The Brush Up (Lili / Cern)

[shava44444]

He was in the Library when it happened.

While Cern had been at Hogwarts he had made a few friends, but spent a lot of his time by himself mostly because of his non-interest in sports. It seemed that being a avoider of Quidditch had gotten him shunned by the jocks in his year and thus the center of attention in his year was with other people, often leaving him sidelined. And people found him odd as he was better built then most of his year through hard work at home and extremely graceful in his movements, but he came across as a real mix of male and female energy for some reason. Personally he thought it unfair that just because he liked art and dancing that he should have less friends, but so be it. Overall because of the social scene, he was seen as non-threatening and "safe."

Just more evidence in his mind people were dumb.

At the moment he had transfiguration homework and he had just come to the end of a thought in his paper and was debating on whether another source was going to be needed when a group of girls and guys sat down at his table taking up all the remaining seats. He wasn't asked (they were full of conversation at that moment) and it transitioned into him being the only one at the table uncomfortable with the situation. Frowning as he looked down at his paper, he didn't listen close enough to the conversation and was thus very surprised when the person next to him pulled their chair away so another could sit between them. Again, not asked and treated almost like the furniture he was about to start collecting his things to move when he caught the smell of candy and looked up, startled.

The person sitting down beside him was Lili Noir! Unbeknown to him, his interest in her had been noticed by a few of his year (the sad looks when she passed by or watching her in a crowd instead of what was happening) and a couple of the matchmakers had been giggling about trying to force them together sometime as Lili was kinda of extra-clumsy and shy around new people. So since two of those were in this crowd and they had seen someone waving her over to come sit with them, one of the girls had taken a chance and made a natural space beside them, steering her to being right up against him. And with as many people as there were, quietly busy chatting despite the Librarian's sharp look, she was very very close to him.

Cern swallowed, suddenly flush and nervous. Lili had been a secret crush of his for most of the last year, her amazing hair so distracting and long, her voice enchanting far beyond her personal looks. As she sat down her arm brushed his bare one (as usual, Cern liked his skin exposed to the air and while he couldn't take his shirt off in the Library he was wearing sleeveless shirts a lot this fall) and his eyes crossed at the idea of how soft she was. Wanting to say anything, anything to just be noticed, he spoke only half thinking and flushed a bit harder after. "Hi, um, let me know if I'm in your way any. Lili." He only half raised his eyes to her, a glimmer of her face but not willing to risk seeing what was in her eyes, how she might be seeing him. he returned his eyes to his paper, ready to bring them up to hers if she spoke to him, but he wasn't seeing his report at all.

A lock of her hair fell against his arm, slightly ticklishly, and he glanced at it, struck by how intense it could be and wishing his mind wasn't thinking of it like a caress instead of an accident. Girls just had long hair, damn it, it didn't mean anything! Still, his fingers itched to reach out and stroke it, hold it between his fingers and bring it closer to his nose that he might smell her shampoo at least... Ah! If only he dared!

[jasmine]

The library was one of Liliane's favorite haunts, mostly in part of the quiet. Up until the past school year, she hadn't been a social person but as things developed, the shy stuttering to others had turned into fast friendships. And as it always did, the conversation always turned to boys. Everyone wanted to know who it was she liked, but she always shied away from telling them. Not that she didn't want them to know, but she didn't want him to know.

She had taken her seat and felt the warm touch of someone's skin on her arm and right as he spoke, her eyes shot to the side. Ohmigosh...it was him. The heat rose in her cheeks as the curtain of pink hair fell to shield her face as her eyes downturned to the Charms book on the table in front of her. It took a moment before she finally choked out, "You're n-n-never in m-my way, Cern."

After that reaction, it took her gaggle of friends possibly the better part of two seconds to realize why she reacted as such. There was a surge of high pitched giggling which was met with a sharp tap on the librarian's desk. The girls stifled their giggles, but focused on her rapidly turning pink face, which only spurned a darker shade.

After a moment was taken to compose herself, she turned her gaze to him again, "Don't mind them, they're more laughing at me than you." Still pink cheeks positively glowed at this point. She couldn't believe that of all the chairs in the library, she'd been waved to this one. He may not have realized it, but quick glances were stolen in the corridors and in the common room, even in class, the attempts of building up the courage to speak to him. But, now it was working.

She pushed her hair to the side, sending a silken wash of pink hair over his arm before her arm returned to its place beside his.

