Chapter Five: Gemma and Louis

The following Monday night was the next time I had to work with Potter after he had snapped my head off. No, I don't mean it literally. If I did, then I wouldn't have been around for him to annoy that night. Anyway, I had had some time to mull over his words, to think about self-fulfilling prophecies, and to research the Polyjuice potion more thoroughly.

I didn't want to be friends with him; I still didn't like his presence even as I sat beside him on the Potion's bench; but I didn't want to screw up our potion, either. So, I had memorized the directions to the best of my ability, and it was my turn to tell Potter what to add. This time, it was lacewing flies and two complete counter-clockwise turns.

For the most part, we didn't speak aside from me telling him what to do and him telling me to hold on as he re-read the directions before doing what I had just told him to do. At least, it went this way until…

"You seem to know what you're doing today," he said as he stirred the contents of the cauldron, which bubbled as he did.

I froze, in the middle of handing him the container of lacewing flies.

Was that a compliment? Or is he mocking me?

He looked away from what he was doing, glancing at my face momentarily before taking the container from me. After he had added the flies, and finished stirring, he set the stirring spoon down and turned his head to stare at me.

"What?" I asked, beginning to put everything we had used away again, cleaning up a bottle that James had accidentally smashed earlier – we couldn't leave the Polyjuice potion unattended at the time – with a wave of my wand.

He shrugged. "Was that a nonverbal spell?"

Nodding, I said, "Yeah," going to put the cauldron away again. James, however, stopped me by standing between me and the cauldron.

"You're good at those," he stated, staring at me so intensely I thought that maybe he was daring me to try to look away. He probably was. I had a feeling after the last few times we spoke that he didn't like to be ignored.

I pretended he had asked me a question, rather than granting me a second compliment, and answered, "I suppose so."

"No." James had to correct me, didn't he? "We've had Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts together, and I've seen you nonverbally give your cousin jelly-legs half a dozen times – I was saying that you are good at nonverbal spells. Seeing you perform one just now reminded me of that."

"My cousin?"

"Yeah, Malfoy… You do realize he's your cousin, right?"

I wasn't under the impression that many people realized Scorpius and I were cousins, but especially not Potter. Rolling my eyes, I said, "Obviously."

"Yes, well, I admire your ability to nonverbally give your cousin jelly-legs. You should give lessons to the less fortunate; he always hears me do it."

There he went again, complimenting me. Again, I did my best to ignore it as I said, "Sorry, Potter. I don't give free sessions to arseholes," as I turned on him and began to cross the classroom, heading toward the door.

I thought that maybe he would have said something else, but just as I was halfway across the room, the door I was aiming for opened. It was the redheaded Hufflepuff I had seen Potter entertaining the other day in the courtyard, and it was only then that I recognized her. Well, I didn't know her name, but I had known her sister when she was still in school – Liberty Whitby.

"Excuse me, Whitby," I said as politely as I could, "but I really should get away from pratty-Potter right about now."

"Understood," she said, sidestepping away from the door, leaving it open for me to pass through.

I couldn't help but smile… It was humorous that even the girl that liked him didn't seem to really like him on some level. I made a note to learn her name. Gemma probably knew; Emmy definitely knew – she was all about learning about the male Potter's lives. But I would try Gemma first, if possible.

Unfortunately, when I returned to the girl's dorms the only other person there was Abigail. She was busy curling her waist-length, auburn hair. It was almost funny how the length shortened by an entire six inches, but I did my best not to let my eyes linger on her back for too long. She kept hissing in pain when she accidentally burned her fingers, which was kind of hard to ignore.

I considered studying for a few minutes, even pulling out one of my texts as I sat down across the room from Abigail. But I couldn't focus. Eventually I got back on my feet and dropped the book, which landed with a thud on my four-poster. The sound made Abigail flinch somewhat and, annoyed, she snapped, "Merlin's beard, Montague! Don't do that!"

"Sorry," I muttered, not loud enough for her to hear. Then, louder, I asked, "Have you seen Gemma?"

"She was out with Louis Weasley last I saw her," she huffed. "But that was a while ago."

"And where was this?"

"I don't know – the entrance hall? They were walking outside."

"All right," I said, crossing the room to the door, "Thanks for the help."

She made a short, exasperated noise at me in acknowledgement as I left the room.

"Rainee," Scorpius drawled, grabbing onto my wrist as I tried to walk away, "Leave them alone!"

"But – it's – di-sgu-sting!" Each syllable was timed with a jerk of my arm as I tried to wrench it free from his grasp. It was lucky there weren't many people around to watch the spectacle of Scorpius trying to stop me from interrupting Gemma and Louis. It was especially lucky that they were out on the grounds (according to an anonymous friend of Fred Weasley), while we were merely walking across the bridge.

"Yes, well, interrupting the cousin of both James Potter and Fred Weasley mid-snog is not a good idea!" He argued sensibly, his grip growing painful as he crushed my wrist. Finally, I quit trying to fight him and stopped walking, letting my arm go slack. He kept hold of it, though, barely letting up his grip in case I was feigning surrender. I looked pointedly between his eyes and my wrist, my way of silently telling him to release me. Eventually, he did. "Not going to kill him, are you?"

"No," I huffed, crossing my arms and looking through one of the openings on the bridge, letting my line of sight settle on one of the snow-capped mountains in particular. "I don't intend on killing anyone, contrary to popular belief."

Scorpius snorted, "Trust me, Rainee, there aren't any popular beliefs about you."

