Paired With The Potterhead

Chapter Fourteen: Dreams and Aspirations

Serendipity - BTS (Jimin)

Chapter Fourteen: Dreams and Aspirations

October turned into November. November quickly turned into December. Before I knew it, Christmas was right around the corner and school was on the verge of releasing us from its hellhole for a whole week and a half. Dallas had been expelled so things weren't looking too bad for when we went back to school after the holidays. I also didn't have to dread going back to school looking like a giant pimple; the swelling on my face had completely gone away and the bruise was gone by the end of November.

My dad's condition changed a bit since I found out he was sick. He didn't eat as much as he used to and Josh brought him to the hospital to get chemo. We weren't sure if it was going to work but we're praying it does. Neither of us were religious yet here we were silently sending prayers up to who knows what way out there.

Nora and I worked some more on the project. It wasn't the best but at least it was something. It was the volcano of science fairs; everyone was probably doing it. We decided to build a scale model of Hogwarts with cardboard and other art stuff that Nora ultimately decided was sturdy material that would hold.

She completely forgot about the glasses incident while having dinner with my brother. I didn't want to bring it up in case it would make things awkward between us again and she didn't look like she was ready to talk about it either. So I didn't say a word.

All while we were working together, every now and then I'd take out my phone and shoot some short videos of her being silly. Sometimes I'd even join her, laughing and pretending we were casting spells. It was childish, really. But she made it look so innocent and carefree. Like there wasn't a single problem in the world.

"Why do you love Harry Potter so much?" I asked her one day when my camera was out. She didn't even know I was filming half the time. I always made it look like I was texting or on tumblr.

She sighed. I knew her well enough by now that whenever she sighed and tied her bushy blonde hair back into a messy ponytail, I was about to get a speech. "I didn't have any friends growing up. Everyone thought I was weird and lived in a dump. So one day I decided to pick up the first book and read it for something to do. It was completely unintentional to grow attached to the boy in the cupboard under the stairs."

She continued after gluing some pieces of cardboard together. "I saw that Harry and I had a lot in common. Minus the family problems, of course. He and I were different from everyone else. We both had a magic inside us that needed to be nurtured and embraced. Not hidden and locked away."

I kept on filming her as she spoke. She was so completely unaware of me filming her that I didn't dare breathe in case she caught on to me.

"Hogwarts is where I feel safe. I'm aware that it's a fictional place but when I'm reading about it, it just feels safe there. It's where I can go to escape this awful world filled with terrible muggles. But it helped me realize that there's always hope in the dark if one remembers to turn on the light."

My camera slowly lowered from my hands. I didn't expect her words to hit me as hard as they did. Whether or not they were a direct quote from the books or movies I had no idea. But the impact they made on me at that moment changed my perspective on why she loved them so much.

"So what's the difference between Locomotor Mortis and Petrificus Totalus?" I asked her. "I came across it in the book. Neville had one of them performed on him."