Bring On Tomorrow

I hate Charlie Longbottom. I hate him. It's in his stupid floppy hair and his deep voice- that used to be even more stupid but has gotten admittedly better over the years- and his obnoxious smirk-smile that seems to be the only thing on his face except for his stupid too-big green eyes. Charlie's got practically every girl in Hogwarts after him, and I'm sure that he knows it. Charlie Longbottom is pretty much my nemesis- even though I haven't ever really talked to him- just that Charlie doesn't know it yet.

My friend Carter- yes, the sister of my nemesis- says that I'm being a bit judgemental, and even a little bit of a hypocrite (and yeah, my best friends are girls, but I'm not Charlie Longbottom). My other friend, my cousin, Rose, doesn't quite agree with me, but she doesn't think Charlie's too sparkly-innocent, either. She thinks that he's probably nice enough, but only to his girlfriend Maggie Moore, who he's never seen without. Carter insists that Maggie's not Charlie's girlfriend, and as much as I want to believe that, it only opens more doors in my mind for different theories.

"Louis," Carter says loud enough to stir me from my thoughts, snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Stop staring."

And no, I have not been staring at Charlie Longbottom, letting my mind wander. "'m not staring," I tell Carter plainly.

"Whatever," Carter replies breezily, putting a stray piece of hair back where it goes behind her ear. "One day, you'll see that Charlie isn't so bad." She's convincing me about as much as a pilot could convince passengers that there's temporary technical difficulties once the plane's already falling through the air.

"When hell freezes over, maybe, I will," I refute quickly, "or the day that Charlie Longbottom is not an absolute prick."

"Really, Lou," Rose says flatly, "We all know Charlie's last name. It's not necessary to say it every time."

"It's part of his title!" I whine, "Merlin, you two are so boring, can't I-"

"No," says Carter, now picking at her nail polish, not even bothering to let me finish. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask, would you guys like to come over over the hols?"

I roll my eyes because it's summer vacation and we always go to Carter's, the same way we always go to the Burrow for Christmas. I like Carter's house, because it always smells like flowers, and because it's an excuse to be away from the stresses at school and my family at the same time. And, as a bonus, Charlie's never there for the summer break, he says at his girlfriend Maggie's, and the nights that he does stay at home, I just-so-happen to go visit my family.

"Yeah, course," I say absentmindedly; Charlie Longbottom's greeting his perfect-looking girlfriend with a kiss on the cheek in the corner of my peripheral vision.

Rose mimics Carter by snapping her fingers in my face. "Louis," she says simply.

The thing is, Charlie Longbottom is hot. As much as I hate him and think his face looks stupid, the fact remains that the girls of Hogwarts have good reason to want him (if he wasn't such an ass, I might try to- no, not even then). But I've always hated Charlie Longbottom. I don't know when it started, or even if it's mutual, but just the thought of Charlie Longbottom is enough to make me cringe. And then cringe again.

"Sorry," I sigh, "The sun's in my eyes when I look across the table."

This is a blatant lie- at the Ravenclaw table, in the middle of the Hall, there's no way to be directly facing any windows. Plus, it's early, and the sun's too low to be in the windows, and plus plus, it's raining.

"How did Charlie even get into Ravenclaw?" I wonder absentmindedly, "I mean, he's-"

"Wonderful?" Carter finishes. "Yes, Louis. I agree."