Magique l'Element

Chapter Seven-Crush

Ever since he set foot on Hogwarts' soil, Skye Weasley had been considered a heartthrob by the female populace. When he was in First Year, he was 'That Cute New Weasley'. In Second Year, he was known as 'The Smashing New Chaser'. In Third Year, the title 'That Extremely Cute Boy' was given; it stuck until his Fifth Year. Then, when he entered Sixth Year, he was known as 'That Handsome, Hunky, and Thoughtful Skye Weasley'.

In all honesty, Skye never thought of himself as handsome or cute. He knew he'd inherited his parents' looks and he liked nice clothes, but that was the extent of it. He wasn't raised to be vain-he wasn't a Malfoy, after all.

People called him a 'flirt', primarily because he was pleasant to everybody he met-particularly to females. Everybody thought that he was flirting with young, adolescent witches all the while, even though he wasn't. Well, not most of the time, anyway.

"Hi, Skye," greeted a shy Fifth Year Hufflepuff.

Skye turned his head to catch sight of who had greeted him. He smiled and waved a little.

"Hullo, Lisa," he replied.

The Hufflepuff beamed at him and ran off.

Why do girls always run away from me like that when I greet them? You'd think I said something wrong.

He knew the names of a lot of females in Hogwarts, and it wasn't just because of Rain. Skye had a friendly, casual way with people that made anybody warm up to him in minutes. It was his natural charm, born from the loving way he had been brought up.

Skye was on his way to the Quidditch field, carrying his broom over his shoulder. Jon had gone on ahead.

"Hey, wait up, will you?"

He turned again, and saw Rain running up to him, panting.

"I forgot there was practice today," she explained when she had reached him.

Skye raised a brow.

"You forgot? How could you forget?"

"I just forgot, okay? Drop the subject."

He did, but only because Rain had started to frown.

Skye was aware that Rain knew him better than any other person on the planet. He told her things he never told Jon, or his parents. She was his other best friend in a way. Yet, Skye also knew that Rain was just humoring him on the 'Celestia Thing', as it had been dubbed.

"Rain?"

"Yes, Skye?"

"Is it really hard to believe that I have a full-blown crush on somebody?"

Rain stopped walking, looking at him fully.

"What are you talking about, Skye?" she said slowly.

"You know what I'm talking about. I know you, and I know you're not convinced that I have a crush on ...her." Skye couldn't bring himself to say Celestia's name in public.

His cousin was biting her lip. She looked down guiltily.

"Well, look at it this way. I've known you all of my life, and in all that time, I haven't really seen you fall seriously for anybody. I know you don't flirt with my classmates on purpose most of the time, but I'm also sure that there are moments when you enjoy those witches throwing themselves at you. The idea of you actually having a crush is...new."

"New," Skye repeated.

"Yeah."

New.

"Skye?"

"Hm?"

"Let's go. Leon's going to kill us," Rain said, taking his hand and giving it a contrite squeeze.

He looked at her for a few seconds, taking in how much she had changed since her birthday...since she had talked to him about Malfoy.

"What are we standing around here for then?"

****

Skye allowed himself to be towed to the pitch. Rain kept her hold on his hand even though they were already there, not wanting to relinquish the task of hanging out with him to Jon just yet.

"You can let go of me, you know. I'm not going to get lost," Skye said amusedly.

She looked up at him, but let go of his hand. Really, she was more worried about him than she'd ever admit.

Skye had taken care of her ever since she could remember. He had always been there to protect her from everything that she feared, hated or was simply disgusted with. On one occasion, he had even sent a bully flying about a dozen feet backward. She didn't know how to return the favor.

"Skye, Rain, you're late," said the Gryffindor Captain.

"Sorry," was the only thing they said.

Leonard Wood scowled for a moment,and then turned to his team. He had long since given up on addressing his teammates by their last names, as there were three Weasleys currently playing for Gryffindor House.

The complete Gryffindor Quidditch team was comprised of ten people-three of which were Reserves. Rain was the Keeper; Skye, Leonard Wood and Lawrence Ashbrook were the Chasers; Jon and Martin Carmichael were Beaters; and Timothy Weasley played Seeker. Hannah Closky, Steve Fielding and Charlene Finnigan were the Reserves.

"Alright, team. Rumors have been flying around about the European Inter-School Quidditch Cup. I've talked to Madam Hooch about it, but she said there were no definite plans yet..."

Rain allowed Leon's words to escape her. Skye was really serious about having a crush on Celestia. It was...well, she didn't know how she felt about it. She knew that Celestia was a great person, but one never knows really...

Well if he is, then he'd better come out of his shell and tell her.

Skye Weasley was an exuberant boy, and she didn't know him to have a shy bone in his body. Yet here he was, trying to get her to spy on the girl he was crushing on, simply because he was too shy to go up to her and tell her himself.

Stop being naive. It's not that easy. You know that.

A light punch on the shoulder made Rain lose her train of thought. She whirled and turned to Skye.

"What?" she hissed.

"You weren't listening to Wood. Thinking deeply again?"

Her stomach did a somersault. Skye still didn't know about the state of her current relationship with Devon. She wasn't sure how he'd react. Skye was known in the family (and in Gryffindor Tower) for having his irrational side, and she really didn't want him to burn the castle down in shock or anger.

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