Spellbind

24. Enumerate: 1. The Day Of Task One

"The position of Mars with relation to Saturn."

—Divination Professor Trelawney

A/N:

*=*=*=*=* = Next Scene

While a brand-new war began

One that no one else could feel

Our nights have grown so long

Now we beg for sound advice

Mars— Atlas 1; Sleeping At Last

Niyla POV:

Classes were set to end around noon, leaving no time to prepare mentally. Even though having had weeks to do so. Double Herbology was ridiculously cut to only thirty minutes, rather than an hour and a half. Professor Sprout settled on having the lesson be a stretched and detailed rant of facts about Dittany. She generously gave Harry and me a few leaves from the plant but with a tense look in her eyes, while wishing us luck on our first task.

Harry and I chatted in lowered voices, away from the cluster of students struggling to keep their attention on Sprout. She looked in our direction several times but allowed us to talk at length.

"What if we're too far from the castle? Will the summoning charm work from that far?" Harry wondered; staring almost unblinkingly at the high potting table in front of us.

Harry got the idea that he might succeed in dealing with the dragons if he was in the air. Since he was very skilled at flying. If it weren't for my slight fear of heights. I would be tempted to borrow the concept. I pursed my lips a little, in thought. Thinking of the distance from the castle to a clearing in the Forbidden Forest, on the other side of the Black Lake.

"Maybe we should have hidden your Firebolt somewhere close to the site," I leaned toward him and whispered.

"I think we cheated enough," he muttered back.

"Oh how righteous you are, Harry," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"Don't you think we ought to have made sure your idea works and not be burnt alive—" I stopped talking when another student walked too close.

"And you?" Harry asked when we were in the clear. "Don't tell me you focused all of your free time trying to figure out what those jinxes do. What's your plan?"

I shrugged, then sighed. Pretending for a moment to be invested in the leaves of a few Bouncing Bulbs poking up from the dirt. I stood closely next to the potting table, Harry still inches from me as we talked.

"I might just take your idea if it works. What's the incantation of that summoning charm?" I looked at Harry, grinning with humor.

"That's not fair," he complained lightly. "You already got to show off with your new Krum-bolt. Flying is my thing."

I grimaced, trying not to smile. From across the yellow-tinted air of the greenhouse, Draco glanced in my direction in that instant. The room was warm, but looking into his eyes, it was somehow warmer. Only he was capable of making me forget my nervousness, only he could wither all my unfavorable emotions. We are simply platonic, yet I find myself so much in love with him. He is dear to me.

Though we came to trust in each other quite quickly and I had longer acquaintances, it feels strange to think that it took so long for us to become as close as we are now. That's not to say he doesn't sometimes vex me. A single corner of his lip curved upward into a sneer, a smile just barely showing as he turned his head back toward Sprout.