Always There For You (Harry Potter OC X OC)

30. Toby-

Joel skipped herbology. 30 minutes. He had been waiting outside for 30 minutes on a bench, waiting until charms class ended. His stomach felt achy all around in sommersaults. Every minute passed, he contemplated to give up.

He replayed scenarios in his head, every single possibility of what he had to say. But when the door opened and people started clamouring out of the classroom, all those words just vanished.

He stood, nearing the doorway. People glanced for a second, disinterested that he wasn't someone they usually talk to. And there she was.

'Lizzy, I wanna--' he halted right when Lizzy jumped on Toby's back, laughing.

It was too late to back out now, Lizzy saw him. She gave him an infamous default smile. 'Joel! What are you doing here?' she asked, sliding down his back. At least she wasn't snogging the boy, Joel would have a heart attack.

Toby stoppes beside her, looking between her and Joel. Of course, Toby knew Joel already. They shared the same house. 'Hey Joel Lisbon,' he said, unsurely.

'Uh... yeah... hi,' Joel said awkwardly. His attention was fully on Lizzy in seconds. 'Hey, Liz, need to talk to you.'

'Okay,' Lizsy said. She glanced at Toby and told him that she'd see him in their next class.

Toby held a stare, back and forth between Lizzy and Joel before he left with the crowd. Just until he was far enough, he stopped staring.

'Must be important,' she looked up at Joel. 'What is it?'

Never notice her eyes are so brown... Joel thought. He was diving into her wide pupil, getting himself lost in the dark. The feeling was lonely, like he was deep under the sea, yet it was swarming cold into his stomach like a frenzied butterflies.

'Joel? Hello? What do you want to tell me?' Lizzy asked, pulling Joel back into reality.

He shook his head, shaking it off. People had already left, except for Professor Flitwick in the classroom. Everything was quiet in the hallway and he could hear the sound of his own heartbeat, powered by the girl looking back at him. 'Are you going to transfiguration?' Joel asked, far away from what he intended.

'Y-yeah, just about to. You?'

'Runes.'

'Oh, cool.'

'C-can we talk in the courtyard or something?'

'Sure, we still have about 15 minutes of free time, let's go,' Lizzy said with all the smile she always had.

They walked to the opposite direction of Lizzy's peers. Joel didn't understand this feeling. Talking to her used to be easy. He would blabber just about anything. But now, he saw her like all the girls in Hogwarts. Which meant that he had difficulties in coming up a topic. His tongue felt dry. It scared him to think that she would judge him. What changed?

'You're a bit muscly now,' Lizzy said.

'Really?' Joel rracted quickly and looked down at himself, checking his arms. That made himself self-conscious, noticing she looked at him.

'Yeah, don't worry, you look fit.'

Joel smiled, finally. 'Thanks... maybe it's from training. My quidditch team has been gruelling me for two weeks straight, and we have group training and practices every Friday.'

'Wait---you're in quidditch team?' Lizzy said in surprising amazement. 'I thought--wait--'

Joel laughed. 'Yup! Terry got me in! Crazy, isn't it?'

'Oh my god! I'm so happy for you, Joel!' she said merrily, jumping on her heels. 'That's what you always wanted since you got into Hogwarts! You can't shut up about it, and now you're in!'