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Ernie couldn't get it out of his head. These intrusive thoughts were new to him. He'd always had uncomfortable thoughts about other boys, of course, but they'd never been like this. When he caught himself looking at certain parts of Justin, he could easily push those thoughts away. Justin was his best mate—a fine fellow. It was simply improper to look at him that way. And yes, he'd let himself gaze at Cedric Diggory, but that was more admiration than anything else. This obsession with Anthony Goldstein, however—this was new and dangerous.
It was already August, and Ernie was only half-finished with his Potions essay. He’d only read two chapters of Advanced Transfiguration, and he didn’t even want to think about his Charms homework. Every time he went up to his room, made himself a mug of cocoa, and settled down to work, his mind got clouded with images of Anthony Goldstein. Ernie saw that thin, curly-haired Ravenclaw laughing with his friends and racing them off the Hogwarts Express. He saw it all in slow motion: Anthony turned, grinning that maddening grin, and blew a kiss over his shoulder at Ernie. Ernie had almost died on the spot, but Anthony – untouchable Anthony Goldstein– had simply laughed and kept running.
Ernie barely knew Anthony Goldstein. He seemed to be a quiet, well-behaved boy, the Hogwarts Express incident notwithstanding. He always had the most compelling answers in Potions. He was so brilliant that even Professor Snape seemed to like him. And oh, dear god, he was gorgeous. Anthony seemed to know this, which made it all the more maddening. His eyes were large and brown, and his mouth was so wide and expressive. Ernie’s favorite expression was the soft smirk that he gave his Ravenclaw friends when they shared some secret, clever joke. And those curls! Ernie had always liked Justin’s hair, but Anthony’s curls were a totally different level of lovely.
An hour later, Ernie’s cocoa had gone cold, and his textbooks lay forgotten.
“Arrgh…Tergeo!”
Ernie sighed. Another cleaning spell, and another afternoon wasted dreaming about Anthony Goldstein.