Into the Stars

After playing a game of chess with Allie, I found myself dragging my feet to Snape’s classroom for detention. I would have begged everyone to come with me, but Allie insisted on taking a nap and the boys were at Quidditch practice. When I reached my destination, I walked in cautiously to find Snape at the front of the room organizing test tubes with a sour frown on his face.

“Come in, sit down.” He said quickly without even looking up at me. I rushed to the front row to take a seat and opened my notebook. I started to dig for my quill in my purse. “Put it away, you won’t be writing tonight.” He demanded as he finished putting the test tubes and beakers in their rightful spots.

“I won’t?” I asked quietly. “What will I be doing?”

“Quiet.” He said firmly before sitting in his chair and staring up at the door. I glanced behind me to see no one. I sat there quietly, quite confused, for several minutes. However, I had no problem daydreaming about the kiss I shared with Oliver only hours ago. I got so into it, I didn’t even hear the footsteps of the one who entered the room with us.

“Late again, Mr. Flint.” Snape said coolly startling me out of my fantasy. My head snapped to the side to see Flint plop himself down in the seat next to me and smirk at Snape.

“Sorry.” He replied carelessly. My jaw was dropped slightly. This could not be happening. No, no, no, no. Snape just rolled his eyes at he walked over to us. He dropped two rags in front of each of us.

“You know the routine.” He said, looking at Flint, who continued to sit there smirking at him. “Get to it.” He said louder and agitated. Flint sighed and stood from his chair, still smiling, and grabbed the two rags before making his way over to a bucket of soapy water in the corner of the room I hadn’t noticed.

“As you are well aware, Miss Hock, we have accidents in my classroom, and things tend to spill.” He said rather slowly. I nodded attentively, partially in fear. “Therefore the tile gets rather filthy, and so you and Mr. Flint will be scrubbing it down.” He paused. “All of it.” I nodded again and attempted a closed smile.

“Alright.” I said quietly. It would be fine, as long as Flint kept his ugly mouth shut and Snape didn’t l-

“Now I have some very important business to attend to. It seems a boy from you’re house has been petrified.” My eyes widened and my heart almost stopped.

“What? Who?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but a certain Colin Creevy. I can’t say when I’ll be back, but you may both leave only when you’re finished. If I see a spot of filth on this tile, you’ll be spending your Saturday afternoon scrubbing the entire room all over again. Do I make myself clear?” He spoke without pauses in between sentences. I slowly looked over to Flint, who was on all fours and scrubbing the floor harshly. He already had a small corner of the room done. “The sooner you get started, Miss Hock, the sooner you can leave.” He turned and started to storm away, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Mr. Flint, behave.” And then he was gone. Well, that’s comforting. I stayed planted in my seat, uncomfortably watching Flint continue to clean. He looked up at me.

“If you don’t get your ass over here, I’m telling Snape you made me do it all by myself.” He said with a smirk. I scoffed and reluctantly made my way over to him with one of the rags.

“You should be doing this all by yourself.” I grumbled as I dipped the rag in the soapy water and went to the opposite side of the room immediately.

“And why’s that?” I could feel Flint’s eyes on me as I slumped to my hands and knees and began scrubbing furiously as I spoke.

“I’m here because of you, because of something that I didn’t do.” I said, keeping my voice as angry as possible. I heard him chuckle quietly. “What is so funny?”

“Ah, nothing. I just quite enjoy this.” I rolled my eyes and crawled forward to start scrubbing a new spot.

“Asshole.” I mumbled.

“You’ve got a great body, you know.” I stopped my scrubbing and looked up to see him sitting on his knees, staring at me with a smile. I could feel my cheeks burning, but in the worst possible way.

“Stop looking at me.” I demanded as I continued to scrub.

“Or what? Are you gonna send Wood after me again?”

“Is that why you did this? Are you seriously seeking revenge on me because I let Oliver kick your ass?” I glanced up to see his smile wiped away. I grinned to myself as I moved on to a new spot.

“I was just unprepared. I could slaughter him if I wanted.” I looked up at him due to the seriousness of his tone. He smirked. “You wanna know the real reason I got you in trouble and not him?” He asked as he finally continued scrubbing.

“By all means.”

“I just want to get to know you, and since you refuse to give me the time of day, I’m using this as an opportunity to show you that I’m not the bad guy.” I glanced at him briefly before rolling my eyes.

“Then who is the bad guy. Me?”

“Of course not. It should be obvious, but maybe you haven’t seen that side of him yet.”

“Oliver? He doesn’t have a Slytherin side.” I retorted.

“Ouch. Someone’s a bit touchy this evening. I’m just warning you. In the end, he’ll do to you what he’s done with all the others.” He said focusing on a certain tile stain. I resisted the urge to growl. Yes, growl.

“You don’t know anything.”

“Ha. I’ve known Wood since we were eleven. Trust me; you’d be better off without a scum like him.”

“How about you keep your mouth shut until we’re done, okay?” I nearly shouted. But it was too late; he had already completely killed my buzz. He just grinned and continued to clean.

The rest of detention was spent in silence. It seemed like ages before we finished, but, thank the heavens, we finally did. I threw the rags on the counter and went for the door, hoping to exit before Flint could catch up to me.

“I know you want to know what I meant before.” I stopped in my tracks but did not turn around. “About what Wood does to all the girls...?” I scoffed loudly and headed out the door.

“You know where to find me if you change your mind.” He called after me.

