YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN.

he did not drop his gaze, even when he noticed her cheeks flush. augustus was aware that the scrutiny she was under from only him was uncalled for, perhaps even bordering on plain rude, and yet he found himself suddenly unable to tear his eyes away from her. here she was, out of place, a speck of yellow in a sea of green, but she remained, despite the amount of embarrassment she was clearly feeling. as she spoke, augustus contemplated what he’d be doing if he were in her shoes. running for the hills, he decided. 

he really did laugh at her poor joke, and sincerely as well, with each passing second becoming more and more drawn to her — the reason, he couldn’t quite put his finger on. she didn’t remind him of anyone he knew, certainly not, and he considered whether it might instead be down to the complete opposite —— she didn’t remind him of anyone he knew at all, and to the tired slytherin, that was a welcome breath of fresh air. 

as she fumbled through what he assumed was some sort of attempt at a compliment, augustus lowered his head finally, turning just as scarlet as the girl had done previously. ‘ uhh, ’ he stalled, offering an awkward chuckle as an initial response, mind racing as he found himself unable to formulate any real words. somehow, even though she’d effectively said exactly what his ego had been wanting to hear, he was thrown. ‘ er, i mean… cool ? i know. i mean… not “i know”, that’s… that’s a really weird thing to say, actually. sorry, it’s just… ’ 

he rubbed his face again, sighly loudly at his own ineptitude when it came to this sort of thing, thinking that this was exactly the sort of time to be using the time turner he’d so proudly turned down in his fifth year. gladly, the words that came out of riley’s mouth next let him off the hook, and he pretended that he’d not just been unable to finish a simple sentence. 

‘ go for it, ’ he nodded, leaning back in his seat, all of a sudden feeling like he was sitting far too close to her, despite the whole table of food separating the two strangers. ‘ i’ll answer anything. ’ with a quick glance at the students sat to the left and right of him, and either side of her, he was glad that none seemed to be listening in, though he was sure that at least one calculating snake would be paying attention, and he’d have a lot to answer for when he finally returned to the dungeons with his peers. 

     The fact was, she couldn’t tell if he was confident & bad with words or if he was just as nervous as she was  -- yet she still wanted to talk to him. It was surprising to her, even after all of that, the dropping of food, the staring, the anxiety, he was willing to engage with her, answer any of her questions -- it was what made all the difference in Riley staying and leaving. For now, she could pretend it was only them at this table, she could force herself to ignore her anxiety telling her they were all staring at them, she could focus on THIS conversation that was ending up a lot better than she could’ve expected. 

    “Anything? Really? You’re brave, you sure you should be wearing Silver and Green? That’s not an actual question, but,” she shrugged, as she continued. “Alright, what’s your name? ‘Cause, I feel that’s sort of IMPORTANT to ask at this point. I won’t forget it either, I promise,” reaching over for her goblet, she took another sip, trying to focus. 

     “I am Riley. Hufflepuff, obviously. Lover of memes. To confess, even though I sat here on accident, I’m glad I did.” It wasn’t that she was bold, it wasn’t that she was confident, it was just that -- though she easily could’ve been projecting -- she felt an amount of nerves come from Augustus. She imagined herself in his position, being a Slytherin talking to a Hufflepuff who’d just made a mess of herself, who he didn’t even know, in a way she felt the need to make him feel comfortable. As far as she was concerned, they were in this weird slightly serendipitous conversation TOGETHER. 

“I would love to make you cookies. Actually, now that I think about it I’m just really craving some cookies.” He said, laughing a bit. “Weed doesn’t fix all of your problems Riley and if you don’t put ice on it then people are going to question you.” He said. “Oh books can wait, my friends are more important,” he stated, smiling at her.  

     “Fine, fine, you’re right, friends are more important,” though her tone came off as slightly annoyed, she did give him a smile. How lucky was she to have people who actually gave a shit about her? She’d never understand, but, when cookies and Tilden’s company was involved, she didn’t have to. MAYBE, if she was lucky enough, his goodness would rub off on her. Riley started to get up, “plus, it’d be a crime if I said no after that. A true tragedy. We’ll get ice and cookies and you’re so wrong, weed fixes ALL of my problems. I’m practically neurotypical because of weed. Have you smoked? Ever thought of smoking? I bet you’d grow some bomb ass weed, dude, at the very least.”

There was a few minutes break between the class she had just been in and the next one. Rosalind was standing around the hallways, as she was telling her friends about what had happened in Professor Flitwick’s class.

“I’m telling you, it was so hard for me not to look at the message Mildred sent me over WhatsApp. I usually love Charms class, but all I could think about was that message. I was waiting on her to tell me what she heard went on between Mitchell and Lyndsey. After that serious fight they had just before the summer holiday. I didn’t want to upset the professor, but it was so hard to focus. It felt like the class lasted forever.” A sigh escaped her lips at the last sentence, as she pulled out her phone and focused her attention on it.

     Had Riley been paying attention? Sadly, no. It was a theme more and more, with people who weren’t close to her, she could barely follow their conversations and it was FRUSTRATING -- to an extent. Who she recognized as Rosalind Greengrass was speaking to her friends, with Riley in earshot, so she followed their suit, nodding her head. “Uh, yeah, fighting is hard. I love Whatsapp a lot, though, use it to talk to my mom. But yeah, I’m sure Flitwick didn’t want to hear all of ... that but I’m sure he’d understand if you needed to have stepped out to deal with ...all of that.”

