Chapter Text
The following Tuesday, Rush Clovis and his closest friends waited in the corridor after a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, watching as Padmé finished packing up her books.
Padmé was not in a good mood. The Gryffindors had that class with Slytherin, and once again, Anakin Skywalker had stolen all her shine. Padmé liked Professor Kenobi, he was a good teacher and very good at his subject, but he had a tendency to favor his favorite students, especially Anakin. As much as she didn’t like his clear favoritism towards Anakin, it was only logical. Professor Kenobi had been a mentor to him for many years, ever since Kenobi’s own mentor died, who happened to be Anakin's father. At least, that was what Sabé had told her during their second year. Their relationship was strong, so she would just have to study harder to outshine Anakin next time. After she finished packing, she walked into the corridor with Dormé by her side, filled with a newfound sense of determination. That is, until she saw Rush and his crew. They hadn’t spoken since their altercation. Padmé had managed to avoid him so far, even skipping a meal, when the only place left at the table had been near him.
“Ah, the two tattletales. You know, because of your well-thought-out lie, I might be getting a suspension. Couldn’t you just have broken up with me like a normal person, instead of spreading lies about me?” Rush said.
“She didn’t lie,” Dormé all but yelled, still hurt over the situation.
“Oh, look, the sidekick finally learned how to talk.” Rush turned around and laughed, which his friends joined.
“Shut it. We both know what you said,” Dormé replied.
“Just to be clear, you are basing the entire breakup on something that your mudblood friend told you?” Rush asked and looked at Padmé.
Dormé got quiet and glanced at Padmé.
When Padmé spoke, she remained cool and calculated, trying not to let her anger get the better of her again. Instead, she focused on making sure every word was laced with finality, her hatred for the man in front of her nearly palpable. “No. It was just the final straw, I was planning on breaking up with you before that. And you do realize that by saying that, you just confirmed she was telling the truth, right? I knew you were slow, but that right there is probably the stupidest thing you have ever done. You are definitely getting suspended now,” Padmé said, barely holding her anger in check. All she wanted to do was punch him again, repeatedly. This time with a closed fist.
Rush let out a chuckle. “Oh, so you are going to snitch again?”
“You should try getting near a snitch once in a while, that way it wouldn’t be as embarrassing when we lose a quidditch match,” she shot back. One of his friends tried to hide a laugh with a cough, but it was unsuccessful.
“That is it, you are going down,” Rush whipped out his wand and yelled, “CRUCI-”
A red light came from behind them before Clovis could finish the spell. He was sent back a few feet and was frozen. A few of his friends raised their wands but quickly retreated, dragging their frozen friend mercilessly over the floor.
“Are you ladies alright?” their rescuer's voice came from behind them. Padmé turned around and saw him. Anakin Skywalker. Out of all the people, why did it have to be him?
“We are fine, just go.”
“Are you sure?” He asked, his voice sounding almost worried. It caught her off guard. A tone that Padmé hadn’t heard from him before. It was usually very cocky and full of mischief.
“Yes, now go,” she said sternly, her voice not getting any softer, despite his apparent concern. He looked stunned for a moment, but quickly obliged.
“Did you have to be so cold? He just saved us from an unforgivable curse,” Dormé asked once Anakin had turned a corner, and it was just the two of them in the hallway.
“Whether he saved us or not, he is an ass,” Padmé replied, and started picking up her books, which had somehow fallen out of her backpack during their previous altercation.
“Padmé, he just saved us! Aren’t you grateful for that?”
“Yeah, you’re right. He was a giant ass before. Now he is just an ass.”
That earned her a chuckle. “You are impossible,” Dormé grinned, all her hurt from before magically faded away.
“He is the one who is impossible, such a show-off,” Padmé muttered.
“Are you seriously still mad at him for calling you Ms. Perfect a few years ago? Or is it because he is the only one better than you in DADA, and you want the crown as the undisputed best student?” Dormé said, a slight smile appearing on her face.
“The first one is a contributing factor, and I’m not even going to comment on the second one. Everything about him just irritates me.”
Dormé gasped, “Oh my god, you are in love.”
Padmé scoffed, “What? With Anakin ‘Arrogant’ Skywalker? Never.”
“You are totally in love. I will be holding a big ‘I told you so’ sign at your wedding.”
“You know what, if we ever get married, I will thank you in my vows. That is how confident I am of it never happening.”
“Better be a good thank-you, then. Because it is happening.”
“Whatever, let’s get to lunch,” Padmé said and practically started dragging Dormé with her by hand.
They walked in silence to the hall, where they found their usual place at the Gryffindor table. 15 minutes later, the entire hall went quiet. Padmé turned around and saw Anakin Skywalker entering the hall with some of his friends.
“Didn’t he just curse Rush?” Kit Fisto said in a low voice. Apparently, rumors traveled fast at Hogwarts.
Before Anakin and his friends could make their way over to the Slytherin table, the potions' professor, Mace Windu, made his way over to them and pulled Anakin to the side. After what looked to be a heated discussion, he pulled Anakin into the entrance hall, which did not bode well for him. Professor Windu was the head of Slytherin, and if the rumors were to be believed, he and Anakin did not get on, at all. According to Sabé, Anakin had been getting a lot of detentions over their six years at Hogwarts. Of course, most of his detentions had been fair. Like the time he and some of his friends had snuck away to Hogsmeade in the middle of the night during their fourth year. And it was only after they arrived in Hogsmeade that they realized that all the shops were closed during the night. Watching Anakin get escorted out of the great hall brought Padmé a sense of joy, regardless of the fact that the reason he was in trouble was for defending her and Dormé. Serves him right! They didn’t ask for his help in the first place. And furthermore, they had the situation completely under control.
