Catastrophically Charismatic
Johnny spent breakfast the first Monday after the Sorting Ceremony telling a crowd of third years stories about his first year at Hogwarts. They had seen him in the corridor showing the Gryffindor fifth years his newly learned ability to do a handstand (he’d spent a month of the summer figuring out how to do it), and the third years had then followed him down to the Great Hall, listening avidly to everything he said. They were still hanging on his every word half an hour later, eyes shining and laughing in all the right spots, and Johnny was enjoying himself greatly.
But every time he looked over at the Ravenclaw table, Hazel had her face buried in a novel and was completely ignoring him. It put just the tiniest pinprick into his enjoyment of a good audience and an excellent breakfast.
He knew she could hear him. These stories were funny and cute, by all agreement over the years, and they were some of his best since he’d told them so many times that he really had the stories polished up by now. But somehow they weren’t impressing Hazel McGregor.
What the hell, honestly.
Johnny wrapped up the story as the fourth-years gathered their things in preparation for heading off to their first class of the day. His schedule as a sixth year was a lot more open, and he had a free period this morning. He’d meant to spend it setting the new Quidditch training schedule for the year, since he had quite naturally been selected as Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor.
Honestly, if his brother Remus hadn’t been around last year, he probably would’ve been Quidditch Captain then, too. In fact, he was a little surprised he hadn’t been picked even though Remus was there and already Captain, because Professor Bartlebaugh liked him better than his elder brother.
Remus had been pretty good at it, true, but Johnny was fully confident that he would be a better Captain. The first thing to do, of course, was everything that Remus hadn’t. He was very sure that his ideas would be better than his older brother’s, and only partly because Remus had played Keeper and Johnny was the Seeker, obviously a better position for running the game. Remus’s attention had always been split by being both Quidditch Captain and a prefect. He hadn’t been Head Boy in his final year, still only a prefect. Johnny was sure he would be, though. Both the headmaster and the Head of Gryffindor thought he was wonderful, they were sure to want him for Head Boy.
Who else was more popular than him? Of course he’d be Head Boy next year.
In the meantime, he ate some fried eggs and then looked up as Hazel gathered her things and set off for the greenhouses for NEWT-level Herbology. Johnny watched her go, the swish of her shiny dark ponytail as she walked, her robes swirling around her legs, and decided he’d wait for her outside the greenhouses. Maybe he could convince her to like him if he talked to her for a few minutes. Professor Longbottom was a friend of the family, though he always seemed a little bemused by Johnny, and probably wouldn’t fuss at him for loitering outside his classroom.
First, though, he pulled out a sheet of parchment and jotted down some ideas for how he could lead his team to victory that year in the House Cup.
Naturally, with him in charge of the team, they were going to be the best.
*
Hazel particularly enjoyed Herbology classes. The humid, warm air of the greenhouses, sounds muffled by the proliferation of fascinating plants growing everywhere, felt like a quiet refuge in the often noisy castle. It was an island of calm, even when she was wrestling with a Puffapod. She didn’t mind the plants, because she fell into the small segment of the wizarding population who were immune to its spores. It never made her dizzy, and she thought they were a pretty plant.
It was her smallest class, too. There were only half a dozen students in the sixth year NEWT class, and she felt like she was learning so much more already because of the smaller class size. Professor Longbottom was walking around the classroom, assisting the students as they struggled to subdue the unruly Puffapods, giving advice and encouragement.
Hazel was proud that he didn’t need to offer her any assistance when he finally reached her end of the room. The teacher stopped to watch her for a moment as she retrieved another pod and laid it on the work table next to the first three she’d managed. It was two more pods than everyone else had, she had already noted.
“Oh, very good, Miss McGregor,” said Professor Longbottom warmly. “You really are excellent with aggressive plants.”
She smiled, dimpling a bit in pleasure to be told she was good at something, and went back to work. The morning passed in the blissful content of being in the greenhouse, with her hands on plants and in the earth.
When she came out of Herbology, though, her good mood was swiftly ruined. Johnny Lupin was leaning against the greenhouse just beside the door. She tried to escape before he noticed her, walking quickly toward the castle, but it was already too late. He straightened up when he saw her, waved and grinned to her classmates who called out greetings to him, and then jogged up to fall into step beside her.
“Hi,” he said, flashing a brilliant smile of white, even teeth.
She eyed him askance. “What do you want?”
“You really don't like me, do you?” he asked, sounding genuinely astonished.
“You annoy the piss out of me,” she said with perfect honesty.
“I do?”
