Matty sat at one of the long tables in the library surrounded by very organized piles of text books, parchments and a fine selection of quills. The youngest Amherst was the only one in the library that didn't look flustered. With the Christmas Holidays coming just around the corner most of the older students were strapping down to get through the rest of their exams. Matty himself only had two more to go but he wasn't worried about either of them. he hadn't been worried about an exam since his fifth year when he Trolled out of History of Magic.

Matty glanced over his well organized workspace. He currently had a book open on Arithmancy. He had quill to parchment making the necessary study notes he'd need to get through his midterm on the subject. The only other subject he had to take the mid term on was Ancient Runes. He was sure he had already aced Potions, and Herbology. He wasn't as confident with his other classes like Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration but that was probably just the jitters. He had been getting straight O's and E's for over a year now.

His dark chocolate eyes raised to the front doors of the Library. He was taking a small breather while numbers raced through his head. Perhaps he had been at this too long but there were only so many more hours before his exams and he needed to keep his grades up if he wanted to pass his NEWTs and win an internship at the Ministry.

Quinn was in trouble. Deep trouble. She'd overheard in a nearby corridor that they had an assignment, that was due in approximately three hours. Well, Quinn had heard the conversation half an hour ago, and had spent that time panicking to Grace in their dorm. Bundling up a few books and stray quills and parchment, Quinn had sprinted towards the library in the vain hope of completing something half-decent.

Wearing her Gryffindor uniform (albeit a slightly dishevelled version), Quinn had actually bothered to straighten and brush her hair that morning, making the reckless brute look semi-presentable. If it wasn't for the dozen gold chains hanging around her neck, the slashed black tights and the pair of navy, dirty Doc Marten boots, she could've looked like any other seventh year that was devoting their life to exams. Unfortunately, Quinn was much too concerned with her social life, and as such, her grades had suffered. Horrendously.

Scuttling into the library, she swallowed hard and dumped her books down on the nearest table. Completely unaware of the rather studious and dedicated boy nearby, Quinn spread her parchment and books all over her side of the table clumsily, immediately scrawling all over a textbook. Quinn's minute attention was almost distracted by the ridiculous and comic notes she and her friends had left in the margin. The list was endless and all-encompassing, ranging from statements such as 'Lou Carter's breath stinks' to 'Miss Liza Min-Eli-Park'. Quinn found herself hilarious at the best of times.

Quickly scratching down the assignment title in her round and large handwriting, Quinn bit on the end of her quill before throwing it down and letting her face collapse into her palms. Why on earth was she such an idiot? All those times she could (and should) have been listening she'd been chatting away, cracking jokes and distracting her friends - that was even if she'd bothered to turn up. Glancing up towards the other end of the table, Quinn's desperately tragic eyes fell on a figure she vaguely recognised. He was a seventh year, that was for sure.
"Umm, hey," she whispered, leaning across and clenching her teeth in a flurry of disorganisation, anxiety and general panic. "You don't happen to know anything about Herbology? I've got an assignment due in two hours and I haven't even started. And an essay for Austerlitz tomorrow." Quinn's own last sentence nearly made the Gryffindor party girl want to puke - Bombay was an obstacle in himself, but Professor Austerlitz? Well, she was one dragon that wasn't to be crossed. "In other words," Quinn carried on in hushed desperation, "I really need a hand, man!"

Matty had been watching the girl the moment she stepped into the Library. Even though they weren't technically in the same social circles (well she did seem to be friends with Grace but Matty usually stayed at a safe distance) it was hard to ignore her. She was disruptive in class mainly for the reason that the Professor's often paused in their lessons to try and get her to focus. After seven years of this it would have been impossible for Matty not to have noticed her. Today though was slightly different. He had never seen her in the Library before and her hair looked different today, in fact if it weren't for the ripped tights and disheveled boots she would have actually looked attractive.

His dark chocolate eyes were fixed on her as she flopped down at a table and much like her way of dressing, her way of studying was hap hazard and mildly chaotic. It made Matty's skin crawl just watching how disorganized she was. Finally she had became fed up and looked to him. Matty offered a smile and a chuckled was trapped behind his eyes when she pleaded for his help.

