sorry, i meant to upload this last night but totally fell asleep... my life. enjoy!

also, to address a question: toby is in gryffindor :) as i introduce more of the characters, i'll make like a list to chart which people are in which house so that it's easier for you guys

Ch 5

"Morning, Em," Hanna looks up from the magazine she's engrossed in. Spencer puts down the newspaper she's reading and smiles at me, and Aria raises her hand in recognition but doesn't take her nose out of the book she's reading.

"Hey guys," I take a seat next to her. From the other side of Hanna, I see some random kid with curly dark brown hair staring at me. I narrow my eyes a little, kind of perplexed. He makes eye contact with me and gives me a small wave.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Em," Hanna laughs and gestures towards the boy. "This is Lucas. I met him in the library a few days ago."

"Oh, please," Spencer scoffs. "You ran into him outside of the library, trying to find the bathroom."

"Yes, but the library makes me sound more studentious," Hanna smiles, looking super proud of herself.

"Studious, Han. Studious," Spencer corrects her friend and rolls her eyes.

"Hey, Lucas," I cut their bickering off. "I'm Emily."

He gives me a small smile that reaches his eyes, and I can see a slight blush creeping onto his face. I quickly glance down at his robes to see what house he's in: Hufflepuff.

"What's everyone got going on today?" Aria finally comes up for air from her book. She closes it and slides it into her leather bag.

"Ew, Emily and I have that two hour Potions class," Hanna whines. She grabs a donut from the middle of the table and takes a large bite. The sound of high heels on marble floor echoes throughout the hall and shatter any conversation we were having.

"Whoa, Han," Alison's snide voice is heard before she's seen, "save some for the rest of us."

"Back off, Alison," Lucas pipes up. His voice cracks when he says her name.

"Aw, Hermy!" Alison coos. "You finally grew your balls. I'm so proud of you."

Her sarcasm makes me nauseous. Apparently it does that to the others, too, because no one speaks up again, and Hanna puts down her donut.

Alison winks at him and continues to pass by us without saying anything else. She flips her hair behind her shoulder, her bag swinging with every step she takes.

"I hate her so much," Spencer fumes. She looks at Lucas and Hanna with empathy.

"At least you aren't lab partners with her," I mumble, trying to sound disappointed.

I'm honestly not, though. I like the fact that I'm partnered up with her. I know that I should hate her for being so mean to my friends, but I just can't stop this attraction that I have to her. There's something about her femme fatale attitude that just draws me to her. I don't even think she knows she does it.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Aria touches my shoulder. She looks at me, eyes wide, with a horrified expression and shakes her head slowly.

"So," Spencer says, clearly trying to get the subject off of Alison. "Are any of you guys trying out for the house Quidditch teams?"

Hanna laughs and shakes her head, saying something about being about as athletic as a snail. Aria shrugs, and I don't blame her for not being sure. She's pretty petite, so she'd make an excellent Chaser, but Quidditch is an intense game. I've heard of people actually dying during games.

"I'm actually already on the team," Lucas says. He bites into his piece of buttered toast. Hanna slaps his back, almost causing him to choke.

"Holy crap, seriously? You didn't tell me that," she exclaims. She looks at us excitedly while Lucas tries to get the toast out of his throat.

"Yeah," he says hoarsely, still distraught over almost choking to death. "I'm a Beater. I know that Alison is a Chaser for Slytherin, and our first match is against them in a couple weeks. I can't wait to bludgeon her with the… bludgers."

His face turns bright red again when he hesitates, but I barely notice. My ears perk up when he says Alison's name.

"Okay, cool," Spencer grins. "Congrats."

"What about you?" Aria speaks up from beside me.

"Oh, god no," Spencer laughs and shakes her hands out in front of her. "I'll just stick to the sideline, thanks. I may have been one kickass field hockey player in elementary school, but that game gets way too intense for me."

She takes a sip of coffee and places her mug back on the table. "What about you, Emily?"

"Huh?" I ask, a little startled. I had been staring off in the direction that Alison had strutted off in. "Oh, nah, I don't know. I haven't decided yet."

"I think you'd be good," Hanna says, but I only vaguely hear her.

Something else has already taken my attention away as my vision settles on the golden hair at the table behind us, a little ways down. She's sitting with her typical clique, Cece and Mona, and some dark haired pretty-boy who I don't recognize. She smiles at something that Mona has just said, but it seems fake.

I can see her bite her lip, despite how far away we are from each other. She glances around the Great Hall, eventually making eye contact with me.

I try to look away, but it's too late. She's noticed me staring and she cocks her head to the side.

Alison doesn't do what I expect, though. I wait for her to nudge Cece and point out that I was staring again, but she doesn't. She gives me a small nod and then turns back to chat aimlessly with her friends.

