An Opposite is a Perfect Match (MC x Garreth Weasley)

Extra Assignments

Garreth huffed as he pushed another branch out of his face, stumbling behind Rosaline as they followed a nearly invisible trail just on the edge of a lakeside forest. "So," he said as he caught up with her, "Why do you have these extra assignments again?"

Rosaline huffed and rolled her eyes, ducking gracefully under a low hanging willow branch. She heard Garreth tangle with it a few moments later, and Rosaline smiled to herself, keeping her giggles suppressed. "As much as I adore Beauxbatons, and it truly is a fine institution," Rosaline stressed, just avoiding shaking her finger at the boy, "It is true that the curriculum is not as... rigorous as at Hogwarts. Much of the more specific subjects are left for secondary education, when students pursue more specialized schooling." Rosaline sighed and shrugged, "Here, there is twice the amount to learn in less time. I'm...behind."

Rosaline's voice had dropped to a whisper as she finished her speech, heart rate spiking as she realized she had spilled her biggest unaddressed secret to a boy she was barely friends with. She bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes shut. Her biggest fear when she had been told she'd be transferring schools was that her lax-in-comparison education would be obvious to her peers at her new school. Her grandfather, grandmother, and mother had worked with her over the summer before term slowly closing the gaps in her schooling. However, busy schedules and a sheer lack of time had left more than Rosaline had hoped, and she had been completely unable to begin learning to fly. Seeing the remedial flying class schedule scratched into her schedule had her curled in a tight ball at the back of her closet as she prepared to present it to her mother.

Her mother had been perfectly pleasant, but a lingering sadness and disappointment shone in her eyes, coated her words as she patted her daughter's shoulder and said it was "perfectly alright" in a perfectly unattached tone.

Her grandfather had petted her head, a bright, genuine smile and reassurance on his lips, heary laughter as he teased, she would be "the next quidditch star" in no time before inviting her into his potions lab.

Her grandmother cupped Rosaline's face and rubbed the height of her cheek with smooth thumbs, a soft smile on her lips, pure reassurance in her eyes. "You are wonderful," Rosaline's grandmother said, "Just as you are." Her grandmother sat back in her chair, a white knitted blanket over her knees, she held her hand as the older woman rocked in the sun.

A hand landed on her shoulder, firm, yet gentle, a comforting weight on her skin. Rosaline looked up and found Garreth looking down at her, an uncharacteristically serious shadow looming in his eyes. His brow was furrowed, lips turned down in an unfamiliar frown.

"You are not behind," he stated, tone firm, intent finite, Rosaline opened her mouth to try and argue, but found she couldn't with the way his gaze bore through her. She could be persuaded he somehow knew everything about her with the surety of it. "You are learning the most difficult bits of subjects without the supplementary lessons on top of your regular classes and assignments." Garreth shrugged then, "That's not behind. That's brilliant."

There was silence as Garreth started down at Rosaline, who stared up at him, mouth open in shock, usually pale cheeks darkening to pink with blush that flooded up to the tips of her ears. His hand slid down her Slytherin green blazer sleeve and took her own, fingers wrapping around her palm and squeezing.

A startled flock of Jobberknolls deeper in the forest suddenly spooked, a rocketed out of the canopy, the snapping of branches and frightened squawks pulled the couple from their staring, and Garreth dropped Rosaline's hand.

"Well," he cleared his throat, "Shall we see if we can spot any Ashwinder eggs?" Garreth, motioned her towards the trail, and she nodded her agreement ducking under a branch to, once again, lead the way along the edge of the forest, peering into the shadows of leaves and rocks for any glimpse of blazing orange shell, her singular focus only just chasing the image of brilliant emerald eyes from her mind.