Noah and Eva.

It was the class that everyone dreaded--the class that was more torture than learning, especially when the teacher fancied wearing dark robes and walking around threateningly. That class was death to many a brilliant student, but it took a lot more than Professor Snape to scare Eva Pennington.

However, today was different. Usually, the students just chose their partners, and life went on. However, today, Snape decided to make class even more miserable, by randomly selecting partners, maliciously choosing people who were likely to not get along.

Eva grumbled to herself, watching as the brash, cruel Slytherin Quidditch coach was paired off with the wimpiest, smallest kid in the class. This would not go well, she could tell it already.

She watched as the numbers dwindled. Almost everyone was paired off now, save her and three other kids. One final pair was made, and she was left, alone with one other student. Snape sneered, and in his menacing voice, he proclaimed, "I am sure there will be no trouble. Are we clear, Miss Pennington?" Of course he had to ask her, didn't he.

She stared up at her partner. She did not know him very well, but she had seen him in the common room before, and from what she saw, she was not especially fond of him. He rarely talked to anyone, which was a major pet peeve of hers. She sighed and spoke in an exasperated tone. She would much rather be working with one of her friends.

"Let's get to work, then, shall we?"

Noah frowned as he was partnered with some girl, although they were in the same year and the same house he didn't know her very well and truth be told. He would much rather that it stayed that way. He sighed wondering why Professor Snape seemed to go out of his way to make his students misrable, why couldn't they just chose their partners? Noah would have much rathered that he worked with Jace. Then hewouldn't need to worry about seeming like an idiot becase he had known Jace since his first year.

He glanced up as his partner said something and he immeadietly picked up on the exasperation in her voice. She didnt want to work with him anymore then he wanted to work with her. Loveley. Deciding to ignore her exasperated tone he nodded.

"Alright," Getting his book out of his bag, he flicked to the page. Or more so tried to flick to the page, missed and had to slowly flick through the other pages until he found the one that their potion was on. He quickly skimmed through the ingredients that they needed and went off to the storeroom to gather the ones that they needed. He came back putting them gently onto the table so they didn't roll off or spill.

Eva was frustrated already.

Her partner seemingly ignored the exasperation in her voice, and pulled out his worn potions book. This was when things started to go wrong.

First, he seemed to have trouble with the elementary concept of "flipping pages." He could not seem to get to the right page, and Eva, realizing that the poor kid was flustered, avoided tapping her foot in impatience. It was not his fault, she should not be taking it out on him. Eva snuck a glare at Snape, but saw that he was coming towards them, so she averted her gaze quickly.

Her partner--was his name Noah?--went to go get the ingredients, and Eva read the directions. It looked like a fairly straight-forward procedure. Her partner set out the ingredients carefully on the table, and Eva pulled out her cauldron, setting it carefully on the stand and turning the flames on the burner on.

She saw that her partner was a bit uncomfortable, so she sighed and stuck out her hand. "I'm Eva Pennington. We're partners, we might as well get along. I'm sure you are a lovely person, and it is nice to meet you, and all that jazz." As Eva spoke, her sarcastic tone changed, and a tilted smile lit up her face.

"Noah Rogan," Noah said sticking out his hand as he watched the flame flicker, he wasnt the best with introductions and prefered to work with himself then with other people because he was just not a people person. He got semi awkward when talking to people he didn't know and was kind of worried he'd say something and come off sounding like a total loser. He had enough troubles as it was without loser being added to it.

From the very little that they had talked Noah decided that he did not like Eva, she seemed impatient and irksome. And he was not looking forward to working together, hopefully once this class was over they never had to speak again. Though knowing Professor Snape they would be partnered up again.

He sighed and glanced over at the ingredients and the method. Skimming over it she got out his silver knife and cut up the first ingredient, leaving Eva to do the next if she so wished to.

His name WAS Noah! She was right, then, and she committed it to memory. If she knew Professor Snape, they would be paired up quite a bit within the next few weeks.

