Goblet of Amortentia

Poppy knelt down and lowered herself onto the slippery rocks below the walkway. Enoch watched with bated breath, hoping she wouldn't get herself hurt. It was a bit of a drop from where they were, and any careless movement would cause her to slip and fall into the sharp rocks in the creek below.

"Poppy, please be careful," Enoch begged, regretting not forcing her to stay here and let him go instead.

"I'm fine, don't wo-"

She slipped. Her foot lost its grip on a slanted rock on the ledge and gave out, sending the rest of her falling. Enoch rushed over and grabbed her arm just in time to stop her from falling into the water. He pulled as hard as he could to lift her up and off the rocks. Once she had both feet planted on the ground, she looked up at Enoch, red spreading throughout her face. His arm was still held tightly onto hers, and upon noticing he awkwardly let go.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"No! No, I'm fine. Thank you." She looked away, dusting her skirt from the dirt she got on it.

"Now, can you let me do it?" Enoch asked her impatiently.

She gave him the go ahead, while also seemingly avoiding any and all eye contact, and Enoch went on ahead towards the ledge. He balanced himself carefully on the rocks while lowering himself down to the water. The small kitten was still shaking on the piece of rock that stood out from the water, eyeing Enoch closely. He had to be gentle so as to not spook it and let it jump back into the stream.

Planting his foot onto a wet rock in the creek, he slowly put his weight on top of it, letting go of the rocky ledge he was levering on. He placed his other foot on another rock, lowering himself down to the cat's level.

"Come here, little guy," he spoke softly, extending his hand out to the cat. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The tiny kitten backed up as much as it could without hitting the water, not taking its eyes off of Enoch. Enoch tried reaching his arm out further, slowly. Once his hand got close enough he stopped, trying to let the cat come to him first.

And after a short while, it did. It began to sniff the tip of his finger, which relieved him. Gently, yet quickly, he reached his hand and grabbed the back of the kitten.

"I got it!" He exclaimed excitedly, standing back up, careful to not fall into the water. The kitten squirmed in his grasp, but as Enoch put it up to his chest it clasped onto his vest tightly with its claws. It felt cold, and it never stopped shivering, and it was still wet from falling into the stream.

Poppy knelt down and reached towards Enoch. "Hand the cat to me so you can climb back up."

He did as he was told and Poppy snuggled the small cat close in her arms. Enoch then clambered his way up the ledge, easily getting back up on the walkway with Poppy.

"She's a girl," said Poppy, petting the cat on her head. "I wonder where her mum is."

"Surely she'd be looking for her kitten by now, right?"

"I'd hope so." Poppy looked around them in search of any cat, but neither of them found any. "What if she's hurt?"

"I dunno," Enoch muttered, eyeing the cat in Poppy's arms. She really was cute, with poofy, brown fur that was currently all over the place due to still being wet. Her big eyes looked like marbles and her nose a pink button.

"I want to keep her for now, dry her off and let her warm up. Let's be on the lookout for her mum." Poppy then wrapped her robe around the cat to keep her out of the frigid, cold air.

They went on their way through Hogsmeade as normal, just holding a cat that seemed to be all too curious of their surroundings. Like when they entered Honeydukes the small cat tried jumping out of Poppy's arms into a bin of toffee. And every student or local who passed awed at her.

It was getting darker and colder outside as the sun started to set. Both Poppy and Enoch's pockets were full from their trips to Zonko's and Honeydukes. They even sat down on a bench on the outskirts of Hogsmeade and watched the small cat play with a whirring feather ball they bought at Zonko's just prior. The cat was in better spirits, and seemed to be gaining quite a liking to the two of them.

"I can't believe we haven't seen a single mother cat the entire day," Poppy exclaimed as they walked past a man performing cheery music on a stool. The kitten was getting tired now, and she was purring softly in Poppy's arms with her eyes struggling to stay open.

