close call//closed - Johanna

[Declan Gable Krumovitz]

The strangest thing about what was happening was that Declan didn’t feel like tomorrow he was going to regret standing in this breezeway with Johanna. More than just the simple fact that he is grateful to have somebody that he can talk to in the future, somebody that he can keep close with himself. There is a very real possibility that he has missed the class entirely by now, so caught up in the scenery and the person beside him that he totally and completely lost track of time. Unlikely, but possible. He has been so consumed with his first real, positive experience here. It was certainly worth the inevitable detention, he was all for it if this was what he did to deserve it. Unlike all of the other times where he was in trouble for things that weren’t at all his fault, in his opinion, at least this was deserved.

Nevermind the strange way that he was really liking that she was walking backward in front of him. It was a good view either way but he liked watching the way the light shifted over her face as she moved, her hair moving back and forth the way it was. She was going to be careful not to trip on the stairs. "Nope. I was probably going to go to the library to catch up on some reading, but I'm going to have plenty of time once we get you settled." what was she planning on reading, he wondered. Declan had hardly parted his lips to think of something to say, a question to ask her to keep the conversation going whenever she found the top of the stairs and her foot slipped. He could see the flash of panic flick across her features as her arms splayed out to either side of her in an attempt to better catch her balance but there was nothing but smooth stone on either side of her there was nothing for her to catch her grip on. Declan couldn’t remember there being any railings on the way up, but Declan’s body worked so much faster than his mind.

A large hand jerked out in front of him and grasped onto the front of her jumper and fisted into the fabric. She felt like she weighed practically nothing at all as he hauled her back upright, hissing in discomfort as his book bag slid from his shoulder into the crook of his arm in a way that will no doubt leave a bruise, but he didn’t let her go. He pulled her back upright and his deep blue eyes scanned her face over and over to make sure that she was alright, mostly unaware of how close he was holding her to himself. He couldn’t think of words, nothing in english so what came out was a too fast conglomeration of russian. “ostorozhnaya dura!”

-Careful silly girl.

[Johanna Lehner]

So this was how it was all going to end. How terribly embarrassing. Johanna supposed she should be thankful that the last thing she wss going to see would be the handsome face of a brooding stranger. There could have been a lot more worse ways to go. At least she wasn’t alone. That probably would have been the worst no doubt. Suffering in pain with no one there to console her. Alone at the mercy of Merlin and praying that he’d send someone to find her body eventually. The stairwell they were in wasn’t used often. At least not in the times Johanna had taken it. It wasn’t a secret passage by any means. Students simply didn’t like going this route because of how confined the space was. Eventually someone would find her. Hopefully she wouldn’t be decaying by then. The smell of her rotting corpse being the only indication that something was amiss in this stairwell and required the expertise of a Professor to come investigate.

No, at least Johanna would be spared that. Declan was here and at least he would be able to call for help. That was, if he didn’t feel his only option would be to flee and pretend like he had never been here. He probably thought the Professors didn’t like him as it was. He knew most of the student body didn’t. If he was smart, he’d run and act like he wasn’t even there. He wouldn’t want anyone assuming that he had anything to do with her untimely death. The more Johanna looked at him, however, the more a small part of her brain almost wished she had been alone. Breaking her neck in front of such an attractive specimen as himself was mortifying and she could only pray her bones would snap quickly so she didn’t have time to think about how much of an idiot Declan thought she was. She truly hoped that she would just die and not suffer any severely broken bones that the school Healer could fix over the course of a few days. That would only make Johanna have to deal with the torture of regrowing parts of her body, but also the mental anguish of how badly Declan was going to make fun of her.

She was falling backwards quickly. Any minute now, gravity would take complete hold and the back of her head would hit concrete. The thought was terrifying, but it seemed better for Johanna to hold on to that instead of looking straight ahead at Declan. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for impact. But it never came. Instead, she felt a pull from right underneath her breasts and a gasp involuntarily left her lungs. She was no longer falling. Instead, her body was being heaved forward. The moment her body hit something solid, Johanna’s eyes shot open and her gaze landed on green fabric. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Declan. She was pressed up very close to him and her hands had found themselves on his pecs. His very, very muscular pecs. Her eyes moved upwards. She was tall, but still had to crane her neck to meet the stare of her savior.