That being said, she supposed she would have to learn to get along with him. He did not seem like a bad person... he seemed very cold towards her though, although she could not really blame him. She had made it pretty obvious she did not want to be working with him, and what else could she expect but the same in return? Snape had paired things up like this on purpose.

Then, Eva had an idea. She started to talk as she added the second set of ingredients to the cauldron, Noah having done the first set.

"So, obviously, you don't want to work with me, and I probably have made it pretty obvious that I don't want to work with you. However, I have a plan. Something tells me we are going to be partners a lot this semester, until he finds someone who is a terrible person who he wants to pair me up with. That being said, I think you and I can get along. Obviously, if we are going to get a good grade on our potions, we are going to have to. Plus, we both can make a new friend, and beat the system, in making Snape's plan a failure."

Eva trailed off. He probably thought she was absolutely bonkers, ranting on and on like this. However, she was being sincere in her attempt to get to know him. She hoped he realized that.

She handed off the book to him for the next ingredient for the potion.

Noah listened as Eva ranted about what she'd thought up in the space of a few minutes. As he added the next ingredient to the potion he nodded. And Wondering if she was expecting an actual answer he proceded to give one, once he'd finsihed adding the ingredient in of course, as it had to be put in with some care. Less the potion blow up in both of their faces. Which he was sure neither of them wanted.

"That works for me," He said his sentence seemed somewhat pathetic after her whole babble so he added something to do. "Cause I suppose getting on would help us get better marks and ruining Snape's plans is always fun. I suppose."

He ran his hand though his hair momenterilly as he glanced at the instructions to see what was the next step.

It was just then that it started to occur to Eva just how different she and Noah were.

Noah seemed quiet, shy, and awkward. So, when she gave her mischievous, off-the-fly, crazy plan, he did not quite know what to make of it. He seemed to think that it was not all bad, because he agreed with her, but his heart was not really in it, it seemed, which was somewhat disappointing.

From that moment on, Eva resolved to be friends with this kid, and to draw him out of his shell a little. It was going to be a difficult task, but if anyone could do it, Eva could. She was the perfect combination of quirky and loud to do it... or so she thought. Eva was on track now, and with a goal in mind, she attempted to start up a conversation. It was her turn to add ingredients, so she had to be very careful, but she started things up as soon as she was done.

"So, Noah," she started, not quite sure where she was going to go with this. "Do you have any siblings?" She figured that family was a good place to start. She would learn if anything terrible had happened by his reaction, and if nothing bad had happened, then at least she knew some random tidbit.

Noah wondered why she was tying so hard to make conversation but decided he may as well roll with it because he didn't want to offend her by not talking or another. "I have a younger sister." He answered watching the potion for a moment, as it had to sit for a few minutes before the next ingredient. "She's two years younger." He started to get ready to add the next ingredient, stirring the pot gently. "what about you?" He asked her deciding that he may as well try and add to the conversation.

Noah looked surprised at her attempts to make conversation, which made Eva want to smile. The poor kid obviously was not used to meeting new people.

However, he answered her all the same, rather casually, as he watched the potion. "I have a younger sister. She's two years younger." He got up to stir the cauldron, and surprisingly, continued to talk, breaking the silence. "What about you?"

Eva was glad for the question, as she was not in the mood for awkward silences that day. "No siblings. I'm an only child, and I probably would have turned out better if I was not," she said, jokingly. "I hear that having a sibling puts things in perspective a bit." She broke apart for a second before continuing her line of questioning. "What is your sister like?" she asked, just out of curiosity. She always found sibling relationships fascinating, in a geeky sort of way. You learned a lot about a person by the way they were around their siblings.

Noah was somewhat startled by the question, he wondered why she wanted to know what his sister was like. Though, he supposed, it could just be to keep the conversation going. Noah supposed that Eva wasn't the kind of girl who liked silences. He addedthe next ingredient and continued to stirr the potion as he did so.

