This was going to be more complicated than Caroline had originally thought. She'd asked around about the boy who'd caught her eye at Slughorn's party, and heard about how he was the model student, how he spent most of his time in the library and rarely tore himself away from his studies to attend parties. He was, by all accounts, as boring as he was attractive. Caroline wasn't certain that she could bring herself to commit to playing the game as long as this would take. Even she knew that he wasn't going to break overnight, after all, and so she'd have to think long and hard about just how much she wanted to make this happen.
In the end, though, she knew it would be worth it. She hadn't singled him out for no reason, after all. She could only imagine that, if he looked so good with his clothes on, he'd looked even better with them off. She'd been daydreaming about that for the past twenty-four hours, after all. The party hadn't ended up exactly the way she'd expected – Walden had gone off with the Hufflepuff girl and Carrie had been left to her own devices, but that had been just fine. She'd found Tessy Adler and they'd made their own fun.
In the end, Carrie honestly wasn't sure how the relationship between she and Tessy even worked at all. It shouldn't have worked. They were similar – both fond of their alcohol, and both fond of boys. Tessy didn't have the same drive that Carrie did to be the best, however, and perhaps that was what made it possible for them to be friends. Tessy was willing to step aside when Caroline felt the need to throw her weight around. That was the biggest reason that they worked.
After all, Carrie had known girls like Tessy before, and she'd generally hated most of them because they thought they could encroach on her territory. Tessy was bright enough to know better – or perhaps not ambitious enough to try. She couldn't be sure which was true, but either way she was grateful to have somebody she could trust within the school walls.
Right now, that was the only thing keeping her on track. If she hadn't had the other girl to spill her thoughts to, she'd have just given up on the idea of winning Grey over. Tessy, however, was one of the only people Carrie knew who could provide decent advice to others while making a complete mess of her own life. She perched on the edge of a desk in the empty classroom, waiting while the other girl situated herself so they could talk. As soon as Tessy settled in she pulled the customary flask out of a pocket of her jacket, holding it up.
"I'll let you finish this off if you tell me what's on your mind."
In the end, Tessy knew Carrie far too well. She'd had had nothing but one thing on her mind since seeing the boy at Slughorn's party, and she wasn't about to deny it. Why should she? He was attractive, she was attractive – there was no reason not to admit it. The only wrinkle in the whole thing was the fact that he seemed stubbornly opposed to that sort of thing.
She could change his mind, though, she knew it.
"Fine. I'll take you up on that. It's more a who than a what," Carrie corrected her, brushing blonde hair back out of her face as she shifted her position on the desk slightly. "Someone who's practically a monk, apparently."
Tessy just handed over the flask, giggling as she did. "So you've met Grey Abbott. Trust me, Carrie – girls have been trying for years. You'd have to pull out all the stops to land him."
In the end, she wasn't providing any information that Caroline hadn't already come to a conclusion about herself. "I know. But ... something just tells me he'd be worth it, you know?" She unstoppered the flask and took a long swig of amber liquid, frowning as she pondered the situation. "I have to try." She had no idea why she felt compelled to dig in her heels and fight an uphill battle to have this boy, but she did. The electric intensity she'd felt in that brief moment their eyes had met had convinced her of that. Tessy, on the other hand, didn't seem to be buying it for a second.
"He's totally inexperienced. Why would he be worth it?"
"You've seen him, Tessy. You've got eyes."
"Yeah, but plenty of attractive guys are disappointing in bed."
"It's just a feeling I have, Tessy. You weren't there. He looked me in the eyes, and it was just ... intense."
That seemed to give Tessy a moment's pause, before she spoke again. "He looked you in the eyes ... Carrie, you aren't going soft on me, are you?"
It was an accusation that horrified Caroline, to be quite honest. She'd been one of those girls, once upon a time - trusting, naive, willing to fall in love. It had led to nothing but heartbreak in the end, and she wouldn't go down that road again. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course not."
"Your wasting your time, mooning over Grey Abbott."
"I'm not mooning. I'm not even pining. He's pretty and I want him, that's not such a bad thing."
"It is when it's him."
Caroline honestly couldn't understand why it was that Tessy would be so opposed to her pursuit of the boy, unless it so happened that Tessy wanted Grey for herself. "Why do you hate this idea so much?"
"Because. You'll have to take a lot of time to win him over, and you'll end up mooning over him."
"I will not. That's completely ridiculous."
"Just give up on him, Carrie. Pick somebody else. Anybody else would be easier."
The wheels started to turn in Caroline's brain at this, wondering just why it was that Tessy was so adamant that she choose some other boy. "You want him for yourself, don't you?"
Tessy just looked amused. "I gave up on him when we were fifteen. I tried to kiss him, and he didn't even react. I called him some ... choice names, but he still held my hair back when I got sick."
"People keep telling me these stories about him, but that doesn't make me less interested."
"I'm just making sure you know what you're getting yourself into. He'll take all your time and effort just to consider it."
"He'll be worth it, Tessy. I know he will." With that, Carrie downed the last of the flask and handed it back to Tessy. "Thanks for the drink. Sorry to drink and ditch, but I've got a Ravenclaw monk to corrupt."
"Whatever you say, Carrie." Tessy just shook her head and pocketed the flask as the other girl left the room. In the end, there was never any reasoning with Carrie.