[shava44444]

He missed her blush at first, but when she spoke with a stutter his eyes went directly to her face, only seeing parts of it in the wondrous pink curtain she naturally provided. His face took on a curious expression, distracted by the numerous giggles around the table and the Librarian's sharp sound. As the sound level dropped suddenly he managed to whisper back "I'm glad to hear that, my mother would tan my hide if she found out I was causing problems to anyone," he hesitated and then spoke rapidly getting the words out before he lost his nerve, "especiallysomeoneasniceasyou." He turned his face back down to his books, ears beginning to redden as he realized what the giggling was about and it was about both of them.

Even being the source of amusement couldn't break him from the rush of pleasure of being connected to her if even for a bad reason.

Were they matchmaking? Or (more likely) causing her embarrassment by putting her next to someone she was likely to feel awkward around cause they never interacted? Anger at her being teased flared and gave him enough control to look up, see the eyes upon them darting away or carefully being on others as whispers continued with softer giggles. The Librarian seemed on the edge of interfering and debating on it; gossip and silliness were not acceptable things in her Library and she did often break up groups of offenders in her space of dominance. She spoke words about them teasing her not him and he wanted to fight back against them, but had no words for it. "Well that's not nice, you don't deserve that." An idea occurred to him suddenly and he decided to make a defense for her which might tell him more about her too.

Damn, her hair was really distracting where it was right then...

Leaning over he whispered soft to prevent the others from hearing clearly "I've got to get another book for this lesson and I'd like to tell you something where they can't hear it. Meet me at Transfig, please?" Then he closed his current book and under the Librarian's eye stood clearly to go and put it back and get another. That marked him as a studier in her eyes and was probably a type of protection of it's own; she knew he had been there by himself a few minutes ago after all. He turned into the stacks, taking a circular route around to transfiguration section so it might not look as if she was going the same way. Once there he put his book back and searched quickly, finding the one he wanted about the time he heard the Librarian's voice from back there.

Dispersing justice on the disturbers? Hopefully. And if she had managed to leave before that he had, in a way only he might see, have protected her indirectly, getting her out of trouble even if her friends were teasing her later. With luck they might be too distracted by punishment and being made to move to see this as a connection until he returned to the table either with her or without her. It was only then as he stood there that he suddenly realized he had told her he had something to tell her and he didn't. His blood ran cold, goose bumps down his back as he heard someone approaching and began to rack his brain for what he could do that wasn't too embarrassing or idiotic.

[jasmine]

Meet him in transfiguration? Oh, boy. Here's to hoping she didn't do anything super stupid to embarrass him. As he disappeared behind the shelves, a pair of bright brown eyes glanced over a book at her. "He likes you!" She turned so red before she got up, tripped over the leg of the chair, and stumbled up to her feet and made her way across the library and disappeared into the shelves. She let her fingertips across the bridges of the books as she neared the Transfiguration section.

"Hi, Cern...you had something to say? She smiled brightly and tilted her head to one side. After a moment, she drew up the sleeves of her robes as she watched him standing there and a tickling sensation drew her attention to her arm only to see Liam Brown's spider crawling up her arm.

"Yeek!" With one swift movement, she knocked the spider from her arm and surged over to duck behind Cern, peering around his side to make sure it wasn't following her. The librarian made her way over and jumped at the sight of the creature, sharply calling Liam to collect the creature. He uttered sincere apologies, scooping up the creature and taking him away. Lili shuddered as the coursed through her spine and took a step away from him. "I'm so sorry. I hate spiders so much!"

Now she was embarrassed, beyond any stretch of the word. "I-I-I'm sorry." She started giggling softly and turned as pink as her hair.

[shava44444]

Realizing his mistake, he knew there was one thing he wanted to ask her, but he was scared of the answer and what it might be. Still in a split second, he didn't have any other ideas come to mind either. As he stood up and turned towards her, he found himself short of breath suddenly and for the first time noticed her face was flushed. Curious, his question started to come out as "Um, are you all right? I didn't do any--" when she reacted to the spider. His eyes grew rather large as she threw it off and ran over behind him. The spider managed to land upright and hesitated. When the Librarian had sent one of the other student's to get it, he heard her lecturing them as she scattered the group to various tables.

As she stepped out from behind him he reached out and caught her sleeve. "No no, don't feel bad! It takes a special kind of person to like them. I'm not afraid of them, but they can be pretty scary when you aren't expecting them." 'I'd protect you from them...' he didn't say outloud. He gave her a tentative smile, releasing her sleeve and then felt good enough about it he went ahead and spoke. "Since they were picking on you like you said, when I saw the Librarian thinking of coming over, I found an excuse to get you away from them. Sounds like she is dealing with them now."

