Charms
Watch it!" A group of 5th years shouted after Mary as she pushed her way through the crowds on her way to class.
She had her first charms class of the year, by far her least favourite subject. One could say she wasn't exactly in her highest spirits.
However, her path was very quickly blocked by a tall figure, in green and black robes. "Get out of the way you arse!"
"What was that?"
Joseph Avery
An odd boy, and a scary one at that
You've done it now Mary
Don't take it back now. Commit, double down. These snakes can practically smell fear.
"I said move! Are you stupid?"
Any normal person might think it wise to back off. But Mary had never been one to stand down from a fight, and she certainly wasn't going to let herself seem like an easy target.
"I'd watch your mouth if u were you."
The crowd had disappeared now, everybody having gone to class.
It was just the two of them.
Stay calm, Mary.
"Piss off Avery."
"Such a foul mouth, Macdonald. Mummy never teach you any manners?" He questioned sarcastically.
"I'm going to class. Move, I'm not wasting any time on a dickhead like you."
"That's a shame, I always thought you were pretty fit, you know, minus the dirty blood and all that. I'd be willing to give you a chance."
"Get fucked, Avery."
"Yes exactly, that's what I'm hoping is about to happen."
"You're a disgusting, prejudiced twat. I have no desire to go within 10 feet of you. We aren't even very close yet this proximity is making me nauseous. Go and bother one of your other little bigoted hookups, I'm not wasting anymore time on you."
"I think you'll regret passing up this opportunity, Macdonald."
"I can assure you, I won't."
"Have it your way... Mudblood."
"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to!"
"Ah miss Macdonald! I believe you're in my class now, am I correct?" A voice came from behind her.
Good timing Flitwick, I was about to beat the life out of this boy.
"Oh uhm, yes professor." Mary responded.
"And Mr Avery, you are supposed to be in potions with professor Slughorn, are you not?" Flitwick questioned.
"Uh- yes I suppose I am Professor."
Ha! He acts all tough then backs down the minute there's a professor around. What a pussy.
"And is there a reason you're not there right now? Slughorns classroom is a while away, a fact you're well aware of."
"She isn't in class either!" Joseph whined, pointing an accusing finger towards Mary.
"We are very close to my classroom though, Mr Avery, and I'm sure Mary has a valid explanation. But as you don't seem to, I think it's best you be on your way, don't you?"
"But-!"
"Mr Avery." Flitwick said sternly, interrupting Joseph's attempts at arguing.
"Yes sir." He sighed. Heading on his way towards Slughorn's classroom.
"Very well Miss Macdonald, let's go to class, yes?"
"Yes professor." She said with a feigned expression of happiness.
...
Mary didn't have this class with any of her friends, half the reason she despised it so much. The other half being that she was borderline terrible at it. Although Flitwick had always been kind to her, but that was probably just in pity for her.
As she walked in the classroom, she began heading towards the seat she had always occupied at the back of the room, only to find it occupied by a random Ravenclaw girl.
She scanned the rest of the room for an empty seat. And as if she wasn't already in a miserable mood after her run in with Avery, what she went on to discover made her want to curl up into a ball and cry.
The only seat left was next to Lily Evans.
"For fuck sakeeee!" She whisper-shouted.
"Please sit down, Miss Macdonald." Flitwick told her with a friendly smile.
Muttering a string of curses under her breath, she threw her bag down next to her chair and sat down with a loud sigh.
Lily rolled her eyes at this, an action which Mary chose to ignore. It was probably for the best, she wasn't exactly in a civil mood, and if she said anything she knew it would end in an argument .
Flitwick began handing out books to the class, charming them to fly each separate desk.
"Everybody get to know your partner now, these seats will be permanent for the rest of the year. I want no arguments, you'll have to put up with it."
That announcement was met with a multitude of different reactions. Some lucky people having snagged a seat next to their friends, some having no clue who their partner was. But the entire classroom burst into noise.
Yet Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald met it with complete silence. In perfect synchronisation, they sat up straight and widened their eyes, each with a look of incredulity etched upon their faces.
They each whipped their heads towards each other as the news sunk in.
