The castle is quiet, and you’re walking slowly without a particular destination in mind, just thinking. Your bag hangs heavily off your shoulder; your thoughts are even heavier.

You spot Evan ahead with Barty, Aiden and Regulus, turning a corner. You hesitate, your heart lifting slightly against your will.

You’d spoken to him briefly after the lecture yesterday. He’d laughed at something you said. Not cruelly. Not mockingly. Just... laughed. Like you were funny. Like you mattered. And today, he glanced at you in class. More than once.

The boys stopped just around the end of the corridor, their voices carrying through it.

"Merlin, she’s always blushing! Every time I look at her. It’s like her face goes up in flames," Evan chuckles.

Your breath hitches. He must be talking about someone else. He has to be.

"She practically trips over herself trying to say hello," Barty adds, laughing. "What was it the other day? 'H-hi, E-Evan, I like your… quill'?"

"I think it was his handwriting," Aiden snorts. "Like she’s ever even seen his notes."

"She stares at you like you’re a tragic character in a novel" Regulus mutters. "It’s painful to watch."

"I know," Evan says. "It’s kind of entertaining, though. The way she blushes."

They laugh again. Evan louder than the rest.

"She’s just so awkward," he says. "Every time I talk to her, she starts fidgeting like I’m about to ask her to marry me. It’s pathetic, honestly."

Something in your chest tightens. You press your back against the wall as if it might stop you from falling apart.

You want to leave. You should leave. But you don't. You step around the corner, your voice cracking before you can stop it. "I thought you liked me."

The laughter stops instantly. They all turn.

Evan blinks, his eyes meeting yours. "What?" he says.

You shake your head, wishing you hadn’t said anything. You wish you hadn’t come this way and that you hadn’t allowed yourself to believe the things you did.

Your voice comes out softer this time. "Nothing."

You turn and walk away quickly.