[Open] Not Usually This Clumsy

[lily luna potter]

Lily looked around the entrance hall, trying to see if there was anyone she knew. Her Transfigurations class had gotten out earier than expected, so she was on her way to the Gryffindor tower to study for her Potions class, which would be later that afternoon. Unlike most Gryffindor students, Lily was not afraid of Potions class with Professor Degare. In fact, she looked forward to it most of the time because she was quite good at it, unlike a lot of students from her house. Professor Degare was strict, but there was good reason behind it as she was the head of Slytherin house and a lot of students who weren't in that house did not respect her. She, however, had the utmost respect for Slytherin since her brother Albus was in that house. Not only that, but her father had told her the stories of one of the men whom her brother was named after that came from that house years ago. Knowing that gave Lily a whole new respect for Slytherins, who she suspected weren't all that bad to begin with.

As she walked through the entrance hall, she thought about what she needed to study for later, after classes. She had a test in Transfiguration next week and a paper due for History of Magic, which she knew she would do this weekend when there wasn't a quidditch match. As she thought about all of that, she wasn't really watching where she was going and almost ran over one of the house elves. "Oh goodness," she said, dropping all of her things to the floor. "I am so sorry! Please forgive my clumsiness." The house elf didn't seemed too offended as she scurried off to the kitchen, leaving Lily in the entrance hall picking up her things. Usually she wasn't a natural klutz, but when she was distracted she seemed to run into things or people without meaning to. Gathering the rest of her things, she tried to make sure no one else saw her before standing up.

[samuel alexander nott]

Transfiguration and Sam didn't really mix, but it was a required subject so he turned up to the lessons and put... some effort into it. If he had it his way though he'd scrap mot of his lessons except for potions and arithmancy, since they were the two that he enjoyed the most. Who really needed to know about things like astronomy and herbology anyway?

Today was a good day though: Sam's Transfiguration class had ended early, meaning he had more time to concentrate on finishing his homework for next lesson, which happened to be potions - Sam's favourite. However being brought up by a potions professor Sam didn't think he had much choice in the matter, but he really did enjoy it. Plus Professor Degare - head of Slytherin - taught the subject. Not that he had anything against the other teachers, but he liked being taught by the head of Slytherin as opposed to the head of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor or Hufflepuff... He was in Slytherin himself after all.

Sam was talking to a couple of his friends that had had the same Transfiguration class that he'd just had when he heard the commotion. Turning around, he saw a wave of red bending down to pick things up from the floor. A moment or two later he realised who it was: Lily Potter. They'd been in pretty much the same classes ever since Sam first got here. "Oh goodness, I am so sorry! Please forgive my clumsiness." He heard her apologise and couldn't help but smile to himself. Why she was apologising to nothing was beyond him, since whoever she'd ran into had gone. Maybe she'd tripped over nothing. That would've been amusing. Saying a quick 'bye' to his friends, he walked over to a piece of paper that Lily had missed. "Looks like you missed some..."

[/color] He said, handing the pieces of paper he'd collected to her. They looked like notes from the Transfiguration lesson, but Sam wasn't going to look at them too hard. They were none of his business.
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[lily luna potter]

Lily knew that she had embarrassed herself in front of a group of students who were snickering at her for tripping over a house elf. Since her aunt worked at the ministry and was trying to attain house elves' rights, Lily was sympathetic toward their plights and never mistreated an elf in her life. The rest of the student population, on the other hand, couldn't say the same. Most of them had house elves in their own home that served them and their families for generations. Lily had a whole other respect for house elves since one saved her father's life and sacrificed his own before Lily was ever even born. When she had picked up everything, she heard a voice beside her and looked to see Sam Nott standing next to her with some of the parchment she had missed on the floor. Feeling like a fool, Lily blushed to the shade of her hair before taking the parchment from Sam. He was the same year as her, but in Slytherin along with her brother Albus.

"Thanks," she said softly, putting the parchment with the rest of her things. They were her Transfiguration notes from Professor Morgan's class that she would need to study for the next test. "I tripped over a house elf by accident...I wasn't watching where I was going exactly." Lily felt stupid explaining herself and blushed even more. This boy was the only one that made her feel like this and she had known him since they were eleven. However, she knew that her brother James would give her hell over anything to do with Slytherins, even though their brother was one. He was apparently the exception to the rule. But Lily could sense that Sam was a little different...not like other Slytherins that were all about being purebloods or family tree relentless. Through the last three years, he had been nothing but kind to her and shared her love of potions, which was odd for a Gryffindor. "You on your way to potions?" she asked, looking back at him once she'd gotten control of her blushing reflex.

[samuel alexander nott]

Sam tried to hide his smile as Lily blushed, her cheeks showing more colour than her hair, which was a pretty impressive feat, Sam had to admit. Lily took the notes that he'd picked up and slipped them in with the rest of her work or whatever she was carrying. "Thanks," She said, her voice barely above a whisper. She was lucky that Sam's hearing was impeccable. "You're welcome,"

[/color] Sam replied, smiling at Lily's shyness, or what he figured was her shyness. Maybe she just didn't want to talk to him.

