The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter eight.
"Eliza!"
As she chose a table to set up with a stack of books in the library she looked around at her name. She smiled and waved at Tasha and Cas who were sitting a short distance away. She was a wee bit ashamed that she hadn't noticed them before but her mind had been elsewhere. During breakfast, she'd been certain that she could feel someone staring at her and when she glanced around she'd noticed Victor catch her gaze and hold it for a few moments. Next to her Hannah followed her line of sight and started whispering to her telling her who Victor was.
He was in his sixth year and had some of the best grades in their house. He'd been offered the position of prefect but declined it so he could focus on classes. Hannah told her he'd come from a long line of talented witches and wizards but was 'so humble about it' as Hannah gushed. She proceeded on to inform her that he was one of the most popular boys in their house. Some of the girls had even started a fan club the year prior. Rumor had it that the club disbanded after one of the girls took it too far and begged him for a lock of hair to keep. However, Hannah told her she had a feeling they just went quiet after the incident. Kelly had it on good authority that the club was still active. They were just more secretive about it.
That made Eliza feel sorry for the guy. She couldn't imagine how creepy it must be to have girls basically stalking him all the time. She imagined cloaked figures in the night having a secret meeting just to talk about him and tell stories of their encounters. Teenage girls could be terrifying.
"Hey, Tasha. Cass." She greeted as the two joined her at the table. "You are just the person I wanted to see." Tasha said as she sat down a small stack of parchment. "I've got this assignment for Defense Against The Dark Arts class and I was hoping you could look it over for me." She slid the assignment towards Eliza while Cass chimed in. "Mine too?"
Eliza took the first stack and looked it over. "One at a time." She said. She began pointing out mistakes here and there. "You're doing fine. Really." She reassured Tasha as she pointed out a short paragraph. "But this needs to be fleshed out a bit." She said and slid the papers back towards Tasha before taking the ones being handed to her by Cas. Hers was actually really well done. Only one or two mistakes. "This should do just fine. You guys are learning about imps. Nothing to freak out over." She said.
Tasha nodded. "I know. I just want to do well. Having someone who has already done it look over my work before I hand it in just makes me feel better." She admitted. Cas took her assignment back and Eliza nodded. "I get it. I was a nervous wreck my first year. I don't mind checking over your work when I can." She patted Tasha on the arm as a young man quickly approached the table nearly tripping over his own feet. "Sorry I'm late!" He said to Cas who moved her stuff over to give him space.
Eliza tilted her head at Tasha. "Friend of yours?" She asked. Tasha nodded as the boy thrust his hand across the table at her. "Thomas Llloyd." He said. "Nice to meet you, Thomas. Eliza." He was a short chubby boy with blonde hair and dimples. "Oh. I've heard all about you from Tasha." He smiled brightly and she felt flattered that the underclassmen thought her significant enough to talk about. It was nice.
They spent time with her helping them on the next assignment but she was adamant about not giving them all the answers. While she was willing to assist she wasn't intending to be doing anyone's homework for them. Kelly had been the one exception and she wasn't going to be doing it again due to a near miss when Professor Sprout pointed out she'd seen Eliza taking notes on Bubotubers the day before.
While Tasha and Thomas compared notes Eliza and Cass got onto the topic of the many types of ghosts. Cass was a really bright girl though she came off as shy. But to see her open up when talking about something she found interesting was amazing. Eliza had no doubt she was going to blossom into a very gifted witch. She hoped the girl would come out of her shell more often as she got more comfortable at school.
When the younger students left her to head to lunch Eliza took the time alone to finally get to what she'd come for in the first place. There were tons of potions that could cause a distressed stomach or cure one and each book referenced a different one. Within an hour, she had four books open on the table comparing ingredients that could be useful and jotting them down. It was going to be trial and error for a while but once she set her mind to something, she wasn't about to give up.
She would take short breaks to entertain Rikki who was more than happy to break her concentration by sliding his body over the books and turning pages. She had to stop him a few times from digging at them and distract him with a treat. Though it was a tad frustrating he was a welcome diversion with his antics.
She was notating next to one of the ingredients when someone said, "You missed lunch." An apple was placed on the table and she slid her notes under the cover of a book. Victor took a seat next to her and leaned over to read one of the pages. "What are you working on?" He asked. Eliza was too busy staring at him to answer at first. Finally she snapped to attention and cleared her throat. "Oh, um..Just a project." She said as he moved one of the books closer to him.
"Good luck trying to get any extra credit out of Snape." Victor said with a lopsided smile. "Wouldn't dream of it." She replied knowing full well Snape had issues giving people credit in general. Extra was out of the question.
