Chapter Five: Progress

A.K.A. Finally!

"No! Marcus, are you stupid? This is first year stuff! How did you pass?" Alison yells in exasperation, staring at Marcus as though he's grown another head. "Ok, look, it's simple. Wingardium Leviosa! Swish and flick! Now, have a go at it."

Marcus cleared his throat and held up his wand. "Wiingardrioom Leevioosaaah!"

"No! Look, you hold your hand out like this! And you say 'Wingardium Leviosa' not 'Wiingardrioom Leevioosaaah'! Ok? Try it again."

"Wingardriom Leviiosah!"

"Ok, let's forget that. Potions! You're not failing Potions are you?" Marcus shakes his head. "Ok, so, Transfiguration, then?" She looks down at a book in front of her. "Let's start with the basics. Prepare; one, two, three, Fera Verto!"

"One, two, three… Ferrah Vertoh!"

"Damn it, Marcus!"

"…one, two, three; Ferah Verto!"

"That's better; once more."

"One, two, three; Fera Verto!"

"Way to go, Marcus! We're making progress! Now try it on my owl, there. But don't fucking hurt 'im, you hear? And one, two, three…"

"Fera Verto!" Alison's owl suddenly became a golden goblet. "Hey! I did it!"

"Right. Now, turn 'im back… oh, for fuck's sake." Alison rolls her eyes, returning her owl to normal. "Please tell me the only classes you're failing are Transfiguration and Charms."

"That and History of Magic."

"That's understandable. All I can say about that is: try to stay awake and pay attention, you twat. Well, look at that, we're out of time. I guess we'll just have to work on some more tomorrow, then. Remember to practice or I'll take a swing at you, is that understood?" She walks off, leaving Marcus to sit there bewildered.

"No," he mumbles, "come back, damn it."

But she does not hear and continues out into the corridor. "Bloody hell," she mutters, "this is gonna be harder than I thought. He better improve or I'll go mad! I can't stand this for more than another week! Thank Merlin it's almost over!"

"Oi, Alison," calls Margaret coming up behind her, "how goes the tutoring?"

"I can't believe he's that stupid! He barely knows anything! I'm surprised he passed his first year. I'm surprised he made it into Hogwarts at all!"

"I think he's doing it on purpose."

"Why do you say that?"

"I think he's playing stupid because he wants to spend more time with you. You should go ahead and ask him out!"

"Fuck off!" shouts Alison. "How goes things with you and Ollie-boy, eh? You still going at 'is throat?"

"Nah. He's not being such a twat anymore. He's stopped calling you names."

"He's been calling me names? Like what?"

"Let's see now… he's called you: Anti-Christ, Spawn of Satan, Spawn of Voldemort, Evil Death Child, Satan Worshipper, Voldemort Worshipper, Demon Child… and he also referred to you as 'Snape's Precious Little Lover.'"

Alison laughs at the last one, choking out "Yeah right! He wishes!"

"Actually, I think Snape wants you and Flint to get together. Flint and I both heard him forcing you to say you'd tutor him. Snape's mental, he is."

"Oh, I suppose—"

"It's a scheme, I tell you! Flint must have asked Snape to ask you to tutor him! And he's faking it! He's not that stupid!"

"I guess…"

"I mean, he has to be somewhat intelligent to play Quidditch! Otherwise, he'd have been banned."

"Speaking of Quidditch," interrupts Alison, trying to distract her, "do you remember the first Slytherin Quidditch game we saw?"

"How could I forget that? Flint was beating the shit out of everybody on the field, even his own team!" Margaret shouts. "You were so excited you started running toward him and fell all over yourself trying to get there. It was so funny. I mean, you, this tiny little first year, ran up to this big, tall, mean, ugly—sorry—second year and started telling him that he was wicked and brilliant. That must have been so creepy."

"And he's not stupid, I tell you," she continues, going back to her previous point. "He's faking it! He and Snape came up with this scheme for you two to finally get together, I know it!"

"…hi, Marcus," Alison says looking behind Margaret, grinning widely. Margaret turns around slowly and looks up into the snarling face of Marcus Flint.

The tutoring passed quickly then she would have thought and Alison had become very anxious to find out how Marcus was doing in his classes. The day he would be taking a test to see about his improvement had come. She stands outside Professor Snape's office, waiting impatiently for someone to finally open the door. The door finally swings open and she rushes in, disregarding Professor Snape's glare.

"So…?" She stares at them both. "So? How did he do? Is he passing? Are his grades even worse? Tell me something!"

"…he's improved," replies the Professor. "Let's hope he keeps his grades up. If not, I'm afraid he'll need some more tutoring. But for now…"

Alison nods and begins to leave, hearing Marcus follow closely behind. He suddenly grabs her arm and spins her around. "What?" she asks, staring at him as though he were a chicken with three feet.