"No!" They both exclaimed.
It was as if they had choreographed it. As though they were the same person.
The realisation having fully set in now. Mary let her head drop to the table, her dark curls splayed out around her head.
Lily sat, staring forwards with the same look on her face as her hand brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes. She glanced towards her Professor with a pleading look, only to be met by an amused chuckle.
If Lily was honest with herself, this reaction wasn't caused by her prior detest towards the Macdonald girl. But because of the way her vision of the girl had shifted since the party a few days ago.
There was no avoiding it really. They had kissed. Lily assumed it didn't mean much to Mary, she had kissed people before. But that was Lily's first kiss. And she was so completely confused by the situation.
She couldn't help but see the dark haired girl in a slightly different perspective now. But that was normal for a first kiss, wasn't it?
Lily had heard plenty of stories about people being attached to their first kiss. Movies about people kissing and basically immediately falling in love.
So this was normal. It's just a psychological reaction. Right?
Well... that's what she kept telling herself.
Lily well and truly did not know what to do with the situation. She was usually brilliant at dealing with feelings. She was a put together person, always knew what to do next. But this time she didn't. She had no clue. Because what really threw her, was that she was beginning to realize these feelings may not be a new thing. It didn't feel like they'd just appeared. To her, it felt like they had been there for ages, she just hadn't quite shed light on it. As though it were some sort of ancient artefact, withstanding the tests of time. It may have been there all along, waiting for somebody to uncover it and learn of its existence. But nobody knew of it until someone made the right move to uncover it.
But this was one of James Potter's best friends. The same girl she had despised since first year. The wild girl with anger issues. The girl who had always gotten into fights. They were completely different people.
...
Snapping back into reality, Lily looked around the room to see everybody packing up their stuff.
She had zoned out...
She never does that!
"Miss Macdonald, Miss Evans... care to stay a moment?"
The girls looked at each other in confusion, before nodding towards Flitwick.
Everybody cleared out of the room now, the girls walked towards the professors desk at the front of the room.
"You wanted to see us, sir?" Lily spoke softly.
"Yes, girls. I had a thought when going over your charms marks from your previous years, to understand everybody's places, yes?"
"...yes?" Mary said, confused as to where this conversation was headed.
"Well, I noticed that Miss Macdonald's marks were significantly lower than most others."
Great, let's just broadcast it for everybody to know!
"Professor!" Mary whined in protest.
"Sorry, Miss Macdonald. You'll understand in a moment." Flitwick spoke, noticing that his choice of words may not have been the best "Where was I? Ah! Yes! And as you may know, Miss Evans is at the top of the class."
Lily smiled proudly at this.
"Yes Professor... I'm aware." Mary said through gritted teeth.
"I thought, that perhaps, Miss Evans could tutor you." Flitwick announced.
"What?" Mary deadpanned.
"Miss Macdonald, there's no fighting this. If you want to pass your N.E.W.T.S, you will be tutored by Miss Evans. It only makes sense. Once I see your marks rise accordingly, you may stop. However, as of now, this arrangement will be followed through. Now you girls may leave and discuss when and where you will meet. Good day, ladies." He said definitively.
I suppose thats that then.
The girls walked out into the hallway, before stopping and turning to each other.
They stood for a moment, processing everything that had just happened.
"Well... that was." Mary said
"...chaotic?" Lily said, finishing Mary's thought.
Both the girls stood in silence for a while, the incredulous looks having returned, before bursting into a fit of giggles.
Not that they found this incredibly amusing, but more from the shock of all the information they'd been through in the matter of an hour.
"Jesus Christ, what just happened?" Mary questioned, wiping her eye of an amused tear.
"I can't say I'm quite sure." Lily responded, trying to stop laughing.
The girls, having managed to calm down now, began walking towards the Gryffindor tower, discussing their plans for their first tutoring session.
Now, about to part ways to their respective dorms.
"So... 7pm tomorrow evening?" Mary questioned, making sure she remembered correctly.
"Yep." Lily responded with a light smile.
"Right, I suppose I'll see you then... Miss Evans." Mary said humorously.
"I suppose you will... Miss Macdonald."