heather; chapter five

──────────────
'CHARLIE'
──────────────

♡

Later that night, Mina accompanied Ella in the library as curfew neared, whose brow scrunched in concentration as her quill scratched down the third paragraph of an essay due earlier that day. They resided beside one another at their usual desk—the exact one they hid beneath to avoid Madame Hooch's flying lessons in their first year.

The ambience of the library in the later hours of the day was always comforting, with the soft voices of study groups and the cozy glow of the desk lamps; the perfect atmosphere for Mina to get lost in her thoughts.

His eyes had been so bright behind the frames of his glasses as he squinted in the sunlight; pupils constricting, allowing the vibrant forest green to draw her in. The way his hands felt over hers—the same hands that would run through his silky dark hair, making it messier than it already was. The way her stomach buzzed whenever he'd call her 'Lee' instead of 'Mina', his voice low and mellow like gentle acoustics—

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?"

"What?" Mina flushed, blinking out of her thoughts to see Ella's brow raised, giving her a pointed look. "No, I'm not," she lied.

"Yes, you are."

Mina lowered her voice to a whisper, sitting straighter innocently, "I'm not thinking about Harry."

"I never said his name," Ella grinned, marvelling in the blush that rose to her friend's cheeks. She spoke quietly, aware of Madam Pince's steely gaze. "Didn't you say you were gonna get over him this year?"

"That was before..." Mina trailed off.

"Before what?"

"I don't know," she breathed, resting her elbow on the desk; chin on her hand. "Before we came back to school. It seemed so much easier in my head, but then I saw him again at the platform and I just...relapsed."

"Because he got hotter, right?" Ella smirked as Mina's face became a greater shade of pink.

"Well, yeah, but that's beside the point--" she rolled her eyes as Ella made a noise, stifling her laughter, the two glancing at Madam Pince's desk to see if she noticed--but her eyes remained trained to a book; thin glasses low on her nose.

"What am I supposed to do?" Mina sighed. "Every time I look at him I just melt."

"Why don't you just find a different guy to like?" Ella rested her quill in its inkpot, leaning closer to keep their voices low, "It can't be that hard, right?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Well..." Ella looked around the library for a moment, glancing at the students around them. Her eyes settled on someone straight ahead of the two. "What about him—that's Charlie, right? He's been giving you eyes for the past, like, twenty minutes."

Following her gaze, Mina spotted Charlie Donahue, a Ravenclaw, standing at a bookshelf across the room; his back turned to them. She couldn't deny he was cute—though it's not as though she'd paid much mind to him before.

Just as the two watched the blond boy scan the shelf before him, they jumped as a massive thump broke the quietness of the library as Josiah, the third part of their Hufflepuff trio, dropped a stack of heavy books onto the desk beside Mina. He took a seat and ignored Madam Pince's death glare burning into the back of his head.

"I heard he's bi," Josiah whispered, using the pile of books to shield him from Charlie's line of sight if he turned around. "So if you don't want him, Minnie, I'll gladly take him off your hands."

Used to the nicknames he gave everyone, Mina didn't bother to correct Josiah like she would with anyone else.

"That's just cause you're into blonds," Ella smiled teasingly, and he pretended to be offended before nodding in agreement.

"Except for Draco Malfoy," Josiah added, and the two nodded. "Or, should I say, Bleach-Boy? Bleach-Boy with daddy issues?"

"Look," Ella whispered, and they glanced back to Charlie, who was still eyeing the same shelf, hands in his pockets. "He's been lingering at that same shelf for ages!"

As if on cue, Charlie peeked over his shoulder in their direction, sending a smile to Mina as his eyes met hers across the room.

"HE JUST SMILED AT YOU—!" Josiah and Ella chorused a little too loudly, resulting in yet another glare from Madam Pince and Mina's cheeks to heat up as Charlie's gaze flickered from her to her friends.

Her chair squeaked on the wooden floor as she stood abruptly.

"I'm, uh," Mina stammered whilst gathering her things, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'm going to bed. Night."

Quickly leaving Josiah and Ella to themselves—snickering at her inability to cope with mild embarrassing situations—, Mina didn't look behind her to see if Charlie was watching her receding figure. Instead, she focused on putting one foot in front of the other and getting out of the library (which seemed so warm all of a sudden) to the cool halls.

Moving into the dimmer hallway as she left the doors of the library, Mina finally felt like she could breathe, fatigue stinging her eyes. This solace didn't last long, however, because just as she rounded the corner, she bumped into something solid.

Someone.

"Shit, sorry," Harry spoke, a hand on her arm; steadying her. His face seemed to brighten as she looked up. "Oh! hi, Mina."

"Hey," she breathed, feeling her face warm even more at just his proximity.

His eyes lingered on her, and she tried not to notice how fast her heart was beating. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"You look a little pink."

"Oh—right," she brought a hand to her cheek, trying to cool its warmth. "Yeah, I'm just, uh, tired." Which was the truth—though not the entire truth.

"Been a long day?" Harry grinned, leaning on the wall beside him, and she smiled back; their voices soft as they spoke to match the quietness of the hallway.

"Mhm. Gryffindor's quidditch captain tried teaching me how to ride a broom and everything. I dunno if you know him, though."

"Ah, well," he followed her tone. "You'll have to introduce me. He sounds like a great guy. He sounds smart too, and good-looking, and—"

"You're a narcissist, we get it," Mina interjected, laughing lightly, and his smile widened.

"You love it."

"...Debatable."

"Is it really, though?" he teased, leaning in a little closer, and she scoffed lightheartedly, masking her sudden breathlessness.

"Yes. And, while, I'd love to stay and chat," she grinned, "I should go. I bid you and your narcissism a good night, Potter."

"And I bid you and your pink cheeks a good sleep, Lee," he chuckled, and for a moment, neither moved to leave the other, but it was Mina who eventually stepped back.

Smiling to herself as she walked away, Mina was already replaying the conversation in her head, a warm buzz in her chest: much more awake than she had previously been. Harry, however, remained where he'd been standing, and watched her receding figure until she was out of sight.

♡

a/n:
hope u liked the chapter <33
i love harry and mina's banter

also new header!!

-g