turning page | claudia & simon

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

Simon's heart sank to his stomach when his eyes translated the seating chart on the board for the Potions December final. It felt surreal. Like a dream. Simon froze when he saw the look on Jessie's face as she wordlessly shot up from her seat and publicly fought for a seating change. The Professor shot her down immediately, stating the seating chart was firm and not open to negotiation. Oh, how the tables turned.

It had been exactly a month since the day he ran into Claudia in the abandoned classroom. Simon was ashamed and embarrassed for being so honest with her. He relieved the scene in his head over and over in utter scrutiny over himself wishing he had reacted differently. He hated the thought of allowing himself to be vulnerable but he felt like he owed it to Claudia in that moment. They seemingly tried to sweep it under the rug the past four weeks. Life was too busy and hectic right now to add that sort of drama into their lives. Simon was exhausted from studying, training, and leading the house quidditch team. He was relieved to be busy and found himself adding more to his schedule so he wouldn't have to see Jessie through the day. At this point, he was avoiding breaking up with her because he didn't want to deal with the heartache. It was easier to avoid her and those emotions that were eating him up from the inside out. Maybe a part of him was afraid of being alone too, but he also wanted to be free. These feelings were so confusing.

When he saw Claudia's name on the board next to his, he felt like he manifested it. It scared him because he knew he shouldn't have felt happy about that, and he had to hide it from Jess as she begrudgingly collected her supplies to meet with her partner on the other side of the classroom. Simon stacked his two books and slowly got up to meet where Claudia was because it was his new seat, he stopped in front of the table and forced a smile that was almost shy, "Howdy, partner." he stepped around and sank into the chair beside her, feigning nonchalance, but he was completely freaking out on the inside. "Sup?" he asked, icy saucers trying to gauge how she felt about being paired up with him. He hoped she wasn't upset about it because he sure wasn't. Although, this could potentially add more unwanted drama to their life.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Cludia had discovered over the past year so far that she wasn’t entirely a failure at potions. It made sense to her. It was simple and all you had to do was follow easy directions to get your desired outcome. It wasn’t like a lot of other lessons that asked her to take creative liberties and talk about any of her own thoughts or opinions regarding the selected material. She almost felt like potions were mindless. It was one of the few lessons she was starting to look forward to. Though, she still just sat in the back and mostly kept to herself. She also liked that potions was usually a solitary subject. But apparently not today.

They were assigned in pairs to brew today's potion. Claudia was absolutely not one of those people who liked group projects. She didn’t have the patience for most people. When she saw her name on the board and the name next to it, her stomach dropped. Of course it was Simon. She watched with a somewhat amused smirk as his little girlfriend marched herself up to the front and tried to argue the partners with no luck. Claudia didn’t really want to be stuck with Simon for the whole period, but the fact that Jessie didn’t get her way was good enough to make it worth it.

Simon approached her and sat down in the now empty seat at her table after the normal Ravenclaw guy she sat with got up to find his own partner. “Hey…” she said deadly and turned her textbook to the desired page to find the recipe for the Veritaserum. “Let’s just get this over with, Yeah?” she decided, standing up with the intention to go to the cupboard to gather their ingredients.

@claudia

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

Simon sank into the stiff chair, trying to appear unphased by the situation as he flipped his book's page back open to where he left off. He was relieved Claudia sat in the back, Jessie had to turn her body to see them if she wanted to since she was up in the front row. The universe had a weird way of saying 'fuck you' sometimes. He couldn't believe he was paired with Claudia, and they had to make a truth potion. He wondered if she maybe forgot about their conversation...somehow. No. Fucking. Way.

Luckily for Simon, he was a better student than he'd ever been in his academic career, thanks to Jessie. She whipped him into shape by hitting the books and helped him get ahead in his studies for the first time in his life. All he had to do was to take his time and not rush. And most importantly, not get distracted by his hot partner or girlfriend across the room.

Claudia's body language showed she just wanted to get it over with, no attempt at caving into his small talk. She was strictly business which made Jessie flicker into his mind. He yearned to talk to her and ask her about her day but he wasn't privileged enough to have that sort of insight about the life of Claudia Watkins anymore. But one day he would. Someday. Simon tried not to allow her tone to make his stomach drop any further to the floor. "Yeah, sure thing." he agreed with a curt nod of the head, trying to keep his demeanor more easygoing but failing. His eyes scanned the book to see what ingredients they needed, and a sigh slipped past his lips as his eyes caught a gander at how long it was going to take to make their potion. His finger tapped rhythmically on the book where he read aloud, "The brewing time is 28 days." he chuckled awkwardly to himself as he ruffled his hair nervously. It made sense why Jessie was so mad now, it wasn't just a one-day thing. "Cool...uh, yeah.." he said quietly, his eyes flickered to Claudia and then back to the book. This was going to be a long month.

