a/n: so I decided to bump Louis up two years for this one. I know I said I was originally writing him in the same year as Lucy and Molly, but I've changed my mind (because I can). So now he's in the same year as James and Jenny.

For Amy is rockin, because she loves Louis and because she needs some stories to fill up "the truth i".

pairing: LouisJenny
words: 820

the trouble with men
so revealing that i cannot hide
when you settle up the score.
- Through the Fire, Larry Greene

He slides onto the Gryffindor bench between her and James, and he pretends to need very urgently to talk to his cousin, but all the while the only thing he's really focused on is the feel of her thigh against his and the gentle warmth of her presence.

"Hey, Weasley," she calls, and he spins instantly, tie loosened a perfectly nonchalant amount and his books held under one arm.

"What's eating you, Rogers?" he inquires when she finally catches up with him, and she rolls her eyes and pushes her longlong hair irritably behind her ear and falls into step beside him.

"I would really like to know why Rachel is up in our dorm crying her eyes out."

Louis pauses to mentally scroll through a list of girls that she might be talking about, and then his expression brightens as the metaphorical lightbulb flashes in his head, "Rachel Jones?"

"No, fuckwit," Jenny replies, giving him a punch in the upper arm for emphasis, "Rachel Beckwith – your girlfriend, remember?"

Louis raises his eyebrows at her, and she meets him with a glare, arms folded and brow creased.

"My ex-girlfriend," he stresses politely, and she gives a huge sigh and an exasperated roll of the eyes and punches him again, oblivious to his overdramatic wince of pain.

"That explains the crying," she informs him wearily, dropping into deep thought. "So when did you break up with her?"

"In Charms," Louis replies, shrugging and very obviously checking out a sixth-year Hufflepuff with a terribly short skirt. Jenny doesn't even bother punching him this time, just gives one of the 'tut's that James swears terrify him more than the idea of his parents finding out about his T in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Bearing this in mind, Louis wisely keeps quiet for a few minutes and they walk in silence, turning two corners and passing multiple doors. Louis keeps stealing glances at her, quite unintentionally, and she's walking with her brow slightly furrowed and her brown eyes focused, looking like she's thinking very hard.

"She was really clingy," Louis ventures finally, unable to keep quiet a moment longer, "Always wanting to know what I'd been doing and everything. And I can't be held down, you know?"

She raises her eyes heavenward and mutters "Men" in an incredibly weary tone, and Louis smirks slightly and nudges her playfully in the side.

"C'mon, Rogers, don't tell me you wouldn't get annoyed by it too."

"Not enough to dump someone in the middle of a Charms class!" she retorts in a hiss, whirling on him suddenly, brown hair flying. "You really are something else, you know."

"Thank you," he replies with a wink and a cocky grin, and suddenly she's flying at him and pummelling every inch of him she can reach, her hair a messy cloud around her face and her fists flying.

"Fucking hell, Jennifer!" he exclaims when he's got her wrists captured in his, his books scattered in a messy arc behind him, both of their breathing wild, "Are you actually insane?"

"You just – urgh – boys," she hisses, struggling half-heartedly to free her hands, blowing hair out of her mouth, "You're all so – so bloody heartless and you just have no respect and you think it's okay to just be dicks and actually –"

"I'm appreciating the feminism lecture," Louis cuts across her smoothly, grin back in place, "But I do actually have other things to do, so if you wouldn't mind…"

He trails off, and suddenly she's meeting his eyes and her face is furious and Louis realises that he may have just made a big mistake. Because, the thing is, he can get any girl he wants, but she's always been the one that belonged irrevocably to James, and also for some reason the only girl that Louis has ever wanted to genuinely impress.

"How about I make it up to you?" he presses suddenly, rightly cautious, and is pleased to see her looking slightly taken aback. "Dinner, Hogsmeade, next weekend?"

"Are you asking me out, Weasley?" she inquires in total shock, and Louis senses that now might be a good time to release her wrists, so he does and she reclaims them, looking too shell-shocked to continue her assault.

"Yes, Rogers, I do believe I am," he replies calmly, meeting her eyes squarely and (almost) fearlessly, blue into brown. She stays very quiet for a few moments, and then suddenly she's folding her arms.

"No way in hell, Weasley," she says firmly, her whole expression daring him to push it, "Me plus you plus date equals no-go area. I'm James' best friend, remember? He'd kill me if I went out with one of his family. Especially you."

And with that she turns and walks away – but she's smiling and blushing slightly, and when Louis gathers his scattered books up and sets off in the opposite direction, he's smiling too.

a/n: I'm still begging you not to favourite without leaving a review!