𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙖 ➪ 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝐹𝑂𝑈𝑅

➪ BLUE BELL ➪

"IS THIS YOURS?"

Loki nodded when Sirius Black held up the piece of familiar paper. He had folded it, but she could tell it was hers from the texture and the edge of it alone. Remus stood beside him, not smiling, but not frowning either. In fact, the boy looked rather uncomfortable. Loki swallowed.

She slowly rose from her position. Loki averted her eyes, choosing to keep them locked on the grass under her feet. Nicolas stayed on the seat, watching the scene in shock.

"It's... good."

The words that left Remus' mouth shocked Loki to her core. She expected the boy to ridicule her or call her a weirdo. Her eyes widened at his comment and she gained the tiniest bit of courage to look up at him. His expression of uncomfortableness was gone, replaced by a genuinely kind smile. He happily offered the grin to Loki. She couldn't help the blush that crossed her cheeks.

"Here." Sirius offered the piece of parchment back to her. "It really is good."

"I–I–I..." She stuttered, faltering as she took back the paper. "Tha–thank–thank you. Thanks."

Sirius smirked in amusement at her stuttering state. Nicolas's eyebrows knitted together as he looked between his frozen friend and the two males. Something about the situation was slightly odd to him.

"Next time you want to draw us," Sirius began, shifting his weight, a smirk crossing his face, "you could ask and we could pose for you."

Loki breathed in sharply, immediately coughing. Loki didn't know how much more embarrassment she could take. Her face turned bright red as she turned her stare back to the ground. Sirius and Remus chuckled at her reaction.

"I–I'm good, thanks," Loki murmured.

Sirius tilted his head. "Aw, we not pretty enough any more?"

Loki's head shot up immediately, wide-eyed, her hands flying out in front of her. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Loki blurted, her head shaking frantically. "That's not what I meant, I just–"

"Hey, hey, calm down." Sirius laughed. "I was just kidding. I know how pretty I am." He smirked, sending her a wink as he ran his hand through his dark locks. Loki flushed darker.

"Sirius lay off," Remus shoved his friend lightly. He turned back to Loki. "We've got to go, but I, uh, I hope we'll see you later," he smiled, scratching the back of his neck. "Bye."

Remus and Sirius turned away, sauntering off. Loki watched them head back into the castle. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was slack.

"Bye," she whispered after them.

Nicolas, who had stayed seated in shock, stood up, taking the place beside his friend, and watched the boys head back in as well. He let out a low whistle.

"Man," he breathed, turning back to Loki with amazement sparkling in his brown eyes. "I can see now why you have a crush on them."

"Yeah," Loki nodded, barely listening as her body was still trying to process the interaction between her and the two males.

"You drew them?" Nicolas furrowed his brows, just remembering the piece of information.

Loki nodded again. "Yeah," she repeated. Nicolas bit back a laugh. Loki blinked, snapping out of her daze and turning to him. "It's not funny." She said.

He shrugged, "maybe a little." Loki glared at him, crossing her arms.

"We should get back inside," Loki muttered. Her eyes glanced at the piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand, then proceeded to put in in her robe pocket.

Nicolas nodded, letting the girl lead the way. Loki smiled, walking in front.

"It's still a bit funny," Nicolas snickered. Loki groaned in protest.

➪

"PASS THE PEAS."

Loki held out her hand, awaiting the dish. Nicolas obliged, grabbing them and handing them to her. She quietly thanked him, happily piling the greens on her plate. As she went to place them back her green eyes glanced up, locking on the Gryffindor table. More specifically, locking on Remus and Sirius as they happily ate and talked with their friends. Before she could be caught, Loki turned back to her meal.

"You really can't keep your eyes off them, can you?" Nicolas grinned, nudging his friend. "Not since that little exchange in the courtyard."

Loki frowned at his teasing manner. "Shut up," she mumbled, hanging her head to let her hair cover her rosy cheeks.

A loud laugh from the Gryffindor table pulled up Loki's attention. She gazed over at Sirius as he banged his fist on the table, doubled over with laughter. She couldn't help but wonder what was so funny, not noticing the smile that wormed its way onto her lips as she stared.

When she went to look away, Sirius lifted his head again. His eyes locked on Loki's and he grinned widely at her, offering her a wave and wink. Sirius' friends, including Remus and Peter all turned to look at her as well. Remus and Peter smiled kindly, and James cocked his head in confusion.

Why had a Hufflepuff suddenly caught his friends' attention?

Loki's eyes widened. She awkwardly smiled back before quickly turning to Nicolas. She began spewing out random sentences to make it seem as if she was talking to him. He frowned, glancing over at the small group to see them all turned back again.

Everyone at Hogwarts was being strange today.