001. ╱ 🦋⠀⠀ ❝ ron weasley. ❞

"YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE GIVEN POOR KEVIN WINGS, MEG," Layla scolded her best friend, as she rolled her eyes.

⠀⠀"I just told him I wasn't using that book!"

⠀⠀"But if you know he's had a crush on you since freshman year, you shouldn't have," scoffed his best friend, Wayne Hopkins.

⠀⠀Layla, Megan and Wayne had been best friends since first year, having met on the first of September on the Hogwarts Express. All three were drawn for Hufflepuff, making their friendship even stronger. 

⠀⠀Kevin Entwhistle, on the other hand, was a Ravenclaw boy who had been in love with the blonde since he first looked at her. He was very shy, but since the end of fourth year, when Megan told him that he didn't need a History of Magic book, he believed something very far from reality, and now he followed them everywhere. Layla thought he was a good boy, since he was intelligent and diligent, but Megan preferred to continue with her plan of making Fred Weasley fall in love with her since he played with her.

⠀⠀"You can't claim me, Lay, in your years of being in love with that redhead you've never even been able to look him in the eye!"

⠀⠀Layla was also in love with a Weasley, but he was the younger and weirder one, in the words of her best friends. She didn't know what Ronald Weasley had, but every time she looked at him she felt a lot of butterflies in her stomach. 

⠀⠀She could be sure that he didn't know of her existence, because he used to only pay attention to the people around him and not to others. When they were in third year, he had come back different, more handsome (according to Lay), and, together with the fact of her first year crush, she had started to write him letters that she always put in his backpack without him noticing: she had been doing that for two years. She obviously changed her handwriting, but she still always wanted him to one day realize how she felt. 

⠀⠀He might be the best friend of the Boy Who Lived, and therefore most underrated by all of Hogwarts, but she couldn't help but stare at him every time.

⠀⠀He was very absent-minded: several times she had even talked to Harry Potter and Hermione Granger while he was standing nearby, but he never seemed to be looking at her or paying attention to her anyway. Lay was close friends with Hermione, and they were often in the Library doing homework, so she knew the stories of the Golden Trio firsthand.

⠀⠀She believed Harry when he said in Dolores Umbridge's class that Lord Voldemort had returned, because if Hermione did, so did she. Lay hated the pink toad, she had made rude remarks to her for being daughter of muggles.

⠀⠀Professor McGonagall had made it very clear to them about the OWLs, something Layla was afraid of: she still didn't know what would become of her life after Hogwarts.

⠀⠀"You cannot pass an OWL," said Professor McGonagall sternly earlier, "without real effort, practice and study. I see no reason why everyone in this class cannot succeed in the Transfiguration OWL if they put in the effort."

⠀⠀Neville Longbottom, a good friend of Layla's, let out a sigh of disbelief. She laughed.

⠀⠀"Yes, you too, Longbottom," said McGonagall. "There's nothing wrong with your work except for your lack of confidence. Well... today we're going to start with the vanishing spells. They are easier than the Spells, which you usually won't attempt until the NEWT, but they are among the most complicated magic you will be asked to do in the OWL."

⠀⠀The teacher couldn't have been more right, as Layla found the vanishing spells difficult. Despite that, she managed to vanish her snail on the fifth attempt, and Megan, next to her, failed to do so. Hermione, meanwhile, managed to vanish hers on the third attempt, earning a reward of ten points for Gryffindor from McGonagall, as did Layla, who got five for Hufflepuff as she was next after her friend. Both were the only ones who did not receive homework; and the rest were told to practise all night, so they would be ready for the next evening's retry.

⠀⠀That was why Layla, Megan and Wayne were in the Library at lunchtime with Kevin a couple of tables away trying to get their blonde friend's attention. The brunette had agreed to help her friends with spells, though they were also inquiring about the uses of feldspar in potion making.

⠀⠀Lay was very good at Potions, though she didn't often get congratulated by Snape for her house, or so she wanted to think. Still, she always got good marks, so she couldn't complain.

⠀⠀"Layla!"

⠀⠀Her head quickly turned as she heard someone speaking to her near where she was standing, though she didn't know exactly whose voice it was. It was Harry Potter, as he waved his hand as if it would make it easier for her to see him, which she found amusing. Next to him was Ron, who was regretfully reading his Potions book with a grimace on his face. She glanced sideways at her friends, who instantly forced her to go.

