Oh Merlin, Not Again! (Devana)

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 41

Guilty was what Devin had felt for the past couple of days or so after the tea-shop incident. When the notice had come that his entire bill - that he knew was quite high, for there had been an entire new shipment of teas, all of which he had tried - had been paid for, by the witch he had ignored, Devin's first response had been absolute disgust. Did that witch just not get it? Couldn't she tell he didn't want to be friends - especially not with someone as talkative as her?

It seemed not, and he had given the owner a stern telling off, instructing him never to let anyone other than him pay the bill. Apologies had been made and Devin had acted out the forgiving part, even though he actually hadn't been angry - just very, very confused and disgusted at what had taken place.

Then, a few hours after all this had happened, the guilt began to settle in. Not the proper kind when he knew he was in the wrong but rather the kind that came from knowing that someone had done something nice for you when you didn't deserve it - nor asked for it. It was something he would never, ever understand because it was not something he would ever do. Devin Brennham only did things that benefited him or his family name, or his family. His friends were, of course, recipients of gifts from him, but these were all nothing more than surface deep; he never gave if it would hurt him, or if it were out of his way to do so.

To know that someone had actually gone and paid off his rather costly bill when he didn't even grace her with more than one sentence - or two, he wasn't sure - made him feel an odd way. It was.. weird, because Devin had never felt like this in his entire life, about anything. There were so many ways he could go about this, but then there was that darn note, which only made him angry, because it meant that she knew she was rattling despite him so obviously telling her (non-verbally, but still) he wasn't interested. So Devin was in a very odd state of being both incredibly pissed at the-witch-named-Cassana and, at the same time, quite guilty that she had paid for his tea even after her failed attempt at 'conversation'.

Trying to push past it wasn't easy, considering that he saw her in classes - apparently luck was not on his side because she was also a Potioneer-in-training and they had some classes together - but he tried, doing that thing where he pretended he didn't know her and so far, it had worked.

It was early one evening after studies and Devin had been looking at catalogues for his favourite bookshop, having realized that he was out of books to read. Reading through the list, one of the 'latest in stock' caught his eye and he sat straighter up. The price was well within his weekly book budget, and standing up at once, he apparated himself over to Flourish and Blott's without a second thought.

Moving over to the section where he knew the book would be, Devin quickly and efficiently scanned the shelves, until his eyes spotted the bright cover of the only remaining copy of "The Top 10 Wizards and Witches Who Changed the World and How They Did It". Stepping to the side, his arm extended, reaching for it. Then, he felt something he was quite sure wasn't supposed to be there; flesh; a human hand, against his. Without fully comprehending what he was doing, his reflexes sharp from Quidditch, he very quickly grabbed the copy, holding it tightly in his hand as he turned to see who he had just beat to getting the book.

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 199

Since Cassie had pulled herself from her rut of sadness after she found out that she didn't like to let anything ruin her day.

When she woke up she realized that she'd left her room a mess, with piles of potion papers everywhere, she had left her alchemy assignment untended, and a couple of books still ruined (Max, her usually sweet and well-tempered bull dog was acting up and had torn some of them apart). So rather than curling back into bed and staying there, like she desperately wanted to, she instead cleaned up the room and picked out an outfit, something cute and simple a skirt and a shirt paired with ankle high converse, and then ate a hearty breakfast. Bacon and eggs with toast had never been better, and she washed it all down with orange juice before pulling her hair into a half-up, half-down bun with curls cascading down her back and decided to check the paper, the Potions Aficionado section (as per usual).

Reading about Flourish & Blott's latest shipment of the rather famous book, very rare to get a copy of, "The Top Ten Wizards and Witches Who Changed the World and How They Did It" by one of her favorite magical authors. She gasped and jumped out of her seat before rushing back into her room to grab her coat. Once more, as she usually did, she checked her email (hoping for anything from Ella) to only find that her parents had emailed her once more. It was the fifth email of the week, once more asking about how she was. She felt her irritation eating her up; all they'd been trying to do was figure out a way to get back into her good graces. Or they tried to get her to just replied.

Which she despised.

From words of "How are you? We miss you sweet daughter," to "You spent that much on tea?" she had received. That had her seething as she shut her laptop and apparated to Diagon Alley. She forced a smile on her face and a calm into her body, her parents weren't here and they couldn't very well do anything about her life now could they? So with that in mind she forced herself to throw them out of her mind and put some optimism in her step. She smiled brightly as she spotted the book she'd been dying to get her fingers on and reached for it immediately. Unfortunately she felt another pair of fingers on hers and her brows furrowed, she was ready to plead her case until she turned and saw the owner of said hands.

"Oh," she said dumbly, feeling nervous and shy (which immediately irritated her because that was never, ever who she was), she was tempted to withdraw until he pulled it to her chest. Cassie's jaw clenched.

"Release the book, Tea Boy," she hissed jerking on the book with her strength back towards her (not to her chest, because Merlin knows how strange that could go but just a fair distance back to her), "I refuse to let someone with such unrefined manners leave with a book I clearly had in my possession."