His eyes were moving back and forth so quickly Johanna was tempted to ask him what was wrong. Yet she couldn’t find the words. She was too distracted by the warmth. His warmth. He smelled like cedar. Like she had gone through a walk in the forest and could smell the trees and flowers. Earthy yet herbal. A scent that was undoubtedly masculine, but still had slight hints of jasmine and rose. How was that possible? Everything about Declan was a mystery. Johanna’s brain seemed incapable of doing anything other than taking him in. Fortunately, his didn’t. ”Ostorozhnaya dura!” What did he just say? She wasn’t sure, but it was enough for her to realize just how close they were actually standing. He was waiting for her to say something. She was sure of it. All words had escaped her. Was it because of how humiliated she was? Or was it because being this close to Declan had taken her breath away? There was a very strange and confusing sensation washing over her. One Johanna wasn’t quite sure she’d be able to explain. All she knew was that her heart was fluttering a mile a minute.

She stood there for what seemed like ages. Helpless. Maybe he thought she was in shock. Maybe she was. Declan was still looking at her strangely. Johanna still had no idea what he had said. Eventually, panic began to settle in. Was he mad? She tried to read his eyes. He didn’t look like he was. Concerned, perhaps? She really needed to say something. “Sorry,” she finally squeaked. What she was sorry for she didn’t know. Almost dying? Almost breaking her neck? That wasn’t Declan’s fault. She didn’t need to apologize to him for that. Or maybe she did? Damn, she couldn’t think right now. Another minute or so, though it was really seconds, went by and Johanna once again realized that they were mere inches away from each other; looking at one another as if they were the only two in the corridor, which was very true. Her hands found their way to the one that was still clutching her clothes. Grasping Declan’s fist, she couldn’t deny the spark that seemed to radiate from the touch. “You can let go of me now Declan,” she said softly, “I’m alright. “

[Declan Gable Krumovitz]

She smelled good. Like sunshine and leaves or something that would be found in fall despite the other weather outside. She smelled like calm, how was such a thing even possible? For a girl or any human to smell like a season or a feeling and yet she did. She was even prettier up close and words were harder to come by with her hands on his person. It was making things just that much harder to let go of. He liked the way that she was looking up to him. Perhaps that was strange as well but he really liked being able to look at her in this way. She was a tall woman, looking up at him in the way that she is, he could get lost in those eyes of hers so easily.

She wasn’t speaking. She wasn’t saying anything at all, she was just staring up at him. It didn’t occur to him that he wasn’t speaking english or that she might not understand what he had just said to her. He was concerned that the jolt might have injured her somehow and he needed to let her go he just didn’t want to. It was easy for forget about the discomfort in his arm with her up close to his body like this. Even easier to just forget where they were standing entirely with her watching him. Declan could feel himself swallowing hard, waiting for something, anything. Perhaps she was about to shove him away from her as quickly and firmly as possible. That wouldn’t surprise him.

“Sorry,” Sorry? Sorry for what? For almost dying? For not watching where she was going? For nearly snapping her own neck because she was distracted? Those were all things that she doesn’t need to be apologizing for in his opinion those are all accidents. Slowly he could feel her body relaxing against his grip, he could feel her slackening against his hold and standing on her own two feet. He should let her go. With a concentrated effort he attempted to loosen his grip on her clothes but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even take his eyes off of her. Her soft hands finally touching over the tops of his calloused knuckles “You can let go of me now Declan,” Right. No he knew that. Like her speaking had ignited his memory of how to use his hands he dropped her clothing and took a half step backward, just enough so that she would have enough breathing room to operate on her own. “I’m alright. “ Declan mumbled some nonsensical sound under his breath and nodded in her direction, busying himself with the task of setting his head book back right and then straightening his own sweater before gesturing with one hand that she might lead the way if she could manage it properly this time. What was he thinking, grabbing her like that? He could kick himself for holding to her. Now he has likely freaked her right out. It is entirely his fault that the silence is falling between them yet again.

[Johanna Lehner]

Were they sharing some kind of moment? It was hard to tell. The way they were looking at each other was rendering both of them speechless. Well, at least it was for Johanna. It would probably make things a little less awkward if she tried to interject with an attempt at a lame joke. Unfortunately for her, humor wasn’t necessarily a strong point. She preferred being on the receiving end of jokes as opposed to telling them. Yet even if she could, at this point, she was completely incapable of doing anything except trying to reassure Declan that he could let her go regardless of whether or not the little voice inside her head was yelling to stay like this as long as she could. To Johanna, that would be foolish. Her and Declan had only known each other for what? Twenty minutes? Maybe only a bit more? It was moronic to think that there was anything further that could come of this.

