𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 [ 𝐇𝐏 ] - 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘗𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳

six.

Atlas Black wouldn't consider himself as a coward.

And he definitely wasn't scared to face the harry potter after yesterday night after they had fallen asleep together on the tree shoulder to shoulder. He wasn't.

Hence that was not the reason why he didn't want to go down to get breakfast at the great hall. He wasn't hungry, that was simply it. He thought as he buried himself under the comfort of his weighted blanket while Ignoring the slight rumble he felt in his stomach. He must've gotten sick after the incident, of course. One more reason to stay in his dormitory all day with no disturbance. He sighed in defeat, the excuse coming weak even to himself.

" You coming? " asked Theodore, quirking an eyebrow at the boy still in his pajamas. He slung his bag over his shoulders and nodded towards the exit.

Theodore was another one of his acquaintances, though it wasn't much of a choice. Atlas supposed it could've been worst, he could've bunked with that malfoy prat. He shuddered at the thought. Besides, it wasn't like Theodore talked to him except for 'good mornings' and occasional hellos when they bumped into each other in the hallways. And for that, Atlas was grateful.

Atlas yawned as he sat up from his bed, " in a bit, you don't have to wait for me. "

Theodore looked at him in what Atlas assumed was amusement, " don't worry, I wasn't going to. " he said before walking out of the door, but not without a cheeky wink at the boy.

Rolling his eyes, Atlas reluctantly rolled out of his bed and slipped on one of his robes, not bothering to change out of what he was wearing before. He grabbed his wand off his nightstand and with a wave, his satchel that was once under his bed practically flew and crashed into his face. Ouch, he had to work on that. Atlas stuffed all the books ( that admittedly, were probably useless and would just add as dead weight ) he could find into the satchel and quickly walked his way out of the dormitory.

True to his word, Atlas didn't bother going to the great hall but instead the potions classroom where his first lesson held. And fortunately for him, only a few gryffindors ( which did not include Potter, not that he cared ) were there.

" Artie! Over here! " a voice he knew all too well shouted from across the room. Taking in a breath, Atlas causally ambled his way to Eclair as though there weren't hushed whispers and eyes following his every move. At this point, Atlas thought bitterly, he might as well make the entire classroom explode and confirm their suspicions. Being in azkaban would be much better than treated like a ticking bomb.

Eclair, the ever so courteous, took a look at him and raised an eyebrow ( people seemed to do that a lot these days ), " you look like shit. "

" Good morning to you too. " Atlas sighed, setting down his bag down and taking out his notebook and quill ( if he did pull out another sugar quill, no he didn't ). As usual, Eclair grinned and punched him lightly on the arm.

" See? That's improvement, you spoke today! And not just in angry grumbles, well, kind of. But it still counts. "

With a playful glare, Atlas turned away from her and instead focused on his notes. Reviewing last year's material before the lesson started. In all honesty, Atlas wasn't good when it came to potions as other subjects, mostly because he didn't have the patience to measure things accurately and would rather wing it. Predictably, most of his potions resulted in a pile of goo. but hey, he was going to try better this year.

As the needle on his pocket watch struck nine, students began piling in. Some even with half eaten breakfast hanging off their mouths. Yuck. Atlas grimaced and scooted closer towards Eclair, who snorted after seeing his expression.

" Do these people have any manners? " Atlas mumbled, watching in disapproval.

Next to him, Eclair let out a wheeze which Atlas did not think was possible for a human to make, " you sound like a mom. No wait-you're a Karen!  " 

Atlas blinked and shook his head, not understanding a word the girl had said. Nevertheless, he didn't think it was any good from the way Eclair was seemingly choking from laughter. He watched in mild concern as she doubled over, tears in her eyes and she continued to do her weird hair spray-like wheeze. He didn't think it was that funny, but oh well. That girl would laugh at anything.

Soon after all of the students had filled in their seats, professor Snape announced his arrival with his usual flare of dramatics—which Atlas found slightly impressive, though he was certain he could do it better if he tried. After Professor Snape had given the usual snide comments for the gryffindors, he wrote the instructions on the blackboard with no more than a mere flick of his wand—which, again despite how terrible of a teacher he was, Atlas couldn't help but admire the man for his skills.

" The Wiggenweld potion can be used to heal the most common injuries. " Professor Snape turned around and snapped at such sudden ferocity Atlas thought he was going to die of a heart attack. " grab the needed ingredients at the back, i trust you all not to make a mess. " he said, glaring at certain gryffindors as he did.

As his classmates rushed to the back cupboard, Atlas took the time to copy everything from the blackboard, even if it was a little difficult to see from the fumes radiating from different potions.

" What's a fire seed? " asked Eclair, tilting her head as she read the instructions out loud. " Do you reckon they can be used to make explosives? "

Atlas squinted at the blackboard as he scribbled down another line, " from the title itself, I guess so. "

And with that, the duo finally made their way to the back to collect their ingredients. Eclair grabbed out a jar labelled 'powered graphorn horn' whilst pinching her nose from the smell. Atlas watched with poorly concealed amusement as Eclair stumbled out of the cupboard with her face scrunched up in disgust.

Eclair gagged, " your turn, I'm not going back there again. Ever. "

" I wrote down the notes, I'm not going to do the work for the both of us. " Atlas grinned innocently as she glared at him. And with a huff, Eclair went back to the cupboard with her shoulders up to her ears, indicating that she was most likely holding her breath.

After a few minutes of complaining and bickering, they had finally gotten all the ingredients they needed. The universe must hated him, Atlas decided, as they came face to face with the person he desperately tried to avoid all morning.

" You weren't at breakfast today, " said Potter, raking his fingers through his hair. His normally large doe eyes seemed to think it wasn't good enough today, as his eyes appeared twice as big.

Atlas pursed his lips, trying to hide his awkwardness, " and you're in my way. "

A faint blush appeared on Potter's face as he suddenly jumped away as though he was burnt, nearly crashing into another table in the process. " Right—sorry. "

Ignoring the looks Eclair was shooting at him, Atlas sent a curt nod towards him and promptly walked away. Inwardly hoping that he would disappear in the spot.

God, he had enough social interaction for today.

a/n

hi sorry for disappearing, i lost motivation but im bored so now here i am

and for anyone interested–no, harry nor atlas has a crush on each other yet, though it will probably soon since i have no patience at all lmao

will probably update this fic when it reaches >100 votes, no promises though

hi to whoever's still reading this, please consider voting and leaving a comment. it would make my day :D