***

As I made my way to the common room, I regrettably found myself pondering the things Flint had said. It was only Flint. He manipulates; and lies, obviously. Whatever he was talking about, Oliver couldn’t have done. He just wasn’t like that. Even if something did happen with “all the girls,” I would have known. Someone would have told me.
And he wouldn’t be so amazing and wonderful.
When I got to the common room, it was filled with the entire house. As I tried to make my way over to the stairs, I heard several things that caught my interest. They spoke of Collin being petrified, something about a “Chamber of Secrets,” the heir of Slytherin, the first Hogsmeade trip on Sunday, the Quidditch game next Saturday, and surprisingly, the possibility of Oliver Wood dating Nikki, “the new girl.” My journey across the not so large room had given me many questions. But I needed a shower. Scrubbing floors is one thing, but being in the same room as Marcus Flint for a whole hour is something completely different.
After my shower, I stuck my hair up in a pony tail and headed back down in my sweats. The boys were apparently in the locker rooms, creating strategies and listening to a rousing pep talk from Oliver about the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match almost a week away. I ended up sitting with Allie and some other girls who told me all about what McGonagall told them about this so called “Chamber of Secrets” and how Mrs. Norris and Colin’s petrifaction could only be the beginning. Ron and Hermione seemed intent on finding out who the “heir of Slytherin” is. They also spoke about Hogsmeade, where we would be visiting in just two days time. That was quite a spirit lift for me after detention and all the talk of weirdness going on at school. I couldn’t wait.
I tried to stay up until Oliver came back from the meeting, but drifted to sleep on the sofa, my head on Allie’s lap, listening to the chatter. I heard the fat lady saying something about “wee hours of the morning” and I lifted my head immediately. My neck was quite sore from my position on Allie’s legs. She was asleep as well, but she did not wake up. I looked over the back of the sofa and saw Angelina, Katie, and Alicia come in first, all six of their eyes drooping closed as they made their way up the stairs. Harry came in next, looking almost wide awake and deep in thought as he passed. Fred and George came next, both looking bothered beyond belief. They didn’t even notice my head popping up above the sofa as they went upstairs. Oliver came last, sighing in annoyance.

“Psst!” He stopped in his tracks and looked at me with a sleepy smile

“Oh, I almost didn’t see you.” He sounded quite exhausted.

“What time is it?”

“About 1:30. Why aren’t you in bed, love?” He asked. I blushed.

“We were just...” I looked at a sleeping Allie, who was beginning to snore. “We were talking and we fell asleep.”

“Not waiting for us to come back, I hope?” He said and sat down next to me.

“No, no.” I lied. “What took you so long, anyway?” I asked. He chucked quietly.

“I was trying to get through to them how important it is that we win next weekend. All it seemed to do was piss them off, though.” He sounded rather bewildered.

“Maybe if you narrowed your pep talks down a few hours...”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Of course not.” I said grinning. He looked at me and gave me a crooked smile. I took a deep breath when he didn’t look away. His smile grew as he leaned in to kiss me. I felt myself smile as well as I turned my head more to meet him... but right before our lips met, we heard a loud groan from the sleeping body next to me. I looked at Oliver, our faces but an inch apart, and he looked down with a chuckle before pulling away. I turned to look at Allie, unable to hide an angry scowl. She stretched her arms straight above her head and yawned.

“What time is it?” She mumbled as she opened her eyes.

“Time for bed.” I said softly. “You too, Mr. Wood. You’ve got practice in a few hours if I’m not mistaken.” I said smiling back to Oliver. He rolled his eyes and grinned. I looked back at Allie, whose eyes suddenly widened.

“A few hours? Really, what time is it?”

“1:34, Allie. Why?”

“Oh no!” She exclaimed, putting her hands on her forehead.

“What is it?” Oliver asked leaning forward to get a better look at her.

“I...” She stuttered. “I was just so hoping to get a goodnight’s sleep for once.” She stood up and smoothed out her PJ top.

“Oh...” I replied, hoping to continue the conversation, but I was too late. She was already up the stairs. “Well...” I said, standing up as well. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait.” Oliver said standing up. I turned to look at him. He looked at me seriously, taking a step closer. “Er... I won’t be around tomorrow. Practice is until supper.” I hid my disappointment well and forced a smile.

“Alright.” There was a long silence. “Goodnight, then.” I turned to go upstairs.

“No, wait.” He said again. I turned back around. “That’s not what I meant to say. Well, I mean, it’s true, but...”

“What is it?”

“Uh... about earlier,” My stomach flip flopped. This could go either way. Was he sick of me? Am I a bad kisser? That wasn’t even really a kiss! He should at least give me a chance! Did this mean our friendship was over? Who would I sit with at the table? Well, Allie, of course, but- “I... would like to try that again sometime.” He said blushing furiously. My mouth slowly formed into a smile.

“So would I.”

“So... would now be alright?” He asked in a small voice, stepping closer. I bit my lip and stood in silence for a moment before grinning deviously.

“Maybe some other time.” He raised his eyebrows and gave me a cheeky grin. “Would a goodnight hug suffice?”

“Not exactly, but I suppose I’ll live.” He said sighing. I smiled as I stepped closer to him. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me against him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and got on my tip toes to rest my chin on his shoulder. I felt his arms tighten around me and one started to stroke my lower back. It wasn’t long before I felt warm breath in my ear, giving me chills. “Goodnight, love.” I lifted my head from his shoulder and pressed my lips against his cheek. I lingered there for a second, taking in the feel of his slight stubble and the smell of his amazing cologne.

“Goodnight.” I said when we finally separated. I could feel him watching me as I walked up the stairs trying desperately not to trip in the process.