Exasperation filled her. “Surely that's not the first time you've heard someone say that.”
He considered this, ginger eyebrows knit together. “Someone who's not related to me, or trying to kill me.”
“I don't want to kill you. I just don't want to talk to you.”
“You're not related to me then, are you? I've got a lot of cousins. Sometimes it's hard to keep track.”
Her lips twitched in amusement despite herself. She hoped he hadn't noticed. “Not that I'm aware of.”
“My brother Remus used to tell me almost five times a day that I annoy the piss out of him,” Johnny went on. “I find I rather miss it now he's left Hogwarts. Can I come sit with you at dinner so you can tell me again? Makes me feel quite at home.”
They had reached the castle and Johnny flicked his wand at the heavy wooden door so that it opened itself, waving her inside as if he owned the place. Only Johnny could take what ought to have been a chivalrous gesture and make it irritating.
Hazel heaved a long-suffering sigh. “You really need to get over yourself. You're not as clever as you think you are.”
“I am as clever as I think I am.” He gave her a smile that had probably made a lot of girls’ toes tingle. “I expect you're even more clever, though.”
This was somewhat mollifying to hear. Johnny Lupin had acknowledged that someone was cleverer than he was.
“Seriously though, can I eat dinner with you today?” Johnny asked as they passed the Great Hall. Students were milling about, and most of them smiled or waved at Johnny.
Hazel blinked, feeling off balance. “Of course not. Why would you want to?”
“So I can get to know more about you. So, can I?”
She looked at him askance. “Look, we’re not friends. You don’t need to pretend to give a fuck.”
“I do give a fuck. I’ll see you at dinner.” Johnny tossed off a jaunty salute and then trotted away.
“I didn’t say yes!” she yelled after him.
Hazel stopped in her tracks and watched him go. He waved to various people as he sauntered down the corridor, and virtually everyone he passed greeted him. He was, without a doubt, the most popular student in the school. She had no idea how he did it. They all found him adorable. She felt like the only teetotaler at a party.
“Is it me?” she demanded of the universe, glancing around. No one paid her any attention. Heaving an aggrieved sigh, she stomped off toward Ravenclaw tower.
*
Tink tossed her bookbag on the little study table in the Ravenclaw common room that Hazel was currently occupying later that afternoon. Her tie was missing, as always. Tink hated wearing her uniform tie and usually had it around her waist like a belt or stashed in a pocket.
“Why was Johnny Lupin walking you to class today?”
Hazel looked up in surprise. “He wasn’t. He did walk away from class with me,” she admitted.
Tink sat down across from her, looking confused. “I thought you didn’t like Johnny.”
“I don’t. I told him to leave me alone.”
Not quite in those words, anyway, but he’d got the gist. Well, she was pretty sure he’d got the gist, anyway.
Tink cocked her head, still staring at Hazel in fascinated puzzlement. “Why?” was all she managed to get out, bewilderment coloring her voice.
“Why does Johnny do anything? He wanted some attention, probably. I don’t know.” Hazel tried to go back to her Ancient Runes textbook, but Tink reached out and put a hand over the sheet of parchment she’d been making notes on.
“You’re acting very odd about this.”
“I’m not. He was just bothering me, that’s all, wanting to eat dinner with me tonight. I told him no.”
“Why would you tell him no? Johnny’s so fun, he’ll be great at dinner.” Tink frowned. “Unless you think Johnny has a crush on you?”
Hazel was appalled. “Johnny? Of course he doesn’t!”
“Oh, you’re so lucky. I wouldn’t mind Johnny Lupin having a crush on me.” Tink gave her an envious look that Hazel was horrified to see was sincere.
“He’d bloody well better not.”
Tink sat back in her chair and smiled. “That sounds more like you. I was so confused for a moment there why you’d be hanging out with Johnny Lupin all of a sudden. Not that I think you shouldn’t, you know I’m very fond of Johnny. Hang out with him if you like. It just seemed out of character for you. I thought you’d tell me if something was going on.”
Hazel smiled in exasperation at her dearest friend. Tink hated to be left out of any sort of gossip, always wanting to know what was going on with everyone. If she’d been born two hundred years ago, she’d be writing a gossip column about the comings and goings of the upper classes, but instead she was studying witchcraft like a modern woman.
“Tink, you know I’d tell you if there was anything to tell.”
Tink smiled back. “How about if I tell you about Lucas? He talked to me outside of the library today. Oh, he’s so hot, and he smells so good.”
Hazel smiled at her. “Did you already look up what his father does?”
