BUTTERBEERS! ☆ hogwarts one shots!

I Love - I Mean, I Hate You: Dean Thomas

Being a Slytherin was hard.

Everyone expected you to be tough and strong and even a little bit mean, but you weren't. You felt small. Weak. A pushover. In fact, you were a wallflower. The Slytherin wallflower.

You supposed this was ok. It was better than getting sucked into a whole bunch of shit that you didn't want. But at the same time, you wanted to be recognized as a Slytherin. And the first step was to get an enemy.

This wasn't as easy as you had initially thought. At first you had looked at the popular kids, but that wasn't going to work out. They all were taken. Of course. There was a reason they were popular, after all.

Plus, you didn't want to be overly mean with them, because that would get way too much attention. You just wanted when people heard your name to go, "oh yeah, I know her" or at least "oh yeah, the one who hates what's-his-face." It was better than nothing... right?

Yes, yes it was, you told yourself determinedly as you made your way down the hall, standing tall and trying to look more confident then you actually were.

In fact, you were trying so hard to look confident that you bumped into someone, sending you both stumbling to the ground.

You rubbed your head and looked around. People had looked up. They were interested. They wanted to see what this Slytherin was going to do to the ignorant Gryffindor. It was your chance to shine.

You stood up quickly and dusted yourself off, pushing aside the outstretched arm as meanly as you could.

"Don't touch me," you said threateningly, getting the crowd hooked. Finally.

The Gryffindor looked up at you, confused and shocked. You quickly put a name to his handsome — er, not handsome — face. Dean Thomas. Aha. Popular enough to get a crowd, unpopular enough to not get dragged into the big drama. Perfect.

"Excuse me?" He was trying to be polite, but you could tell he was annoyed. Gryffindors weren't used to being talked this way and, as you suspected, didn't like it.

"You heard me." You sneered, getting an "ooh" from the crowd. Yes, ooh! It felt as if you two were merely actors, the school your stage... the assembling people your crowd.

"I'm sorry," he said in a bemused tone, showing just how sarcastic he was, "I don't think I did. I don't usually listen to people like you."

You couldn't tell if he meant it or not, but bam! The shots had been fired. He was playing along, thank merlin! The show must go on!

"What did you just say..." you searched for something mean to say, "shorty?"

He wasn't actually that short. He was just shorter than you, by about an inch. He seemed pretty pissed, he was going red and everything. You thought it'd be a good time to try out what you nicknamed your evil laugh.

It wasn't that good, but it came across. Phew. Onto phase two.

Dean held something tightly in his pocket. His wand. You gripped yours too, making it visible. Yes, a duel! How impressive!

Suddenly Dean softened. He loosened his grip on his wand and sighed. Some onlookers got bored and left. No, not the crowd!

"Are you ok?" He asked. You jumped at the suddenness of the question. It sounded like he really cared. "I know you're not like this."

Your hand dropped to your side in surprise. What did he mean? You hadn't confided to anyone of your master plan to become noticeable... how would he know?

Some more people left. Your brain snapped back on. You couldn't loose the crowd. It sort of reminded you of way back before Hogwarts, when you went to a muggle school. Drama had been one of your favorite subjects. It was a shame Hogwarts didn't have it, it was so much fun. But you couldn't get sidetracked. That was a major rule. You forget everything once the act starts. You're your character. Not you.

So how could he tell that that was what was going on?

"You don't know me."

He hummed in response. It was sort of cute — annoying. Very annoying. "Yeah. I do. I know a little."

"The fuck—"

"Did I mention I have a crush on you?" He said quickly, his cheeks turning crimson so fast if you blinked you would've missed it.

"What?!" You exclaimed, trying to keep the surprise out of your voice. A noticeable Slytherin has all sorts of people crushing on them. No biggie.

"I hate—" you caught yourself on your own words, coughing. It was like you couldn't even say it. "I hate—"

He laughed. "No you don't. We were potions partners! How can an entire year be thrown away like that?"

You gulped. You hadn't intended it to be him. The master plan was lost in a flash.

"I just wanted to be cool, Dean! You understand!"

Dean walked up to you. "Having an arch nemesis makes you cool?" He asked. It suddenly sounded very pathetic.

"No." You whispered, sighing. "Guess I'll be lame."

"You know what'll make you even cooler?"

"What?"

Dean's lips were on yours before your brain could process it all. Dean was kissing you. And you liked it. Not because it would make you cool or popular or noticeable, but because you genuinely liked it. Loved it. Loved him.

"Uh, you know when I said I hated you? Well, tried to?"

"Yeah?"

"I take it back."