Do You See? (PG; The Hufflepuffs)
Title: Do You See?
Date/Challenge: 22 - love drips and gathers at 30_hath
Character/Pairing: The Hufflepuff five with an emphasis on Kevin and Rose
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1026
Author's Note: Okay, this was hard to write with the challenge but I wanted to try. What you get is an attempt to write a love that has been going for some time as well as a new love that is just starting out. The intent is there to work the challenge in and I did but not as much as I wanted to. It would have taken the story too far.
Susan and Michael, a truer Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw you would never meet, had been dating for over two years. Before that time, no one knew they even knew each other. One day, Susan walked into the Hufflepuff Common Room, Michael in tow, and announced that she was seeing this Ravenclaw and did anyone have a problem with that. Everyone wisely shook their heads and pasted smiles on their faces.
There were rumors that Michael did the same with his House with more disastrous results. Susan never spoke of it so everyone wisely kept the questions to themselves. Even though she had a mean temper, the other Hufflepuffs truly liked Susan. She wasn’t giggly like Hannah or proud like Megan. If she wanted to date a Ravenclaw, she had her own reasons and those were good enough for everyone.
This wasn’t the first time they had seen Susan turn on Michael this way, but it was by far the most creative. Rose almost got trampled in the rush to get to Greenhouse One before everyone else, saved only when Ernie noticed her plight and pulled her up onto his shoulder. From there, she could see everything.
Professor Sprout, though she had a head start, was just coming up to the door as the crowds surged to a stop behind her. Her wand was out, but shaking badly, and Rose heard a couple boys in front of them making bets on whether she’d be able to go through with this or not. She had very shaky nerves, their Head of House did.
“Come out of there this instant.”
There was complete and utter silence from the crowds around her as well as from inside the structure. Someone sneezed and no one bothered to say a blessing. The anticipation was making them all aware of only one thing - the door. It was the only door leading out of the greenhouse. There was no way out.
No one could hear what spell Professor Sprout used but it worked. The door swung open as if a blast of artic air had swept down from the north to join in the games.
Rose, from her vantage point, could see the small group of Ravenclaws standing perfectly still in the middle of the room. They were in shadows but she could make out Lisa Turpin due to her incredibly blonde hair. It loved to play with light, reflecting and sending it back equally as bright. She’d obviously not thought to put it up under a cap. Michael and Terry stood with pots in their hands, obviously caught in the act of switching the plants on one side with the plants on the other.
“How dare you,” shrieked Professor Sprout, so overcome with emotion that she was leaning on the doorway as if her knees had forgotten how to hold her up. “Come with me. We’re going to see the Headmistress.”
The large group of students followed Professor Sprout and her prisoners on the long trek up to the Headmistress’ office, eager to see this finished. All except Susan, Justin, Kevin and Ernie with Rose on his shoulders.
“Amateurs. They weren’t even doing it right. Got everything, Justin?”
He went over to the box where earlier he had stowed their supplies. “I’m afraid I’m short two sets.”
Susan looked up at Rose, smiling devilishly. “Rosey, darling. Be a sweetie and keep watch with Kevin?”
Three minutes later, Rose sat stiffly beside Kevin on a hard bench near the castle walls. “I seem to always be the lookout for these types of things,” she groused as she chewed at her thumbnail. “I’ve grown four whole inches this year and still I’m considered too small to do the really important work. I’m not even a First Year anymore. Haven’t been for a couple of years. One day…”
“I hope not too soon,” Kevin answered in a rather high-pitched voice. “If you were in there,” he cleared his throat a couple of times, “then you wouldn’t be out here with me. I’m not complaining.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” she shot back rather hotly, irritation making her cheeks flame until she felt his arm lazily creep along the back of the bench. “Oh, I thought you were just really tired when you kept yawning like that.”
“Do you mind?”
Rose settled back against the boy, pillowing her head against his shoulder. “Mind? Of course not. If I’d minded, I would have stopped you weeks ago. Did you think I hadn’t noticed? Why do you think I knew what was going on? If I hadn’t been watching you in the library the other day-“
“So you were watching me? I couldn’t tell.”
“It’s because you keep taking your glasses off. For instance, right this minute, tell me how many birds are sitting on the roof of the greenhouse.”
He was silent for a moment. “Three?”
“There aren’t any birds, you goon. I think you’d be more help to Justin and Ernie if you admitted you couldn’t see worth beans without your spectacles. They’re all the rage, you know, now that Harry Potter’s pair saved his life. No one will look down on you for wearing them. Besides, you’re ever so handsome in them.”
“And yours make you look… fetching.”
Rose grinned up at Kevin. “You need to practice saying pretty things to girls. That was a rather long pause as you searched for that word, as pretty as it was. Maybe you can try again in a couple of minutes?”
They sat in silence as they watched (or, rather, Rose watched and Kevin squinted) the three Hufflepuffs move from greenhouse to greenhouse, silent as cats when there are mice about.
“If you can’t see, how do you know I’m watching you?” Rose asked, picking up his hand to examine his thumbnails. They were so nice and straight, quite unlike her own.
“I can feel your eyes. My hair stands up on the back of my neck whenever you look at me.”
Rose felt the giggle rise up in her throat but a noise from their left stifled it. Someone was coming toward them, heedless of the noise and the commotion.
