Let's not be friends or else this might never end

Clair was finding that the problem with not looking like he was brooding was that he was pretty sure he looked like he was brooding most of the time anyway.  Now, in an attempt to seem normal, he didn't know whether he was overcompensating and looking unnaturally chipper, but he was almost certain that he was.  

Damn Julian for being Julian.  Damn Margo for throwing parties, but mostly, damn himself for catching feelings in the first place.

It had taken a while. Weeks, if you added up the entire time it took for him to realise, but eventually Clair had come to the conclusion that he did feel something more than just regular friendship towards Julian Kapur.  He was still confident that whatever this was, it wasn't love. Love was... Love was recognisable.  It swept people off their feet and turned them into babbling idiots.  Clair knew he wasn't a babbling idiot.  Indeed, of the two of them, Julian was closer to being that.

In any case, Julian was not here right now, and thus was not an immediate concern (so why was Clair still thinking about him?  Why was he always thinking about him?).  Right now, he needed to concentrate on finishing his breakfast without looking completely insane.

These days time passes really slow. To be honest, Charlotte wasn't sure why is like that.
She didn't see Christian. For a long time.
Maybe that is the reason why she felt somehow empty, without the will to do anything at all. She wasn't even sure where they stand right now. Are they still a couple? Or they succeeded to become strangers, like every couple after some time. Who said love is something beautiful.
For Charlotte, it's a strange place with low self-esteem, insecurity, and pain. And that damn solitude.

But it's time for breakfast. It's the new day and Charlotte decided she won't spend another day thinking only about Christian.
She will do something. Before him, she has fulfilled life with a lot of obligations.
Today, she will finally send letters to her friends. Her true friends. Those people who love her for who she is, not just because she pretends to be something she is not. People here love her only because they think she changed. For them, now she is Charlotte who is in the happy relationship. Charlotte who adores magic.
But she is not that. And she needed true herself to come again.

When she came to her table, it was almost full. The only free spot was next to Clair.
Last time when she had to sit next to him they had the terrible fight and that didn't go very well.
Maybe this time it will be the same.
She sat and looked at him, not sure if she is supposed to say hi or just ignore him.

Caught up in his own thoughts, Clair hadn't noticed that the last seat left at the Ravenclaw table was next to him. If he had, it wouldn't have surprised him. It wasn't as though he was great company lately. But as it was, Charlotte sitting next to him was a surprise.

He looked over at her, but didn't turn his head because he didn't particularly want Charlotte to notice he was doing it. Their last conversation was, well, not even an argument, really. More like a shouting match. He didn't think either of them had been interested in persuading the other, though he remembered the vile feeling in his gut when he stormed away and she didn't follow him. And she didn't catch up with him demanding he explain himself in the days after, either.

"Hello, Lottie," his voice was low, and rough from how little sleep he'd been getting. "Christian given you up already?"

Taunting her was strangely comforting, like pulling on a well worn cloak, and Clair half hoped Christian had broken up with her just so they could go back to their routine of hating one another.

He didn't even look at her.
Charlotte wasn't sure what is that strange feeling in her stomach when she became aware of the fact that he didn't even want to look at her after everything.
Maybe it was the pain. Or something else.
Whatever it was, Charlotte wanted it to just stop so she can continue with her life.
She didn't want to greet him first. After all, it was Clair's fault they argued last time when they were sitting next to each other, just like now. He was the one who hurt her, he said a lot of bad words and which tortured her during many nights when she was awake and left to her own minds.

Anyway, she was very surprised when he said hello to her. What, now they will speak like nothing happened?
"Hello, Clair" and just like that, he ruined everything.
She frowned and looked at him angrily.
"It's not your damn business." She spilled out while anger treated to get over her whole body.
She wasn't sure why she was angry like that. In the normal day, she would just say they are still together.

But then she realized. Clair dared to ask the same question she was asking herself a lot these days.
Is this the truth? After all, if he was asking that question, he must see something. Maybe that was the reality; people saw they are not together. Maybe they really broke up. And that hurt even more than Clair's words.

