They say opposites attract. Samantha+Aaron

Samantha looked terribly nervous. She stuck a smile on her face, but Aaron could feel her hand tightening around his, and he could see it in her eyes. She was not used to this kind of deceit; not like Aaron was. Aaron had had ages of practice--much more than he would have liked, in fact. Samantha had not had that practice, and thus, she looked a bit frazzled. However, she kept the smile on her face, and as Aaron tightened his grip on her hand softly, looking her in the eyes, she relaxed a bit.

"Okay. I'll try to be nice and civilized." Samantha raised an eyebrow, but the tone of her next comment was joking. "Shall I say the same for you?" Before she could even finish that thought, she was on to the next one. "But, dear Aaron, are you a proper evil genius? Or is this some crazy facade? I most certainly will be wondering about that..."

Aaron shrugged. "I will be nice and civilized, so long as she leaves you alone. Then, I might have to confront her on her issues. But I will do it as kindly as I can, I suppose." He paused thoughtfully before continuing. "As for being a proper evil genius, of course I am," he said, winking. "What else could you expect?"

Samantha rolled her eyes.

"Nothing less, I suppose." Then she laughed as she noticed Scarlett being in ear-shot, as if Aaron had made a joke. Samantha wasn't sure she was being convincing, but as Aaron only looked slightly worried, she supposed it was good enough.

Then Scarlett was beside them, hands on hips, smiling at Aaron, giving Samantha the cold shoulder.

"Hello, Aaron." She said, her back to Samantha. It was quite a feat, as Samantha and Aaron were pretty close to each other.

Samantha looked a bit nervous, and her laughing sounded fake, but Aaron doubted Scarlett would notice. She was always a bit oblivious in that regard, once she had a main focus. Unfortunately, it seemed that she kept coming back to him as her main focus, not wanting to let him go and let it be. She sat down, attempting coyness, turning her back completely to Samantha. "Hello, Aaron," she purred, her voice soft and... seductive was what she was attempting, Aaron was sure, but it did not come out quite like she intended.

Aaron met Samantha's eyes, and she looked a bit miffed. He knew he had two options. He could either ignore Scarlett completely, keeping his attention on Scarlett, or he could play along until he could ditch her. While the second option was far more diplomatic, he felt like he was was setting himself up for future encounters.

"Samantha, I think I feel a draft. I know how you feel about the cold, would you like to move out into the sun?" He made things up on the spot, not sure whether he made any sense or not.

Samantha smiled a tiny smile at him and nodded. It filled her with slight warmth seeing how Aaron just blatantly ignored Scarlett and her attempt and being appealing. Scarlett's face went slack with shock for a moment, before she regained her composure.

"But, Aaron. My skin is extremely sensitive, and you know how badly sunburn affects me!" Scarlett whined, slipping in front of Aaron as they stood up, moving out into the sun. Her pressed her hand against his chest, making him stop. Scarlett batted her eyelashes, still not looking at Samantha. A small look of annoyance flashed across his face, and he quickly backed away slightly, moving closer to Samantha and further from Scarlett.

Samantha scowled for a moment before tugging on Aaron's hand the slightest bit, trying to get a comment in before Scarlett or Aaron said something.

"Thank you for remembering my problems with the cold." Samantha said, making her voice soft and quiet, shy. Scarlett finally turned to her, hands placed gracefully on her hips. She opened her mouth to say something, and an uncomfortable feeling formed in Samantha's stomach. She kept her expression calm, making it seem as if she had not a care in the world.

"But, Aaron. My skin is extremely sensitive, and you know how badly sunburn affects me!" Scarlett pushed Aaron gently. Aaron did not like being pushed at all, but he let it go just this once. He just ignored her, looking towards Samantha to see how she was faring. She scowled, and she clearly wanted to say something. She tugged at Aaron's hand gently.