Soon after, Professor Farr (sadly in professor-mode and not uncle-mode) came and asked the two girls to follow him to the headmaster's office. The headmaster was a strange guy. He was very short, spoke in a weird manner, and nobody really knew anything concrete about him. He was from a poorly developed country that nobody had heard of. He was known as Headmaster Yoda and nothing else, nobody even knew if it was his first or last name. His age was also unknown, but he was extremely wise, and his magical powers were rivaled by no one.
“Are we in trouble?” Dormé asked, as the doors to the main hall closed behind them.
Professor Farr sighed. “In all honesty, I don’t know. The situation as described to me sounded quite messy and there were conflicting stories.”
They walked in silence until they reached the headmaster's office. Padmé was just about to ask the professor if Anakin was going to get suspended when they heard a voice through the door.
“Mr. Anakin Skywalker, if you don’t start saying something, you will get detention!” the voice yelled. They didn’t need to see who the voice belonged to, knowing that Professor Windu was the only teacher to use a student's full name when angry. Fortunately, Padmé had never been on the receiving end of it, unlike Anakin, who had been yelled at in every potions lesson without fail since their third year. It was almost a tradition now. Like with his detentions, most of his scoldings had been deserved. In their third year, he and his best friend Rex decided to try and invent a new potion when they should have been making the Skele-gro potion. The room had been filled with an unknown green mist, and Professor Windu had deemed it too dangerous to continue the lesson, so the class had been dismissed early. The creators of the mist had to endure three months of daily detentions with Professor Windu, although they had been excused for Quidditch practice. Professor Windu might have been tough, but he was also very competitive and proud, so the fear of his star seeker being out of practice outweighed his need to punish said seeker, at least when there was a Quidditch practice or match scheduled. Despite his very rocky relationship with his professor, Anakin had still managed to learn enough in the lessons to get an Outstanding on his OWLs. He and Padmé were the only ones to do so. How he got that grade was still a mystery to Padmé.
Professor Farr opened the door and led the girls into the headmaster’s office. It had been years since Padmé was there. The only other time was during her third year, when she and Sola had to use the floo to return home. Their father had been in an accident involving a rubber duck, car, and a camera. It landed him in St. Mungos, but luckily he was completely healthy now. Although how the accident occurred was still unknown to them, as he refused to tell them anything other than he vowed to never drive a car again.
Inside the office was Anakin, Rush, his friends from earlier, and Professor Windu. Anakin was seated in a chair with his arms crossed and a sullen look on his face. Rush was seated opposite him with a smug smile on his face.
“Ms. Naberrie, Ms. Byrne. Great to see you, it is,” the headmaster said from his place behind his desk. “An unlucky situation we have. Need your version, we do.”
“You were witness to their altercation just after the fourth period, right?” Professor Windu asked, and moved his eyes away from Anakin to look at them for the first time.
“Yes. That is correct, Professor,” Padmé said, and Dormé nodded beside her.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning, leave out no details,” Professor Farr said from behind them.
Padmé then went on to retell the entire event, with the occasional input from Dormé. Everything from their breakup to them making their way to the headmaster's office. But she did leave out her and Dormé’s conversation about Anakin. Rush tried to interrupt her several times to object, but was told to hush by Professor Windu. After the fourth time, the professor cast a silencing charm on him. Anakin, on the other hand, just sat with his arms crossed and observed her in silence.
“She is lying, she is only defending him because they like each other!” Rush yelled once the charm was lifted.
Anakin and Padmé looked at each other and then started laughing, despite the seriousness of the situation, which earned them disapproving looks from the other people present. “I assure you that there is nothing going on between me and Ms. Perfect,” Anakin said. The use of that nickname made Padmé send him a death glare. She had hoped that he had forgotten it by now.
“It is Ms. Perfect and me,” Padmé corrected him, before continuing. “And I would appreciate you not calling me that again. But as he said, there is nothing going on between us. It is completely absurd to even say that. And furthermore-”
“Padmé.” Professor Farr cut her off, and Padmé stopped.
“Everything needed to be heard, we have,” the headmaster said. “Back to the great hall, you girls may go.”
The two Gryffindor girls quietly exited the office and slowly started walking back to the great hall in silence.
Dormé broke the silence after a short while,“I’m not hungry anymore, so do you want to go back to the common room? We might be able to-”
Padmé cut her off, “Merlin, I hate him so much. I hope I never have to talk with him again.”
“Rush?”
“What… Yes. Of course, him too. I was speaking of Arrogant Skywalker.”
“I have bad news for you then, I might be going on a date with his best friend on Sunday, before the game. It is just a picnic, but I’m still super excited.”
Padmé let out a happy yelp and almost squeezed the life out of Dormé in a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so happy for you!”
“Rex has convinced some of the house elves to pack us a basket, and we will eat it by the lake. He made it sound super romantic.” Dormé was practically bouncing with happiness.
“Wait, why am I just finding out about this now?”
“Well, he asked me during DADA, and the whole ‘unforgivable curse mess’ seemed a little more important at the time.”
“Makes sense. So, how long have you two been talking?”
“Talking? Not for long. But I always see him smiling at me, and looking my way when I’m passing. To be honest, I always found him intriguing, and exciting. I always tried to play it cool, you know, looking at him and then looking away. Playing hard to get, making him chase me. I read in Witch Weekly that it is the best tactic.”
“You shouldn’t believe everything that you read in Witch Weekly, you know that, right?”
“I know, I know. But this piece of advice seems good.”
Padmé shook her head in amusement and followed Dormé towards the Gryffindor common room.