@claudia

[Deleted]

28 days?! Oh he had to be kidding. Claudia leaned over and looked at his book since he had got to the page before she had. And there it was, right there on the page. 28 days brewing time. Almost a whole month that she was going to be stuck pretending not to be in love with her potions partner while his girlfriend watched from across the room. “Great…” she sighed in more of a whisper. She wondered what was going through his mind. He couldn’t possibly be pleased with this. Especially not knowing that every move he made in class for the next month would be watched by his girlfriend. The smallest thought passed through her brain wondering if maybe this was a nice break for him. She hated the girl, she had to believe that even he thought she was annoying. Though she wouldn’t ask. It was kind of cathartic, in a way, taking him from her now. At least it was a little win for her and proof that Little Miss Perfect couldn’t control everything.

“So um, your cauldron or mine?” she asked, making a mental note of the ingredients list so she could collect what they needed. She saw Jessie heading towards the store cupboards too. How pleasing would it be if their trips coincided. Oh good. If this was going to happen she was going to make the most of it and give the girl the worst time possible through it.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

Simon smiled weakly at Claudia, trying not to stare but he hadn't been this close to her since the day in the abandoned classroom. Everything felt different since then. He felt lost. She asked who's cauldron they should use and he pushed his forward. "Lets use mine." he told her easily, forcing a smile. Simon couldn't tell how she felt about the situation but he was hopeful that this could be good for their friendship. 

The Professor informed the class that a portion of the assignment would be salvaging ingredients for their potion. Simon could feel Jessie's frustration from across the room, she looked like she was going to scream or cry. That was originally how Jessie and Simon met last year. They were paired up for a Potions assignment. There was a tiny part of him that wished he could do something to help console his girlfriend because he didn't like to see her upset, but a deeper and darker part of him didn't care.

His eyes darted over to her, and back to Claudia when she looked like she wanted to get up from her seat. "Uhh, I will go." he told her, shooting up from his seat and walking over to the cabinet. He could barely remember what ingredients he needed. Jessie wordlessly stepped up to the cabinet, giving Simon the silent treatment with a sour face. His eyes widened in disbelief at her, "You're mad at me now? It's been like three minutes. What the fuu-what did I do?" he asked her quickly, trying to keep his composure and tone quiet, and failing. He felt like everyone was staring at him. Simon quickly grabbed the jars, juggling them in his arms hastily as he beelined back over to the table. "We need to collect morning dew." he grumbled, irritated by the encounter with Jessie, sinking back into his chair fuming.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Simon agreed pretty quickly for them to use his cauldron for their potion and then he sprang up at about the same time that she did, heading over to collect the few ingredients that were available to them. He came back telling her that they were meant to be collecting their own ingredients and one of the first ones was morning dew. Of freaking course it was. This was starting to be down right hilarious. She wondered if the professor knew and if they had done this on purpose. “Of course we do... “ she rolled her eyes. “Suppose we should do that soon then so we can get started… tomorrow?” she suggested. A part of her delighted at the end of getting to spend time with Simon more, but another part of her already dreaded the impending heartbreak of getting close to him again; especially while things were so rocky with Nate. "Any part of it we can start now?" she asked, giving up on her own book. her head was not in the right place to focus on words on a page.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

His anger slowly faded as Claudia peered over to look at his book. Simon scooted closer to her, not realizing how much it would probably upset Jessie but he wasn't thinking about it when he did it. He was truly observing their assignment. Simon nodded his head, ruffling his when Claudia asked if there was anything they could work on now. "Yeah, uh.." his eyes dropped to the book and he scanned the ingredients they had spread out on the table. "We can always prepare our ingredients so we don't have to do it tomorrow." he pitched, trying to read her expression as the corners of his lips tugged upward. Last year he wouldn't have been able to make a decision regarding Potions but nowadays, thanks to Jessie, it wasn't as hard as it used to be for him. After so many years he felt like it clicked.

The nerves sitting next to Claudia were overwhelming. Deep down, he was grateful he was granted the time with Claudia because he wasn't sure how any other way he would be "allowed" to spend alone time with her. Things between him, Claudia, and Nate were a bit complicated. They had been for a while so Simon had become a master at avoiding them when they were together. He just couldn't take it. Simon reached for the herbs to start measuring the first ingredients into a mortar. "We can meet up tomorrow first thing in the morning if you're available..." he tried to sound more easy going, icy saucers falling onto her as he swiftly reached for the pestle to crush the herbs. Simon was willing to do the harder labor if it meant Claudia was his partner, there was a part of him that deeply wanted her to want him as a partner and feel satisfied by the seating assignments, not disappointed by him, so he would pull his weight and more if she'd allow him to in an attempt to make the experience more smooth for Claudia. He missed her so much it hurt.

