Herbology Class 2-B (years 5-7)

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi let out another sigh. "Well, I don't really have the energy for games, Rabastan. And if you're playing one with me, I would like to take this opportunity to officially bow out. I'm tired, and I've had a lousy week. And I don't think I can stand to see you looking at me like that, like you feel sorry for me. You of all people should know that I don't want your pity."

This was not starting out well. Rabastan hadn't done anything wrong and she was snapping at him. It wasn't fair to him, and she knew it. Even if she still thought he was basically a bastard, he hadn't done anything to deserve her treatment of him. Not today, anyway. It seemed that she'd finally found her anger, and just at the wrong time.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Rabastan sat back, frowning. "Andi..." he trailed off, acting unsure of what to say to her.

"I know you don't trust me... but I'm not playing games with you. I'm just..." he sighed, shrugging and looking away. "I'm just glad to see you, but you obviously would rather I not be here. I don't want to upset you, so if you want me to go.... I'll go."

[Eve Mallory]

She shook her head, "No..I'm not ill." but she was catching something or well on her way to catching something at this rate. She was tired was all, tired and confused and missing Josh at night more than ever, beating herself up over the way she felt and feeling insecure at the same time, it was hard on her.

[Genevieve Danforth]

Genevieve continued to look at her friend worriedly. "You're just so pale, Eve... have you been sleeping OK? Do you need to talk about something?" She reached across the desk and took Eve's hands in hers. "You know you can talk to me about anything. Well... unless you're having trouble with one of your classes... then you should probably talk to Josh. But really, if something's wrong, we're here for you, you know that, right?"

[Eve Mallory]

Eve glanced at Josh when Viv mentioned if she was sleeping well but her eyes hit the floor a second time and she shook her head no, "I'm fine.." she almost pulled her hand back but lacked the real energy to do so. "Thank you."

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi sighed and rubbed her head. "No... I'm sorry, Rab," she said tiredly. "You didn't do anything wrong; I'm just in a crappy mood and I'm taking it out on you. I shouldn't do that. You can stay if you want to, just go sit in the back again, OK?"

She needed to pull it together; she couldn't be snapping at people who had nothing to do with the situation. What if she started taking it out on her students? She couldn't afford to start doing that. "Thank you for your concern," she added stiffly.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Rabastan frowned.

"I'm going to go sit in the back today. But next week it's going to be in the middle," he said, giving her fair warning as he picked up his books and gave her a last look, unreadable, before he went to the back of the room again.

[Evelyn Turner]

Evelyn had watched, with bated breath, as Rabastan once again showed up in a class he wasn't registered for. Again he was talking to the professor, but Evelyn was too far back in the room to hear any of what they were saying. And Rabastan was standing in the way of seeing his or Professor Black's expressions as they spoke. She let her mind wander as their conversation went on, but when Rabastan walked toward the back of the room, where she was sitting, she snapped to attention. He sat one row back from her and appeared to not notice her. Should she say something to him? Evelyn turned around and smiled. "Hi Rabastan," she said meekly.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi nodded quietly, but any pretenses of a good mood were completely gone. She felt horrible, and having Rabastan sitting at the back of the room wasn't making it any easier. What the hell did he want? Hadn't he once told her he hated Herbology? If he seriously intended to make his visits to her class a regular occurrence, she really should make him register for the class, at least. Then she could take out her annoyance with him on his grades.

No... that was wrong. She was ashamed of herself for even thinking of that. But still... if he really was going to be coming her all the time, he should be registered, shouldn't he?

With a sigh, she checked the register. A few more students still needed to arrive. Alice's absence was particularly troubling to her; she needed to feel that she had a friend out there, one that didn't have some mysterious ulterior motives.

