Chapter Text
Raelle didn’t exactly project a Hufflepuff image.
She was grumpy, closed-off, and many students were afraid of her. It was a mystery to many as to why the sorting hat had thought she would fit in with what was commonly seen as the sweetest house.
However, to Tally Craven, fellow Hufflepuff, it made complete sense.
Raelle was fiercely loyal, and she was ride-or-die for those she cared about. That screamed Hufflepuff, regardless of how cold she seemed to the other students.
Tally was her only close friend in Hufflepuff, having broken through her walls within the first few days of meeting her in their fifth year.
Now, in their sixth year, Tally was the only person Raelle really spoke to, other than Abigail Bellweather, Tally’s other friend.
Abigail was a Slytherin, and there was clearly no mystery as to why. The girl was ambitious, devilishly smart, and she had more drive to succeed than anyone Raelle had ever met.
Perhaps it was just how she had been raised, considering her mom was famed auror Petra Bellweather. Petra was renowned among the wizarding world for being the auror who caught some of the most notorious dark witches and wizards of her time.
So, yeah, Abigail had a lot to live up to.
But Abigail clearly had a promising future ahead of her, too. She was the top of nearly all her classes, and she was basically a prodigy in Defense against the Dark Arts.
Raelle personally thought she was a little stuck-up. But, she suffered her presence because she cared about Tally, and Tally was clearly fond of the Bellweather, regardless of how pompous she seemed.
The only place Raelle seemed to be able to compete with Abigail in any serious way was on the quidditch field.
Raelle was a gifted flier, and she was Hufflepuff’s most promising keeper in years. She and Abigail had a fierce rivalry in quidditch, and it clearly showed in the matches between Hufflepuff and Slytherin.
Abigail was Syltherin’s main chaser, and she threw the quaffle at Hufflepuff’s goal with unimaginable speed when she attempted to score. The only keeper that was really able to defend against Abigail’s scores was Raelle.
She was a natural keeper, eerily gifted at blocking any score attempts, and it clearly frustrated Abigail to no end.
Raelle thought it was hilarious.
Those games between Hufflepuff and Slytherin had become the most exciting matches in Hogwarts. Many students showed up just to witness Raelle and Abigail’s competition firsthand, marveling at their speed and accuracy. They had a certain rhythm, as if Raelle could sense where Abigail was going to hit it, and Abigail could predict how Raelle would react to her shots.
Needless to say, those were exciting days.
However, outside the field, Abigail and Raelle were perfectly civil to each other, even friendly, if Raelle could ever admit it.
(Okay, so maybe Abigail wasn’t as horrible as she thought. Whatever.)
Raelle kept to herself most of the time, only speaking to Tally and Abigail during meals and in her free time.
The other students tended to stay away, clearly intimidated by the constant scowl that was always clear on the Hufflepuff’s face. And Raelle liked it that way. She was better off on her own, anyway.
Until Scylla Ramshorn.
She’s not exactly sure when it began. When she started to notice Scylla, starting to search for those blue eyes wherever she went, when she became fascinated with the Ravenclaw.
Maybe it started in her fifth year, when she noticed the girl in the blue robes sitting a few seats away in potions.
Slughorn had been rambling about something or other, and as usual, Raelle was tuning him out. She twirled her quill across her fingers, only glancing up when she heard a soft voice fill the room.
“Amortentia, Professor Slughorn,” she answered the professor’s question, glancing around the room apprehensively as Slughorn applauded.
“Correct, again, Scylla.” he said, turning with a flourish back to his chalkboard.
Raelle was tuning Slughorn out yet again as she glanced over at the brunette who had answered. She wasn’t sure how she had never seen the girl, she was beautiful.
Short brown locks partly covered her face, but Raelle spied a small nose and a sharp jaw, completed by a pair of piercing blue eyes.
Before she knew it, she was staring, eyes wide as she took in the girl’s beauty.
Unfortunately, she was distracted by movement around the classroom. Everyone was getting up, moving towards the ingredients set out on the desk at the front.
Raelle sighed, sneaking in one more glance at the girl before she stood and grabbed the ingredients for her potion.
Scylla.
Raelle almost swooned.
She forced herself to focus as she began to work on the potion. Amortentia, she noticed when she looked up at the board for instructions. She almost wished she had paid attention when she saw how complicated the instructions were.
