VIII: LET THE LIGHT IN

                                    

                                          
The room was smothered in an array of deformed chirps and curses as students attempted to complete their charms. Y/n had yet to attempt anything, instead choosing to slide her slender fingers across the frayed words printed within her textbook. The avifors charm was something she had encountered at the end of her studies at Beauxbaton, with the curriculum being slightly staggered in comparison to that of Hogwarts. Still she found herself hesitant to cast the charm, especially due to the sharp glances sent her way from the stoic boy beside her. She couldn't see his eyes but she certainly felt them. They felt as though they would expose her every being, sending cascades of cold up and down her spine. Finally giving in to the fact that the pair was running out of time to act, Y/n picked up her wand, pointing it towards the teacup in front of her. 
"Avifors"
Her voice was clear and unwavering, making sure to enunciate each syllable as the porcelain before her transformed into a beautiful songbird. It sang merrily at her, hopping towards its creator with a slight tilt of its head in wonder. Y/n couldn't help but smile at the creature, charmed by its beauty. She scooped it up delicately into her open palms, turning to her partner with a soft smile. 
"Your turn"
Matheo glanced between the girl and the chirping animal grasped within her palms. The boy couldn't help but notice how similar their expressions were, both looking up at him with wonder and anticipation. Clearing his throat, he turned forward, casting his own spell onto the cup before him. Instead of a petite songbird, before him sat a small vulture which cawed up at him. 
Y/n let out a gasp of excitement before congratulating her partner. A small sense of accomplishment bloomed throughout his chest at the compliment, bubbling up to form the faintest smile he could muster which Y/n barely caught. As the girl set her bird back onto the table, the smaller of the two timidly approached the vulture, tilting its head before swiftly nudging itself under the wing of the larger animal. Y/n cooed at the sight, wishing she had the means to capture the moment.
"L/n your bird is invading my vulture's space"
His face was ever so serious, eyebrows even bunching up as he looked at her to show his disapproval. 
She could only roll her eyes slightly, 
"They're just having fun, look"
The two were nestled together on the table, simply cuddling while the classroom around them continued to burst into chaos. 
"Admit it they're adorable"
He absentmindedly traced the scene with his eyes, watching as she closed the gap between her face and the birds as she tentatively began patting the vulture's feathers. 
"Mhm, adorable"
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"Cmon Y/n cheer up, they're announcing the two wizard tournament contestants tonight!"
Cho was a whirlwind of energy as she excitedly pulled the girl from her bed, forcing her to get ready for dinner in the great hall. Y/n had been sulking all day following her transfiguration class. Mcgonnagal had abruptly ended their lesson, returning all of the birds and almost-birds to their original form, leaving a devastated girl who had become inexplicably attached to her little songbird and the slithering boy's vulture. 
Still, she forced herself to quietly brush her hair with her pearl hairbrush and flatten down her clothes before she was whisked away in a flurry of excitement with her Ravenclaw friends to the great hall. It was as if the entire student body had been doused in a silencing spell, the only sound being emitted from the scraping of utensils upon porcelain plates as they all waited in bated breath. The beauxbaton girls were situated right beside Y/n at the Ravenclaw table, placing Fleur on one side of her and Cho on the other. As the plates began to clear away, y/n noticed the slight bounce in Fleur's knee accompanied by her teeth chewing upon her plump bottom lip. Y/n quietly extend a hand below the table and grasped onto the blonde's.
"Fleur you're going to be great"
The blonde looked towards her slightly calmer than before with only an etch of stress woven through her knitted eyebrows.
"Promise?"
"Pinky swear"
The two quickly interlocked their pinkies before turning back to Dumbeldore who had begun to wrap up his speech, clearly just as excited to see the future prospects of the tournament. 
"Without further ado, let's begin"
The candles within the hall were almost immediately extinguished, plunging the room into a cold darkness lit up only by the goblet placed centre stage. It flickered at an abnormal rate, picking up as Dumbeldore placed himself next to it, awaiting the first champions name. It finally burst out into blue embers, produced a single slip of paper. Plucking open the parchment with his slender fingers, the headmaster swept his spectacles over the writing,
"Cedric Diggory" 
The hall erupted into cheers from the Hogwarts students, accumulating around the yellow clad table. Cedric rose from his seated position with a look of surprise etched across his face. His was the only with said emotion as the school stared up at their golden boy. Y/n couldn't help but let a smile see itself across her lips, her hands fluttering into a clapping motion as she cheered the sweet boy on. His eye subtly threw themselves across the hall, sweeping across the many faces sat within it. 
To any bystander it would have looked as though he was simply admiring the support he was receiving, but as his eyes swept across the Ravenclaw table, they landed on one girl in particular. Y/n met his gaze, smile growing as she began encouraging him to move forward with her claps. His face melted into a grin, he couldn't help but throw her a cheeky wink as he moved towards the room designated for triwizard tournament contenders. A swarm of girls crowded around where Y/n sat began swooning at his sudden gesture, giggling over his wink and who it might have been directed at. Y/n felt her cheeks flush, bringing a hand up to her face to feel for a sudden temperature. Fleur who had noticed the interaction, giggle from beside her 
"You're going a bit red, do you have a fever"
Not catching her friends teasing tone, the girl's face contorted into one of worry.
"I hope not I would hate to fall ill"
The blonde gaped at her, stuttering out an unbelieving okay before turning back to the goblet which had begun to shift in colour once more. 
Following the announcement of the remainder of the champions Y/n's hands were raw from cheering on her friend and Dumbledore turned away from the goblet, beginning to address the crowd before him. His words were quickly cut off when the goblet ferociously lit up, spitting up a final piece of wrinkled paper.
"Harry Potter"
Y/n's head whipped towards the red and gold clad table along with everyone else's, watching as his face paled and mouth gaped open in confusion. She couldn't help but wrinkly her eyebrows, feeling as they closed in together as she let the words wash over her. Harry was all but forced towards the room containing the other 3 students, followed by a wave of whispers and taunts already surrounding his name.
What a night to be alive. 
A/n Another chapter is up and I have so many new ideas for the rest of the chapter, hooray! Let me know what you guys think and where you think I should take the story. Hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to comment, I love reading all of them. 
Love, G