Mina spent the remainder of the night sat in bed with her cousin’s letter in her hand. She’d read it over countless times, practically hearing his voice as she passed over each word. “The Gaunts…” She whispered the family name. Of course she was familiar with the family name Gaunt, but only about as much as rumors got you. Her attention then returned to ‘the host’. “Some things never change.” Folding up the letter she slipped it under her mattress. “….hmm…?” “Possibly…” At the sound of voices Mina whipped her head around, looking through the curtains to see no one around. Drawing the curtains closed tighter she climbed over the covers and settled in, closing her eyes. After a while she eventually fell asleep, dulling herself to the world.
A light sensation brushed her cheek causing her turn the other way only to feel the sensation again. Changing her position again the sensations stopped. Then a voice whispered in each ear and her eyes snapped open; waking her from the dream. Opening her eyes in real life she found herself staring at the curtain above her. With a hand on her chest she looked around the room to see two large shadows on the other sides of the curtain. Both started at the end of the bed and began to slowly make their way to one side. Unable to form a sound she force the blankets off of her and retreated to the other side she slipping out of the bed and landing on the floor with a large thud.
“What the?!” “The hell?” “What was that?” The voices of her disoriented roommates filled the room soon followed by various lights. From Mina’s place on the floor she could see no one standing on the other side of her bed. “Draghi. Are you alright?” Nicole’s words snapped Mina out of it. “Yes. Yes.” Mina pulled herself up to sit on the bed. “I must’ve had a crazy dream.” Mina attempted to laugh it off a bit. “Sorry. I’ll strap down next time.” While her words were enough to send her friends back to sleep, Mina stayed awake for the rest of the night. Once it was light enough not to get in trouble she got ready for the day and went to the Quidditch field.
“Oi! Draghi!” Eccles voice was met with a soft smile. “Morning Eccles.” Mina cast him a wave before climbing up the stairs to zone out while they practiced their drills. The season hadn’t even started yet and here Eccles was, running a bloody bootcamp. He really was committed. Mina on the other hand just didn’t want any hassle. Letting her mind wander it eventually fell back Professor Dimitrov- the permanent…side piece? That wasn’t right, but something like that for her elder cousin. Drumming her nails against the bannister an idea came to mind on how to deal with him. It was a little crazy, but it just might work….she’d just have to wait for the right moment…or until she got too irritated.
“Draghi! Can you sort this while we all get ready?! We ran over!” Eccles voice carried through the field as if he were only a mere ten feet away. Peering down she realized he was referring to all the equipment which was a disaster. “Oh for the love of…” Mina muttered. “FINE! JUST HURRY ON BEFORE YOU MISS BREAKFAST!” She agreed, ignoring when he blew her kiss to start down the stairs.
…
Eccles and his lot arrived at the Great Hall still tucking their shirts in and doing up their ties. With breakfast coming to an end they descended upon the table and grabbed whatever they could manage. “Crap! We can’t just it so close next time.” Eccles muttered between stuffing food in his mouth with food and stuffing somethings in his pockets. “And whose fault is that you arse!” Sean shot back earning a round of chuckles from their mates. “Oi! Oi! So melodramatic.”
Nicole perked up at the sight of Landon with his usual group of ruffians as opposed to Senorita Larissa. A girl like that was never going to fully appreciate him. She was leaving after a year anyway! Walking over she placed a hand on Landon’s arm while turning to his lot. “Has Eccles been pushing you too far again?” The melodramatic responses made her break a smile. “We really do have to find other things for him to fill his time with. Season hasn’t even started yet.” She gave the man in question another warm smile.
“Let’s hurry on. Herbology’s startin’ soon and ah’m not tryin’ to be in the back with the baby Mandrakes again.” Sean pipped up, earning Landon’s attention. “Right. Let’s go.” Landon agreed before turning to Nicole. “Come on, can’t have our prefect late to class.” He gave her a charming smile that just almost won her over, but then she thought back to her exchange students. “I’ll be there in a tick.” Peeling of from the men, Nicole made her way over to Charity and Noah. “Morning guys. Are you ready to go to Herbology?”
…
Carson ran into Mina in the hall on their way to Herbology. “That’s an interesting way to get to class.” He observed. Mina cracked a laugh. “Don’t even get me started. All I have to say is one word: Quidditch.” She ran her fingers through her hair in mild frustration. “Still trapped in your loveless marriage.” Carson quipped. “Ha! Well, I do love him. He’s just a pain my arse.” Mina gave Carson a wink as they entered the class. Carson rolled his eyes. Priscilla walked over with a happily sated expression gracing her features. “Someone had a enjoyable night.” Carson’s dull tone made it clear he wasn’t too interested. “Oh yes, let’s just say this year won’t be so boring after all. So many things to learn.” Her smile only faltered a miniscule fraction when she noticed Mina. “Morning Draghi.” Priscilla’s tone almost practically matched Carson’s. “Morning…well, I’ll see you later.” Mina shot them a thumbs up and picked a spot near the back.
…
Chadwick had already done some reading ahead of time on the Herbology lessons and was both excited as well as apprehensive. Aria hadn’t read up on Herbology, but she knew how to read Chadwick well enough to guess that it was going to be something a bit more physical.
“Good morning class. I hope your summer vacations were splendid, but today we’re going to get right to it!” Professor Sprout clapped her hands together. “The task today will be to extract Snargaluff pods.” She began to explain. “ The Snargaluff is a non-sentient plant that had the appearance of a gnarled stump. Now while the Snargaluff may seem lifeless at first, the moment you touch it, it’s thorny vines will immediately launch an attack. It does this to protect the green pulsating pods we will be trying to get.” She explained, while flicking her wrist so a number of potted Snargaluff plants rose to rest on the tables in front of the students. “For this you will need to make groups of three and done your gloves for this. This is all to be done by hand, so feel free to take eye guards, aprons, and even padded aprons.” She gestured to the trunks behind the students for emphasis. “We don’t want the plants harmed, but we don’t want you harmed either. Isn’t that right, Eccles?” She shot him a sweet, yet disapproving look.
“Aye, Professor. I’ll put on the goggles.” He raised his hands in defeat.
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