babbling beverage, muted -open-

Potions was finally over. A small sigh escaped the Young Longbottom's lips. He had never been too fond of the class. Nearly because for some reasons something always went wrong. Alix was the type of boy that could recite a spell but struggle to cast the spell perfectly. He was the type of person that could read a book and remember word by word. He was the type of kid that could watch Qudditch and keep up but not play the game without falling off his broom. He was basically the type of guy that almost knew anything in the world from all the reading he had done. But when it came to being able to physically do anything it always stumped him. The object that helped him when it came to his schooling was simple really. Essays, reading, his notes, writing assignments were what saved him and gave him the great grades he had. However, when it came to those rotten projects of putting his knowledge to work he had to work extra hard at getting what he needed to be done. Usually he was able to accomplish his goals but sometimes things just failed him.

Today things had simply failed the poor Longbottom. He seemed to always have his father's luck, but his father seemed to manage through school, as would Alix. It just did not exactly feel that way for him today. The class had been working on the Babbling Beverage potion, which as Alix had predicted he knew how to make perfectly but he predicted wrong again. He had all the ingredients, and all the measurements perfectly written down. They were not allowed to use their books today only their notes. He felt prepared but he was wrong again. Instead of making a potion that made a person talk excessively it had muted his tester. The person was not able to speak for a good five minutes before they shot Alix a glare for giving them such a disaster of a potion. The only plus side to his failed mistake was it had not blown up. This had surprisingly happened to the poor Longbottom bloke before. It wasn't like Alix was the only one that messed up the potion In fact, other students messed it up bigger than he had to the point the Professor refused people to test their potion. It had not mattered to Alix though for he always beat himself up more than he should have.

He let out a sigh as he left the classroom, wand in his hand as he gently tapped it along the dungeon halls. Not paying much attention to where he was going too flustered from last class he bumped into someone. His face turned a light shade of red as he looked up stuttering out a, "I'm s-sorry"

She had been struggling all day, in the library her nose shoved into her potions book for what seemed like hours, she couldn't figure it out. An agrivated sigh escaped the redhead's lips as she got to her feet passing Romeo with a light nod of her head so he would note her goodbye and she headed down toward the dungeons in haste, a mission on her mind, a mission to figure out this stupid potion they had done in clas. She would nail the teacher down with questions until she got this darn thing perfect. She was looking at her feet, her potions book clutched in her hands as she muttered to herself,"Stupid potions...stupid class, stupid babbling whatsit macall it" she murmured it was then that she felt a sudden pressure and she found herself on the ground, her bum hitting the cobblestone and her big doe like eyes looking up to see who she had been so careless to bump into. Her cheeks turned a light pink, Alix Longbottom, oh how he was handsome and she always saw him around but rarely ever spoke to him. She got to her feet before he could attempt to help her up and she brushed off the bottom of her skirt and looked down at her shoes in a semi shy manner,"Its alright Alix, really, it was my fault, not paying attention, I'm just so frusterated over that bloody potion from today's class....how'd you do with it?" she asked, she had taken the class the period before him so she seemed to always pass in between classes but she was truly curious if he had any luck because if he did maybe he could help her. She chewed her bottom lip her eyes glancing back up at him through her curled red locks and she batted her lashes,"You probably did better than I did" she said giving him more credit than herself which was rare for her to do.

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His face had flushed red by now. It was never really a hard thing for his face to accomplish. It was part of the fact that Alix Longbottom was rather socially awkward. He had never been good when it came to meeting new people. The only thing that saved him from being a hermit was his family. His father had been very close to Harry Potter growing up, even helped Potter in defeating Voldomort at least back at the Castle before the war. A fact the young Longbottom boy always looked upon proudly, his father was a great man. An object that really saved Longbottom was that his family often met up with the Potter's and Weasey's they were family friends, and because of this it helped him make new friends because they were often always around him. He grew used to them, even if they were around often though, sometimes he slumped back into his own little mind hiding in his shyness. It just took him to be in the right mood to get him to talk freely.

He looked down at whom he had bumped into; before he could offer to help her up, she was already standing. A small smile formed upon his face. A bit of a relief, it had only been Lucy Weasley he knocked over. No, he wasn't happy because he might have hurt her. However, he was glad it was not someone that would rip his head off for being clumsy. "Are you ok?" he asked her, though it already looked like she was perfectly fine. He still felt the need to make sure. He had known Lucy for quite some time now, always one of the nicest girls he ever spoke to. She was a Hufflepuff and only a year older than him, but she of course, was one of the people he knew through his father. He really had grown to admire all the Potter's and Weasleys. His heart stung a bit just thinking about the pain they must all be going through. Harry Potter was a great man, and rather family to even the Longbottoms.

His face went another shade of red as he shook his head about the Potions Class, "I..." he stumbled over his words a bit, rather normal for Alix Longbottom. "I muted my tester," he muttered out, that shade of red still on his face. "I thought I had it... but... well, I just didn't..." he let out with a sigh, racking a hand through his hair.

