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mspegasus17 · 10 days ago

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Care of Magical Creatures

Pairing:f!MC x f!MC (Charlotte x @jeniffler's Melvina) Words: 2220 Summary: The two girls get to take care of a puffskein. CW: Fluff, mentioning of parents' death and bullying Read on Wattpad, AO3 or under the cut ↓

"Your task now is that you will look after a Puffskein for a month in pairs. I want you to treat the animals well and look after them as a team. Think of it as your very hairy child." Professor Howin pointed her wand at a small cauldron on her teacher's desk. "I will now draw the pairs." The cauldron wobbled, contracted and spat out two small pieces of paper. The Care of Magical Creatures Professor caught the pieces and read out the names.

"The first pair is Poppy Sweeting and Duncan Hobhouse." Charlotte stifled her laughter. "This could be something," she thought. "Poor Poppy." The little Hufflepuff threw the anxious Ravenclaw a smile. At least she tried. She seemed rather unpleasant with her partner. Professor Howin drew the next pair. "Alienor Callington and Cornelia Pierce." The black-haired Ravenclaw glanced at the brunette Slytherin and shrugged. Cornelia twisted her mouth into a half-hearted smile. She had probably hoped to be able to form a pair with her boyfriend.

"Next, we have Charlotte Hunter and Melvina Strange." Charlotte's heart skipped a beat. She had hoped to be able to work with the pretty Slytherin. She had had her eye on her for a while, but apart from a few brief conversations here and there, she had never really spoken to Melvina. Let alone spend time with her. Charlotte glanced over her shoulder. Her gaze met Melvina's. She immediately blushed and smiled nervously. Charlotte returned the smile and tucked a black lock of hair behind her ear. She didn't notice which pairs were still being drawn.

Professor Howin clapped her hands, waking Charlotte from her trance. "Please get together in your randomly selected pairs, and then I will assign you your Puffskein." Chaos broke out between the students. Some pairs were already arguing about who should come to whom. The classroom, if you could call it that, was in a state of excited hustle and bustle.

"Hey," a sweet voice called out next to Charlotte. The Gryffindor hadn't even gathered her papers when Melvina was standing next to her. Charlotte turned to her partner. "H-hi." "Now that's what I call an exciting task. I can hardly wait to introduce Bob to his brother or sister." The Slytherin's hazel eyes shone with excitement.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Who's Bob?" "Well, my baby!" Melvina opened her shoulder bag a crack. In the spacious bag lay a teal ball of fur. In its paws, it held a glittery teddy bear. The Niffler was fast asleep. Charlotte's eyes widened. "Is that a Niffler?" she asked in astonishment. Melvina nodded and closed the bag again. "He can't be alone, so I carry him in my bag. Otherwise, he would attract too much attention." "Well, then I hope the Puffskein isn't too shiny," Charlotte joked, making Melvina giggle. "He'll still try to stuff it into his bum bag," laughed the Slytherin. Now it was Charlotte who giggled.

Professor Howin had started calling out the individual pairs and assigning them a cuddly muff. It was Poppy and Duncan's turn. Melvina nudged Charlotte with her elbow. "It's funny that Duncan and Poppy, of all people, have to work together, isn't it? The two are as different as day and night." Charlotte grinned at Melvina. "That's what I thought too. Poppy will definitely get all the work and won't even complain about it because she likes it so much." The Slytherin shook her head, laughing quietly. "These Hufflepuffs are just too good for the world." Charlotte nodded in agreement.

"Miss Hunter and Miss Strange!" Professor Howin called the two. They trotted to the teacher's desk to take their Puffskein into their care. "Please take care of Frank," Professor Howin explained, stroking the black and brown puffskein on her desk. "Hello, Frank." Melvina knelt down to be at eye level with the fur ball. He blinked at her with his honey eyes and squeaked happily. "Looks like Frank likes you," Charlotte said with a grin. "Well, it would be pretty stupid if he didn't like his new mommy," Melvina replied, straightening up again. She picked up Frank, and Charlotte took the small bag with Puffskein care supplies from her teacher. "We're going to have a lot of fun, Frank. I promise you," Melvina told the magical creature in her arms.

