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@crmillicent @crcai

inviting cai over to their home for the easter holiday had to be the worst idea she’s ever come up with, and not only did she have to deal with him, she also had to deal with asking her overprotective father for permission to let cai stay with them. do you know how hard it was to convince the man that is her father? honestly, it took her a whole two days to get him to say yes to that, and to allow another male acquaintance to come over the same week. the things lilliana does for millicent’s happiness, honestly. 

ever since she found out about her sister’s huge crush on the guy she semi-dislikes, lillie has been grossed out to the core. who in their right mind would crush on cai? sure, the guy is good looking and nice and good at a lot of things– okay, he’s not terrible, but still. lillie can’t stand him for whatever reason and she’s not going to fall into any of his traps! 

“what should we do today, mil?” she looks over to her sister before turning to squint at cai. “my friend, dane, will be here soon. so don’t worry about being the only guy.” 

it’s been a few months since they were able to travel back home and spend some time with their family, so millicent was ecstatic for spring break, just thinking about waking up to the scent of mother’s special ‘welcome home’ breakfast and dad’s annoying, yet efficient wake up call was enough to make the long train ride worth the wait.

that was until lilliana sprung the fact that she invited a certain slytherin over. she was incredulous at first. when her sister began acting weird a few days before vacation started, she should have been suspicious then, but she was distracted by her excitement. 

Keeping her company feels like he’s keeping Jihyuck company. There’s an amount of gentleness and responsibility over Millie that keeps growing on him. It’s nice to see the younger loosen up by the minute, and hearing her laugh makes Cai feel like he’s doing a good job. 

Cai gathers his papers, slipping it in his notebook and jogging towards the younger, not wanting to slow her down even for a second. The students start walking, and Cai mentally thinks that he stands out a lot, like an old eagle in a flock of baby seagulls. But he disregards that thought. He’s literally a senior anyway.

They start walking.

Hearing the other start the conversation takes him by surprise, she finally has loosen up– a bit. 

He hums for a short second. “It’s not really mandatory, but we get house points for assisting” he adds, turning his head to look at her. “And you can say me assisting here became a…daily thing” he continues, a soft laugh escaping his lips. They finally start crossing a narrow path, the students gradually forming two lines by pair. 

“How about you?” he asks, moving closer because of the tapered way, arm brushing against her unconsciously. 

“Liking this subject so far?” 

she visibly perks up at the mention of house points. millicent isn’t competitive per se, and would only participate in the act when provoked or forced, but that stance doesn’t apply when it comes to contributing to help her beloved house reign supreme. “i guess it doesn’t sound too bad.” she muses. “..but i don’t think i’d do it for this class. charms, ideally.” 

everything was going surprisingly well now that she had other things to think about, like watching her steps so it lowers the chance of embarrassing herself if and when she trips over herself. she’s even starting to cool down, until she felt his arm brush against her. then it was back to square one. 

“uh,” say some actual words, millie. she snapped at herself in her head for rushing herself, knowing that’d have the opposite effect of what she ideally wants to happen. besides, it was a loaded question. does she like the subject? she doesn’t hate it, but she doesn’t particularly like it either. does she like going to class? most definitely, hands down, don’t even need to think about it. “i think” was her compromise. 

the ravenclaw doesn’t want to sound curt with her responses, but her brain was overheating as much as her face. to make up for it, she challenges herself to actually look at him this time, no matter how bad her flight instincts were kicking in. “have you—” she was cut off mid-question from a collision with a classmate’s back, sending her bouncing back from impact. “sorry..” she bows and rubs the part of her face that hurts, a small pout on her lips.

with the mention of pruddy, and taught together in the same sentence, she was even reluctant to turn and face millie. she exasperatedly sighs, knowing very well the female would not leave till she got what she wanted. “alright millie, show me but if it’s stupid, i’ll conjure slugs in your mouth.” though a thin smirk appears on her lips, waiting for whatever one of her best friend was about to display.

“maybe if you bring the idea up to the headmaster, you’ll be the first student groundskeeper,” she replies, a pout forming when millie moves away. “you’d have to come home with me during vacations though. no exceptions!” the two girls reach the greenhouse in no time at all, shuffling inside. discovering galleons are the last thing on lilliana’s mind, however it would be nice if millie found one for herself. seeing her face brighten up is always a great sight to experience.

she slides the gloves given to her onto each hand, releasing another giggle. “oh trust me, i was there to see most of those pots shatter into pieces. it was rather amusing– by the way, we aren’t pulling up any mandrakes, right? those things give me the creeps.” she shivers at the thought of a shrieking mandrake wriggling around. “sorta. clara and prude kept me company though.”

