Valentine's Day at Hogwarts

The Guest Speaker

Charlie was in a bad mood as he climbed the East tower to Charms, his last lesson of the day. His eyebrows had been singed off by his mad howler, and he still hadn't managed to figure out who Sarah fancied.

Tonks had been most dissapointed at lunch when he'd had to inform her that he knew only that Sarah did fancy someone in their year, and that it probably wasn't a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. "Great," shed said. "That essentially rules out nobody, except perhaps Penny."

If his stupid fire howler hadn't gone off at the exact moment Sarah's was about to yell out the name of her crush...at least after he'd done such a terrible job, Tonks might fire him.

He sat down by Sarah in the Charms room, pretending not to notice her grinning at his missing eyebrows. Flitwick was standing on his pile of books calling for attention. "Have you all had enough of these Valentine's Day lessons?" he asked.

"I've enjoyed them," said Sarah. She glanced again at Charlie's eyebrows with a smirk. "It's been a riot." Charlie kicked her lightly under the desk.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Flitwick. "Today, we will be studying two charms that are often performed around Valentine's Day, entrancing enchantments and memory charms."

Compared to Potions and Transfiguration, this lesson was very tame. Flitwick wasn't teaching them to use any spells, but explaining how the charms worked and why they were dangerous. Normally Charlie would find this a bit dull, but today he was grateful for it.

"So does a memory charm erase all your memories, or just a few?" asked Billingsley.

"Cast properly, the memory charm erases a specific memory of the spellcaster's choosing." Flitwick looked down his nose at them. "Yet another reason you should not mess with these spells without proper training and authority. If they are not cast properly, the can permanately erase more than intended, and even cause serious damage to the brain."

The bell rang, and the students jumped up to leave even quicker than usual, as everyone was eager to hear from Gilderoy Lockhart. "I hope I have said enough to prevent any foolishness by meddling with dangerous charms," said Flitwick. "Now off to the Great Hall."

______________________________________________________________________________

They were seated in the great hall for nearly half an hour before Gilderoy Lockhart practically glided in the room. Sarah smiled to herself, imagining Andre exclaiming fashionably late! He certainly was fashionable. Dressed in immaculate golden robes, his blonder hair flowing, he waved and flashed a perfectly white smile at the students as he passed. He was wearing a gold cape, which he unstrung and tossed to the Ravenclaw table among a chorus of delighted gasps. The cape floated straight for Andre, who was apparently so in awe he was frozen in place and didn't catch it; the cape landed right on his head, covering him completely.

"Seems a bit full of himself, doesn't he?" said Charlie.

"Of course he does, he's the most brilliant wizard in his age," said Rowan.

Lockhart arrived at the podium, smiling so wide Sarah thought it had to be painful. "Hello Hogwarts, I'm so glad you all got to see me. I'm passing through the area on my book signing tour you see, and thought I'd pop in to see my young fans. Now, I know this must be very overwhelming for you all, but rest assured, I am used to it."

Sarah glanced about. Lockhart was getting a mixed reaction from the students. Everyone appeared awestruck, but half of the students were admiring and half were disgusted.

Lockhart's talk lasted for over two hours. He talked about his exploits taming werewolves, living with a yeti, winning Witch Weekly's most charming smile award, how many autographs he had signed, it went on and on. McGonagall finally had to walk up to the podium to stop him.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Lockhart. It was riveting, but we must dismiss the students so they can have a short break before dinner."

"Very well," he said. "I'm sorry to say that's time up everyone, apart from one more announcement. I will be randomly selecting six students to accompany me at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley to attend my book signing for my latest work Voyages with Vampires. Look for my owl tomorrow morning. You don't have to tell me, I know it's been an honor listening to me." Then he strode off, as flashy as he walked in.

"Wow, that was something," said Rowan as everyone jumped up to leave.

"A load of rubbish is what it was," said Charlie. "What a numpty."

Sarah agreed with Charlie, but didn't want to upset Rowan, so said nothing. She guessed that anyone who'd accomplished half of the things that he had was entitled to feel a bit...godly.

"I'm gonna go wake up Barnaby," she said. She walked over to where he was bent over, resting his head on the table. She glanced about, worried she smelled more Ammortentia. There again was that fresh, earthy smell, almost like the Care of Magical Creatures paddock but with a pleasant manly smell she couldn't describe. She touched his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Barnaby..."

He stirred and sat up, blinking. "Is it dinner time?"

"Almost. You missed most of Gilderoy Lockhart's speech."

He rubbed at his face. "I got enough. He's really good at stuff."

She chuckled. "Yep. He's also inviting random students to go to a book signing in Diagon Alley."

"That would be great! I've never been to a book signing."

"Me either," said Sarah, surprised he was so interested.

"It would be really cool if we both got to go, Sarah. We've never gotten to hang out outside of Hogwarts."

"That would be cool," she said, holding out her hand to help him up from his bench.

"You really think so?" he asked as he stood, forgetting to let go of her hand.

She felt her heart pulsing. "Yes. I love being anywhere with you, Barnaby."

He smiled almost as wide as Lockhart. "Me too." His stomach growled. "Guess I better go put my stuff up and get ready for dinner. See you in a bit."

"See you," she said. She stood there for a while, drinking in the moment. It was those little conversations with him that she loved, those tiny moments when he was so sweet and caring without even knowing it that made her stomach flutter.

She turned and saw Rowan gaping at her. "Barnaby is your crush?!"

Sarah felt her cheeks flush. "I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled.

Rowan grinned. "Don't try to fool me, Sarah Spellman. I heard you say you love being with him. I saw that wistful look in your eye as he walked away."

Sarah stomped out of the Great Hall, Rowan practically skipping beside her. "That was so cute!" she kept saying. "I've never imagined you with a guy like Barnaby before, you always felt more like a Talbott kind of person to me, but now that I see it, wow, I see it. You two would be so cute together..." Sarah tried not to listen as Rowan talked almost too fast to comprehend, barely pausing to take a breath.

"Listen, Rowan," she finally said as they arrived at the Portrait Hole. "Don't tell anyone about this, alright?"

"You're asking him out on Valentine's Day, right?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Because I'm not sure how I feel," she said, pulling Rowan aside so other students could walk by without overhearing. "Yes, I've got a tiny crush, but it's probably nothing, and I've got too much on my mind to worry about it right now, and I care too much about his friendship to make things weird..."

"Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me, Sarah."

Sarah sighed. "Look, just please be quiet about this, okay?"

"Alright, alright," said Rowan. "I will." Then, when Sarah had turned to enter the portrait hole, she muttered, "For now."