Chapter Six

The Art of Being Smooth

"So everything's okay between you and Sirius?"

I nodded as a swarm of students rushed past us in the hallway. "Yeah, I wrote him a letter and made him read it out loud."

Lily laughed. "Your fights are always so ridiculous."

"Yeah. One of these days, we really are going to end up mad at each other, and it will be horrible. I won't know what to do. I've never really been mad at him."

"No, I'm sure we'll all be friends until we're eighty." She smiled, and then stopped at the sight of something behind me. She nudged my shoulder. "I think Howell's headed this way. Should I leave you two alone?"

My stomach did a flip and I grabbed her wrist. "Wait, wait, don't leave me here standing alone. It's all about being smooth, Lily."

"And how is that not smooth?"

"Well, he can't think I'm expecting he'll talk to me."

"Why not?"

"Because, that is vain." I ran my fingers through my hair quickly. "Do I look okay? Is he almost here?"

"Vain..." She shook her head, and I sensed a certain kind of mocking to her tone, but I was too busy with the thought of Kenneth walking over to pay any kind of attention to it. "Almost here," she said under her breath, and looked away quickly as if she had never been watching for him in the first place.

We talked for a moment in order to distract ourselves and then there was a figure beside me. Lily looked up, and smiled politely.

"Oh, hello, Kenneth." She was really a great actor, I had to admit.

I turned and smiled too, as if I was surprised he was there. "Hey!" My smile was much less fake, because even if I'd been trying to hide it, I wouldn't have been able to.

"Hello Lily, Grace," he said, nodding subtly to both of us.

Lily gripped her books and pulled on her sleeve as if she was checking the time. There wasn't a watch there, but it was the gesture that mattered, not the details. "Well, I probably should get going... James wanted me to explain Transfiguration to him this free period, and it's a long walk back to the common room. I'll see you later, Gracie." She gave a little wave and was off, walking with a skip.

I turned to Kenneth, and watched his face turn into a sweet, small smile. My mind was all crazy with the sight of his eyes, with the deep brown irises and long eyelashes, and his lips, and his hair, and Merlin's sake, even his forehead was attractive.

"Oh, this is just unhealthy," I blurted. Out loud, in a perfectly audible, comprehensible tone. Like a complete blubbering idiot.

He raised his eyebrows, visibly caught by surprise. He must have been expecting some lovely, sweet greeting, but instead was clearly trying to decide if that comment was aimed as an insult. "What is?"

I shook my head quickly, feeling heat rise rapidly to my face. "Oh, no, no, I didn't mean that! Sorry, sometimes I just speak without thinking, and I—" I stop and took a breath. "Um, what I meant was that, my back's been killing me all day, and I've been ignoring it. And it's probably, um, really bad for my back."

"Oh," he said, tilting his head only slightly. It felt as if he was seeing right into my soul, the way he was so intently looking at me. I was almost scared that I would make myself look even more incredibly ridiculous. "Well, you have a free period now, yeah?"

I clasped my hands in front of me and bounced on my toes. "Mmhm."

"Let's go find somewhere to sit, then," he offered, "if you wouldn't mind me stealing you away for a little bit?" He leaned in towards me, taking the tips of my fingers and squeezing them gently.

Oh for the love of Merlin and all that is right and magical in this universe.

"I wouldn't mind at all," I said, trying to compose my voice. This boy had some crazy kind of magic that made me get all melty and silly and lose grip of whatever I had a grip on. Not that I was sure I really had too much of a grip on anything, but if I did, I didn't now. Definitely unhealthy.

Kenneth took my hand and pulled me down the hallway, and then let go when we were outside. I held my books at my side and took a deep breath of the fresh air, letting the wind blow freely through my hair.

He glanced at me and laughed. "Don't get outside much?"

"No, I do," I said, smiling. "I just like it."

"Well, glad this was a good choice," he said, and we walked to a spot in the grass and sat down. "What are you studying there?" he asked, pointing out my books.

I set the books down beside me. "History of Magic. I just had it right before this."

"Oh, not too tired, are you? Wouldn't want to put you to sleep." He leaned back on the palms of his hands and winked.

"I've been enduring that class for seven years now," I said, laughing, "I think I'll be all right."

"Okay then," he said, "but, you know, there's been something I was wondering. Lily told me you'd gotten in trouble the other day. What could an angel like you have done?"

"Ha..." I shook my head. "I just, got in a little fight, that involved... food." I shrugged. "The professors have a very low tolerance level for me over the years. Don't get me wrong, I am an angel, of course." I smiled. "But I tend to, ah, bend the rules sometimes, maybe."

"Hmm." He traced his thumb across his lips briefly with an amused look on his face. "And a Ravenclaw isn't too tame for you, is it?"

I patted his hand in a kind of mocking comfort. "You caught me. I've only been trying to be nice and let you down easy."

"Oh, that's not good."

I nudged him in the shoulder. "Just kidding. Tame is good. I like tame."

"Well, it could always be an act," he said, stroking his chin as if we were in a muggle detective movie.

I laughed loudly. "No, you, crazy? I don't believe it."

"Ha, honestly, me either." He nudged my shoulder back. "But, hey, you never know."

I nodded. "True for most things, actually. You never know! Like, what am I going to say in a minute? You don't know. You'll never know, until it's over."

"No, actually, I'm pretty sure you'll be confessing your love for me in a minute. How right am I?"

I pressed my lips together tightly, suppressing a smile. It was a bit of an aggressive approach, I had to notice, but I knew he was joking. Still, what kind of confidence did you have to have to say something like that? Maybe I was just bad at playing hard to get. I decided a full over analysis wouldn't be worth it, and decided to let it slide. "See. No idea what I'm going to say."

He shrugged. "All right, well, I'll just have to accept defeat then." His eyes were lit blazing, a combination of laughter and contentment. "But, only because it's you."

A/N: This has been a short chapter because I'm really evil and I enjoy making all of you squirm...
Hehe, just kidding. Actually, it's short because Kenneth is really boring, lololol
Hopefully I'll find a way to make him more interesting. I like his character, sure, but writing scenes with Sirius and Grace is so effortless. Him, it's like, aaaghhhh y u so slow bro?
Anyway, anyway, next chapter will be longer, promise! Thanks for all the reviews and... I really write too much on these things. OKAY BYE NOW LOVES