The Beginning of Many Good Times to Come
“Where have you two been?” Sebastian ran up to Poppy and Hans just as they began to enter the Great Hall.
Poppy and Hans looked between one another, and Poppy took a step closer to Hans as her hand slipped into his own. She couldn’t help but to feel on edge near Sebastian after what Hans had explained to her only a good twenty minutes prior. Though despite this, Hans gave Poppy’s hand a squeeze and faced Sebastian boldly, even a smile spreading on his face.
“Whatever do you mean, Sebastian?” Hans asked, the same twinkle in his eyes that Poppy loved to see returning.
Sebastian eyes Poppy and Hans suspiciously, his eyes dropping to their held hands for a moment, before looking back at Hans, “Everett told me you didn’t show up in the Ravenclaw common room last night, he asked if I knew where you were, he said he wanted to show you something. I’ve been looking for you for an hour, I even tried to find Poppy but couldn’t.”
Hans didn’t even bat an eye, and smoothly came up with a quick excuse, “I was outside of the castle after curfew, and I decided it would be easier to just hunker down in a cave than try and sneak into the castle.
Sebastian gave a nod, seeming to accept this story, much to Poppy’s relief, though the boy did still look somewhat suspicious as his eyes moved over Poppy once more. “Huh, if you say so.”
Just as the three of them began to turn into the Great Hall, somebody called to them. “My friends! Wait!”
They all looked back to see Natsai running after them, waving her hand excitedly as she caught up to them. She joined the other three in entering through the great doors, opening them to encounter Ominis just on the other side, his hand outstretched as if he was about to open it.
“There you all are, I was wondering if you would ever show up,” Ominis said in his usual slick voice.
“I was looking for-“ began both Natsai and Sebastian, with Natsai finishing with “Poppy” and Sebastian finishing with “Hans.”
They all grinned at one another, before Natsai turned to look at at Poppy, “Poppy, I have been looking for you all morning. Lenora said you weren’t in your common room last night, and I was worried about you!”
The group approached the tables, with everybody hesitating over which table they would direct themselves to, before eventually deciding to go in the direction of the Hufflepuff table, as they did the day before.
Poppy tried and failed to suppress a small blush spreading across her face, averting her gaze and staring at the floor. Hans managed to keep his composure far better than Poppy, keeping his face calm and controlled as he stared intently at the wall opposite him.
A wide grin began to spread across Sebastian’s face as he stared intently at Hans, who was furiously determined to not look at Sebastian, “You know, Natsai,” Sebastian said loudly, “I was told a very similar thing by Everett about Hans.”
Natsai stared at Sebastian curiously for a moment, before her eyebrows raised in understanding, turning to look between Poppy and Hans as the group sat down at the Hufflepuff table. Poppy and Hans still wouldn’t look at either of their friends.
“Maybe this isn’t a good thing to push,” Ominis murmured, sensing the potential of this conversation going south very fast.
Natsai and Sebastian seemed to have not heard Ominis, as they continued to grin and Natsai said, “Hm, maybe they could have been together, perhaps. After all, I haven’t seen either of them since breakfast yesterday.” Sebastian and Natsai exchanged glances, grinning from ear to ear.
Hans looked at Poppy for a moment, and she gave him a wide-eyed stare. The boy looked over at Natsai and Sebastian, who were sitting on the other side of the table. “I know what you’re trying to get at,” Hans said in a bored voice.
“And you haven’t answered,” Sebastian said slyly.
Hans looked up at the ceiling, staring at the dark clouds above in the enchanted space. His jaw moved side to side, flexing a little as he considered his next words very carefully. Once Hans looked back at Sebastian, his face was calm and relaxed. “I would like to make a few things clear, since we are all together.”
Sebastian and Natsai nodded, still grinning, whilst Ominis only shrugged his shoulders. They leaned toward Hans as he took another deep breath, before speaking, “One: yes, Poppy and I are courting. Two: no, we did not have intercourse in any manner last night-“ Poppy made a sound of embarrassment as she hit Hans on the arm, burying her face in her hands.