Clair was filled with warmth as Charlotte immediately went off her head at him.  She was so easy to wind up.  He gave her a smirk before shovelling another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"God," he said, through his mouthful, "settle down."

"Five minutes ago you hated all magic and now you're dating the scion of one of the most prominent pureblood houses.  People are bound to be interested."

He paused as the implications of that hit him.  Charlotte might not like magic, but she had nothing on what Clair liked to think of as the pureblood selective breeding programme.

"That's not what's got you wound up this time, is it?  His family?"

"I can't settle down when it seems like the purpose of your life is to get me angry" she looked at him with the anger written all over her face. Her cheeks were almost unnaturally red and she actually tried to kill him with her gaze.

She took toast from the table and started eating it and she almost smothered with the food when he said she is dating someone from the important family. What the hell she was thinking about when she started dating Christian? His family will kill her when they find out.

"Well, keep your nose out of my relationship." She looked at him again just to show him how much serious she was.
"And I don't hate magic anymore. I accepted who I am" just half of the truth but it's better than nothing.

"Really," Clair said. He wasn't convinced, and he didn't sound convinced either.

Clair had fought with Charlotte over accepting magic before. And he did think she needed to accept who she was, but something about the way she said it irritated him.

"I mean, I suppose it is a lot more easy to accept when there's a full vault at Gringott's attached to the prospect," he said.

"I don't know why I thought you were different, Charlotte. I thought you were the kind of girl who stands up for what she believes in, but I guess if some rich kid's parents need you to like magic, then it's more important to like magic, huh?"

Charlotte Waldorf was sure she hates Clair. And she was angry at him.
But that feeling was nothing comparing what she think now.
How does he dare? How does he dare to say she likes magic because of Christian's parents?
She hates him. She will say something bad.
But no.

This was not supposed to happen. This is not possible.
But it was, she was able to feel tears spilling all over her face. He actually succeeded to make her cry.
She looked at him with hate written all over her face.

"I didn't feel like I will ever have a need to say this, but I hate you. How can you say that I care about their money? I don't care about money, but I care about people's feeling, which I can't say for you." It was stupid actually because her family has a lot of money. Maybe their surname isn't important in this world, but in Muggle's world, it is.

"I would never do that. I don't care about their money. But I hate you. Don't speak to me ever again" she wasn't even aware of the fact that she was yelling.

When Charlotte turned toward him with tears streaking down her face, Clair couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. He liked taunting people, and he didn't mind getting into physical fights with those who could take it, but he liked to think it was all in good fun. He wasn't the kind of guy who actually made anyone upset. Except when it came to Lottie, it seemed.

Clair sighed. He picked up a clean serviette and dipped a corner into the water jug.

"Come here," he said, reaching over to wipe the tears off her face.

"Why would I wind you up all the time if I didn't care about your feelings?" he smiled. "There'd be no point in that, would there?"

"Why do you really like magic now? It is something to do with Christian, isn't it?"

Charlotte was shocked. Completely, without any doubt shocked.
Clair Sauvage actually cares about other people.
In the past, Charlotte used to think he just wants to annoy others. He was the one who seemed like he doesn't care. For him, everything was just the fun.
But now, he looked as he actually feels bad about what he said. And that was really something new.

When he started wiping the tears from her face, she looked at him in confusion.
"How can you say something really bad in one moment, and then in next moment be the nicest friend ever?" She said trying to finally stop crying.
Charlotte Waldorf isn't the person who cry a lot. So this was new for her as well. Damn it' relationship with Christian obviously made her weak. She didn't like that.

"I don't know Clair. You should tell that to me. Can't we just be normal friends?" she frowned and took another bite of the toast. It felt bad in her mouth.

"I don't know" she paused while thinking about his question. She didn't know the answer. She wasn't even sure when she stopped hating magic. What changed?
"I guess Christian showed me that wizards don't need to be freaks. He kinda helped me to realize this may be the gift, not the curse, as I used to think."

"And, I find out it's easier to short all my high heels if I use magic" she smiled and shook her head.