“i feel like it’d be one of those ideas that’s great in theory and terrible in practice.. ah, but imagine spreading rumors around the first years, that’d be fun! but, i could barely take care of myself, much less the entire school...”  her nose scrunches up in dejection, immediately bouncing back a second later. “i don’t think i can bear not seeing mom and dad for the holidays. that’s it, i’m resigning as a student groundskeeper.” and the proposal was over before it even began.

Jihyuck tried his best to keep calm as he floated barely a few meters off the ground. His stance wasn’t the best, gripping a little too tightly to the broom and constantly looking down as he slowly rose to meet her. It was clear he had no practice whatsoever. Millicent wasn’t completely wrong in asking about his experience. With a frustrated huff the younger finally looks up to her, clearly annoyed by the question. 

“Of course i have!” Once…when he was in his first year and they were having their first flight. Back then he had borrowed a broom from one of the upper years who were gullible enough to fall for his innocent looks. He almost broke the broom that day. Nearly bending to hug the handle when the broom dangled a little to the side, Jihyuck yelps, going flustered when he realizes nothing happened.

“… So what do i do next?”

the second she heard the tone of his voice, millicent regretted not having him sign a safety waiver. “you know, the more you lie the less the broom responds to you.” she’s lying herself, but she wanted to see how the younger one would react to hear teasing. “well you’re up in the air, i guess. that’s better than any first year!” despite sounding sarcastic, those were genuine words of encouragement from the ravenclaw. 

She quickly lifts her head and it gives Cai a better view. He waits for her signal before finally pulling the chair and sitting right beside her. He places his professor’s notebook on the table before finally giving the girl the attention she deserves. Cai’s fairly casual, especially since he’s good with younger people, treating them like his kids. 

“Millie, alright” he repeats before laughing softly at her introduction. “And hello, Millie’s notebook” he goes along with it. “I’m Cai” he says before staring at her and waiting for what she has to say. And maybe, just maybe, wondering why her face seems too flushed. There’s nothing much to do for Cai, his classes start in the afternoon and fourth upper years have nothing else to do but possibly wait for graduation. So, he thinks this is fun. 

“Hmm– I’ve done a hybrid of a Skrewt and a Firecrab when I was your year” he says, trying to recall what has actually happened. He smiles again, that subtle one sided smile that looks so genuine. “No, It’s okay. I wouldn’t help seeing you working by yourself anyway” he comments, indirectly does say that he’s been keeping an eye on her. Well who wouldn’t when she shrieked in the middle of the class.

He watches her move, scooting closer to see what she has been sketching on her notes. He lifts his hand over the notebook, pointing at her details. “We can use a Niffler’s tail” he drags his finger against her sketch. “Then a Kneazle for all the others” he adds, lifting his head to look at her with a soft laugh. “No offense taken” he smiles again. “I fine water demons highly–amusing” he stares again before the professor finally tells them to go out and start working. Cai turns away to look at the students scurrying out of the classroom. 

“Let’s go out” he says

all the while he was talking, millicent has been forming a master plan in her head on how to counter his attractiveness. so far all she’s got is to avoid any form of eye contact. that, however, doesn’t really help when he’s sitting so close that she could feel his presence without having to look at him. if only she could quickly flick her wand and disapparate herself from class, then she would have done it already.

her name has never sounded so nice until she hears him repeat it. it’s definitely different from the way her friends call out to her impatiently, or when her professors have had enough of her classroom antics. it’s the kind of voice that she wouldn’t mind interrupting her afternoon naps, whereas she normally would have thrown a fit otherwise. (she’s exaggerating, but this time millicent hasn’t caught up to it yet.) she was too busy having an internal conversation with herself that she didn’t had enough time to react or be embarrassed that he acknowledged her notebook’s introduction. 