It made him feel good even if he shouldn't really claim it like a hero might.

The flush crept up again on his face as he asked quietly "Um, that was okay wasn't it? I mean, if you are mad at me for not rescuing anyone else..." Ah sh!t, did he just ruin his chance? Although it didn't sound like she was giving out points or anything, just forcing the group to spread out and get quiet so as to not disturb others. "Um...I do have a question if you don't mind me asking something kind of personal..." His flush grew into a full blush, feeling the heat come to his cheeks while he looked at her chin, unable to meet her eyes fully.

"Do you, ah, have a boyfriend? Or are you dating one of those guys or something?" Behind his back he crossed his fingers and raised his eyes to hers, hoping to whatever gods actually existed that the answer was what he hoped it would be. Man! If his sister saw him now he'd never hear the end of it...

[jasmine]

"Mad? Oh, heck no. You're my hero today! I hate spiders! In Defense Against the Dark Arts, when we faced the boggart...yeah...mine was a huge spider of the likes I could have died in sheer terror from! Oh, I had nightmares for weeks from that thing, even after Professor had me focus on things to make it seem less frightening." Those things had been really funny too! She'd put it in her grandmother's shower cap and flowery robe, put it in clown makeup and a tutu, even made it act like Marylin Monroe, but still after she'd laughed about it, the nightmares ensued. No one liked dreaming of being chased by a 100 ft tall spider, especially not her.

Her hands linked behind her back and she swayed slightly, listening to his question as a blush crept up the slopes of her ears. "A boyfriend? Me? No, I don't have one. I guess no one's ever really found me girlfriend material. That's kinda the bad part about being friends with a lot of people. No one ever sees me as anything other than that, b-b-but that's okay!" She blushed darkly, but it was true. A lot of people liked her for being so nice and so helpful, but no one had looked at her in the light of someone that they could maybe grow to love. It never really hurt her because her heart was still fresh and un-taken, at least up until now.

"I would imagine someone as handsome as you would have a girlfriend." That phrase was quieter then the needed whisper, but still audible to the nearby ear. He really was handsome, and she had noticed that time and time again over the past year. Still, she offered a warm smile to him in hopes that maybe the reply to that statement might be one that was favorable. Was that cruel of her? She felt like it might be and for a moment, a naked lower lip slipped between her teeth and she teetered back on her feet slightly. Maybe she would wind up lucky today.

[shava44444]

Nerves. Yes nerves were one of the hardest things to deal with and right now his were on edge. Here he was back in the shelves out of sight of others with this gorgeous creature who had just used him as a shield against a spider, admittedly a large one. He had just confessed to having given her friends some trouble in revenge for them teasing her and now was having second thoughts about his actions when she relieved his mind by calling him a hero because of the spider. Even now though honesty reared it's head. *

"Well now, I didn't really do anything except stand between you and it. I generally try to get spiders outdoors if I can so they eat up the bugs outside...Like, on a piece of paper or something..." 'SHUT UP CERN! PLEASE! She probably doesn't wanna think about you handling spiders, doofus!' his inner thoughts ran, making a sweat break out on his forehead suddenly as his nerves ran overtime! "Ha, well at least you can get away from yours, that's good! And nightmares do seem to find what we really hate most don't they?" He relaxed a tiny bit as this was regular conversation, though his first with her. He could handle this, he really could!

No boyfriend? Oh my gosh, a dream come true! But just because she didn't didn't mean she would want him! Still, it was a chance! "Then all the guys you hang out with are blind and stupid." Oh damn it, there he went opening his mouth up again without thinking, just reacting. "I mean you seem nice to me and you are certainly beautiful" his palms were suddenly sweaty "Any guy who doesn't react to that combination is kind of dead I would think." When she spoke about him being handsome however he went into a kind of shock.

The book he had been holding slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a smack sound. He could not take his eyes off hers though as her words echoed in his mind. 'Handsome? She thinks I'm handsome? No one says that but my sister and mom! Maybe she's mistaken me for someon-- No that's dumb, she standing in front of me!' As his mind ran, he put a hand on the shelf next to him suddenly feeling a bit dizzy at how fast this was going and knelt down to pick up the book while trying to think what to say that would sound clever and impressive. 'Is when you use a pick up line? I bet it is. What should I use? I don't have one! AHGH! SAY SOMETHING QUICK BEFORE YOU LOOK UNINTERESTED!' As he stood up, his eyes came right back to her face like a magnet, taking the chance while he still could.