Johanna had always been a bit of a hopeless romantic. She loved watching romantic comedies or any sort of scene where the two main characters had that moment where at least one of them experienced love at first sight. She believed that something like that had to be possible. There had been a few times in her short life in which she thought she had. At very least times where she was convinced that she was falling in love. The few relationships Johanna had been in were ones in which she certainly felt quite a lot of admiration for her significant other, but nothing in which she imagined spending her life with them. That was normal for someone her age though right? Truthfully, she had no idea what it was like to truly be in love. There was no denying, however, the butterflies she was feeling as she continued peering into those deep blue oceans of Declan’s eyes. She hadn’t felt them like this before. Deep fluttering of wings that weren’t just in her stomach but flying all throughout her body. Johanna wasn’t completely sure, but it also felt as if the beats her heart were taking seemed to be skipping every few seconds. This surely had to be the shock from having her near-death experience.

When Declan finally released her, Johanna’s hands instinctively went to her chest, as they always had when she was nervous since she was a child. Her lips formed into a small o as she took him in. The silence between the two was deafening. How she wished she knew what he was thinking. Had he felt that same electricity? If he had, nothing he was doing right now proved so. Maybe she had crossed the line by touching his hands. She hadn’t meant to. Merlin this was awful. “Thank you,” Johanna finally said, desperately needing to eliminate this silence between them. “I really should have been watching where I was going. I just get distracted so easily sometimes.” It wasn’t a lie. At times her parents had thought she had ADHD because of how quickly she could lose focus in one thing and bring it to another. “We really need to be going, Declan. I can’t make you anymore late then I already have.” Before giving him a chance to respond, Johanna turned on her heel and carefully began leading them back down the stairwell.

The pair reached the bottom in record speed; likely because the two were desperate to ease the awkwardness that was so heavy Johanna doubted a knife could even cut through it. “To the right,” she said, rubbing her hands nervously together as she turned in the direction they needed to go. “We’ll just go to the end, up the next stairwell and then the Charms room will be there. I promise.”

[Declan Gable Krumovitz]

Declan didn’t think that he had ever had anybody look at him like that before. He didn’t want to assume her meaning because for all he knew, she could just be glad that she hadn’t fallen down all of those stairs and snapped her pretty little neck. She could very well just be grateful that he had bothered to catch her instead of laughing at her. He hadn’t meant to hold onto her so long but she smelled so good. Her clothes were soft and somebody likely washed these for her by hand. That had been shocking for him too, the way that his dirty clothes just disappeared overnight from the pile on the floor that he always dropped them in, only to reappear clean and pressed in the trunk at the foot of his bed in the morning. It is also the first time that he’s had enough personal belongings to fill an entire trunk to himself. Or having a trunk. Just a lot of firsts. Not that the excitement of it was going to make him forget about the stern warning that his father had given him before allowing Declan to leave home. He had grabbed him by the back of his neck and held him close, fingertips digging harshly into his skin and instructed him that if he couldn’t report back with everything that he had learned then he would be punished. Declan hadn’t been able to do anything but stand there with his eyes closed and nod until it was over. He knew what the punishment was, and he wasn’t willing to risk it.

“Thank you,” Declan nodded, one hand lifting to rub anxiously at the short cut hair on the back of his neck. “Da,” It wasn’t a big deal, and she was so small. “I really should have been watching where I was going. I just get distracted so easily sometimes.” Declan hadn’t been certain that she had been looking at him any type of way before, but now he was sure. He could feel it in the way that she was speaking so quickly. She was admitting that he had distracted her. Sure, it had ended in her near death but he had caught her so in his mind, that was excused. It was a slow spread of a smile that worked over his features despite his efforts to stem it. The muscles in his face relaxing into a true smile, despite her not looking directly at him. “We really need to be going, Declan. I can’t make you anymore late then I already have.” Declan watched as she turned and stopped her a couple steps down before grabbing her arm to stop her, “Careful,” but he stood a little too close to her and let her go just a moment too long with a playful grin on his features, and not another word the rest of the way down the staircase. Mostly, he just wanted to touch her soft skin again, and partially because he wanted to see if she would stop him.

