Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

The Problem with Human Transfiguration (Fred Weasley)

Like I promised, 2 updates in 1 day ~

For such an undeniably brilliant woman, Professor McGonagall sure did make some stupid decisions. Honestly, it was only natural that I questioned my Professor's intelligence when she decided that it was a good idea to seat Fred bloody Weasley next to me after he and Lee Jordan had interrupted her lessons one too many times. She had decided that it was a good idea to separate the troublesome pair – and it was – but had also decided that it would be best to split me and Stanning up so we could essentially quieten the Gryffindors.

Like hell. Somehow it managed to slip her mind that at one point, in our third year, Weasley and I had gotten into a duel in the middle of the corridor because he'd thought it was a good idea to dye my hair Gryffindor red. It had taken the Pomfrey hours to figure out how to remove the donkey ears from Weasley's head, and how to switch my pig nose back to my regular one. We'd wound up spending weeks in detention – separately, of course. The Professors hadn't wanted to come back to find that we had destroyed their classrooms in the crossfire of one of our arguments.

So how in Merlin's name, did she think it was a good idea to sit us together? We spent most lessons arguing between ourselves – mostly because we were both wary of alerting McGonagall to our squabbling. Neither of us wanted to spend more unnecessary time in detention.

It was just the thought of facing my desk mate that had me walking reluctantly into the classroom where I already knew Weasley would be waiting. For some reason, this just had to be the one lesson that he arrived early too. Of course, I knew why he was doing it – to ensure that I suffered through his presence for much longer than necessary. But, I wasn't going to let him get to me.

Tightening my hold on my bag strap, I kept my head held high as I headed straight for my seat. I didn't even look to Weasley as I settled down and silently wondered just how long we would last before we'd inevitably begin to argue. Rowena, I wouldn't be the one to start the conversation. Not today.

Rummaging through my bag for my essay, I frowned when Weasley cleared his throat. "You're uncharacteristically silent, Landry. What's working at you?"

"Do you even want to know?" I asked dubiously, finally finding my essay and setting it aside. Continuing my search for my quill, I briefly realised that he had leaned closer towards me.

"Of course, I do," he insisted with sincerity that I knew was false.

Setting my bag on the floor, I leaned back in my seat and turned to face Weasley. His eyes held mine, wide and full of honesty. Merlin, I would have believed his words to be true had I not spent the last 5 years at school with him. I just needed to look a little deeper and I found the mischief there.

"Honestly, I'm wondering how long it'll be before you say something to make us argue."

"You know, most people would find me too loveable to argue with."

I scoffed, reaching out to push him away from me. He settled back into his chair as McGonagall walked into the room. "Then I guess most people are blind."

"You're just strange," he insisted, crossing his arms over his chest as McGonagall made her way around the room to collect our essays. When she reached our table, she silently took the essays we held out towards her, but not before rolling her eyes when she realised we were quickly becoming confrontational. "You're just immune for some reason."

"Am I supposed to take that to mean that you're actually trying to make me find you loveable?"

He raised an eyebrow at the obvious scepticism in my voice. Pressing his forearm against the table, Weasley used his other arm to grasp the back of my chair and leaned in closer to me. I just watched his progress with a scowl, refusing to back away from him. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had unnerved me.