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 41

he first thing he caught sight of was the hair, and then as his eyes travelled down, her face. Slowly it came into focus and his eyes narrowed slightly. Of all the people in the entire wizarding world, he just had to bump into her. He opened his mouth, about to apologize, when she grabbed the book. All thoughts of being nice and polite vanished in that simple act and he narrowed his eyes. The guilt that he had been feeling also left when she spoke.

I knew it was all an act! he thought angrily. From someone who had seemed so nice as to pay off his tea, she had suddenly and abruptly turned into quite the mean witch - only, he didn't use that word in his head. And who was she to talk about 'unrefined manners'? He had been so polite, tolerating her every move and all her ramblings, not saying what he was thinking, which was definitely not polite. After all, he had told her (rather nicely, too, considering how annoyed he was) that he was not interested in conversation.

Devin had honestly been ready to work it out with the person, to come to an arrangement, even offer to pay for an order of one (he didn't care about throwing around his money, as long as he got the book today). But, now, he wasn't feeling quite as generous. Ignoring all her previous sentences - for he knew much better than to take any sort of bait thrown his way - and instead debated on how to answer her.

For a moment there he wondered if he should just tug the book out of her hands and walk away. She seemed fairly though, but as a male, he was certain he would be at least slightly stronger than her - he did, after all, work out. But no, that would be too rude, even though she had been rude first. Then came the idea of simply hexing her, and his free hand twitched a little, getting ready to grab his wand from its hiding place, half beginning to focus on the spell he would use - petrificus totalus or protego, if she decided to cast first - knowing he would have an upper hand, since he didn't need to say them aloud.

As amusing as that would be, he knew much, much better, and instead prepared himself to counter - for all he knew, the witch before him would actually go to such lengths. Calmly, keeping the irritation out of his facial expressions, Devin shook his head. "I believe I got it first," he said. "Please don't make this into a big deal, there's no need for such dramatics. I was the first to get it and that is that."

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 199

Cashew! How would Original Granny react if she saw you like this? Cassie thought to herself, Ella's voice in her sweet nickname for the witch louder than the next part, and immediately she felt shame flush her body, like a bitter poison finally hitting her senses. Her first reaction was to let go of the book, to apologize and shuffle off and then just lay down in her bed in a ball. Except, life had taught her to be brave, and she was never one to look away from her embarrassments in her day to day life.

However, she had good reason to be mad. Well, more like frustrated because this was too much for her to deal with today. When she paid for the man's tea, she didn't ever expect to see him again. If anything all she expected was a note back with a thank you or a haughty no need for that note in reply the next time she went back to Rosa's and she'd forget about it all. Except she just couldn't. She had never met anyone who didn't reply to her verbally. Even when she was being annoying most people had the common decency to outright tell her.

So this was a bit of a conundrum.

He hadn't said she was irritating, and she very well couldn't remember his facial expressions or how to interpret them as irritated (irritated usually meant furrowed eyebrows and a frown or a peaked eyebrow and a frown, but there was always a frown there somewhere!) during their last encounter. He hadn't made conversation so he hadn't taken to her offer at friendship through conversation. She felt her anger justified then and was ready to rebut when her own good conscious appeared in her thoughts.

Only spoiled rich kids trample on the outcasts, and her heart ached in pain. Cassana tried to avoid acting the part of a pureblood with money, but by being rude to this stranger she was probably playing the part with finesse. Maybe he'd been having a bad day? She was having one now yet, she found that there were no excuses for bad behavior and that maybe the best thing to do was to walk away.

"Sorry then," she released the book from her grasp and turned away from him towards the counter. Cassie took in a deep breath, admitting that her mother and father's email had grated at her nerves more than she expected and she'd have to accept that. Then she took a step towards the counter and smiled at the shopkeeper working, and he smiled back inquiring how she was using her name (as she frequented the shop), she replied in turn and then asked if there were any extra copies in the back. He frowned and shook his head, sorrow and apology on his face. She lifted her hand, telling him it was fine as a headache begun to pound behind her temples. She turned back to the man.

"I'm sorry once more for the original dramatics as you call them," (liar her brain screamed, she desperately wanted to make a scene, if only to embarrass him) she apologized, sincerely before extending her hand, a peace treaty of sorts, "Cassana Rose." If he took it, she'd leave and come back at a later date for the book, if not there would be a rather spectacular scene for her to make. The choice was really all up to him.

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 41

He didn't budge once, instead fixing the witch with a soft gaze that was neither angry or fierce. It was the complete opposite of what he was feeling on the inside. If he were to let out what his emotions were telling him to do, things would definitely not go well. For someone cultured, he definitely knew more swear words than he let on, something his parents would never, ever approve of. How he learnt them was quite ironic; their butler taught them to him without realizing, when Devin stayed home one evening without his knowledge. Going into the kitchen, he discovered their Butler (whose name he honestly could not remember) swearing at the kitchen stove which had refused to work.

Words like..- no, he wouldn't even allow himself to think of using them, so incredibly rude they were. After all, their butler used it, and he was hired staff, paid to manage the house and bring them food and whatnot; and Devin was definitely a higher class than someone who did that. Still, it had been an expansion to his already large vocabulary, and he filed them away, not that he would ever use it. Then again, one never truly knew when swear words would come in useful, and it was this exact position that found him (for the first time) wanting to use them.