[Alice Prewett]

As if on cue, Alice showed up at the door of the Herbology room and smiled at Andromeda. She went to sit in the front of the class, it happend to be one of her favorite classes. The fact that Andi was the professor was only half of that reason. She smiled at Andi encouragingly as she sat down.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi felt a little better when she saw Alice walk into the room. She relaxed visibly and even managed a weak smile at her cousin. Come on, you can get through this, she told herself. She was just going to have to focus on the lesson itself and not let her mind wander. She couldn't think about him anymore.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

"Hi, Evelyn," Rabastan said, and he wondered if he should play cold.

Andi couldn't fault him for talking to other girls. He was allowed to have friends with both sexes, and it shouldn't hurt his plea with Andi. He just wouldn't blatantly flirt with her.

He leaned forward and smiled lightly. "I haven't talked to you in a few days, love. My own error, I assure you. How are you?"

[Evelyn Turner]

She blushed, but not as much as she had in previous conversations with Rabastan. She was already infinitely more comfortable with talking to him, and just being around him. Though, she was still a little unnerved knowing that he liked talking to her. She didn't think about that and smiled genuinely at him. "Good. Busying myself with reading and homework. How are you?"

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Rabastan shrugged. "Good," he responded, and then smiled, modifying her answer to make it his own. "Busying myself with avoiding reading and homework."

He wasn't much for the school work. School taught all the wrong things, he thought. "Hey... do you have a date for the dance yet?" He asked. He should have taken Andi, or hell, maybe even Arachne, but there was a rule about student teacher relationships and what they could and couldn't do. If Andi confronted him, he'd say she was just a good friend.

[Evelyn Turner]

"No I don't. I've kind of been busy trying to help some friends with that sort of thing. I haven't really thought about getting a date yet. Good thing there's still time." She was talking about helping Nate get over his Rayne obsession, at least enough that he could go out with her or at least talk to her without tripping over himself. It was funny how Nate and Evelyn acted so much alike when they liked people. They would make good sounding boards for each other if Evelyn wasn't too embarassed to admit that she liked Rabastan to anyone other than Rayne. Rayne gave her enough crap about it, she didn't want to hear it from Nate too.

[Charlotte Monroe]

Charlotte glanced up at the teacher and still noticed her shaky appearance she wondered if she cared to exploit it or not. She wondered why she was taking this class, it wasn't as if she liked plants or getting her hands dirty for that matter.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

"Oh?" Rabastan asked, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hand. "Playing matchmaker, are we? You'd be good at that, I think."

He hated matchmakers. They were always so nosey and butting in where they shouldn't. Still, he supposed some people needed them.

"Let me make it easier on you... Evelyn, come to the dance with me." It wasn't asked; he was certain she would say yes.

[Noah Malfoy]

Noah slammed the edoor after him in a gusto of anger. He didn;t want to take this class, but he was forced to by his mother. She thought it'd be good for him to get 'down and dirty' as she scribbled on the note. And he had to, his mother wasn't in good health and disobeying her would be unethical, even for his own standards.

As Noah searched across the crowd for a face he could even compare to the night sky, he decided it wasn't worth it and sank into a stool by another Slytherin girl. He shrugged down and placed his head on his hand in a statement of boredom.

[Evelyn Turner]

"No, not matchmaker. Nate already liked Rayne. He just...couldn't talk to her. He sort of asked for my help, not that I had any real advice for him." She stopped there before she started rambling and telling Rayne's and Nate's private stories. They weren't hers to tell and if it all turned out right, she knew Rayne would be mad that Evelyn had spread it around. And since Rayne didn't like Rabastan, she would probably be madder.

She should have rambled, it would have been better than the dumbfounded look she was giving Rabastan after he asked her to the dance. Her mouth was even slightly opened, stunned by his request. She instantly reverted back to the old Evelyn and blushed until her skin matched her hair.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Rabastan was uninterested in Nate and Rayne. He had no idea who the boy was, but was vaguely aware of Rayne being the obnoxious redhead that hung out with Evelyn quite often.

"Uh oh," he said, leaning back a little, frowning as if he honestly thought she was turning him down. "She's quiet... that can't be a good sign."

No, it was a great sign, as was the blush to her cheeks and her slack jaw, but he pretended not to notice any of this.