Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 48: Too Much Attention

Days Later

With the end of the holidays, it was once again time to return to Hogwarts. The ride back was just as noisy and fun as ever, with only one slight exception.

That exception was Luna, who was currently snuggled up against my right arm with a smile so bright and happy it looked like nothing in the world could wipe it off.

“W-Why is Luna so blindingly happy right now? Do I even want to know?” Hermione asked, raising a brow as she looked at Luna as though unsure how to react.

“Knowing Luna, Aether probably got her a rare animal or something for Christmas,” Ginny said with a shrug, sitting on my other side. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned up and kissed me on the cheek.

“By the way, Aether, thank you for your Christmas present. I loved it~” Ginny said with a huge smile, referring to the small handmade bracelet I’d given her that could store one object inside.

“Let me guess, you put your broom in it?” I teased, getting her to blush.

“S-Shut up! Besides, it’s the broom you gave me last year,” Ginny said with a cute pout.

“Right, right.” I chuckled before turning back to Hermione, who was looking at us with faint jealousy. “Anyway, to answer your question, Hermione—I gifted Luna with a pet that she and her father have been looking for for years.”

Now looking curious, Daphne jumped into the conversation. “What did you gift her?”

Hermione, on the other hand, looked suddenly uncomfortable, her expression twisting like she’d just bitten into a lemon. She and Luna often butted heads whenever Hermione called the creatures Luna believed in “not real.”

“As you probably guessed, I got her a—” I stopped when Luna shifted excitedly beside me and smiled, deciding to let her answer instead.

“Aether got me a Crumple-Horned Snorkack~!” Luna said, her smile somehow growing even brighter. “It looks as cute as I thought it would.”

“…They actually exist?” Hermione muttered in a dead voice, as if someone had just told her the world was flat after all.

“Yup! They’re super weird but kind of cool at the same time~” Illya said with a grin before going into great detail about what the creature looked like while everyone else listened in awe.

“Where did you get it?” Astoria whispered, glancing at me with a mix of curiosity and that telltale gleam of mischief in her eyes.

“Trade secret~,” I said with a wink, earning a pout and a raspberry from her.

“Fine~ Don’t tell me. But just so you know, I’ve always wanted a pet lion,” she said with a grin, giving me a knowing look.

‘And now she wants her own pet,’ I thought with a deadpan.

What Astoria said opened the floodgates as all the other girls quickly started listing off what animals they wouldn’t mind having as pets, each of them looking at me expectantly.

‘Oh boy,’ I thought, feeling a twinge of nervousness. ‘Just wait until we get to the Pokémon world already damn it.’

And that was how our train ride was spent, everyone chattering about their favorite animals and what qualified as cute.

=====

Little Whinging, Surrey

An old—no, ancient—man could be seen walking down the street of Privet Drive, heading toward the fourth house in the long row of identical homes that lined it.

He had a long white beard that nearly reached his knees, and as he came to a stop in front of the door, he pulled a little stick, a wand, from his bright purple robes. With a small wave, the front door clicked open on its own.

Pushing it open, the old man frowned as he found the house completely empty. Nonetheless, he waved his wand again, murmured something under his breath, and waited for something. After a few moments, he let out a quiet sigh and shook his head.

“Still no lead.”

“It’s clear that someone rich or powerful is helping them,” the old man muttered to himself, his lined face shadowed by worry. “They have no other relatives, and Sirius died in that unfortunate attack on Azkaban two summers ago. Both Harry and, especially, Rose are keeping a tight lid on where they disappear to each summer and always avoid the question whenever asked.”

“Should I bring this to Cornelius’ attention?” he mused aloud, stroking his beard in thought before shaking his head. “No… not yet. I still have one more lead before I do so.”

Stepping back out of the house, he strolled slowly along the sidewalk, lost in thought about a particular boy, a certain teen that both Potter twins, but Rose most of all, seemed unusually close to. A teen that had caught his interest since the first time he saw him.

“Now the question is,” he murmured softly, his blue eyes glinting beneath his half-moon spectacles, “will young Aether be as difficult to get answers out of as the other two? Perhaps… I should have a closer look at his family.”

He turned his gaze skyward, watching the clouds drift lazily across the pale winter sky. A soft hum escaped him, a mix of curiosity and concern, before he gave a small flick of his wand.