Professor Howin assigned the remaining pairs to their Puffskeins and ended the lesson early. Charlotte and Melvina had agreed to find a quiet place in the gardens to introduce Frank and Bob to each other. The black-haired Gryffindor conjured a picnic blanket, and they sat on a piece of grass near the fountain.

Melvina put her head in her bag, and all that could be heard was a muffled murmur. With a wide grin on her lips, she sat up again, and a sleepy Niffler peeked out of the bag. "Charlotte, Frank, this is Bob." Charlotte held out a hand to the small platypus-like creature. "Nice to meet you, Bob," she said gently. The Niffler took her index finger in his two tiny front paws, sniffed it and let go again.

"I guess I'm not shiny enough," laughed Charlotte. Melvina shook her head. "Apparently not, but he likes you. Otherwise, he would have stuck his tongue out at you." Charlotte laughed even louder. "So he's a little rascal," she stated. "He is. But he's my everything." Melvina nudged Bob. "Come on, don't be so shy. Meet Frank."

The Niffler gave his mom an uncertain look before climbing out of the bag and slowly crawling towards the Puffskein. Frank hummed happily and blinked at Bob with curious, bulging eyes. The two of them got longer and longer until their noses finally touched, and both creatures froze. Suddenly, Frank's long tongue shot out and licked Bob's soft fur. The Niffler screamed and fell over in shock. His short legs kicked in the air. "Oh, Bob!" Giggling, Melvina turned Bob over again. "You're a good actor again. Or have you been snacking on my cookies again?" Bob avoided her gaze, and Melvina glanced into her bag.

"Bob! Those were the good caramel cookies, you old glutton!" She stared at the little cookie thief in disbelief. "I thought you hated caramel. Now I have to think of something new to keep my cookies safe from you." Melvina shook her head and gave Charlotte an apologetic look. "I would offer you a cookie, but there are only crumbs left." Charlotte staggered away, smiling. "It's fine. Although they seem to have tasted good." "They are the best cookies I have ever eaten." Melvina gave Bob a thoughtful look. "So it's no wonder Bob ate them all. I'll bring new ones tomorrow," she explained, turning her gaze back to Charlotte.

"How come we never really talked?" Melvina asked after a moment's silence. Charlotte shrugged and absentmindedly stroked Frank, who had rolled over to her. "I guess it's because we're in different houses. And then it's the sworn enemies Slytherin and Gryffindor. It's hard to make friends outside of your own house. At least that's how I feel. I... don't tend to approach others on my own. I'm more likely to be adopted." Melvina nodded. "I understand what you mean. I feel the same way. I'd probably never get out if Cornelia and Veronica didn't drag me to parties and introduce me to their friends. I just prefer spending time with Bob." Smiling, she stroked the Niffler's teal fur. Bob was curled up on her lap.

"Understandable," Charlotte murmured. "I prefer the company of animals and creatures to that of humans." The Gryffindor bit her tongue so as not to say too much. She had a tendency to overshare, and she didn't want to mess things up with Melvina by telling her too much about herself and her negative experiences during their first real conversation.

The school bell rang, signalling the end of class. "Wait! How are we supposed to carry Frank around with us all day and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid in class?" asked Melvina. "I can't put him in my bag with Bob. It'll just cause chaos." Charlotte opened the bag that Professor Howin had given them. "Maybe there's something useful in here." She momentarily rummaged in the enchanted bag and finally pulled out a carrying bag that seemed to be made for a Puffskein. "Come on, Frank. Get in," she said to the fur ball. Frank, on the other hand, just blinked at her and made no move to roll into the carrying bag.

