give me a different partner." Yoongi hissed between his clenched teeth, as his fingers gripped convulsively around the wand on the desk in front of him. Professor Finnegan's eyes narrowed as the girl next to Yoongi put her head down and he could hear her sigh of embarrassment, but he didn't care. He refused to entertain this idea.

"No," Professor Finnegan scoffed and moved on, smirking openly as the frown on Yoongi's face only grew. "You were partnered up based on my assessment of your unique abilities and talents and how they will compliment your partner the most. Now, if there are no further ridiculous requests from students who like to forget their place, can we begin?" He asked sarcastically, making Yoongi nearly snap as the other students laughed nervously.

To make matters worse, and test Yoongi's resolve, Professor Finnegan clasped his hands behind his back and waited an entire five minutes for another person to raise their hand and complain. In that time Yoongi imagined all of the ways he would torture the Professor if such things weren't illegal. It helped calm him down a little as the time moved slowly forward.

It wasn't ideal but Yoongi would make it work, after all the girl shriveled into a quiet, annoyed mass of nerves whenever he ignored her. Now he would just be forced to do it more often, much to his chagrin.

"Good," Professor Finnegan finally began as he bounced slightly forward on the balls of his feet and swept his gaze over the class. "As there are very few spells left to actually teach you at this point, we will be working on practical application more than theory. As I am aware that most, but not all of you, want to be Auror's when you leave school, a great deal of what we will focus on in class is dueling. The other fourth of our remaining time will be geared toward the handling of dangerous creatures. Even on those days, you will be working with your partner."