They say opposites attract. Samantha+Aaron

Samantha Forbs looked up from her spot on the damp grass, glancing at the passing students. She had a book in her lap, but covered; as it was from the muggle world and she was sure to be shamed if someone caught her with it. Seeing a few Gryffindors and sending them a look of slight disgust (stupid stuck up wizards), she looked down at her own robe, which had the yellow crest of Hufflepuff house on it. Samantha smiled, thinking of how her parents were both in Hufflepuff, as were their parents, and theirs, and so on. It was a family line of Hufflepuffs and Samantha was glad to keep the family name in this quaint house.

Aaron was out on the lawn, throwing a quaffle around with his friends. It was a lovely spring day, and he had nothing else to do--his schoolwork was already completed, sitting up in his dormitory. It was only the beginning of the weekend, but he wanted that free time to himself, so that he could just enjoy the weather.

Other students seemed to have the same idea, it appeared, but when they saw Aaron's shiny head boy badge, they were a lot less likely to mess with him and his seventh-year friends. Besides, everyone liked them--they were the golden boys of the school, during a time when everyone needed someone to look up to.

Aaron haphazardly threw the quaffle to one of his friends, but the friend missed the ball, sending it to the head of an unsuspecting Hufflepuff, sitting in the damp grass in the shade of a tree.

"Watch out!" Aaron shouted, hoping to get her attention in time that she could either move or catch it.

Samantha glanced back up at the shout of head-boy, Aaron. She saw the quaffle spinning quickly towards her and dove out of the way, the ball whizzing past her ear. Glaring at the group of seventh years, she dragged herself up and retrieved the ball.

"Watch where you throw this, alright?" She shouted back, throwing the ball hard back at them. "Or just not play at all." Samantha muttered a bit quieter, going to pick up her book and settle back down on the grass.

The girl reacted quickly, ducking from the ball as quickly as she could. That girl had some good reflexes, that was for sure. She was glaring daggers at him when she got up and got the ball--she did not have to, and Aaron would have been more than willing to retrieve it for himself, but she was already up.

"Watch where you throw this, alright?" she snapped, her eyes narrowed and angry. "Or just not play at all." She muttered to herself, going to pick up her book and plop down on the grass.

Aaron liked her, right off the bat. She seemed crabby, but he would be, too, if someone just threw a quaffle at his head. However, she was a pretty girl, and he did not seem much younger than him. She seemed a bit spunky, which he liked.

"Sorry," he said apologetically, his voice smooth and soothing. He did not consciously make the effort--it came naturally to him. "We'll be more careful..." He stopped, realizing he had no idea who the heck she was. Then, he stuck out his hand, "I'm Aaron. I would say it was nice to meet you, but I'm sure you did not exactly appreciate the circumstances..."

He almost expected her to ignore him.

Samantha looked at his hand for a few seconds before shaking it. He probably didn't know that she was a sixth year. Someone like him probably wouldn't want to be caught dead talking to a girl like her.

"I hope you do, next time I might not be so lucky as to dodge it." She shoved her book into her nap-sack, feeling the shyness she usually sports creeping up on her as she ran a hand through her hair. "Or some other poor kid." Looking back at him, she noticed how nice looking he was. Not that she hasn't noticed before, but she never really got that close to him, unlike the Ravenclaw girls who fawn over him. He's like the Draco Malfoy of Ravenclaw. Its actually pretty disturbing. Samantha despised Draco, and his friends. They were rude and obnoxious. She couldn't see what any girl saw in him.

To Aaron's surprise, she did stick her hand out to shake, though she completely neglected to say her name. It appeared he would have to figure it out the hard way--he would either have to ask around, or he would have to ask her himself. It seemed much easier just to ask someone else, since she obviously seemed to know who he was already, from the look she was giving him. Her glare burned lasers into him, but there was a flash of recognition that Aaron did not quite understand.

However, the moment ended when she snapped, "I hope you do, next time I might not be so lucky as to dodge it. Or some other poor kid." She shoved her book into her bag and ran her hand through her hair distractedly. She did not seem as angry as she did, earlier, though. She seemed more nervous and uncomfortable than anything else.

"Some other poor kid might have been hit in the head that time. You have good reflexes. Do you play Quidditch?" he asked casually. She did not seem like the type, but you never knew.

The girl snorted, letting out a loose laugh.

