Next to you

Chapter 2

Oscar was late for class. In his defence, it wasn't his fault. Yesterday night, Caelen insisted on trying this new game in which the loser had to eat Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and they continued playing until four in the morning. In conclusion he got up ten minutes ago and was late for the first potion class of the new semester running with Caelan through school halls with the hope of limiting damages. He knew that Professor Ning Jing wouldn't get angry at them, but she would pester them throughout the whole lesson and they wanted to avoid that humiliation on the very first day.

The two arrived in class 13 minutes after the start of the lesson. Of course, their Gryffindor friends were all seated at their desks and looked at them in amusement while the Professor was facing the chalkboard writing some ingredients for some potion unaware of these two students silently squatting down and moving through the room in search of seats.

Caelan found his seat next to Mika who reserved it for him. Oscar went to look for Zhou Keyu, certain that his friend would reserve a seat for him, but he was disappointed when he noticed that Patrick occupied the seat on Keyu's left. Oscar looked at him with offended eyes and Keyu mouthed a silent "Sorry". Betrayer.

Still squatting down, Oscar looked around to find available seats and noticed that this was a joint class with Slytherins. Slytherins and Griffindors were not the closest friends, but he would let this slip for once, because he found a desk with an empty seat close to a Slytherin boy he had never seen before. The boy with long raven hair was writing attentively on his notebook not noticing what was happening next to him.

Oscar touched his arm to get his attention and the boy turned to face him. He's the prettiest guy I have ever seen. Oscar was a bit taken aback by the appearance of the Slytherin boy, never expecting him to look like... that, but he recovered quickly. His pride was at risk here after all. He whispered hoping that his request would be accepted. "Sorry to bother you, but this is the only empty seat in the whole room. Can I sit here?"

The boy was a bit surprised because he didn't expect that someone would interact voluntarily with him today, evenmore a Gryffindor boy with blue hair and a desperate look. "Ehm... Yeah, go ahead." He whispered back.

Oscar sighed with relief and he sat cautiously placing his books and his cauldron on the desk. Mission accomplished. He didn't even have the time to relax when Professor Ning Jing turned towards the students smiling.

"Well students, do any of you know what potion we can make using the ingredients written on the chalkboard?" She made a pause for dramatic effect while the students tried to look anywhere but at her to avoid the interrogation. Her smile grew bigger. "Maybe our friends Caelan Moriarty and Oscar Wang know what the answer is."

Caelan and Oscar panicked at her words.

"Come on, boys. Did you really think that I wouldn't have noticed you sneaking in class earlier?" The two boys gulped. "Today is the first day of school so I will forgive you, IF you can answer my previous question. Stand up!"

Caelan and Oscar stood up immediately and tried to scan the room in search of suggestions from their Gryffindor schoolmates, but all of them had their heads down on their notebooks not daring to look at them. Cowards. Of course Oscar didn't know the answer. Well, potions was not his specialty. He preferred other subjects; defense against dark arts and Quidditch were his favorite ones, even if the latter couldn't be considered as a school subject. He really wanted to get better at potions, but he knew his limits. Even with Keyu's tutoring, Oscar wasn't improving. Speaking of Keyu, he was totally facing his notebook seeming particularly interested in his handwriting. Betrayer.

"Okay, so you two don't know the answer. Everybody else?" Professor Ning Jing said giving up after minutes of silence. That potion was a subject of last year! She couldn't believe that her students couldn't remember something that they have already studied months ago.

Oscar was questioning if he could sit now that it was obvious that he and Caelan were not the focus of the Professor anymore, when he noticed that the boy sitting next to him stood up.

"Star Grass Salve. Those ingredients are used to make Star Grass Salve." The boy said with a clear voice.

Professor Ning Jing and the rest of the class were now all looking at the boy, the Professor with a pleased gaze, the students with mixing emotions going from irritation to curiosity. Oscar was surprised. He didn't think that this student he had never seen before could answer a question that nobody of his classmates knew the answer to. But he could see from the corner of his eyes that the boy was quite nervous. He was strongly holding his pen with his right hand and the corner of the desk with his left hand. His knees were trembling.

The Professor recovered from her stupor. "Y-yes, that's correct, ehm-"

"Hu Yetao." Answered the boy.

"Right. You are the student who was brought here by Professor Zhennan in April last year, aren't you? The one he taught personally."

Yetao nodded firmly.

"Zhennan is quite fond of you. And I can understand why. Welcome to regular classes then, Yetao." She smiled at him.

"Thank you, Professor." Yetao answered with a tiny smile.

Professor Ning Jing nodded satisfied. "Well, you can sit now." She referred to Yetao, Oscar and Caelan who were still standing. Once seated, Oscar observed Yetao who now looked more relaxed. Professor Zhennan brought him here last year? First time I'm hearing this.

"Hope all of you can take a cue from Hu Yetao and refresh what you have studied in these past years. Now let's start the lesson!" Professor said before ordering the students to open their books.

When class ended, Oscar stretched his legs and arms. He needed time to adjust to the rhythm of school after a long summer spent playing around. Before leaving, Professor Ning Jing addressed Oscar and Caelen. "Don't you think I have already forgotten about you two, boys. Before next Monday I want you to make two kinds of potions each. You can choose whatever you want from the ones we studied last year. If you have questions, you know where to find me." She winked and left.

Oscar didn't even start but he was already tired of studying. He sighed and turned to the boy sitting next to him to introduce himself properly, but found that he was already gone. Has he already left?

Confused, he stood up and looked around to search for him, but was immediately surrounded by his friends, who were asking him about that morning's late adventure or about the new boy no one knew about. Well, I'm sure I will see him around.