It was a different energy to him once they reached the bottom. Both of his large hands wrapped around the strap of his bag to keep it from jostling about. It was hard to take his eyes off the back of her head, even in the darkness “To the right,” He moved to the right as requested without changing his focus. He was totally oblivious to the fact that she might have been uncomfortable or feeling awkward in any way. His steps falling into a quiet pattern behind hers as he followed her lead. “We’ll just go to the end, up the next stairwell and then the Charms room will be there. I promise.” Declan nodded, not that she could see it. He was almost sorry that their mini adventure was coming to an end and he hoped very much that she was serious about wanting to get together at some point in the future. “Da,” but he likely wasn’t going to have the gumption to go inside the classroom. The lesson was going to be over soon anyway and he was certain that Professor Alderman was going to be even more upset by the fact that he was disrupting AND late rather than just one or the other. He wouldn’t have the opportunity to sit quietly in the back and attempt to take notes, he would be the center of attention and that wasn’t something that he was comfortable with. At least, not in that particular setting. “Thanking you, Johanna.” her name still difficult to say. He wanted to stay, to have something more interesting to say as the stairwell came into view, but he couldn’t think of anything, which left him lingering for too long of a moment at the base before heading slowly up the stairs.

[Johanna Lehner]

Why wouldn’t this anxiety go away? Declan hadn’t done anything to her. It was the exact opposite really. He had saved her from an otherwise untimely demise. Honestly, would Johanna have really died? Probably not. She would have definitely broken a bone or two. Truthfully, if she had hit her neck at just the right angle she could have died. All it would have taken was a quick snap and she would have been dunzo. Even his slight teasing couldn’t do anything to calm her. Declan made her nervous. Not in a bad way. That much she was certain. Why did she feel so light-headed? She had to get him to the classroom. Johanna needed him to go away for a bit so she could collect herself and not leave him with such a horrid impression of her. For all she knew he was going to think that she hated him as much as the other kids around here did.

Upon reaching the stairwell, Johanna wasted no time in climbing up the flight of stairs. This time, however, she made sure to hold on to the railing to ensure she wouldn’t fall backwards, landing right on top of the bulky Russian and potentially causing disaster. Though she had a feeling that she’d be incapable of inflicting such damage as he was so massive that it would likely take more than her small frame to knock him from his footing. ”Thanking you Johanna.” She stopped briefly to look down at him as he did the same. Biting down on her lip, she gave him a small smile. What was he thanking her for? Making him later than he already was? Johanna didn’t see where the thanks was necessary in that. Turning her eyes forward, she continued leading them up the stairwell until she could see the faint light from the tower above. “Almost there Declan,” she called down though he was much closer than she realized. Finally reaching the top, she waited just long enough for him to reach the top step before she ushered the pair to the Charms door.

Placing her ear against the door, a million different thoughts began racing through Johanna’s head. What could she say that was going to alleviate any sort of punishment for Declan? She could hear the muffled voice of Professor Alderman followed by the unison of voices as if they were reciting an incantation. Think Johanna….think! Suddenly, her eyes burst open. Gently pushing herself up, she turned to Declan and held out both palms in front of her. “Don’t ask any questions. Just go along with it.” Moving a hand under her arm, Johanna grabbed a small area of skin underneath her bicep and pinched as hard as she could. She repeated these action three more times until she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Her mother used to punish her this way as child back in the day whenever Johanna’s curiosity had gotten the best of her and she touched things that didn’t belong to her; particularly her mother’s makeup or clothes.

Looking at Declan, who appeared to be extremely confused, Johanna gave him a thumbs up before nodding and knocking loudly on the door. There was nothing but silence for a few minutes until she heard heavy footsteps coming to the door. Forcing herself to look at the closest light source she could, she took a deep breath and began thinking about puppies getting ran over. Hearing the handle turn, Professor Alderman appeared in the doorway . ”Miss. Lehner…are you okay?” Forcing herself to look at him, Johanna rolled her upper lip underneath her bottom and nodded. She placed a hand on her hip, using the other to fan herself. “Professor A-A-Alderman…I am so so so incredibly sorry. D-D-Declan’s tardiness is my fault and my fault alone.” The Charms Professor arched a brow as he looked behind her. ”Mr. Krumovitz?” Before he could respond, she sobbed again. “You know that test I was studying for? The Divination one? I failed Professor Alderman! I failed! I just…just found out about it not too long ago and I can’t calm down.” The man looked back at her curiously. ”Urm..well…I’m sorry to hear that Miss. Lehner, but what does that have to do with my current student being late?”

