Autumn Leaves- marylily

It's from McLaggen

Mary had walked to class with a small smile on her face, having had her first uneventful day in a while. She had woken up on time for a change, no shitty teachers, no study sessions, no arguments. The day had been smooth sailing.

That was, until, potions class. Professor Slughorn being as annoying as he so often was, decided it a good idea to assign partner work for this particular lesson, or shall I say topic. He had partnered Mary and Lily together for the week in which they were studying this potion.

Of course, he had no way of knowing the recent... incident that had gone down between the two. In fact, nobody did. Neither of the girls had told a soul.

So, as you might imagine, them being partnered together to study Amortentia had caused a decidedly awkward silence between them.

The professor droned on, instructing the class about which pages to study, which questions to answer. Mary had her eyes absentmindedly glued to the table, Lily had her head tilted in thought as she listened to the man.

However, Mary was pulled out of her daydreams by a whisper of her name coming from the desk behind them.

"Psst! Macdonald!" A Ravenclaw girl, who's name she had never cared to learn, whispered.

Slowly turning her head, so as not to be caught by Slughorn, she raised a questioning eyebrow.

"What? What is it?"

The girl held her hand out towards Mary, a note between her fingers.

"I don't know, it's from McLaggen!"

Mary's eyes flitted up, scanning the room for the boy. He was sat at one of the desks in the corner of the classroom, smirking as he raised a flirtatious eyebrow at her.

Taking the note from the Ravenclaw girl, she began to quietly unfold it, mindful not to make too much noise.

Lily sat beside her, her eyebrows furrowed, an irritated expression on her face.

The curly-haired girl began reading the note, which read:

Macdonald,

Me + you, Hogsmeade this weekend?

- Lorcan Mclaggen

P.S, you look beautiful today.

Mary turned back to Lorcan, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head towards him

The boy merely winked in return.

Huffing, Lily whispered urgently from beside her. "What does it say?!"

Turning to the red headed girl, she said slowly. "He asked me to Hogsmeade this weekend."

Lily shook her head, her eyes wide and her eyebrows furrowed. "Well, you're going to say no, aren't you?" Though, truthfully, that was less questioning and more pleading.

Lily desperately hoped she'd say no, even though she felt incredibly guilty for feeling that way. Deep down, very deep down, the girl knew how she felt for Mary, but she also hated that she felt that way.

Whatever would her parents say?!

She steadfastly refused to admit it to herself. So, like everything else, she continued to bury it. If she doesn't acknowledge it, it can't get to her.

Mary was quiet beside her. She was still wound up about the moment with Lily the other day, it was bothering her. Maybe a distraction wasn't such a bad idea?

In fairness, Lorcan was a very attractive boy, easily one of the most attractive in Gryffindor. So although she was slightly apprehensive, for reasons she couldn't explain, she mumbled. "I don't know, I think I'll say yes."

Not that she actually felt anything for boy, but she could use a date. It had been a while, and she was never opposed to a fancy restaurant. Lorcan was quite well-off money wise, so that was a guarantee.

Whatever takes her mind off of Lily, she found herself thinking of her a lot lately. Whatever distracts her from this weird feeling she has, constantly in her stomach.

Lily's head whipped back to the girl beside her. "What, no! He's a player, Mary!"

"So what? It's only a date." She shrugged.

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but instead she just sighed, slumping down in her chair.

Mary turned back to Lorcan with a flirtatious smile, offering a little nod in his direction, accepting his offer. It wasn't like she was crushing on him or anything, she just enjoyed flirting with boys. It was fun, made her feel powerful. Not to mention the ego boost...

A cheeky grin came over his face, raising his eyebrows playfully, winking again.

Mary giggled and turned back to the textbook the girls were meant to be working out of. "Right, so what are we doing, I didn't listen to a word Slughorn said."

Lily gaped at her for a moment, faltering.

How could she move on from that so quickly, act like it was nothing... like the other day in the library was nothing...

...I wish it was me she was going on a date with.

Quickly shaking her head, attempting to clear the thought, Lily brought her hands up to her forehead.

Stop! You can't think like that!

Christ, all this talk about Amortentia isn't helping.

Oblivious to her friends inner torment, Mary rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "...Well?"

Lifting her head up, the freckled girl took a deep breath. "We're looking at the history of Amortentia, just read this and answer these questions." She said, a slight edge to her voice.

Mary narrowed her eyes in confusion, concern. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Lily grumbled in return.

"You sure, Lils?"

God, there's that nickname again, threatening to undo her entirely.

Something a few people call her, but it's just so different coming from those lips.

Those lips...

Silently cursing herself, Lily covered her face with the palms of her hands, breathing sharply into them. Bringing them down to rest on her thighs, she offered a tense smile. "I'm fine... just been a long day."

Unconvinced, but getting the feeling she should drop it, Mary just nodded. "Right, okay. Well, I'm here if you need me." She said gently, beginning to scan through the textbook.