Paranoia (Alastor Moody)

Chapter 2

Alastor and Natalie became quick friends while aboard the Hogwarts Express, only growing closer as they became sorted into Hufflepuff together, and went on many an adventure in each other's company.

Natalie was always ready for exploration, eager to get into trouble, it seemed. However, she always found time in between her shenanigans to do a bit of learning. She was the first to raise her hand in Defense Against the Dark Arts, of course, but was always closely followed by Alastor.

Alastor was a bit of a loner in school, but was a completely different person when it came to being around Natalie. He was a happy boy whose personality was sprinkled with sarcasm, but he refused to say much to others besides her. He was just as eager for adventure as Natalie was, and the two found themselves trekking through the Forbidden Forest on multiple accounts.

It was on one of these trips into the wood that Alastor's feelings changed.

They were in their third year, and they decided to take another stroll on the grounds and into the forest. It was mid-January, and snow was thick upon the ground. The two teens bundled up in sweaters, coats, and scarves, and made their way to their favorite grove within the wood.

In this time, there was only a small group of centaurs living in the forest, and they didn't have any qualms against Hogwarts inhabitants roaming through their grounds -- in fact, they rather enjoyed the company of Alastor and Natalie, for they had fun swapping tales with one another.

On this January day, however, the two students did not run into their four-legged friends. In fact, they were quite alone in their little grove. The ground was covered with snow up to their kneecaps, which gave Natalie a wonderful idea.

She sneakily picked up a handful of the white powder, packed into a tight ball, and chucked it at Alastor's face. She gave a mischievous giggle as he whipped his head to face her, snow dripping off his chin.

"Nat, what the heck?"

She giggled once more, scooping another handful of snow into her gloved hands, and lobbed it in his direction.

This started an all-out war between the two, which lasted a good half hour. They finally collapsed into the snow, laughing up a storm.

Alastor turned to look at Natalie, to find it wasn't his best friend he was staring at, but a beautiful girl. He studied her face-- saw how her eyes lit up as she laughed, how her nose crinkled up, how her laugh somehow sounded like a song. Her blonde hair was stuck together with snow and ice, and yet she still looked beautiful. It struck him as odd that he had never seen Natalie like this before-- how had he not seen it?

Then she turned to him, noticing his crackling laughter didn't fill the air anymore. He was staring at her very seriously, as if he was in some sort of trance.

"Al, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

He snapped out of it, and smiled. "Yeah," he said quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just--- you must be very cold. Why don't we go inside and warm up a bit-- maybe get some tea or cocoa from the kitchens?"

Natalie nodded, and decided to leave it alone.

They walked back into the castle and grabbed a tray of cocoa to take back to the common room. They sat by the fireplace until it was time for bed, then parted ways for the night.

Alastor, however, did not go to sleep for many hours, as he was still imagining Natalie's smile in his mind.