“oh, okay..” why did he had to be nice, too? he could have been an asshole and make fun of the lack of brain capacity to host a proper conversation, and millicent would have been turned off by it all. but no, he seemed as nice as he looked. “a niffler, yes! equally fluffy, a bit more shaggy. wouldn’t it look funny with a niffler’s snout as well?” she lets out a chuckle at the image, making the mistake of looking up at him, only to hide her face again.

millicent thought she was about to be rushed in the hospital wing after hearing those three words taken out of context. was her heart still intact? she highly doubts it. it’s probably gone down her stomach by now. “lets go!” she might have said that louder than she wanted to, cleaning up her stuff as a distraction. she waits for him before she began to walk, chanting don’t trip as they went.

“sorry, not sorry!” an amused giggle slips past her lips. there is something extremely fun about teasing her sister that she just can’t get enough of. “oh, and is that so? well,” she mumbles, gently pinching millie’s cheek while going into thought. the greenhouse is one of her favorite places to be. why was she even second guessing right now? “alright, lead the way ~ we’ll have those plants fed in no time.” 

“good! i wasn’t going to take no for an answer anyway.” she twirls away from her sister’s hug as an attempt to save her cheeks, then she hooks their arms together as they walk alongside each other to the general direction of the greenhouse. “oh, man. if we get house points for helping around, i’d volunteer to be the student groundskeeper.” she half-jokes, the other half wondering if that title really exists. “but i guess this could also be good karma. maybe we’ll find a galleon in one of the empty pots!”

actually wanting to catch up with her studies, she pulls out a stack of papers out of her book that were assigned and took this initiative to have some quiet time for herself too. it wasn’t until she heard a voice who broke her barrier of silence. it’s way too familiar and with the way the person greets clara, she doesn’t even bat an eye to the source. “don’t make me yayger you till you get folded like an omelette.”  

Seeing Cai is hardly believable. Being sorted in Slytherin, looking kind– a poster boy, that’s what students call him. Like he’s too afraid to make a mistake and will stop at nothing to get everything done. He’s just too ambitious, as if there’s an inborn hunger for excellence. It doesn’t really bother him though. Let the noisy blabber, those who work hard are victorious– or something like that. 

He’s boring Bei Caixin. 

So, as the boring student that he is, he has managed to be called by his professor to help him in a class of lower years. Mostly he’s just there to keep the animals sane, since the magical creatures seem to like Cai a lot. But for today, he’s busy working on a write up on the teacher’s table while the professor discusses. 

“Cai” the professor calls out and the boy lifts his head with the amount of attentiveness he can give. “Yes?” he replies, looking at the professor, then the girl whom the teacher seems to be talking to. “Partner up with Ms. Moon for this activity” he says. “Uhh–” he goes to finish his write up, closing the notebook quickly before bringing his attention back. “Sure, teach” he replies and the professor quickly commands his students to start preparing before venturing out. 

He eyes the girl the professor has pointed out and he walks. The corners of his lips subtly lift into a smile– a greeting. “Hi” he says. “Can I sit beside you?” he asks. 

she could have taken a simple ‘yes’ as an answer. actually, she would have preferred it. working alone doesn’t sound that bad. in fact, anything that could save her from the inevitable impending situation where she embarrasses herself sounds heavenly that very moment— oh merlin, he just smiled. millicent, as subtle as she can, took a quick glance around her to make sure that was directed at her despite knowing she’s the only ‘ms. moon’ in the class. so much for getting any work done, she can’t even get proper access to her brain.

”it’s not mine.” were the first words that she spoke. off to a good start, millie. “i mean the seat.” she paused, gesturing to the space beside her. “go ahead.” third time really is the charm. how she managed to ‘do words good’ was beyond her, but she was thankful for that small part of her brain that still works.

“uhm,” quick, say something smart. “hi.” she could only imagine how she looks like, with how hot her face is. “hi.” didn’t she say that already? “you’re uh.. i’m millie. and this is my notebook, uh, it doesn’t have a name so why am i introducing it..” the last part was said in a quiet manner, though from his distance, she’s almost certain he heard it. “do you have any hybrid ideas in mind? —not that i’m asking you to do all the work. no, no. in fact, i can do it myself! i don’t know why our professor would bother you with me,” she picks up a quill and start scribbling on an empty portion of her notes, the end result being a bad sketch of a kappa-looking creature with whiskers, cat ears and a fluffy tail. “see? i mean, it doesn’t look as good as you, but—what.”