"It's getting too late now," said Enoch, pulling his robes a little closer due to the cold wind. "What else can we do?"

Poppy stayed quiet for a moment. Enoch glanced down at her as they walked, and her face was in a form of thinking hard. "I think we'll have to take her back to the castle for now. I can't just let her go on her own. It's too cold for her."

Enoch nodded in silent agreement. 

"Oh, Enoch?" Poppy spoke again. Enoch looked back at her curiously. She was thinking again. "I... I wanted to ask you something." She stopped walking, Enoch stopping with her. 

"Yes?"

She looked everywhere except Enoch's eyes, seemingly struggling to find the words to say. Enoch only waited patiently, making sure he stood out of the way from passersby on the walk out of Hogsmeade.

"You know the Yule Ball that's later this month?"

Enoch knew of the Yule Ball, as Professor Sharp mentioned to the Slytherin house on December first. It was going to take place on Christmas, as a celebration for the Triwizard champions and finishing the first task. Ominis wasn't too keen on it, but Professor Sharp unfortunately told him it was mandatory for him especially. Enoch didn't really think much of it, just the same as the Halloween feast party.

"What about it?"

"I..." she trailed off, petting the cat that was now asleep in her arms. The cold wind blew Poppy's hair out of her face, showing how red it was. Enoch figured it was from the frigid and cold winter air that surrounded them. "I wanted to ask if you would like to go with me."

She finally made eye contact with Enoch. He didn't really know how to respond. He didn't expect her to ask him to the ball, and was at a loss for words, but he liked Poppy. She was a great friend to him, and it made sense to go to the ball with a friend, right? And as far as Enoch knew, he was Poppy's only friend. Of course she'd ask him to go with her. It made sense.

"Of course, Poppy. I'll go with you." He smiled, receiving a wide smile back.

"Really?" She looked away, beaming. "That's great, then." She continued their walk in silence, Enoch catching up beside her, and the cat purring away. And after a few minutes of walking, Poppy spoke again, breaking the silence. “I think I’m going to name her Cassia, by the way.”

“Cassia?” Enoch asked intriguingly.

“Like the cinnamon plant.” She chuckled, petting the sleeping cat in her arms. “Because her fur looks like cinnamon.”

“Cassia...” Enoch spoke with a smile this time, looking down at Poppy and the cat. “That sounds lovely.”

Upon entering the common room he noticed yet again Ominis wasn't there. He had been holed away in their room since the task, excluding class periods and most meal times. But every time he left their room he stayed silent, only giving one-word replies or none at all. Enoch was being patient with him. He knew the whole thing was really stressful for him, and that he'd come out of his shell on his own terms.

Sebastian was a different story. He was still in a poor mood since running into Anne before the task and subsequently getting into a fight with Ominis over it. He still hadn't forgiven Ominis, either, and was doing just as much to avoid talking with him as he had. Enoch was getting a little bit tired of it, if he had to admit. Sebastian was being way too stubborn this time around.

And speaking of, his stubborn friend was sitting at a small table by his lonesome, books and parchment out in front of him. Enoch took one breath in before walking over and sitting in an empty chair at the table.

"Homework?" Enoch asked, noting that Sebastian didn't give one inkling that he noticed his arrival.

"Arithmancy," Sebastian answered coolly, not looking up from his book as he continued writing something down.

"Mind if I join?"

"Don't care."

Enoch went ahead and took that as a yes as he stood up and made his way to their room to fetch his books. It was a Sunday night, and he knew he still had an essay to write for Defence Against the Dark Arts due in a couple of days. And since he knew he wasn't going to get anything out of Sebastian nor Ominis, he thought he might as well just do his work.

He entered his room slowly, door creaking on the way in. And his suspicions were proven once he saw Ominis reading at his bed. The room was almost pitch black, save for the small amount of moonlight that showed through the window on the ceiling. None of it mattered to Ominis, though, as he read with his hands.