But of course, he didn't. Staring her down with his calm gaze, Devin did what he did best - passive aggressiveness. Not speaking, not even narrowing his eyes to glare, he maintained his cool facial expression, a tiny, polite smile just tugging on his lips. Faked, obviously, but still there. It was the best way to unnerve someone, and he knew this from experience.

In Hogwarts, it was how he got away with writing over what was required (he never once wrote under, but then again, he was a Ravenclaw) by a polite smile and gushing about how interesting the topic had been. Then, when there was a rule about not being up past midnight for first and seconds years, he had managed to convince a Professor to allow him to keep up till 1, to complete an assignment he was excited about. When his friends asked him out for the day, or tried to tease him for being such a bookworm and nerd, he merely smiled politely at them and went back to doing his work - when he got full marks, the teasing stopped.

And once again, his strategy worked and the witch finally let go.
Apologizing. Walking away. He smiled smugly for a second before also heading towards the cashier to pay for his win. At least, and then she once again faced him.

Oh merlin, here we go again, he thought dryly, reading himself for another verbal assault of information that he did not care for. But no, it seemed she had indeed learnt her lesson, for she only apologized one more time. "Apology accepted," he replied, signalling the shopkeeper to add the price to his tab. No words were needed there, and so he didn't waste his breath.

And then the witch offered her hand and her name again (as though he could forget the name of such a rude person). For a moment he was utterly confused, wondering if maybe she suffered from short-term memory loss. That would certainly explain the constant talking, he mused, but then it hit him what she was actually doing.

Starting over. Restart. Undo. Whatever you wanted to call it, Cassana was doing just that. Would he accept? He wasn't sure - for a moment all he wanted to do was walk away, but that was rude. After all, if she wanted a second chance he had to give it. Two, but no more. That was always what he stood by, and rather reluctantly, he stretched out his free hand to give hers a brief, less-than-two-seconds shake. "Devin Brennham," he said curtly, knowing his last name would be fairly recognizable. Even if she wasn't in the Pureblood circle (and he hoped to merlin she wasn't, for someone that rude didn't deserve it) most people had heard of the Brennhams.

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 199

Plastic! This guy was one hundred percent plastic, unreal, fake, whatever. Pointblank, Cassie trusted this guy with her name only. She probably should've felt even the slightest bit intimidated, maybe even a little scared since from this guys accent he had somewhat of a home plate advantage. It wouldn't be wise for Cassie to act out on her feelings. She wouldn't read to far into the smile, it did make her slightly nervous, but she refused to let it show, expect maybe that flash of disgust in her eyes. Dishonest people were her least favorite kind of people. She could even stomach the occasional white liar, no she could handle a pathological liar because on the inside they were still honest to how they felt; insecure about their true self. They acted on the truth.

This guy? Probably wouldn't tell her if she gave him all the gold in her parent's vault. Which she would gladly do it if it meant he'd tell her how he really felt. Except if they were even experiencing remotely the same events then his feelings of utter irate and annoyance were matched and probably exceeded her own for him. This was the sort of guy she wanted to kick in the shins and blow a raspberry at before apparating off. She event wanted to curse him if it meant he'd say more than two words. The most she'd ever got had to be prompted and that prompting was the sort of childish provocation she typically hated. Except he just kinda grated at her every emotion.

"Thank you for that," she said stiffly but shouted at the clerk. She debated her options. She could let him pay and be the good girl she was or she could tell him she had more than enough to pay for it and be petulant. "I'd-I'd like to buy more than just that, so," that was a lie but she felt ridiculous allowing him add it to his tab with money that was disposable, "I'll pay for it myself." She added quietly. She desperately wanted to glower at him and tell him she wasn't pitiable. She glanced around the stand and grabbed the first book that she saw next to the Top Ten Wizards and Witches That Changed the World and How They Did It; the Biography of Hermione Weasley. She winced, she already had this version buried under her piles of alphabetically organized books on her bookshelf in her dormitory. Desperately she looked for another book, and felt relief when she realized that Severus Snape's Potions Recipe was also there on the Top Hit's. She had yet to purchase it and it would probably help her cause. However, not wishing to look a fool she added it to the Biography book, relief filling her.

"I'd say it was a pleasure but that'd make me a liar." She made a shoo notion with her hand. However his last name struck her as odd, and she placed her books on the counter before the name registered in her brain. Then her eyes widened and she swiveled around to him. Cassie felt her body go cold; she could remember her father talking about his pleasant meeting with the Brennham’s family at her last Christmas with them, about how well his trip and how very kind the purebloods were. It opened up Cassie’s imagination to the idea that it was possible the Brennham's held the same beliefs that her father had and she felt disgust bubble in her chest.

"Brennham?" She asked, her eyebrows slanting, and her jaw clenching, "as in Jason and Shelby's son?" Cassie felt her curiosity rather than her anger grow, if it were true; she'd respectably leave him alone for forever if she could.

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Oh Merlin, Not Again! (Devana)

Oh Merlin, Not Again! (Devana)

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