Her eyes widened at how many words filled the chalkboard. Suddenly, Tally elbowed her side, grabbing her attention and giving her a flat look. “You didn’t pay attention, did you?”
Raelle gave her a sheepish grin. “That’s why I have you, Tal.” she said. “You pay attention for both of us.”
Tally shook her head. “You’re lucky I’m here.” she said, gathering their ingredients. “Your talent won’t always cut it, Raelle,”
Raelle snorted. “C’mon, you sound like Anacostia.” she said, preparing their cauldron.
“She has a point,” Tally began, frowning when Raelle began cutting their ingredients.
“Whatever,” Raelle responded. “I’ll be fine.”
Tally shook her head, looking down to focus on her own work.
As they fell into a familiar rhythm, having been partners for a while now, Raelle found herself glancing over to the other side of the question. Her eyes were drawn to the girl in blue robes once again.
Scylla looked as if she was at home. Potions was clearly where she thrived, and it showed through her work. She effortlessly cut up the ingredients, accurately measuring them and dropping them in the cauldron. She barely gave the complicated instructions a glance before she began stirring and mixing the ingredients, clearly unworried about anything going wrong.
It was amazing to watch.
Too amazing, apparently. Raelle jumped at the sharp pain in her thumb, immediately looking down towards her hand to find her thumb covered in blood.
She winced as she noticed the cut on the appendage. It was pretty deep.
She immediately pressed her thumb against her robes in an effort to stop the bleeding. Tally turned, having noticed Raelle’s abrupt reaction. She glanced down at the bloody table and the hand wrapped up in the folds of her robe, and her eyes widened as she realized what had happened.
“Raelle!” she hissed, grabbing her friend’s wrist and pulling her hand towards her. “You need to be more careful!”
“I know, I know,” Raelle said, wincing as Tally pressed a hand against the wound, wiping away the blood.
“You should go to the infirmary.” Tally said, already turning to raise her hand.
“No!” Raelle said immediately, not wanting to draw any attention to herself, especially Scylla’s. “I can heal it.”
Tally narrowed her eyes. “Rae, you know you’re not supposed to-”
“It’s fine,” Raelle said, already lifting her thumb to the table.
“What if someone sees?” Tally asked, apprehension creeping into her voice.
“They won’t,” Raelle insisted, grimacing as she wrapped her other hand around her bleeding thumb.
Before Tally could stop her, Raelle was already muttering a quiet chant under her breath, her voice becoming deeper as she summoned her healing power.
Tally glanced around nervously, scared about anyone catching them. Thankfully, everyone seemed too focused on their brew, struggling with the complex process for brewing Amortentia.
As soon as she began, Raelle had finished, grabbing Tally’s shoulder to get her attention. Tally jumped, sighing in relief as Raelle held up her thumb. It was no longer bleeding, the cut having sealed itself, leaving only unblemished skin.
“You should be more careful, you know,” Tally chided. “You can’t do that all the time, Anacostia told you to keep your abilities a secret.”
“Yeah, well,” Raelle said with a shrug, already turning back to her work. “What does she know?”
“A lot!” Tally hissed at Raelle in disbelief.
“Whatever!” Raelle replied. “She doesn’t have to find out. What’s the big deal, anyway? Why should I even keep it a secret?”
Tally shook her head, giving Raelle a warning look. “I don’t know, Rae, but I do know that Anacostia sounded pretty serious when she told you to keep it to herself. And I trust her.”
Raelle sighed, nodding. She trusted Anacostia, too. The woman was her favorite professor, and it seemed that she genuinely cared for her students.
Tally nodded, seeming to relax at Raelle’s surrender. She returned to her work, dumping the ingredients into the cauldron and squinting at the chalkboard.
Raelle rested her head against her fist as Tally began to stir the potion, sighing as she glanced back towards Scylla’s desk.
She almost fell off of her stool when she found blue eyes staring back at her.
They looked at each other for a few moments, Raelle’s eyes wide in amazement as she gazed at the girl.
Scylla gave her a small smirk, looking Raelle up and down before turning back toward her potion.
Even that small bit of eye contact had Raelle’s heart racing, blinking a few times to bring back her focus.
Maybe that was when she started to become infatuated with Scylla Ramshorn. She found herself searching for a familiar pair of blue eyes wherever she went, always looking over towards the right corner of the classroom during her potions lesson.
However much she searched for the girl and looked on from a distance, Raelle could never find the courage to talk to her.
