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Ophelia Wren Dovewing
The name suited her. At 13 she was starting to look more like the woman she would grow into, and had a softness to her that evoked the image of flowers. She was small and seemed delicate, like a wren, and her snow white hair was swept back on one side like the wing of the dove her family was named for. She was utterly lovely, and Kalisto Nikolaos found it hard to look away.
They shared three classes, but the petite Slytherin girl never sat next to him; he was too shy to ask and there was always someone else jumping for the spot. As the school’s curse breaker, even by their third year, she had already earned a reputation for being far more tough than she looked. She took charge naturally, and it seemed like half the school either loved her or hated her for it.
Kalisto finished scribbling the note in his shaky English script. “Eyes, green like forest pools….?” He scowled at it. It would have to be good enough. He carefully wrapped it around a sweet caramel candy and tied it with a scrap of ribbon saved from the last school event. Lia always sat in the same seat in transfiguration, she’d know it was for her. He placed it on her desk and raced back to his seat before the other students filed in.
Lia was one of the last to enter, and she looked at the little package in surprise. Kalisto watched, ears pink, as she opened it and smiled. She read the note silently and shook her head, laughing. She was pleased, he could tell. She looked around the room, and he ducked behind his textbook in embarrassment. When he peeked again, she was smiling at Andre, who was cheerfully waving.
Wait. No!
She ate the candy with a smile, and Kalisto dropped his head into his arms on his desk, embarrassed frustration hidden in a nest of spiky black hair. Andre taking credit for his gift!? It certainly hadn’t been intentional, but it irritated the Hufflepuff boy that he’d failed to get her attention. Again.
When class ended, he felt an impulse to go and just ask her if she liked the note, but then Rowan was there glued to her side and they left together, chatting about an upcoming event. Kalisto quickly searched her desk, but she’d taken the note with her. Small favors.
Lunch was always a challenge; the British options for food were free, but rather unappealing. Kalisto made do with candies stored in his pockets, ignoring his half finished History of Magic report and writing another note. This one he would give her directly, he was sure of it. He did his best to clean up his handwriting, and folded it up neatly with her name on the top.
“Wotcher, Kalisto!” Tonks bumped into her housemate as they walked to class, her peppy attitude matching purple hair as spiky as his own. “Going to the concert tonight?”
“Oh, ah, concert?” he blinked, confused.
“Yeah. Lia and I have been working on it with Penny all week. The Weird Sisters are performing!”
“Pass.” Kalisto winced. He wasn’t an expert on music, but wizarding bands had nothing on muggles. “Have fun though.” He gave her a genuine smile. They walked into the History of Magic class, where half the students were winding down for a nap and the other half were setting up games in the back.
Lia looked ready to nap, Rowan beside her the only one alert and paying attention to Professor Bins. Kalisto took his courage in his hands and pulled out the note. As he moved, Jae Kim bumped past him, trying to avoid the exploding snap players, and the note was flung out of his hand. Kalisto panicked a moment, but saw it on the floor right behind Lia. Before he could grab it, Barnaby curiously knelt down and picked it up. He tilted his head.
Oh no no not again.
Barnaby tapped Lia on the shoulder and handed her the note. She smiled at him warmly and the Slytherin boy flushed at her thanks before taking a seat. Kalisto slumped into a chair, sighing. Crushes shouldn’t be this hard!
After she fell asleep, Kalisto moved chairs to sit next to her, half writing his paper, half stealing glances. She looked like an angel as she slept, and a constant faint rattling snore made her even cuter when Rowan didn’t nudge her to make it stop. Kalisto smiled and wrote “Even your snoring is cute, like your own sleepy birdsong.” He handed in his paper and left the note under a candy by her arm for when she woke up, and left class early.
He headed through the halls to a room long since abandoned, where a makeshift hoop was set up, and played basketball until he was tired enough to stop thinking about how once again, he’d botched his attempt to get her attention. She just had too many friends and admirers!
Kalisto showered after the workout, and headed back towards Hufflepuff. It took him by the great hall, and he could hear the offensive drone if the Weird Sisters playing some depressing song. He peered into the room, to see Lia on stage with them, singing along. Not even her clear, beautiful voice could save it. He took one last longing look and headed down to the dungeons, and into his house. Most of the students were at the concert, it was a ghost town.
Even as he had the thought and turned towards the boy’s dorms he crashed into another classmate, and a pile of papers went flying.
“Ahh! Sorry, sorry. Are you okay?” He knelt and helped pick them up, before looking up into the soft blue eyes of the other white haired girl in school.
“I’m fine. You’re Kalisto, right?”
“Naí. You’re… Chiara?”
“That’s me. I haven’t seen you much, we don’t have any classes together.”
“Ah, yeah.” He smiled back, wondering why his face felt warm. She was bright, like the light of the full moon. “Not at the concert?”
“No, I have way too much healer's work to catch up on, I'll have to finish all this first.” Chiara laughed, and accepted her papers back. “Thank you for your help. You’re very kind.”
They both stood up and Kalisto scratched the back of his neck, still feeling warm. “Its nothing.”
She turned to go, and stopped, looking back. “Actually I could use a hand, if you’re not busy?”
Kalisto smiled. That was the word he was looking for. Seen. He felt Seen. “Naí. Yes. I’d like that.”