A Little Bit of Happiness

          “Mr. Sallow, Mr. Kaiser, this is not time for chitchat. You are both supposed to be practicing the summoning charm, not your skills at flirting,” Professor Ronen called sharply from across the class, cutting of Sebastian’s and Hans’s quiet conversation. They both looked about at the professor, who was smiling, yet his eyes were still quite clearly stern.

          Laughter rippled across the classroom as Sebastian scowled at Professor Ronen, before turning away and muttering the incantation and waving his wand at the teapot he was meant to be summoning.

          Hans only sent a smile back at Professor Ronen, tilting his head and saying, “I’m sorry, Professor, it’s just that I have had a great deal of practice with this spell and most others like it. To the point that I am capable of summoning not only a person, but multiple people with one cast. I don’t think I need to be reviewing it any longer, sir.”

          Were it not for the fact that he was addressing Professor Ronen in particular, he would not have given such lip. In other classes he would be scolded beyond any measure, and given detention too, but here Hans knew that Ronen would give a far more fair and practical approach to these things.

          The professor eyed Hans for a moment, still smiling, “Well then. Certainly you wouldn’t mind giving us a demonstration.”

          “Not at all, professor,” Hans flashed a grin at Poppy, who had turned her attention, like most of the class, to the conversation between Professor Ronen and Hans. Poppy only rolled her eyes, shaking her head just slightly.

          “And you, Mr. Sallow, certainly you wouldn’t mind being the summoned object, since it was you who was engaging Mr. Kaiser in conversation,” Professor Ronen’s eyes flashed toward Sebastian, who opened his mouth in protest.

          Hans bumped Sebastian’s shoulder as he walked by, grinning at Sebastian and mouthing, “Sorry,” though he didn’t really look it. Sebastian, muttering under his breath, marched across the room from Hans, turning around to face his Ravenclaw friend with a scowl on his face.

         “Alright, Mr. Kaiser, show me your Summoning Charm,” Professor Ronen exclaimed, moving behind Hans and putting his hands on his hips.

           Poppy was watching Hans with a simple stare. Despite how much Poppy loved her beau, sometimes he was a bit much. She shook her head again, a small smile creeping on her face as Hans faced Sebastian, keeping a calm and collected expression.

          “Am I allowed to protect myself, sir?” Sebastian asked the professor, eyeing Hans’s wand warily.

          “Oh come on, Sebastian,” Hans laughed, “it’s not like I’m trying to duel you. You’ll be fine.”

          Professor Ronen clapped his hands together, “You know, Mr. Sallow, I suppose you can. Might as well practice the spells you’ve learned from your other classes to, eh?”

          “Are you saying this is a duel now, sir?” Hans asked, turning his head just slightly so he could see Professor Ronen out of the corner of his eye, who was standing behind him.

          Professor Ronen rocked back and forth on his heel, “I suppose so,” the professor grinned, “Mr. Kaiser, make sure you use your summoning charm.”

          “Of course, Professor.”

          “Great! Well, then you may begin,” the professor exclaimed, moving around Hans to stand near the desks.

          Hans and Sebastian stood opposite of one another, with Sebastian glaring at Hans and Hans only staring with an innocent gaze. Neither of them moved, not wanting to be the first to cast. In the end, Sebastian decided he would cast, hoping that it would assist in throwing Hans off, somehow.

          Sebastian raised his wand, opening his mouth and pretending he was going to curse Hans, with the intended effect that Hans would throw up an early shield charm, to which then Sebastian would actually cast, and manage to hit Hans. Alas, however, this is not what occurred, as Hans moved lightning fast, not even bothering for a shield charm and crying, “Expelliarmus!”

          The wand went spiraling from Sebastian’s hand, flying behind him and clattering noisily on the ground. Refraining himself from swearing, Sebastian dived for his wand, turning his back on Hans, but there was nothing he could do.

          “Accio!” Hans yelled, directing his wand at Sebastian’s turned back. Sebastian tried his hardest to hold onto anything near him, but it was no use as he was pulled toward Hans.

          The Slytherin struggled in midair, spinning slowly to face Hans, who was still holding him up. As Sebastian turned, he sneered at Hans, “Go on, hit me!”

          Hans gave Sebastian an amused look, before dropping his hand and letting Sebastian fall unsteadily to his feet. “Alright, tough guy. I don’t need to prove that I can duel, I was just demonstrating the summoning charm for Professor Ronen.”

