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────────────── 'COLOGNE' ──────────────
♡
The next morning, Mina was walking through a hallway to breakfast when a hand suddenly met her bicep and pulled her into an empty classroom.
She let out a small sound of surprise, and made to protest, but stopped when she saw the hand belonged to Harry. The classroom was lit by the white morning light, and as he shut the door behind her, the noise from students in the halls was drowned out. Excitement radiated from him as he spoke quickly.
"Sorry, okay, so, I'm gonna ask Heather out today, and basically I bought this new cologne the other day but I don't know if it smells any good because I've smelt it so many times that it's the only thing I can smell right now—I've said the word smell so many times—so, how do I smell?" he said in a blur of words.
"What—?" before Mina could comprehend anything, Harry leaned forward, his head going over her shoulder, and angled his exposed neck toward her.
Heat rose to Mina's cheeks instantly; both at his sudden proximity like the previous afternoon and the way the subtle scent of his cologne met her nose. He pulled away.
"Well?"
"Uh—" she cleared her throat. "Good. Great."
"Okay, cool," he nodded vigorously with way too much energy for 7am. Her head finally caught up on what he'd said.
"...You're asking her out already?" Mina asked, hating the way her heart tugged painfully as the words left her mouth. "I thought you were gonna take things slow?"
"I heard some other guys talking about her last night in the common room," he said. "I reckon it's about time I make a move before someone else asks her...I was gonna find her before breakfast. Does my hair look bad? I feel like it looks bad."
She never knew him to be so self-conscious. "No, no, it looks good," Mina said, and in an effort to calm down his flustered nature, added with a reassuring smile, "you've got this. Okay?"
"I've got this," he repeated, taking in a long breath to inwardly prepare himself, before patting her shoulder as he made for the door. "I better go—thanks, Mins," Harry said quickly, and left before she could correct him; swallowing down the jealousy growing in the form of a lump in her throat.
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"Why the long face?" Ella asked her, looking up from the Daily Prophet in her hands to Mina, who slumped down beside her at the Hufflepuff table, opposite Josiah.
