Due to Pranking and Potions

Vivianna was in the Potions Labs, brewing. It was a pretty common sight, not that many people ever came down to the labs to see that. When the girl had received special permission to use the labs unsupervised, she'd been quite pleased. Potions was her thing, and experimental potions were both incredibly fascinating and dead useful.

The teenager was just about to add knotgrass to her potion, when a bang sounded from somewhere outside the lab's doors. It had been an impressively loud noise, and whatever had caused the noise, had also caused all the furniture in the room to jolt slightly. The jolt had knocked over an almost-empty jar of beetle eyes, causing them to spill into the cauldron far too early. Glancing down sadly at her now-useless potion, Vivianna vanished it with a flick of her wand.

The teenager wasn't too upset. She'd only just started a few minutes before, and it wasn't like she had been sitting down to re-stock up on something she needed. That didn't mean, however, that she wouldn't confront whomever had caused this. Schooling her features into a scowl, the girl slammed open the lab door, and stepped forwards.

Maybe it was the fact that he just hated Slytherin, or maybe it was his love for practical jokes, in all honesty it was probably a combination of both. Either way, he more often than not found himself in the dungeons when he was trying out one of his new toys, and every time it merited an even louder laugh than the last time. How could he possibly not try out his brand spanking new firecrackers complete with a fifty percent louder explosion and a nifty inclusion of a hallucinogenic which would make whoever was struck with it see all kinds of things.

It was safe to say that Brian was completely ready for detention on this one. He had heard about a few older Slytherin's who had bullied a first year into being their lap dog for a week or so. The poor little fellow was too afraid to say anything to anyone because he was scared of the repercussions, well little man, these were the repercussions of messing with a Gryffindor.... fireworks. At least from Brian's point of view their actions merited retaliation.

So he found himself in the dungeons, again, with a sly grin on his face. He was not quite sure why they even allowed him down there anymore, people had to know exactly what he was doing, it wasn't like he was going to do any extra work in the potions lab. Luckily for him, though, no one was around as he made his way down. He had timed it right, most of the younger students would be in their common rooms while the older students would be in the extra rooms studying for their OWLS and NEWTS. Speaking of which, he should probably start studying.

After a few days of stalking he knew where the three boys studied at and he knew exactly where they were going to be at. He sneaked stealthily down the hallways, firecrackers in hand, and a look of determination on his face. When he reached the door, he peaked his head up to make sure they were all there, and sure enough they were. He pulled his wand out and he placed it on the fuse. He was going to have to high tail it out of there if he wanted to get away.

Lighting the fuse, he quickly opened the door, and he tossed the firecracker in the middle of the room. There were more people in there than he expected, but hey, casualties of war. They happened. "Sullivan 100, Slytherin zero!" He shouted as he launched the firecracker. He wasted no time, slammed the door, and tapped it with his wand, hopefully locking them in long enough for the hallucinogens to take effect.

A loud bang was followed by shrieks of surprise and a few guys yelling out and cursing at Brian. A laugh escaped his mouth, but he could not stand around and watch forever, he had to get out of there. Taking off in a sprint he ran down the hallway but his escape was cut short by a door being flung open. He tried to dodge it, but it was no use, he crashed right into it and then right on top of another student.

He braced his and her fall both, not wanting to cause physical harm to himself or another person. He landed directly on top of her and he looked down, dang, she was pretty cute. A smile crossed his face "I know you're excited to see me, but we can't do this in the hallway darling."

Well, this was an interesting turn of events. The girl had expected that it would take a moment or two to track down the culprit. Instead, the Gryffindor managed landed himself right into her lap, almost literally. His hands were holding himself up on either side of her shoulders, and the first thing to come out of his mouth was a taunting flirtation.

Narrowing her eyes at Brian Sullivan, because of course it would be Brian Sullivan, the teenager decided that she really needed to get out of this position. Bending her arms behind her and planting her palms flat on the floor, Vivianna straightened her arms and pulled her body out from underneath the Gryffindor's. Ending up in a crouch, the Slytherin stood up, and brushed off her pants and black shirt. The student hadn't been quite as graceful as she would like, but that had never been one of her strong points.

Looking down at the troublesome Gryffindor, whom the witch had been incredibly good at avoiding up until now, the student just refrained from rolling her eyes. Really, if one of the Professors had been brewing to re-stock the hospital wing, Sullivan would be in so much trouble.