"Thank you for remembering my problems with the cold." Samantha said, her voice subdued and innocent. Scarlett put her hands on her hips, trying to establish herself as the adult, graceful, mature one, but Aaron knew better. She opened her mouth, as if she was about to make some grand revelation, and Aaron saw Samantha's smile crumble a bit. He needed to intervene, even though it would require abandoning the plan to ignore Scarlett.

"Scarlett, can you please leave my girlfriend and I alone?" he asked, speaking harsh words very politely and reasonably. His voice was smooth and even, and he saw Scarlett blink for a second, slightly dazed. She really was a ditz, Aaron thought to himself in dismay. Why did he ever go out with her? Also, he wondered if Samantha would catch how effortless it sounded to call her his girlfriend. He secretly hoped she did not--he genuinely liked her, but he did not need her to know that.

Samantha watched as Aaron handled the situation smoothly. She saw how perfectly calm he kept his voice, his expression one of only slight annoyance. He called her his girlfriend with such a matter of fact-like tone that it shocked Samantha. She was able to pretend like he was talking about his favorite color, but she knew her eyes betrayed her emotions.

Scarlett huffed, a cloudy expression on her face from Aaron's comment. Samantha resisted rolling her eyes. Scarlett was lacking some brains in the air-filled head of hers. "B-but. I thought-- Aaron." She squealed unhappily, a pout forming on her lips.

Samantha cocked an eyebrow at Aaron, a bit of amusement forming on her face. Glad that Scarlett was facing away from her, she mouthed I can't believe you were with her. In truth, she couldn't. Scarlett was pretty, but had the personality of a hippo, and wasn't exactly the brightest person in the school.

Contemplating saying something, Samantha waited to see Aarons reaction. Then Scarlett spun on her heel and stared at Samantha, her eyebrows pulling together.

"What makes you so special, huh? Why did he choose you over me?" A look of disgust came upon her features when she said "you". "There's nothing special about you. Plus, you're a Hufflepuff. Aaron and I are Ravenclaw. I am smart, funny, nice, and we are a perfect match! You're plain, muggle-ish, and just... ugh!" Scarlett ranted, nearly causing Samantha to laugh out loud. She kept a serious expression on her face, letting a small frown enter her face.

"You're a Ravenclaw?" Samantha said, cocking her head to the side, letting confusion enter her face, hoping the insult hit home with Scarlett.

As Scarlett moped, Samantha turned to Aaron. "I can't believe you were with her," she mouthed, cocking one eyebrow.

"Neither can I," Aaron mouthed back, shaking his head sadly. "I'm sure it made sense at the time."

However, before Aaron knew what was happening, Scarlett launched into attack mode. She seemed angry that I would be with Samantha instead of her, which was normal. She wanted to know why not her. She wanted to sit there and mope and whine about how life was not fair, like a little five-year-old. Since she assumed it was not her fault, it was Samantha's, and it meant that she was going down. Aaron watched Samantha, noticing the anger in her eyes, but glad to see that she did not react.

That is, until she said, "You're a Ravenclaw?" ever so innocently, almost in a curious manner.

Aaron groaned. Samantha was just provoking her, and though Scarlett was an idiot, she would understand that one. He had to intervene.

"You two just need to stop," he said, deliberately not picking sides until he had to. "There is no reason to sit here and bicker." He spoke as convincingly as he could to both of them, hoping that it might sink in at least a little.

Samantha saw how Aaron was getting exasperated. She pursed her lips, sending him a look that said sorry, even though she wasn't sorry for insulting Scarlett. Samantha wasn't about to just stand around and get pushed at like she has since she came to Hogwarts. It was time for a change.

"Aaron, darling, I didn't do anything wrong! Whats so bad about stating the truth?" Scarlett said, obviously thinking that her comment was the best insult ever created. Samantha didn't reply, knowing that if she did the situation would probably become worse. She bit her tongue, the impulse to give Scarlett a good talking to becoming overpowering.

She kept her eyes on Aarons smooth face, not even daring to look back at Scarletts face.

"And yes, Forbs, I am a Ravenclaw." Scarlett growled, turning back to Samantha. "Even an imbecile like you should know that."