She couldn't help but notice the flush of pink on his cheeks and she looked him over, she was just now beginning to realize she must look like a complete mess, her hair was as if she'd just rolled out of bed because she had about pulled it out of her pretty skull in the library with her frustration. She raked a hand through her own hair before she gnawed on her bottom lip,"Well...um..maybe we could figure it out together? I really don't want to bother Miss Castranova with juvenile questions, would you like to help me and we could figure it out together?" she asked figuring that was the best way to go. She let her eyes meet his and she found herself smiling a little more, for being a year younger than her, she always thought him to be quite mature for his age. She swallowed hard and rocked back and forth on her heels awaiting an answer. The way he had looked at her though with an almost concern in his eyes made her wonder if he what he was thinking? Did he pity her foolishness for having bumped into him? Did he see her disshelvelled appearance and find it quite unattractive and concerning that a girl could possibly bring herself out in public looking like a wreck. She looked down now feeling she was over thinking things now, he wouldn't want to hang around her, nobody wanted to hang around her lately, either her cousins and siblings were mourning and depressed over her uncle's death or people were concerned that she herself was as much a mess as half of them. She licked her lips and shook her head,"I mean...nevermind that's... maybe that's not a good idea, I'm sure you have other things you'd rather do" she said not looking up at him now.

He glanced her over checking to make sure she was ok. She hadn't said anything which caused him to frown a bit. He would never forgive himself he had harmed her. It seemed she was okay though which made him mentally sigh a small relief. She was standing and talking, not still on the ground looking like she was in miserable pain. He gave a quick smile at her suggestion of working on potions together. It was never a bad idea to work more regarding any sort of classes. Lucy Weasley was also not the type of person that had ever made him feel stupid. As much as he adored his fellow Ravenclaw friends sometimes they were thickheaded when it came to study sessions and school. He had a select few that were easy-going which he loved. Yet, sometimes some could not grasp how he could be so smart in the head but never able to perform things physically right off the bat. Eventually, the Longbottom boy was able to grasp concepts it just took a little more practice then the majority of his house.

Before he was even able to respond, she had changed her mind. "Oh, well, I mean practice makes perfect... I don't know how I would have anything better to do then better myself in class..." he mentioned. However, now he wasn't certain if she was the one that had better things to do. Maybe, she realized half way through the suggestion she did not actually want to hang out with him. He wasn't about to go forcing himself upon someone that did not want to be near him. He knew he was thinking a little dramatically but he hated to be a person someone was just dealing with because they had to, "But, we don't have to if you don't want to," he gave her a polite smile, running a hand through his hair again.

He said he'd have nothing better to do and a smile crept along her full lips and she looked up at him through her red locks, her smile was truly genuine and touched her eyes as she rocked on her heels before she spoke,"Oh I have nothing better to do either, we should go to the student lounge and we can figure it out" she said eagerly as she reached out and she grabbed his hand absent mindedly before she found herself dragging the poor boy along with her, away from the dungeons and up the staircases until they reached the not so crowded student lounge. She looked down at their hands that obnoxious pink color touching her cheeks again as she cleared her throat and glanced around,"Oh perfect!" she said excitedly as she pulled him over to an empty spot in the corner where some pillows were laid on the floor. She sat down cross legged and though she didn't want to, she slowly released his hand before she patted the spot beside her and looked up at him with a dimpled grin,"I don't bite, c'mon" she said as she opened up her potions book in her lap and she pulled out her notebook from her messenger bag. She chewed her bottom lip thumbing through the book's pages as she sighed,"I really wish little things like this didn't stress me out so much" she muttered.

A bright smile appeared on the young boys face. These were the type of people he liked to surround himself with. Lucy Weasley was a very nice girl and he never felt like he had to try to be something he wans't with her. He was able to have decent conversations with her without her making him feel silly. She also was easy to interact with in the sense of they could just run off and work on class assignments together without her trying to constantly nag him to do and become something he wasn't. Alix Longbottom always seemed to put his schoolwork first, and it was always great to be able to have a friend that was willing to work on class assignments with him. It just meant that if they were responsible and got everything done, then the fun could arrive. He was not expecting Lucy to want to hang out after but it would still be nice to spend some time with her either way.

His eyes narrowed down as she grabbed his hand, a faint red appearing on his face. He may have known her for a while now but it hadn't mattered. He still got awfully shy around her once in a while, among other girls. The fact that she was holding his hand took him a bit off-guard, for he was not quite accustomed to girls physically touching him, unless they were his sisters or mum. He gave a small laugh as he followed her, then when they reached the Student Lounge he took a seat next to her, giving a soft smile, as he opened up his book. "Me too," he nodded in agreement. "Where should we start?" he asked, then paused giving her a curious look "What happened with your potion?" he asked her.