⠀⠀"Don't be an idiot, go!" Whispered her best friend, nudging her. Layla bit her lower lip nervously, but went.

⠀⠀She approached her best friends nervously as she tried to breathe calmly: whenever she was near Ron she always got very uneasy, even doing things that made her look ridiculous in front of the red-haired boy, who didn't even look at her that way. When she arrived with them, she smiled sideways without showing her teeth and with sweaty palms.

⠀⠀"H-hi, Harry," she greeted him, wanting to punch herself for stuttering. She glanced sideways at her best friends, who were looking at her impatiently, Megan gave her thumbs up and Wayne nudged the blonde not to do that, causing Layla to laugh unintentionally.

⠀⠀"Did I say something funny?" Harry asked in confusion, and she quickly denied.

⠀⠀"No!" Madame Prince silenced her. "No, no, not at all. How are you?"

⠀⠀"Very well indeed, thank you," he smiled back. 

⠀⠀Harry Potter was a great boy, he wasn't stuck up and never tried to draw attention to himself, unfortunately that had worked against him, bringing him trouble ever since he stepped foot in the castle. Lay had never treated him any differently, she was very understanding, maybe that was what had made Harry start talking to her. She felt bad for Cedric, he was from her house and had to die so unjustly, but she believed in Harry nonetheless.

⠀⠀"Did you have a lesson with Snape yet?"

⠀⠀"Just today," she took the homework she was doing out of her backpack, and held out the Potions homework, which was almost finished. "Do you need it?"

⠀⠀Sometimes Layla was too kind, so she used to lend her homework frequently, which sometimes got her points deducted when the teachers noticed, but she didn't mind because she always did it out of a desire to help.

⠀⠀"Yeah, but I don't want you to pass it on to me, you had enough trouble last year with Justin when you passed him your Transformations homework," oh, that had been embarrassing, and she hated that the dark-haired had remembered that. She didn't even want to think about it, so she shook her head.

⠀⠀"Don't remind me, Harry, I nearly failed the course for that," she laughed, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear nervously as she saw that Ron still couldn't take his eyes off his book, still annoyed that he didn't understand the contents. "Besides, I wouldn't mind helping you."

⠀⠀"Exactly, I just want you to tell me how you did it so I can get an idea, I'm drawing a blank," he confessed apologetically.

⠀⠀Lay understood perfectly: Snape hated Harry, and Harry hated Snape, just like that. The head of the snake house had dedicated himself to making life miserable for The Boy Who Lived, and even though she had never taken the subject with Gryffindor, she had been informed of all these events, so she knew he had his work cut out for his.

⠀⠀"Don't worry, Harry, I'll gladly help you," she smiled at him, still looking sideways at the red-headed boy, which Lay knew her friend had noticed so she instantly stopped, not wanting a scene where she would surely be embarrassed.

⠀⠀They spent the whole lunch hour, with Layla explaining the subject to Harry and how he should do his work, and Ron immersed in his book, while all he said was: "Harry, pass me the inkwell", "Damn, I don't understand anything", "I'm really hungry". 

⠀⠀The brunette looked at him several times trying to get him to look at her, but it was useless, just like the last few years. In the end, Layla handed him the History of Magic essay that Harry was due in two hours and still hadn't done, but he didn't want to accept it.

⠀⠀"Take it, Harry, please," she insisted, but he refused and handed it back to her.

⠀⠀"No, Lay, thank you very much, I'll do it, don't worry."

⠀⠀She sighed in annoyance, then put it in front of him, where Ron also looked at the work with a frown but continued to write.

⠀⠀"I insist," she finished, then grabbed her things and slung her rucksack over her shoulder. "It's my second period tomorrow, so I hope you can bring it back at breakfast!"

⠀⠀And she walked away, leaving Harry a little annoyed by the Hufflepuff's usual kindness, but in the end he ended up taking the parchment.

⠀⠀Megan and Wayne had left her there, great. Now she had to go to her next class alone. It didn't bother her, but with Lord Voldemort's return she didn't want to be in the corridors without anyone by her side: his followers were probably in Slytherin, and they had treated her badly since first year. Now things were going from bad to worse, and even her parents had noticed her change in attitude after last term, even more so because of Cedric.