"Maybe a treat would help?" suggested Melvina. Charlotte nodded and searched the bag for something that looked like something edible. A few round somethings fell into her hand. They felt like dog biscuits. Charlotte sniffed the ominous balls uncertainly. They also smelled like dog biscuits. Shrugging her shoulders, she took a handful and held them under Frank's nose. The cuddly muff's pupils grew huge and he hummed happily. "Yes, they seem to be treats," Charlotte said with a laugh and used them to lure Frank into the transport bag. When he started to pounce on the small pile that Charlotte had thrown into the back corner of the bag, she buttoned the clasp and looked at her work with satisfaction. "Well, that wasn't so difficult."

The two students stood up and agreed that Charlotte would take Frank with her until lunch break. Then, they would meet again in the entrance hall and discuss everything else.

During their lunch break meeting, they agreed that Frank would stay with Charlotte until he and Bob got on better. They took a closer look at the contents of the bag and found that the supposed treats were Frank's real food. So he was easy to get excited about. After lunch, they agreed that they would meet at every opportunity to complete this partner task together.

A few days passed, and the two students became a well-rehearsed team. Every day, they sat on the picnic blanket in the garden. Melvina brought different kinds of biscuits to each picnic, and Charlotte organized different drinks. Bob and Frank got on better and better, and soon, they started playing together on the lawn. Charlotte and Melvina also got to know each other better and better.

Small talk turned into jokes, and jokes turned into deep talk. Melvina talked about her childhood in America and about her loving parents, who had died in an accident. Charlotte talked about her time in Cornwall and about her family. She spoke about her cousin Emily, who lived with her mother in Norway and with whom she had no contact since Charlotte developed her magical powers because Emily found it too scary and Charlotte, as the only witch in the family, was a freak in her eyes.

The two discovered that they had a lot in common. For example, they were both Muggle-born and the only witches in their families. They both liked to snack and were generally sweet-toothed.

The days went by, and Charlotte felt more and more comfortable with Melvina. Frank and Bob now only slept together. That would be a problem when the task ended.

One evening they were sitting on the picnic blanket at their usual spot again, eating chocolate-mint biscuits and drinking raspberry lemonade. Charlotte and Melvina sat next to each other and watched the two creatures playing. "The two of them are really cute together," Charlotte enthused and reached for another biscuit. Melvina reached out for the tin at the same time. Their hands touched, and the two students shyly pulled their hands back. "Y-you first," Melvina stammered. Charlotte's cheeks glowed, and she took two biscuits from the tin to give Melvina one too. She clinked her biscuit against Melvina's and looked deep into her eyes. "Cheers."

"Have your eyes always been so blue?" Melvina asked without taking a bite of her biscuit. Her hand was still floating where they had clinked their biscuits. Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "Yes. They haven't changed." "They're like the ocean," Melvina said, fascinated. Charlotte turned bright red. She didn't know how to answer that and took a bite of her biscuit instead.

"Can I ask you something?" Melvina blurted out. "Um, sure." Melvina looked shyly at her biscuit. "Is there... Well... Is there someone by your side?" Charlotte choked on her biscuit. She hadn't expected that question. Coughing, she took her raspberry lemonade and washed down the stray crumb. "I... Well... No," she admitted and took another big sip. "Good," Melvina said and finally took a bite of her biscuit. She felt Charlotte's confused look on her and quickly swallowed the bite. "Good to know, I mean," she tried to save herself. "What do you mean?" Charlotte asked. Melvina sighed. She let her shoulders droop in defeat. "I like you, you know?" she began to explain. "And I would like to spend more time with you, even after this task. And... well... a partner at your side would complicate the whole thing." "Are you asking me if I want to go out with you?" Charlotte tried to shed some light on the matter. "Maybe," Melvina murmured. "Well, if that's what you want, then yes. If you don't want to, then no." Charlotte laughed and put her hand on Melvina's. "I would really like to go out with you, Mel."

#hogwarts legacy #fanfiction author #lesbian #fluff #oneshot #melotte #fanfiction #care of magical creatures #puffskein #niffler #frob

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