"Aaron, darling, I didn't do anything wrong! Whats so bad about stating the truth?" Scarlett was in the mood to be whiny. Aaron kept his face smooth and even, not betraying his annoyance. He shot a sideways glance at Samantha to see that she was staring at him, clearly trying very hard not to say anything nasty back. He gave her a slight nod, although he was not sure if she would notice or not.

Scarlett did not want to stop, but Samantha did not seem to be fueling the fire, thank goodness.

"Scarlett," Aaron said, "There's no need to attack her. I would really appreciate it if you would stop. I don't like it when people verbally abuse my girlfriends. Yes, she is my girlfriend. I think you are a sweetie, but you need to let our relationship go. It is in the past. I've moved on, and you should too." He said it in a way that did not match his words, knowing that she would hear the tone first, and then the words later, when he was far away. He took Samantha by the hand, and he started to walk.

"Thanks," he muttered to Samantha when Scarlett was out of earshot.

Samantha watched happily (well... slightly happily) as Aaron scolded Scarlett, and she admired his skill in keeping his emotions in check. Scarletts face started to go blank with confusion as he spoke, and finally he finished, pulling Samantha along with him away from Scarlett.

"No problem. I really do not understand what you saw in her." Samantha whispered back to him, frowning. "I'm not saying anything bad about her, at least, not right now, but she really is lacking something up there." She said, taping her temple with her index finger.

Sighing, she finally noticed the looks they were getting from other students. No one seemed to have been close enough to actually hear the ordeal, but the expression on the faces of Samantha and Scarlett must have been enough for them to guess what as going on between the three of them.

This is an odd way to start the year. Samantha thought, her eyes narrowing in thought. It all started with that stupid quaffle. It'll be interesting to tell my kids if Aaron and I actually get together. She blushed, almost unnoticeable. That one day at Hogwarts.

"No problem. I really do not understand what you saw in her," Samantha replied quietly. "I'm not saying anything bad about her, at least, not right now, but she really is lacking something up there." She tapped her head, and Aaron tried hard not to smirk.

"Yeah, I never did either. She was cute, though, and definitely eager. Back then, I did not discriminate too much. She can't be terribly stupid, though. She IS in Ravenclaw, and the Sorting Hat is rarely wrong."

He saw as Samantha started staring at the people around her. She was just noticing how much exposure she was going to get for going out with him, and the fact that Scar was jealous made matters even more dire for her.

However, Aaron was puzzled as Samantha started to blush. Maybe it was all the attention... no, that seemed wrong.

"What are you thinking?" Aaron asked. "Should I be concerned? You are looking around and blushing, so either you have performance anxiety, or you see something you like." He winked at her, making the blush even worse.

She was so much fun to mess around with, because she reacted so... visibly. He never had to work hard to decipher hidden glares or figure out why she felt the way she did as much as he did with many other girls. She was who she was, and Aaron liked that about her.

Samantha sent a mini-glare toward him.

"What I am thinking is none of your business, nosy." She said, smiling sweetly. HONESTLY?! She screamed at herself in her head. Can you be anymore obvious, Samantha?! Repressing a sigh, she tried to keep the negative thoughts out of her head.

Thankfully, Samantha didn't hear or see Scarlett coming up behind them, so she assumed that they were in the clear. For once. An annoying voice in the back of her head said.

"What I am thinking is none of your business, nosy," Samantha said, a sugary sweet, out of place smile on her face.

"You're smiling," Aaron whispered, exaggerated suspicion in his voice. "Why are you smiling? You HAVE to be up to something." He had a crooked grin on his face, but he was genuinely curious. "What are you up to? Toppling the government? Taking over the school?" As he went further along, the laughter started to show up in his voice. He had a mischievous sparkle in his eyes as he spoke, coming up with creative ways for Samantha to secretly be plotting random things.

"So, you could just tell me, or be subjected to all that again," Aaron said, smirking. He did not plan to let it go, although it was trivial. He was weird like that, and he really did want to know. People don't just randomly blush when they space out for no reason, and if it was because of their "relationship," he wanted to know.