⠀⠀Classes went by, and she had more and more homework than ever, making it impossible for her to write Ron a note, but she'd have time. He'd never tried to write her back, except for the time he'd tried to ask her to be his date to the Yule Ball last year, and only once had he tried to describe his handwriting, with Layla making it clear to him that it was altered and wouldn't work. What she always saw was his reaction to reading the notes: he'd always turn red up to his ears and grin. Lay knew she wasn't an expert on such things, but the redhead seemed to like what she was doing, and she was aware that just as she was stuffed with homework, so was he, so she felt it necessary to write him something wishing him luck.

⠀⠀Layla used to go on night walks as she found it very difficult to sleep, and teacher Sprout was aware of this and used to give her permission to go on them. That night was no exception. As she finished her astronomy homework, she knew it was time for one. She crept out of the door of the Hufflepuff Common Room, but not before having had a talk with Megan, where the blonde made a point of telling her to be very careful when walking alone, and that any noise she heard should be hidden. It was Lay who had the permission, not her, and the brunette was rethinking whether to tell the teacher that she wanted to do it with company, she was sure she would understand.

⠀⠀As she walked along, she came across the Weasley twins with some first year boys, and remembered that they had told her they were going to start selling their prank products, and they were going to test them on them. She decided to lay low: she didn't want to be a guinea pig. She visualised Harry cursing, which struck her as odd, so she decided to talk to him.

⠀⠀"Harry, hi," she interrupted his thoughts. The boy was startled but when he saw her he put a hand over his heart. She laughed, "What's the matter, are you coming back from your punishment?"

⠀⠀Harry had been punished by Umbridge for telling that Lord Voldemort had returned, and her, being in the Ministry, had flatly denied it, thus punishing him for the whole week.

⠀⠀"Yes... Ron?"

⠀⠀They had reached the top of the stairs, turned right and nearly bumped into Ron, who was loitering behind the statue of Lachan the Lanky, wielding his broom. Layla blushed at the sight of him, and was thankful it was dark so they wouldn't notice, though Harry did. The red-haired boy jumped in surprise when he saw the two of them and tried to hide his new Cleansweep 11 behind his back.

⠀⠀"What are you doing?" Asked The Boy who Lived, giving a sidelong glance at the brunette, who was getting too nervous as she shifted her foot uneasily and bit her lip.

⠀⠀She couldn't believe that in such a strange situation, finally, after five years of knowing him, Ron Weasley would look at her. Lay felt breathless, and even seemed to have forgotten to breathe: the red-haired boy had the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen, so when he looked directly into her green eyes, she blushed even more, unable to say anything.

⠀⠀"Emh... nothing. What do you guys do?"

⠀⠀She still didn't say a word, she had become too nervous, which Harry noticed but decided to overlook as he also noticed that Ron was trying to hide something from them. The dark-haired man frowned.

⠀⠀"Come on, you can tell us! Layla can be trusted," again the red-haired man looked at her, and this time she couldn't help looking at him with intensity, appreciating his beautiful eyes and his freckles; they looked like many stars on his delicate face. "Why are you hiding?"

⠀⠀"Mmh... I'm hiding from Fred and George, if you must know," said Ron, clearly lying and a little nervous about her intense stare. The girl began to wonder if he was doing it because she was there or if it was true. "They just went through with a bunch of first years, I bet they're trying things out on them again. I mean, they can't do it in the common room now, not with Hermione around."

⠀⠀Ron spoke quickly, feverishly. Layla knew he was hiding something, she knew him well enough to know.

⠀⠀"But why do you have your broom, you haven't been flying, have you?" Harry asked, looking at the Quidditch pitch in the background, which Ron took the opportunity to look at Layla and get nervous as well.

⠀⠀"I, well... Well, I'm going to say it, but don't laugh, all right?" Said Ron defensively, blushing at every turn. "I thought, I thought I should run for Gryffindor Keeper, now that I've got a decent broom. There you go, laugh it up."

⠀⠀Layla smiled without thinking about it. She thought it was cute that he wanted to try, and she knew he could, since if his brothers and sister were good at Quidditch, Ron was too. She was glad he would take that into consideration, as the brunette had once told him so in one of her letters. Neither she nor Harry laughed, and they even shared glances as she still smiled.

