You Can't Even See What You Do To Me

Claire smiled at Seth, which she seemed to be doing often. Or well, she just smiled often. "It was absolutely no problem at all. I knew you could do it, you just needed a little push in the right direction. I always had issues with it as well, so I figured I'd pass along some knowledge from experience. Plus, you looked like you were about to fall apart, and we could not have that! A very close friend of Bri's is a very close friend of mine. I'm just proud that it worked out for you! I knew you could do it, as long as you approached it your way!" she said, all in a rush, as often were her longer strings of sentences.

Seth just sort of shrugged. "I'll just have to work on making it work all the time," he said. "And the figuring out something for the classes where there isn't any wandwork."

He frowned, thinking specifically about Potions. That class, while passable, was dreadfully difficuult for Seth. He always found himself distracted by the ingredients that he either missed a step or did it incorrectly, which resulted in explosions.

"I'll just have to work on making it work all the time," Seth said, some of his happiness fading as he realized he still had a lot of work left to take care of. "And the figuring out something for the classes where there isn't any wandwork." He let out an involuntary shudder.

"Which classes would those be? I don't mean to be nosy, of course, but I am curious." She paused for a second, thinking further about the possibilities. "You know," she started, "you do seem like an intelligent person, you just have trouble applying yourself. You can figure something out, no matter which class it is, I'm sure."

Claire was optimistic in Seth's abilities. She had a somewhat idealized vision of him, partly due to not completely understanding his faults and partly due to her vision of him as the perfect match for her friend Bri. In her plotting to set the two up, she completely overlooked the importance of the feelings of Seth. Claire knew that Bri liked Seth, and figured that Seth liked Bri as well. It was the only solution in her mind.

"Which classes would those be? I don't mean to be nosy, of course, but I am curious." Claire paused, but Seth was sure she would say more. She was a bit of a chatter-box. "You know," she started up again, "you do seem like an intelligent person, you just have trouble applying yourself. You can figure something out, no matter which class it is, I'm sure."

Seth shrugged, although her optimism did somewhat make him feel better. "I just don't know some times," he said with a second shrug. "I try to get things right, but it only ever half works. And then some people get things so easily and it just makes it all that much worse."

He looked at the table, not wanting to look at people for a moment. Then he noticed that made him grin excitedly. "There's chocolate pie!"

"I just don't know some times," Seth said. He shrugged again, for about the fiftieth time that day, and continued. "I try to get things right, but it only ever half works. And then some people get things so easily and it just makes it all that much worse."

Seth seemed slightly more optimistic, but his tone was slightly gloomy... that is, until he saw the chocolate pie.

The conversation died out from there, and Claire was once again lost in her thoughts, with her rose-colored view of the world drastically changing the information she took from the encounter.
_________________________________________________________________________

In the weeks that followed, things settled into a pattern. Due to transfiguration class, she spent a lot more time with Seth. Since she spent a lot more time with Seth, and she spent a lot of time already with Bri, she was able to pair the two together quite frequently. She was still determined in her efforts, but it seemed like things were not really going anywhere. The thought disappointed her, so she decided to finally take matters into her own hands, and do something about it.

This, of course, meant talking to Bri.

They were walking down to the Great Hall for lunch alone that day. Seth had a project to work on in the library, and although Claire could never wish Seth gone, since she had grown to appreciate his personality more and more, she was eager to have the alone time with Bri, to bring the matter to her attention.

They sat at a table near the end of the Great Hall, out of the way, so they would have little disruption. Claire picked the table, and she was sure that Bri would notice that it was not in their usual spot. Claire plopped down before Bri could say anything, and she launched right into things.

"You like Seth. It's clear you like Seth. You two would be perfect together! You just need to give him a little push, I think. Guys are always a tiny bit clueless in that regard, right? I think you should go up and talk to him about it!"

As she talked, Claire's words sped up, and by the end, she was so excited that her words were barely understandable. She did not even really realize that she did it, really. If she did, she would have slowed down, so that Bri could hear her master plan. She was completely oblivious to the fact that Bri did not understand half of what she said.