Date/Challenge: 22 - love drips and gathers at 30_hath
Character/Pairing: The Hufflepuff five with an emphasis on Kevin and Rose
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1026
Author's Note: Okay, this was hard to write with the challenge but I wanted to try. What you get is an attempt to write a love that has been going for some time as well as a new love that is just starting out. The intent is there to work the challenge in and I did but not as much as I wanted to. It would have taken the story too far.
Susan and Michael, a truer Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw you would never meet, had been dating for over two years. Before that time, no one knew they even knew each other. One day, Susan walked into the Hufflepuff Common Room, Michael in tow, and announced that she was seeing this Ravenclaw and did anyone have a problem with that. Everyone wisely shook their heads and pasted smiles on their faces.
There were rumors that Michael did the same with his House with more disastrous results. Susan never spoke of it so everyone wisely kept the questions to themselves. Even though she had a mean temper, the other Hufflepuffs truly liked Susan. She wasn’t giggly like Hannah or proud like Megan. If she wanted to date a Ravenclaw, she had her own reasons and those were good enough for everyone.
This wasn’t the first time they had seen Susan turn on Michael this way, but it was by far the most creative. Rose almost got trampled in the rush to get to Greenhouse One before everyone else, saved only when Ernie noticed her plight and pulled her up onto his shoulder. From there, she could see everything.
Professor Sprout, though she had a head start, was just coming up to the door as the crowds surged to a stop behind her. Her wand was out, but shaking badly, and Rose heard a couple boys in front of them making bets on whether she’d be able to go through with this or not. She had very shaky nerves, their Head of House did.
“Come out of there this instant.”
There was complete and utter silence from the crowds around her as well as from inside the structure. Someone sneezed and no one bothered to say a blessing. The anticipation was making them all aware of only one thing - the door. It was the only door leading out of the greenhouse. There was no way out.
No one could hear what spell Professor Sprout used but it worked. The door swung open as if a blast of artic air had swept down from the north to join in the games.
Rose, from her vantage point, could see the small group of Ravenclaws standing perfectly still in the middle of the room. They were in shadows but she could make out Lisa Turpin due to her incredibly blonde hair. It loved to play with light, reflecting and sending it back equally as bright. She’d obviously not thought to put it up under a cap. Michael and Terry stood with pots in their hands, obviously caught in the act of switching the plants on one side with the plants on the other.
“How dare you,” shrieked Professor Sprout, so overcome with emotion that she was leaning on the doorway as if her knees had forgotten how to hold her up. “Come with me. We’re going to see the Headmistress.”
The large group of students followed Professor Sprout and her prisoners on the long trek up to the Headmistress’ office, eager to see this finished. All except Susan, Justin, Kevin and Ernie with Rose on his shoulders.
“Amateurs. They weren’t even doing it right. Got everything, Justin?”
He went over to the box where earlier he had stowed their supplies. “I’m afraid I’m short two sets.”
Susan looked up at Rose, smiling devilishly. “Rosey, darling. Be a sweetie and keep watch with Kevin?”
Three minutes later, Rose sat stiffly beside Kevin on a hard bench near the castle walls. “I seem to always be the lookout for these types of things,” she groused as she chewed at her thumbnail. “I’ve grown four whole inches this year and still I’m considered too small to do the really important work. I’m not even a First Year anymore. Haven’t been for a couple of years. One day…”
“I hope not too soon,” Kevin answered in a rather high-pitched voice. “If you were in there,” he cleared his throat a couple of times, “then you wouldn’t be out here with me. I’m not complaining.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” she shot back rather hotly, irritation making her cheeks flame until she felt his arm lazily creep along the back of the bench. “Oh, I thought you were just really tired when you kept yawning like that.”
“Do you mind?”
Rose settled back against the boy, pillowing her head against his shoulder. “Mind? Of course not. If I’d minded, I would have stopped you weeks ago. Did you think I hadn’t noticed? Why do you think I knew what was going on? If I hadn’t been watching you in the library the other day-“
“So you were watching me? I couldn’t tell.”
“It’s because you keep taking your glasses off. For instance, right this minute, tell me how many birds are sitting on the roof of the greenhouse.”
He was silent for a moment. “Three?”
“There aren’t any birds, you goon. I think you’d be more help to Justin and Ernie if you admitted you couldn’t see worth beans without your spectacles. They’re all the rage, you know, now that Harry Potter’s pair saved his life. No one will look down on you for wearing them. Besides, you’re ever so handsome in them.”
“And yours make you look… fetching.”
Rose grinned up at Kevin. “You need to practice saying pretty things to girls. That was a rather long pause as you searched for that word, as pretty as it was. Maybe you can try again in a couple of minutes?”
They sat in silence as they watched (or, rather, Rose watched and Kevin squinted) the three Hufflepuffs move from greenhouse to greenhouse, silent as cats when there are mice about.
“If you can’t see, how do you know I’m watching you?” Rose asked, picking up his hand to examine his thumbnails. They were so nice and straight, quite unlike her own.
“I can feel your eyes. My hair stands up on the back of my neck whenever you look at me.”
Rose felt the giggle rise up in her throat but a noise from their left stifled it. Someone was coming toward them, heedless of the noise and the commotion.