deceptive disposition || a harry potter inspired rini au

08. pairing

when nina entered her potions class at the end of the day, she dropped her bag onto a table furthest away from ej and carlos.

she'd spent the day in a bad mood after her argument with ej yesterday in the hallway just outside of the hospital wing. she hated the way he acted so carelessly and thoughtlessly in situations. especially these coming years and it wasn't the time to be reckless.

carlos wasn't bothered with the usual arguments with ej and nina. they always were hot and cold with each other ever since he'd met them in first year and he was way used to it by now, which is why he was focusing on beginning the instructed exercise that professor slughorn had put on the board.

nina, meanwhile was opening her bag to take her potions textbook before freezing and searching more aggressively at the sight of its absence

"is something the matter, miss salazar?" professor slughorn asked

the brunette girl sighed "um...well, i seem to have forgotten my book today..."

before professor slughorn could say anything on the matter, the sound of the classroom door bursting open, followed by the curly-haired boy running inside as he panted with his bag in one hand, and his school robes sliding off his right shoulder.

"sorry i'm late professor," he exhaled

"not at all, mr bowen," the man waved off "you may take your seat here. i presume you have your book with you?"

"uh..." ricky tried to steady his breathing from running all the way from the entrance of the castle to the dungeons "yes, sir."

"right! then, please do share with miss salazar."

"what??"
"i beg your pardon?"

they said at the same time, the class looking between the two in curiosity. nina salazar and ricky bowen were by far the most different witch and wizard at this school. whether that was through their beliefs, their attitudes, their interest. no one had ever witnessed their crossing of paths before. and they dared not imagined how it would go...

"is there a problem?" professor slughorn mused, raising an eyebrow as he brought his hands behind his back

nina rolled her eyes and slumped down on her chair "no, sir."

"and mr bowen?"

ricky gritted his teeth together but then realized something.

maybe this was a way he could get information on what was happening...

so, with a charming smile on his face, the boy shook his head "not at all."

"wonderful!" professor slughorn beamed happily "now, everyone turn your books to page ten — miss cattermole, pay attention."

as slughorn went on with the lesson, time seemed to be turning backwards with the way ricky and nina were bickering over the book constantly.

"i can't see it from that angle." she snapped frustratedly, reaching for the book to see the ingredients they needed to make the potion they'd been studying today

ricky looked at her and rolled his eyes "'could you please turn the book over so i could see it? thanks!'" he said mockingly

nina exhaled sharply, slamming the book back down "you are unbelievable."

"i know." he grinned

the girl shook her head, deciding to make a start with her potion, while ricky was struggling to get this one right.

usually he was good at potions, but with nina constantly taking the book and keeping it for herself — he stopped bothering on trying to get it back, only knowing she'd continue to yell at him — therefore, he had to improvise his way through the lesson today.

ricky realized ashlyn hadn't turned up to potions, which worried him. she'd never missed a class before. never.

"what are you doing?" nina questioned in disgust as she looked at his potion. it was a slimy green color instead of sunshine yellow as nina's was so far

"i'm trying to make the the elixir to induce euphoria." ricky exhaled tiredly, examining his ingredients that would be suitable to put next without it exploding in their faces, though he wouldn't mind maybe doing so in order for it to get all over the irritating girl

"well, it's a miserable disaster." nina stated matter-of-factly as she went on with reading the book to add the next ingredient

"yes, that seems to be the general idea when i don't have my own book to guide me, since it's been hijacked by an infuriating sixth year girl."

nina handed him the book as she read it once more, putting on a fake smile "happy?"

"very much." he returned her expression as he took the book from her grasp before groaning "great, now i have to start all over again."

"and the texture of what's in your cauldron wasn't a hint that that would be the case already?" nina muttered as she added some peppermint to her own cauldron

ricky bit his tongue to keep his mouth shut before he waved his wand to empty and clean his cauldron, heading over to get his ingredients before starting over.

there was a mere silence for a few moments before he took a deep breath and looked up to see her writing on a piece of parchment the observations of her potion.

he carefully examined her left arm before up to her face until she noticed a pair of eyes on her and glanced up to see ricky briskly look away

"do you need something?" she asked exasperatedly

ricky shook his head, shrugging his shoulders as he went back to focusing on his potion before the girl nodded in an ounce of confusion, returning to her notes.

when the lesson was five minutes to the end and slughorn had checked on all of their potions, ricky and nina were both pleased that their interactions would end as soon as they were dismissed, though life had other plans as professor slughorn explained what their upcoming lessons had in store for them.

"you'll be working in pairs with the person seated next to you today," he began "and i'll assign a potion from this year's syllabus to each of you to make as well as research. this will only be a month long project, and i assure you will all get to study the potion that isn't assigned. they're all important for your NEWTS next year."

nina and ricky both looked at each other in shock and frustration before the girl put her hand up

"yes, miss salazar?"

"might i do this project on my own perhaps—"

"i believe you a capable witch," slughorn chuckled "but i'm afraid not."

the girl exhaled deeply as they started to pack their stuff away, ricky giving her a light smirk

"see you next class, buddy!" he grinned, saluting to carlos and ej who were sending him daggers with their glares from their own table as he strolled out of the classroom.