enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 3: Gold Stars, Silver Eyes

Felicity's POV

The carriage ride back to Hogwarts was quiet. Seamus, Dean, and Nev tried making conversation, but after a few minutes of one word responses from Hermione, Ron, and I, they gave up.

When we arrived back at the castle, the three of us instantly rushed into the Common Room, but Harry wasn't there. Ron sighed. "He's probably in our dorm," he said. Hermione and I nodded, branching left to our rooms with one last shared sympathetic look with Ron.

I finally gave up on my book after ten minutes of having to re-read the same paragraph out of a lack of concentration. "I'm gonna go to the library," I told Hermione, who was too caught up in her own book to do anything more than nod absentmindedly.

I exited our dorm room and made my way to the library, pausing to stop and talk to some portraits along the way. I finally reached my destination and smiled happily at the sight of the shelves filled with books from the ground to the ceiling. I grabbed a book about werewolves and sat down at the closest table.

I got approximately 7 pages into my book before I heard a small, muffled boom. My eyes widened and I drew my wand, though I only had to lean back in my chair to see the source of disruption.

Somehow, what I found didn't surprise me.

Seamus sat on the floor in the very middle of a ring of ash and soot, looking frazzled. I sighed, lowering my wand. "Merlin's beard, Seamus," I muttered, coughing from what was undoubtedly another failed spell of his. "What the bloody hell were you doing?" He answered only with an embarrassed, "Oops...?" I shook my head, exasperated. "One day," I said, "you're going to blow up this whole damn castle."

The young Irish wizard ran a hand through his short hair in frustration. "I just- I can't get this spell!" I gave him a sympathetic look, "But can you get any spell?"

He looked a little hurt so I quickly spoke again. "I'm sorry, that was rude," I added hastily, "I can help you with this, if you want." His face brightened instantly and he nodded. "Thank you," he said gratefully.

"Okay, so what spell were you attempting whilst exploding the library?" I asked, standing up and using a very handy spell to clean up the area before Madame Pince noticed the smoke in the air and ash on the books. I looked over the notes and books sprawled over the floor in search for a spell that could explode like this one did.

"This one," he responded, pointing to a familiar spell. "But we did this one last week in Flitwick's class," I said, confused. His eyes widened and he looked down at the page. "Oh, I, uh, must've been asleep or something," he dismissed, still looking startled. "No," I corrected him, "because you were sitting next to me and wouldn't stop poking me."

Seamus scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, uh, well... could you still help me anyway?" he asked meekly, staring down at the ground. I laughed, causing his head to snap up. "Of course I will, but you really ought to pay more attention in class, Finnigan." Seamus grinned and nodded again, grabbing my hand and pulling me down next to him. He reached for the textbook and positioned it so it was in the front of us.

"Okay, so this one's really easy," I said, doing my best to ignore our close quarters. "The movement is like cracking a whip, if you've ever done that before. Kind of like the flick in Wingardium Leviosa, except with more wrist movement and a little faster." I gave an example, demonstrating the perfect way to use the charm. He followed in suit, but the motion was a little off. "Here-" I began, dropping my wand to adjust his hand. I placed mine over his and practiced the move until I was sure he got it.

"Good. I'll do it while you watch, then you can give it a go," I instructed. He nodded, his face a little pink for some reason. I glanced worriedly at him out of the corner of my eye but focused on the book on werewolves that was still visible from where I had left on the table.