Chapter Text
The creaking noise of the Whomping Willow at the back of the Hogwarts Castle was the only sound that filled the silence between Cassandra and Daniel, as both were nose deep in their respective Charms textbooks.
Well at least one of them is.
Daniel had personally come to Cassandra to ask her aid him in this particular class, he had to (reluctantly) admit that the young lady in question was especially talented in the subject.
He would've asked Ivy, another talented student in the subject who was also one of his closest friends.
But as much as he hates to admit it, she's not really a good teacher. The girl fumbles too much with her words and facts that he could only take on so much before he grows frustrated.
Him approaching Cassandra for help in the first place shocked everyone including himself. But equally as surprising was that Cassandra casually agreed to teach him without any form of negotiation whatsoever.
His eyes occasionally snuck glances up from his textbook at Cassandra sitting across from him, her posture ever so elegant and composed, her slender fingers gliding over the pages smoothly.
He'd been glancing at her a lot more than he'd like to admit, and he's not sure why either.
This would be their third year of attending the institution. While him and Cassandra both got off the wrong foot with each other during their first meeting, they'd grown considerably... acquainted with one another through the years.
While their relationship mended, other feelings started to arise too.
He hadn't realised that this time he'd been staring at her for much longer than he should. It wasn't until someone cleared their throat that he snapped out of his trance.
"If you keep staring at me like that instead of memorising the charms I told you to, you won't be passing the class anytime soon," Cassandra raised an eyebrow as Daniel realised her book was already closed and placed neatly on her lap.
He fumbled a bit with his book and tried to start reading and memorising the charms again, embarrassed that he'd been caught shamelessly looking at her.
"Darn her and her Veela ancestry", Daniel tried convincing himself. He was pretty sure his face was red too. He could hear Cassandra holding back a small giggle, it made his ears burn more.
Daniel went back to muttering and memorising the charms, while Cassandra looked around their surroundings. It was a pleasant day, not too sunny or cloudy. The wind was blowing at a comfortable pace and the Castle seemed a lot calmer too. Which was good. She didn't want nor felt like dealing with anything troublesome today.
Her eyes glanced sideways to the redheaded boy beside her, who was trying his best to memorise the charms she told him to. She had given him her personal tips on memorisation and offered him that she would show how to cast the charms effectively once he does memorise all of them.
Her eyes started to trace his features; he'd grown a considerable amount throughout the years.
The face that used to have the little baby fat has now evolved into a nicely chiseled jawline. His hair is longer now, just reaches almost to his shoulder blades. His reddish brown eyes were skimming over the pages as his lips were quietly muttering the spells he's reading.
He has admittedly gotten quite....cute.
She snapped out of her thoughts as she hears a faux cough coming from his direction. She immediately glanced up to meet his smirking face.
"If you keep staring at me like that, I might think that you've fallen in love with me," he scoffed, knowing full well that he was retorting to her earlier remark.
Her face contorted from a look of surprise to a look of pure embarrassment, her cheeks turned rosier with colour. She scoffed and immediately turned away from him while crossing her arms.
"Don't flatter yourself, Page. Just because you've gotten a bit more handsome throughout the Summer holidays doesn't mean you've gotten any better in your studies."
It took her a full minute to finally realise what she just admitted to him before frantically glancing back at him in growing panic.
"WAIT WHAT I MEANT WAS-"
"You think I'm handsome?"
She was met with an equally flustered face from Daniel, seemingly still processing what she just said to him.
The air between them started to feel a little warmer. Cassandra felt like the embarrassment was too much that she flicked her wand and smacked Daniel's open textbook into his face.
"Just, focus on your studies, Page. Pay no heed to what I just rambled."
Daniel could only lightly chuckle at her antics. He lowered the textbook to his lap, "If you only admitted what you said was true, then maybe I could've used it as some form of motivation for me to study Charms harder."
He was only responded with a huff from Cassandra who had her back to him. It only made him chuckle more as he resumed memorising the spells.
While their relationship mended, feelings started to arise too. If both finally decide to be brave and open their walls for the other, a whole new world would bloom for them.