⠀⠀"I'm not laughing," said Harry.

⠀⠀"Neither do I," she muttered loud enough for both Gryffindors to hear. Ron blinked and smiled sideways at her, Layla's heart began to race and she blushed.

⠀⠀"That's a brilliant idea! It would be great if you could make the team! I've never seen you playing as a Keeper, are you any good?"

⠀⠀"I'm not bad," said Ron, who seemed immensely relieved at Harry's reaction. "Charlie, Fred and George always left me as Keeper when they were training on holiday."

⠀⠀"If they're very good, you must be better," Layla admitted nervously, for it was no lie: Ron's older brothers were experts at quidditch, and even if she didn't know Charlie, Oliver Wood, the former captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, was constantly saying that he had been the best on the team.

⠀⠀"Thank you," Ron murmured, blushing a little at the compliment from the girl he didn't know. She was touched, it wasn't that hard to talk to him after all, was it?

⠀⠀"So, have you been practising tonight?"

⠀⠀"Every evening since Tuesday... but alone. I've been trying to charm Quaffles to fly to me, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know how much it's helped me," Ron looked even more nervous confessing that. "Fred and George are going to laugh their heads off when I take the tests. They haven't stopped teasing me since I was made prefect."

⠀⠀"I wish I was there," said Harry sourly as they made their way to the Common Room.

⠀⠀"I'll go," Layla blurted out, then wanted to hit herself when she realised what she'd said. "I mean, I could go if they let me."

⠀⠀"I think it's a good idea, you could give good cheers," Harry grinned, and scratched his nose with his right hand, which both Layla and Ron noticed was etched with dried blood, she frowned.

⠀⠀"Harry, what's that on the back of your hand?" Ron asked before Layla could say anything. She looked at him knowingly, he had seen the same thing she had.

⠀⠀Harry tried to hide it with the same result as Ron did with his Cleansweep 11.

⠀⠀"It's just a cut, it's nothing, it's..."

⠀⠀But Ron grabbed Harry's arm, forcing him to raise his hand to eye level. They both stared for a few moments at the words branded into the skin and then Ron, disgusted, let go. Layla hadn't read what it said, but it was clear that it had a sentence marked on it, which frightened her as it was obvious that Umbridge had caused it.

⠀⠀"I thought you said she only made you copy lines!"

⠀⠀"Harry, that's wrong, you shouldn't let her do that to you," Layla was clearly upset, that pink toad had no right to do that to the boy.

⠀⠀The dark-haired boy hesitated, and as they started walking he began to tell them the whole truth about the hours he had spent in Umbridge's office. Both boys agreed to take Layla to her Common Room, so when he finished telling them, they arrived at the place. She hesitated, she didn't know what to do or say, should she say goodbye to them both? She always kissed them on the cheek, with Harry from time to time but not with the red-headed boy; in the end she decided to do it, it didn't hurt.

⠀⠀"I... mh, good night, guys," she blushed when she saw Ron looking at her. "Harry, you should tell Professor McGonagall, that's not right," he didn't answer but nodded slightly. "Go very carefully to your Common Room, I hope to see you at the tests, I'll tell Mione to go," she looked at Ron and he nodded a little hesitantly, then spoke.

⠀⠀"Excuse me, but what is your name?"

⠀⠀Harry glared at him but said nothing. Ron was still looking her straight in the eye, intimidating her.

⠀⠀"My name is Layla Dunnet," she couldn't take her eyes off the redhead's blue eyes.

⠀⠀"I don't remember seeing you before," he admitted ruefully, and his friend rolled his eyes.

⠀⠀"Ron, he's been with us and Hermione doing homework a lot! She even talked to me in the library today."

⠀⠀He shook his head in confusion.

⠀⠀"I apologise for him, he's very absent-minded," said Harry, nudging his friend, who grimaced but nodded. "Have a nice night."

⠀⠀She nodded, still blushing, and then kissed the boys on the cheek goodbye. The dark-haired didn't flinch, but his friend was very surprised, turning red in the face and ears. Instantly Harry grabbed his arm and they started walking, leaving the girl alone, then tapped the barrels to the beat of Helga Hufflepuff. Layla saw them secreting between them before they went in, and Ron turned discreetly, catching the girl watching him, so she blushed again and hurried inside.