“Darling. We hate on Hufflepuffs that are dumbasses. Not all of them.” Amycus said, looking at her. “Hell I hate on Slytherins that are dumbasses. Though I do admit being close to the kitchen would he nice. But we make do.” He said. “The greens are lovely. Especially with the silvers. Very elegant. Oh you have to understand us Slytherins do enjoy our fifty shades.” He winked.

    The face journey Riley went on after his wink was something that she was sure could’ve made it on SNL or Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, only to rival the most iconic of face excursionists. “And what’s your name then?” Riley was flushed, not due to attraction but due to being uncomfortable ( though that wasn’t a foreign feeling ).. “Calling me darling and talking about 50 Shades? SURE know how to flatter a lady.”

“ FUCK, and here I thought you were going to try and pull that line on me, way to get my hopes up, Miss. America.” Marlene scoffed, shooting the other a look of disappointment. “ And I thought you were being smooth, but there goes my fun for the day, is the fucker still ‘round, think I’ve got a chance? Was he cute, I guess is a more important question?” the question rolled off their tongue without thought, listening in amusement as the other went on. “ Is there smoking involved in these HIGH holidays? because if so, I wouldn’t be opposed to joining. Was that offensive of me? Feel free to smack me across the face if it was.” They chuckled, already amused by the other’s presence. “ I mean, that’s not to say you won’t find a replacement Mr. Creep here at Hogwarts, there sure is a few.” 

    “Me? Smooth? It’ll be a cold day in hell before I’m smooth, Marlene, it’s like you don’t know me AT ALL,” she teased, though, it wouldn’t be a stretch to Riley if the other hadn’t -- it wasn’t like she offered information about herself easily. Anxiously, sporadically, nervously, but never easily. Marlene may have been one of the few that were easier to talk to due to their time over the summer together but it didn’t mean they knew her. Riley could only laugh at their questions, her arm fakely rearing up to slap Marlene before she smiled, just letting it fall. “To answer, no trust me, I wish I was high during the holy days. Not offensive at all, I know plenty of Jews who’d agree with me. No, he wasn’t cute, he actually looked like this dude I met in your common room the other day? Looks like human Shrek? Anyways, if I see the fucker again I’ll direct him to you, I’ll say there’s a human named Marlene McKinnon who’s ready to jump your bones, mister. That’ll definitely be a boner inducer.”

penelope inspected the photo riley showed her curiously before the recognition sparked. ‘ oh, of course ! you’ve tagged me in numerous versions of your… pepe, on instagram, if i recall correctly. ’ although the blonde appreciated everything her friend did for her, and every time the hufflepuff believed she’d found something cool to show her, penelope knew that being tagged in memes did not exactly fit in with her online aesthetic, although she never did have the heart to untag herself. 

glad the brunette changed the subject, the gryffindor knew her friend was likely joking about her wish to admire penelope’s feet, and yet she looked down lovingly at her own toes, appreciating not being the only one to commend her own efforts, having woken up incredibly early just to paint her toenails so perfectly. ‘ you can admire my feet whenever you like, ’ she teased girlishly, tapping riley’s forehead delicately with a faultless toe, before elegantly turning and peering under the bed at her friend’s mention of snacks. 

‘ if by snacks you mean sweets, you are in exactly the right place ! ’ rustling through her acquired treats, most admittedly gifts, she picked out a select few and began handing them backwards to riley on the bed. cauldron cakes, jelly slugs, liquorice wands and chocolate frogs started piling up in front of the huffelpuff, penelope still rummaging under her bed, and soon her mattress resembled a brimful honeydukes shelf. 

    “You got it, dude, Queen of Feet and My Right Hand in The Loving Pepe Committee,” It was no surprise that Penelope had the amount of sweets she did, besides being one of the most outrageously sweet people she knew, she also knew she was not the only one to share this opinion. As they piled up, Riley started to smile, besides the fact that she was hanging out with Penelope the sheer amount of sweets in front of them was truly transporting her to a HAPPY place. 

     “D’you remember? The first time we went to Hogsmeade? I had about this much candy, I don’t think I could’ve survived without you guiding me, honestly, but wow,” she reached for a jelly slug and a liquorice wand to start. A wave of NOSTALGIA hit her, followed by a wave of sadness. Sure, Riley wasn’t the most happy person but she was able to find happy moments. Times like this with Penelope were one of them. But the thought still lingered -- what was she going to do when she was graduated?

Tilden looked up from the book he was reading as he heard the other speak. “Oh my goodness what happened?” He asked, standing rather quickly. “Let’s get you some ice and then I can make you some cookies if you’d like?” He suggested. “Or anything really. Whatever you’d like.”

     “Make me cookies? You’re a saint, an angel, a mensch, honestly though I just want some weed right now though, we can skip the ice. Maybe for once in my life I’ll look like a badass,” though, Riley was touched by the amount of concern he had -- he was an effortlessly good person -- she admired that. “You looked pretty into in that book, which I get, I’d feel really bad to tear you away from that all because I was a WHOLE ASS IDIOT.”