“That’s the best part. Nothing at all. They have land. Nowhere near my father’s, but that’s all right.” Tink’s eyes were gleaming, and Hazel chuckled at her.
“I hope he asks you out.”
“Oh, I do too. Maybe I should ask him out, but that’s so much less romantic.” Tink hauled her Ancient Runes textbook out of her bag. “Have you started the essay yet for Professor Hadrian?”
The essay was complex enough to serve as an excellent distraction for the rest of the afternoon. Hazel nearly forgot all about Johnny by the time they’d left the library, but he was waiting for her outside the Great Hall that evening when she and Tink went down to dinner. She regarded him with dismay as he straightened up from the wall he’d been artfully lounging against.
“Hi Johnny!” Tink said brightly.
“Hey Tink,” he replied with an easy grin.
“You are not sitting with us,” Hazel told him firmly.
He looked crestfallen. “Oh, come on.”
“Yeah, come on,” agreed Tink, looking amused.
“No. Go sit at your own house table, you’re not sitting with us.” Hazel grabbed Tink’s arm and hauled her along into the hall.
Tink was giggling now. “That was a little harsh, don’t you think?”
“Harsh is the only thing that gets through to him.”
Johnny kept looking over at her during dinner, seated at the front of the Gryffindor table, and Hazel studiously ignored him.
Whatever was going on in Johnny’s head that he suddenly wanted her to join his ridiculous little fan club (which admittedly was comprised of ninety-five percent of the school population, so ‘little’ probably wasn’t the right word), she didn’t want a part of it. He was going to have to get a clue somehow. Why on earth did he want to annoy her like this? Why did he even care if she liked him or not? Surely he had enough fans already.
When she set off after dinner for Ravenclaw Tower, she could feel his eyes on her back all the way out of the Great Hall.
*
Johnny left her alone for the next few days. She hoped this was him giving up and not simply regrouping. Friday afternoon was a beautiful, cool autumn day with bright sunshine instead of the usual rainy Scottish weather that was more typical at the end of September. Hazel had found a spot out on the lawn after her Arithmancy class to enjoy the beautiful weather while she did her homework, sitting under a tree overlooking the lake.
It was peaceful and quiet and the perfect way to concentrate on the complex problems of her homework. Hazel had never minded being alone, and sometimes at Hogwarts it was hard to find somewhere to feel truly alone when the castle was so full of students.
She had settled into the rhythm of solving the assigned problems in her textbooks, happily scribbling away at a sheet of parchment with her textbook open beside her, when a shadow fell across the pages. She looked up and her brow creased in a frown.
“Oh, not you.”
Johnny crouched beside her. “Arithmancy, eh? That looks tough. My brother Remus took that class.”
“It is tough, so go away and let me concentrate.”
“I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes,” he said. “That’s all.”
Hazel did not at all want to talk to him. It seemed wholly unnecessary when she already knew she didn’t like him, and she had work to do. “Look, what do you want from me?” she demanded.
Johnny looked surprised. “Who says I want anything from you?”
“Is this some kind of ‘ooh she doesn’t want me, I have to have her’ bullshit? If I sleep with you, will you go away?”
He spluttered, his expression now genuinely alarmed. “No, that’s not at all - fucking hell, Hazel - I mean-”
Rendering Johnny Lupin speechless was quite satisfying, but Hazel shelved the feeling for future savoring. For now, she wanted him to either go away and leave her alone, or tell her what the hell he thought he was doing, because he was unnerving her following her around talking to her all the time. “Why are you following me around then, if you don’t want to sleep with me?”
“I like you,” he said. “Can’t I just like you?”
She gave him an appraising look. “We’re not friends, Johnny. You don’t have to be friends with everyone, you know.”
“I’m not.”
She ignored this. “You’re so used to everyone liking you, you can’t stand it when someone doesn’t. You want to make sure I join your little fan club so your ego doesn’t feel punctured.”
“I don’t have a fan club.” One side of his mouth quirked into a half smile, and he added, “And it’s not little.”
“The whole school likes you. You have...” She waved one hand at him, gesturing vaguely with her lips curled in distaste. “Charisma.”
“My uncle Scorpius says I’m catastrophically charismatic,” he admitted.
“Well, it’s obnoxious. I don’t want a part of it. I just want to get this homework done before dinner. You can go and be obnoxious to someone else.”
Johnny stared at her, and she made a show of arranging her textbook and parchment, deliberately not looking at him, and after a moment she heard his footsteps walking away. Breathing a sigh of what she was sure should be relief, she tried to focus on her homework.