It was strange, she had never been terribly nervous about speaking to girls before, but something about Scylla was...different. She felt completely unapproachable, and Raelle wasn’t going to go against her gut.
Plus, she didn’t feel like embarrassing herself in front of such a pretty girl.
“Are you looking for that Ravenclaw girl again?” Abigail’s voice broke her out of her reverie.
Raelle scowled, looking towards the floor, and Abigail smirked. The three of them were on their way to the Great Hall to have dinner.
“You should go talk to her!” Tally insisted. “You’ve been pining after this girl for more than a year now!”
“I’m not pining!” Raelle exclaimed, clenching her jaw. “I just think she’s cool, okay?”
“Uh huh,” Abigail said.
Raelle bristled. “I’m serious.”
Abigail rolled her eyes, taking a seat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall. Tally and Raelle sat down beside her, Raelle scowling as she did.
“Yeah, sure, Raelle,” Abigail said, turning to face her and giving her a flat look. “Whatever you say.”
“I’m not pining!” Raelle exclaimed a bit too loudly, drawing the attention of many other students. She shrunk slightly in her seat as multiple students turned and gave her questioning looks. “I’m not,” she said quietly, turning to face Abigail.
Abigail simply raised an eyebrow, blinking and reaching out to grab some food from the center of the table. “Okay, fine,” Abigail said as she filled her plate. “You’re not pining. Besides, you should be focusing on quidditch more than some stupid girl.”
Raelle sighed a little. Abigail wasn’t wrong.
“Careful, Collar,” Abigail said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “You get anymore distracted, and Slytherin will end up crushing Hufflepuff at the game tomorrow.”
Raelle straightened. “Yeah, right,” she responded with a cocky smirk. “You wish, Bellweather.”
Tally laughed as she placed her arm between her two friends. “Alright, you two,” she said. “Save that fight for the match.”
Raelle and Abigail gave each other one last look before turning to focus on eating.
Tally slumped over, dropping her arms and beginning to fill her plate.
Raelle followed in her stead, reaching forward towards the center of the table. Even as she began to eat and talk more with her friends, there was a part of her head that couldn’t stop thinking about Scylla.
She glanced around subtly, eyes catching on the lone figure that ate quietly at the Ravenclaw table.
Raelle was aware that she was beginning to stare, and she forced herself to look away before either Tally or Abigail could notice.
She didn’t need anymore teasing from them.
Sighing, she looked down at her plate. Maybe one day, she would get to know Scylla Ramshorn. She could only hope.
Scylla Ramshorn was an isolated person.
Luckily for her, being a Ravenclaw made it very easy to avoid talking to people. She could always leave to go sit in the library, or drone on and on about potions until the person she was speaking to got bored enough.
She liked it that way. No attachments. It was better for everyone involved.
Since her parents had died two years ago during her fourth year at Hogwarts, she had struggled to find the motivation to continue with anything. School seemed meaningless, and friendships even more so.
It was easier to be alone, and she liked it that way.
Until Raelle Collar.
She didn’t know what it was about that girl that drew her in, but there was definitely something there. Perhaps it was the constant scowl she had on her face despite being a Hufflepuff. Perhaps it was the similar way she tended to isolate herself, with the exception of two close friends. Perhaps it was how good she was at flying, how she seemed to be more at home in the air than on the ground.
Perhaps it was her secret magical powers.
Scylla often found herself looking back on that day in potions, the day she had seen Raelle Collar do something...strange.
Brewing Amortentia was no small feat, but Raelle seemed as if she couldn’t care less as she worked on her potion.
Potions was Scylla’s favorite subject, and fittingly, she was rather skilled at it. So, on that particular day, she had finished earlier than her classmates, and she found herself gazing around the classroom and watching her fellow classmates.
As she looked around the room, her eyes were drawn towards Raelle Collar, a blonde Hufflepuff with gorgeous blue eyes and a stiff posture.
Scylla couldn’t place what felt different about this girl, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away as the girl cut her ingredients with skilled fingers. Her hands were purposeful in their movements, her fingers long and deft as they chopped the root.
Scylla noticed the small silver ring that dwelled on Raelle’s first finger. She was willing to bet that the ring was more than simply a fashion statement, considering the way Raelle seemed to mindlessly twist it when her partner motioned for her to place her ingredients in the cauldron.
Raelle began to cut more ingredients, and Scylla tore her eyes away as she noted Raelle’s eyes drifting upwards towards her.
