A Quidditch Wager
"Professor Beazley, how are your plants treating you?"
Jean turned to see Lucien Blake walking down the corridor toward her. She smiled. "Very well, thank you. I've got a venomous tentacula teething at the moment. It'll be a lovely project for my Sixth Years. And you, Professor Blake, attack any students lately?"
He chuckled, walking in stride with her toward the Great Hall. "Only for their educational benefit, Jean, I swear. Besides, it's getting more dangerous for me than it is for them. Bill Hobart nearly hit me with a Stunner yesterday."
Jean pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh at the idea of the head-strong Slytherin boy nearly getting the best of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. For not the first time, she was glad she got to stay out in the greenhouses and teach Herbology.
The two professors sat towards the far end of the High Table for breakfast, as they often did. Headmaster Lawson watched them talking and laughing and smiled knowingly.
The Great Hall was positively buzzing with excitement. The Quidditch Finals were only a few hours away. As was typical, the whole school had chosen sides. The topic had been one of contention between Jean and Lucien for quite some time.
"Alright, how about a Galleon says my Ravenclaws beat your Gryffindors?" Lucien proposed. He felt confident that the new Ravenclaw captain, Alice Harvey, had made a great team. His money was safe.
"A Galleon? That's a lot of money," she replied, slightly scolding him for his foolishness.
"Six Sickles and a kiss?" he amended, speaking quietly in her ear.
Her jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. "If Ravenclaw wins, I will pay you six Sickles and a kiss. But if Gryffindor wins, you have to help me repot the Devil's Snare tonight. It has to be done in darkness, but I'm not strong enough to lift it by myself."
He frowned. "You can't levitate it?"
"Charms have funny effects on plants," she explained.
"So we have a bet? If you win, I'll repot your plant. If I win, I get money and a kiss?"
Jean pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. She knew for a fact that Gryffindor had a better team. Star chaser Mattie O'Brien had seen to that. The only reason Ravenclaw had made it to the final was because the Hufflepuff Seeker, Charlie Davis, got knocked out by a bludger in the semifinals. Jean was confident that she'd win this bet.
And sure enough, at nine o'clock that night, Professor Blake trudged out to the greenhouse to help Professor Beazley repot her dangerous plant. He was feeling very disappointed, and not just because he had to watch his House get decimated at the Quidditch match. He'd felt like he may have crossed a line by asking for a kiss, and when she didn't get mad at him for it, he'd gotten his hopes up that he'd finally get to kiss her the way he'd wanted to for years. But it wasn't proper for professors to fraternize that way. And even if Headmaster Lawson was incredibly fair, he wouldn't tolerate anything inappropriate amongst the staff. Nevertheless, he'd adored Jean Beazley from the moment he met her, and he counted himself very lucky that she wanted to even be his friend.
"Shall we get started with this plant?" he asked, trying to sound excited.
"Yes, please," she replied.
He noticed she was wearing her gardening gloves and had a bit of soil smeared on her cheek. She looked utterly adorable, and Lucien had to be careful that he didn't grin at her too much or stare too long.
Jean gave him instructions on how to grip the Devil's Snare, waiting until she lit her wand to keep it docile. After he put it in the new pot, she'd take over.
The whole procedure went exactly planned. In no time at all, they were finished. She thanked him profusely, knowing she would have ended up injured in some way if she'd tried to do it herself.
Lucien frowned. "Jean, I would have helped you even without the bet."
A small smile played on her lips. She took her gloves off and stepped over a sack of potting soil to stand close to him. "You're a very good friend, Lucien. Thank you."
He just nodded. There was a look in her eyes making him weak in the knees. He needed to leave before he did something foolish. "You're welcome." Lucien turned to leave quickly.
But Jean grabbed his arm. "Wait!"
"Yes?"
She closed her eyes and leaned in and pressed her lips to his. After a moment, she pulled back, seeing the stunned look on his face. "I would have kissed you even without the bet."
Lucien took his wand out of his robes and whirled it around, cleaning up all of the dirt littering the area.
Jean was confused. "What are you doing?"
"I don't want you to use the excuse of needing to clean up to make me stop."
"Make you stop what?"
He smirked before placing his hands on her waist and pulling her back into another kiss.
Jean didn't feel the need to tell him that she'd never want to make him stop this.