With A Tinge of Scarlet

On his first day at Hogwarts, three long years ago, Keith had claimed a large, comfortable blue armchair as his own. It was far too big for him and he ended up sinking into the cushions whenever he sat in it, but it was still his - and in fact, one of his favorite things at Hogwarts.

On this particular Sunday afternoon, Keith had seated himself in the armchair with the full intention of getting down to business on homework. A half finished potions essay lay in front of him, and several theoretical charms books were strewn haphazardly across the floor around him. But it hadn't taken long for the boredom to creep in, and now Keith was entertaining himself by throwing rocks out the window and down to the lake below.

He figured it was only a matter of time before he hit someone, but since the particular angle he was sitting at didn't let him see the actual ground he was forced to sit silently and wait for a surprised yelp to float in through the window. So far, no luck, but Keith had nothing if not time and a hell of a lot of rocks.

A lesser mind might wonder where Keith had found all those rocks, and what had possessed him to bring them up to Ravenclaw tower, but Keith (like all great pranksters) knew that rocks were useful in almost any situation. He was never without a small bag of rocks, and maybe a fistful of pepper. He was, after all, nothing if not prepared.

Teddy had been working on a long History of Magic essay all afternoon, choosing the cold air outside to the warmth inside the castle. It was much quieter outside, and fewer people interrupted her, as the fall's bitter cold was keeping people inside the castle. Yes, Teddy's fingers were close to falling off, but she had not been forced into any sort of social contact. She knew what was important.

She had been minding her own business when a small thump caught her attention. She looked down and spotted a rock next to her. Curious, she looked about her- some boys were sitting not too far off. She figured they were annoying her, so she flipped him the bird and continued working. Another thump. "Knock it off!" she called after the seemingly-confused boys.

One of her pieces of parchment floated from her lap, and she leaned forward to grab it. A sudden pain reached her back and she let out a yowl. She whipped around, her History of Magic essay floating into the lake. She stood and looked up- foolish, as a rock came flying from the Ravenclaw tower a moment later. She dodged it and grabbed her bag, stomping towards the castle.


Teddy flung open the door of the Ravenclaw tower, dropping her back. Her face was red, her hair mused, one of her sleeves slipping off of her shoulder. "ALRIGHT. WHO HAS THE DEATH WISH?"

Keith had settled into a rhythm now, a sort of grab aim chuck wait listen wait listen repeat that let him throw rock after rock with mindless inattention. He barely noticed that he was beginning to run low on rocks until a surprised yelp from down below caught his attention.

Keith smirked as he realized that he must finally have hit somebody (or at least something), and debated with himself a moment about getting up to check on his victory. In the end, he decided to settle deeper into the cushions, staying close to the warm fire and away from the brisk fall wind. Instead, he reached back into his supply of quickly dwindling rocks and continued his now familiar pattern

grab aim chuck wait listen wait listen
grab aim chuck wait listen wait listen
grab aim chuck wait listen wait listen
grab aim

"ALRIGHT. WHO HAS THE DEATH WISH?"

Whelp.

So much for chuck wait listen wait listen.

Keith surreptitiously stowed his almost empty bag of rocks between the cushions of his chair and quickly grabbed at his quill, which lay temporarilly forgotten at the edge of the table in front of him. He began fumbling with his potions essay (the damn thing had gotten flipped upside down or something, seriously, how the hell does that even happen) and Keith realized perhaps a bit too late that this was not the worlds most suave cover up.

Teddy circled the room like an angry lioness, looking around. One boy was telling her to calm down before she burst a blood vein but she ignored him. Her eyes had spotted a flurry of movement. Her rotation in the room had put her behind an armchair, and she could see the top of a blonde head, barely. What she could clearly see is how easy the distance between the chair and the window was, as well as the person's frantic manner of getting back to some parchment.

Teddy brushed back her hair and slowly, quietly, stealthily approached the armchair. A few eyes followed her and she pointed her wand at the armchair, holding a fist aloft as well. With a flick of her wand, she sent a charm towards the armchair to turn it around, but at the same time, a good Samaritan called out to warn the occupant.

"Look out Keith!"

Teddy gasped. "Keith!"

And her face promptly turned red as she came face to face with one Keith Nicholas.

"Look out Keith!"

Keith wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to be looking out for, but he appreciated the gesture. Since his excellent attempt to blend into the background had failed, he was preparing to throw himself out of the chair and make a mad dash for the door when suddenly the armchair jerked as if possessed, spinning a 180 and bringing him face to face with Teddy.

Traitor. The armchair was supposed to be on his side.

"Keith!" Teddy gasped, her face flushing red. Keith arched an eyebrow. He knew Teddy from classes and meals and one or two parties - they had never really talked, but he supposed he knew her well enough. The blushing was new though.

"Hello, Teddy," he said with a smile and a wave. "Man, you look angry. Well. Um. You should be! I'll bet you just got nailed with a rock, didn't you? Yeah, that wasn't me, that was uh...Jack! Jack Kubin! Nasty kid. Delinquent. Parents probably didn't love him enough. I was all like, no Jack stop, what would Dumbledore do, and he was all like, screw you bro, I do what I want and then ran away so yeah totally not me let's put the wand down and take a deep breath, huh?" He studied her rapidly reddening face. "You really look like you could use it."