Eliza picked up the apple and took a bite. As she chewed she watched him flip through the pages. With his head tilted down his bangs fell into his face a bit and she wondered what kind of genetics could give someone such flawless hair. "What kind of project is it?" Victor asked breaking the moment of awkward silence filled with her chewing. "Just something I wanted to try out." She left the answer as vague as possible and he turned his gaze to her with an expression that said he wasn't fooled. "Anything I could help with?" He asked.
She quickly shook her head. "No. No. It's something I want to do on my own. Prove to myself I can try something new without always needing a recipe to follow." She lied through her teeth. It was nice that he was being so friendly but she wasn't willing to risk him finding out what she was really doing.
"Ambitious girl." He smiled. "Must be important to you if you're willing to miss a meal." He motioned to the apple and she stuttered. "R-right. Thanks for this." She took another bite trying to keep her mouth busy with something other than talking. "No problem." He chuckled watching her take the enormous bite. Eliza could feel her cheeks bulging as she moved the fruit around in her mouth trying to chew it. "Don't choke." Victor laughed as she coughed when a portion of the apple slipped down her throat. He patted her on the back and the coughs turned to laughs as she realized how stupid she must look.
Once she got it down she could feel her ears burning with embarrassment. "Didn't realize how hungry I was." Another lie. She noticed Victor's eyes catching on the corner of the parchment she'd tucked away and he reached for it but she grabbed his hand. "No!" His eyebrows rose and she panicked. "Private letter I was working on." She quickly made up an excuse and let him go.
For a moment he looked like he wasn't buying it but his face eased back into a smile. "Ambitious and mysterious." He said. Out of the corner of her eye she swore she could see a flash of ginger. She shot a glance over to the bookshelves where one of the twins was shoving his brother out of the way. No doubt they'd come to check on her progress. When Victor turned to see what Eliza was looking at, the twins ducked out of sight and Eliza cleared her throat. "Thanks for stopping by, but I have to get back to work."
Victor nodded. "Right. Sorry. Didn't mean to distract you." His eyes returned to hers and he held contact for a few beats before getting up. "Don't work too hard." He offered a smile but she was already pulling the book he'd been perusing back towards her. "I'll try."
Eliza watched him leave before letting the tension ease out of her shoulders. Once he was gone the twins came out of hiding and sat at the table. Fred was quick to pluck up her notes while George read over his shoulder. "Someone planning on joining the Victor Duponte fan club?" he asked with a smirk. Eliza gave him a flat look. "Not in this lifetime." She couldn't imagine being obsessed with someone or putting them on a pedestal. The closest thing she had to an idol was her old potions master though Professor Sprout was quickly becoming her favorite teacher.
"Good. Can't have you distracted by a pretty face." Fred said as he set her notes back down.
She changed the topic to her task. "I've been looking over a few different types of potions and I think I can come up with a way to combine some of them together for the desired effect." She said and pointed to one of the open pages. "This one here and.." She lifted another book to hand it to George. "That one have similar ingredients but if I take some from this one over here." She tapped on yet another book. "It should bring me close. I just need to test it out."
Fred looked impressed. "And you figured this out in half a day?"
Eliza shrugged. "This is the easy part. It will be actually making it that's going to take time."
"We can get this stuff no problem." George smirked and Fred nodded. "Where are you intending to set up shop? Can't have you doing this out in the open."
She admitted he had a point. "Not sure. You guys know the ins and outs of this place better than I do. Any suggestions?"
The two shared a look and seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time. "There's an empty classroom on the first floor. Hasn't been used for years." Fred said. George nodded. "We can show you where it is after we make sure it's all clear. Don't wanna set you up there to find out it's a secret meeting spot for couples."
They left her to her work after that and she spent a few more hours making backup recipes. If she could make a few different brews to compare, she felt she'd be more successful in the long run. Eliza wasn't the type to put all of her eggs in one basket if she could help it.
By the time dinner rolled around she was starving and Rikki beat her to the grand hall. She sat with Kelly and Tasha joined them saying she wanted to give Cas and Thomas some alone time. She insisted Thomas had a crush on Cas which was adorable. Eliza had glanced over to the two sitting awkwardly together. They were cute together.
Tasha and Kelly got along very well as they talked about what they liked to do outside of class and over breaks. Kelly swore she would get Hannah's hair care routine for Tasha who kept her hair in braids to keep it maintained. By the time dinner was over they were like sisters bonding over their favorite products and brands. Kelly had expensive tastes that Tasha said she wished she could afford. Kelly was more than happy to agree to let her have some of her perfume and body lotion collection as her mother worked for one of the companies.
While the two talked Eliza focused on feeding Rikki and loading up on food herself. She wasn't looking forward to the marathon that was her Monday classes but she wanted to make sure she had plenty of carbs. She did catch Victor looking her way a few times but dismissed it as him just being friendly. In bed that night she turned her thoughts to her letters to her friends. She was excited to send them off and the sooner she heard from them the better.