Samantha giggled as he listed off reasons of what she might be thinking about. Oh, he's a funny boy. She thought, grinning back at him. He had a tone to his voice that showed suspicion, but the glint in his eyes and the humor showing in his voice betrayed him.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore." She said, looking over at him. It would also be the end of my pride... Then, to throw him off, she added; "Plus you might decide to foil my evil plans... and well, where's the fun in that?" She hoped it would throw him off, but knowing Aaron he would probably know it wasn't some type of evil plan that she got so excited over that she flushed with pride.

No, the chances of him being swayed are pretty low.

"What about you? Any plans of destruction you forgot to tell me about?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. Plus you might decide to foil my evil plans... and well, where's the fun in that?" Samantha had humor and playfulness in her voice, but Aaron saw that there was something greater there. The blush was still on her face, fading slowly, and he could see in her eyes that she was excited, pleased beyond something as simple as what she claimed. Aaron should have been able to piece together exactly what it was, between the people staring, the blush, and the eyes hiding love and affection, but he was interrupted from his thoughts by a quick question from Samantha

"What about you? Any plans of destruction you forgot to tell me about?"

Aaron smiled. "Of course. I have lots of plans of destruction that I have not told you about, I can't give all my plans right off the bat, now can I? It would ruin the surprise." He winked, knowing that he was hiding much more than plans of destruction.

Samantha saw the secret in his eyes, but dismissed it as irrelevant. She was hiding stuff from him, he was allowed to hold stuff from her.

"Fair enough." Samantha said simply, shrugging slightly. As they walked, Samantha inched closer to Aaron, stretching her fingers out, catching Aaron's hand. She pretended like nothing happened as her hand curled around his.

"Okay, if we are dating," She started, pursing her lips in thought, "We need to know some stuff about each other. Tell me some stuff about you." Samantha said, peering at Aaron.

Aaron could see that Samantha knew he was keeping things from her. He kept things from everyone--that was just the way he worked. However, she was keeping things from him, too, so it was completely justified. She seemed to let it go, softly placing her hands in his.

Aaron thought he was off the hook, but he realized he was sadly mistaken when Samantha said, "Okay, if we are dating, we need to know some stuff about each other. Tell me some stuff about you."

The getting to know you stage was one of Aaron's least favorites. He had to give up information. In Aaron's mind, the world ran on information. The worst part was, Aaron was usually a pretty outgoing person. So, people were stunned when they hit a solid brick wall when it came to dealing with himself.

So, he decided to deflect the matter a bit.

"Well," he started, slowly. "My name is Aaron, and I'm madly in love with you, Miss Samantha," he said, his voice smooth and even, but the grin in his eyes lessening the seriousness of the matter. He liked her, sure. Madly in love, though, was probably just a bit of an exaggeration. He did not want to deal with the whole "love" mess yet. "And that is all you need to know. What about you? It was your idea, would you like to share?"

He totally dodged the question, but he hoped his response would distract Samantha enough to let him get away with it. Telling girls you loved them tended to distract them quite a bit.

Samantha rolled her eyes, and resisted sighing.

"Well, My name is Samantha. I love the color silver." She replied, not giving out too much information, just has he had done. Samantha was going to learn more about him, she promised herself that. She kept her face slightly bored, pausing a moment before looking at Aaron, a serious look in her eyes. "Aaron, dear, could you please tell me something I don't know?"

Samantha's thoughts were racing once more, slightly jumbled at what his reply was. She didn't let it show, thankfully.

Why is he so secretive? She thought, waiting for Aaron to answer. I didn't do anything to him, did I?

"Well, My name is Samantha. I love the color silver." Aaron was a bit concerned--was he losing his charm? Samantha did not even blush, looking almost bored. When she continued, dead serious, with "Aaron, dear, could you please tell me something I don't know?", Aaron was even more concerned.

If Aaron had his way, he would put off telling her anything for as long as he could. However, he knew he was going to have to give her something to go on if he wanted to get anything in return.