"As if. I'm not big into sports. I'm more of a book kind of girl, I don't socialize much." Samantha said, getting a feeling that Aaron truly did not know who she was. Might as well break it to him as early as I can. She thought. "I'm Samantha." And probably the only one in Hogwarts. Samantha was such a boring name, and she has heard a few rather rude and unnecessary rumors floating about from the other Hufflepuff girls.

She waited, wondering what his reaction was going to be to finding out (partially) who she was. Samantha's mind worked at a million miles a minute, almost as if she saw the world in slow motion, moments lasting longer than they should. That happened often when she got to thinking, only a few minutes would pass by when it would seem like hours.

The girl laughed, and Aaron realized he was right to begin with. It was probably a stupid question, but that did not phase him.

"As if. I'm not big into sports. I'm more of a book kind of girl, I don't socialize much," she said, with a sarcastic tone that aimed suspicion towards him. "I'm Samantha," she said, tacked onto the end. That explained the suspicion--she must have figured out that he did not recognize her.

However, he HAD heard of Samantha. There was a flicker of recognition, as he matched the name with the face--she was not at all what he was expecting. He had heard from the many girls that seemed to follow him that she was a plain jane, both in name, in appearance, and in personality. There was some of this, of course, which could be attributed to girls being girls--however, he decided in the last few minutes that chances are, a lot of it was jealousy. Her name sounded like a traditional muggle name, but she was very pretty, in a unique sort of way.

He could not judge on her personality, yet.

"So YOU'RE Samantha! I have heard stories about you, but we've never had the pleasure to meet." By this time, his friends were back to playing Quidditch, and he had plopped down on the grass next to Samantha.

"Yes, I'm Samantha." She muttered. "The pleasure? What stories have you heard?!" Samantha gave him a weird look, and noticed that he had showed no repulsion towards her when she saw him realize who she was. That was a first. The fact that he sat beside her was a new one, too.

Well, he seemed pleasant enough, but you can never know. She had a friend, a close one, in third year, but that girl just turned and stabbed her in the back. She was one of the main girls who were spreading the rumors about Samantha, she knew this for a fact.

Oh, trust issues. Sometimes they can be a pain.

"Yes, I'm Samantha," she grumbled, almost to herself. She turned and faced Aaron, asking quizzically, "The pleasure? What stories have you heard?!" She looked at him very oddly, as if he had sprouted a second head or something.

"Well, the stories I have heard have not exactly painted an accurate picture, from what I've seen so far. I hear a lot of ridiculous rumors, and I've learned to dismiss anything that does not come from a reliable source. Besides, jealousy is not uncommon, you have to keep that in mind, especially in girls. I believe that might be the case here." He winked, to punctuate the point, knowing it was probably going too far, but not being able to resist. He was curious as to what her reaction would be, and he had always been just a bit of a flirt. However, he actually thought that Samantha showed potential; she did not appear to be swooning over him, nor did she appear to be an airhead. He might be able to make this one pan out well. He could win her over with time--he always did. He was not being cocky. It was just the truth.

Samantha gave him another odd look, and wondered if he was on drugs or something.

"Jealousy? You have the wrong girl." She said, completely ignoring the wink he sent her. He was hitting on her, something she was unfamiliar with, and decided just to brush it off. Aaron Ford was nothing more than a pretty boy with a title. The perfect student.

Samantha noticed an odd look in his eye, and she couldn't figure out what it was. Determination? Why would he seem determined while talking to her? Shoving it out of her mind, she tried to think of something else to say.

"Jealousy among girls is common. Common in Hufflepuff house, believe it or not. People who don't actually spend time in our dorm don't fully understand how much more alike we are to other houses than they think."

Once again, he got that odd "are you crazy?" look from Samantha. "Jealousy? You have the wrong girl." She completely ignored his wink, which was odd, but not enough to throw Aaron off.

She paused, as if lost in her thoughts. She stared at him, and Aaron got the feeling that she was trying to figure him out. He almost laughed--so many had tried before, and none of them had even gotten close. It was always interesting to see how far off they were, though. It was a constant source of entertainment for him.

"Jealousy among girls is common," she continued. "Common in Hufflepuff house, believe it or not. People who don't actually spend time in our dorm don't fully understand how much more alike we are to other houses than they think." She took a condescending tone, as if she was sick of the world thinking that Hufflepuff was made of the weirdos and the failures.