"I tripped over a house elf by accident...I wasn't watching where I was going exactly."[/i] Lily continued, explaining what had happened. Tripping over a house elf. Well that had explained her apology to what seemed like the floor at the time. It was making more sense now. He personally had never tripped over a house elf, but then again he tended to watch where he was going most of the time. However that didn't mean that he hadn't seen anyone else trip over them. It happened... They were small things after all. "They have a habit of getting in the way,"[/color] Sam offered, part of him hoping that it might make her feel a little better about the situation. Sam saw her blush again, and couldn't help but smile at it. Not one of his normal smiles, but the ones that reached his eyes that he rarely ever did in public. He'd always thought that Lily was cute, but she was also a Gryffindor who had a pretty scary brother in the same house. Her other brother Albus was in Slytherin like him, and Sam didn't find him nearly half as scary. James on the other hand he tended to steer clear of when he could. Lily didn't seem to be as scary as her brother. Maybe it was an age thing.

"You on your way to potions?" Lily asked, her face a much more natural colour than it had been moments before. Sam played with the strap of his bad and repositioned it so that it wouldn't fall off of his shoulder, which it had a tendency to do considering he barely ever wore it over his whole body like you were supposed to. "Where else would I be off to?"[/color] He said, answering her question with another question. It was a habit of his that everyone else seemed to find annoying, but he couldn't help it. It was part of him.
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[lily luna potter]

Lily couldn't help but smile a little at Sam. He was probably one of the sweetest Slytherins she had ever met, aside from her big brother Albus. Her big brother might've seemed scary and daunting on the outside, but when it came to Lily he was a big push-over and adored his baby sister. Where James teased and taunted her as the oldest, Albus was sweet and kind to her since he was the middle child. Looking at Sam as he mentioned the house elves having a habit of getting in the way, she wanted to say something about it not being their fault. They were just doing their jobs and sometimes the witches and wizards needed to watch out for the smaller creatures of the world. Lily had always had a kind and giving heart, not wanting to hurt any other creature or person. She didn't have the heart to even think about some of the unforgivable curses they were learning about in Charms class. They were never going to practice them, but it was good knowledge to have of what they were not allowed to use, even if she thought that it would give some of the other Slytherins ideas.

When Sam answered her question with another question, she laughed and smiled at him. He was always doing something like that, which was frustrating and irritating to other kids, but somewhat funny to Lily. "Same here," she replied, smiling at him. "I've been looking forward to Professor Degare's lecture today since it's supposed to be really entertaining." Unlike most Gryffindors, she held a great respect for Professor Degare and Potions in general. She loved the subject and excelled at it, unlike her brother James who was constantly struggling with his sixth-year Potions homework. Admittedly, she had snuck peeks at his books over holidays when they were all at home, wanting to get a head start on other classes. "I'm almost certain that we'll have a quiz this time," she added, slowly walking in the direction of their classroom.

[samuel alexander nott]

Sam's opinion on the houses at Hogwarts was pretty firm... Most of the time. He was a Slytherin boy through and through, but having siblings in other houses had opened his what had at first been a one tracked mind. However when it came to Gryffindor, he had no family experience to base his opinions on, and therefore most of his views about the house were passed through the family or through the Slytherin common room. However Lily Potter was different. She was Gryffindor, like her older brother James and both of their parents. Heck, her dad was like a legend in this place. But Sam didn't really see any of that. She was just Lily Potter, the redhead in quite a few of his classes with the pretty eyes and the nice smile.

As Sam mentioned the house elves, he saw something on Lily's face that maybe said he should have chosen a better string of words. Sam didn't see much in house elves, but he guessed that Lily's views on the creatures were a lot stronger than his own. Maybe he could ask her about them if he ever ran out of things to talk to her about. Whether that would happen or not he didn't know. They seemed to find topics of conversation pretty easily, considering that he was a Slytherin, and she was a Gryffindor.

Lily must have been one of the few people who didn't get annoyed at his constant questions. The smile on her face was proof of that, or so Sam guessed. He wasn't great at reading this sort of stuff. "I've been looking forward to Professor Degare's lecture today since it's supposed to be really entertaining." Professor Degare was not only the professor of potions at Hogwarts, she was also the deputy headmistress and the head of the Slytherin house. Because of that, Sam tended to see her quite a bit. She was a fantastic teacher, and Lily was right: her lessons were almost always entertaining. "Me too,"

[/color] Sam agreed. "Tori was telling me about when she had this lecture. She said that she'll never forget it."[/color] Tori was Sam's older sister who also loved potions. She was in Slytherin like himself and the two got on pretty well. "I'm almost certain that we'll have a quiz this time," That was something Sam didn't want to be true. He didn't like quizzes. He saw them as a waste of time, considering they didn't count towards anything. "Oh joy,"[/color] He said sarcastically. "Got to love the quizzes. God. I really don't see the point in them to be honest."[/color]
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[lily luna potter]