LAYLA HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR HERMIONE ON THE DAY RON WAS GOING TO TRY OUT FOR HER HOUSE QUIDDITCH TEAM. She wanted to be there. For the first time in years she had been able to talk to him without making a fool of herself, and she hoped that if she was with someone else again, she wouldn't be blurting out nonsensical comments. Unfortunately Harry wasn't going to be able to be there due to his punishment with Umbridge, but that didn't exempt him from wishing him luck and hoping he'd make it through.

⠀⠀"Mione! Hi, I was hoping you could join me to watch the Quidditch trials," she said when she saw her, and the brunette raised a questioning eyebrow.

⠀⠀"Are you going to see Ron?"

⠀⠀Layla's cheeks flushed and she tried to shake her head, to which Hermione laughed.

⠀⠀"I know you like him, it's very obvious, Lay," the girl was nervous again; Hermione was best friends with the redhead and it was embarrassing for her to know. "But if it makes you happy, I'll go with you."

⠀⠀She bit her lip and nodded.

⠀⠀"Thank you, Mione"

⠀⠀Layla grabbed her arm and they began to walk together towards the field, while the Gryffindor couldn't understand at what point the two of them had been talking. She was well aware that Ron had always been unaware of the Hufflepuff's existence.

⠀⠀So, not knowing her friend's thoughts, Layla told her.

⠀⠀"Yesterday I met Harry, we talked and then Ron arrived..., you don't know how sorry I felt at that moment, we had never spoken before and I felt I would make a complete fool of myself."

⠀⠀"He can be a brute repeatedly," Hermione laughed. "But it's about time he noticed you."

⠀⠀"Megan and Wayne went crazy when I told them," she recalled, and it made her laugh. "They were more excited than I was!"

⠀⠀"I'll bet even Harry has already realised that you like him," she hinted.

⠀⠀"Don't tell me that, Mione! I couldn't look him in the eye again," she laughed nervously and started to blow out her hand. "I thought it wasn't so obvious..."

⠀⠀"Don't worry, the important thing is that Ron never finds out, and believe me it will never happen from his side."

⠀⠀Layla nodded trying not to get any more nervous as she started to move closer to where the redhead was standing. She could see more Gryffindor boys starting to arrive in search of the position that Oliver Wood had left the year before, one that Angelina Johnson wouldn't give up to just anyone. The lion house was very good at Quidditch, and a lot of the time the badgers and eagles used to support them when they went up against the snakes; it was a strange sort of bonding in those cases that no one wanted Slytherin to win, whether it was the Quidditch Cup or the House Cup at the end of the term.

⠀⠀The field was a huge open space, where Layla only attended at the request of Megan, who was a fan of the sport and even a member of her home team, while Wayne wasn't a big fan, but at the blonde's request they always went to see her.

⠀⠀"There he is!" Hermione whispered to Layla, who still smiled nervously. In the middle of the place there were a lot of boys, including Ron, warming up before the tryouts began.

⠀⠀Both girls walked over to the stands to sit down, where there weren't many people supporting them, just the team. Next to them Fred and George Weasley quickly took their places to tease Layla, mostly Fred, and ask about Megan.

⠀⠀"How is beautiful Megan?"

⠀⠀She rolled her eyes. Megan had been in love with him for years, then Fred made her believe he had feelings for her, so Megan was currently romancing Fred Weasley as revenge. Sometimes best friends are very different.

⠀⠀"Over there, I think she was going to meet a Ravenclaw boy, I can't quite remember," she shrugged and pretended it didn't matter, though she could see the twin chiding himself.

⠀⠀"And who are you here to see?", said George now.

⠀⠀"I want to watch the trials, is that forbidden?" She raised an eyebrow, he denied and lifted his shoulders.

⠀⠀Hermione looked at her blankly and she mouthed: "I'll tell you later".

⠀⠀Layla didn't know much about Quidditch, nothing really. She was just watching them score a goal in the opposing goal, as Megan was a Keeper, and that was exactly the position Ron was going for. He was dodged many times, but the brunette couldn't deny that the other boys weren't that good, so she was grateful that this way, Ron was able to get through.

⠀⠀She and Hermione went to congratulate him, but when they reached him, her friend gave her a little push.