Hans paused, looking down at Poppy with a frown, putting a hand on her back before continuing. “Three: yes, we did end up spending the night together but that was because, as my previous excuse had said, we accidentally went past curfew. Four: I will tolerate you mocking me about it, not her, so if you want to get hexed into oblivion, then go right ahead. Five: this does not need to be the talk of the school, so don’t go spreading rumors, of you’ll get the same treatment as number four.”
Hans stared around coldly at Natsai, Sebastian, and Ominis, who only stared at Hans with surprised faces. They were slightly shocked at Hans’s forward nature, and more so by his hostility. Sebastian didn’t even get this treatment when he casted the Imperius curse or the Killing curse.
“Do I make myself clear?” Hans said coldly.
Everybody nodded, looking away and suddenly now focusing on gathering themselves some breakfast for the day. Hans’s expression softened as he lowered his head to Poppy’s level, where she still had her face buried in her hands.
“I’m sorry, darling,” Hans whispered to Poppy, beginning to rub her back absentmindedly, “I’m sorry I said that, but I figured being direct was the best way to deal with these dunces.”
Poppy peered sideways at Hans, raising her face just slightly from her hands, “It’s okay, I just- you didn’t warn me!” She didn’t exactly whisper, but their conversation was rather private as their heads were both below the table and the noise level of the Great Hall drowned out their voices.
“I’m sorry,” Hans repeated as both of them straightened back up, Hans planting a light kiss to her cheek. Sebastian and Natsai exchanged a smirk, which was wiped from their faces the second Hans looked in their direction. Poppy absentmindedly touched the place Hans had kissed her as she scanned the table, looking for something that sounded good for this particular morning.
Hans removed his hand from Poppy’s back(much to her disappointment) and began to pile sausage onto his plate. The group continued to eat breakfast, each person eating a sizable amount, but Poppy and Hans eating the most. Between Poppy’s nap and missing curfew the night before, neither of them managed to get dinner.
As the group continued to eat, Poppy started a conversation with Natsai, “What did you do with your day, yesterday?”
“I went to Crossed Wands and beat Leander Prewett and Nellie Oggspire in the same duel,” Natsai smiled at Poppy, expecting the Hufflepuff to understand.
It was not Poppy who responded, as she had a rather confused expression on her face, but Hans on Sebastian. “That’s great, Natsai!” Sebastian said, leaning forward to give her a high-five.
“That’s brilliant!” Hans said, grinning.
“Thank you,” Natsai smiled back to them, looking around the table and puffing out her chest in pride.
“This might sound dumb but what’s Crossed Wands?” Poppy asked the group, looking around with her brow furrowed.
“Oh,” Hans gave out a chuckle, “I never told you about Crossed Wands. I suppose because I figured you wouldn’t be interested.”
“But what is it?” Poppy looked up at Hans curiously.
“Secret dueling club,” Sebastian answered, forcing Poppy to look over at him instead, “to see who’s the best dueler in the school.”
“Has that been figured out? Who’s the best duelist?” Poppy asked, looking around the table with expectant eyes.
“Who do you think?” Sebastian responded, a flicker of annoyance passing across his face as he looked at Hans.
“Hans?” Poppy guessed, remembering the first time she watched Hans duel, against Sebastian in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
“Bingo,” Sebastian nodded, before picking up his fork and taking another bite of sausage.
Poppy looked back at Hans, “Really? You’re the best?”
“That’s what everybody says, though, since it’s invitation only I might not be, and the best might not have been invited,” Hans shrugged, trying to avoid accepting that he was. Deep down he knew he was, and it wasn’t his arrogance talking, it was that bizarre connection to ancient magic that was.
Poppy smiled at him, “I’ve seen you duel. I would bet 100 Galleons you’re better than Professor Hecat.”
Hans grinned at Poppy, his face glowing as she complimented him, “Thank you, that means a lot.” Hand out his arm around Poppy, pulling her close and hold her against his side. Poppy rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth of his presence.
