"I Think I'm In Love With You ♡"

"Chapter «3»: And now for Simpllumina"

It's the first Saturday of the new school year, and the sun shines bright on the Quidditch field. People mill in the stands, getting ready to watch the tryouts for Slytherin Seeker. Down on the field, the remaining 6 members of the Slytherin team are handing out brooms to the participants and getting out the balls.

It's here that Illumina lays eyes on the prettiest boy he's ever seen.

He takes a seat on the lowest row and scans the field. He's not entirely sure he's allowed to be here, since he's a Hufflepuff, not a Slytherin, but Punz never said anything about other houses not being allowed to spectate. Illumina hopes he won't get kicked out. He wants to know who the new Seeker is going to be so he can study his competition. This year, he's determined to win his house the Quidditch Cup.

A boy that looks to be around 5th year walks out onto the field, and Illumina's mouth falls open under his face mask. He can do nothing but stare like an idiot, taking in an adorably freckled face, framed by luscious golden hair and sporting a pair of bright emerald eyes. The boy is pretty short, maybe 5'8, and is wearing Slytherin robes.

Illumina blinks rapidly as the boy jogs over to Punz. Merlin, how does someone manage to look that pretty? And a Slytherin, nonetheless.

He snaps back into focus as all the people trying out, ranging from 2nd years to 7th years, mount their brooms. Probably a lap around the field, then, to knock out anyone who can't even fly. Illumina can't help but stare at the pretty boy, who's in the middle of the group.

Punz shoots a few red sparks from his wand into the air, and everyone takes off. Within the first few seconds, several people have already crashed. By the time the first contestants reach the finish line, almost half of the people have either fallen off their brooms or crashed into the walls. Among the finishers is the pretty blonde, who looks extremely proud of himself. Illumina finds himself mesmerized by the way the sunlight glints on the boy's hair, making it shine like real gold.

The remaining contestants step up one by one for the second and final part of the tryout. As Punz explains, the person who catches the Snitch the fastest will become Seeker. Momentarily distracted from the blonde, Illumina leans forward and watches intently.

The first couple of people do extremely poorly, either taking more than 5 minutes to catch the Snitch or failing to catch it at all. One Slytherin 3rd year manages to catch it within 3 minutes, but in her excitement, she crashes to the ground. After that, no one gets a better time, until finally, the last contestant steps up. It's the blonde, and Illumina's heart begins to beat faster. Will he be the one to become Seeker?

Punz releases the Snitch, and the boy immediately zooms after it. Despite riding a Shooting Star 7, one of the worst brooms out there, the boy manages to keep a decent speed as he chases after the Snitch. Illumina is surprised when the blonde seems to be able to keep the Snitch in his line of sight, matching its swerves perfectly. As he draws closer to the tiny golden ball, he stretches out his arm and snags it out of the air.

The Slytherin team breaks out into impressed claps as the blonde lands, holding his closed fist triumphantly in the air. Illumina is impressed, too. He's never seen anyone at a tryout catch the Snitch so quickly. Plus, some of those swerves were ones that Illumina didn't learn until a few months into being Seeker.

"1 minute 7 seconds," Punz announces. "Congratulations, Dream, you're our new Seeker!"

The rest of the contestants begin to file out of the field, wearing disappointed expressions. Dream, meanwhile, looks like he's just won a million pounds. He has a quick conversation with Punz and the rest of the team, then picks up his broom and skips towards the castle.

Illumina feels the strange urge to confront him, and before he knows what's happening, he's standing in front of Dream, blocking his path.

"Oh, hello!" Dream says cheerfully, his voice like silk on Illumina's ears. "You're not from Slytherin, are you?"

"Uh..." Illumina says dumbly. He blinks a few times, then mentally slaps himself. Come on, Illumina. Respond!

"No, I'm a Hufflepuff. I, uh, wanted to watch the tryouts."

"Why?" Dream asks.

"I'm the Hufflepuff Seeker. I wanted to, you know, scout out the competition."

Dream giggles, and oh gods why do his giggles have to be so cute? "So I'll be up against you? That's not good."

"Why not?" Illumina refrains from adding, If anything, I should be terrified of you. All you have to do is smile at me and I'd probably crash myself.

"You look like you know what you're doing," Dream says with a shrug. "Plus, you're kinda cute. And cute people are always the most deadly."

Illumina's brain short-circuits. Dream just called me cute, oh gods, he called me cute, what do I do-

"I'm cute?" he blurts out, and immediately wants to smack himself, because that is not at all what he had intended to say.

Dream blushes, and seriously, can this blonde get any more adorable? "Well, yeah," he says. "Do you not want me to call you cute?"

Illumina shakes his head frantically. "No, no, it's fine."

"Oh, okay," Dream says, smiling. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Illumina."

"Nice name. I'm Dream."

"I know," Illumina says. "I mean, I heard Punz say it. I'm not trying to be creepy or anything," he adds. Real smooth, Illumina, great job.

Dream giggles again. "It's fine. Well, I gotta go do some homework, but I'll see you when we play against each other."

"Um, yeah," Illumina says. Before he can stop himself, he blurts out, "Maybe not just when we're competing, though? Like, maybe we can hang out outside of that?" Again, he immediately wants to smack himself for sounding so clingy.

Apparently he has nothing to worry about, though, because Dream smiles cheerfully. "Sure! I'd love hang out with you, Illumina."

Relieved, Illumina smiles back. "Great. Well, I'll see you around?"

Dream nods. "Yeah, see you!" He turns and jogs into the castle.

Illumina remains where he is for a solid 5 minutes, staring after Dream. Once he regains his senses, he begins to make his way back inside as well, although not after glancing around to see if Dream is still here.

As he walks back to his dorm, he wonders how the heck Dream has managed to bewitch him within just a few minutes of conversation. Did someone slip Amortentia into his pumpkin juice this morning? Probably not, but it's certainly a good explanation for why he turned into a stuttering mess in front of Dream.

Illumina has never had a crush before, but this certainly feels like one. Maybe love at first sight is real after all.

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Chapter «1» - √
Chapter «3» / «25» Done

-1194 words~

Bye Potterheads~