With a faint crack, the air shimmered, and the old man vanished, leaving only the whisper of displaced wind behind as the neat street of Privet Drive returned to silence.

=====

A Month Later, February — Hogwarts

With one of the coldest months of the year upon us, it was now a Saturday, and we found ourselves outside doing what any group of teens would do when faced with tons of snow and friends.

A snowball fight.

Illya had the bright idea for all of us to team up and challenge anyone brave, or foolish, enough to go against us. Most of us agreed instantly, and the few that didn’t (Hermione and Daphne) were quickly convinced otherwise by the others.

To be fair, we were doing a damn good job at crushing every challenger that stepped up to face us. Our first victims were the Weasley twins and some of their friends.

And while they were good, what could they really do against a group with endless reserves of magic, immune to any cold temperatures, and three gremlins on the team?

Nothing.

Nothing but take their punishment, admit defeat, and walk away drenched from head to toe in shame.

“Hihihi, this is so fun~” Ginny laughed as she ducked beside me, her flushed cheeks making her cute freckles stand out even more.

“Hahaha, of course it is. We’re winning, after all.” I grinned, pulling her closer to my chest. She happily snuggled against me, sighing in contentment.

“This was a great way to spend the day~” Ginny murmured into my chest, clearly done with the fight and perfectly content to stay where she was.

“It truly is,” I agreed, resting my chin atop her beautiful red hair before pulling a single red rose from my inventory and holding it out to her. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Gin.”

She gasped softly, taking the rose with trembling hands before bringing it to her nose. After a gentle sniff, she looked up at me, cheeks red, eyes glossy, and smiling in a way that nearly stopped my heart.

“I thought boys were supposed to be terrible at remembering these things,” Ginny said softly.

“Well, to be fair, I do have an internal clock that always tells me what day of the month it is.” I teased, referring to my ever-present HUD that I sometimes forgot was even there.

“Hihihi, of course you do.” Ginny giggled, shaking her head before sitting up a little straighter and leaning toward me. Our lips met halfway in a soft, lingering kiss.

When we finally parted, Ginny’s face was still flushed, her smile shy but radiant. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.”

“I did too,” I admitted warmly. “If your mum hadn’t interrupted us that time in the garden, it probably would’ve happened then.”

Ginny huffed. “Yeah, she always has the worst timing. But at least she’s not here right now, so she can’t stop me from doing this.”

Before I could respond, she leaned in again, kissing me deeper this time. I met her halfway, closing my eyes as I brushed my tongue along her lips for permission. She granted it eagerly, and I tasted the sweetness of the pastries we’d shared earlier as our tongues tangled together.

“Mmn… Aether,” Ginny breathed between kisses.

“Gin…” I whispered back.

Just as things were starting to heat up, reality decided to intervene.

A snowball smacked both of us square in the face.

“Hey! What’s the big idea!? Can’t you see we’re busy here!?” Ginny snapped immediately, pulling away with a fiery glare.

I turned to see poor Colin Creevey, our newest challenger, standing frozen, pale as snow, trembling as if he’d just realized he’d made a life-altering mistake.

And, well… he had.

For just a moment I felt a bit of pity for him knowing what was coming next but just for a bit since I was enjoying myself too.

A moment later, Colin let out a shriek as a pair of large bats flew straight out of his nose and started chasing him around the courtyard.

Unfortunately, that was also the moment I got dogpiled by my own team, every single one of them demanding a flower too as they shoved handfuls of snow down my shirt.

=====

A Few Days Later

Valentine’s Day was finally behind us, the only real change being the addition of Ginny as my official girlfriend, leaving only Daphne, Hermione, and Rose as the “odd ones out.” Something they were very aware of… and more than a little jealous about.

And while I could easily go to them and ask them out myself, I thought it better to wait for them to make the first move. Otherwise, I would’ve asked them out last year already.

“Hey, Aether,” Rin’s voice suddenly broke my thoughts, soft but serious.

“What is it?” I asked, setting down my spoon, I’d been enjoying pudding lately thanks to Luna’s obsession with the stuff, and turned to her.

Rin leaned in close, her aqua eyes sharp. “The old man keeps staring at you quite intently from time to time.”