Hand automatically finding a place on her hip, the redhead looked at the male and stated, "you completely destroyed my potion, and if you know anything about me, you'd know that I care more about my potions than I do about the lives of my housemates." So, perhaps that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, depending on the housemate, but even if they'd never interacted Brian was in her year. At the very least, that meant he should've heard some of the rumors about her nasty temper, or about how she ordered her evil cat to attack first years. To Vivianna's defense, on that last one, she never told Strike to do anything, her pet really just was a violent beasty.

She struggled out from underneath him and he quickly pushed himself to his feet, peering over his shoulder at the hallway behind him, half expecting the Slytherin's to be chasing right behind him. He had to think fast or he was going to get caught, he couldn't just run away, she had already seen his face and if the Slytherin's came looking for him then she would surely give him up.

He acted quickly. "I destroyed your potion? I am so sorry! The least I could do is help you fix it? I am pretty good at potions myself." Absolute and complete lie, he sucked at Potions, but he needed to get inside of that door with it shut behind him so that they would keep running past. The Slytherin's would never think one of their own was harboring a Gryffindor.

"So why don't you show me." He quickly slithered his way into the door and into the Potions Lab and hid himself as best as he could behind the wall while trying to not make it look so obvious he was hiding.

Walking back into the potions lab, the Slytherin shut the door behind her. Turning to the idiot who really needed to improve his lying skills, the girl raised an eyebrow. "You're miserable at potions. I've been in class with you for five years. Actually, miserable isn't even a strong enough word, and now you want to help me brew a potion?" Vivianna's voice was practically dripping with disbelief and cynicism.

In a way that the girl herself considered almost artful, the witch lent back against the door. The only door. "What are you hiding from? I might not be a Ravenclaw, but I'm plenty intelligent. It also doesn't help that you're pants at lying, you wouldn't last two days in the snake den," the potions prodigy said, finger pads drumming slowly against her thigh.

Brian Sullivan was one of her few year mates whom she hadn't figured out over the long terms. While the female had been alright with that before, as long as it meant staying away from the troublemaker, Vivianna figured that she might as well take advantage of the situation now that she had him cornered.

He really should start paying attention to the people in his classes. Maybe if he stayed awake instead of sleeping through everything he might know more people, but screw that, he was going to be a professional Quidditch player, who needed Potions? He now felt kind of cornered because she seemed to love her potions, and Brian knew jack shit about them, and she was already calling him out on not knowing potions and hiding from something.

"I wouldn't want to last two days in the snakes den thank you very much, and how dare you say I am a terrible liar, I am great at it. You just knew the lie from the start." He heard footsteps and he ducked down below the window, peeking up at the door, trying his hardest to stay hidden.

"OK, listen, I sought revenge against a few members of your house, but hear me out, they had it coming. They were bullying a first year every single day and they wouldn't stop despite me flexing my muscles in their direction. I know, should have worked, but here we are." By flexing his muscles, Brian made a bunch of empty threats, and eventually ran away once the older students came after him. "If you let them know I am in here then they won't learn their lesson in the first place. You may be a Slytherin, but do you actually think picking on an eleven year old when you are a seventh year is what being a Slytherin is about, or is that being nothing but a pussy?"

As Vivianna listened to the Gryffindor, she suddenly found herself almost wanting to congratulate the male. Shoving Brian out of the way, the girl ripped open the door. Fake scowl plastered on her face, the redhead stuck her head out into the hall and allowed her eyes to land on the three older Slytherins whom had been stampeding down the corridor. "You three, stop making such a ruckus! I'm trying to bloody concentrate!" Vivianna exclaimed, before slamming the door shut.

Her housemates would never think that Brian was hidden in her room now, nor would they have the guts to check. The female had suspected whom the Gryffindor was talking about, and she'd been correct. The older males were the worst type of Slytherin, the type who would brag every night in the common room about how many young Hufflepuffs they'd terrorized that day. The girl hated their group, and they hated her, but neither side ever did anything about it as once false move would start a war, and neither wanted to deal with the other's wrath.

