Oh, It's You

[Tomas Wode]

It had taken his mother to promise him that he would get a new broomstick at the end of the year if he would ace the new school year so naturally, the thirteen-year-old did what was promised and went to the library to get ahead start on the readings he would have to do for classes. He had enjoyed his classes last year which was something he did not think would happen because he couldn't make himself feel at home at Hogwarts but then something had changed which made him like the school and the classes so was feeling confident enough that he would be able to keep his mother to the promise that she made with him before leaving for the train station. He turned around the corner and noticed his least favourite person standing there a few meters away from him in front of the shelf he needed to get a book from. Great, he thought, seriously considering to leave the library because he did not want to deal with her at the moment. However, since he really wanted that Scarlet Streak, walked toward the girl and asked, ''Could you please step aside, I need a book from that shelf.'' though doubted if the girl would listen to him since she disliked him just as much as he disliked her.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Out of all the places at Hogwarts and the grounds, the library was still special to Phoebe. As much as she liked learning through experience and trying things out, sometimes you had to use a book for information. Often books had interesting things in them that generated new ideas, which was what she was hoping for. Last year she hadn't managed to do anything all that exciting, unless you counted the failed potion which she tried not to. She now stood in front of a shelf of books, her arms crossed as she scanned the many titles in front of her. So many books, it was hard to pick just one (or two, or five) to look through. She was pulled out of her concentration by an unwelcome voice, and she frowned as she turned to look at Tomas. Really? She never saw him in the library, was he going to hang around here now too? Probably in the hopes of spending time with Veronica. It was so fake, Phoebe could see right through it. "I would, if I thought you could read." She said with a smirk. She knew she was being cruel, but she really just wanted this boy out of her face. Couldn't he have picked any other shelf to get his book from?

 

[Tomas Wode]

He should have known that he would receive a response like the one she had just made. He wasn't even quite sure what he had done to the girl to have deserved a reaction like this, or all the other times that they had to spend time together because of their mutual friend. It left him to wonder if he had said something bad to her back when the two first met in the train compartment before the start of their first year but honestly couldn't think of something. ''Seriously, Phoebe?'' the Gryffindor asked, ''Anyway, I'm not going to stoop myself to your level of patheticness so if you could be so kind to step aside so that I can get a book from that self, that would be nice,'' Tomas said. It took him every fibre of his body not to snap back at her but he so badly wanted to throw a mean comment back at her. He looked at the girl as he waited for her to move to the side so he would be able to reach for a copy of the Charms book that he needed. If she was going to be at the library everytime that he needed a book for school he then perhaps it'd be better if he would just get all of them at once so he wouldn't have to deal with Phoebe whenever he actually wanted to be busy with school stuff.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe's annoyance at Tomas may be somewhat irrational, but she just hated how he walked after Veronica like a miserable puppy. He wasn't smart enough for her, and Veronica was too nice to see it. Phoebe and Veronica were a good duo, they didn't need some boy in there to mess things up. Especially not if that boy was Tomas. "I'm serious, I've never even seen you in the library before. What are you doing? Veronica isn't here, you know." She said, sneering. "Which book do you need, anyway?" She glanced at the shelf behind her. "And what do you need it for?" She wasn't going to make this easy for him, even if it was silly.

 

[Tomas Wode]

He couldn't believe that she was still making comments towards him about their friend not being with them. She had done it before and quite frankly he was growing tired of hearing it again. He clenched his jaws and looked away from the Ravenclaw for a brief moment and took a deep breath, not wanting to say anything that could eventually get him into trouble. ''The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3,'' Tomas said when turning back to Phoebe again. He had spilt pumpkin juice over his own copy which had made reading the letters quite difficult hence the reason why he needed to borrow a copy from the library. ''It's for class,'' he added, not mentioning what had happened to his own one as he figured that she would only make fun of him for spilling juice on it.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was a little annoyed that Tomas wasn't rising to her bait. He didn't even seem to react to Veronica's name, which made her frown. Was he no longer her friend? Even though she despised the friendship between the two, she had to admit it would crush Veronica to be dropped like that. Ironically, that act would only make her dislike Tomas more. Even to herself she could admit there was no winning for the guy. She raised her eyebrows when he said which book he needed. "Really? Aren't we supposed to have that textbook?" She asked him, even though she knew she was right. She smirked. "Did you lose it?"

 

[Tomas Wode]

The longer the Gryffindor had to wait for either Phoebe to move aside so he could get the book himself or for the girl to give it to him, the more annoyed he got with her. He was tapping his feet impatiently while he listened to the Ravenclaw and sarcastically said, ''No, really?'' If that meant what he thought it did then Tomas wasn't so sure about taking Charms anymore because he didn't want to deal with a judging Phoebe in yet another class. ''No, I did not lose it,'' He didn't even bother trying to make up an excuse as to why he didn't have a copy of his own, as she would most likely throw another mean comment his way if he did. ''Honestly, Phoebe, I do not want to waste my time on you whilst I could be doing something that is actually quite important. So could you for the love of god either step aside or get if for me?'' Tomas asked again, really hoping that the girl would stop being so annoying.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

The sarcastic tone Tomas threw back at her was the closest he had come to standing up for himself yet, though it didn't make her like him any more. Now that they were third years, she would be seeing him in classes all the time. She hoped he hadn't taken all the same ones she had, but didn't feel like asking him to make sure either. "If you didn't lose it, you probably did something else stupid to it." She told him with a shrug. "It's really no wonder you're not in Ravenclaw with us, you know." If she remembered correctly, Tomas had been sort of disappointed not to be with Veronica in their first year. She could only hope he still felt that way. "You know, you do know a summoning spell. You could have gotten the book that way ages ago." She said pointed out to him with a smirk on her face as she stepped aside so he could grab it. "Another reason you're in Gryffindor. I guess." She said, waving him off dismissively. She didn't think Gryffindor was a bad house, but the students there weren't the top of the line academically speaking. Unlike her own house.

 

[Tomas Wode]

He rolled his eyes when she told him that he probably would've done something stupid to his book which was true but he was not going to let Phoebe know that he spilt juice all over it. Tomas was a little taken aback by what she said next and looked down at the ground, not really sure how to respond to it and a little confused. What was that supposed to mean? Did she just indicate that he wasn't smart enough just because he hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw house? Yes, the Hat had placed him into a different house but that did not mean that he wasn't smart, right? He was smart and had his second year grades to prove so even if they weren't top of the class... ''Well,'' the Gryffindor said, looking back up at Phoebe again and being genuinely upset with the girl for the first time since the train ride for the fact that she seemed to have called him stupid by saying what she had said. ''At least I am smart enough to not hurt my friend with some stupid potion,'' he continued before walking past the Ravenclaw girl to get the Charms book from the shelf so that he could leave the library and not return to this place anytime soon.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe watched Tomas react to her words, and was surprised at the emotion she saw on his face. So far everything she said had pretty much rolled off him. His next comment as he grabbed the book took her by surprise too, and she glared at him as he left. She didn't know what to say in return, for once, and got angrier at the boy for using something like this behind her. "Whatever, you're not smart enough to even make a potion." She muttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes, but she didn't think he could hear it. This stung, and it frustrated her. She would go back to Ravenclaw to read instead, no annoying Gryffindors could bother her there.