The autumn-colored peacock quill tickled the tiny Slytherin's cheek as she hovered over an open textbook, her eyes nearly blurring from the boredom of the text. One palm supported her pout, the other clutched the quill, whose pretty dark blue ink was drying. Neely lay on the floor of the common room, directly in front of the crackling fire, with an empty pink cup and twirly straw beside her.

Try as she might to become a more studious snake-- whether to impress Sasha, or to teach him a lesson-- it was hard to focus on schoolwork when Neely knew there was a new pile of fall magazine and a box of imported cocoa sitting on the edge of her bed, just a few stair skips away. Her childish blue gaze found the clock's face, and her dark brows knitted accordingly. Only two minutes had passed since her last glimpse at the time-keeping hands. It had felt like two centuries. She was sure she must have at least a few wrinkles on her forehead by now.

With a yawn, Neely set down her quill and pushed back the strands of blonde that had fallen past her headband, daring to disrupt her intellectual illusion. She peaked over her shoulder, toward the common room door, to make sure no one had caught her in an idle state. Content with the single glance in the one direction, she looked back down at her book. Pinned to the common room floor beneath the hardback cover was a glossy magazine with Arius' face looking very serious indeed. Serious was studious was downright scholarly, no? One flick through the fall must-haves wouldn't kill anyone...

Neely's finger's crept like a spider across the page of her textbook, and finally plucked the magazine from its hiding place. She grinned at her own mischief and gingerly spread open the monthly in the book's open leaves.

After a few hours studying, Gavin set his book down and looked around the room. He was so into studying that he didn't even notice what was going on around him. He hated that feeling, not knowing what was happening. Promising himself to never let that happen again, Gavin closed his eyes for a brief moment. He pinched the top of his nose and spotted Neely looking like she was up to no good. He hardly spoke to the girl, she was always doing whatever... but Gavin did know that she was in her fifth year of Hogwarts and that was saying something. Knowing information like that was rare for Gavin.

He knew another thing; she was friends with Jordyn or was friends. Girls tended to be friends with someone one day and then change their minds the next. It was another complicated girl thing that Gavin didn't want to get involved with. But more importantly, he knew that Jordyn didn't like Nicola, which meant Neely probably didn't like Nicola. Another weird girl thing. It was time for Gavin to feel a bit better in his decision in dumping Nicola. Everyone else was of course on her side. It wasn't Gavin's fault that he hated to tell everyone everything. So somehow... everyone knew they were broken up. Must've been Nicola's doing.

"I see you are studying..." He told Neely over her shoulder. He was going for the dramatic entrance effect that scared people but he doubted that was going to happen. He sat down next to her and grabbed the magazine from her. "Ahh Arius, I heard about him somewhere. Compared to me, he's not that good looking." he winked and laughed. It was only a matter of time until she ripped his head off. Gavin knew for sure that Neely was obsessed with Arius... what girl wasn't?

Neely hadn’t spotted him. Gavin Snark. But then, Slytherins tended to be sneaky. Neely certainly was, but it didn’t mean her housemates weren’t just as sly. (She’d like to think, of course, that she could out-sly anyone and everyone, but sometimes it just wasn’t true.) What was more, Gavin was one of those Very Cool Older Students, like Emmett or Devlin, and he was fancied by all the girls in Neely’s year. Even Jordyn had had a thing for him, which meant that, by default, Neely had to acknowledge his potential.

Still, it was a shock when he crept up behind her. Neely felt prickles of fear race through her spun, and she stirred as if she’d been mildly electrocuted. Her hair bouncing forward into her face, the younger Slytherin frantically pushed her magazine under her book... and its pages consequently went a little haywire in the process.

