Herbs and Trouble
Lucy pushed open the creaky wooden door to her new potions class. It was a slightly cramped room with floors and walls lined with stone bricks, the large tables held cauldrons, some of their black paint peeled from age. At the front of the room were tall shelves, laden with bottles, flasks and jars filled with liquids and herbs.
At the front of the room stood a tall man. His face was young and kind, his robes were lined with a gold stitching and his hair was slightly too long, covering his eyes.
“Welcome class, please.” he gestured to the seats.
An excitable Natsu piped up “This looks super complicated, who’s this geezer?” his eyes scanned the room landing on the man. Lucy, who was stood beside him, elbowed him in the side which shut him up.
“My name is Professor Zeref.” Lucy noted his tone, it was soft and gentle. She might say soothing.
“Lu..” A whisper from Levy came from behind. Lucy gave her a small smile and took her hand as she pushed through the crowd of students to reach her friend.
The girls sat beside each other in front of one of the towering cauldrons. they peered around the side to see the professor. “He’s a little weird don’t you think?” mumbled Lucy.
“Super weird, but he seems nice enough.” Levy shrugged. The blonde nodded in agreement and opened her textbook.
The lesson was mostly boring, up until right at the end. Their task had been to create a simple ailment for the common cold, however, Natsu had decided to play around with some of the ingredients.
“Natsu! You idiot what are you doing?” Lucy hissed at him from across the table.
“I’m making this interesting!” He snickered, throwing in random bits of petals and pebbles. Slowly his cauldron began to glow a bright orange, that grew more intense and began to spark.
Lucy rushed over to him, in attempt to stop his trouble making. She tried to grab the flask of bright blue crystals he was holding, but the boy was stronger. Her hands slipped and the whole thing fell into the bubbling orange potion.
“You two..! What’re you doing?”
The two spun round to see the angered and panicked expression on the face of the so far calm professor.
The sparks flew in a blaze of fiery explosion, cracking the shell of his cauldron and shaking the table beneath them. Natsu cackled at the chaos he had created, whilst the rest of the class glared at him judgementally. Even Gray had a disapproving glance on his face.
Realising the cold atmosphere of the room, Natsu’s laughs subsided, being replace with a slightly embarrassed look.
“Mr Dragneel. Miss Heartfilia” Professor Zeref spoke more sternly than he had, replacing the kindness he had been speaking with throughout the lesson. He approached the slowly, wafting away the smoke that rose from the broken cauldron “That’ll be detention. Along with a 10 point deduction from Gryffindor.”
“But Sir, Lucy wasn’t-“ Levy pleaded.
“This is disgraceful behaviour, and from first years no less. I hope you learn your lesson.”
Lucy shot Natsu a narrow glare. “You’re such an ass.” she said through gritted teeth.
He held up his hands in a would-be defensive manner, “My bad!” He grinned, which only managed to rile Lucy up more.
✨✨✨
“I’m very disappointed.” Professor Porlyusica looked sternly down at the two. Lucy stared akward ly at the ground, whilst Natsu was trying his hardest to keep himself from laughing out loud. “Your punishment will be to watch the grounds tonight. As per your head of house, Professor Guildarts.”
The pair looked up at her in sync, sharing a shocked expression. “Professor, i’d much rather write lines..”
“Unfortunately it is neither up to me, nor you.” She cut her off.
“Don’t worry Lucy, ya got me!” Natsu squeezed her shoulder hard. Lucy narrowed her eyes, shrugging him off of her.
✨✨✨
It was freezing. The air was bitterly cold and Lucy was shaking. She had goosebumps all up her arms and her teeth slightly chattered. The two sat atop a hill overlooking the grounds.
The sky was pitch black, aside from the dim lantern that Natsu held, and the tiny stars in the clear sky.
“This is your fault” She hissed through chattering teeth
“Hey! Don’t go blamin me for havin fun!” He pouted and rolled his eyes. Natsu looked at her in the shallow lighting and observed her slightly shivering body. “You cold?”
“What does it look like.” She glared up at him.
After a few moments of staring in the dark she felt a warmth over her shoulder.
She looked down to see a soft yet thick fabric with a black and white checkered pattern. Her eyes widened as she realised it was his scarf.
“Thank you.” She mumbled sincerely.
Natsu was gazing up at the stars of the clear night sky.
“Can I ask you something Natsu..?”
“Shoot.”
She smiled a small smile and nodded. “Is there a reason you wear this..like all the time?”
Natsu’s expression saddened and Lucy took note of it. She coughed to cover the awkward silence.
“My dad.”
“Hm?” She turned to him.
“My dad gave me this. Before he died. I keep it to remember him n’ stuff. Yknow’?”
Lucy was taken aback. She’d never seen Natsu be so upfront and mature. It was so refreshing, but she couldn’t help but feel bad for him. However the girl that knew the last thing he needed was forced sympathy.
“Plus it’s pretty warm.” He added and chuckled in attempt to lighten the mood.
She looked up at him with a kind smile, her nose and cheeks were red from the bitter wind, but she buried her face into the scarf.
He shuffled close to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. “Ya warm enough Luce?”
The feeling of his arm around her and the warm tone in which he spoke gave her an unnerving feeling in her stomach. She looked away, avoiding eye contact. “Oh..yeah. I’m good now thanks.”
They sat together in a much less awkward silence, Natsu with a natural grin on his face and Lucy some with her thoughts in her head.
What was going on with her head? Why did she have such an awkward feeling inside her? It was like a constant punch to the gut that never fully healed.
And yet…
“Lucy! Look..” Natsu stood up abruptly and pointed to the horizon. The clouds were beginning to turn a bright pink, and the sky was being filled with the beaming sunlight.
She slowly stood up beside him, her mouth hanging slightly open in awe of the scene in front of her.