Love and Other Unforgivable Curses [BTS FF]

Chapter 7

[A/N: OOPS I did it again.]

On Monday Hoseok was on his way to the Room of Requirement for breakfast when he bumped into that Ravenclaw girl again. This time, literally.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, her book tumbling to floor and spewing countless hand-written notes into the hallway.

"Oh, sorry!!" Hoseok eyed a ledge and dropped his food load on it so he could free his hands to help. "I couldn't see around my breakfast haul." She glared up at him for an instant before recognition flashed in her astute hazel eyes. She brushed a handful of frizzy, chocolate brown waves out of her face and stood up.

"Oh, it's Hoseok, right? I think we have classes together."

"Y-yeah, we do!" Hoseok managed, handing her a pile of disheveled notes apologetically.

"What are you doing with all that food anyway? You realize the tables are endless right? ....And that we're only supposed to eat in the Great Hall." Clara reasoned.

"Oh yes, it-uh, it must look weird. I guess you're always so focused on class you haven't noticed."

"Noticed what?" She retorted, almost a little indignant at the idea that she missed something.

"....That I don't have friends in Hufflepuff. Well, I have one but he's not in class with me and the other Hufflepuffs aren't fond of him either."

Clara squinted her eyes a moment as if to bring the memory back into focus.

"Oh...yeah, I guess I've seen you in class with that Ravenclaw, Namjoon. Are you getting bullied by Hufflepuffs? Aren't they supposed to be the nice ones?"

"Less accepting than you'd think," Hoseok laughed a little sadly.

"Huh. Why don't you just sit with Namjoon and the Ravenclaws then?" She asked, absentmindedly reorganizing her papers.

Hoseok tilted his head a bit. "You...really don't look around much, do you?"

Her hands halted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"....that the Ravenclaws also hate Namjoon."

Clara's head whipped up to reveal a candid state of surprise. "No kidding? I mean Ravenclaw often turns into a bit of an intellectual hierarchy ostracizing the lower-ranking students in the house, but I didn't think anyone cared what friends the others had. Yikes. With his grades he should be top-tier, but I guess that's why everyone stopped talking to me too."

"What?" Hoseok fumbles, unable to follow her thought process, let alone speaking speed.

"I study with him sometimes. We partnered up on this advanced rune decoding project. I guess it has been a couple weeks since anyone said hello to me. They haven't bothered me at all though, so that's probably why I didn't notice."

Hoseok rocked back on his heels, a little disheartened. Without even knowing it, this girl was being bullied for association. Not pausing a moment he blurted, "You can eat with us if you want."

She blinked for a second, considering. "Hmm. Well that's alright for today, I need to study anyways so the lack of social interaction isn't much of a bother. Don't worry about me. See you later!" With this she shrugged and trotted away, brown mane swishing in the distance. Hoseok felt a slight burning in his chest. Then he remembered to breathe and carried on.

Hoseok found himself harkening back to her eyes in the several periods that followed. In Herbology, the rich soil and deep greens all seemed like the perfect backdrop for her amber color-shifting eyes as he found his gaze drifting to her any time he lost focus. Her thick, chocolate brown hair waved with a voluminous passion that was impossible to ignore in Charms. Sure enough, she answered every question right in each class, and he swore he caught her doodling in Runes.