"All I'm saying is that I'm totally going to fail this quiz if Professor Fiddlewood doesn't give us the extra credit questions. It's only been like one class, how could we already have a quiz?" Rosemary groaned, laying her head on the Gryffindor table. The morning was early, the two girls sitting almost alone at the table. They were next to each other, two figures clustered close together. The smell of breakfast food was wafting through the air, sugary and savory scents causing Charlotte's mouth to water.

Charlotte laughed, gently moving her friend's green hair away from the powdered sugar covering her pancakes. Teddy and Charlotte had always been as thick as thieves, best friends in every way, but if Charlotte was forced to choose someone else to hold the coveted position, she would choose Rosemary. Rosemary was Rosemary, a bright light in the darkness. "Rose, I'm sure that you'll do fine. You always exaggerate," Charlotte said, rolling her eyes. "Remember when you were sure that you failed but you ended up getting an E?"

Rosemary blushed, sitting up to shove a chunk of buttered bread into her mouth. "That's not the point. I have no idea why Fiddlewood gives us all of this homework and then expects us to have time to study. It's not possible."

"I told you not to take Advanced Xylomancy this year, and guess what you did? Take Advanced Xylomancy," Charlotte teased her, humor right on the edge of her words.

"I thought that it would be easy! When Professor T was teaching it it was!"

"That's because she liked you!"

"Of course she had to retire the year that I take the hardest course."

The two girls went back and forth for a few more minutes, getting giddier and giddier until they collapsed into laughter. More people began to trickle into the room, filling it with the noise and murmurs that came with them. Charlotte and Rosemary were joined by their roommates, who rolled their eyes playfully at the way the two girls were laughing. They tapered off the laughter in favor of more food and more complaining, done by Charlotte and Rosemary respectively.

Charlotte watched Polly and James walk in together, smiling when she heard their bickering as they walked past. "They remind me so much of what young Teddy was like with me," she said, much to the agreement of her friends.

"You two were worse," Anita said immediately. She was seated across from Charlotte, reaching over to pick up a goblet of orange-mango juice.

"Waaaaay worse," Daisy chimed in. Her blonde hair flew around her face with the movement, braid flying.

"Do we need to remind you of the Great Pumpkin Debacle of fourth year?" Rosemary said.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Charlotte said, her cheeks warm. She flapped her hands at her friends to wave them off, biting into a scone with a smile. She groaned as the blueberry filling hit her tongue, savoring the taste. Just before she took her second bite, the scone was plucked out of her hands by one Teddy Lupin.

"My turn to take your food." Teddy winked at her, his mouth full of Charlotte's scone. Crumbs stuck to the corners of his mouth, accenting the mischievous grin plastered to his face.

Rosemary shot Charlotte a look behind Teddy's back, Charlotte making a "cut-it-out" gesture with her eyes. She shifted her gaze back to Teddy, ducking her head to hide her blush. She let strands of dark hair fall over warmed cheeks and a shy grin. "One of these days I'm going to be sick and you are going to get my germs," she warned.

Teddy threw his head back and laughed, swallowing the rest of the scone. "Then we can be sick together."

Charlotte had a vision of them, years in the future, sitting together on the couch, watching the time tick by while sick with a trashy movie playing on the tv. She pictured them warm and happy, smiling even when sick because they enjoyed the other company. That was the future that she wanted. It lived in her head as a distant fantasy, something that she thought was attainable only in her dreams, impossible to find in real life.

She was staring at Teddy, a blank smile placed on her lips when her gaze was pulled to his hand waving in front of her face. "Lotte," Teddy said, repeating her name until she paid attention to him. "I think that someone is waiting for you." He jerked his head to behind her.

Charlotte frowned. She didn't know who would be waiting for her, not having made any plans to meet up with anyone. She twisted in her seat to see a boy in Hufflepuff colors, his face vaguely registering in her mind as someone that she knew. He was attractive in the nice boy kind of way, soft smile and blond hair that flopped over one of his eyes. His name was right on the tip of her tongue, her eyes squinting as she tried to recall it. "Hi..." She let her voice trail off, not wanting the embarrassment of saying the wrong name.

