Here Right Now | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 11 : Drama

JAYDEN looked up from his potion and grinned at his sister, her face visible from the pantry. She  had a very odd look on her face that he found amusing. She noticed his gaze, stuck her tongue out at him and he crossed his eyes back at her. She laughed and left the pantry, struggling to hold all the ingredients.

 Jayden eyed his sister, surprised at her. She would usually levitate her supplies behind her as she walked, but recently her careful mannerisms have been lacking. She was much more carefree and not as aware of her actions. She was usually very calm and collected, which made her come off as cold to others.  

Charlie eyed the amused look on Kane's face, as he walked to Jayden and then saw a flustered looking Charlotte come out with her arms full. Her eyes were full of laughter. He was about to stand up to go help her, but she scowled at him when she noticed, her eyes turning cold. He sat down, his chivalrous mood gone.

The stewed mandrake had been put on their desk and Charlie had started the potion off. It had turned red and then green, meaning it was ready for the honeywater to be added. He felt a flash of annoyance when he saw Charlotte glance at Kane in friendly amusement.

"Here. Mint sprigs, honeywater, syrup of hellebore and I see you have the stewed mandrake." 

She sat down next to him, after carefully placing the ingredients in their order. He nodded thanks and added the honeywater and watched as the potion slowly turned pink. The silence between the two of them stretched out as Charlie felt uncomfortable, used to having easy conversations and friends around him.

He glanced at her and she was staring at the cauldron, a look of intense concentration on her face. Her hair was on her left shoulder falling into an espresso coloured curtain between the two. He sighed loudly, stretched back into his chair and felt if as the time slowed down as the potion took forever to turn pink. He closed his eyes and could smell that faint scent of gardenia that followed her around.

She felt him move away and felt herself relax. He made her so tense and she didn't know how to relax around him. Every time he was near, she lost control of her actions. She wanted to be cool and indifferent towards him but she was too high strung when he was around.

She had never reacted this way to anyone, she was usually shy and reserved around new people. She didn't want to feel this way but didn't know how to remedy it. He brought out an extremely different side to her.

She glanced back at Charlie and was surprised to see him busy lying back with his eyes closed. 

The smattering of freckles on the bridge of his nose and cheeks made him look dirty, almost like he was digging in the ground outside the whole time. It was kind of endearing to her, knowing that he seemed to be outside, more than inside. He had long red eyelashes and his hair had a slight curl to it, so it was unruly but only slightly. His shoulders were outrageously broad and his biceps bulged against his straining white school shirt. His skin had a slight tan to it and his big hands had visible callouses on them.

"You like what you see, Miss Jet?" Kane's voice made Charlotte fly around. 

Kane watched as her face went bright red, something he found very amusing. She cleared her throat and looked down at their potion, avoiding his gaze. 

Charlie's eyes had flown open at the sound of his friends voice. Kane was standing at the head of their table. Charlie glanced at Charlotte, who was hiding her face behind her hair. Kane smirked as Charlie looked at him in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie looked at his friend, who had a smug smirk planted across his face.

"Do you have any mandrake left? I screwed up the mandrake portion, so we have to start all over again." Kane gestured his head over to his table causing Charlotte to glare at Kane.