Lily knew that if her brother James saw her talking with Sam Nott, he would have a heart attack and then some, but she didn't care. She was her own person and could make decisions for herself and had been for years. Since she was the only daughter in the family, she could get away with a lot more than her brothers could. And her parents really didn't hold any prejudices toward Slytherins like people once did when they were in Gryffindor house. Lily knew that her Uncle Ron and Grandfather would have a heart attack if they ever knew about it, but she really didn't care. They didn't know how Sam really was. He was sweet and kind, unlike most people in his house got a reputation for. She smiled when he said that the lecture they were about to go to was supposedly unforgetable. "I can't wait then," she said, looking at him and laughing when he went on about quizzes being kind of pointless. She sort of agreed with him sometimes on that, but other times she could see the professors' point of view. "Maybe quizzes are to make sure we understand the material being taught...and to prepare for the tests," she suggested.

Since she was kind of a bookworm, Lily was always prepared for quizzes in Potions and her other classes as well. She felt as though she had to prove herself with two older siblings and a father like Harry Potter. Among her generation of family at Hogwarts, she and Rose were the youngest girls and so they were often picked on by their elder cousins and siblings. By outperforming her older siblings, Lily sometimes got it worse because James didn't like that too much. "I know this is kind of random and odd to ask, but I noticed you looked a little confused in Transfigurations earlier. If you'd like...I could help you sometime so Professor Morgan doesn't take away house points from your house for you not knowing a question," she offered sweetly. Professor Morgan was usually merciful when it came to points, but she still didn't want Sam's house getting angry with him on account of him losing them points for not knowing a question.

[samuel alexander nott]

Sam wondered what his sisters would think of the fact that he was hanging out with a Gryffindor. Audrey probably wouldn't mind, but when it came to Tori... Well Sam wasn't quite so sure. Sam had age on his side though, to some extent. Being one of the younger members of the family, his parents would probably think that he was being naive, even if he knew that he wasn't. He didn't even want to know what would happen if his uncle Draco found out that his nephew was talking to a Potter. Not only talking to a Potter, but maybe quite possibly having a crush on her too.

"Maybe quizzes are to make sure we understand the material being taught...and to prepare for the tests," Lily suggested. He found it pretty amazing sometimes how she was able to see things from a different point of view. Sadly, Sam didn't think that she'd change his opinion this time. "Yeah... Maybe."

[/color] He replied, not really agreeing, but not disagreeing either. He had a hard time saying 'no' to this girl.

The two of them kept walking as they talked, making their way to their potions class with Professor Degare. "I know this is kind of random and odd to ask, but I noticed you looked a little confused in Transfigurations earlier. If you'd like...I could help you sometime so Professor Morgan doesn't take away house points from your house for you not knowing a question," Lily asked, somewhat out of the blue. Well, Sam thought so anyway. But he also thought that it was nice of her to offer. He also found it interesting that she knew that he wasn't getting Transfigurations as much as his other lessons. He hadn't caught her looking at him, which he normally did because he spent a lot of the lesson looking at her as opposed to Professor Morgan. No offense to him, but she was nicer to look at. "Is it really that obvious?"[/color] He asked in a joking manner. He knew that he could really use her help, since she was great in Transfigurations, but he wondered if it would be the wisest thing to accept it. A Slytherin seeking the help of a Gryffindor? It wasn't a widely occurring thing. But looking at Lily he decided that he didn't really care. "I suppose your help wouldn't be the worst thing in the world..."[/color] He answered, winking and laughing at his own comment.
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[lily luna potter]

Lily had never really felt like this before, having never really had a crush. Most guys were too scared of the fact that her older brothers watched her like a hawk. She wasn't stupid and knew that James could see her every move even if he wasn't around and if he was watching now, he could just get over it. For all that he knew, she could just be helping someone out with their homework because she was a nice person. Even if she was a Gryffindor and Sam was a Slytherin, it didn't matter to her. His older sister Audrey was in Hufflepuff and his twin brother was in Ravenclaw, so his family couldn't be judged for their aquaintance to one particular house. When he asked her if it was that obvious that he needed help with Transfigurations, she nodded a little and laughed. She knew that if anyone really ever found out that he was getting her help, he might get hell over it, but she knew how to keep her mouth shut when it came to things like that. As he accepted her help in his own little quirky way, she smiled.

"Okay, anytime you have some free time...we can find somewhere quiet to study and go over things from class," she said, looking at him as they walked. Lily knew that there was a particular room in the castle that her mother once told her about...the Room of Requirement that only appeared when the student had a particular need. She and Sam would need a place to study where they wouldn't be judged for being together because of the house association. "We have a few days until the next test, so there's plenty of time to study." Lily knew that she would need to find some time to sneak off from the protective watch of her brothers and siblings too. Since she was one of the youngest, they all kept an eye on her. "Do you think your...um...siblings would mind you hanging out with a Gryffindor?" she hesitantly asked.