Seeker of my Heart

9. Lapifors

Yoongi ground his teeth together in annoyance as he prepared to enter his Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He'd avoided Shaw for nearly a week now, even ignoring her pathetic attempts to pull him into trouble during their shared classes. He couldn't get the image of her crying face out of his mind but he refused to soften towards her.

This was the first time they had a doubles class together since and he was more determined than ever to keep her from talking to him. He'd growl, sputter, spit and curse until she stopped talking altogether. At this point he didn't even care what it took. There were only a few more months left before he would be rid of her and Professor Finnegan for good.

Shaw was already sitting at their desk when Yoongi walked in. Her back was slumped forward and she was absently twisting her wand on the surface before her. They weren't assigned seats just as the Professor promised but Shaw always sat at the table Yoongi had preferred for the last six and a half years.

Yoongi walked over and plopped his messenger back on the table between them, creating a virtual wall as he pulled his assigned scroll out and proceeded to ignore her. Professor Finnegan was going over the more refined points of battling a vampire and had required all of them to write a two scroll response to his question of the best techniques to do so. Yoongi had done the work with a distracted mind. It wasn't difficult but he couldn't really recall what he'd said in his essay after he turned it in.

Shaw said nothing to him or the Professor for the first half of the lesson. She wasn't taking notes and she barely lifted her head from the constant spinning of her wand on the table. The noise was close to driving Yoongi crazy but he refused to do anything about it. Admitting that it annoyed him would also force him to admit that she existed, which was contrary to his mental health.

If she was going to remain quiet and demure for the rest of double Defense Against the Dark Arts, that was fine with Yoongi. She didn't protest his need to take charge as much as the first few days but she still tried to assert her opinions as often as she could. He rolled his eyes as they were finally instructed to stand up and move the tables against the wall. He was the superior dueler between the two of them, it stood to reason that he should lead.

Professor Finnegan moved to the middle of the room and clasped his hands in front of him as he turned slowly, making eye contact with each pair of students. "Today will be slightly different as only two pairs of students will duel at the same time. I will pick the dueling pairs," He said loudly over the suddenly raised voices while he held up his hands to quiet them down.

"I want to see if any of you have taken my advice into account yet." He continued with a slightly clipped tone as his gaze landed decidedly on Yoongi. Professor Finnegan moved on before anyone could respond, pointing to two groups of students in the back corner.

Yoongi crossed his arms over his chest and the four students moved to the center of the room. He was ready for the rest of them to prove that he wasn't the only one who still thought Professor Finnegan's assurance that everyone needed someone was wrong. He stiffened a moment into the duel when he felt her presence settle into the space behind his left arm.

"Yoongi," She began, her voice low and close to his ear.

Yoongi turned his head and glowered at her. For a second Shaw's eyes grew big before she looked down. "Don't bother. We've won every duel up to this point. No sense in changing it now."

"I won't fail this class because you are being a pigheaded jerk." She snapped lightly. Her voice was light but her tone held levels of irritation and slight fear that he couldn't really place.

Yoongi brushed the feeling aside and shrugged his shoulders. "Take better notes. Get better marks on your homework. Study hard for the exams. This can't be everything."