Teddy hated this.

She was a professional. She wasn't planning to add the male gender to her life equation until she was well into her thirties, after her career had been established and she had a fortune. She would not be like her sisters who had all married early. This feeling irked her, the giggly, warm, frustrating feeling she got when certain boys looked at her.

Keith was annoying. Everyone knew that. He was a pest. However, he was also obviously intelligent, funny, and starting to become irritatingly handsome. He wasn't overwhelmingly attractive- she left that brand for the seventh years. But his height was helping him out. And she had always admired his easing going nature. So this was a terrible change of circumstance.

Teddy briefly wrestled with her reaction. On one hand, she was pissed. On the other, she didn't want to beat Keith up. On the other hand, she didn't want him to think she had fallen for his story.

"Well..." she spluttered. She dropped her fist and her wand. "Just don't do it again, okay?" She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.

"Well...Just don't do it again, okay?"

Oh hell yes. God damn he was good. He should write a book or something. Keith's mood immediately soared, from "pants-shittingly terrified" to "ecstatic", and he even decided to forgive the armchair for its earlier bit of insubordination.

"Oh yeah, sure, no problem," he said, settling back into the armchair. "Rocks out the window. Bad idea. I'll keep that in mind. Yes." He nodded and grinned. "So, Teddy, how's it been? Other than getting hit by rocks I guess. Haven't seen you around recently. Or heard much about you actually, come to think of it. Other than, you know, that little incident with Bella the other day down at the lake." He placed his hand over his mouth in mock shock. "Scandalous."

He allowed the moment to pass and Teddy glanced around. So what? Did she leave now? There was no point going back out to the cold. The time inside had allowed the red in her cheeks to pale, though the pink from the cold seemed to have stained her nose and cheeks as a reminder of her failed outdoor venture. She could not return outside and risk losing her nose to the cold.

He suddenly asked after her and she tried to recall casually chatting with Keith. It must have happened before, but she could not recall what they might have discussed. She sank numbly into a smaller armchair close by, and listened to him speak. He suddenly included Bella and the day at the lake and her cheeks flared pink again, saying in a subdued voice, "I feel really bad about that, actually."

However, she had to recover. "Actually," she said, raising her voice and her chin, trying to look a tad stronger and more like herself. "I'm doing well. Classes are going well, and I have a lot of my own projects. I'm keeping busy." She nodded, before realizing she had better ask him about himself. She cleared her throat and said, rather uncertainly, "And you?"

God damn, she was really not good at this whole small talk thing.

Which was odd. Keith had never really interacted with Teddy in any meaningful way, but he had gotten a much better impression than this blushing, stumbling, uncertain presentation. To be fair, she was taking the whole Bella incident much better than he had anticipated she would.

He opened his mouth to respond to her hesitant continuation of the conversation, but before he got the chance he was interrupted by Derrick.

Derrick was a third year, a smart kid, one Keith had met a year ago when he was looking for more potential Spice buyers in Hogwarts. He knew people, and people knew him, and he had proven a valuable resource when it came to expanding the Spice trade. Derrick knew Keith was pretty deep into the whole business, but like everyone else he assumed Keith was simply getting the stuff from a dealer and distributing it.

He had no idea that Keith went all the way to the top.

"Keith," Derrick said. "Can you talk for a sec?"

Keith waved him off, but Derrick seemed intent. "It's important."

"Having trouble with your homework again?" Keith asked through gritted teeth. "I can't help you right now little dude. Can't you see I'm busy?" He sent Derrick a meaningful stare. "Come on, get out, I'll help you later. Leave me and the pretty lady in peace."

Derrick frowned and shook his head, but eventually vanished up the stairs to the boys dormitory.

"Good kid, but horrible potions student," Keith said with a pained smile. "Uh, what were you saying?"

Sitting down had somehow stilled Teddy's restless spirit, bringing her a calm she had been unable to control and maintain when her blood had been flowing more freely. Now that she had seated herself, the color was draining from her cheeks and her face wasn't pounding with embarrassment. Her brain clunked into motion, logic and reason beginning to insulate her awkwardness.

Keith began to speak when someone approached. Teddy's eyes narrowed on the boy and his anxiety to e far from Teddy was clear. Teddy knew him to be a Spice pusher- she knew a few, actually, and had spent the better part of the last school year harassing them for information. Derrick had learned of Teddy's dedication and persistence when she wanted an answer.

And something in the way he glanced at her... Teddy's mouth opened slightly and her eyes darted to Keith. Keith- involved with Spice? And, just like that, Teddy's brain switched to business mode. She clamped her mouth shut and pulled on a smile, so when Derrick shuffled off, a polite smile met Keith's look.

So he was going to lie. Alright- Teddy knew how to do that. Going off of what he said of Derrick, Teddy said, "Good kid? Really? I know Derrick's a pretty fun guy, but I was under the impression he was a bit of a rebel. Trouble-maker type. Bella always reports on stuff like that. She had a big secret about Derrick but refuses to tell." Teddy sighed. He asked what he she had been saying and said, "Oh... I forgot. Must not have been important." She smirked. "Derrick... I think he tried to sell me Firewhiskey last year."