Closing his own books and placing down his quill Matty stood and walked over to her. He took up watch behind her bending over her shoulder, perhaps a little too close, so that he could get a look at what she was working on, "Your text book's a mess." He said simply without ridicule. He moved back to his own work and grabbed the file folder that was marked in his neat and elegant script 'Herbology' before coming back to his spot over her shoulder, "Here, you can borrow my notes. You should be able to find everything you need for your assignment."

He looked over the other texts she had with her. Professor Austerlitz, he didn't know who that was, which meant that she taught one of the subjects he had dropped after his fifth year, "I don't have Professor Austerlitz but if you tell me what you need to do for your essay I can help you out with it."

Quinn gave him an apologetic smile as he got his feet, thankful that someone (anyone!) was helping her out in this dire hour of need. As he commented on the state of her ridiculously defaced textbook, she closed it immediately, a little embarrassed. Had he seen all that stupid, bone-headed graffiti she'd scrawled across it with Eli and Lou and the like? Ah well, he probably expected it from someone like Quinn McAvoy. Running a hand through her hair to keep it out of her face, she took the loaned textbook and gave him a more sincere smile.
"Thank you," Quinn replied quietly and opened it up delicately; just because she was messy with her own property didn't mean that she treated other peoples' stuff in the same manner.

"Austerlitz?" she asked, raising her head once more and rolling her eyes in pure fear. "She teaches History of Magic, and the woman is terrifying. And I mean terrifying." Quinn's voice became a little louder as she scatterbrained beauty forgot her surroundings, and she completely forgot about the other people in the library. "She made three boys in my class cry the other day, like, actually sobbing. Most brutal dragon I have ever met."

Quinn shrugged, and then shook herself out of it, realising how much work she actually had to do. Grabbing her pen and a piece of parchment (that had one corner ripped off) she set to work, making the most fleeting introduction she could make.
"Psst," she said once more, her eyes wide with frustration. "Could you do me a favour and name six plants that are almost always fatal when consumed? I never turned up that lessons, stupidly."

Matty was still rather close to the girl looking over her shoulder. With her head turned to him he noticed that she actually had a really nice smile. He had never noticed that before but he supposed he had never bothered to get this close to her. Quinn has always been one of those girls that he had kept his distance from despite the fact that they actually had a fair amount of friends in common, well at least Fauna, Grace and Sophie.

As she described Austerlitz Matty chuckled deeply, "Sounds like I made a good choice in dropping the class." Matty was never proud about the fact that he had dropped classes after his OWLs but it looked better for him to keep getting Es and Os in all of his classes instead of being branded with that one horrible T.

As she looked up at him with frustration in her eyes he gave her a look of sympathy. Usually he didn't like people that were so disorganized but he had never seen anyone so flustered, panicked or feeling genuinely guilty about not paying attention in class. He had never felt so compelled to help someone before, "Hmm let me think." Matty went back to that lesson. It had been a Tuesday and it had been raining, Fauna was wearing a new hat that day, it was an adorable wide brim rain hat that was bright yellow with black trim, "Alihotsy, Aconitum otherwise known as Moonkshood or Wolfsbane, Belladonna, Cassava, Cerbera odollam, and Deadly Nightshade." There were much more than that but Matty had listed the first six that came to mind, not to mention the fact that they had been in alphabetical order, "Do those work?" 

"Probably the best choice of your entire life," she muttered, resigning herself to the fact that History of Magic was by far her most difficult subject, with a professor to match. "I wouldn't set that woman on my worst enemy, honestly." Quinn returned his smile of sympathy with a smile of her own, glad that somebody was willing to help her out. She'd ask Grace, but it was too much of a common occurrence; Grace had her own work to do - she didn't need Quinn hassling her all the time.

