Rowaelin Hogwarts AU (Throne of Glass)

Hogwarts AU (Part 17)

There were four questions left on charms, all long response. Aelin's eyes only skittered across them before she yawned, dropped her pencil, and buried her face into the crook of her arm. Student's gulps plus her own breaths filled her haven and warmed her face. She lifted her head so her nose cradled in her elbow's crook; if not scribbling, their pencils shuddered centimeters above the printed margins. 

Each minute grated across her skin until the dull ache of boredom became agony. 

"EXAMS ARE OVER. PUT YOUR PENCILS DOWN IMMEDIATELY." Since first year, no matter what classroom she was in she had heard that voice. The castles' thick stone walls did little to muffle it. 

The wave of clatters drowned the "finally" she breathed. By the time they were dismissed Aelin was already through the exit.

Every step more blood circulated, her headache faded with the yawn leftover in her lungs. She squinted and teetered on her toes to see above the student herd. Even so, at the front of the hall, the grandfather clock's hands blended into its face. 

Beneath her line of sight, someone swore. From the sea of black, brown, and blonde, wine red hair bobbed to the surface and surged forward, heads jerked and collided in its wake. 

Aelin's eyes went from squinted to wide. She launched off the wall into a student and darted around the corner and down the hall. Because it was empty, she crossed half of it in ten seconds. 

Then the canals opened. Students flooded, roaring towards her. She squeezed through a pair only to slam into a screeching first year who would've fallen if there had been room. Aelin filled their space, the point the mob thinned to stragglers was in sight. There she could break free. Down the right passage was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, there one of the stalls still had a working latch.

 A hand closed above her right elbow and tugged.  She froze. Then yanked away. The hand clutched to her and pulled her left, forcing her into a spin when she was knocked from behind into the hand's body. Her nose rammed into a hard chest. Though the tears seeping into her eyes balmed their stinging, it didn't help the blood pooling in her nostril. As she swiped the back of her hand across her nose- there was no blood- she stepped back. Her heel brushed a student, any space around her had been packed. She brought her foot back to its twin. 

Her eyes were clearing, the man's tie-less white shirt filled her vision. All she could notice was how it clung to his sweat glazed skin.  She craned her neck up. 

Fenrys cocked his head down at her, hair slipped from his ears, "Why are you running?" 

"I wasn't running." 

The corner of his lips rose with his eyebrows as he aligned his head and shoulders,  "That eager to study? No wonder we haven't seen each other since our date."

His eyes picked at her. The hand on her arm had loosened but still held as if afraid she would be swept into the students.

Aelin opened her mouth. Breathed. Then shut it.

The last students flowed past but his grip remained,  "Yeah..." 

She was spared by a yelp from behind the corner. Before Aelin could peer past Fenrys, there was another, louder yelp. 

Aelin sucked in her swear in favor of monitoring for more warnings. When she stumbled back and twisted her shoulder to rip away from Fenrys, his grip tightened. Aelin's eyes snapped to his. Before they could meet, he had released. Over Fenrys' shoulder, a pale freckled hand slipped through two third year's arms. It wrapped around one and dragged him behind. Ansel squeezed through and smirked. Her hair stuck out with static electricity, the stray hairs like the trails of embers sparking from her.