"Wait!"
"I don't have to."
"Just listen, for once, please!"
"And why should I?"
"There's a first time for everything, isn't there?"
Lily Potter turned around slowly. There was Asher, standing in the snow, his cheeks red from the cold. A light dusting of snow was dispersed over his chestnut hair. His hands were in the pockets of his Puddlemere United sweatshirt.
"Well? Are you going to say something, or what?" Lily said, crossing her arms. Asher grinned, his bright blue eyes sparkling.
"Convinced you to listen?" Asher smirked. When he saw the look on Lily's face, he carried on. "Alright, sorry. But Lily, you have to understand! I didn't mean for Hugo to get all upset about it! I didn't do anything wrong!" Lily huffed, blowing a piece of dark red hair out of her face.
"Of course you didn't try to, Asher, you never try to. But it always ends up happening that way, doesn't it?" She said rigidly.
"What do you mean, Lily? It was just a harmless prank!" The light behind Asher's eyes dimmed.
"A harmless prank? A harmless prank! About as harmless as You-Know-Who was, definitely." Lily said incredulously.
"Lil," he began.
"Asher, drop it. You know Hugo's been my friend since forever. I can't just throw that away because you're an idiot." Lily said bitterly and trudged back to the castle. She could hear Asher following her. "Go away, Asher." She said, without turning around.
"No. Not until you explain what's really bothering you." He said firmly.
"Isn't that what I just did?" Lily plowed through the deep, thick snow faster. Asher grabbed her arm. Lily stopped, breathing in and out deeply. She turned around and realized that her hazel eyes were staring straight into Asher's blue ones. They stayed like this until a group of giggling third-years ran past them.
"Lily. You're my best friend. I know when something's up. Spill." Asher said, his hands on my shoulders. Lily looked to the side.
"To tell the truth, Asher, I'm fed up with your silly little pranks. You think it's all so hilarious, but it's not. It's annoying. What makes you think that you can go around hexing people for fun? You're just a regular person like the rest of us, no matter what you think. Sure, you play Quidditch, and sure, you may be funny when you're not hexing people, but that doesn't make you miraculous. And ever since you've been made Quidditch Captain and Head Boy, you've been even worse! Remember the first time we met, on the Hogwarts Express? Where you were actually human and nice? Well I wish that boy would turn up because he's been missing for seven years!" Lily said furiously. With that, she whipped around and stomped back to the castle. Asher continued to stare up at her in shock, his face grim and hands dangling loosely at his sides.