The group finished breakfast with each other, eventually finishing up and leaving one at a time. Sebastian and Ominis left together under the excuse that they were going to the library. Natsai said she had a letter to write to a friend, and soon after she left, waving at Poppy and Hans as she disappeared from the Great Hall.
Poppy and Hans exchanged a peaceful smile, enjoying each other’s company still, even after being in one another’s constant presence. As the two stood up from their table, Poppy asked Hans a question, “Hans, how are you comfortable around Sebastian after what happened?”
“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I guess I really am not, I’m always on edge around him,” Hans answered, to which Poppy ran a hand along his arm, noticing how beneath his robe and shirt, the muscles in his arm were only beginning to relax. She wasn’t sure if it was because they were always tight, or if they were no longer near Sebastian.
“Are you worried he will ever do something like that again?” Poppy asked, looking up at Hans with worry on her face.
Hans looked down at her, his expression solemn, “Of course I am, who wouldn’t? The only reason Ominis and I decided to not turn him in is because Anne practically disowning him destroyed him enough. He doesn’t need that guilt on top of the dementors.”
Poppy felt a shiver run through Hans’s entire body, connecting to their held hands as they passed into the entrance hall. “I guess that would be hard,” Poppy whispered, looking away from Hans and falling silent as they walked. As the pair left the entrance chamber and approached the stairway to which Poppy would descend toward her common room, they turned to face one another.
“I really need to take a bath,” Poppy said to Hans as they took one another’s hands in both of theirs, Hans’s thumbs running along the knuckle of Poppy’s hands, “and catch up on homework.”
Hans grinned at her, a little shamefully, “So do I.”
“So this is it,” Poppy rolled back and forth on her heels, looking up into his silver eyes. They were so bright and intelligent, so full of compassion for her, so tender and caring. It was very hard not to get lost into his eyes.
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” Hans answered. The concept of being lost in her eyes was an understatement for the boy. Her eyes were a beautiful color that was like candy for his eyes, Hans simply couldn’t get enough. If he had to watch paint dry, this is the color he could entertain himself with watching.
“Meet here for dinner?” Poppy grinned, giving Hans her own version of puppy dog eyes.
Hans smiled back at her, a smile that would always fill her world. Even if she didn’t give him a look like that, Hans would find it hard to say no to her. “Sure. 6:00?”
Poppy nodded, removing her hands from his own and placing them around his waist. She stood up on her tiptoes, tilting her head up as Hans bowed his head to meet their lips together. For that magical moment, it was just the two of them. They stood like that for a few sections, their lips gently pressed together. There was that lovely smell of his, like that of an evergreen tree, it was like sensory overload for Poppy.
They pulled apart, grinning as they hugged one last time, before leaving one another’s arms. Hans began to walk backward away from Poppy as he waved, “I’ll see you at dinner.”
Though it felt a bit empty for Poppy now that Hans was no longer in her arms, the prospect of seeing him again that night did excite her as she bounced down the stairs leading toward the kitchen. She couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest girl in the world. It seemed that she had found her dream guy, and such a guy who was actually interested in her too.
Even more so, he cared so much for her, and she saw it in the way he would smile at her touch her on her back just to let her know that he was there. It seemed so astounding that he was everything she had wanted, and just a little bit more. Of course, he wasn’t perfect, but nobody was, including her. So she loved him, she loved every bit of him- wait- loved?
Poppy stopped in her tracks in the middle of the stairs, realizing that she thought those words to herself. For a moment she considered them, before slowly smiling and whispering to herself, “Love,” before continuing down the stairs.
Hans was still reveling in the fact that the smartest, the cutest, the hottest, the most caring, and prettiest girl in the school had chosen him. Hans Kaiser. Just some German-American Fifth year student who was dropped into Hogwarts by accident.
Hans still didn’t think he deserved it, and that was why he was going to do everything he could to ensure he was worthy of her. It still astounded him that her of all people would fancy him, that he had that kind of chance. He wouldn’t let himself blow it. Not ever.
Practically skipping to the common room with a boyish grin on his face, he climbed up the stairs to the door with the Ravenclaw knocker and answered the riddle. He had to be the luckiest man on the planet.