"I wanted to ask…" He stares down at his feet, avoiding her eyes. She prods him to continue, trying to catch his gaze. He sighs, dreading everything, but tries to continue, anyway. "…if you…" He stops, rethinking it, and says "Thanks for helping me." Then he just begins walking away, hurriedly and avoidant.

Alison stares at Marcus's retreating back, utterly confused. She shakes her head, trying to rid herself of the feeling that he is upset about something. Becoming herself again, she waves at his back, yelling, "Bye Marcus!" He turns around and gives a small smile, but continues on. He turns the corner and leaves her standing there, bewildered. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

That afternoon, Alison tells Margaret about Marcus's strange behavior. "He suddenly grabbed me arm and spun me around," she says, "and stuttered 'I wanted to ask… if you…' Then he just stands there and blurts out 'Thanks for helping me' and walks off leaving me there. And when I tried to say good-bye he just turned around and smiled, but he looked… ashamed. What the hell happened to him?"

"I think he's sad because he lied to you," Margaret replies. "You know, during the lessons and stuff."

"So you're still on about it all being crap, then?"

"…yeah. I really think he's just doing it so he can be with you more but he's too stubborn to tell you so. Just ask him out for fuck's sake."

"Fucking hell! Why? Why is it so fucking important that I ask him out?"

"I don't know…"

"So drop it!" she screams, turning everyone's attention toward her. She growls at them, killing them with her eyes. "Oh, fuck off will you?" With that, she stands and leaves the Great Hall.

Moments after Alison leaves, Margaret glances at Marcus and his 'friends' over at the Slytherin table. Adrian Pucey and Terrence Higgs seem to be urging Marcus to do something, but the other four were trying to convince him otherwise. After much consideration, Marcus jumps up and runs out of the Hall, presumably after Alison.

"Flint seems a little anxious to be with that girl, doesn't he?" says a voice from Margaret's side. "I've heard that he fancies her, you know."

Margaret is about to respond, when she realizes the kid wasn't talking to her. "Yeah, we know," replies one of his friends. "You tell us about it almost everyday. Are you obsessed with them, Roger?"

"Oh, fuck off, Cho. You know just as well as I do that Flint is gonna be real happy when he finds her in the corridor all alone…" Roger trails off, beginning to daydream. Cho backs away, disgusted.

"Don't be so upset." Oliver spoke lightly, approaching Alison cautiously. He was afraid she was crying. Of course, when she turned around, he knew he was wrong.

"Think I'd be crying, Ollie-boy?" she yells. "Come to cheer me up to win Margaret's affections, have you?"

He shakes his head slowly. "No, but I do hope to cheer you up." She glares at him, but he pays her no mind. "Flint is stubborn," he begins.

"So?" Alison retorts. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"…which means he won't admit when he fancies someone."

"What are you telling me this for?"

"Flint's in love with you, obviously!" he shouts. "Everyone has noticed it; everyone except you."

"Margaret already said that and I don't—"

"Listen! Marcus Flint is in love with you but he's too bloody stubborn to show it and you're too thick to realize it. Margaret has been trying to tell you and now, so am I!"

"So what do you think I should do about Marcus, then, Ollie-boy?"

"Ask him out," he states plainly.

"Margaret already said to do that, but I can't!"

"Well, I don't know what to tell you then. I mean, you've already showed him you like him…" He paused. "Maybe you ought to kiss him or something." Alison stares at him as though he's gone insane. "Well, it's like Quidditch, you know? If you have the right strategy, everything goes right and you win. But if you don't, you lose."

"Meaning…?"

"Be forward. Come out and say 'Marcus, I love you' and kiss him. He'll respond, trust me."

"How do you know?"

"He's a guy," Oliver says simply. "Now, if you don't do anything… well, that won't get you anywhere, will it? So, you have to do something. That way you can get Margaret—and me—off your back. And then we'll all be happy!"

"Yeah, I guess…" Alison isn't so sure about Oliver's idea. "So, just… as soon as I see him, run up and kiss him?" Oliver nods and Alison glares at him, suddenly running to the end of the hall.

Oliver turns around just in time to see Alison kissing a very dazed and confused Flint, who doesn't seem to mind all that much. Oliver makes a disgusted face and walks past them. "Told you so," he says casually.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and I am just borrowing it for a bit. I am in no way profiting from the creation of this story.

A/N: Again, no one was pushing me to write this. And, uh, as for the end there… It's Oliver's fault! You can't blame me, Green Kitty! (In case some of you don't know who Green Kitty is, she's my, uh, partner in FICC. She writes the other two stories we have, I write this one.)