She stopped dead when she realized that for all her planning, she had virtually no specifics for Bri to work on.

Bri had entered the Great Hall with Claire, and started to go towards where they normally sat, but was pulled elsewhere by Claire. She opened her mouth to ask what was going no when Claire started to babble away.

"You like Seth. It's clear you like Seth. You two would be perfect together! You just need to give him a little push, I think. Guys are always a tiny bit clueless in that regard, right? I think you should go up and talk to him about it!"

Bri blinked at her, as her speech sped up. Once Claire finally stopped Bri took the opportunity to speak. "I already told you, I can't do anything about it. I don't want to lose his friendship. If I tried anything it might weird him out or something, and that's the lat thing I want."

"I already told you, I can't do anything about it. I don't want to lose his friendship. If I tried anything it might weird him out or something, and that's the last thing I want." Bri sounded almost disappointed by her words, as if she knew they were true, but wished they weren't. Claire sighed, but was not at all deterred by Bri's statement. It would certainly take more than insecurity to stop her, and insecurity was exactly what she attributed Bri's response to.

"Bri, think for a second. What if it doesn't go horribly wrong? What if it isn't awkward? It's not like you are going to ask him to marry you or anything. You will be perfectly fine, and I suspect that he does like you. He always is so much more talkative around you than he is with me, and he has so much more energy. If that is not a sign, I don't know what is. You've known him for forever, and even if I'm wrong, which I'm not, you guys can easily recover. Seth seems like a really good guy, and you guys seem close. You could easily work things out. He seems kind of shy, but certainly not malicious. I doubt he would hold a grudge, or resent you for it or anything. Just talk to him, you'll be fine." Claire thought for a second before adding, "I can go with you, if you want."

Bri sighed and frowned as Claire went off on a rant about why she should. She just couldn't; no matter what she couldn't. Bri shook her head in response to Claire. "I'm not going to," she said. "It's destined to turn out badly."

She thought for a moment. "Unless, you could find out if he likes someone? Becaues for all we know he could be off sitting somewhere feeling that same way." Then she stopped, realizing she was getting her hopes up.

"I'm not going to," Bri said. "It's destined to turn out badly." Claire was getting frustrated. Bri was not willing to take a chance. It was clear she liked Seth, but she was not willing to put anything on the line for a potential relationship. She was willing to just sit on the sidelines and watch time go by, hoping that everything would work out for her, but nothing would work for her if she did not take the risk. Claire wanted to tell her that it was worth it, but she knew Bri would not listen, and she really had nothing to back up her word.

However, then, Bri's tone changed, and she thoughtfully added, "Unless, you could find out if he likes someone? Because for all we know he could be off sitting somewhere feeling that same way."

Claire grinned. She could do recon missions, since it took a lot to cause HER to be ashamed or awkward. Plus, she'd be helping her friends, which was one of the things she enjoyed most.

"Of course I can do that. I'll bring it up next time I see him in class." Seeing Bri's face, she quickly added, "Of course, I'll do it discreetly, and I won't bring up your name at all."

"Of course I can do that. I'll bring it up next time I see him in class," Claire replied to Bri's idea. At the words Bri gave her an alarmed looked which caused Claire to add: "Of course, I'll do it discreetly, and I won't bring up your name at all."

Bri nodded at her, feeling slightly relieved. "I would be grateful," she said. Internally, she was setting herself up to be disappointed. And if by some chance it worked out, then the fact that she expected to be shot down would make the victory that much better.

"I would be grateful," Bri said, looking very relieved. However, there was also a bit of concern in her face, something Claire should have picked up on, but did not. She was oblivious, and all she cared about was that she had just won what she considered a significant victory. She had, after all, gotten Bri to agree to let her do something about it, when before she insisted that doing anything would screw up her friendship with Seth. She was heading in the right direction, and if she kept on in that direction, she could actually make this relationship work.