Damn if she wasn't the prettiest girl he had ever known, her skin even matched her hair nearly... "Ah um ah." He swallowed suddenly and tried to recapture feeling calm again since no pick up lines except the skittles one stuck in his head and even he knew that one was dumb. "Ah no! Nope, no girlfriend. My sister likes to tease me about that, but I've never..." '...dared ask you. Say it! Just get it out! Get it over with! Least you will have told her how you feel!' "...had the nerve to ask..." Cern found himself unable to say it, that last word. He thought he sounded stupid as all get out, but he was so nervous he couldn't bring himself to that last bit even as he stared at her, stunned at what was happening in front of him right then!

This was one of the few times he wondered what his parents were thinking when they named him after the god of fertility...

* And this begins...

[jasmine]

'He thinks I'm beautiful? Gee, that's a first...most people get a good look at this hair and either sneer or start snickering.' At the current level of blushing, she could nearly glow in the dark if the lights went out. Oh, bloody 'ell...this was almost too much to handle. Already frayed nerves were not quite up to par with the half flirtatious conversation. 'But, he's so cute when he's nervous...really...he is.' Again that pouty lip fixated between her teeth as blue hues suddenly found a particularly interesting patch of floor. She was about as awkward as her mother had been concerning dating. Despite that, it was her naivety and charm that had won her father over to begin with.

The naivety was strong with this one.

"That's what my dad does with spiders. Either that or levitates them out of the house. That's the quickest way to get them out without drawing my attention to it." 'Ohmigosh. Shut. Up. Shut your mouth before something else inane comes out of it!' Her mouth closed slowly and she watched him fumble with his book before offering a soft suggestion to his words again.

"I've never had a boyfriend, but...in my opinion, if you like a girl you should totally tell her. I mean, being patient and waiting for her to get the hint can only work so long. Plus, most girls like knowing for sure. We tend to freak out if we think we're misreading signals." 'Kinda like I am now!' Only a girl confused would start spouting off about spiders in the lull of conversation.

Was it getting hot in here?

Pale fingers loosened the yellow streaked tie at her neck and then she brushed her palms over the pleats in her black skirt. A little too much sweat had accumulated on her skin, and she exhaled in as controlled a manner as possible. It certainly had to get easier than this...didn't it?

'Quick! Change the subject before this gets too awkward. He probably doesn't even like you and you're clamming up!'

"So, uhm...double potions with Ravenclaw tomorrow. Are you ready? I always feel so stupid when we have classes with them. I mean they're nice enough, but so smart! The only classes I seem to do okay with is Charms and Care of Magical Creatures. Headmistress McGonagall has even noticed, which almost creeps me out. How does she always know?!" 'Brilliant change of topic. Putz.' Granted, she was nervous. She'd never actually conversed alone with someone she actually liked...liked liked before.

Bugger, this was harder than it should be!

[shava44444]

She looked at the floor and he almost felt like breathing out again in relief. Her eyes were too hard not to be distracted by! And the whole blue eyes and pink hair thing was fascinating like nothing else. And apparently she knew he had a crush on her as she started talking about telling a girl being important! 'Ohsh!tohsh!tohsh!t! DOSOMETHINGQUICK! Change story? Deny everything? New subject?' His mind ran through the possibilities none of which he liked and yet he was scared of what else dumb he might do. She wiped her hands on her skirt and he suddenly realized what a good idea that was and ran his own down the sides of his jeans, drying them off from their sudden clamminess. "Uh huh..."

He wasn't sure what to say to that; had she just blocked him from asking her out or swung the door wide open? Was it a test? Was she going to laugh as soon as he offered himself up on the block? Paranoia, never having been a part of his life before chose a delicious time to strike at him, paralyzing his tongue in sudden suspicion as his rational mind argued she wasn't that type of person and he knew it! As she began to speak about classes he looked at her, seeing her still looking down. However his attention was suddenly snagged by something happening over her right shoulder.

Out from between the books a piece of paper unrolled as if held out by gravity down it's length with words along it written in big letters. So surprised by this (even in a school like Hogwarts things happened which simply could not be explained easily so he did not automatically suspect a human hand in this; his mind wasn't exactly working on all pistons to begin with) as he looked at it and focused on the words as it finished unrolling, he spoke them out loud as he read. "Well I like you a lot maybe we can go out this weekend..." he read without comprehending what he had just read until her head came up and his snapped back to looking right at her.

Unseen by either of them the paper rerolled silently disappearing between the books. Vincent with hand stuffed in his mouth quickly moved off.