Hugging her arms to her chest, Johanna shook in mock sadness. “Because it’s my fault! He found me in the corridors downstairs…I was so upset. I’m still so upset. He was s-s-so kind to me. I told him to go, but he wouldn’t just leave me alone. Professor Alderman, its my fault.” The Charms professor was beginning to look extremely uncomfortable so Johanna continued babbling. “He wasn’t even supposed to f-f-find me but he accidentally took that staircase to the right of the knight on the second floor…I know you know the one Professor Alderman. And you know it’s just SO hard to find your way back…so I promised I’d help him back here and just…just…” She had to do her best to refrain from laughing as Professor Alderman put his hand on his head, clearly confused and also probably irritated at the disruption in his class. “Please Professor Alderman, don’t be cross with him for being l-l-late. He wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for me…”

Before she could go any further, the man held up his hand and Johanna quietly sniffled. ”Well Miss. Lehner. I should take points away from your house if you are indeed the reason for Mr. Krumovitz’s tardiness. He should have been more aware of his schedule…though it is…admirable of him to ensure your well-being.” Johanna sniffled again, wiping away a fresh batch of fake tears from her eyes. The man looked back and forth between the two for a few more seconds. She could hear the chatter of his classroom behind her yet couldn’t see them as the entrance to the room was at an angle. Sighing, the man dropped one arm to his side and threw the other hand towards the classroom. ”Mr. Krumovitz just take your seat. Miss. Lehner…please compose yourself. There’s a reason Divination is an elective.” Without another word, he turned on his heel and returned to the classroom. Chuckling, Johanna looked to Declan and winked at him.

[Declan Gable Krumovitz]

A couple more encounters like this one and Declan might change his mind about how he feels about this school. Just a little more encouragement for the positive side of things and perhaps he might not hate this school that much. It certainly did seem to hate him though. Apart from her, she is the shining light so far at this school. “Almost there Declan,” Declan nodded, thinking that she doesn’t want to have anything else to do with this conversation and instead was ready for him to be back in the classroom. Already the door loomed closer. He watched in silence as she pressed her ear to the door, and not a single part of him wanted to cross that threshold and walk inside of the room. He couldn’t be bothered to worry about what was happening on the other side of that door. He didn’t have any desire to go inside there. “Don’t ask any questions. Just go along with it.” Declan didn’t say anything, he just watched as she pinched herself as hard as she could. He wanted to protest and the look of confusion on his face wasn’t easily hidden. Why would she do that? What was the purpose? He watched as she started to make herself cry. Never in his entire life had he seen something like that before. Such an obvious manipulation of her emotions executed so carefully. Back home she would have been very useful.

Then she gave a thumbs up like it was nothing, like she hadn’t just injured herself and he was totally stunned. She knocked and the room beyond the door fell silent. What was she doing? ”Miss. Lehner…are you okay?” Declan couldn’t pull his face from Johanna as she started to blubber. “Professor A-A-Alderman…I am so so so incredibly sorry. D-D-Declan’s tardiness is my fault and my fault alone.” ”Mr. Krumovitz?” Declan felt like he should look away or that he shouldn’t be involved in this conversation it is obvious what the Professor thinks of him. “You know that test I was studying for? The Divination one? I failed Professor Alderman! I failed! I just…just found out about it not too long ago and I can’t calm down.” ”Urm..well…I’m sorry to hear that Miss. Lehner, but what does that have to do with my current student being late?” “Because it’s my fault! He found me in the corridors downstairs…I was so upset. I’m still so upset. He was s-s-so kind to me. I told him to go, but he wouldn’t just leave me alone. Professor Alderman, it's my fault.” She is speaking too quickly and the words are too broken up for him to understand but he can see the shift in the Professors expression. Whatever she’s saying, it just might be working. “He wasn’t even supposed to f-f-find me but he accidentally took that staircase to the right of the knight on the second floor…I know you know the one Professor Alderman. And you know it’s just SO hard to find your way back…so I promised I’d help him back here and just…just…” Declan is struck dumb as he watches whatever she’s saying.