"I'm quite aware that it exists in Hufflepuff House, believe me on that," countered Aaron. "Just because a girl is from Hufflepuff, it does not mean that she is not a girl. Human nature is human nature, regardless of the house. Girls spread rumors, and girls get jealous."

He paused for a second, continuing amiably. "Yes, I was referring to you, and I am positive I have the correct person. How many other Samanthas are there in this school? Even if you were not Samantha, they would start rumors. Such is their nature when confronted with people exponentially better-looking than they."

"You have no idea. Most people don't even bother to understand. They just judge judge judge." She said, anger rising up in her. Quickly squashing it, she sighed. Hufflepuff girls were probably the most cruel, cause no one bothers to actually pay attention to them, so they get away with whatever they say. Its stupid.

"Better looking?" Samantha raised her eyebrows. "Those other girls must be bloody disgusting. Am I blind or something?" She side stepped the compliment. Why was he flirting with her? Was he interested or was this just his natural self? If it was, she felt sorry for any girl he talked to. Thankfully, Samantha had very good self control. She was warming up to Aaron, but was no way interested at the moment.

She resisted sighing again, and wished for once she was able to just think things slowly, instead of having one hundred things on her mind at one time. It was tiring, and she didn't like it all that much. Sometimes it was helpful, but not that often.

"You have no idea. Most people don't even bother to understand. They just judge judge judge." It sounded like the beginning of a well-practiced rant, but she stopped herself, sighing.

"You almost seem resigned to this," Aaron said, softly. "Why don't you set them straight, show them that you are better than their screwy opinions of you? Show them that their opinions don't matter, but you do."

"And yes, better looking. Get over it, once the rest of the world gets over your muggle name, they will be all over you. Trust me on that one." He knew that Samantha was skeptical, but he did not really care, and this would not stop him from saying what he wanted to say. Heck, he might even convince her, if he tried hard enough.

Her face seemed to fall a bit. "What's up? You look kind of down all of the sudden."

"Ah, flattery. Seems to work every time, eh?" She muttered to herself, then spoke a little louder. "I don't let them have the satisfactory of me responding to the bullying. That, in itself, would show I cared thought to waste my time in setting them straight." Samantha snapped, a slight look of victory entering her eyes for a second before it disappeared. His other comment made me blink.

"They'll 'Be all over me'? Are you insane?" She quickly replied, her eyebrows pulling together slightly. "The only thoughts anyone has ever had for me is something completely unpleasant!"

"Ah, flattery. Seems to work every time, eh?" She mumbled this, and if Aaron did not have good hearing, he would not have caught it at all. Samantha seemed bitter, but she did not seem to understand that he would say something if it was entirely untrue. He may be prone to exaggeration, but not to flat out lying to people... most of the time.

"I don't let them have the satisfaction of me responding to the bullying. That, in itself, would show I cared enough to waste my time in setting them straight." Samantha sounded angry but triumphant, as if she was proving her entire life's work in this simple sentence, as opposed to just refuting a statement he made.

"While I don't understand how being a doormat will make you any better of a person, or make your life any easier, to each their own. If you want to be miserable, that is your prerogative." Aaron shook his head.

However, the next comment she made was more amusing than anything else. "They'll 'be all over me'? Are you insane? The only thoughts anyone has ever had for me are completely unpleasant!"

Her incredulous tone made Aaron want to laugh. She had absolutely no concept. "You really don't have a clue, do you? Until you have your own system of personal informants, or you've talked to every single person in the school, you cannot say that for a fact. Plus, I can prove that claim false right now--I've never had any completely unpleasant thoughts so far."

Her mouth twisted to the side at his comment.

"I'm not a doormat, Aaron. I don't feel like I am that stupid, okay?" Samantha was getting aggravated, and shook her head. "Can we change the subject?" She pleaded, not wanting to get to angry at Aaron. He was nice enough, and she didn't want to ruin and chances of her getting another friend. Ignoring his last comment, she looked around sadly, then glanced down at her hands. The shyness was creeping up on her again, for some reason she was able to keep it at bay, but any onslaught of emotion, good or bad, usually caused her to be timid once more to whomever she may be talking to.

"I'm not a doormat, Aaron," she responded angrily. "I don't feel like I am that stupid, okay?" However, her anger seemed to fade, and she asked, with a hint of desperation in her voice, "Can we change the subject?"