I continue to stare in her direction. I don't know what it was, but something seemed completely off with her. In that moment, she didn't seem like the 'Queen Bee Bitch' that everyone considered her to be. Her look was raw, so natural.

I can't get over how depressed she looked. There was such an emptiness in her expression; it made me wonder if anyone has ever asked how she is.

Maybe I'd ask her today in Potions.

"Oh, good, you're here," Alison says as soon as I enter the classroom. She's sitting in the middle part of the lab table again. "And on time, too. Look at you go."

My eye twitches in annoyance. Her eyes don't give away anything, and all of the emptiness I thought I had seen in them a few hours ago has vanished without a trace.

I ignore her and take the seat that Toby had last week. Alison's stuff is sprawled all over where I sat last week, and I don't feel like knocking her stuff onto the ground and looking like a complete idiot again.

We sit in silence for a few moments. I want to say something to her, but I can't seem to locate my voice. Aside from her hand scrawling across a notebook, Alison sits completely still.

"Toby's sick," she tells me, not looking up from her writing. She flips the page and continues as if she never said anything.

"Oh, so it's just us? Great," I try to feign disappointment, but I think she can hear the hope in my voice, because she looks up at me with her eyebrows raised. I clear my throat, uncomfortable under her unreadable gaze.

She shrugs a little and then goes back to her writing. I lick my lips and try to think of something to say, but my mind draws a frustrating blank.

Alison licks her thumb to create friction to turn the parchment. It crinkles under her touch as she smoothly turns the page again.

"Do you always stare at people? Or am I just that lucky," they sound more like statements than questions. She places her pen down on her book and looks back up at me expectantly.

"What? Oh, uh," I say, a crease forming between my eyebrows. My throat starts to dry and my palms begin to get sweaty. I stare at the book in her hands to avoid eye contact.

"It's a diary," she turns her attention back to her book and picks up her pen.

"Oh," I shift a little in my seat. I swallow before answering her rhetorical questions, "I don't stare at everyone. You just look so sad all of the time, I was wondering if you're okay."

She claps her book shut, not even caring that she was in the middle of a sentence or that her pen is still lodged between the pages. She glares at me and takes a deep breath, sighing loudly.

"I don't need a therapist," she tells me through gritted teeth. "I need an A in this class."

"Okay," I shrug, kind of confused by her outburst. I look at her strangely and then pull out my cell phone (A/N: I know, they don't have cell phones in Harry Potter…. But I'm taking creative freedom because I don't see how these girls can live without cell phones).

I check for new messages, and frown when I see that an unknown number has texted me.

Hey Emily, it's Lucas. So, I know that you said you weren't sure about trying out for the Quidditch team, but I think you totally should. Gryffindor is in need of a Keeper, and you seem like you'd be perfect for that. If you ever wanted to practice, I totally wouldn't mind. And I can get some friends to help, too.

-Lucas

I find myself smiling to my phone. That's so nice of him to offer to help me, and I'm glad that somehow he knew that I actually was hoping to try out for the team. I'm not sure why, but I think that it would be super fun, even though it's dangerous. Plus I could make a lot of cool friends; I just love the comradery of teamwork.

"Oh, is it a boy?" Alison says, shaking me from my thoughts. She sounds bored, and she hasn't looked up from her book.

"Yeah," I answer, but then quickly correct myself, "but it's not like that. He's a friend of Hanna's."

"Oh, Hefty Hanna," Alison smirks and winks at me, finally gracing me with her gaze. "I didn't know she had friends."

My eye twitches again.

I stare at her with my jaw clenched. I really want to hate Alison, but for some reason I freaking can't. She's such a jerk to my friends, but no matter how much I try, I just can't stay away.

"Sorry," she says suddenly, and it was completely genuine. I almost choke on air, but she looks just as surprised that she said it as I am to have heard it. She just apologized?

"What?" I ask, unable to contain my surprise.

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

"Forget it," she brushes it off and looks up at Professor Thomas, who has just begun the lesson.

I don't know what possesses me to do it, but I pull out my notebook and rip off a corner of a page. Next, I take out a pen and jot down my number, signing my name at the end.

I take a deep breath and pass the crinkled note to Alison, whispering, "Just in case you ever do need a therapist."

She looks at the paper strangely, but it isn't with disgust. She hesitantly takes the note out of my hands and shoves it into her wizarding robes without saying anything.

I bite my lip; at least she didn't throw it away. Maybe it's just hopeful thinking, but I could have sworn that I saw a ghost of a smile on her lips when she saw the note. Maybe Alison is just as intrigued with me as I am with her.

ooh cool ali got da digits... hollaaaa. i'm so weird. well i hope you guys liked it! lemme know what you thought :)