First Date

Andy grinned at the her comment. "You think? It wouldn't be a dull job, that's for sure." Although Andy didn't mind reading, he dreaded the idea of being stuck at an office, doing paperwork and other boring things for the rest of his life.

"What?" Andy asked. "Nonsense. You're brilliant at Potions. Better than me, hands down. Don't stress about that, if that's what you're worried about."

Andy finished off the last of his Butterbeer, entirely sad that he had finished it. Seeing Bri still had a bit of hers to go, he sat back, quite comfortable to stay there for a while longer. It was a nice establishment after all, and the weather outside was far colder than in. He did want to check out the Quidditch store on the main street, but he figured that could wait.

"I'll be happy if I never have to see that Hospital Wing ever again, that's for sure," Andy said, as a side note.

Bri was sure that what Andy said couldn't possibly be true, considering the time that she'd accidentally melted her cauldron (Hamilton hadn't been happy about that), but then she remembered that Andy had been in the Hospital Wing during that class and he'd missed it. She kept quiet about it though; there was really no need for him to know about that little incident.

"You have spent more than your fair share of time in there, I think. Imagine how much you'd hate it if you had actually been awake the whole time you were there," she said. She wasn't even entirely sure how long it had been, but it was more than two weeks, for sure.

She took another little sip of her butterbeer, then held it out to Andy. He'd finished his and, as good as it was, she didn't really want the whole thing, so she figured it would be better to share it with him, if he wanted it, than let it go to waste.

Andy hadn't thought about it that way before, but Bri was making a lot of sense.

"You're right. I would have gone completely bonkers had I been awake." He hated the look, smell, everything about that place and hoped to Merlin that he could avoid injury to himself in the upcoming year just to steer clear from that awful place in the castle.

He looked down at the drink she was offering. "Sick of it?" he asked. Some people found Butterbeer too sickly sweet but Andy could drink it by the barrel full.

"Who says you're not completely bonkers anyway?" Bri teased. "In fact, you were bonkers before having to go there, so really nothing's changed at all."

She looked down at the Butterbeer. "It's very... sweet," she said, not sure how exactly to put it into words. It was good and she liked it, but she didn't think she could drink very much of it at one time.

Andy laughed and poked out his tongue jovially.

"True," he agreed. "Well, I would have been Mungo's quality had I stayed in there any longer. Remember that time when we had that History paper I forgot about and I stayed up for 24 hours or more trying to get it done? It would be like that, but worse." Andy shuddered. He was so sleep deprived, it was frightening.

Bri laughed quietly along with Andy. She did indeed remember when he'd forgotten about his History of Magic paper. When she'd left him in the common room, he was writing diligently but when she'd returned, he was mumbling something positively mad about bananas and sandpaper.

"Yes, perhaps someone should get you a homework planner so you can keep track of everything. That way you won't have any nights like that again," she said, making a mental note that a homework planner was a reasonable Christmas gift for him.

Andy grinned.

"Ah yes. But you have to admit that I was at least a good source of entertainment. I can still remember the faces of those sixth years who happened to stumble into the common room just as I was trying to experiment with lighting my paper on fire. In my defense, that couch already had a number of scuff marks, so my light scorching just added to the rustic, antique effect, you see."

Andy screwed his face up. "A homework planner? Who needs one, when I have this baby!" he exclaimed, tapping his index finger to the side of his head.

Bri laughed again. "Is that how you remember it? As I recall, one of the older students had to extinguish the flames after you lit the let of the couch on fire," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, that baby failed you once so it could do it again," she said, shooting down his argument. Whether he liked it or not, he was going to be getting a homework planner that Christmas, and she was going to make sure he used it, too.

Andy laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah... Professor Cooper wasn't particularly happy about that." He remembered his Head of House's stern words about not setting the Ravenclaw Common Room on fire. He did get away with out a detention, though he wasn't nearly as successful at lighting his paper on fire.

"Oh, harsh!" Andy said, still grinning. "My brain is preeminent to all other brains out there, but why am I telling you this? You already know that, of course."

Bri rolled her eyes, amused. "If you say so," she said, taking pride in the fact that she knew that she was smarter than Andy in some subjects. If there was some sort of brain war and hers got put against Andy's, she thought they would be pretty evenly matched.

"So, what's at this Quidditch store that's so exciting again?" she asked.

Andy sighed dramatically at the question. 'What's not exciting at a Quidditch store!?" he exclaimed. "Just wait! It's awesome!" Andy tilted his head. "Though, I have to admit, it's not quite as good as Quality, pricing wise, but it's still pretty amazing, from what I've heard."

He prodded his chest with his thumb. "Me, I'm saving for a Firebolt. There's a new version coming out next year, so hopefully, with some expert bargaining skills, I can get a good deal on the one that's out now."

Andy's eyes lit up as he spoke about Quidditch. "I'm trying out for the team next year. A couple of seventh years are leaving so that leaves a spot or two on the team. Erm... Chaser and Seeker, I believe. I'm gonna go for Chaser."