Aaron did not know why it bothered her so much, but he was more than willing to oblige. "Okay. I'll go with it, since you seem to have gotten terribly timid all of the sudden. What do you want to talk about?" He was not sure leaving the conversation to her was the best idea, but he figured that he would let her talk about something she was more comfortable with. After all, it would show him something about her, and she would be less awkward and more willing to talk.

He would let her choose the terms. It seemed that that was the best plan of action, with her at least.

Samantha thought for a moment, then leaned toward him slightly, her elbows on her knees.

"Tell me about quiddige." She said, hoping that was a subject that he'd like to talk about. It sure seemed like he would. An odd movement in the corner of her eye caused her to glance over. It was a group of Ravenclaw girls, fuming. Resisting laughter, she looked back at Aaron and waited for him to reply.

Samantha leaned towards him, which was a bit odd. She sat with her elbows on her knees, her legs up and close to her chest.

"Tell me about Quidditch," she said. Aaron was baffled. "You know, you virtually told me two seconds ago that you really don't care much for Quidditch? Why the sudden change of heart? There is really no point for me to prattle on if you don't care."

Then, he saw Samantha glancing out of the corner of her eye. Following her gaze, he saw his usual group of Ravenclaw lackeys, sitting and fuming. Clearly, his talking to Samantha, the "plain jane Hufflepuff" was causing quite a stir. He looked at Samantha, and saw her biting back a laugh, thinking that Aaron had missed the encounter.

Aaron did not miss much.

He waited for a response.

"Uh, theres nothing else I can think of at the moment for us to talk about?" Samantha said in a confused voice, blinking. "Unless you can think of something for us to talk about, I'm all out of ideas." Pulling a hand through her hair again, pushing it out of her face, she noticed him looking at the group at the benches and resisted laughing again. There was another look on his face, it looked almost like amusement mixed in with a little smugness. Shrugging it off, she waited for him to respond, a calm look ensuing on her face.

"Uh, theres nothing else I can think of at the moment for us to talk about?" Samantha said, sounding a bit puzzled. Aaron decided that this was because she expected him to be one of those annoying prats who could ramble on and on, until the end of the world, about Quidditch. He realized, though, that she could care less.

"Unless you can think of something for us to talk about, I'm all out of ideas."

For the first time since he started talking to her, Samantha looked oddly... calm.

"Um, so let's see... things to talk about..."

He thought for a second before asking, "What is your favorite class, and why?" It was a relatively simple question to answer, but he was curious as to what her answer would be. The type of magic a person liked told a lot about them.

"Hm. I don't really have a favorite class. They're all the same to me, I guess." Samantha shrugged, trying to think of a class she liked best. None immediately came to mind. "I usually read in my classes, and the teachers don't seem to care. And due to me reading so many books, I get good marks." She left out the part about reading Muggle books, such as the one that was in her bag right now.

"What about yours?" It wouldn't hurt to ask. "Though I figure you prefer Quidditch." She smirked at him, deciding she should give him a chance and trust him. If this went wrong, she didn't know what her outlook on life-- on people!-- would be. It had destroyed her when her friend betrayed her.

She could not let that happen again.

"Hm. I don't really have a favorite class. They're all the same to me, I guess. I usually read in my classes, and the teachers don't seem to care. And due to me reading so many books, I get good marks." At the mention of reading in class, Samantha turned a bit pink, as if she was hiding something. Aaron's mind traced back, remembering that she was reading earlier. "What kind of books do you like?" he asked, interested. He was a reader himself, something that most people never really expected, thinking him a dumb jock... despite his good grades and head boy status.

"What about yours?" she asked, adding "Though I figure you prefer Quidditch." She smirked, though her expression almost betrayed a cautious trust.

Aaron shook his head, bemused. "First of all, Samantha, Quidditch is not a class. It is a sport. My favorite class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, though I'm really partial to any class involving the actual use of magic. Classes like Divination, for example, may be lovely to others, but most definitely not to me."

Samantha skirted around his question on the types of books she liked.

"I know that Quidditch is a sport. I was just saying that you probably prefer Quidditch over your classes. And I like Divination, its interesting. Though the teacher is a little odd." She laughed. Samantha felt something brush against her back, then harder, and she was pushed forward, getting shoved into Aaron. Her mouth fell open, A huge blush spreading across her cheekbones.