Dimensional {Harry Potter/Hunger Games}

Chapter 10: Didn't Notice

She breezed through her final class of the day, Muggle Studies, and was heading back to the Great Hall for dinner with Hermione at her side. Except for the boring lectures, Liv actually enjoyed the class because she was the only Slytherin taking the class and she didn't have to deal with any harsh looks of disdain. She had made friends with multiple people from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor and she enjoyed the fact that none of them seemed to care about what house she belonged to, they only cared that she was kind and funny, even sarcastic at times.

​Dinner was a neutral subject when it came to her life at Hogwarts; the positive side was that the food was always the best during the last meal of the day, the negative side being that students were required to sit with their houses instead of free seating. Most of the time (actually all of it), Liv would just immerse herself in a book, much like her time in front of the fire, and ignore everyone. She had memories of times when people like Draco Malfoy would start up a conversation with her, seeming as if they were actually trying to be friendly, only to reach a point where the subject matter of the conversation would turn south.
They would begin to brag about blood purity and insult Harry, Hermione and Ron. The insults hurt Liv the most and she continually had to learn not to rush to defend them. She knew that those insults made no difference on who her friends were; those nasty words were never going to stop her from continuing the friendship nor were they going to faze any of the three Gryffindors.

​As she and Hermione entered the archway of the Great Hall, the two girls each gave each other a smile and goodbye for the night before going to their opposite tables. Taking her normal seat at the edge of the Slytherin table closest to the front of the giant room, Liv let her eyes travel to the scene of the night that had been magically placed by Dumbledore himself.

Tonight, the magical ceiling depicted a clear night sky, with the many stars and planets gleaming down on everyone. After acing astronomy, Liv could easily identify the star Sirius, the constellation Orion (with Bellatrix in his belt), Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Regulus...she could go on in her head all night, but she was interrupted by a flash of movement to her left. She brought her gaze away from the stars, only to be met with the face of someone who happened to share the same name as a constellation.

​"Just when I thought you couldn't become even more of a disgrace to this house, you stare into the fake ceiling for a good ten minutes." Draco Malfoy's voice dripped with disgust.

​Liv just turned her focus to filling her plate, instead of the bleach blonde boy; his comments had no effect on her, she'd heard them quite often enough. She had hoped that her silence would make it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him, but alas that wasn't the case.

​"You won't even speak to your own house mate?" he asked, clutching his heart dramatically. "I'm terribly hurt."
​
Liv couldn't take his mockery anymore; she just wanted him to leave.

​"While I'm flattered that you even notice I exist," her tone bored and uninterested. "I actually prefer it when you don't notice me and leave me alone."

​Draco only smiled slyly at this, his face contorting mischievously before he leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, his breath hot as it brushed over her skin.

​"How could I not notice you, Penrose?"

His seductive voice sent chills down her spine and heat to her cheeks, enough to make him laugh softly, his face still inches from hers. This only made her cheeks turn an even brighter shade of red and she quickly turned her face away from him. Draco leaned away from her, took in her expression and smiled, but the interesting thing was, it wasn't a smirk, it was a genuine small smile.

Liv's embarrassment quickly turned to annoyance; she was positive that he was just saying these things just to get into her head (and possibly somewhere else, but that wasn't going to happen). She turned to him, the small smile on his face disappearing before she could see it, and her anger was obvious in her grey eyes. She opened her mouth to say something harsh, but was interrupted by another person taking the seat across from her and leaning across towards Draco.

Liv looked up to see the face of Theodore Nott as he threatened to hex Draco for being anywhere near her. At first Draco seemed frightened by Theodore's lashing anger, but as the threat finished he had his same old smirk plastered to his face once more. Not saying a word, he rose from the table and casually walked back to where he had originally been sitting with Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle as if nothing had happened. Theodore slowly sat back down.

​"I'm sorry about him bothering you, he's a total jerk..."

Theodore trailed off as he met Liv's harsh gaze. He was rendered speechless by the anger and near hatred that her eyes held. He had expected to see relief or even sadness, but he was met with a wall of fiery emotions.

"I appreciate the help Nott, but it doesn't help my...situation." Liv basically spit the word out. "You've only added fuel to his flame. I'll never hear the end of how you 'came to my rescue'. I can save myself, thanks."

Her voice dripped with sarcasm and even a hint of disgust.

Theodore couldn't help the frown that came to his usually expressionless face. He hadn't wanted to make it any worse for her; he'd only wanted to help since it was obvious Malfoy was bothering her. He watched Liv grab her bag and leave, not even glancing back at the table as she walked angrily through the archway back to the dorms.

For some reason, he felt as if someone was watching him closely and he turned in the direction his subconscious led him. Turning to the left towards the professors' table, he met Professor Snape's cold, black eyes. Snape looked at Theodore without any interest written on his face before slowly letting his gaze travel somewhere else in the hall. It was clear though that he had witnessed the scene.

Theodore once more felt someone's eyes on him and turning again he met the green eyes of Harry Potter that clearly held multiple questions regarding Liv. He then looked to Hermione Granger, whose eyebrows were cocked and her finger pointed in the direction Liv had left. The question was obvious, but Theodore had no answer. He shrugged and got up to search for the girl who, quite oddly enough, matched the fire she so often sat by.