Hogwarts Mystery [HP APPLY FIC]

year one, chapter five

Winnie was at her wit's end with Ian.

He was just so insufferable.

Every time she said something, or did something, he'd observe with that stupid look on his face, and then quietly comment on how to develop it to make it even better than she originally suggested.

The worst part was they actually worked well together. Everything he said was helpful, and, and...

Ugh, she couldn't deal with him for a moment longer.

She said as much to Penny when they were walking through the halls after the coursework session one Friday close to the end of the year.

It was warm outside, so the halls were mostly empty, and it was nice just to walk around and chat.

"May I suggest something?" Penny asked innocently. "I'm not sure you're going to like it."

"Go ahead," Winnie shrugged.

"Is it possible you have a crush on him?"

Her instinctual reaction was to burst out laughing. "A crush? On Ian?"

Penny nodded.

"That's an insult, Pen." She turned to face her head on, stopping in the middle of the corridor. "Do you really think my type is egotistical, always-think-they-know-better, and frankly weird? I mean, who acts like that?"

"Winnie—"

"No, I'm not done! It's like, is he stupid? Because he looks like a fool, trying to act all gracious and charming all of the time—"

"Winnie!" Penny hissed.

She broke off from her angry tangent, turning to look in front of her, where Ian Wilczek was standing.

"Oh," she whispered, burning with shame.

"I'm not the only one who knows how to make a fool of themselves in public, you know," he said, almost conversationally, except there was an edge to his words that had never been there before when he spoke to her. "Good day, Winnifred."

"See, who talks like that?" She said weakly, but in reality, she wished she could swallow her words. "How—How long was he standing there?"

"Since egotistical."

"Shit."

"Winnie!"

"What? I'm twelve! I can swear," she scoffed. "I guess I should apologise."

"I'd leave it a little bit," Penny sighed. "Who knows, maybe he's focusing on the nice things you said? I'll ask Billie tomorrow: she's friends with him."

"Thanks, but I doubt it. I really screwed up, didn't I?"

Unbeknownst to Winnie, she didn't screw up as much as she thought.

"So," Billie began, after listening to Ian's recounting of the tale, "she said all that, and all you're taking from it is 'charming and gracious'? You're weirder than me."

Ian laughed. "Well, I thought she was indifferent to me, but now I know I get under her skin. It's very clear she's thought about me extensively to have come to such a detailed conclusion."

"Huh. I hadn't thought about it like that. Won't it be awkward, next Friday, though?"

"I'd prefer to deal with the fallout than be stuck in History of Magic," Ian's joke fell flat at the glaring subject change he had made with it.

Billie noted the conversation shift but didn't point it out. "I'm glad I'm doing Potions with Penny. How difficult would History of Magic be? Let alone how boring."