Potions and Plots (Izzy325 and trample)

[trample]

On the third pass across from the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy, Caleb focused as hard as he could on the small, distraction-free study room that he needed. He hadn't even known about the room - or at least not where it was or if it was even real - until he'd agreed to become a tutor. The Room of Requirement seemed like far too grand a thing to use for studying, but he'd gotten used to it by now.

The door appeared and Caleb Hargrove slipped inside quickly. He wasn't sure how open a secret it was, to be honest. He certainly wasn't going to be saying a single word about it to anyone, but given his relatively circumscribed social network, it was entirely possible that the entirety of Slytherin knew about it. Hell, he might have been the last one in Hogwarts to find out.

Caleb snatched his Hufflepuff yellow-and-black scarf from out of the door just before it closed behind him. He had gotten it caught before and was not keen on repeating that. He was actually kind of glad that his robes were too small to wear, because he could far-too-easily imagine how easily those would get caught. He had grown a fairly startling five inches in the last year, and his parents couldn't afford the replacement of the robes yet. If he really had to wear them he would just make do, but in the meantime he was glad to be wearing jeans and a sweater and to not have to worry about it.

Inside the room, Caleb checked the books and the small alembic and burner and container of ingredients. It was a waste of time, because the room always provided what he required for reviewing the week's potions work, but he had nothing but time to check. She was late, of course, as usual. Caleb wiped the lenses of his thick-rimmed glasses and slid onto the bench behind the table. He sighed and opened one of the books to pass the time.

At least there wouldn't be a lot to go over. Potions class with Professor Cardridge had been disrupted today by a purplish explosion caused by Jack Waverton, and he'd very nearly come to blows with Cardridge in class. Nearly twenty minutes of class time elapsed before Jack and Professor Cardridge returned, Jack unusually docile. Caleb figured Cardridge must have really let him have it, because Jack seemed almost a zombie even after class let out...

 

[Gemini_Rising]

The chilly fall air wiped around Davina Claire as she made her way back into the castle. Some of the Slytherin and Ravenclaw students set out to the forbidden forest to party and hangout in-between classes and studying. Despite their reputation for being book worms the Ravenclaw pupils seemed to party harder than anyone else on campus. It always made Davina laugh as she watched them stumble around drunk having the most boring conversations. She proceeded to enter the castle and heading down to the dungeons to enter the Slytherin common room. Davina looked at the time sighing softly.

Coming from a long line of pure bloods her family expected much from her. She received one bad grade and her father blew the left side of their mansion away in anger. He was notoriously known as a hothead. Many wizards and witches feared the Claire name. Dating back to early 1500s the Claire name was one to be feared. Historically the entire family has been sorted into Slytherin. With the exception of Davina's great uncle who was sorted into Gryffindor. It caused quite the scandal with her great uncle finally leaving to America to rid himself of the family name. Davina always felt a bit jealous because of that. She at certain times in her life had prayed she would be able to just run away.

Davina gathered her books in her slender arms and grudgingly walking towards the room of requirement. It wasn't the most well known secret at Hogwarts but enough kids knew about it that on the rare nights the students could sneak out of bed they would party in there. Davina moved on quote pilot as she made her way up the grand hall staircase. She smiled and waved as friends passed by her as she headed up to the room of requirement.

Davina finally reached the third pass from the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy and checked the surroundings. With no one in sight she focused on the wall willing for the study room to appear. As the small wooden door appeared Davina darted through it quickly. Just a she suspected Caleb was there already studying. "You're here early." She stated knowing well enough that she was late. She placed her books down on the table before pulling out her wand. The moment she felt it was cold a fireplace formed along the South end of the wall. "You don't mind right?" She asked not waiting for a response. With a small wave of her wand a fire appeared instantly warming up the room. She sat down next to Caleb studying him for a moment. Two years ago...hell even last year she wouldn't have spoken to him. Now that he had grown up a bit he was actually kind of hot.

Davina shook her head as those thoughts flooded her mind. This was Caleb she was thinking about. The chubby kid who seemed to keep to himself. "Did you notice in class today how weird Jack got....usually it takes a lot more to settle him down but he seemed like he was in a trance or something." She noted as she reluctantly opened up her books.

 

[trample]

When Davina finally came into the room, Caleb shook his head just a bit, smiling wryly. "Am I charging your dad so much you can't afford a watch? You know I only accepted what he offered...?" He said it before he really thought about what he was about to say or who he was talking to. It wasn't that Davina had ever really given him a reason to be scared of her so much as the reputation of the Claire family generally. That and the fact that she was rich and popular and cool all combined to make him get a tiny bit red at having actually said that out loud instead of just keeping it in his head.