Scylla stirred her cauldron more, sparing a glance at the board to check and see if any extra stirring would affect the potion at all.
Luckily, it seemed it did not, and Scylla continued to stir the brew until she was confident Raelle wasn’t looking anymore.
She hesitantly turned back towards the girl, eyes widening when she noticed the blood suddenly pouring from a cut on Raelle’s thumb.
She could do nothing but watch as Raelle pressed the wound against her robes with a grimace. This caught her partner’s attention, leading to a whispered exchange between the two of them, her partner’s eyes wide and her movements panicked
And then, Raelle did something strange.
She wrapped her other hand around her injured thumb, and Scylla watched as she muttered under her breath.
Scylla couldn’t explain it, but she could feel Raelle’s power from across the room. Her partner glanced around the room nervously, and Scylla quickly looked away, as if she hadn’t been intently watching the scene.
Glancing back towards the pair, she had to control her shock as she noticed that Raelle’s eyes seemed to glow a bright blue as she whispered.
And then, as quickly as it began, it was over, and Raelle seemed to be back to normal, holding up an unblemished thumb to show her partner.
Scylla’s eyes widened, and she turned back towards her cauldron, trying to comprehend what she had seen. Never before had she witnessed magic like that. She’d never even heard of that. The power she had felt radiating from the Hufflepuff…
She turned back to look at the girl once more, eyebrows furrowed.
Before she could turn away, Raelle had looked up, meeting her gaze with a pair of wide blue eyes.
Scylla watched in half-amusement, half-curiosity as Raelle looked back at her, mouth slightly open in shock as they made eye contact.
Scylla smirked, giving the girl one last look before turning back to her cauldron and beginning to bottle her potion.
Raelle Collar had a secret, and Scylla Ramshorn was determined to find out what it is.
Unfortunately, she had made no progress in the year since that class had happened. Whenever she saw Raelle, she was overcome with a feeling of anxiety.
For lack of a better description, Raelle made her nervous.
And Scylla wasn’t stupid, or blind. Raelle was incredibly attractive, and Scylla was incredibly attracted to her, if she was being honest.
Even further, Raelle was an intimidating presence. She only talked to her two friends, never branching out and speaking to others. The most interaction she’s ever seen Raelle have with another student was her scowling at someone after they tried to talk to her after a Defense against the Dark Arts class. Scylla doubted that the Hufflepuff would make an exception for her.
She resolved to watch from a distance. It was only a matter of time before Raelle let her guard down and used that mysterious magic again. Scylla just had to wait.
It didn’t hurt that watching Raelle also meant watching her when she played quidditch, or when she spoke to her friends. When she seemed to finally relax and let her guard down a bit.
Scylla told herself it was just an investigation, but, deep down, she knew she was starting to develop a crush on the blonde as she looked on from a distance.
A crush.
It felt so stupid. She hadn’t had a crush in years. It was childish, and she knew that getting involved with anyone meant that she had to actually open up to them.
But, damn it, Raelle Collar was really testing her resolve to constantly remain alone.
Whenever she played quidditch, her entire being seemed to relax. Scylla could see a real smile on her face when she made a good save, or the free look in her eyes when she sped across the pitch during practice. Not that Scylla was watching her while she was practicing. That would be weird. She just happened to be passing by the pitch when she noticed the Hufflepuff team practicing. She couldn't help but notice the girl speeding through the air as she trained.
It wasn’t weird.
Raelle was just...interesting.
Okay, it was a little weird.
But Scylla couldn’t help it. Wherever she went, her eyes were drawn toward a familiar head of blonde hair. She couldn’t help the fondness growing in her chest when she saw Raelle toss her head back in a loud laugh at something that one of her friends said. Raelle’s laugh was loud and melodic, and Scylla felt like she could listen to it for hours.
Okay, so she totally had a crush. And it was getting rather intense.
But she knew that Raelle would likely not feel the same way. She was famously cold to those she didn’t know well, and Scylla was presumably no exception.
Sighing, Scylla resigned herself to quiet longing. It was what she was good at, after all.
If nothing else, Scylla was thankful that she could watch the quidditch match tomorrow. It was Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff, which meant Raelle would be playing. This meant that Scylla could watch the girl without feeling weird or creepy, since literally everyone else would be watching her as well.
She was surprised to say that she was pretty excited to watch.