Daylight || Harry Potter

Chapter Twenty

Before I knew it, December had come and I was getting through a particularly dreadful essay Snape had set for us. Harry was muttering to himself, trying to write a History of Magic essay without getting distracted by Luke, who was trying to teach Jab how to jump through a hoop he'd made out of pipe cleaners. Where he got the pipe cleaners I had no idea, and he wouldn't say, but it was definitely an interesting sight.

"You know he's not a circus animal," I mused as Luke grumbled at Jab when the Jarvey tried to go around the hoop instead of through it to get the treat Luke was offering.

"I know, but there's nothing else to do," Luke complained. "Brion and Sofia got up early to train today so they won't want to do it now, and —"

"What about Karl?" I asked. Brion had invited Karl to the training room a few times after that first DA meeting, so every now and then I saw the Hufflepuff blowing off some steam on a punching bag in there. A few of the other DA members also came to hang out and train, so even if one of us demigods wasn't there, there was usually someone to train with.

"Homework as well," Luke said.

"Aww, poor Luke. No one but Jab to pay attention to you."

Luke smirked and crawled over to the couch I was sitting on, propping his elbows on the cushion right next to my legs and giving me a big smile. "I'm sure you could give me plenty of attention." His gaze darted down to my lips and back up again.

I don't know why that flustered me so much. My face felt burning hot. I froze, completely tongue-tied, unsure what to do or how to respond. Fortunately, I didn't have to. Just as Luke was about to close the distance between us, Harry cleared his throat and said, "Can you two get a room? If I wanted to see people snogging in front of me while I'm trying to study, I'd go to the library."

I'd completely forgotten he was there. I shoved Luke back, where he landed in a pouty heap next to my books.

"Also," Harry added, "I think someone should be making sure Jab doesn't eat all of his treats." He pointed at Jab, who had found the small bag of treats Luke had been training him with and was currently gorging himself on salmon-flavored chews. Luke swore and dove for the bag, but Jab knew he'd been caught and took off across the common room with the treats.

I buried my nose back in my essay, praying that the burning sensation that had spread from my face to the rest of my body would cool down already. From my peripheral vision I saw Harry rolling his eyes and felt even more embarrassed. I could not believe Luke and I had been about to make out in the open like that, especially right in front of Harry. Gods, that was so humiliating.

Focus on the essay, I told my brain, but all my brain wanted to think about was the possibility of Luke kissing me on the couch, or against the wall, or maybe even —

Shut. Up. I told my brain.

Luckily I was distracted by Ron and Hermione entering the common room, both looking worse for the wear. Ron had bits of tinsel in his hair and Hermione's cheek had glitter on it. They'd spent the afternoon supervising the Christmas decorating with the other Prefects.

"Never again," Ron grumbled. "I'm never going to look at tinsel the same way again."

Hermione sighed in agreement, sifting through her bag for a book and plopping down next to me on the couch. She opened the book and gave me a smile before reading. Then she frowned and looked back up at me. "Ash, are you okay? Your face is all red."

"I'm fine," I squeaked. I cleared my throat and added in a voice that was closer to normal, "Better than Ron, anyway."

Ron whirled around and gave me an offended look. "You try putting up tinsel when Peeves has got the other end and is trying to strangle you with it! I nearly fell off the ladder!"