{study buddy

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Elliot wasn’t sure what had made him jump at the chance to be a tutor. Perhaps it was the fact that usually it was the other way around: someone else had to help him with his schoolwork. This time in Potions he could be the one assisting. He was actually pretty good at Potions (he was in advanced classes, after all) and he enjoyed doing it. If they had been talking about Herbology that would have been another story. That class was the bain of his existence. Why he had agreed to go on another year with it, he would never know. Same thing with Divination, but he had only taken that class again because his mother loathed it. Anything to get under her skin!

The library was quiet, but that was mostly because everyone was outside enjoying the weak sunshine. He wished he was out there too, pushing people into the Lake and laughing when they came up to glare at him. Well, actually that wouldn’t happen since he was still pretty frightened to get near it, but it was the idea! He was getting slowly better with inching towards the large body of water thanks to Eirian, but he still got chills if he got too close. Oh well; he was about to do something nice for a fellow student and that should make him happy, right? Blah.

Tapping his quill gently against his parchment, he stared blankly at the door to the library as he waited for the student to show up. It was a Slytherin, he had come to find out later. He had only agreed to do this for a friend, who had then went and told the next person who eventually passed it along to the Slytherin. He hadn’t known until earlier this morning that it was some girl named Astoria and she was in Slytherin. He passingly pondered if she was nice or not, though the chances of that were rather slim. He hoped she was polite at the very least. Elliot was giving up some of his own free time to assist her in her Potions and that should count for something, right?

He glanced over his notes as he placed his chin atop his hand, covering his mouth with his fingers as he tapped idly at his face. She was going to be late if she didn’t show up soon. Should he just leave? This might have been a waste. She could just stand him up or maybe she found someone from her own house. He had no idea. Everyone liked to pick on the Hufflepuffs, didn’t they? Oh yeah, laugh it up you guys, that was real hilarious. Elliot snorted, then shrugged it off. He wasn’t going to let it dampen his mood. If she didn’t show up in a few minutes, he’d just go outside and find someone from his house to hang out with. Maybe they could even have a race! Winner could help him with his Herbology homework, ha ha.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to work, was it?


Words: 511
Tag: Astoria
Notes: I'll make it pretty later. For now, here's the post! :3

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Astoria found herself running late. As in, she was literally running because she was late to her own tutoring session. A series of very random events had occurred which, if described would not be believed anyway, and it had resulted in her missing the point in time that she had wanted to stop sunbathing and head over to the library. At least she’d had the good sense to take her books outside with her, otherwise she would have missed the appointment entirely in order to run down to the dungeons and retrieve them, then run back upstairs to the library. She very nearly slammed into the library though she managed to reach out and grab the door she’d shoved open before it hit the wall. Years with Madame Pince as the librarian had given her the habit of trying to always be as unobtrusive as possible in the huge area. She hoped the new one was much more forgiving, though knowing her luck he would zero in on her and stalk her around the stacks while she tried to figure out what in the blazes she was supposed to be looking for. She knew she probably looked like a windblown mess and she felt even more unkempt and terrible when she finally figured out who her tutor was. He was the absolutely adorable guy sitting near the stacks. She assumed that was the right person since he had the hufflepuff insignia embroidered on his robe. She flopped down at the table and waited a few moments while she caught her breath and tried to fix up her hair. Honestly, whoever looked down on them and decided their fate must find her particularly amusing to mess with. She had been praying with all her might on the run over that he would be nerdy or goofy-looking or maybe even a girl and they’d forgotten to tell her, but instead he was an attractive male. A hufflepuff better at her house’s subject than she was. He probably had a girlfriend. Oh well, boys were miserable gits when it came to being courtly and such, and besides which Astoria spent way too much time trying to get good grades to be bothered with them. Though it never hurt to look. “Er, you’re the hufflepuff tutor, right? I never caught a name from my friends.”

ELLIOT | 391 | DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO RESIZE TO 500X200

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Elliot dragged his eyes up from the parchment he had been blearily staring at to instead gaze back at the Slytherin speaking to him. He raised a brow and then straightened his spine, sitting at attention. “That would be me,” he replied. “The name’s Elliot. I’m afraid I didn’t catch yours either?” He wasn’t sure if he should hold out his hand for a handshake. Do Slytherins do that kind of thing? He wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like they were another species, but...

He actually attempted to get his papers in order, from where they had sprawled out across the desk. A little bit ago he had tried to get organized and that had only made the chaos a bit more pronounced. If Madam Pinch had actually been around at the moment she probably would have had a fit if she spotted it. “I brought all my helpful notes and my own Potions book,” he started to explain and quickly snatched up said book to flip it open carelessly. “We can go over whatever you’re having problems with. I hear you’re a Fifth Year? I’m Sixth, so I should be able to answer any of your reasonable questions.”

He studied her closely, waiting to see if she sneered at him or was otherwise rude. So far she seemed out of breath, but polite. She hadn’t said anything snarky and wasn’t calling him mean names. He was a half-blood so he was waiting to see if she mentioned something along those lines. She seemed okay though. Even out of breath, a mean Slytherin would have said something snide by now. You can never be too careful though! He was going to reserve judgment until she spoke more.

