Kaz and Meru (P5)

Kazuma Reeds was late to potions.

This wasn't something particularly unusual, as he had been late many times before, and had lost countless house points for it.

No, no, that wasn't the issue.

The issue was that Merula Snyde was also late.

Unlike Kaz, this was unusual. Merula Snyde hadn't been late to a potions lesson since first year, when she'd been caught tripping Ben Copper down a staircase.

For this reason, Rowan Khanna was struggling to concentrate. All he wanted to do was write up list after list of possible reasons for each of them to be late, and begin cross-referencing the lists to figure out the cause, but Snape had become more bat-like than ever before. Every time Rowan's mind wondered, even for a second, he heard the distinctive *whoosh* of Snape's robes billowing. How he managed this, despite being in an underground dungeon classroom with no wind, Rowan had yet to figure out.

"Stir...anticlockwise...three times." Rowan whispered to himself as he attempted to work, his fingers tapping a rhythm into the desk repeatedly.

"If you can't contain yourself, Khanna, then I suggest you remove yourself from my classroom." There he was again, standing right behind him. Rowan jumped.

"Sorry, Professor Snape." Damnit, where the hell was Kaz? Usually he'd pull Snape's attention enough to keep Rowan from becoming the focus of Snape's wrath.

Before Rowan could begin tapping holes into the desk, the classroom door burst open, as if answering his prayers. There, gasping for breath, bent over with his hands on his knees, was Kaz.

"I'm...sorry...Professor. I...lost track of time."

"You consistently surprise me with your inability to master even the simplest of notions, Reeds, but this is a new low. Are you simply so stupid that you cannot keep track of your own schedule?"

"Don't...worry, sir. Won't happen again." Kaz finally stood up straight, and Rowan's eyes widened as he took in the state of his friend.

Kaz looked like hell. He had a black eye. His hair was hanging all over his face. His uniform was haphazard, as if it had been thrown on in seconds, and his tie was barely done, looking less like an actual tie and more like a rope he had thrown around his neck. His poor uniform allowed Rowan to see slightly more of his body, and from what he could tell, Kaz had been through a rough time. There were bruises forming across his chest, and although Rowan could only see a tiny amount through an undone button, he was sure the brusing covered his whole chest. His collarbone was covered in what looked suspiciously like bite marks, and his sleeves were undone, allowing Rowan to see extensive scratches across his arms. He was standing funny, as if he couldn't put his full weight on his left leg.

In short, he looked like he'd gone twelve rounds with a Hippogriff.

He staggered into the room and collapsed into his usual chair next to Rowan. Snape sneered with his usual enthusiasm and turned back to the lesson.

"You look like you've had a tought time."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Kaz looked like he was about to pass out, and he braced both arms against the desk for support. Rowan heard him mutter under his breath. "She's insatiable..."

"What was that?"

"O-oh, nothing."

"Right, sure." Rowan waited for Kaz to look away. Although there were still at least 40 minutes left in the lesson, the potion they were preparing required a minimum of 50 minutes, so Kaz would just have to accept a 0 on this lesson.

"By the way, do you know where Merula is?"

Kaz's head whipped back round to face him. Rowan raised an eyebrow.

"Sh-she's comi-" Kaz cut himself off halfway through the sentence. "I mean, she's on her way."

"Really? Now why would you know that?"

"You just asked me?"

"Yes, but I didn't expect you to have an actual answer. Don't you usually just say that she's probably off beating up first years?"

"Th-that's not-"

Before Kaz could finish, the door slammed open a second time. There, leaning against the doorframe, was Merula Snyde. She, just like Kaz, appeared to have had a fist fight with a troll. Her uniform was just as poorly arranged as Kaz's had been, and her hair had changed from its usual 'styled messy' look to outright uncontrolled, with strands sticking up in every direction. Rowan could make out red marks around her neck, as if someone had been pushing their weight into that area. She had her own set of bite marks and scratches, but instead of a black eye, the right side of her face was red, almost as though she had been slapped across the face, hard.

"Miss Snyde. I see you have decided to...grace...us with your presence."

"Professor...I-"

"Spare me your excuses. Even Reeds managed to arrive before you did."

"But he's-"

"Do not...make me repeat myself. Sit. Down." Just as the class began to relax, he spoke again. "And that's 20 point's from Slytherin, ten from you and ten from Reeds, for showing up late to my lesson. Another 5 each for your state of dress."

Rowan winced. That 30 point loss was enough to knock them out of first place.

Merula followed almost exactly as Kaz had, and staggered to her seat, collapsing into it with a heavy sigh. "I hope you're happy. Your idiocy just lost us the lead in the house cup." She hissed to Kaz.

"My idiocy? You're the one who showed up half an hour late and tried to make excuses!"

"It's your damn fault I'm late!"

"How the hell is your inability to show up on time my fault?"

"You know wh-" Halfway through the sentence, Merula's eyes slid over to Rowan, and she immediately cut herself off. Of course, if she had known Rowan better, she would have realized he'd been watching her since she'd sat down, and what he'd seen interested him. There was something more than the usual anger in her eyes when she looked at Kaz. Rowan couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something had clearly changed between the two.

"So... Did you two decide to ditch wands and have a fist fight instead?"

With no hesitation, both of them turned to Rowan at the same time and hissed "Nothing happened!"

"Ah. Well that's very convincing." Rowan finally turned back to his potion, seeing that it needed another ingredient and stir. "Well, since neither of you are working, could you chop up some ingredients for me?"

"Yeah, sure...Just tell me where they are."

"They're right in front of you."

"O-oh."

Merula snickered. "No wonder you look like such a mess. You can't even see an ingredient in front of you, let alone how you're dressing."

"Shut it, Snyde." Kaz almost growled in response. Rowan was shocked to see Merula actually shut her mouth with an audible click, and even more shocked when he saw an almost inperceptible blush creep onto her face. He shook his head and continued stirring.

"Alright...Kaz, drop those ingredients in." Kaz picked up the chopped ingredients and leaned over toward Rowan's cauldron. His eyes looked somewhat unfocused, as if he was seconds from falling asleep. Still, he dropped the ingredients in without any trouble.

And then the cauldron exploded.

"Sabotaging other students now, Reeds? Your own friend, too... So, not only do you show up late and half dressed, you also have the audacity to disrupt other students?"

"But Professor, I-"

"And Miss Snyde, why didn't you tell him not to add only half the required ingredients?"

"Sir, I didn-"

"Detention. The both of you. I expect to see you in my office tomorrow morning."

"I-...yes, Professor."

Rowan watched as Merula and Kaz glared at each other. He looked at both their expressions, noting that there seemed to be more than just dislike in their expressions. Merula's lips were slightly parted, and she was breathing out her mouth. Kaz's mouth was shut, but there was a look in his eyes. It looked almost like some sort of hunger...

"By now, your potions should have turned the requisite dark green. Place a sample on my desk for marking, clean your stations and leave. Class dismissed." Snape surveyed the room, giving one of his trademark glares at the students who seemed hesitant to bottle their samples.

Rowan quietly repaired and cleaned the twisted mess of pewter that had once been his cauldron, before beginning to pack his belongings. He left the room,  turning to see Merula and Kaz dragging themselves out behind him, leaning heavily on every piece of furniture from the desk to the door.