Claire, of course did not at all doubt that the relationship would solidify, with her help. It was, in her mind, a sure fact, and she eagerly looked forward to helping Bri out. Class was going to start soon, so she gave Bri a reassuring hug. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Bri had spaced out just a little when she heard Clair say "I'll see you later, okay?"

This made Bri confused for a moment, but then she realized that it was nearly time for class. She nodded at the other girl and returned the hug, hoping basically beyond hope that maybe things would work out for her, just this once.

Claire was excited. Everything was lining up perfectly according to plan. All she had to do was go talk to Seth, and to make him realize that he liked Bri, which Claire suspected he was starting to figure out. Claire was naive in thinking this, but she believed it wholeheartedly. They had to be madly in love, in her mind.

She planned to go talk to Seth as soon as she possibly could. She had to make sure Bri was not there at the time, because that would be awkward for everyone, and make Seth less open to talking about his undying love for her, Claire assumed. This next time turned out to be their next transfiguration class.

Claire had already turned her pig into a pincushion, so she had some down time. She began to walk over to see how Seth was doing. She wondered whether he was able to figure it out yet--she dearly hoped he had. It would be so much easier to talk if he was not focusing on the pig. Also, it meant that she had helped more than she originally thought, which would be awesome for Seth.

"Hey there! How's it going," she asked brightly.

Seth still hated Transfiguration and other magical classes, no matter that his performance in them had improved since he started using the relax and concentrate method that Claire had helped him with. But, thanks to that, things were going smoother. He'd noticed that he wasn't the last person to get things now. If only the method worked for other classes as well as the classes that had spells.

For this class, they were changing pigs into pincushions. At first Seth's mind had wondered off to think about how odd that was. Why would anyone every need to change a pig to a pincushion? But, then he's decided that didn't matter and focused on actually doing it instead.

He did the spell several times, each a little better than the previous, noticing that each time it changed a little more. The pig was almost completely transformed when he heard Claire's voice. "Hey there! How's it going?" she asked as she walked over to where he was.

"I've almost got it," Seth answered. "Just a couple more tries I think."

It made him feel good, almost having it. It made school that much more bearable.

"I've almost got it," Seth responded, "Just a couple more tries I think."

Claire beamed. She could hear the happiness in his voice as she watched him perform the spell. He tried two more times, and on the second, he transformed the pig perfectly. He had improved drastically since the last time she had watched him perform magic, and Claire could tell that it made him very, very happy. She could hardly blame him.

After getting everything put away, they had some free time, to Claire's delight. There were still some people in the class working on the transformation, and that was the only homework for the night, for once.

"So, how is life, Seth?" Claire started, hoping that she could manipulate the conversation eventually to talking about his love life. After all, she did not want to start right out with that--it would be awfully suspicious. Claire did not want to be quite that obvious.

Seth was rather pleased when he managed the transfiguration. It made him feel somewhat proud, and he felt that he should probably thank Claire for bringing the idea about him. But that thought was cut somewhat short when she asked him a question.

"Um," he started to answer, "it's just fine I suppose. School is still stressful, but that's to be expected I guess. Still haven't worked out how to handle things in all of my classes yet." He almost sighed, but didn't.

"Um," Seth started out, hesitantly. "It's just fine I suppose. School is still stressful, but that's to be expected I guess. Still haven't worked out how to handle things in all of my classes yet."

Claire nodded. She wanted to hug him, but that would undermine her purposes--to figure out if he liked BRI. She should not be hugging her best friend's future boyfriend, after all. That would be a bad idea, because it would establish a precedent.

"Things will get better, I promise you. Things always do. Plus, you seem to be getting better really quickly. Soon you'll have time for whatever you want." Claire was not derailed, but she figured she would go with the conversation for as long as she could before bringing it up. She did not want to stick it in randomly. That would be bad news bears.

"Yeah, sure, if you say so," Seth muttered. "I'll....work on things I guess." And Tsuki epic fails right and, yeah, Kat if you can make anything of this, you are amazing and wonderful.

"Yeah, sure, if you say so," Seth said, quietly. "I'll....work on things I guess."