As he listed off specific plants of fatality, Quinn quickly scribbled them down, sticking out her tongue slightly in concentration. With her spare hand she pulled a stool round next to her, patting it in invitation.
"If you're not too busy then take a seat?" she asked, giving him a wide, comically toothy beam. "You seem like you know what you're doing." What she needed right now was a fellow seventh year, who was obviously organised, hard-working and a keen Herbologist. It turned out that her perfect stranger was present - it seemed there was a God.

Writing down a few more notes, she felt herself getting distracted immediately and rested her chin on her hand childishly, putting the deadline to the back of her mind. Turning to the boy once more, she tilted her head in thought before writing down another short, sharp sentence.
"What's your name anyway?"

Matty took the seat she had offered him figuring it would probably be more comfortable for her if he wasn't hovering. He knew he had a hard time concentrating whenever someone was hovering over him and he didn't want to be that guy. Not to mention the fact that his close proximity to her could easily be construed as creepy rather than interested or helpful.

As she scribbled the beginning of her essay Matty kept a watchful eye mentally correcting any spelling and grammar mistakes she made. He absent mindedly wondered if she'd let him revise her essay when she was done. It wasn't that he didn't think she'd do a good job it was just what he did. He was quite a stickler for doing things right and he didn't think it would be right for him to help her with the material and not the presentation.

His back was stock still, his feet resting up on the legs of the stool and his hands were crossed over his laps while his chocolate brown eyes watched her instensely. As she looked to him he gave her another hint of a smile. He was surprised she didn't already know his name from the amount of time that he gotten points awarded to him in class but she had already proven her inability to pay attention to anything academic.

"It's Mateo." He spoke his own name with the softest hint of a Spanish accent, "Most people just call me Matty though." He looked to her once more, trying to ignore the fact that she had managed to spell Aconitum wrong, "You're Quinn right?"

"It's Mateo," the boy introduced himself, and Quinn raised her eyebrows, visibly impressed.
"Awesome name, mate," she replied, nodding in appreciation. "What's the story behind such a grand name like that?" Her voice was riddled with a sense of confidence and trust; it had never been intentional, but Quinn had this certain quality that could make even the most nervous person at ease. What you saw is what you got; a slightly insane but ever-welcoming young woman.

Flicking through the boys textbook, her warmness was momentarily interrupted by that foreboding sense of academic anxiety.
"And what cures are about for these sort of plants then?" she asked, shaking her long blonde locks a little as if trying to rattle out an answer from her brain. "Nothing too specific, just something, anything to hand-in." Quinn couldn't help but giggle at her own lax attitude towards school - for her, it was a place to make friends and be carefree, not slave away over a textbook morning, noon and night. Sure, her grades would be mediocre if she was extremely lucky, but Quinn always said that she'd rather have a chest full of outrageous stories to tell her grandkids rather than have three or four framed certificates of scholastic aptitude. Grades were fleeting, but enjoying your youth? Well, that was forever.

"You're Quinn right?" he asked, and she nodded quickly in reply, dipping her tattered quill in a nearby inkpot.
"That's correct - ten points my friend." Looking up and giving Matty a smile, she would much rather have sat and chatted to a near-enough stranger for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe, for once in her life, Quinn could balance the next few hours; balance it between polite, light conversation in contrast to boring, light notes.

Fat chance.

Matty chuckled softly when she inquired further into his name, "It's a family name. My mother's from Spain initially and most of our family is still over there. We spend most of our summers there. I'm named after my great grand father on my mother's side. My brothers and sisters all have Spanish names as well. Raul, Camila, Tomas, Marguerite, and Gabriel. There's uh, there's a lot of us." He almost blushed. He knew that most people didn't have families as large as his nor were they six years younger than their next sibling.

He leaned over again looking closer at what she had already written which given the circumstances actually wasn't that bad. She wasn't going to be getting an O for it but he didn't think it would get her a T either, "Well a bezoar will pretty much stop any sort of poison. Are you looking for something more specific?" For some reason Matty couldn't remember what he had put in his own essay. He had finished it the night it had been assigned and he had completed so many other projects since then that he was drawing a blank now.