Though he had a feeling she might be okay... maybe. If she wasn’t, then she probably never would have agreed to be tutored by a Hufflepuff in the first place. Right...?

Oh well. Elliot wasn’t one to worry about his blood status. He loved his muggle father, and his eccentric witch mother who had chosen him. Why, if she had never fallen in love with a muggle, he and his sister wouldn’t be here! He was quite sure it was because of them both that he was here, genetically and personality wise. He enjoyed his family (even though sometimes he pretended he didn’t) and loved each one of them. If any Slytherin seemed to think they were less of a person, then forget them. Elliot didn’t need that kind of bologna in his life.

“What kind of problems are you having in Potions?” He asked politely.



Words: 432
Tagged: Astoria
Notes: HERE YOU GO, YOU WENCH, YOU.

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“I’m Astoria,” the girl reached out to shake his hand though the gesture was a bit slow and halted. She didn’t know if Hufflepuffs preferred to shake hands or grin and slap each other’s backs or possibly even throw confetti and scream “Hufflepuff!” at the top of their lungs. She couldn’t recall having ever interacted with one before and she’d been attending Hogwarts for a good five years. Maybe this was a sign that she should start branching out more. “You can call me Ria, though. Astoria is a bit of a mouthful to say over and over, so you might as well call me something simple.” She busied herself taking out her notes and her essay that was due the next day (it was covered in blots) along with her quills when she noticed he was watching her. “I’m not going to turn into a snake,” she told him. “I mean, if it amuses you any, I could try to hiss a little like the other Slytherins do. That’s what we do in our common rooms, you know. Big secret, very hush-hush. We turn into various types of snakes and we hiss at each other. It’s only some supreme magic that allows us to take human form.” She finished by pulling out her own potions book, each page of which was covered in either doodles or notes and reminders for herself and circles around important ingredients because she was very apt at skimming and putting the wrong thing into a potion. Fortunately nothing serious had occurred as of yet, though if anyone were capable of turning a completely harmless potion into a very destructive catastrophe, surely it was her. “None of my questions are going to be reasonable at all,” she confided in him and pushed her essay over. “I’m supposed to be writing about this potion we made in class, an antidote for a poison, but I made it wrong and I turned a Gryffindor’s hair green by mistake. Of course he thinks it was on purpose, but I don’t even know what I did wrong and now I’m supposed to write a short essay about what I noticed as I made the potion? Honestly!”

ELLIOT | 367 | she is seriously a huge derp

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“Ria it is then,” Elliot responded. He watched as she began to pull all her things out of her bag, and he raised his brows at all the doodles. Her first problem was probably she got bored in class and didn’t pay much attention. He had that same problem in Herbology, mostly because he didn’t find it interesting and therefore didn’t want to give a damn about it. He nearly burst out laughing when she continued to speak.

“You change into snakes?” His lips twisted marginally into a smile and his eyes actually showed his mirth. Okay, she wasn’t so bad. He was going to get along with her as long as she kept this kind of humor. He leaned forward, pretending to be suddenly completely interested. “Please, tell me how that works out. I’ve always wanted to speak to a Slytherin, but they never spoke the same tongue as me it seemed. What kind of spell do you all use to stay human so long?”

He scratched the back of his head as he glanced away, a grin now fully formed on his lips. “Nah, it’s okay,” he told her. “You don’t have to hiss at me or anything. Not right now, that is. Maybe later after we’ve worked on some Potions.” That reminded him he had to get on task with this. They couldn’t get distracted! She needed help, and he wanted to assist in whatever way he could. He was sick of always being the one getting tutored; might as well give a little for all the help he’d received in the past.

“You turned someone’s hair green?” He paused and then whistled. “That is awes-- I mean, that sucks. We should trace through your steps again and see where you went wrong.” He had to act like he was distanced and cool headed. He couldn’t think something like turning someone’s hair green was neat. Which it totally was, because since Elliot never messed up a potion, he never got results like that. She must be really bad if she could do something like that! He’d have to be careful when they actually go around to practicing making potions together.

“I can look up that potion, and we’ll go through it together,” he told her as he grabbed his own book. He had about a dozen different books on Potions, and he had brought one that had a list of Fifth Year ones that were taught. Thankfully for her he had even thought that far ahead to snag it and tug it along to the Library, or else they might have had to share a book. “That way we can figure out where you went wrong. Sound good?”



Words: 451
Tag: Astoria
Notes: WE ARE PUMPING THESE OUT LIKE IT'S A WATER PUMP. ... hehehehe.

