Wicked Games

Chapter 4

An entire month of classes had gone by, which meant that it was halfway through the month of October, and Louise hadn't told Niall about her feelings for him yet, and her anxiety was taking a toll on her. She kept waking up in the middle of the night because of her dreams, she wasn't performing as well in her classes as she expected, and Professor Thomson became more appealing to Louise each class that went by.

"Okay... after the Dwarf Revolution of 1746, how did the Elf community react to the aftermath of it? In what ways did the elves' decision affect their relationship with the dwarves?" The entire 5th year class had a History of Magic exam coming up and this year's teacher was their toughest one yet, and everyone was on edge, specially Rebecca, who was tirelessly trying to get Louise to learn something, but she had had no luck as of yet. "Lou! For god's sake! Am I talking to a wall? This godforsaken exam is in 6 days, and you've yet not learned the basics! What is up with you?" She exclaimed while touching Louise's arm repeatedly.

"I think I really like the professor." Said Louise in a surprised yet tired tone and in the appearance of not acknowledging her friend's presence.

"Oh my god! Wait a second... Thomson? Lou... you're walking on thin ice with this, and be careful when you talk about this, the walls here can quite literally hear and talk, you know?" Rebecca thought of these affirmations of an inappropriate nature, but this was her best friend whom it concerned, so she was worried, but also excited.

Louise was taken aback by all the questions and concerns her friend had for her, so she tried to calm her. "I know I'm walking on thin ice and also about the walls, but I can't help that I like him, what worries me is the 'Niall factor' in the equation, I really do wanna confess my feelings, you know. But I can't help this, just like you couldn't help being furious every time Alvaro hooks up with someone new, because you know you like him." She knew she could make Rebecca understand how she felt once Alvaro was mentioned, he was her weak spot when referring to all matters of the heart. Rebecca tried to think of a response, but she knew Louise was right, about everything she said, so the only good response was silence, and her and Louise went back to their studying sesion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And remember everyone that you will all be having a test about the properties of frog skin regarding antidotes and poisons in a week from now, regardless on how well you did during the practice lessons! Class dismissed! May all the students from Ravenclaw please stay behind, please?"

Niall, Rebecca and Louise all shared a confused look, as far as they all knew, they were doing very well in that class, not have gotten into trouble (not counting the non intentional 20-minute ditch from History of Magic class where Niall had to kick down the Prefect's bathroom door because Louise and Rebecca were stuck in there). Professor Thomson noticed the threesome's worried faces as well as those from their house peers, he tried to calm them.

"Don't worry students, none of you have done anything wrong, because I know that's what you were all thinking about, I was like you not too long ago. But what I wanted to talk to all of you about, is starting a separate potions class, all of you seem to have innate skills in potion making, in my point of view, better than O.W.L level. If all of you agree with this idea, I will send you, and other students from the other houses a letter regarding the starting point of the lessons and such." He glanced around seeking the approval from his pupils, while fixing his gaze on Louise for a fast second and said: "I hope to see all of you, I believe this could be a great opportunity, you are all dismissed."

The threesome gathered their materials and headed to the Great Hall, hang out with their other housemates and have dinner.

"I can't believe Thomson had the guts to look at you like that with all the others staring at him! He really is something else, you know, quite outrageous." Said Rebecca before Louise interrupted her: "Oh my god! The others will listen! It's quite weird now that I think about it, like, it's normal for students to have crushes on their professors, but for a teacher to act on it? Now, that's something else." The two girls shared mischievous looks, Rebecca didn't completely agree with the situation at hand, but she supported her friend on whatever she was going through, much like Louise did her.

Niall felt uncomfortable seeing this moment between the girls and not having a boyfriend to share them with, if only Alvaro wasn't a Gryffindor. He tried to join in: "I mean... girls, I just think this is highly inappropriate, he's our professor for god's sake! You both know how important this year is to me, this could make or break my independent future. Thomson could take revenge on the whole gang if something between the two of you happened, I'm not just saving mine, but trying to save all your asses. Lou, just please think it over before doing anything... please." He finished his speech with his best puppy eyes.

"Alright alright Ni, I didn't see it that way, but I'll factor you all in when making the decision. You have nothing to worry about, okay?" She leaned in across the table and kissed his cheek as to reassure him nothing would happen. Louise wanted to move her face a bit to the right, she almost did, but she didn't want to ruin her one chance at doing everything right. When she was returning to her seat, there was a look on Niall's face she never saw before, she couldn't decipher what it was. Surprise? She had kissed him on the cheek before, it couldn't be that, it didn't matter, she stopped thinking about it before it completely consumed her. But it was definitely weird, maybe it was an illusion, with all her thoughts it could be that her brain played a trick on her. She turned her head to the side to see Rebecca with a smug face trying not to scream, maybe she saw it too? Before any of the girls could say anything, the prefects from each house were calling their housemates to go to their dormitories, all three of them stood up and followed suit.

Niall rushed to meet with Alvaro and go to the prefect's bathroom next to the Hufflepuff common room and smoke cigarettes and talk about their week, plus whatever gossip Alvaro picked up on. It became a weekly Friday-night tradition of theirs ever since Alvaro's father bought a cigarette company in Spain to hide his magic business from the government. The spaniards know wizards are real but no one really does anything to stop them, even though they've declared them illegal (when their business interrupts muggle business, of course). At the start of every year, Alvaro steals some packs from the factory and the pair smoke them every year, it's been going on for 2 years and no one has picked up on it so far. It was one of the perks since Alvaro was the Gryffindor prefect, but he was also secretly seeing Nancy Friedrich, the Hufflepuff prefect, she gave him the password so they could meet after he finished his smoke with Niall.

Once the bathroom door was completely closed, Alvaro opened the almost empty carton, pulled out two cigarettes and lit them up. Alvaro took a big drag, he slightly coughed when he blew it out. "Tío, Ni, I forgot how good this stuff was, by the way, I saw how Lou kissed you in the dining hall, you looked so awkward it was hilarious." He finished off by laughing and had another drag.

"Al, honestly it was weird, she's kissed me on the cheek so many times before, but it just felt different this time, I think I wanted to kiss her? This is creeping me out dude. Maybe you don't think I like her? What is wrong with me..." Niall wasn't a full-time smoker, but he took to two drags in the middle the sentence.

"Hey man, don't worry, look, if this is stressing you out, I can help you with this, I'll train you to have my charm, and if you ever need it, I can give you the password to the bathroom so the two of you can hang out without interruptions. Okay? Now relax." Alvaro jumped back in halfway done with his cigarette, clearly noticing that the situation was stressing his best friend out, he knew Niall only smoked to join him and spend time with him.

"Thanks Al, I really appreciate the whole charm training thing, but honestly? You should take it down a bit, Becca's heard about your summer, you know how much that upsets her, if you appreciate her one bit, do that for her."

"Jesus Christ! Alright... I'll step it down a notch, I don't even know why she gets so emotional, it's not like we ever dated. Hey! new topic, so what are you gonna do about Lou? If I were you, I'd act fast, she's a fox and a half."

"Geez man! Don't call her that! And I think I'm gonna kiss her, I don't know if tonight precisely, but soon. Merlin's beard, I can't believe I'm doing this." Niall gave his cigarette one last drag, therefore finishing the conversation, each of the boys going to their common rooms and giving each other a hug, calling it a night.