𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑 ❪ M. FLINT ❫

XXII

The cool spring breeze brought a slight chill down the girl's spine as she tugged her jacket closer. She trailed behind Penelope and Adrian, immediately leaving the two when Zonko's quickly came into view. The girl let out a small huff when a student bumped into her to get inside, rolling her eyes she pushed the door open. A soft smile forming on her face when the sound of loud laughter filled her ears.

"Oh, no. Gred, you reckon this young lass will ever harm someone?" One of the twins spoke, stopping in front of the h/c girl with a smirk.

"Why, no, Forge." The other one responded, allowing the girl to walk by and trailing behind her.

"Ah, don't let her innocent image fool you." Fred continued, smiling towards his brother. "She's sneaky, quick, and smart. Best not get in her way."

George stood besides her, nodding towards Fred. "Thank you for the tip brother of mine."

"What do you guys want?" The girl laughed, rolling her eyes when the two spoke in sync.

"We want you to tell us how you changed that poor Ravenclaw's hair green." They stated, looking at the girl with hopeful eyes.

"No." She pushed her way between them.

"Come on," Fred continued, picking up a tricking sweet. "Zonko's made it into a treat, but we suspect you didn't even need that."

"Was it by wand?" The other asked. "Or did you feed her a sweet?"

"You've been at this ever since you found out about it. Salazar, I don't even know how. I was a first year and you two were still wetting your beds." The girl groaned out.

The twins shared a glance, dropping on their knees. "Please, tell us, we beg of you."

The h/c girl grew embarrassed, half of the shop stared at the three with strange looks. "Alright, get up, get up." She stuttered, growing red by the second.

The twins dusted their bottoms, leaning forward to hear the girl's response. But the girl simply smirked, whispering a short 'it's a secret' before running out of the shop.

She giggled as the pair groaned aloud, walking out of the shop and bumping into someone causing her to fall on her bum with a pout.

"Rosier, this is not what they mean by falling for someone." Marcus tutted, taking a hold of her arms and bringing her up from the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I believe so." She frowned, rubbing the dirt from her hand. Frow growing deeper at the scab she found.

Marcus watched as she looked at the wound, he then took her hand into his own, silently examining the damage. "Come on, we should get you to Pomfrey."

"I'm fine." She forced a smile, ignoring the burning sensation from her hand.

Raising a brow, Marcus dropped her hand. "We're going, it might get infected." The girl huffed, walking besides him. She silently glanced at him every once in a while, blushing when he would turn and lock eyes with her.

. . . ✿ . . .

"Malfoy has caught the snitch. Slytherin wins!" Jordan's voice called out, causing the yellow and black house to groan out. The Hufflepuff's left their stands with a frown, watching as the opposing team cheered at the victory.

"Well, no injuries." Pomfrey took the medical bag from the girl, smiling fondly. "Go on and celebrate with your housemates, I'll see you around. And please, I don't want to see you pick your scab again." The old witch stated, leaving the girl to stand on her own.

She nervously glanced around, watching as the team walked amongst the cheering crowd. With a soft sigh she trailed behind them towards the castle, a short gasp leaving her lips when she was pulled back.

A glare was sent in Marcus' direction when he laughed at her shocked expression. "I do believe I owe you a trip to the library. I mean you did leave the last celebration early, but I won't hold that against you." He smirked, tugging her towards the library.

"You do know you don't need to do this, right?" She glanced up at him, "You can go celebrate with your teammates."

"Y/n, it's alright." He held the door open, the boy picking up a random book before sitting on an empty table. "I don't mind."

The girl sat silently, opening the large book with a shrug, "If you say so."

The boy took a seat besides her, peering over her shoulder to glance at the open page. "They're strangely beautiful." He whispered, pointing out the image of a Thestral.

"Says here, they are only seen by people who have seen death." The h/c girl read aloud, shifting her gaze towards the boy besides her. "Have you seen death?"

Taken by surprise Marcus furrowed his brows, shaking his head lightly. "No, I haven't. I hope you haven't either."

Y/n offered him a small smile, "No, I haven't." He stared at her for a moment, eyes taking in her features from the closeness they found themselves in. "I don't think I ever do." She whispered, blushing as his eyes lingered on her lips longer than she had expected.

Bashfully, the boy cleared his throat, leaning back in his seat. "I-I suppose it's something no one should ever go through." He watched as she agreed with him, flipping through the book silently.

"Pomfrey managed to find a potion, cure if you will, for the people who have been petrified." The girl blurted aloud, pausing her browsing; subconsciously stopping on the infamous Basilisk.

"That sounds great." Marcus tutted, a loud groan coming from the male. "Colin will be back with his new camera, won't he?"

"Yes," she giggled. "But it won't be anytime soon. The potion takes almost a month, if anything he's lucky, he'd be missing his end of year terms. Makes me want to be petrified." She sighed, suddenly remembering about the NEWT's she would take some time soon.

"Oi," Marcus nudged her. "Please don't even joke about that."

"Sorry." Y/n muttered, closing the book shut. Her eyes scanned the library, watching as madam Pince began to kick some students out. "Let's go." She took Marcus' hand, leading him towards the common room.