Dueling and Desire

Chapter 3

Barnaby exited the Great Hall with Liz after dinner feeling quite miserable. Liz was chattering away about which water demon she would be most likely to tame, a discussion he would usually be happy to join, but he couldn't stop the conversation he'd overheard between Sarah and that Hufflepuff boy from replaying in his mind.

"I'm sure a girl like you has someone special in your life?"

"Um, no, not really."

Barnaby had hoped he was someone special in Sarah's life. True, they weren't an official couple or anything, but there had been the Celestial ball. And Valentine's Day. They'd gone on their first date together. And here she was, refusing to duel with him so she could duel with whoever-he-was. He was surprise how much that hurt. Of course, Sarah was free to spend her time with whomever she liked, but she usually wouldn't have hesitated to include him. Perhaps she wanted time alone with that other bloke. But then, why had Merula been there? Had Barnaby done something wrong? It was all too confusing for him.

"I mean, just imagine riding a kelpie across Loch Ness," Liz was saying, her eyes glossed over in wonder. "Barnaby? Are you listening to me?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Cool." He hadn't heard a word she'd said.

Liz didn't press him; they'd just arrived at the secret entrance that concealed the Slytherin common room. "Shortsnout," she said, and the walked through. "Look, there's two chairs over by the fire. Shall we sit down?"

Barnaby's brain was too fried to talk anymore tonight, even about water demons. He wanted to lay in his bed with the lights off and think about what he might have done to make Sarah angry with him.

"No thanks. I think I'll turn in actually."

"At 8:00?"

"Yeah. It's been a long day." Her face fell in disappointment. He hated disappointing people. "I'll save you a place at breakfast. I want to hear more about...what you were talking about."

She brightened. "Alright. Goodnight."

"Night."

Up in the boys' dormitory, Barnaby lay fully clothed on his bed, trying to work out his feelings. He didn't like that Hufflepuff boy, though he wasn't quite sure why. He did like Sarah, though; he liked her a lot.

He knew he wanted to be more than just friends with her, but what if she didn't? He didn't want to botch up their friendship. They'd gone out a few times, but maybe she hadn't always meant it to be as friends. Things always went back to they were before, and she treated him no different than she treated Rowan or Charlie or Ben. That was one of the many things he loved about her; she was so caring to anyone she met—except maybe Merula.

He wanted to be someone special in her life. Maybe tomorrow he'd tell her how he really felt. The very thought made his palms feel sweaty. He cursed himself for being so afraid. He'd just have to buck up and do it. If she told him they were just friends, that she liked that Hufflepuff guy, he could accept that.

It would be several hours before he would fall into a fitful sleep.