Oak Trees

Charms

"Well hey there, stranger~"

Riley looked up from her book as James Potter slid in next to her. She was trying to prepare for double charms, and got here early. She put her bag in the seat next to her to save it for Mason Abbot, but that clearly did not work out.

She looked back down, reading the book Severus had given her in an attempt to ignore him.

"I know you can talk. You can talk to me, you know."

Riley did not respond, flipping the page harder than she meant to.

"You're in my seat, Potter." Mason stood in front of the table, his normal smile gone.

"I don't see your name on it, Abott."

"Don't you want to sit with your friends?" Mason gripped the strap of his satchel, his jaw working.

Remus Lupin walked past, nudged James on the shoulder with a raised eyebrow. He finally got up, but paused before walking away. "I'll talk to you later, Riley."

"You okay?" Mason asked as he slid into his seat. Riley nodded in response, sliding her wand back up her sleeve and putting her reading back in her bag. "Why did you have that out?"

Riley couldn't help but smirk as she heard James talking loudly in the back of the room.

"Alright class, turn to page 127, today we are going to learn the theory behind a general counter spell."

"What the fuck!"

James erupted from the back of the room and everyone turned as he tossed his bag away from him. He turned red as everyone started to laugh.

*ribbit*

"Mr Lupin, Please... take our amphibious friend back outside. Mr Potter, we will discuss appropriate classroom language after this period. Now, page 127, please."

"You didn't..."

"Didnt what?" She whispered back, opening her charms book.

Class was boring, dragging on about history, pronunciations and wand movements.

"Class is dismissed! Practice these wand movements and incantations, not on eachother!" Flitwick chirped, directing his attention towards the grinning at the back of the room.

"Why did you have your wand out, Riley?" Mason asked again as they got into the Hufflepuff common room.

"What does it matter to you?" She asked, straightening her bag on her shoulder.

He worked his jaw. He was obviously flirting with you, Mason though. Were you flirting back or something?

"That's what I thought." Riley snapped at his silence. She started up the stairs to the girls dormitory, and Mason watched her. He shook his head and went to a table, tossing his bag down.

"What's gotten into her?" Jackson asked curiously, looking over his shoulder at the now empty staircase Riley had just stormed up.

"Probably that time." Daniel Fayne didn't look up from his parchment, but was met with a swift knock on the back out the head by Elroy.

"Dude, do not talk about a woman like that." Elroy said, heated.

He was raised by a single mother, and had 2 sisters. Respect was his speciality, and he'd be damned if he was gonna let someone disrespect any woman- much less a woman thought so highly of like Riley.

"I'm just saying! She's been moody for a few days-ow!" Daniel rubbed the back of his head after the second smack, huffing as he turned his attention back to the essay he was writing.

"What happened, Mason?" Jackson asked, taking a sip of his water.

"That Potter kid was messing with her." Mason pulled out a roll of parchment and his Muggle Studies book, flipping through the pages. "Sat in my seat when he got to charms, just pestering."

"Sounds like someone's jealous." Jackson leaned forward with his words, chuckling.

Masons red face betrayed his avid denial. "I am not! But that's not the point..." he sunk down into his chair as he found the page he needed. "When he finally left, I sat down, and Riley was putting her wand away."

"So what? She keeps it up her sleeve, probably just slipped out."

"I would've bought that... if a frog didn't hop out of Potter's bag." Mason grumbled.

"Oh please, Riley wouldn't..." Jackson scoffed, leaning back.

"Well..." Elroy made an exaggerated, 'weighing the options' face. "Is it that unlike her? I mean, she's not gonna out-and-out cast a spell in the middle of class, but she is pretty sneaky."

"Oh, come on!" Jackson scoffed. "She would never just put a frog on someone. And to just make one out of thin air? I can't do that, I doubt she can"

"Can we really use your skills as the baseline comparison?" Elroy elbowed Jackson in the ribs as they both laughed.

"I don't think she did it. I don't think she has it in her." Daniel said, clearly bored with the conversation. "But I do think she's skilled enough to do it if she wanted to."

"Mason," Jackson began, lowering his voice a bit. "When are you going to ask her out?"

Mason blushed hard and started stuttering, unable to find words as he tried to avidly deny any feeling he had.

"He's not going to." Elroy smirked at him.

Mason looked down at his book, willing his mind off of Riley as he started his assignment on muggle cleaning.

—

"There she is, stop her and apologize!" Jackson hissed quietly at Mason, jerking his head towards Riley.

"Riley!"

Riley didn't hear, she had her mind set on seeing Severus. She was out of the common room before anyone could blink, and headed out towards the oak tree.

—

"Are you okay?" Severus looked up from his potions book as Riley approached and tossed her bag down harder then she meant to.

"I'm fine." She snapped, climbing the tree and perching on a branch directly above him.

"Well, clearly not..." Severus looked up at her. "What's got you so ticked? I've never seen you anything less than cheerful."

"Potter." Riley grumbled. "He wouldn't leave me alone before charms..."

"Did you-"

"I did." Riley didn't need Severus to finish his question.

"What did he do?"

"Screamed the F word and threw his bag." Riley chuckled a bit. "But beyond that, one of my teammates was pestering me about having my wand out, but won't tell me why it even matters to him."