Walking away from the door, going from enraged to calm the moment the door was shut, Vivianna went to sit on one of the wooden desks that inhabited the room. Once seated, the girl glanced over to Brian and said, "what? I hate Jones and his gang even more than you do. Besides, I owed him one on general principal. I understand revenge, great friend of mine, so who am I to get in the way of someone else trying to spread the love." Everything the teenager had spoken was true, but it had certainly helped that Brian had made a crack against Slytherin. Vivianna was very protective of her house and the stereotypes that surrounded it, especially when such words came from a member of the house of the upstanding hypocrites.

When she shoved him out of the way and opened the door, Brian scrambled to find a way out of the room, he shoved desks out of the way and tried to find an exit. It was no use, he was going to have to force his way through her and a ton of Slytherin. He turned around and prepared himself to take off in a sprint past her and up the stairs. His only hope was that there was not a crowd.

Then he heard her speak and a smile formed across his face, was she hiding him? A Slytherin protecting a Gryffindor from other Slytherin, good lord he really was a ladies man. "Did you just defend me? The most notorious pain in the ass of the Slytherin, you had me at your fingertips, and you decided to harbor me? I am sure some of your house mates would give you an award for my capture." He perked up and he started to straighten the desks that he had pushed out of the way. "Don't get any idea's, though." He quickly corrected himself when he realized he had given her a good reason to give him up.

He plopped himself down in one of the chairs and he propped his feet up, making himself right at home, and looked back at Vivianna. "So this is what you do all the time? You make potions all day? Seems kind of boring." He was matter of fact and he quickly had to correct himself, he was being rude to his savior. "Sorry, boring to me, I am terrible at potions is all."

"Don't start thinking you're special, I don't get along with half of my housemates. Hell, I don't get along with half of the school, at least. Huh, I never thought about it that way, I may have to figure that out properly, might make for an interesting statistic," the Slytherin said sarcastically.

"Naw, I make potions a lot, but that's hardly all I do. And I'm sorry, but I'm not telling you much else, I still haven't decided if I dislike you or not yet," Vivianna told Brian honestly. Taking a breath through the throbbing pain in her skull, the girl glanced down to the bag resting by her feet. Hooking one of the straps on her foot, the teenager raised her leg to rest upon the desk with her, and grabbed the bag that had been raised along with it. Not even needed to look, the witch reached into the backpack and grabbed a vial from deep inside. Glancing at the self-brewed potion quickly, the OWL student downed it in one practiced gulp. Headache Relievers were incredibly handy things, if addictive.

Using the opposite foot that she'd used before, the student pushed the nearest chair to a comfortable distance, before propping her feet upon it. Looked over at the boy, Vivianna couldn't help but say, "your bluntness is equally refreshing and confusing. I don't think I'll ever understand Gryffindors."

Brian shrugged his shoulders when she said she wasn't sure if she liked him or not. "Doesn't matter if you like me or not, you saved my ass, that's all that really matters." He was used to Slytherin's not liking him, it had gotten to the point that he expected first years to hate him coming into the school, and he liked it that way. Slytherin's and Gryffindor's did not get along for a reason and that was why they were in separate houses to begin with.

"You know, a lot of people say that at first, but they get annoyed real fast when they are around someone who is always being blunt. Guess they only like it at first, but then they realize they don't want to hear about all their flaws and mistakes, so they get tired of it." It was true, he had lost quite a few friends from his inability to empathize with someone else. He did not understand how people could not be positive all the time, life was awesome, and sitting around moping about how life was out to get them was no way to live. Life was not out to get anyone, which was the beauty of it, it did not care whether a person succeeded or failed because it kept going no matter what the circumstances.

"You won't understand Gryffindor's just like I will never understand Slytherin's. Two sides of the spectrum we are. On the one hand you have a group of people who are out for themselves and only want power. Maybe not only power, but they want to be the most successful in whatever they are doing. While on the other hand you have a group of people who are all about the success of others instead of themselves. Are there Slytherin who would jump in front of a spell for another person, sure, but for the most part your house is about self preservation. Which is something I will never understand. Life, when lived only for yourself, is lonely and wasted. I would much rather be poor but be with the people I loved then rich and have no one." His serious demeanor came on quickly, but it was stifled just as quickly when an idea hit him.

"Hey! Can you make the Elixir to Induce Euphoria?" He was easily distracted sometimes, but the idea of taking a potion that could heighten his mood to crazy levels was too awesome to pass up.