Then again that blank could be helped by the fact that to his surprise up close Quinn was a pretty girl and she wasn't as weird or abrasive as he had always thought she would be. She was nice and kind of funny and it only made him want to help her with her work more. Matty returned her smile and looked back to her essay, "Hold on a sec, okay?" He walked back over to where his bag was and went through a collection of his notes before heading back to her and handing her a roll of parchment, "It's not the actual essay but it's the rough draft, collection of thoughts and what not. Figured it might speed up the process." He gave her another smile. It wouldn't be cheating since he wasn't telling her to copy his actual essay, it was just all the information she needed to put the whole thing in her own words.

"How continental!" she replied, giving him a grin of approval. No matter who it was, Quinn had a knack for complimenting people, and finding that little source of background she could praise. It was nice to be nice. "Good name, that is. I'm an only child, and a bit Irish, and a tiny bit Belgian, but that's it. Pretty much English through and through." Looking up, she gave him another absent-minded smile, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"A bezoar?" she asked, sticking out her bottom lip and nodding, quickly scribbling it down. "Nah mate, no need for specifics. I just need something, anything, to put down." Homework wasn't there to be struggled over, it was there to be done. In Quinn's eyes, as long as there was something for the teacher to read, then there shouldn't be a problem. Surely they wouldn't expect her make an effort - if anything, she was saving them time by making her answers short and sweet. How considerate!

"Hold on a sec, okay?" he asked, Quinn continuing to scribble down notes in her messy handwriting.
"Yeah, sure," she murmured, glancing up to see him trot over to his bag. Returning to her end of the table, Mateo offered her a rough draft, and Quinn rested her hand on the scroll, beaming and brimming with excitement.
"Dude, are you sure?!" she laughed loudly in shock, completely forgetting that this was a library - a place where girls like McAvoy didn't stray too often. "You are a lifesaver!" Immediately unrolling the rough essay, Quinn was taken aback by the depth of Mateo's knowledge - and this was just a draft? He'd written more in one assignment than Quinn had all term.

Reading through it and periodically returning to scrawl upon her tattered excuse for parchment, Quinn shook her head in disbelief, turning to Mateo once more with a wide grin of respect.
"Erm, are you like a genius, or something?" she asked, patting his shoulder in camaraderie and applause. "You put me to shame, man."

A genuine smile had curled his lips and colour had risen to his cheeks. He wasn't used to being complimented like this. He knew he was smart that had always come natural to him but he wasn't without his faults. There were days where he would give every O he had ever gotten to be able to properly understand how emotions worked and why people got so crazy over them. Emotions were something that completely alluded him and made things difficult in certain situations with his friends.

"Yeah um I guess I am." Matty couldn't remember if he had ever been called a genius before. There was a definite blush on his cheeks something that he also wasn't used to. Being around Quinn was giving him some new experiences he didn't know he was missing, "Don't mention it. I just figured it would help. You just don't seem to be the kind of girl . . ." He cut himself off before being able to throw his foot in his mouth. He knew that he was always straight forward and sometimes girls didn't like that. He had no idea if a girl like Quinn would appreciate what he had to say and tried to think of a different way to approach it.

"What I mean is - " When in doubt go with being charming, "A pretty girl like you doesn't need to be wasting away in the library fussing over an assignment when you could be out having fun. Figure that will help you speed things up." Hopefully that came out better than his first response would have. To be honest Matty spent a lot of time in the library and he didn't think he had ever seen Quinn so much as step one foot inside before. He was surprised she actually knew where the Library was. Quinn was a nice girl and up close like this she definitely was pretty but her work ethic left something to be desired.

"A pretty girl?" she said, with a smirk. "Damn boy, you sure are a sly fox charmer!" Giggling, Quinn leaned her head back, making a few more notes and scribbling out a spelling mistake she'd spotted earlier. Glancing up again, she gave the boy another smirk; Quinn always had a soft spot for a bashful gent. It was all about supporting the underdog was one of Quinn's many motivations in life.