I shot him a look over my shoulder for a moment before returning to my mountain.

"I just mean that people don't talk about you. Not like you think they do, anyway."

"What gives you the impression I think people talk about me?"

"Maybe the way you seem to think everything is all about you has something to do with it."

Ouch. That was a bit of a blow. My face flushed with warmth, and I whipped around to fix him with a glare. "I do not think that everything is all about me!" I seethed from between clenched teeth, my hand fisting around my wand. "I am not that self-absorbed!"

"Rainee," Scorpius attempted to say consolingly, though I could see he was fighting back a smile, biting down on the corner of his mouth, "That's not exactly what I meant…"

"Then what, exactly, DID you mean?"

"I'm not saying you're self-absorbed!" He said loudly, as a few people walked briskly past, "Just self-conscious! And not on a normal level, either!"

It was then that I stepped over to him, and he backed away until his back was pressed against the stone wall. There was a small trace of fear in his eyes for a moment, but only a moment, before he relaxed a little, his back still against stone. "Don't you ever say something like that out loud again!" I hissed, pulling my wand from my pocket and holding it mere inches from his chest. In reflex, his hands flew up protectively, his palms facing me.

"Okay, okay! I get it – sensitive area!" He said, pushing my wand tip away. A moment later and I pocketed it again. Without another word, I turned my back on him and continued on my path to the grounds. I hoped he wouldn't follow me, and when I didn't hear his footsteps behind me I guessed he didn't.

Maybe I shouldn't have threatened him, but then again I didn't appreciate him blurting out any one of my insecurities in front of the other students. I didn't care if we were arguing or not, it wasn't as if I would do that to him. Sure, he was a prat, but he was still my cousin. We were still family. Family isn't supposed to embarrass family.

Although, I admit that my parents think they are the exception to that rule, but I digress.

Family isn't supposed to embarrass family. And maybe the same goes for friends, I thought as I stopped at the top of the hill, overlooking a small portion of the grounds. Spotting a couple of blondes – a boy and a girl – I guessed that I had finally found Gemma and Louis.

Oh gross – Gemma AND Louis. I had to refrain from shivering in grotesque as the idea of forever saying their names like that crossed my mind. Don't get me wrong here, though. If Gemma liked Louis I would deal with it, perhaps with more respect and grace than I use when dealing with Potter. But that doesn't mean learning to like him wouldn't be without its difficulties.

"RAINEE!" I jumped as Gemma shouted at me from where she was sitting, waving a long arm at me, "RAINEE COME HERE!"

I groaned. Then shouted back, "COMING!" and went down to meet them. Surprisingly, Gemma was simply beaming at me, and Louis even had a smile to offer me.

"So, done with your Potter potions party for the day?" she laughed.

"Gemma," I started, "please. don't. do. that."

"It's called alliteration, Rainee!"

"Did Louis teach you that?" I smirked, actually looking to him as I asked. "Going through the dictionary, are we?"

"Uh," he laughed nervously, "No… And hi, Rainee."

I nodded at him once before Gemma said, "Seriously! How did your potions party with Potter go?"

"Erm, how do you think it went?" I asked through clenched teeth, tilting my head to the side slightly.

She deflated a little at that, "C'mon, sit down – tell us what happened."

Turning, I spotted a small boulder with a (mostly) smooth surface just behind me. With a silent sigh, I stepped over to it and sat down carefully. As quickly and maybe as kindly as possible, I explained what had happened during the 'Potter potions party' to them both. Surprisingly, neither of them scolded me, but Gemma just had to ask, "So he complimented you, then?"

When I shrugged, Louis laughed breathily, shaking his head. "He's trying too hard, isn't he?"

"Yes, I reckon he is," Gemma agreed.

"What are you talking about?"

Louis gave me a crooked smile, "He's trying too hard to be your friend, Rainee. Is it not obvious?"

I shook my head, "No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I mean no, it is not obvious he's trying to be my friend," I declared.

"Then what do you think he's doing?"

"I – I," I paused a moment, surprised by his question, "I don't know – I just assumed he was trying to mess with me like he always does."

Louis was grinning at me with the knowledge of knowing something I didn't, "Well, I hate to correct you, Rainee – I'm not under the impression that you appreciate it much – but he is trying to befriend you in the hopes that it will make things a bit easier."

I crossed my arms, rolling my eyes in a large circle, "In the hopes that it will make things a bit easier," I repeated. "Of course, he wants to befriend me for his benefit, and nothing else."

"Well, that's not exactly what I –"

"– Rainee," Gemma scolded, "must you always do this?"

"Do what?" I asked as I got to my feet.

"Must you always find an excuse to hate him?" Gemma shouted over me, probably upset that I had interrupted her before she could explain. "I mean, Merlin's bloody beard, 'Nee – what did he do to deserve this? Because I'm beginning to wonder if there's something you're not telling me."

I don't remember if I said anything; or if my mouth dropped open or not. All I know is that, at that moment, I turned my back on the both of them and started walking back up to the castle. I was furious. But maybe Gemma had a point – what had he done to deserve this?

A/N: Oh my GOD I last updated in JULY! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I had no idea where I was going with this chapter to be honest and then I just kept putting it off… and oh my merlin, I can't believe I let this go un-updated for so so so so so so so long!

I will try to be a more decent human being with updates from now on… I am so so sorry.

Anyway… reviews are requested at this time ;) Give 'em to me!

And just another THANK YOU for those of you who have already left reviews!

See you next time,
Caitlin