pretend

first day

Olivia sighs as she steps into the greenhouse for Herbology. Professor Sprout greets the class enthusiastically,not noticing Mattheo and Theo messing about. After a few moments , Sprout decides to question everyone on past years subjects. Olivia looks down,avoiding eye contact, so she doesn't get picked. "Hermione Granger ,How would you use a Mandrake to unpetrify someone?" Sprout questions the girl next to Olivia. "Stewed Mandrakes, Professor" Hermione answers,gaining 10 points for Gryffindor.

Olivia has always been intimidated by Hermione Granger,due to the fact she is always just above her in any topic.Theodore always tells her to focus being the best in Slytherin and not the whole school,though this doesn't work. "Ah Olivia Nott! Almost didn't see you dear , now , which of these plants is a Class C non-tradeable substance?" Sprout questions,gesturing to the variety of plants in front of her. Olivia's heart speeds up, having not studied this. "Uhhh" She utters. "It's fine if you don't know,it's been 2 years since this was taught- Ah Pansy Parkinson" Olivia's attentions shifts to the end of the row,Pansy "Do you have the answer?" Pansy holds a smug smile on her face and turns to Olivia. "Olivia,how could you forget? it's the Venomous Tentacula." Pansy shouts in a patronising tone. "Yes well, good job Pansy, 10 points to Slytherin!" Sprout announces as she continues teaching.

Lorenzo rubs Olivia's back to bring her some comfort after that humiliating experience. Though she doesn't care about Pansys correction as much as she cares about what Mattheos going to have to say about this. Olivia looks up,across the table at Theo, who gives her a reassuring nod.However Mattheos smirk catches her eyes,she puts her head down, not wanting to cry in front of everyone.

"Now can everyone put their earmuffs on!" Sprout tells the class, who nods and puts their earmuffs on. Olivia stands in front of her Mandrake,with the earmuffs on her head, and begins to pull it out.Despite her issue with answering a question earlier on in the lesson,she re-pots the Mandrake perfectly.So perfectly,she doesn't seem to notice that her brothers ear muffs were no longer on his head, and his feet were no longer on the ground. "Oh Merlin" Olivia utters as she walks around the table to see to her brothers stupidity.

Professor Sprout clears the greenhouse,and escorts Theo and Olivia to the hospital wing. "I must apologise Professor,he's never this incompetent"Olivia says while sat next to Theodores bed. "It's fine dear, I must've not had my eye on everyone perfectly" Sprout says as she doubts herself. Olivia feels responsible for Theo's actions, therefore the guilt is transferred to her.
With Professor Sprout gone, Olivia talks to Theo. "Are you stupid?Now I need to face Riddle on my own!When you wake up, you owe me!" She whisper shouts at him.

With that,she decides to leave and go to the common room. Olivia sits in the usual spot and waits for Enzo to arrive. Tom Riddle is the first to arrive and sits adjacent to the girl. "We don't have to continue with our tutoring ,if you'd prefer not to ,Nott" Tom says to her,sympathetically. Olivia is confused by his sympathetic approach as she is not the one who was hurt, it was Theo. "How come?" Olivia asks. "Well Berkshire has been saying some nasty stuff in the hours you have been absent.I thought you'd need a break."Tom says,confusing Olivia even more.
"What has he said?" Olivia asks,leaning forward in her seat. "Well he has fed into some rumours, as you left him the only people that he went to was Parkinson's group. They believe that you have a weird obsession with my brother?" Tom says, making Olivia's heart drop.

"That is not true whatsoever! I have no obsession with him and Lorenzo out of all people should know that!" she raises her voice a little bit,catching Dracos attention as he walks in and sits with the two. "Woahhh,what's herbology hero done to upset Olive?" He sarcastically asks. Tom turns and allows Olivia to catch Draco up. "You?Have an obsession with Mattheo?Youre more likely to pick up the clean end of sh.." Draco fades his word out as he notices Tom looking at him.He clears his throat "What an absurd observation one has made on you Olivia" Draco rephrases his last words. Mattheo is the next to arrive at the common room,having come from a detention.

"How's tutoring going?" He asks Tom "Hope it's not too hard, she isn't that smart so she won't catch on that fast." he shoot's a fake sad look at Olivia,which drops when he notices Olivia already crying. Olivia leaves the room,heading for the astronomy tower. "What's your problem?" Draco asks as he sneers at Mattheo , along with Tom, "I must say Mattheo that was pathetic.Even for you.". Mattheo stares at the two,letting the uncommon feeling sink in. He's never had no one laugh with him before,they've always listened to him and agreed. Mattheo picks up Olivia's bags and begins heading to her dorm to drop them off.

The knocks on the door are answered by Astoria Greengrass, "Oh, hello Mattheo." Astoria says, shocked at his presence.Mattheo has never liked Astoria,knowing what she did to Olivia played a big part in his portrayal of the girl. "Is Olivia here?" Mattheo bluntly asks her. "You mean your biggest fan?Nope, but I am" Astoria giggles at her remark,making Mattheo even more impatient. He turns away from the door and begins his search for Olivia. 'Biggest fan' runs through the boys mind,wondering what Astoria meant.

Mattheo reaches the Astronomy tower, after checking multiple broom closets and empty classrooms. By the time he gets to the girl ,he is out of breath and can't talk. He drops her bag, making her jump "Riddle?" She calls out. "Yeah,I have your stuff" Mattheo replies,gesturing to the bag on the floor. Olivia rubs her nose and turns around again,watching the stars and waiting for him to leave.Olivia is shocked when she feels his presence next to her,his arms hitting the railings as he leans on them sends vibrations through the metal bars.

"Are you here to apologise or tell me I'm stupid again?" She asks the boy,who sighs ,drowning in his guilt.He feels he can't apologise again because if he did he'd repeat his actions tomorrow. Olivia wipes her face,awaiting a response from the boy. Instead,he pulls a book from his robe. Olivia takes the book from him,brushing her finger against his,accidentally,sends a wave of warmth throughout her body. "You annotated it?Have you read this before?" Olivia asks,shocked. "Yeah,actually, a few times"Mattheo says to the girl. "I thought this was your first time?" Olivia says, struggling to find the words. "I never said that, I asked if it was good" Mattheo is proud that he has changed the way she looked at him.

Olivia flips through the pages later that night in her dorm, feeling conflicted. She rubs her finger along the neatly placed calligraphy in her book margins,which is parallel to her gel pen scribbles. Mattheo has analysed the characters actions deeply and has justified them,despite never being in their shoes. Olivia smiles as she closes the book and slides it into her drawers.