"She can be very chipper sometimes," He said holding the stiring rod out to her in case she wanted to stir it while they waited. They had to wait a few minutes until the next ingredient could be added. It was a reasonthat he liked potions, because you needed patience to exell in it. Because a lack of patiences would result in an explosion.

"Though she can be quiet at times too." He shrugged. "She's in Ravenclaw." He wondered what it was like to be an only child, he couldn't remember anything from when he was two and younger when he was an only child.

Noah looked a bit surprised at her question, and after a second of silence, only filled by the occasional sound of the stirring rod swishing the liquid in the cauldron around, he finally responded. "She can be very chipper sometimes." He paused, holding out the stirring rod to her, which she took gingerly. She stirred slowly, watching Noah's face and waiting for him to finish. "Though," he added, somewhat absentmindedly, his brain clearly elsewhere, "she can be quiet at times, too." He shrugged, clearly realizing that the two were a bit contradictory, but leaving things as if it somehow made perfect sense to him. "She's in Ravenclaw," he said, as an afterthought.

Eva continued to stir absently, watching the potion. She was supposed to stir counter-clockwise for about ten minutes, or until it turned a fiery reddish color. She could already see traces of red starting to form, but she had to stir a while longer.

"You're lucky. Are you and your sister close?"

Noah watched the potion as it slowly become tinged red. He liked in potions how the effects of what you do were visable and so you could tell if what you were doing was right or not. Unlike other aspects of magic and muggle things were you are not sure if you are right or wrong until the very in. Which is usaully too late and it all blows up in your face.

Noah shrugged somewhat at the question. "Kind of," He replied watching as the potion started to readen furthur. "We can talk about most things to eachother so I guess so." Noah wasn't really used to talking about his sister to people, but that was mostly because no-one had really ever asked him about his sister. Jace did, but that was mostly just a "How is she?" Conversation that dwindled off to nothingness pretty quickly.

He wanted to thnk of something to reply but nothing came to mind, so he awkwardly looked at the potion again as if it was oddly facinating.

Eva watched Noah watching the potion... which was a rather odd chain of watching, and could have been potentially creepy. The potion was almost done--they only had three more minutes to wait, and one more set of ingredients before they finished. The rest of the room was in chaos, with fires starting and potions going wrong. That was one thing about potions class--you had to follow every direction closely, or things would not work the way they should. When things did not work the way they should, it was bad news bears.

Noah answered her question, finally. "Kind of. We can talk about most things to each other, so I guess so." He still seemed a bit surprised by the question, and his answer was unrehearsed, as if he rarely had to give it. Eva thought this was odd--from her experience, it was a common thing to ask about siblings... then again, that was because it was often her doing the asking.

With that thread of conversation closed, they were left once again in awkward silence. Eva had nothing against Noah, like she did at the beginning of the conversation, but she still could not help but feel that he was seriously lacking in people skills (not that she should be talking).

They quickly finished the potion, put it in a flask, and turned it in to Professor Snape. He gave them full marks, begrudgingly, but then made up for it by assigning a group project on the properties of the potion they had just brewed. Snape seemed determined to make this end badly.

Yes, they would certainly be spending a lot of time together the next few days.

The two arranged to meet after classes to work on the project, and sat awkwardly in the silence that pervaded until the end of the period.

Noah was not looking forward to be spending more time with Eva. While he was sure that she was a nice girl and all that his personality just didn't suit hers. He gave Professor Snape a rather irritated look as the two of them went back to their spots. After quickly descussing a time to get together to work on the project that Professor Snape had given them they lasped into silence waiting for the bell to ring.

Noah put his textbook back into his bag and made sure that all of the ingredients were back where they needed to be and that their desk was tidy. He didn't want to stay back before it was messy or something. The bell rang, and Noah heard it ring somehwere else in the school and a few moments later it rang in their classroom.

