Next to you

Chapter 11

With the approach of Christmas, Hogwarts organized a trip to Hogsmeade for the students. Apparently it was an annual tradition; every year students would go there periodically to shop, to eat sweets or to just have a walk with their friends. Unfortunately for Yetao, an authorization signed by parents was needed to visit the village. Of course it was impossible for him to contact his parents to ask for a firm, and Professor Zhennan couldn't help him since he wasn't his legal guardian. So he just had to give up this opportunity and stay back in the castle.

"I can stay here with you, if you want." Oscar said to him before leaving.

"Absolutely not. Go and have fun with the others. I'll stay here waiting for you to come back." Yetao couldn't accept Oscar's request. Even if he would have loved to spend an entire day together with the boy, it wasn't fair for him.

Oscar offered him a sad smile. "Okay then. I'll see you later. I'll buy you a souvenir." Yetao nodded and saw him off.

The castle was so empty without the hustle and bustle of the students. Yetao decided to spend his day in the library, working on his Ancient Runes paper. He didn't expect to find AK walking around the room once he got there.

As soon as he saw Yetao, AK smiled at him. "How come you didn't go to Hogsmeade today?" Ak asked him.

"No signed authorization." Yetao answered.

"I see. Me too." Yetao went to take a seat to start working on his paper, but AK interrupted him. "Hey, since we are both here alone in the castle, how about you help me? Professor Zhou Shen asked me to take care of the greenhouses today, but they are too big and I don't know if I can do it alone." Yetao hesitated. He wasn't really looking forward to spending the day with AK. The paper was not urgent, but he would rather work on it than be in AK's company. "I can totally understand if you prefer doing something else! After all, it's a task that the Professor assigned only to me. It will take a while, but it's okay." Ak said with a sad smile.

Yetao sighed. "No, it's fine. I will help you." Yetao was sure that AK had used those words to make him feel guilty, but well, he needed help with school stuff. It couldn't be so bad, right?

They went to the greenhouses together. There were seven greenhouses in total. Professor Zhou Shen asked AK to take care of greenhouses three and four, the ones that sixth year students used for their classes. He had left a list in which there were instructions to follow, like plant seeds, change the vase of particular plants or move them to other locations. Yetao and AK divided up the work so that they could finish early.

Even if the initial intention was to be quick, they spent all the morning and half of the afternoon completing the task. Yetao had finished before AK and decided to join him to help.

"Okay, the only thing left is to plant Bubotuber in this vase." AK said, taking the said vase into his hands.

"Alright, I'll go to the Herbology Store to see if I find its seeds there." Yetao offered.

"That is a plant that grows in the Forbidden Forest. Professor doesn't keep seeds there."

Yetao was perplexed. "Wait, do you mean that the Professor wants you to pick the plant in the Forbidden Forest?"

AK shrugged. "That's what the list says."

"But it's dangerous."

"I know, but I need to complete the task he assigned me." AK answered with a frown. "If you don't want to come, I totally understand you. I'll go alone."

Here we go again. "No, I'll come, too. Two is better than one." Yetao sighed. He didn't want to feel responsible if something happened to AK. At least in two they could have watched each other's back.