@claudia
(If you want we can time hop to next morning in the next post or two!)

[Deleted]

Simon suggested they prepare their ingredients so that they didn’t need to do it tomorrow and she agreed, though looking over the list more in depth, she wasn’t sure where to get some of these ingredients. She was sure the potions master had them all in the supply cupboard, but they were meant to collect them on their own and that was incredibly annoying. Claudia had no plans to forage around in her future collecting potions ingredients. She’d happily buy everything she needed from the apothecary and call it a day. “It requires Anjelica leaves…” she mumbled. “I think those grow near the lake…” she knew they were a waterside plant, but she hadn’t spotted any herself, though if they were meant to get the ingredients themselves, they must be accessible. “Suppose we can gather those tomorrow too.” she added. She wrote down the rest of the ingredients on a little piece of paper so she could think over them . “Alright, I’ll meet you tomorrow before breakfast by the entrance.” she agreed though she was dreading it. She was glad, in this moment and every moment, that he couldn’t tell just how fast her heart was beating.

simon sixten svendsen
(Yeah go ahead and skip to the next day )

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

Simon was filled with anxiety since the moment he was paired with Claudia. The night ended up being horrible because Jessie wouldn’t let it go. He kept it a secret that he’d be meeting her first thing the next morning to forage ingredients. Neither of them seemed to thrilled about the assignment but he wondered how Claudia felt deep down. There was a part of him deep down that was pretty sure he was grateful. He couldn’t stop thinking about the day in the abandoned classroom. Things didn’t feel completely settled between the two of them.

Birds chirping outside awoke him from his slumber. He had a slight panic moment when his eyes opened because he had a feeling like he overslept meeting Claudia, but he woke up before he was supposed to. Fuck, today was going to be weird. He was dreading it even in the dream realm last night. The half vampire got ready quickly, pulled a hoodie over his messy head of hair and stood by the entrance where Claudia said she’d meet him. Simon stood awkwardly with his hands in his sweater pockets, backpack strapped on his back with the supplies they needed. He hoped that she wouldn’t leave him hanging before breakfast. Merlin, he felt his nerves bubbling over already.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia could think of a million ways she’d rather spend the morning than out, searching for ingredients with Simon, her ex… something… she couldn’t really say he had been her boyfriend but she wasn’t sure that she could say that he hadn’t been either. But she could count their conversations this year so far on one hand. Things certainly weren’t the same.

Claudia was able to sneak out of her dorm without Sopfia noticing, she was used to waking up early to run anyway and she didn’t expect any of her roommates to question her motives if they were to ask anyway. She couldn’t say she was particularly close to any of them.

She met Simon where she told him to be in the entrance hall and tried her best to keep her expression flat as she approached. “Hey, well, let’s get out there I guess.” she shifted her backpack on her shoulders and zipped her jacket before walking out into the cold December air. “Where do you want to start?” she asked, offering him a side glance that nearly stopped her heart. She had spent so long trying not to look at him directly that actually seeing him was almost startling. She needed to get this over with.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

As Claudia appeared, he stood a little straighter, ”Mornin’” he greeted, the corners of his lips barely tugging upwards but he was happy to see her. Simon wanted to match her amount of interest but he couldn’t tell if she was upset with him. Ever since their conversation in the abandoned classroom, where he stupidly confessed still loving her, things were more fucked up than ever.

Simon was relieved that at least they had the assignment to talk about. He was comfortable with his way around Potions this year. Something he could thank Jessie for. ”Lets start with the morning dew…” he offered, ”There are plenty of plants we can collect dew from near the lake…the Anjelica leaves are over there as well.” Simon said, meeting her side glance. His insides churned when his eyes met hers, heart beating rapidly against his chest. There was a time not too long ago he craved that eye contact. These days it felt forbidden, but it was all he wanted.

They started toward the lake and Simon already wished he could go back to how things used to be with their easy banter and flirting. Back to when Claudia Watkins didn’t feel like a complete stranger. The walk was silent. Nothing but the two of them and their cloudy breath hanging in the air.

