Consequences

Chapter 4 - A Dilemma

"Hey," I whispered to Joanne as I got my stuff out and placed them on the table, before taking a seat. She looked at me but didn't say anything. For most of the class, we didn't interact in any way, until we had to make a potion in pairs. Finally, Joanne spoke. "I'll chop the ingredients, you mix them together in the cauldron. And do it right, or I won't be impressed."
"Alright, bossy boots." I teased, a smile breaking across my face.
"Watch your mouth!" She replied, "or this knife might just end up in your chest."
"Ooh, I feel so threatened." A small laugh erupted from me then, as I looked at her. On closer inspection, I realised how pretty she was; her long, brown hair in a single plait that was draped to the side was so neat and perfect, and her deep, chocolate-brown eyes stared longingly into my plain blue ones.
"Yeah, you should feel that way. I'm ruthless, seriously."
"Oh I bet you are," again, I chuckled.
"Joanne! Joshua! Get on with your work! Can't you see that everyone else has finished?" I looked around, saw that everyone was looking at us, and I tried to stifle a laugh. Joanne was the same. "Whoops," she said, returning to chopping some sort of root as I followed the instructions badly and tried to create a potion.

"That was fun," Joanne said to me as the class was dismissed for lunch. She smiled at me.
"Yeah, it was. See you around," I replied, heading the other way down the corridor to the a Great Hall where I said I'd meet Adam.

"Hey man, what's up?" Adam greeted me as I sat down to eat. The Hall was bustling with students, and the noise was almost unbearable. "Meh, nothing much. What about you? How was Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
"Oh, it was grand; we learnt about the Unforgivable Curses. Unfortunately, Professor Winstone didn't let us practice them, which is a shame." I laughed, my mouth stuffed full of food.
"What do you wanna do after Herbology? I mean, we've got a whole hour free, and then detention, but where shall we go?" I asked him.
"I vote the Common Room, and we can chat and have a party and stuff. Then I can't be bothered with detention, and besides, I've got homework."
"So do I, but we've still gotta go." For once I was the voice of reason.
"Why? No one's forcing us to go."
"Yeah, but we'll get in even worse trouble if we skip it." I really was sounding like a teacher.
"So what? All that's gonna happen is we'll have a private detention with Hadley and we'll be forced to write lines or somethin'. Seriously Josh, stop worrying mate." He returned to scoffing his face with chocolate mousse. I however, said I needed the loo, just to get away, and I headed to the library. Taking a seat in the far corner, I took out my History of Magic book and reviewed the notes I'd made on Albus Dumbledore. Suddenly, a voice from behind made me jump.
"Whatcha doing?" It asked, and I spun round. Will was stood, arms crossed, looking over my shoulder.
"What does it look like, Dumbo? My History of Magic essay."
"Oh, can I join you?" I knew he'd only steal my ideas, but I needed the company.
"Sure, take a seat." I motioned to the desk next to mine, and Will hastily sat down, pulling out his book. I began to write my introduction, ignoring the fact that I could see Will copying me word for word.

When I'd finished, I turned to him. "Next time, I'll only let you sit with me if you actually do the work yourself, not just copy mine." He looked at me guiltily, and I broke into a laugh. "It's cool, man," I told him, and he relaxed.

The bell sounded for the end of lunch and I headed off to the Greenhouse for Herbology, dreading having to face Adam after ditching him.