fall into me | t. scamander

homework buddies

"You... and Theseus Scamander?" Kevin's eyes almost rolled to the back of his head, "you mean— you mean the prefect?"

Mei nodded absentmindedly as she shoved more cereal down her throat. She really wished she could try and get out of that arrangement. The more she thought about, the more horrible it seemed to be.

"But—how—how did that happen?" Kevin's stammer was filled with surprise and Mei sighed, turning to him with barely concealed panic, "we kind of met by accident and because he found something of mine he now wants a favour from me."

"A favour," he echoed as though in a daze, "the school's golden boy is asking you for a favour."

Mei snorted then, "he is far from a golden boy."

"Well he's brilliant. Aces his tests, always helpful to others, takes his prefect duties seriously. Not to forget that he's charming," Kevin leaned his elbow atop the table, "you agreed, didn't you?"

"I had no choice," Mei snapped.

"No choice for what?"

The pair turned to see a raven-haired girl sitting on the opposite side of the table, a toast halfway to her lips as her maroon eyes surveyed them with such rapt attention it reminded Mei of a reptile. The kind that wouldn't let its prey get away.

"Uhm—nothing," flustered, the Asian girl tried to change the subject, "I'm Mei, and you are?"

"Raina," the girl flicked her glossy black mane over her shoulder, "you're the newbie. I've heard a lot about you already. Which year are you in?"

"I'm on my last," Mei hoped that whatever rumors she'd heard weren't as bad as she was thinking, "and you?"

"Same," she nodded at Kevin before exchanging names and greetings, and Mei was glad the conversation was successfully steered away without mishaps. They spoke with Raina for a little while and learnt that she was actually from India and had come here in hopes of becoming an Auror for the British Ministry of Magic.

"Why an auror?" Kevin asked curiously, peeking over at the dark beauty over his mug of hot tea.

"I like using my powers for something useful like that," she lifted a shoulder into a one-arm shrug, "and my father was an auror. Seems like a pretty interesting career."

Raina was a Ravenclaw; intelligent, captivating, and sometimes in her own world. But Mei found she quite liked this quirkiness to her character. That was how they became friends and hung out whenever they had some time to spare. Maybe it was the fact that Raina didn't come from England and maybe it was the fact that this girl had given up her education to come all the way to Hogwarts, but in her Mei found the kind of comfort; that she wasn't alone in this big wide world of wizards. Raina and Kevin anchored her, made her feel— if just a little— closer to home.

The day after that found Mei in the student library, flicking through her Study of Ancient Runes book as she waited for a particular prefect to show up. It was barely seven in the morning, meaning that the library was particularly deserted at this time of day, perfect for the two of them to work without having to deal with useless chatter about the nature of their relationship.

Not that Mei cared. Right?

She had other things — more important than a stupidly charming prefect — to worry about.

"Morning."

A voice, raspy and still thick with sleep, jolted her out of her daze. Mei blinked and looked up at Theseus, whose hair was still disheveled and clothes rumpled. He looked like he literally just tumbled out of bed.