I didn’t need to ask who she meant.

‘Dumbledore, huh? What’s he curious about now?’ I thought silently. ‘He’s done this before, but he’s never acted on it. Never even said a word to me in my 3 years here.’

Discreetly, I lifted my gaze toward the High Table and, sure enough, spotted the ridiculous length of that snowy beard. His twinkling blue eyes were locked right on me, not with the casual curiosity of before, but with an intensity that set my instincts on edge.

‘Tsk… and here I thought this year was pretty much over at this point.’

But before I could think more on it, something else immediately hijacked my attention, something that made my eyes widen slightly.

A dainty hand had just brushed my leg… and stopped squarely over my crotch.

I froze.

Turning left, a ready reprimand on my lips, I expected to see either Astoria or Illya with their usual mischievous grins. Instead, my voice died in my throat as I came face-to-face with Luna Lovegood’s serene, innocent expression. Only this time, there was something slightly knowing about her smile.

Before I could say a word, Luna leaned closer and whispered softly into my ear, her voice dripping with gentle sincerity.

“I read that when boys are stressed, this helps them relax… right?”

My eyes widened further, and I barely managed to school my expression back into something resembling calm.

Leaning close to her ear, I whispered back quickly, voice tight but controlled. “Luna, I don’t know where you read that, and frankly, I don’t want to know. But please understand that… this sort of thing is done in private, not in the middle of the Great Hall where anyone can see.”

“Oh,” Luna murmured, blinking slowly. Then, after a brief pause, her eyes lit up with realization. “That’s right! Some couples aren’t into exhibitionism. I understand. I’ll just wait until we’re alone then.”

With that, she withdrew her hand, smiled dreamily, and went right back to her pudding as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, I just sat there, completely frozen, mind blank. I didn’t even hear Rin quietly curse under her breath about “one of those”.

‘…What have I unleashed?’ I thought, Dumbledore and all other concerns momentarily forgotten in the wake of Luna’s newfound boldness.

In fact, now that I think about it, ever since coming back from the holidays, Luna has been slowly but steadily getting bolder.

It started innocent enough, cuddling up to me during meals more often, then it evolved into giving me random hugs here and there. After that came hand-holding, surprise kisses on the cheek, and now… this.

‘Is someone lending her books on this kind of thing?’ I thought curiously, my eyes automatically darting to the ultimate book lover I knew, currently sitting across the hall at the Gryffindor table.

The moment Hermione felt my gaze on her, she blushed bright red and instantly buried her face in a book, refusing to meet my eyes.

‘My, my, Hermione… and here I thought you and Luna didn’t get along all that well.’ I mused with a deadpan expression, now utterly convinced I’d found the culprit responsible for corrupting my pure and innocent Luna.

‘This time, there’s no saving you from a well-deserved spanking.’

=====

A Month Later

Days quickly passed, soon turning into weeks, and by the time a month had gone by, I had all but forgotten my conversation with Rin about the old man giving me strange looks.

Most of my thoughts and attention had been focused on something else entirely, Luna’s newfound boldness and the increasingly unpredictable situations she kept dragging me into.

After that incident, plenty more followed, with Luna seemingly turning it into a game because of how much she enjoyed catching me off guard. Sometimes, she’d randomly pull me into the nearest broom closet while I was talking casually with one of the other girls and snog me senseless for several minutes, most times with a little… heavy petting thrown in. Other times, she’d casually grab my hand mid-conversation and guide it to her still growing but very nice and perky breasts.

Every day with her had become its own kind of adventure, with me trying to guess as to what new scheme Luna would come up with next.

Of course, because I allowed her antics to go unchecked, it also seemed to inspire the others, especially the more daring ones like Rin, Illya, Astoria, and Sakura, to follow her example.

It had reached the point where not a single day passed without me being dragged into a broom closet and playing tonsil hockey with at least one of them or fucking them senseless to those I had already had sex with.

That’s why it came as a surprise when, after breakfast one morning, Professor Flitwick approached and told me that Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak with me after lunch, already knowing I had a free period that day.

Now, I found myself walking to the second floor leading to the Headmaster’s office, stopping in front of the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance.

‘What could he possibly want with me?’ I wondered, adjusting my robes before squaring my shoulders.

‘Well… let’s find out.’