⠀⠀"Ron, congratulations!" She smiled at him and he blushed a little at the sight of her, which made Layla's heart race.

⠀⠀"Thank you so much, Layla," he smiled back. "I thought you weren't coming..."

⠀⠀"I told you I would," she began to wiggle her foot nervously. "Besides, Harry made me promise to come and tell him, and Hermione came with me."

⠀⠀She nodded. Ron was equally nervous, and even more so when the twins arrived to congratulate him.

⠀⠀"We knew you'd make it, Ronny!"

⠀⠀"Our little brother is already a great Quidditch player."

⠀⠀The boy blushed harder at the embarrassing things his brothers were saying, and then George ruffled his hair even though he was shorter than him. Layla laughed at Ron's expression, and that made him shrink back into place.

⠀⠀"Come on, Ronny, let's go to the kitchens for a butterbeer," Fred tried to encourage him.

⠀⠀"I've told you before that you shouldn't make elves work like this!" Hermione shouted angrily, and looked to Layla for help. The Hufflepuff had bought a S.P.E.W. badge the year before, so she did support her, but she wasn't as extreme as she was.

⠀⠀"Don't worry, Hermione, they like it," George tried to reassure her but she angrily denied.

⠀⠀"Let's go, Lay."

⠀⠀She hesitated a little, but she couldn't leave her friend alone, so she kissed the three Weasleys goodbye and again Ron blushed. The Hufflepuff smiled to herself and walked away.

⠀⠀"I wanted to go with them... if they invited me, of course," Layla said without thinking, but when she saw the furious look on her friend's face, she instantly retracted it. "It was a lie! Of course I wouldn't..."

⠀⠀Hermione hesitated, but they both kept walking. There were many fellow Gryffindor students near them, heading to the castle after the tests anyway. Layla made her way to her Common Room, meeting up with Megan and Wayne.

⠀⠀"How did it go?!" Megan asked excitedly, as she grabbed her arm and led her to the couch in the room. They both sat down with Wayne facing them.

⠀⠀"Very good... I've made a lot of progress, don't you think?" She dared to admit, biting her lip.

⠀⠀"Only if you dare to speak to him when you are alone," said his friend mockingly, but he nodded.

⠀⠀"When you decide to tell Nott that you like him, we'll talk," Megan reproached him, and raised her hand in front of his face. "Talk to the hand."

⠀⠀"Well, 'hand' is cuter than the owner, she hasn't yelled at me yet," Wayne began to touch the girl's fingers, and she became annoyed.

⠀⠀"Don't touch...!" 

⠀⠀"Guys!" Layla interrupted the fight that was about to happen. Her best friends used to be very nice, but every now and then they would have arguments and it would almost end in blows. "Calm down... Meg, I told Fred you were meeting a Ravenclaw boy earlier, you should have seen his face!"

⠀⠀"He's going down, isn't he?" Megan asked excitedly and Layla nodded. "He deserves it, I told him no one messes with me..., poor thing."

⠀⠀Layla and Wayne didn't completely agree with what the blonde was doing, as no one deserved to play with anyone's feelings; but since that's exactly what Fred did to her, Megan wanted revenge. The worst thing about it was that she was still in love with the redhead, so it was a win-win. The brunette tried to change her mind, but to no avail. Wayne, on the other hand, had been in love since childhood with Theodore Nott; he had never hidden his sexuality and was happy, but no matter how hard he tried to have a relationship with other boys, his mind only went back to him.

⠀⠀The three best friends found themselves in love trouble, and were set to have better luck from that moment on.

⠀⠀They then set about doing their homework in the Common Room, as they had a lot of homework to do and the teachers always seemed to have something to do. Layla had a knack for doing it very quickly, which is why she was always the one helping Megan and Wayne. Also because of that, many classmates used to go with her to help them with their homework, and some even paid her to do their homework for them: Layla didn't like to get paid, as she always helped from her heart and not to make a profit, but there were students who insisted so much and she ended up agreeing.

⠀⠀Justin Finch-Fletchley, a classmate, approached the three friends as he were coming in from outside.

⠀⠀"¡Hey! Lay, you're wanted outside."