“Gavin!” She shout-whispered. It was more of a hiss, really. “Merlin, you’re-- Of course I’m studying.” She tried to quickly mask her fear by shooting back a retort of sassy meaninglessness. “This is just...” She’d been caught. She sat up, folding her legs, and huffed. She took a moment to fix her hair before staring at him. Her rich brows found a soberness after a moment. “I’m doing a project on love potions,” she lied. “And so I need to cut out Arius’ many faces for a collage.” Smooth. “He’s perfect.” She had to defend her future husband, after all. “I don’t see you on the cover of magazines.”

Smirking a little despite her wounded ego, she sat up more properly still. “Are the rumors true?” Neely really couldn’t help herself. “Have you finally ditched Icky Nicky? Do you want me to take your temperature? I bet she had you under a spell!” Neely’s eyes widened dramatically at the thought. It made perfect sense. In fact, it was the only thing that made sense. Why else would someone choose Nicola over Jordyn?

There was no denying the fact that the both of them were procrastinating. Neely was probably one of the few younger girls Gavin could actually tolerate. He stopped hanging out with girls after his third year of school. The girls were starting to get attached and all emotional and that was something Gavin could not handle.

"Ah, I see. Love Potions." he chuckled under his breath. It was probably the first time in a while Gavin laughed. After all the stress he was under it was good to laugh once in a while. The subject of love potions brought back memories. He remembered he tried to slip a love potion in his sister's drink to see what would happen before she went to one of her meetings. He was young and foolish and Analiza saw past everything he threw at her during his rebel stage. There was another time he gave Alex a very mild love potion in his second year at Hogwarts. Alex was in the hospital for three days.

It was true, Gavin wasn't in magazines and that's the way he liked it. Too much attention would be the downfall of his whole life. But it was so Gavin to make a remark, it wasn't his fault he had such a big ego. The subject of the conversation shifted to Nicola and for once Gavin wasn't annoyed. Everyone he talked to, and that was just a few, seemed to be on Nicola's side. They felt sorry for her but she did slap him in the face. He lost all respect for her. Or at least he wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe that his decision was the right one and with Neely around he knew she would agree. She hated her, along with many other girls who had a crush on Gavin.

"Uh, yeah it's true but you didn't hear that from me. Love spell? I don't know about that but she did have me under something. Do you know the story?" he asked her. He honestly didn't want to repeat everything that had happened if he didn't have to. Maybe Neely was just what he needed to get his mind finally past the fact that what he did was wrong. He wanted to be encouraged that he was right.

“What a coincidence, since Nicola probably drugged you,” She suggested, equal parts mischief and innocence. Her eyes became a bit more bright. Her mind raced with the possibilities, but nothing particularly logical occurred. Still, she was deflecting attention from her schoolwork-- and the lie she'd just told about her assignment. But then that was Neely. “She’s brainy enough.” Anyone could administer a love potion, really. They were sold like candy, in cute little packages or pretty pink bottles. And girls could be very vicious when they wanted things their way. (Not that Cornelia Heloise Woolfolk knew from firsthand experience.) Though, there were a few people she’d like to poison... or at least a few to whom she’d like to feed a drop or two of their own medicine. Minus the love.

“But it’s good you broke up now,” she carried on. “Even if you would have figured it out sooner or later.” Assuming he’d been seduced by the contents of Nicola’s cauldron. “Better things ended this way... before--” What, exactly? “Anything too serious.” Mmhmm.

And then the open invitation. School work vanished from Neely’s line of vision, just as it had already vanished from her mind. “Just the rumors-- well, from very good sources.” She emphasized the word, her voice dripping with melodrama. Like a sweet bird.

“They said she’s got voodoo dolls of you under her pillow... she collects bits of your hair, utensils you use in the Great Hall... and she keeps a diary of all the things you’ve done, and all the things she’s planning to do to you. She thinks you’re sooo in love with her. She’s obsessed.” Or something like that. Neely leaned forward, lowering her voice to a loud whisper. “She’s a psycho.” And and and. “It's sickening, really. I always thought she was fooling around with that guy she's hanging about with.” Keep it vague.


((Wow, so sorry this took forever!))