sunshine ! saleb

one | he falls.

falling down the stairs like an idiot probably isn't the best way to kick off fifth year.

he's only partially listening to annie's rant about astronomy with slytherin as they reach the staircase, and they're halfway down when the prettiest girl he's ever laid eyes on walks around the corner. and his knees give out.

everything goes black for a few long moments, and when he wakes the first thing he's aware of is the pain pounding away at his head. he cringes, runs a hand through his hair. almost immediately someone pulls his fingers away from his scalp, hisses something under their breath.

somewhere in his mind warning signs are flashing— he doesn't recognize the voice of whoever just grabbed his hand, which means it's a stranger or he just lost some of his memories. he blinks his eyes open, winces at the flood of light that hits him like a lightning strike, then attempts to make out the blur of the figure leaning in front of him.

long, golden curls; a slytherin scarf draped around her neck and over one shoulder. it clicks after a moment, and suddenly he's considering sprinting away from hogwarts and never stepping foot in this school again. he would, but even just lifting his head is leaving him lightheaded, so he's left lying at the bottom of the stairs while the girl who caused this looks him over.

he hears laughter, and from the way the pretty girl is glancing around so frequently, everyone's eyes are on him. and, oh, they are. many people are glancing at him like this is the most unusual thing that's ever happened in their years of attending a magic school.

he groans — out of embarrassment or pain, he doesn't know which — and drops his head back down to the floor with a thud.

"are you okay?"

that's annie, but he's not sure where her voice is coming from. he tries rolling his eyes, but stops any attempt at the dizziness that surrounds him.

"never better." he forces out, words tight. someone close is laughing now. the pretty girl glares at someone behind her, then she's staring down at him in concern; his face flushes.

he's pretty sure annie says something else, but he feels like he's going to faint again — and the pretty girl is a lot more interesting than his little sister — so he ignores her.

she's a hufflepuff prefect (when the pain isn't nagging at his head he'll question the rival house scarf thrown hazardously around her neck, but that isn't now, so he ignores that, too), and she keeps her robes perfectly neat (a bright contrast to his hardly knotted tie). her lips are a soft pink, and her eyes are the greatest shade of green he's ever seen.

his eyes stay focused on her as she tells several gawking students to get to class in an only slightly irritated voice. she turns to him once again, and he's too embarrassed to hold eye contact, so he looks away at once.

"hey, are you alright? that fall must've hurt..."

a boy and girl, each clad in slytherin robes, step from behind her. the girl does a much better job at concealing her laughter than the boy, and he would laugh at the way the pretty girl rolls her eyes if he wasn't in so much pain.

"sorry about them, i don't know why they found that so funny," she cringes, pausing, and then kneels down as he rises to rest on his elbows. "i'm sydney, that's katie and luke."