things i'll never say ~ l.l.p.

fifteen - problem

"Miss Potter, can you please explain the significance of the powdered Griffin claw as an ingredient in the Strengthening Solution?"

I was sitting in Potions on a Thursday morning nearly two months into the school year, and would rather have been anywhere else. I barely registered Slughorn's words. "Erm... well... Griffins are... strong," I said helplessly, feeling an unflattering blush coming on.

Someone snorted behind me. "Wow, what an astute observation. Rowena Ravenclaw would be proud." Charlie.

I spun around to glare at the brown-haired boy, who, I noticed with amusement, had the buttons on his shirt done up wrong, and his tie hanging loose. His hair looked as if he had not bothered to brush it this morning, which was... nice? "And do you know the significance of the powdered Griffin claw, Charlie?"

He gnawed on his lip for a moment, glanced at Mason, who was his (much more neatly dressed) partner, then shrugged good-naturedly.

"Hah," I said. "Just as I thought. God forbid you would actually know something useful."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm sorry, Lily, is there a problem here?"

I smirked. "The problem, as far as I see it, is that you somehow ended up in the House meant for intellectuals."

He chuckled, and it crossed my mind that there was something attractive in the uneven rumble of his laughter. "Say what you want, but we both know I'm worth five of you in DADA... which is a lot more practically useful than the Muggle Studies grade you're so proud of."

I narrowed my eyes at the insolent, annoyingly cute boy in front of me. "Oh, I'll make you pay for that, Corner."

"Frankly, Potter, I'd like to see you try."

I had opened my mouth to say something even more snarky, but was cut off by our professor, who said, "All right, that is quite enough for now! We have work to do. As nobody seems to know, I must now explain to you all that the powdered Griffin claw..."

As Slughorn lectured on some boring Potions garbage that I knew I would never care enough to remember, I ignored the questioning glances from Autumn, who was sitting next to me, and reflected on the exchange with Charlie. That, right there, was exactly what I liked about him. I enjoyed getting him fired up about things, whether it was the moral standards of Marvel superheroes or the subject matter of a boring class. I thrived on the sparks of clashing with him while yearning for a different kind of clash; a different kind of sparks. Crossing swords with him shot electricity through my veins, and every moment of it was thrilling.

When class was dismissed, I turned around to say something to Charlie, and found him already halfway out the door. Mason, however, was standing beside his seat, looking at me, eyebrows raised. "Lily," he said, something like amusement in his voice. "Walk with me?"

I levelled a glare at him. "Did I not make it clear enough that I want nothing to do with you?"

He put his hands up, as if in surrender, and rolled his eyes. "Relax, okay? I'm not asking you to go camp out in my backyard and make friendship bracelets. I just want to talk to you. Briefly"

I glanced at Autumn, who was shifting on her feet, clearly made nervous by the fact that Mason was talking to me, which was only one step away from talking to her. After a moment's hesitation, I said, "Go on ahead, will you? I'll only be a moment." She smiled softly and did so.

When I looked back at Mason, he was smirking. "Could it be that you don't hate me as much as you put on?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line. "I never said I hated you. I just said we couldn't be friends like we were. Now say whatever you're so eager to say, and then leave me alone."