Grabbing her bag and slinging it over his shoulder he made his way to lunch. He placed his bag on the floor next to him and helped himself tosome food, potions always seemed to make him hngry for some inexplicibly odd reason.

Eva could tell that Noah was a bit miffed about working with her. It was not that he really seemed to dislike her; it just seemed that if he had a choice, he would stay far, far away from her. Eva could not really blame him on that account. She was in the same boat as he was. She would much rather be working with a close friend on the project, and while there was nothing wrong with Noah, his lack of ability to contribute to the conversation at hand frustrated her. He did not have to say something brilliant or witty, but anything would be welcome to fill the awful, awkward silences that pervaded their conversations (and often lack of conversations). How was she supposed to get to know him if he never spoke of anything? And it did not even seem like he cared enough to want to get to know her. He was in his own little world, and was determined to stay there.

Eva was getting frustrated already, and it had only been one period with him.

One, single period, and she was already dreading meeting with him to work on their project.

Granted, hopefully that would be better, because they would both be working on it, probably in the library, where silence was encouraged.

The bell rang, and she gathered her books, taking out the door with her friends as quick as she could.

She hated Snape so much.

Noah went off to lunch catching up to Jace who had left the classroom before him. They talked about potions and how annoying Snape was. Noah spoke more to Jace in those few minutes to get to the great hall then he had in the whole period with Eva. It wasn't his fault that he didn't want to talk around her. He needed to feel comfortable around a person to have something that at least resembles a conversation that did not dwindle into nothingness very quickly.

The next few classes of the day were uneventful though thankfully no more partner work was assigned. Noah really was not a people-person. Stopping at the great hall quickly for something to eat he made his way to the library to meet with Eva so theycould work on their project thing. When he got to the library he saw that Eva was not there yet so settled in a chair and grabbed a book of the shelf to half study for their project and half just to pass the time.

The rest of the school day passed very quickly. After having to deal with a double period of potions class, she was treated to having her two favorite classes, right in a row. It was karma's way of apologizing for sticking her with Snape for that long, and it always gave her something to look forward to get through the period.

However, near the end of last period, the happiness started to fade as she remembered the dreaded potions project. The project itself was not too difficult, but it would take some time--time that she did not want to be spending in the library, least of all with Noah, who did not really want to be spending that time with her. She put it off as long as she could, but she really did not want to keep Noah waiting--that would be rude. So, she ate a quick dinner and went up to the library. She was five minutes late, but Noah seemed to engrossed in whatever book he was reading to really care. He did not even look up until Eva set her stuff down, making an audible thump against the wooden floor.

"Hi!" Eva said brightly, when Noah looked up.

Noah looked up from the book when he heard footsteps and was greated by a chipper voice that he probably could have named without seeing Eva. "Hey," He replied, not as chipper but slightly more enthusiastic then it had been this morning. Sometimes other people's moods or the way they talked rubbed off on him. He put the book he was reading down on the bench next to him making a mental note to borrow it when he left the library. It was actually quite interesting.

"So.." He said slowly glancing up at her. "What are we going to start on?" He didn't know the topic particularly well and was hoping that Eva knew a little bit more then he did. Otherwise that meant more studying and while he was a Ravenclaw he did not like to study all of the time. it did get a little tiresome.

Noah definitely seemed to be in a better mood than he was that morning. When Eva greeted him enthusiastically, he did not answer in the same shy, timid, disinterested tone as before. He put his book back on the table, nothing the title and the author. Obviously, it must have been a pretty interesting book, if he planned to take it out again later.

"So..." he started, sounding a bit unsure. "What are we going to start on?"

Eva pulled out the assignment, which she had jotted down on a piece of parchment, so she would not forget. "Well, we have to write a paper and do a report for the class. The paper should not be too terrible--I know a fair amount about the topic, though we will have to do some extra research, I think. Though really, looking at it, it should not take too long."

