(Parvati POV)
"And that's done."
I slump on the desk, finally free from this torture.
"Without you, this would've taken ages." I say to Ansh.
"What can I say, I am a magnanimous person." He boasts.
"Sure. Keep helping me with these assignments; you will get an Order of Merlin someday…. Or at least a 'best brother' cup."
"Well then, I'll look forward to it." He says with a smile.
I start packing my books to get away from the library as soon as possible.
"But how come you were suddenly so eager to help?"
This question has been on my mind. He has been overly eager to help for the past few days, never refusing. I thought about asking it before, but then decided it better to do it after completing all my assignments in case he changes his mind.
He looks at me for a few seconds, with that big smile he has had on his face for the past couple of days, and I worry he is going to ask something ridiculous in exchange.
"Just wanted to help you. Is it really so strange to want to help others?"
"For you, yes. But I am not going to question it. Better for me and my assignments if you stay this way."
I pick up my things and leave. When I look back, I see him sitting down with another book and that same smile.
'For some reason, his eyes seem sad.' I think as I observe him. 'Or I am just overthinking.'
(Dora POV)
"Now students, remember to say the incantation clearly." Professor Flitwick reminds us before we take our wands and practice.
I wave my wand, utter the spell, and watch as my box moves from its position, though a bit wobbly.
'I'll count that as a success. This locomotor charm is much easier than the levitating charm.'
Proud of my success, I continue practising it, trying to make the movement smoother.
Happy with my progress, I check out how far others have progressed. All around the class, boxes were moving from here and there, following the wand movements of their caster. I saw some Hufflepuff boys have started a game of tag with it. Everyone seems to have made progress with the spell, so my chance to shine is gone.
Everyone but one.
I look to the side to see Ansh trying to cast the spell, striking one weird pose after another but the box refuses to budge. After a while, he starts pushing it with his wand and looks at me with a wide smile.
"Look, it's moving."
"Sure. That was the goal: poke it around with the wand. Couldn't have done it better myself."
"Okay, no need to get all sarcastic on me. It's the best I can do okay, so take it or leave it."
"Meh, I'll leave it."
He ignores me and tries the spell again, and this time the box moves. It moves without any contact with the wand. He freezes for a few seconds, then points the wand to the left, and the box moves to the left. He moves the wand to the right, and the box follows. After doing this a couple of times, he stops.
And slaps himself hard.
"It's real." I hear him mumble.
I get startled by it. Before I can say anything, tears start falling from his eyes.
"I did it. I.. I did magic. I cast a spell." He says with tears and a wide smile on his face that threatened to split his face.
"You… you saw that right?" He grabs my shoulder and looks at me with such ferocity, "The box moved, you saw that, right? Right? Look I'll do it again."
He utters the incantation again and watches, as nothing happens this time.
He waits a few seconds and then tries again, and again, and again. And nothing happens.
"That's weird. It definitely happened. You saw it too right?" He wipes his tears and asks me.
He tries again and still nothing.
"But why? It just worked." He grabs his hair and pulls them hard, "What am I doing wrong?"
"Ansh." I stop him from picking himself bald.
"But it just worked, you saw it right. I wasn't hallucinating, it freaking worked."
'I feel like a Slytherin.'
"Ansh, it didn't work." I stop him before he says anything, "I… I was the one who controlled your box. Your spell didn't work." I could barely hear myself by the end.
He stops and looks at me. Saying nothing. And I see tears gathering in his eyes. His fists clench. And smoke gathers around him.
'Wait smoke?'
Before I can process that, a tear rolls down his face and he looks to the other side.
"Yeah, I guess that makes more sense than me doing magic. Good one. Really nice. Hahaha, you got me good." He puts his stuff in his bag.
"Ansh, I didn't want to make you sad. I ju-" He cuts me off.
"Sad? Not at all. I mean, I got to feel the joy of casting magic this way. So thank you for this."
"No please just look at me-"
"Sorry Nymphadora," He cuts me again and gets up, "I have to go. I'll talk to you later."
As he leaves the class, Professor Flitwick ask him what's wrong, but he leaves without responding.
'He never calls me Nymphadora.' I realise, my stomach dropping. I try to go after him but Professor Flitwick stops me, and all I can do is stand there, knowing I made the worst mistake of the week.
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A/N: I am really stressing out over the next few chapters as I have a lot of conflicting ideas about what to write. Hopefully the fog will clear up when I sit down and start writing it, just like it did with this one and many others before.
I wrote a really big chapter so i decided to divide it into 2 parts.