           Sebastian only grunted, before turning away to retrieve his wand. A few chuckles rang out across the classroom, but most tried to keep it hidden from Sebastian. Those within the newly forming friend group(Poppy, Garreth, Hans, Ominis, Natsai, and Samantha) managed to keep a straight face as Sebastian moved back toward his seat.

          Hans, meanwhile, looked up at Professor Ronen, who was still smiling, “I must say, well done. Though it seems you are quite advanced for your year, which is most impressive for your situation, I would still say that you can never practice too much.”

          The Ravenclaw nodded, “Yes, Professor.”

         “Now, the rest of you, back to practicing. That includes you, Mr. Sallow,” Professor Ronen clapped his hands together, moving back into the center of the classroom.

          Hans, unlike the others, returned to his seat, looking out about the class as wands were raised and objects began to fly around the class again. His eyes landed on Poppy several times, watching her as she focused on the spell, causing the book she was summoning to fly toward her. Once she had caught the book, her eyes too roved the classroom, landing on Hans and meeting his gaze.

          Hans smiled at her, and like before, she only rolled her eyes, before chucking the book across the room again to summon it. Her beau watched her for a little bit longer, admiring her beauty. She was just as beautiful on the outside than on the inside, if not more, and Hans knew he was incredibly lucky to have her.

          The Ravenclaw turned his head, looking out the window across the room, admiring the glow of the sun in the distance. It was now mid-April. The snow was gone, and the days were warmer as the grasses and foliage returned. It was far more pleasant to be outside nowadays, and so now Hans and Poppy would spend a greater amount of time strolling around the lake and castle grounds.

          “Good work everybody!” Professor Ronen called, clapping his hands together and stopping at the head of the class, too breaking Hans out of his deep thought, “I think all of your diligent work,” Professor Ronen shot Hans a knowing smile, “makes it so that you all deserve a little bit of extra time to your day. Class dismissed! Remember your essays on flight incantations are due next class!”

          Ronen watched as the students began packing up their things, standing and shuffling toward the door. Poppy paused and waited at her desk, turning to see Hans trotting over to her. Once he was at her side, the two began to head for the exit.

          “You can’t help but show off, can you?” Poppy teased, looking up at Hans with a cheeky grin.

           Hans faltered; he knew she was teasing him, but that did make him wonder. Was he showing off? No. He was only telling Professor Ronen that he didn’t feel it necessary for him to practice the summoning charm anymore. That wasn’t showing off, was it?

          “No!” Hans protested, “I was just showing Professor Ronen my summoning charm.”

           “Uh huh,” Poppy sounded unconvinced, yet she was still smiling.

          As they walked, Hans wrapped his left arm around Poppy, pulling her forcefully into his side. Poppy squealed as he peppered her cheek with kisses, forcing her to laugh as he tickled her side. “Let me go!” She protested, still laughing hysterically and struggling to pull him away.

          “You said I was showing off,” Hans grinned down at her, relinquishing his grip on her shoulder, yet keeping his arm around her.

          Poppy shook her head, brushing her hair out of her eyes, “You always have to get payback, don’t you?”

          “Not always,” Hans kissed her temple, before raising his head and looking forward.

          Poppy leaned into him, the warmth of his presence soothing all her anxieties and worries of the world. Hans had fallen silent, losing himself in his head. For a moment Poppy fell into this silence, but as she looked up at Hans she could tell he was deep in thought.

          “What are you thinking about?” She asked with curiosity, hoping it was not the blame or pain of his past, whatever that would entail.

          “Wha- oh. I was just thinking…” he trailed off, going silent once more.

          “About..?”

         Hans didn’t say anything for a moment, “Remember when you told me you think Highwing needs a mate?”

          Relief went through Poppy’s mind, “Oh, yeah, I do. Why?”

          “I think you may be right. So I was wondering if you would like to come with me to the hippogriff den so we could find her one. We could ride her out there, well you could, and I could take Sepulchria. She has been cooped up in that vivarium for too long,” Hans answered.

          Poppy smiled, “sure, when?”

          “Hm, tomorrow after class?” Hans looked down at her, returning the gesture.

          “I like that idea, then let’s do it,” Poppy looked straight ahead again, falling silent, like him, as the two set off for lunch.

          Something to look forward to, something to get their minds off of school and all the other minute things in life. And to this, both of them brightened up, gleefully departing for the Great Hall.