She handed the list of information they needed to Noah, who started skimming the shelves for books. He knew where everything was in the library, which was rather impressive. Eva pulled out the textbook for class, reading through the passage contained there and taking notes.

Noah walked off down the shelfs pulling books off and scimming through them to see f they had any information that they might need. He found about half a dozen books and he carefully put them on the table where he and Eva was sitting. He pulled out some parchment and started scimming through the books jotting down dot points of information he found. He was a pretty quick reader and even faster when just skimming and looking for words, jotting down some facts that went with the words and going to a new word.

He wasn't paying much attension to what Eva was doing so for all he knew she coild have just been sitting there. She could have been jotting down things she already knew. Noah wasn't too sure. When he researched, he liked to research well.

Eva found it amusing that when Noah came back with his books, he was in the zone. He pulled out parchment and a quill, and started jotting down anything interesting he came across that was interesting. He worked pretty quickly, skimming through and searching for key words, not really paying any attention to the world around him and not really caring.

She was writing down everything she already knew about the topic, having finished taking notes from her potions book. She figured that they would have research to back most of it up, but she decided that it would do no harm, anyway. She once or twice skimmed the shelves for a book to support her memory, but for the most part, she knew what she was talking about.

A few hours later, and a pile of books, Eva and Noah had exhausted the library's information, and had gotten pages worth of notes.

Noah looked down at their pile of notes quiet pleased with how much they had managed to scavange in only a few hours. Anyone else would have said they were overacheivers but Noah prefered to get his work done early so he wasn't hurrying to finish it off at the last minute. He wondered if Eva wanted to continue working on it or if she prefered a break and after a few moments of pondering if he decided that asking her was probably the smartest things to do. One could assume but sometimes those assumptions were wrong.

"Do you want to keep working on it?" He asked her looking away from their pile of notes. "Or do you want a break and come back at it later? Or tomorrow or something?"

Eva stared at the large pile of notes that they had taken. It had a lot of good information, more than enough to complete the report with. The report itself was not due for another few days, but Eva was glad that they had a start on it--if they could do the rest this quickly and efficiently, they would be done in no time. The actual concrete report would be a cinch, although the presentation would be a bit tricky. It seemed like she could trust Noah to do a good job, since his grade depended on it, but he did seem a bit awkward when talking to people.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Noah started to talk.

"Do you want to keep working on it? Or do you want a break and come back at it later? Or tomorrow or something?"

Eva checked her watch, and saw that it was later than she had expected. It was already almost 8:00 P.M., the hours having flown by as she got sucked into the world of the library.

"Would you mind continuing tomorrow? I have some other homework I should probably work on tonight, and it looks like we have a good head start. What time works for you?"

"I'm fine for continueing tomorrow," Noah said thinking that he needed to work on some homework for other subjects. At least they were now ahead on the potions project. As far as partnering went Noah suposed that Snape could have done worse. Like partnering him with someone who wouldnt want to work and would have prefered to stuff the potion up and ruin their grade.

"I don't really mind," He said in answer to her second question. "Maybe a little after dinner? Then we can finish it off and work out everything else we need to." That also gave them time the next night to polish it up if it needed to be. He paperclipped the paper together and put it in his folder so that it didnt get all crumpled in his bag.

"I'm fine for continuing tomorrow," Noah said, fairly cheerfully. "I don't really mind," he stated, referring to what time they would get together the next day. "Maybe a little after dinner? Then we can finish it off and work out everything else we need to."

"That sounds perfect," Eva said cheerfully. Getting things done made her happy, oddly enough. She was truly a Ravenclaw, deep down, and research projects secretly made her happy, though she would never, ever, ever, ever tell anyone else that.

"So, I will see you then, I guess?" Eva said, watching Noah paperclip the paper and put it in a large, plasticized folder. She was glad to know that the paper would be in good hands--he did not crumple it up, or otherwise abuse it. This was promising.