Writing a few more words, she shrugged and finally folded it up, ready to hand in to Professor Bombay.
"You know Matty, you're right," she finally said, her voice enthusiastic and high-pitched. "Let's cut this study session short and do something fun." Piling her books and pieces of stray parchment up in a heap, Quinn placed both palms on the table leaning forward. "How about going down to Hogsmeade or something? Taking an afternoon off?"

Who was Quinn kidding? Library? Studying? She'd done the work, and it was the bare minimum; as long as she passed the subject she had no problem whatsoever. Like her father, Quinn wanted to be a Quidditch commentator (or a full time party girl with Clarissa Klint and Lou Carter). Who need grades for that? All you needed was a truckload of confidence, a wad of loudness and a dash of Quidditch knowledge.

Although there wasn't a full blown smile on his lips it shone in his eyes and his cheeks went rosey as she endlessly complimented him. He was definitely not used to it. He was interested in settling down, perhaps before or even during his intership at the Ministry but he was still in the beginning stages of finding a girl he liked and that didn't lead to many compliments heading in his directions.

A smile finally cracked when she suggested the two of them heading out and having some fun. He was definitely up for having some fun. All of his homework was finished and he had even managed to help a fellow student with their work, he deserved to have a little fun. However running off to Hogsmeade on a day that wasn't already authorized for visitation may be a little more fun than he was willing to have. On the other hand though he was an adult and he was in his final year at school, perhaps it was time for him to have that kind of fun.

"Sounds good." He began to gather his things and turned back to Quinn, "So Hogsmeade then? You know a good way to get there that doesn't involve walking out the front door?"

"Everyone needs a break in a while," she replied, a mischievous smirk on her face. Quinn's sentiment was true, yet her entire life at Hogwarts had virtually been a 'break'; partying, kicking boys to the curb and hanging out with Grace and Lou. The bare minimum was all you needed in life. Quinn hoped one day to become a Quidditch commentator like her dad (aka Quinn's idol). Who needed grades? All that was necessary was a robust personality and a heft dose of opinion. It was a job Quinn felt she was born to do.

"Hogsmeade sounds good enough to me." The blonde smiled, hurriedly scraping textbooks and rolls of parchment into her bag, not caring for creases and organisation. "We can fly there, man!" Quinn had always been a bit too boisterous to be a Quidditch player herself, and after attacking a Keeper with her broom during trials, it was quite evident that Quinn had far too much energy even for the most popular wizarding sport. However, any given opportunity to ride her beloved broomstick was quickly grabbed with both glitter-splattered hands.

"Don't tell me you're scared that a girl will be a better flyer than you though," she joked, prodding his arm. "Believe it or not, I'm quite the pilot!" Quinn beamed, her toothy grin radiating a comic sense of confidence. She was the most fun interruption anybody could have to a studying session.

A deeper blush spread across his cheeks as she said they could simply fly there. While it was definitely one of the easier ways to get in and out of the school grounds it was also one of the showiest. With her reputation for being a party girl that didn't really care for her marks he had assumed she would know of at least one of the hidden passageways that led out of the castle and into the nearby wizarding village. That plan seemed to be a lot less conspicuous than simply grabbing up their brooms and taking a joy ride. Not to mention the fact that Matty hadn't ridden his broom in nearly a year. Gabriel had bought him one for his sixteenth birthday but he rarely rode it. He wasn't a horrible flier, he actually enjoyed being on the magical transport devices he just really didn't like heights.

Matty chuckled softly as he finished gathering his things into his book bag and throwing it over his shoulders, "Trust me, most girls are better fliers than I am, I have no shame in that." He gave her another soft smile and started to head out of the library with her on their way to collect their brooms for their flight, "I just don't like being up too high." Unlike other men his age Matty didn't view fears as weaknesses. No one truly had any weaknesses, it was all just variables in the equations of their lives. Matty's fear of heights was a variable that affected the equation of successfully flying his broom or spending time on the Astronomy tower.

"As long as you don't let me fall, we should be fine."