To not bother him, Enoch quietly went to his desk and gathered his textbooks and quill. But of course, it didn't work, anyway.

"Enoch?"

Enoch jumped, not expecting him to speak to him. "Uh, yes?" He turned to face Ominis, books in hand. Ominis still had his hand on the page in his book, with the book resting on his legs that were pulled up to him. His face was expressionless, which was basically all he sported since the task had ended.

"You were at Hogsmeade today, weren't you?"

Enoch, shocked at the sudden conversation, plainly answered, "Yes."

"Did you go to Honeydukes?"

"I did... why?"

Ominis paused, mouth formed at a tight line and not moving. Enoch looked around awkwardly.

"Do you have any peppermint toads?"

Enoch couldn't help but smile at his friend's question. He spent a whole week barely talking to him and Sebastian and this was the first thing he actually said. Enoch bit his lip to stop from smiling before answering him.

"I've got pepper imps."

Ominis paused again. "Can I have some?"

He couldn't fight the smile back. "Of course you can." He reached into his pocket and grabbed the decently-sized bag of sweets he bought from the sweetshop just earlier, digging out a small handful of the red candy. "Here," he said, prompting Ominis to hold his hand out for him.

Once dropping the candies into his hand, Ominis muttered a quick 'thanks.' And with another smile, Enoch took his books and left the room.

Back in the common room, Sebastian was still sitting alone writing away. Enoch sat beside him, placing his own books on the table in front of them. He looked up at Sebastian. The stubborn boy didn’t pay any mind to the fact Enoch had just joined him again. And with a sigh, Enoch opened his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook.

They didn’t get another chance to see Anne before she went back home once the task was over. Enoch could tell Sebastian felt upset about it, but he didn’t know what his friend had planned to talk to her about, considering she seemed so adamant to stay away from him. If anything, Enoch thought it was good they didn’t run into her again, and felt it was better for Sebastian that way. He knew his friend would turn around eventually, as he had before.

The only reaction they got out of Sebastian since that day was the scoring for the first task. Ominis got last place, which honestly was expected, deep down in everyone’s minds. He ended up getting a slightly better time than Aloysius Belrose, but was marked off exponentially due to his many injuries and risky method, which also resulted in more injuries. 

Sebastian had a lot to say about the results, resorting to yelling profanities out to whoever would listen. As much as Enoch tried to stop him, none of it mattered. Eventually Professor Weasley heard him and gave him a strict talking to and three days worth of detention.

Yet, ever since that day Sebastian and Ominis hadn't spoken a single word to each other. Enoch wasn't too extremely worried. They had been friends for years. He was sure this will all blow over soon enough.

"Finish that potions homework?" Enoch asked, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence he felt between them as they worked beside each other.

"Not yet."

Enoch tapped his quill against the table and looked around in thought. "Professor Hecat promised to bring in an actual banshee for class. That's tomorrow."

"Really?" Sebastian sounded monotone and uncaring, not even looking up at Enoch.

Enoch sighed, looking at his friend. "I went to Honeydukes today. D'you want some sweets?"

Sebastian seemed to stop writing and sat still. "Went to Hogsmeade today?"

Enoch felt relieved at the amount of words in his response. "I did."

"Alone?"

"I went with Poppy." Sebastian stayed quiet for a moment, and left Enoch staring at him confusedly. "Do..." Enoch started again. "Do you want some sweets? I got chocolate frogs and pepper imps and Bertie Bott's-"

"I'm good, thanks." Sebastian put his quill down and began to close his books, standing up from his chair in the process. Enoch just stared at him incredulously. What did he say wrong? Did he even say anything wrong at all?

"Where are you going?" Enoch stuttered, watching Sebastian pack up his things.

"To bed. It's late, isn't it?"

"I mean, sure, it's late, but," Enoch cut himself off as Sebastian carried his books and quill in his arms and walked off towards the dorms before he could finish his sentence.