Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other character, obviously. Rowling does, people!
A/n: I know I'm a day late, Melody but this is for you, from your namesake. Hope you enjoy!
I used the pairing and prompts for January 18th from the Prompts, oh Prompts thread in the Next Gen Fanatics Forum!
People said he was harmless; jovial, open. Molly felt like laughing in their faces. What would they know? Had they ever tried to speak to the guy while holding a huge crush on said boy? Had they ever tried to look into those dreamy blue eyes that almost always twinkled with mirth and tried to not drown in them? Did they even know about how absolutely terrifying the very thought of telling him about her feelings was?
Molly was so occupied musing over the sweet boy illusion Lysander put up that she didn't even notice when a figure sat beside her on the first bench. It was only when she saw his face out of the corner of her eye that she noticed, and jumped.
"Lysander!" he grinned that crooked grin at her, finding something amusing about giving her an almost heart failure. He chuckled at her shell shocked expression, patting her on the shoulder consolingly.
"Calm down, Molls. It's just me" Yeah easy for him to say, it was her heart that was sprinting way too fast for her to still be alive.
"A case of mistaken identity, I think. Thought I was Lucy or something, did you?"
"Now, why would I think you were that prat of a sister you have?"
"Just because you're my friend doesn't mean you get to insult my sister, Ly" she replied sternly, her Weasley instincts kicking in. She hoped the comment would distract Lysander from the wistful way in which she said the word friend; it did.
"And would the fact that I'm her friend change that?"
"What did she do now?" Molly asked, succumbing to her wish to have him speak with her for a bit longer. Not that he ignored her, but each minute was just a bonus, wasn't it?
"She keeps talking in riddles, the little bugger. I have absolutely no idea what she means when she says that I 'need to look inside myself and stop trying to deny things that are so obviously there'. Do you?" Molly shook her head in the negative, though her heart gave an understanding leap. Of course her sister Lucy had been trying to set her and Lysander up forever; ever since she had learnt of Molly's little crush, that was. She'd surely have meant that, but Molly knew something Lucy didn't; Lysander did not like her that way.
"This just proves that your sister is going nuts. Honestly, I think she has been reading too much of Dumbledore's history. Reckon she's trying to imitate him?" Molly nodded absently. Lysander fell silent, making himself comfortable on the seat beside her.
"You aren't leaving?" Molly was pleasantly surprised; Lysander normally hung around the last few benches.
"You want me to?" he asked complacently, but she could see that the question had hurt him. Those eyes were staring imploringly at her, confusing her further.
"I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, Ly. What I thought was that you never sit beside me, I mean, you never sit in the front rows, that is…" Lysander's booming laughter broke her mid rant, and she looked at him with narrowed eyes. What was so damn funny about her stumbling like a fool over her own words?
"I was just teasing you, Molls. I know you're incapable of insulting anyone" he mussed her hair up, and Molly fancied that his hands lingered on her head longer than normal. These illusions were common for her so she didn't pay them much mind.
Before Molly could retort, the back door opened and their Potions professor entered. Seeing that his footwear was in plain sight, Lysander removed his legs from the table, earning an approving nod from the professor who set too much store by proper behavior.
"Good morning class. As I had informed the last class, we're moving on to the advanced section of your syllabus today and the potions are going to become tougher to brew" the whole class, with the exception of Molly, groaned.
"From now on you'll be brewing the potions in pairs since I don't have the patience to deal with twice the number of blown up cauldrons. Is that understood?" the whole class nodded, but it was Molly who exclaimed.
"No!" the professor looked towards her quizzically.
"Do you have something to object to, Miss Weasley? I thought you and Mr Scamander got along rather well" was she dreaming or was there a hidden meaning to his words? Either way, Molly realized her mistake and hurried to correct it.
"No sir. I was just surprised was all. I'm sorry Professor" he nodded once, before turning to the board to demonstrate the intricacies of the potion they were to brew that day; the Shrinking solution. Molly was paying only half the attention, her mind still stuck on her fact that her bad luck had her partnered with Lysander for the rest of the year. How was she to keep her head around him every single day? She could see her sister sending her meaningful looks from the third row, but she ignored it.
They were half way through class and making no progress whatsoever on the potion when the accident happened. The solution was supposed to be stirred with snake scales. Both Molly and Lysander refused to even touch the thing, resulting in the potion simmering for too long and, you guessed it, blowing up. Molly still didn't understand how Lysander came out of it unscathed; she was the only one that was drenched in the murky liquid that tasted of lemons. Thankfully, the potion had been in its early stages and didn't have much effect on her except for the slight singing of the skin where it had splashed on her. The Professor however was of a different opinion and sent her to the Hospital Wing immediately.
"I'll go with her, Professor. Just to make sure she gets there safely. I'll be back in a few minutes?" The Professor nodded absently, moving over to Lucy's table.
"You didn't have to come. I could have managed it by myself. Thanks anyway" Lysander just nodded and smiled, looking straight ahead. Of course he would, she must be a dreadful sight with her skin burnt in places.
"You know Molly, I think Luce was right," he spurted suddenly, while they were half way to the Infirmary. Molly stopped walking and it was a few seconds before Lysander noticed and turned back.
"What about?" she tried to sound casual, but was sure she didn't manage. What if he was going to declare his undying love for her sister?
"About looking into myself and all that stuff. I mean, it's obvious she was talking about my decisions. I mean, why should I become a magi-zoologist just because my Mum and Dad were, huh? I want to be a Quiddtch player, so what's stopping me, right?" Molly felt her hope fly out the window, leaving behind the bitter aftertaste of disappointment, self pity and lastly, anger. Anger with herself that she had to be so pathetically hung up on him when he didn't even know.
"Yeah, sure" she answered evasively, trying to walk past him to the turn at the end of the corridor that would take her to the Hospital Wing, and away from him; somewhere she could mourn for her unrequited love properly and resolve to move on, something that had become almost a daily occurrence.
She was almost at the end of the corridor, a few more steps and she'd get away from him and the misery he brought her. Just a few more steps and she could escape…
Her thoughts were brought to a halt when her world spun around and she was face to face with Lysander. He wasn't grinning at her, wasn't even smiling. The expression in his face was an odd mixture of nervousness, determination and exasperation.
"Molly, will you please stop walking away from me whenever I try to tell you something important? I know you don't feel the same way about it and I know this is completely one sided. I mean, I follow you around like a lost puppy; I try to sit beside you every class; I stare at you whenever I'm away from you; I can't seem to stop myself from thinking about you. I just wanted to tell you that I like you, a lot. Okay? I just wanted you to know, not that I expect anything of it, but…" Molly blinked, her mind completely blank. She must be dreaming, she must be, how else could this be happening? But the anticipatory look in his eyes was too real, his disappointment was too apparent for her to think otherwise. So Molly did the only thing that could make her sure; she pinched him.
"Ow! What was that for?" Lysander exclaimed, letting her go to rub his hand.
"Just making sure you aren't one of my hallucinations where you profess your undying love for me…"
"I never said anything about love!" he seemed so alarmed that Molly grinned; this was fun.
"Undying like, then" she concluded but Lysander shook his head.
"What's with the undying part? Are you panning to find immortality?"
"Okay, your dying like then?" Lysander just shook his head, the familiar grin returning.
"I think I like undying love better" he whispered in her ear before leaning in to kiss her.
Molly felt the need to reinstate her fact; Lysander Scamander was not harmless.
A/n: Do review!
P.S.: Happy birthday Melody!