"My favorite color is dark blue. My first ever spell was Alohamora. I was four. I did not want to go to Hogwarts. My dad made me. I skipped first year. I read muggle books. Now it's your turn, my dear."

He said it all in a quiet, solemn voice, letting her know that he was being dead serious.

Samantha smiled at him once he finished talking, his face even more serious than hers was a few moments ago.

"Thatsa boy." She chirped, pausing for a moment to give Aaron a hug. As her arms wrapped around his neck, she whispered in his ear. "You don't have to be so shy, Aaron. I'm someone you can trust." Samantha murmured before pulling back, her smile shrinking to a shy grin, as if she just confessed something life altering to him. Hopefully it confused the other students.

Samantha mentally facepalmed. Why SHOULD he trust me? He's barely known me two days and already I'm saying he can reveal his deepest secrets to me! I'm so stupid.

"Thatsa boy." Samantha said, hugging Aaron. "You don't have to be so shy, Aaron. I'm someone you can trust."

Aaron frowned. He had never been particularly good at the whole "trust" mess, and he really did not know Samantha very well. He did not trust her yet, although he had never seen anything to indicate that she should not be trusted. He just... he just wasn't used to trusting people. That was the way he lived. Pull everyone in, but never open the door--that was the way he operated.

However, Samantha clearly had never answered his question, so he turned his attention to that, skirting around the uncomfortable statement. Once Samantha let go of his neck, finished pretending to impart a secret not very discretely, he responded. "Now, Miss Samantha, you never answered your half. Tell me some things about YOU."

Samantha let out a tiny huff, a thoughtful look shadowing her face as the thought.

"Well..." She said, chewing on her lip. "I love reading, my first spell was Expelliarmus. The last spell I have made was Lumos." Samantha declared, nodding at Aaron, noting how he completely ignored her comment about trusting her. Its a good thing he did, he most likely just saved them both from having a really awkward conversation.

God, I hope he doesn't think I am crazy or anything. I know that if I was him, I'd be all but running away screaming.

"Well..." Samantha said, almost nervously. "I love reading, my first spell was Expelliarmus. The last spell I have made was Lumos."

She looked down, her face turning a bright pink, once again. Aaron could not help but notice once more, to his chagrin, that it really did look lovely on her. He really needed to stop noticing things like that, and start paying more attention. The fact that Samantha was able to worm information out of him still bothered him, although he did not tell her the full story on any of it. Aaron was actually kind of surprised--most people asked how he skipped first year, and he never wanted to tell people. He had a default story, a made up excuse, that he had been tutored by his dad before he came to Hogwarts. It was not exactly a lie... just not the full truth.

Aaron was a fan of half truths.

"Expelliarmus, huh? I never would have expected that with you," Aaron said, softly, looking at Samantha probingly. She got something out of him, he wanted to get at least something more from her.

Samantha grinned at him, wagging her finger.

"I have to learn how to protect myself, silly Aaron. Expelliarmus is probably the spell I can cast best. I've even been able to knock the wand out of Snape, but you don't wanna know why I had to do that." She said, remembering that one day in class forever ago. Luckily it was a defense class, so Snape and the rest of the teachers just blew it off as her showing off her, at the time, slight skill with the spell.

"But, you? Alohamora? I suppose that doesn't shock me much." Samantha mused, peering at him.

"I have to learn how to protect myself, silly Aaron. Expelliarmus is probably the spell I can cast best. I've even been able to knock the wand out of Snape, but you don't wanna know why I had to do that."

Aaron raised his eyebrow. He was a bit surprised--he had managed to do the same, but it took him a few tries, and he grew up with that spell ingrained into his repertoire. That was pretty impressive.

"But, you? Alohamora? I suppose that doesn't shock me much." Samantha looked at him interestedly, almost curiously.

"That's also a long story, and you also don't want to know why I had to do that. But yes, my first spell was Alohamora."

Aaron was so paranoid. It was sad.