Mischief Managed

8: Flirtations

Love is a curious thing, isn't it? Fragile and alien, yet utterly familiar and exceedingly strong. It took me years to realize you can't fight it, you can't fight how you feel, and that realization led to an avalanche of regrets.

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

As I strode into the hall, Sirius and James flanking me, I made eye contact with a tall, handsome Hufflepuff. The boy, I think his name was Dylan, smiled at me when our eyes met. I vaguely recognized from one of my classes...maybe it was Herbology?

Sirius saw our exchange and frowned. He tugged at my robes, pulling me towards a spot next to him at our table. He shot a dirty look at the boy who might have been named Dylan.

"What was that for?" I joked, nudging his shoulder.

"He was obviously checking you out, and I had to show him that you were completely out-of-bounds," he replied with a smug smirk.

"Oh, am I?"

"Yes."

"I don't think so. I'm perfectly free to socialize with whoever I want to, so I'd prefer if you wouldn't interfere with my business anymore."

"Your business? Is something happening that I don't know about?"

"No- No, I didn't say that! Besides, even if something was, what right do you, the guy who's kissed at least half the girls in our year, to say anything about it?"

"As a friend, I have a right to protect you from dodgy blokes like that," Sirius said stubbornly.

"I don't need protecting. And he is not a 'dodgy'! He just smiled at me!"

"It was creepy."

"Not!"

"It absolutely was..."

"Will the two of you just shut up? I think I'm going to ask out Evans after Herbology today," James interrupted, his face turing dreamy after saying Lily's name.

Sirius rolled his eyes at me and said threateningly, "You better not have anything to do with that Hufflepuff guy."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh yeah, and who's going to stop me? Certainly not you."

Before he could stop me, I abruptly pulled up from the bench and walked towards the Hufflepuff table. The boy smiled at me again, and I turned and shot a smirk back at Sirius.

His jaw was dropped in disapproval. He was shaking his head and mouthed, You get back here.

Shaking my head gleefully, I slid into the open space across from the handsome boy.

He was even more good-looking up close; he had dark, thick, curly hair and deep blue eyes. I blushed slightly, then asked him, "So, what's your name? I'm Bree Convelo."

He smiled again- maybe it was his thing- and said smoothly, "Dylan Abbott. I think we have Herbology together."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, trying to hide the blush in my cheeks. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere."

"Yeah. We have it today actually. Want to work together?"

"Umm, sure," I said. Remus and I usually paired up, but I figured he wouldn't mind if I worked with Dylan just this once.

"Alright, great. I'll see you then?" Dylan said. I again noted how blue his eyes were.

"Yeah, see ya." I rose from the table and walked slowly back to the Gryffindor table, savoring the outraged expression on Sirius' face. I grinned in success, fell back beside Sirius, and said cheekily, "His name's Dylan and he's my new Herbology partner. And he's so cute, I'm surprised he doesn't have an entire posse following him around."