Cern looked as surprised as she did, but as she looked at him he did the only thing he could and said more of the same. Maybe the sudden change in the conversation kicked his brain into gear or maybe while it was paralyzed the words just came out, but they were the right ones to say for sure! "It's true! You seem really cool and nice and I've never spent any time with..." His brain caught up and his nerves slipped back in, but they didn't have nearly as much force as before and he found himself latching back onto what she had said as a sudden defense against rejection. "Oh and potions isn't so bad, it's like cooking in a way. I can help you if you want..."

Oh man. The idea of being in a class with her and an animal they had to take care of, hands accidentally brushing each other, made his hands suddenly clench, trying to will the clamminess away before it returned...

[jasmine]

Wait, what?

Did he just ask her out?

Perhaps they were both just as confused as the other, as they exchanged a look laden with uncertainty. The statement had come so abruptly that it ought to have materialized out of thin air. As if guessing that to be an option, she glanced over her shoulder at the shelves. Nothing there. Maybe he did mean it?

"You like m-m-me?" Damn that cursed stutter! "I didn't think y-y-you meant m-me." It was the truth there, laid out in as black and white as anything. "Wait, not that that's bad! I mean...oh bugger! Stop talking. Rewind. Try this again.

She took a deep breath and attempted it again, "I didn't think you liked me, but I must be horrible at reading people. I like you a lot too." Cue the blushing again. How did she still have enough blood to run up to her face? "I'd love to go out with you, but I'd like to get to know you better first. Maybe we can hang out in the common room and talk for a while later? You know...without having to whisper?" She smiled suddenly, a warm, bright sincere smile that could have lit up the room had it not already been daylight. "If that goes well, I'll gladly go anywhere with you."

Whoa, that was cheesy sounding. But, this girl was deeper than she could even fathom. She needed to know more before she let herself get swept up in the moment. This, right here, was why the Sorting Hat had such trouble putting her in a house. She had life wisdom. Stories from her family about being cautious with people. Her mother always told her to use her absolute best judgement when meeting people.

"Come to think of it, I sense an audience." Something told her that her gaggle of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor friends were listening between the books, and a slight giggle followed by a shuffle of feet seemed to confirm such. I'll meet you in the common room. Most people are at Hogsmeade, and those that aren't are at the Quidditch pitch for practice, so we can have some privacy." The last word was emphasized as her eyes darted to a gap between books where she could see a curious set of eyes trying to duck lower to prevent being seen.

At this point, she didn't know what drove her to do it, but she moved over to him, stood on her tip toes to cover the five inch height difference and placed a small, chaste kiss to his cheek. "Common room. I'll be there waiting for you." With that, she smiled and slipped off to gather her books, stopping only to check out a rather thick volume of a Care of Magical Creatures text (at which point, her friends magically appeared around her). She didn't disclose anything, only smiled softly and headed down to the dungeons to wait in the common room.

[shava44444]

Her confusion in return bolstered his own nerves as it seemed she was nervous as well. At her sputter and abrupt stop he responded with more assurance. "Well yeah! I mean, if you are already dating someone else..." Apparently she was not, lucky day! "Oh sure, that makes sense. For all I know you like bbq centaur so I should find out more first." He made a face to show he was teasing because she was from his house and there was little chance of turning out to be that kind of person in the first place.

Not having to whisper, yes that sounded like a good idea. "Deal. I'm far enough into my report I could leave it for later at this point." At his agreement she gave him a dazzling smile which felt momentarily dizzying in it's effect and then said something about going anywhere with him. 'Really? Anywhere?' His interest sharpened more then before at that thought and he smiled back. Anywhere was good since he didn't have any idea at all what would make a good date spot beyond what he had heard from others.

And who wanted to just follow other people?

The sudden soft giggle had him instantly alert -- his eyes flipped to the opposite side from where the note had come and then suspiciously back at that spot wondering if that was the culprit. She mentioned heading there now and he had to agree it was a good idea. His eyes were still looking at the spot when she suddenly gave him a kiss and his eyes crossed in surprise! By the time he had recovered (one hand going up to his cheek in surprise as if he expected to feel something there) she was out of the shelves and he heard movement suggesting others were going to follow her.

Quickly darting over he peered between the books and seeing nothing, ran to the end of the shelf and around the corner. No one was there. Frowning, he went back to the books, found the two he needed, and headed back to the table in time to see the table clear except for his stuff and she was gone. Smiling quietly he gathered his stuff and headed for the Librarian to check his resources out and get over to the dorm as quickly as he could. Somehow he thought he was about to learn a lot more on a much more interesting subject then anything a Professor would hold a class on...

[shava44444]

The Continuation...