"Everett," the boy supplied helpfully. He spoke with an American accent, which Charlotte knew should jog her memory but didn't. Everett was stuck in the foggy haze of memory, pushed back by things that Charlotte deemed more important. "Everett Alleman." He stuck his hand out for Charlotte to shake, which she shook. His grip was firm, palms smooth and soft.

"Everett, right!" Charlotte shook her head, smiling apologetically at him. "I'm so sorry but I just can't remember how I know you." She glanced back at Teddy, who was looking at Everett with a critical look on his face. This surprised her, but she pushed the feeling away, not wanting to deal with it at that moment.

"I transferred from Ilvermorny yesterday. Headmistress McGonagall introduced us briefly yesterday. She told me to ask you for the tour because you are Head Girl," Everett said, smiling at her charmingly. He had an air around him, of nice boy until no one was watching energy. He seemed used to getting everything that he wanted, in the way that he grinned at her.

"Oh yes!" Charlotte snapped her fingers. "Sorry, that was right after I helped with a situation involving a tree on the grounds. I was a bit frazzled." She laughed, throwing her head back in joy at the memory. Even if it had frazzled her, the day had been full of happiness for her.

"Hopefully you don't forget me this time." Everett winked at Charlotte, offering his hand to her to help her up from the table. She took it, shooting a warning glare at Teddy, telling him not to say something as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Can't promise anything, but I will try not to," Charlotte said, standing up next to Everett. "I'll see you after the tour," she whispered to Teddy before leading Everett out of the Great Hall. "Here, let me see your schedule, then I can make this short and sweet," she said, holding her hands out for the piece of paper.

Everett handed it over willingly as they stood outside the elaborate doors of the Great Hall. Students flooded past them, most of the people that passed the duo saying a version of hello or good morning to Charlotte, who always smiled and took the time to reply back. It was one of the things that made her so popular, her generosity with her time.

Everett was not in the same school of thinking. He glanced at the analog watch strapped onto his wrist, wealth oozing from it. "Could we hurry this up? The little girl doesn't need your attention," He said, impatience dripping from his words. He spoke with the tone of someone used to being waiting on hand and foot, the tone of someone used to getting everything that they wanted.

Charlotte waved goodbye to the first year that she had been talking to and gave Everett a tight smile as a response. "She deserves my attention just as much as you do, and yes, it would be preferable to hurry the tour up," she said, her words cooling. The playful warmth that she had leaked from her tone and her face when she spent more than one minute with Everett. He kept making comments as they walked around the castle, Charlotte weaving her way through the twisting corridors and navigating the moving staircase, letting Everett trail behind her. They set her on edge, eyeing him with more distaste with each one that he made.

She wasn't making an attempt to have an enjoyable tour, doing just the bare minimum to keep the headmistress off of her head. It was all that she was could do not to snap at Everett, to tell him to shut up when his words were mildly offensive. She gritted her teeth, strained smile practically superglued to her face to ensure that it didn't slide off.

They arrived back at the Great Hall and Charlotte exhaled, relief coating her actions. She was excited to shed Everett, to slip away from him and back to her friends. "That's everything that I have to show you," she said tightly, her voice flat.

Everett didn't seem to have picked up on her tone, continuing to flirt with her recklessly. "Would you be interested in showing me around the grounds?" he asked. He winked at her, and she frowned.

"No thank you," she said. "I have standards, and you fall short of them." She turned on her heel, leaving Everett standing there gaping at her. Charlotte gave the first year that he had yelled at a wink, returning to the warm and welcoming bubble of her friends.

Author's Note

Quick note: this hasn't been proofread because I'm tired so I apologize for any mistakes that can be spotted.

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I promise that it isn't just some random person, I'm setting up some things. Thank you so much for reading.

Y'all, 10k reads?? That's absolutely crazy. I can't believe that number. Thank you all so much and I love each and every one of you.

- Nicole