⠀⠀The brunette looked up in confusion and glanced at her friends but they denied it. They never used to pick her up, or at least not at that hour. She put down her quill and parchment and walked towards the entrance. When she came out she saw that it was Ron, so she couldn't help blushing. The boy was still in his uniform, but he didn't have his sweeper with him. He cleared his throat and was the first to speak.

⠀⠀"Hello, Layla... Ah, I wanted to tell you..., well, I wanted to ask you if you could help me, of course, if you want, with Potions... I need to do the essay for tomorrow and I haven't done it yet, I know you're good, Harry told me... And Hermione didn't want to help me, telling me I was a barbarian for not having it before and well..."

⠀⠀Ron started to waver and ran his hand down his neck, clearly embarrassed. Layla found it endearing, as he was rambling on and on to ask her for help with his essay. She knew that Ron —like Harry— wasn't particularly good at the subject because of Snape, so it was no problem for her to help him. She smiled at him.

⠀⠀"Of course!" She exclaimed excitedly, but instantly reprimanded herself when she realised she sounded too enthusiastic. "I mean, yeah, sure, it's no trouble at all to help you, do you want to go to the library?"

⠀⠀Ron nodded repeatedly.

⠀⠀"Well, let me get my things and my essay so that I can help you better... I'll be right back."

⠀⠀She rushed into the hall, not having closed the entrance completely. Her friends already knew who he was as they were squealing with excitement, and Layla started laughing at their attitude.

⠀⠀"I told you! You owe me a galleon," Megan laughed, and Wayne reluctantly pulled the coin out of his pocket. "We bet on who it was... I won," she smiled triumphantly.

⠀⠀"It's unfair!"

⠀⠀"It's not," the blonde replied to the boy in a singsong voice. "It was a fair game with no cheating. Whether you're a sore loser is another thing..."

⠀⠀Layla, without saying a word —since she knew that if she did she'd get too nervous and didn't want to ruin it with Ron— hurried off to get her things, put them in her backpack and left her friends arguing about whether Megan was a cheater or Wayne was a sore loser. They didn't even notice that their friend had left because they were immersed in their argument.

⠀⠀As she left the Room, she saw Ron standing nervously by the door. When she looked at him, he almost fell over, something Layla didn't understand, but passed him by.

⠀⠀"Let's go, we don't want it to be any later," she warned the red-haired boy with a smile, and he nodded and began to follow her.

⠀⠀Neither of them said anything on the way to the library. Layla was thinking that she didn't want to say anything that might embarrass her in front of Ron, so she decided not to try and make conversation just yet. There weren't that many students in the corridors for the time it was, and the brunette was curious that Hermione hadn't wanted to help him, if she usually did that even a day before; the thought that maybe she did it so he would come to her crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it as stupid.

⠀⠀They were almost the only ones in the library: there were only a couple of seventh years and Madame Pince. They went to sit at a remote table near the Forbidden Section, and she took out her Potions book, her essay and her quill. She was about to start talking but Ron beat her to it.

⠀⠀"Hey, thank you very much indeed, Layla, not everyone would do that," he said shyly, and she signalled that it was no problem.

⠀⠀"I like helping people, it's no bother, Ron. You could call me Lay though," she mentioned in a whisper, blushing. He nodded several times.

⠀⠀"Yes, of course! Lay sounds better, and it's shorter... Since nobody calls me Ronald, well... Hermione when she gets mad and my mum once in a while, the twins when they make fun of me..."

⠀⠀"I think it's clear to me," the brunette cut him off, laughing, seeing that the boy was still saying things at random and very quickly. "Well, the essay is easy, if you want you can base it on mine, but first I'd like to explain it to you, because otherwise you won't learn and it's not the same," she laughed and he nodded.

⠀⠀While she was explaining, Ron pulled parchment, quill and ink out of his bag, and accidentally threw a couple of sheets of paper on the floor, so Layla started to help him pick them up. She accidentally saw one of her letters, hesitated to say anything, but when the red-haired boy saw that she had seen it, he got nervous.

⠀⠀"Is this a letter?" Layla dared to ask, biting her lip inwardly. Ron hesitated.

⠀⠀"I, ah... No! No. It's just a note," he picked it up quickly, almost snatching it out of his hands.

⠀⠀She smiled unconsciously at how nervous Ron had become. Maybe, and just maybe, he enjoyed getting those letters, and that made her very happy.