“Please Professor Alderman, don’t be cross with him for being l-l-late. He wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for me…” The Professor put his hands up to stop Johanna talking, and Declan is certain what whatever it is that she’s saying is making the different in him going into class and serving a month in detention. ”Well Miss. Lehner. I should take points away from your house if you are indeed the reason for Mr. Krumovitz’s tardiness. He should have been more aware of his schedule…though it is…admirable of him to ensure your well-being.” The Professor’s accent is so hard to understand. He speaks so fancy, that much is obvious to him. ”Mr. Krumovitz just take your seat. Miss. Lehner…please compose yourself. There’s a reason Divination is an elective.” The Professor walked back into the room and Declan was standing there attempting to figure out exactly what had just happened in front of him, he wished that he could understand, but her answering wink was clear enough. Declan flashes a smile for only half a moment and then starts to head toward the classroom that’s not left open for him. Pausing just before the door closes, Declan reaches out to grab her hand and bends to press a grateful kiss to the top of her skin before ducking inside, grateful beyond words.

[Johanna Lehner]

Johanna could only imagine how crazy she must have looked. Perfectly fine one minute and then a fake blubbering idiot the next. Perhaps Declan would think the near-death experience had triggered a bit of insanity. She wouldn’t have been surprised had he felt that way. Nothing about the confused facial expression he hadn’t been able to remove from his face had proved otherwise to her. Johanna hoped he would understand once Professor Alderman had left the two. Declan had to realize that her whole charade was for him. Lying to a professor was immediate grounds for some sort of significant discipline; no matter what the reason. He had to understand that Johanna was sacrificing her reputation for being honest to ensure he wouldn’t be punished. Sure, she could have been honest. She could have told Professor Alderman that she had found Declan going the wrong way and forced him to follow her. Yet she still figured he would have gotten the short end of the stick for that one.

Wiping a final wave of tears from under her eyes with the back of her hand, Johanna felt immediate relief as Declan finally broke out into a smile. Bringing the same hand to her lips, she covered her mouth as she did her best to silently chuckle. She didn’t enjoy lying, but she couldn’t deny the satisfaction she felt at having been able to succeed in being so devious. The hint of adrenaline. It certainly was a dangerous feeling. Finally, being able to compose herself, Johanna dropped her hand in front of her and sighed. Their adventure was over. Although she was grateful to have spared Declan detention, she was undoubtedly sad that their time together had to end now. How nice it would have been for the burly Russian to have a free period as her. They could continue gallivanting around the castle finding new secret passageways or exploring old ones and seeing where they took them. Johanna was going to make it a point to invite him on another one in the future.

As he began to follow in the path Professor Alderman had left, Johanna found it difficult for her to keep her eyes from his retreating back. She was sad that there would be no goodbye, but Declan had already been kept long enough from his Charms class. She began to slowly move backwards before stopping almost instantly. Declan had paused. There was no time to react as he quickly grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. Johanna would have expected the skin on them to be just as dry and calloused as the ones on his palm, but was surprised at how incredibly soft they were. She found herself desperate to know if they would feel the same pressed upon her own. She was completely incapable of stifling the redness of her cheeks though didn’t have to worry about hiding them as Declan quickly slid behind the closing door and disappeared just as the lock clicked shut.

Biting down on her lip, Johanna looked up to the ceiling and grinned. It was no kiss on the lips, but it was still enough to make the back of her hand radiate warmth. She stood there for a few minutes, unable to focus on anything other than the look he gave her as he said goodbye. It’d be cliché to say that she was never going to wash her hand again but boy, did she not want to. Bringing her gaze back forward, she lifted up her hand, still grinning as she turned it from side to side. “Wait until the girls get a load of this,” she said to herself as she clutched her elbows to the side and grasped either strap of her bag. Or perhaps Johanna wouldn’t tell them. Maybe this would just be her and Declan’s little secret. Spinning on one heel, she took one more glance at the Charms classroom door before shaking her head and walking back towards the stairwell the pair had just come from, not at all refraining from giving a small squeal of excitement as she continued to replay the image of Declan’s face over and over in her head.