Next to you

Chapter 6

On Saturday morning Oscar was sitting in the Great Hall ready to do his extra homework for the potion class. However he had no idea where to start. He had already had trouble making a single potion in class under the instructions of Professor Ning Jing, let alone making two of them by himself. At least he was happy to have a companion in misfortune, Caelan shared the same fate after all, but when Oscar went to wake him up that morning, Caelan totally ignored him rolling on the other side of the bed.

Oscar sighed. Maybe going to the library to search for some kind of hint was a good starting point. He entered the room, aiming at the potion section. Walking through the corridors, he noticed that the library was practically empty. Well, it was the first weekend at Hogwarts, students were probably hanging out with each other. Arriving at his destination, Oscar saw a long haired boy sitting on a desk near the shelves and looking outside the window. Oscar's heart skipped a beat.

"What are you doing here?"

Yetao jumped on his seat startled and all his objects on the desk went flying hitting the books on the shelves.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Oscar exclaimed, squatting down to reach Yetao's things scattered on the floor.

"It's okay. You caught me off guard, that's all." Oscar went next to him to hand him his pencils and parchments. "Thank you. Sometimes this happens when I... feel unexpected emotions." Yetao said with an embarrassed smile.

He was wearing specs, just as during the potion class. He looks adorable. Oscar didn't absolutely know where that thought originated from and immediately tried to brush it off. "So, what are you doing here on Saturday morning?"

"Nothing much. Just chilling. What about you? I thought you were busy with training." Yetao asked back.

"I was supposed to. Generally on weekend mornings, seniors train juniors simulating matches, but I still have some extra potions homework to do, so today I asked Keyu to cover for me." Oscar hoped to get Keyu to help him make the potions, but he was more needed on the field. Suddenly an idea popped up into his mind. "Hey Taotao, will you help me with my homework?"

Yetao arched an eyebrow. "What's with the nickname?"

"I don't know, I just came up with it. Please, help me with this." Oscar said with pleading eyes.

At first Yetao seemed hesitant to accept, making Oscar anxious, but after a few seconds he sighed. "Sure, why not? What's the task?"

Oscar grinned triumphantly, putting his arm around Yetao's shoulders and leading him in front of the shelves full of potions books.

Yetao helped him choose two kinds of potions who were not so complicated to make but at the same time sophisticated. They went to retrieve the ingredients they needed from Professor Ning Jing's inventory ater asking for the keys and positioned themselves in the Great Hall ready to get to work. Yetao was a skilled and patient teacher. First, he explained to Oscar the process to follow, then he let him work autonomously, stepping in if necessary. In those moments, Yetao patiently explained once again the steps to follow, adding more useful details.

"You make it so easy, Taotao."

Yetao ignored the nickname this time, a sign that he has already accepted it. Maybe he even liked it. "Because it is easy. You just need to do what the reference book says, step by step and cautiously." He said pointing at the instructions written on the paper. "But I kinda understand why you have some difficulties. The reference book we use in class is a bit tricky. Professor Zhennan used another one to teach me. I think that it can help you!"

Oscar raised his eyes from the cauldron in front of him, looking attentively at Yetao who was studying the recipe in the book. "Hey, how about this? Since I'm helping you with your flying lessons, what do you think of helping me with potions?" Oscar suggested with shining eyes. This idea was brilliant. Not only could he improve in the subject he hated so much, but he could also spend time together with Yetao. He liked his company after all. Quite a lot.