Barnaby Lee x Reader - Years 3&4

Truce...?

After spending time with Barnaby, Lana felt so much better in her head. He really did know how to make her feel better.

Lana and her friends had their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the year, and Barnaby wouldn't stop going in about it. It wasn't annoying at all - Lana loved that he was so passionate about something and that the creatures made him so happy. Lana spotted Rowan once she arrived at the outside class, so she walked over to her.

"I'm still thinking about that meeting with Madam Rakepick..." she told her friend.

"Do you think she might be 'R'?" Rowan asked.

"I'm not sure. Either way, I have to find the next vault. I'll ask Kettleburn how to sneak into the forest after class..." Lana replied thoughtfully.

"I am pretty excited about today's lesson on Bowtruckles..." Rowan smiled, "There are loads of them on my family's tree farm. They used to eat woodlice right out of my hand!" Lana laughed at her friend, and saw Barnaby walking over to them when she turned around.

"Hey, Lana!" he smiled, slinging an arm around her shoulder. He then looked over at Rowan, who was glaring at his display of affection towards Lana.

"Alright, Rowan?" he asked politely.

"Yes." she said bluntly, before turning on her heel to face Professor Kettleburn.

Lana gave the tall boy an apologetic smile, and held Barnaby's hand that was draped over her shoulder and dragged him along to stand next to Rowan.

"Welcome back to Care of Magical Creatures! Today, we will be studying wonderful little creatures called Bowtruckles. They're shy, peaceful creatures, but they can be quite fearsome when it comes to guarding wand-wood trees. Speaking from experience, it's best to keep them far enough from you so they can't gouge your eyes out. Have fun, everyone!" he finished.

Barnaby couldn't stop smiling, he was in his favourite class, with his favourite teacher, learning about his favourite subject, and he was with his favourite person. The class took notes on everything about Bowtruckles. But soon, the lesson was over.

"Well done, everyone!" You gained a lot of knowledge about Bowtruckles without losing a single eye! Also, if anyone spots a Chimaera tearing about the castle, please notify a professor immediately. Class dismissed." Kettleburn announced.

Lana walked over to the old man at the end of the lesson to ask him about the forest, her friends waiting back for her.

"Excuse me, Professor Kettleburn. Is it true you sometimes help students enter the Forbidden Forest?"

"If I did, it would be a secret. Why would you think that?" he asked.

"I just thought you might need help finding creatures to study in the forest..." Lana tried.

"Hmm. I just might...I'd consider discussing it further if you can help me with this Bowtruckle. He's peaceful for now, but he'll get restless without a proper habitat. If you study Bowtruckles further, and find him a home, I'll tell you what I know about entering the Forbidden Forest." Professor Kettleburn proposed.

"Ok great - thanks sir!" she said, returning back to her friends.

                *************************************************************************

"Wow! A Chimaera! They're so cool - I've got a book all about them at home!" Barnaby told the group excitedly as they walked out of class. Barnaby, Lana and Penny were in front, and Rowan and Ben were trailing behind them.

"Personally, they're my least favourite magical creature." Rowan fired back, making Barnaby frown to himself, but Lana noticed. She sensed a whole lot of tension between her best friend and her boyfriend, and she was scared that they'd break out into a huge fight one day.

"Well, then that's your problem isn't it, Rowan." he turned his head around slightly to reply.

"Yeah, and I'm fine with that." Rowan said, "But at least I'm capable enough to know how to deal with my problems..." she added under her breath, but Lana heard, making her more angry.

She was so fed up with their constant bickering that she let out a small huff and stormed off in front of everyone, leaving the rest of them walking behind her in confusion.

"Lana!" Barnaby called after her, but she didn't look back. Penny told everyone to stay behind as she ran after Lana, knowing why the arguing affected her so much.

After a minute or so, Penny caught up with Lana, who was crying as she was walking.

"Hey, Lana! Don't cry, hun!" Penny soothed.

"It's not fair! Why can't they get along and just leave each other alone?" Lana lightly sobbed.

Penny pulled her best friend into a hug, stopping in the middle of the pathway and wrapping her arms around the Gryffindor. About a minute later, Penny was still hugging Lana, who was still crying slightly. The rest of their friends had caught up with them at this point, and Barnaby ran over to Lana as soon as he saw her.

"Lana! Are you alright?" he worried, his face etched with heavy concern. The girl looked up at him and nodded, a few tears sliding down her cheeks still. "Hey, come here." he cooed gently, stretching out his arms slightly.

Lana released Penny and smiled at her in thanks, before melting into Barnaby's arms. He rubbed her back and kissed her head, trying to make her feel better. "I'm sorry..." he told her quietly, "I know why you walked off."

The girl looked up at him, his face full of shame. "Don't be." she smiled, "It's not all your fault." Lana looked over at Rowan, who looked a bit ashamed for upsetting her friend.

"I'm sorry, Lana." she told her. Lana smiled and opened her arms for everyone to join for a group hug.

"I love all of you guys so much, ok?" she started, laughing a bit, "Don't go ripping each other to pieces, otherwise that may change..." she joked.

"We love you too, Lana." Penny giggled. They all broke apart, but Barnaby kept his arm around Lana.

"I promise to stop arguing with Barnaby." Rowan said, making everyone's eyebrows raise.

"Really?" Lana asked, surprised at her words.

"Yes. It's not fair on you to have two of your best friends bickering the whole time."

Penny laughed slightly to herself when Rowan said 'best friends', as she was the only one there who knew that they were a lot more than that.

"And I promise to stop arguing with Rowan, too." Barnaby said firmly, his face completely serious. Rowan stuck out her hand for Barnaby to shake.

"Truce?"

"Truce." Barnaby said, shaking her hand, before going over to Lana and picking her up, making her squeal and giggle.

She punched his back, telling him to put her down, and he did. So instead, he took her hand and kissed her cheek, laughing to himself. They all walked off to the castle for lunch, hopefully without any more trouble between Rowan and Barnaby.

yay they've made up! for now...
hehe I'll keep them civil for a little while, but I have an idea as to how the rest of the group find out that they're dating, but I'll think about it :))
please vote & comment if you enjoyed! thank you so much for reading :)
byeee <3