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“Of course we turn into snakes,” Astoria replied, acting as though she were a snotty, know-it-all sort of person. “Everyone knows why Salazar created his house; it was to give the poor magical snakes a home and a place to refine their craft. It’s rare to be able to talk to a snake in its native tongue which is why we assume these human forms. We only learn to do so at school, though.” She was getting a little ridiculous with her silly little story and she realized she might be flirting just a little bit. It wasn’t very often that she found an attractive male listening to her dumb jokes or actually playing along with them. He probably has a girlfriend, she reminded herself sullenly. Or else he was interested in someone. Besides, she was here to figure out how the bloody hell to finish up her potions homework and she was certain that Snape would not appreciate it if she handed in an essay that said “I was too busy flirting to study, I hope you understand”. “You just want to see what I put in so you can repeat it,” she accused him, though she slid over the parchment that recorded each step she’d taken. She’d been over it a million times but she couldn’t figure out what it was she’d made a mistake on. Everything looked as though she had done the right thing, put in the right ingredients, maybe she had recorded the right thing and slipped off into a daydream while mixing everything together? Honestly, what could anyone expect? Some of those potions took ages and ages of stirring this way and that way and she didn’t want to work as some dull potioneer when she graduated so she didn’t see the point in memorizing if it was clockwise or counterclockwise because at that point she would just be able to pay someone to make it. Or if she were really desperate, she’d marry some poor soul who was really good at the subject and make him do whatever potion it was she needed to have made. He would probably have to be a pureblood in order to be sure her family approved. At least that would narrow down the search a bit. Maybe she could marry someone who was terrible at transfigurations so it would be an even trade. “That sounds good to me,” she agreed.

ELLIOT | 403 | do you do any work ever. seriously.

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Elliot took the parchment and began to peruse it, curious what step she had done wrong. “How do you get to school then?” He asked her without looking up, a small smile curling his lips. “Since you don’t learn how to be humans until you come to Hogwarts, how did you learn to be human for the train ride over and the sorting ceremony?” Should he be approaching this with such logic? He was pretty sure Eirian was rubbing off on him. Not that he minded, he needed more logic and common sense in that department. She’d probably be rather proud if she knew.

“Now, now,” he said and he actually dragged his eyes up to connect with her own. The grin on his lips was devious. “There may or may not be a person or two that I would love to prank with this,” he answered reasonably, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and completely normal. “However I will put that all aside for now and focus on your academic endeavors so you won’t make this mistake again. Unless you actually want to do it next time.”

Going back to the paper, his finger trailed down the list of steps until he reached one. “Here,” he said and he tapped it gently, glancing up at her. “You messed up on this step. It’s the only one you could have fudged up for it to do something like it did.” He passed the paper back over. “It’s because you stirred it in the wrong direction, and then added a little bit too much of two ingredients. If you add too much it also messes up with the potion. It’s a delicate operation, or some mumbo-jumbo like that.”

He shrugged. “Snape would probably have us believe that it’s a delicate dance or something beautiful, but I don’t think Slughorn will tell you that.” He paused and deliberated. “Sometimes when you’re in the middle of Potion making it gets hard to keep up, because you get so flustered and then you forget the steps. I’ve done it in the beginning, but thankfully I’ve gotten loads better.”


Words: 359
Tag: Astoria
Notes: OHHHHHH is she flirting? cause Elliot won't be able to tell. CAN WE SAY DENSE??? XD

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“Ugh, it’s like you’re not even thinking,” Astoria teased him. “Our parents use their learned knowledge of transfiguration to turn us into seemingly human children. What do they teach you in your classes, anyway?” Fortunately she had always been a quick thinker, another person (possibly a Gryffindor) might have stumbled and laughed and given up the silly joke. She did realize, however, that this was keeping them from going over her homework together, as fun as it was. “You could change a Slytherin’s hair green,” she pointed out reasonably. “They might appreciate it, it’s one of our colors after all. It would be a waste if you used it on me, however. Slughorn made me figure out how to fix it after I’d caused the effect, so I could get rid of it right away without even crying about it.” There were some people she’d like to see forced to walk around with green hair until it wore off. Her sister, for instance, a glorified bully. She strutted around the school with Pansy like they owned it and the girls weren’t against turning their horrible teasing and jokes on the youngest Greengrass. Pansy deserved some green hair as well. “Are you kidding me?” She complained and hit her head on the table with a groan. “Why are potions so sensitive? Like why does it matter if I stir it clockwise or counterclockwise or upside down or sideways or with a stupid hat on my head? I give up, I’m never taking potions again after this. Not willingly, at least.” At least Slughorn wasn’t as unforgiving as Snape had been, though. She’d heard horrible rumors about those who took his classes after the OWLs willingly and hadn’t passed. He had expected the very best from those who wanted his advanced potions classes. She sighed and picked her head back up off the table, deciding to stop with the dramatics, and she made herself a note by the spot where she’d messed up, writing down to fix the amount of the ingredients she’d put in and which way she stirred it. At least she could write an essay now about how she’d made a mistake and learned from it. Her professor might appreciate that. “I’m not sure I get flustered, exactly. Distracted more like.” Sometimes she got to thinking about all the other homework she had to do that night and it made her want to rip her hair out. That wasn’t entirely the definition of “flustered”. Nutters, more like.

ELLIOT | 478 | i thought that said denise