Simon tossed his backpack onto the dewey grass before crouching down to dig through it to retrieve a dropper and a vial that was provided by the Professor. ”If you hold the leaf like a taco I can collect the dew. Or vise versa.” he offered nonchalantly, gesturing toward a line of bushes near the lake with large leaves. He ended with a small chuckle because it sounded fucking stupid coming out of his mouth. The half vampires expression softened, unsure of what to do with himself. ”Or if you have any better input go right ahead, I’m not trying to be bossy or anything. Yeah.” he said awkwardly with a small smile, wishing he could crawl under a rock and hide.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia let Simon take charge without any fuss. She liked potions and was fairly good at it, but if he started doing anything that she knew was wrong or that she had a better way to do, she’d make it known. Otherwise, she just wanted this to be easy and fast. She wanted to get this done with it before either Nate saw them, or Jessie made another fit like she did in class. As much as Claudia liked making Jessie mad, she didn’t really want to be the center of a scene made by the Gryffindor. She shrugged when he asked if she had any better ideas to try. “I can honestly say I’ve never collected morning dew before, so I trust your method.” she admitted with maybe a bit of humor in her voice. It surprised her. But as she saw his awkward smile, she couldn’t help but remember the ease at which they once spoke. She almost longed for it back. “I’m uh, surprised we don’t see anyone else out here yet. Either they know something we didn’t, or we’re interpreting this all wrong.” she smirked. She wasn’t sure what they could have gotten wrong, though. She had checked the instructions and the list herself.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

”Psh, you haven’t ever collected morning dew before?” he asked with an eye roll in a playful surprise. ”I collect morning dew all the time. Usually I wake up a lot earlier for it, but didn’t think you’d be able to do it..” he jested in a sarcastic tone, obviously joking by the way he smiled softly. It was an attempt to break the ice.

Claudia mentioned something about being surprised they were the only ones out foraging this early made him chuckle. He hoped she was wrong. ”We were probably the losers who didn’t grab the remaining dew in the supply cabinet fast enough.” he said with a dark chuckle as he gave a look around.

Simon carefully stepped closer to her, reaching toward the dewey leaf with shaky hands; dropper in one hand, vial in the other. It was the closest he had been to her in months, he could smell her familiar scent and it instantly triggered memories. Places he didn't want to go that early in the morning because it hurt. Simon couldn’t believe that collecting dew would be such an ‘intimate’ activity. What the fuck. Now he understood why Jessie was so pissed. He hated that he knew he was overthinking things. It probably wasn’t a big deal to Claudia like it was to him.

Simon reached for the first leaf in Claudia's hands a bit too quickly with his fidgety hands, the dew rolled off the leaf and onto the ground before he could collect it with the dropper. Obviously, the first statement about being an avid dew collector was a lie. Simon grumbled, nearly dropping the tools, ”Fuuuck! Sorry!” he apologized quickly to Claudia, feeling lame. The half vampire was on edge, he couldn't focus on the simple task at hand because Claudia was making him too nervous. Simon couldn't remember a time he had ever overthought a situation so much it made him stupid.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia laughed at his admission of collecting morning dew all the time, she knew that he had to be kidding, but a small part of her wanted it to be true, just for the fun of it. “Oh do you?” she giggled, feeling almost relaxed. But that relaxed feeling jolted a reminder in her, she wasn’t supposed to be relaxed with him. She was supposed to be cold to him. She didn’t want to be cold to him. It wasn’t easy to keep that up. She tried to blink away the confusion in her mind, but she didn’t feel it budge. Simon came over to her to collect the dew on the leaf that she had, but she could see that he couldn’t keep a steady hand and she watched as the dew fell to the grass instead. He apologized and stepped away. “It’s fine, there are loads of other leaves to try.” she said, stumbling slightly over her words. It was entirely ridiculous. They couldn’t even handle being close to one another? “I think we should both just calm down… and focus on what we need to accomplish. If we can’t even be around each other to collect ingredients then this is going to be a long month…” she hadn’t exactly meant to say all this, but she didn’t regret it either. She looked at him once she was finished, searching for something in his eyes that would tell her that he agreed. Or maybe, that he didn’t.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

DECEMBER

Claudia’s laughter had him caught in a moment. It was harmony to his ears. Simon missed the sound of Claudia’s laughter. Something he used to hear so freely in the distant past. These days he was lucky to get a small smile or eye contact from the radiant snake. Honestly, it hurt. Simon learned to avoid Claudia, thoughtfully strategizing ways he wouldn’t have to see her or Nate together in the Great Hall and in-between because it crushed his soul. Simon hated it because it made him feel like a coward but the pesky emotions were consuming him completely.

His eyes met Claudia’s when she stated what they were both thinking. He had no idea how he’d be able to work with her the next month. Raising a hand to ruffle his hair anxiously, scratching the back of his neck he was quiet. ”Yeah. Uh. I’m sorry…” he said quickly, feeling himself getting more frazzled. The anxiety inside him was boiling over. 

Simon shot her a look, his expression softening as he sighed in defeat. He swallowed, ”I honestly don’t know what I’m fucking doing, or how to act around you anymore, Claud. I hate it.” he finally told her weakly, finding it hard to look at her, but he couldn’t bare look away. It was the closest he had been to her in a months and he honestly just wanted to take her in. He missed her so much.

@claudia