Harry Potter One Shots

It Started With A Sneeze

- Tamara -

"Achoo!"
It all started with a sneeze. Tamara Wilkins was slumped at her desk in History of Magic, her head resting uncomfortably on the hard wood when she heard the very distinct sound of Jacob Miles expelling air and other particles from his nostrils. Miles had a certain way of sneezing - a cross between a baby with hay fever and a foghorn - and Tamara recognised the sound at once. She turned around and glared at him, on behalf of her fellow classmates. She expected most of them had been asleep, and now Miles had gone and woken everyone up. Even Professor Binns had paused in his lecture on an outbreak of Werewolf attacks in Cornwell in 1763 to stare disapprovingly at the boy, who was now rubbing his nose and reaching into his bag for a tissue.
"What?" Miles hissed, after blowing his nose extremely loudly, earning a few stifled giggles from the corner where Samantha Hill and Jade Trentworth sat. He cocked an eyebrow at Tamara, who realised too late that in her sleepy state she had been staring absentmindedly at him for the past five minutes. Binns hadn't even noticed her not facing the front.
"You're disgusting," Tamara said, her usual response to anything Jacob Miles said or did.
He shrugged and pulled another tissue from his bag. Shaking her head and wincing as he blew his nose so loudly she swore the classroom shook, Tamara faced Professor Binns again, who had filled the board with extremely wobbly and sloped handwriting. She wondered how he had managed to write so much in such a short space of time, considering the way his transparent hand travelled at a tortoise's pace while gripping the chalk.
Resigned to contemplating why Hogwarts still used blackboards, and coming up with possible factors that caused Jacob Miles to sneeze so violently, Tamara rested her head back on the desk and closed her eyes.

- Jacob - 

"What was that, Tammy?" Jacob asked, not bothering to keep the offended tone out of his voice.
He stood facing the tall, black girl, towering over her in all his muscular yet gangly glory, his arms crossed over his broad chest.
"What was what, Miles?" Tamara Wilkins replied, fiddling with the clasp of her bag and not meeting his eye.
Jacob frowned and pulled Tamara's hand away from her bag. She scowled at him, but at least she was looking at his face now.
"In there, Tammy, with the "You're disgusting" and the withering look."
"Do you even know what withering means?" Tamara said rudely.
Jacob scratched the back of his neck.
"I read it somewhere once," he muttered.
"Where? All you read is Quidditch magazines," Tamara said, and Jacob was almost certain withering was the right word to describe her tone.
"I read other things too," he said defensively.
"Like what?"
"Like- like books?"
Tamara shifted her bag on her shoulder and rolled her eyes, directly at him, not even trying to hide her disdain.
"What do you want, Miles?"
"You know, we live in the twenty first century, Tammy, people call people by their first names."
"What do you want, Miles?"
Jacob sighed. He looked at Tamara, and his lips curled upwards into an unstoppable smile. She was so beautiful. The way her dark, frizzy hair hung in impossibly tight ringlets just reaching her shoulders, the way the gold necklace with the red stone she wore gleamed against her velvety skin, disappearing beneath her white school shirt. The stone was only visible when she turned to the side and the gap between her buttons gaped open ever so slightly. Jacob tried not to look through it, but he couldn't help it.
"I want you to like me," he said plainly.
Tamara furrowed her brow.
"Like you? Why would I like you?"
Jacob stared at her. How could anyone be so rude? Wait- this was Tamara Wilkins. She wasn't rude, she was assertive and witty, and he loved that about her.
"Because I like you?" He said tentatively.

He was vaguely aware of the people moving around them, making their way to class, and he could feel their eyes on him, sympathising. The hottest jock in the year, confessing his feelings for the girl who never showed any emotion aside from bossiness and rudeness, if those counted as emotions. Jacob didn't think they did. He'd never heard anyone say "I feel rude today".
Tamara rolled her eyes, again, directly at him.
"I don't have time for this, my next class is-"
"Care of Magical Creatures, I know, your favourite."
Tamara looked curiously at him.
"How do you know that?"
Jacob just shrugged. He didn't want to tell her it was because he'd talked to Tamara's best, and only, friend Max Mosley a few weeks ago and learnt as much about Tamara as possible, without being creepy.
"Anyway, I have to go, Miles, uh, bye?" And shaking her head, Tamara strode away.
Jacob didn't understand. All the girls liked him. Except, apparently, the only one he himself liked. His immediate thought was to talk to someone about this, to let his feelings out. Then he remembered that he hadn't told any of his friends about liking Tamara as he knew they'd judge him.
"Yo, Jay," a deep voice called. Theo, Jacob's best friend.
"Yeah, man, what's up?" Jacob took the anticipated high five, his hand briefly clapping against Theo's, who held on for a few seconds and sort of shook it awkwardly. Boys were so weird when it came to affection.
"I was thinkin', d'you want to skip? I mean, Transfiguration is lame, we're doing, like, switching spells or some shit?" Theo laughed and waited expectantly for Jacob's answer.
"Nah, bro, sorry, McGongall will fuck us over, you know that. Anyway, I can't fail my exams this year."
"Oh yeah, your parents said they're gonna take your broom if you don't pass, right?" Theo said with a snigger.
"Yeah, something like that." Jacob's parents had actually said his wand would be confiscated over the summer holidays, which was much worse than losing his broomstick, however much he pretended to love Quidditch, because he turned 17 in a few months and it would be his first chance to do magic outside of school (legally, anyway). But he was surprised Theo had even partially remembered something Jacob had told him, so he didn't correct his friend.
"Ah well, enjoys Trans - haha, that's gay - I guess I'll see you at lunch then."
Jacob raised a hand in a half hearted goodbye and began walking sulkily through the corridors to McGonagall's classroom.
He was such a fucked up piece of shit. The only girl he'd ever liked hated him, his best friend was an absolute dickhead, and he spent midnights studying in secret for exams, knowing his other "friends" and the rest of the year would laugh if they knew he actually revised.
"Fuck my life," he muttered as he entered the classroom.
"Excuse me, Mr Miles," McGonagall said sharply.
"Sorry, Professor," Jacob mumbled as he took a seat at the back.
Jade Trentworth was passing around tiny rabbits, and Jacob took his with a soft smile, which Jade thought was for her. She gave him a wink and sauntered off with the rest of the bunnies.
Suddenly, Jacob's nose started to twitch, and his eyes began to water. It was then that he remembered he was allergic to rabbits.
"Oh, bugger." That was a phrase Jacob hadn't used since he was ten years old and his mother had caught him saying swear words to himself in the back garden, for "practise".
Jacob sniffed loudly, and McGonagall gave him a withering look (which made him think of Tamara) and also a loud sniff. Then he drew in a sharp breath, holding his bunny close to his chest, and-
"Achoo!"

A/N

I know I haven't updated for ages, I'm sorry!! I hope you liked this one. It was basically just me hating on all the boys at my school who are, for lack of a better word, dickheads.

What do you think of me writing with two OC's?

Cate x