He even mentioned it, taking his glasses off to avoid looking at her -- a common trick around her because, seriously, look at her! -- and said, "did I say that out loud...?" He really wished she hadn't lit the fire. It was a little bit chilly in the room, sure, but he was already warm from the flush of embarrassment and she sort of had that effect on him all the time, anyway. The warming effect.

He was grateful that she changed the subject, though, as she slid onto the bench beside him. He scooted over to keep their legs from bumping and wished he wasn't thinking of not doing it and seeing if he could get away with it next time. "Yeah, I did," he said. "He got worked up more than usual, too..." Jack was known for getting a little out of control, but usually only a little. Today had been Jack getting much more animated than usual much faster and then, like a switch, apparently.

"I mean, maybe someone finally found the thing to say to him that actually works or maybe this was, like, a last straw sort of thing..." He trailed off thoughtfully as he reran her words through his head. "You don't think it was actually a trance, do you?"

 

[Gemini_Rising]

As Caleb spoke Davina, she for the first time since having these tutoring sessions forced on her gave him a honest look. his comments genuinely surprised her considering every time Caleb opened his mouth it was to either answer a question or to shyly respond to one of her more sassy comments. Throughout their entire schooling Davina could on;y remember a handful of times that Caleb actually spoke up. In fact if it wasn't in class she never heard him speak. She wondered about his back story but they did not run within the same circles. If her friends found out she was getting tutoring help from a hufflepuff student they would never let her live it down.

Davina laughed off Caleb's comments. If she were in the mood she would have tortured him a bit before letting him off the hook. She knew the power her last name gave her and she learned at an early age it could get her what she wanted. The look on his face alone gave her enough satisfaction.

"I mean the only person he saw before that was Professor Cardridge...and I highly doubt the Professor would have done that. Imagine the outcry from parents if they found out teachers were using spells on students. They would be hung in the clock tower courtyard. And then the Daily Prophet would have a field day literally. I'm sure the Professor just scared him a bit." Davina tried to laugh it off but somewhere deep down there was that nagging feeling. Something was off with the entire situation. Normally the Professor would chaste him in front of the entire class. Why pull Jack out this time?

"I mean surely you don't think he did it right?" The more she thought about it the crazier it sounded to her. The actually thought of something going on at Hogwarts was just unimaginable. There was no way it could or would happen for the matter. Professor Cardridge had been a staple of the Hogwarts staff for years now without an incidents.

Davina had noted Caleb's eagerness to move away from her once she had sat on the bench. Now this she could have fun with. She needed to change the subject anyway it was getting a bit to deep for her. Slowly edging her body towards his taking care to do it slowly she inched her way towards him. With every word she grew closer and closer to him until their arms touched. Davina pretended not to notice as she waited for his response.

 

[trample]

"Not literally," Caleb said before he could stop himself. He bit the inside of his cheek a little to punish himself for letting that slip out and glanced away from the distractingly attractive girl. Obviously she wasn't that distractingly attractive or he'd not have caught her saying that the paper would literally have a field day with the story of a professor casting on students. A brief image of Professor Cardridge frozen in the shape of a ring, hands on his own toes, as he was tossed over the neck of a bottle at a carnival or of him as a giant laying out in a field with a croquet course set up on him made Caleb smile briefly and forget correcting her. Hopefully Davina did too.

"But I.... I don't know. I mean, it's not as if there isn't any precedent. And have you..." Caleb began to stumble over his words as she seemed to be moving nearer to him. He couldn't very well shift away from her both because it would be obvious and because the workbench was rather small. Caleb remembered with some slight shame that it was that way because he'd wished it when first finding the room. He assumed that the magic had thought that the space being small and forcing them to be close had been one of the requirements, perhaps.

"Have you noticed the three Gryffindor girls in the back? They..." He looked down at her arm against his and touched his tongue to his lips to try and somehow force out the words. "They haven't been chatty at all these last few days, and I saw them walking together yesterday just sort of looking straight ahead." He lifted his arm away from hers and very awkwardly pushed it through his already unruly, dark hair. Caleb forced a laugh and said, "but maybe there's just something going around..."

His eyes settled on hers after dragging up from her arm and, incidentally of course, over her breasts and long neck and lovely lips as his brow went up. "Are you okay?"