Claire nodded. "So, what else have you been up to? Surely you've had more than school going on. A sweetie like you surely has a girlfriend, or a crush, right?"

Claire was so clearly bad at evasion, and at not being painfully blunt. That was something she had always had problems with. Once she set her mind to something, she was going to blunder her way through it, until she saw the end. Blunder was the best word for it, in all reality--she had no idea what she was doing, only having the goal at the end in mind as she moved through a situation. She was going to find out if Seth liked Bri, though her way of doing it would probably not be the best. She did not consider a lot of factors in her abrupt mention of the situation.

"So, what else have you been up to? Surely you've had more than school going on. A sweetie like you surely has a girlfriend, or a crush, right?" Claire said, quite suddenly, catching Seth quite off guard.

He looked at her for a moment, blinking. "Um..." he said. "No, I don't have."

Claire frowned as Seth said, "Um... No, I don't have." He seemed baffled by the question, as if it was the furthest thing from his mind at the time. Claire, who was one of the most determined people she knew, was even slightly discouraged by this. He did not seem certain of the fact, so, Claire decided to handle it from a different angle, slightly. She knew she promised Bri she wouldn't name her in particular, but Claire had always been bad at keeping her mouth shut, and she didn't plan to say it was Bri who put her up to it. She would take the role of a concerned friend. However, she wanted to make sure that Seth was serious about this before bringing in Bri's name.

"Really? Absolutely no crushes? There are lots of amazing girls in our year..."

"Really? Absolutely no crushes? There are lots of amazing girls in our year..." Claire pressed on, which admittedly made Seth feel slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't good with people pressing into his personal life like that.

"Well," he said, hoping to placate Claire and get her to stop pestering him about things, "I haven't actually thought about it any. I've been more focused on not failing myself straight out of this school."

"Well," he said uncomfortably, "I haven't actually thought about it any. I've been more focused on not failing myself straight out of this school."

Claire nodded sympathetically, understanding that this was important to Seth, but did not miss the sliver of hope it allowed for Bri. If it was just because he hadn't been paying attention, then he could easily like Bri! If she was a bit more observant, and a little less meddling, she would notice the discomfort that the subject was causing Seth, but she had always been oblivious. She also should have noticed that he was giving her hope just to keep her quiet. However, she missed both of these things.

"Now that you won't fail, you will have a lot more time for it," Claire said, thinking she was agreeing with an implied sentiment that Seth did not feel.

"Now that you won't fail, you will have a lot more time for it," Claire pressed on, which made Seth frown at her. Why couldn't she just drop it? He didn't want to discuss girls and crushes, especially with a girl. He just didn't do those sorts of things. It made him incredibly uncomfortable.

"Well," he said, praying that this wouldn't egg her on more, as he really did want off the topic, "I still don't see myself messing with it too much. I mean if a girl walked up to me and told me she had a crush on me maybe. Of course, I would have to like her back, but that's something completely different."

And little did poor Seth know, but he had probably just set himself up for disaster.

"Well, I still don't see myself messing with it too much. I mean if a girl walked up to me and told me she had a crush on me maybe. Of course, I would have to like her back, but that's something completely different."

Those simple words were all that Claire needed. Of course, she was completely oblivious to the fact that the beginning half of the sentence, as well as his uncomfortable tone, implied that he was uninterested and uncomfortable. She just knew that she had won what she considered to be a great victory. She would talk to Bri later that night, to tell her of the great news.

Having gotten what she wanted from Seth, she let him lead the conversation away from the topic of relationships. She was content, having taken a step in the right direction. She might have to convince Bri that he meant what he said about if a girl walked up to him and told him she had a crush on him. That would be relatively easy, though. Then, her great plan will have been realized, and she would have managed to set up the perfect couple.

Seth was glad when Claire finally stopped pressing things and stopped trying to get him to talk about relationships and things related to relationships. He just didn't really want to deal with the drama of one while he was still in school. It would just lead to him failing his classes and then getting a dead-beat job afterwards. He had seen a few of his friends deal with girlfriend troubles. He wasn't about to join them.