She looked down slightly embarrassed at his question and she chewed her bottom lip,"It exploded, granted you must know I believe Fitz Finnigan may have dropped something into my cauldron by accident," she said knowing that boy had a habit of mixing up which cauldron was his when beside someone else. She glanced up at Alix through her hair and she grinned,"So mine could have been no fault of my own or it could have been something I did but I'm sure it was something Fitz did" she said with a light nod of her head before skimming the pages of her book,"To be quite honest I have no clue where we should begin, do you?" she asked as she handed him her book so he could look through it and decide where a good starting point would be. She licked her lips as she found herself gazing at him again, bad habit for the girl, he was just so pretty though with that oh so gentle smile and the fact he was so quiet some times always made her wonder if he was shy or nervous. She found herself getting lost in her thoughts, oh how his eyes danced over pages when he read and how occasionally he'd flip his hair from his face or ruffle it, he was too cute. She snapped herself back to reality and she looked up at him blinking,"Oy I'm not so sure that looking through the book is gonna help any, potions is so much more hands on..." she muttered as she heard her stomach growl, great now she was hungry and frusterated with her studies.

A little laugh escaped his lips. He knew Fitz Finnigan that poor boy sometimes had the worst of luck. His father was always telling him how Seamus constantly burnt things up in classes. It seemed to never matter what class either, it was not just potions. It seemed the wand never seemed to like to cooperate perfectly for Seamus. His father once told him how he had been in the grunt of the burning and it had left marks all over him for weeks. Alix always loved to talk to his father about the old days with him and his friends. He was right proud to be Neville Longbottom's son. The Weasley and Potter adults always told Alix he had a pretty brave dad and Alix felt this was the truth. Ginny Potter often spoke very highly of his father. "Poor Fitz," he spoke, with a small smile on his face.

He glanced down at the pages and felt the same way as she had. Potions was very hands on and that was where he was struggling. If it had been just writing and reading, he would be doing perfectly okay in the class. It was just trying to put the potions together that he somehow managed a mess. It seemed his hands never knew how to put the magic together only his mind. "I wonder if we would be able to use the class for practice...I know the Professor's last class gets out in thirty minutes..." he pondered. Usually the Professor was very nice on allowing the Longbottom boy to stay and practice. With Alix's practicing, he usually was able to perfect what he needed to perfect. It just took a little longer than most people's perfection. "We could go grab a bite to eat in the kitchens while we wait?" he suggested giving a quirky smile.

He had heard her stomach growl earlier but had not made note of it. He had not wanted to embarrass the girl. Not that it would have but a lot of things embarrassed Alix. He hated when his stomach would rumble in the middle of class. He hated when there was any chance that he would do something and someone’s attention would immediately turn to him, it wasn't as if this happened often but it didn't stop the red flush from appearing on his cheeks, "I'm hungry," he ended with. He wasn't that hungry but it hadn't really matted. What better way to pass the time then eating? He did have a healthy appetite after all.

She grew slightly irritated and she gently took the book back from him and she snapped it shut before shoving it into her messenger bag and she looked at him for a long moment as he spoke of maybe using the potions classroom. In actuality she was beginning not to care so much about working on the potion she just kind of wanted to spend some time with him at this point. She skimmed her bottom lip with her teeth as he mentioned food, had he really heard her stomach? How embarrassing. She smiled though as she twirled a lock of her hair with her index finger and she grinned before pushing herself to her feet and she offered him her hand,"Food sounds exceptional actually, and maybe lets just go grab some food and we'll see where to go from there, if we can snag some time in the classroom then sure, but maybe if we get distracted we get distracted" she said as she pulled him to his feet and she pulled him gently toward the halls and back along the staircases and back downward. She made sure to fall more in step beside him rather than in front of him and she kept hold of his hand absently,"Soo...um how are you?" she asked not usually one for small talk but it wasn't like she could just be so openly blunt with him, he was a gentler kind, one that needed to be approached with fragility and kindness. She looked up at him with wide eyes and batted her eyelashes,"Alix..." no she couldn't be so trivial in asking such things so instead she glanced down at her feet and grew quiet, with any other boy she'd be right open, walk right up to them and ask them a million things thus ending with the most important questions of dates she'd be taken on but with him, she felt she couldn't be so forward.

Alix bit down on his bottom lip. His book proceeded to close shortly after her own. She seemed to have changed her mind on the potions. It made Alix struggle with his thoughts just a slight bit. Being Alix Longbottom he struggled when it came to putting fun over school work, and upping his grades. This was one unfortunate trait he received on his own. His parents never nagged him about his grades; it just came naturally to the Longbottom boy. It was his one individual trait he held differently than all the other Longbottoms. Which explained rather well as to why he never ended up in Hufflepuff like his mum and sister, even though he had the hearts that they both held. Nor did he end up in Gryffindor even though when it came to it, he was just as loyal, and if needed to be brave for loved ones would be, as they would as well. It was his brains that set him apart from the other Longbottoms, his needing to achieve highly in school.

He allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, and gave a small smile. "Alright," he breathed out, his face going a light shade of red. He decided spending time with Lucy wouldn't hurt too awful bad to his schooling. Besides, he could always make time for Potions sometime later. It wasn't every day that Lucy came up to him asking to hang-out. It would be good to be around people, his parents would most certainly worry less about the friends he was making. "I'm good, how are you, Lucy?" he asked giving her a whole hearted smile. His eyes scanning down at their hands that were interlocked. He was not so used to girls holding hands with him or girls really talking to him in general... but he certainly enjoyed the contact he was having with the slightly older girl. His eyes averted from their hands up to her eyes when she said his name, "Yeah?" he asked.