Girl At The Bus Stop [Adrian]

[cordelia regan smith]

▲

With Charms wrapping up for the day, that was it for Cordelia’s classes this week. It was an entertaining class as always with Professor Choi, though there had been constant interruptions by Lily, as per usual. The Gryffindor seemed to know that her time was running out at Hogwarts and had progressively become more and more disruptive as the term began to wind down. Sure, they still had a few months of classes left, but it wasn’t like anything new was being taught at this point. The majority of the professors were going over topics that they had covered the past two years in an effort to prepare everyone for the NEWTs. Cordelia was nervous about them, as she always was with exams, but Charms was the one class where she felt overly confident in her abilities. Passing would be a breeze compared to say, Potions. Whilst she was good at the latter, she still needed to memorize recipes and the order that they were supposed to be placed in the cauldron. The main problem she had with Potions was that they were practicing higher level ones, which meant they were more unstable and prone to exploding or running afoul. How could she not be on edge and nervous about something like that?

Packing up her notebooks and preparing to leave, she felt arms wrap around from behind her, immediately knowing that they belonged to Lily. “Thanks for the notes Cordie!” she practically screamed into Cordelia’s ear, before unhooking herself and running across the room to jump onto Adrian. According to Lily, they were dating again, which would explain why she didn’t see the Gryffindor as much anymore outside of class. She used to be hunted down in the corridors, always hearing Lily before she saw her. There were times where she wished her mess of blonde hair didn’t stick out because it was like having a target on her back. There were other times where she wished her friend would put more time and effort into her classes. Lately it seemed like Lily was slacking off even more than usual. Cordelia had glimpsed her grades in Charms a few times, and they were far from impressive. And that was after extra lessons from the Hufflepuff.

She watched Lily practically strangle to poor guy before she planted a huge kiss on his cheek, and then ran out of the classroom, disappearing into the horde of students. It was hard not to crack a smile while watching Lily, especially since the physicality was at someone else’s expense. Hiking up her bag over her shoulder, Cordelia decided to follow the rest of the class’s exit and headed for the door but stopped short and turned back to face Adrian. “Uhh…e-excuse m-me…Adrian?” she asked, her hands fidgeting with the strap of her bag. “C-Can I t-t-talk to you about Lily for a s-second?”

@adrian ● 480 ● song by artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Class had just ended, and after seeing his girlfriend attack hug Cordie, Adrian was prepared for what came next. He was jumped, and he laughed, wrapping an arm around her where he could before she kissed his cheek and vanished. He hadn't even packed his bag completely yet. He shook his head, watching her go before his eyes shifted to Cordelia as she spoke to him. "Hey, Cordelia. Sure," he took a few steps toward the door, bag on his shoulder now. "You... uh... wanna walk?" he knew Cordie had that stutter, but it still made him feel like maybe something could be wrong with Lily, considering the way it was phrased. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but when it came to Lily it was easy to assume that something was bothering Cordelia... or that she was worried about Lily or something. Either way, he tried to settle his overactive brain to let her lead him into whatever it was she wanted to talk about.

cordelia regan smith

[cordelia regan smith]

▲

Cordelia hadn’t even thought about what came after approaching Adrian. She knew that she had to somehow convey that she was worried about Lily’s grades and performance in the majority of her classes, but when was the right time to even bring that up? Bombarding Adrian with her concerns immediately seemed rather inappropriate to her. “Uhh…yeah that works,” she mumbled as she left the classroom first, still trying to figure out how to broach the topic smoothly. They both had to know that there was a problem with the Gryffindor girl, one look at her during class and you could tell she wasn’t paying attention. During tests she doodled on the exam paper and almost always admitted afterwards that she couldn’t finish answering all the questions in time because she was distracted. Maybe if they had become friends a few years earlier, Cordelia could have fixed the doodling problem, but Lily was too far down that path now to pull her back from it. It was bad enough now that she was leaving her drawings in the notebooks Cordelia let her borrow too. At least she kept them contained in the margins.

Slowing her pace as they walked down the corridor silently, Cordelia wanted to make sure there were very few ears around to hear the conversation she was about to have with Adrian. She knew Lily wouldn’t care if the whole school knew she was on the verge of failing, but keeping those that knew to a minimum was the least Cordelia could do. “I’m uh…I-I’m concerned about L-Lily’s grades,” she finally stuttered out, her hands tightening on her bag strap in an attempt to keep her voice from wavering more. “She’s barely p-passing Charms and that’s with m-my help. Her other classes are w-worse.” From what she had seen while trying to tutor her friend. And Lily wasn’t receiving any assistance in those classes at all. Knowing her, she had probably already refused it and accepted her fate.

@adrian ● 330 ● L'Île des Morts by Alcest

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

They started to walk and Adrian stayed just a tad behind so that Cordelia could lead the way. He waited in silence for her talk first, since she was the one who wanted to talk... and he had no idea what this was about. She started, said that she was concerned about Lily's grades. He cleared his throat softly and awkwardly while she continued talking about Charms and that the other classes were even worse. Adrian looked down, not sure how he could possibly help with that. "If anything else, Cordelia, I'm probably hurting the situation," he suggested awkwardly. He didn't want to face the fact that Lily wasn't doing well, and probably hadn't been since he left. And now, worse because he was distracting her with all of his attention. But, honestly, he wasn't sure if he wanted to give that up. Nah, he was sure. He didn't.

he looked over at Cordie and pursed his lips together for a moment before speaking again. "What do you suggest? You want... you want me to talk to her? Can you imagine how that would go?" he was scared just thinking about it.

cordelia regan smith

[cordelia regan smith]

▲

She hadn’t even contemplated that Lily’s current academic falters were because of her spending time with Adrian, and not because she simply didn’t care. Obviously there was a little bit of the latter mixed in there, because this was Lily Potter they were talking about. Expecting anything more from the Gryffindor would be like trying to actively win the lottery. Cordelia knew what battles to fight and which ones she couldn’t win. This one was somewhere in the middle, and she knew she could get Lily to at least maybe pass Charms. The rest of her classes, not so much. “I d-don’t think that’s true…” she lied, horribly. It made more sense now that Adrian was added into the mix, but there was much more at play behind the scenes still.

Adrian posed the option of him approaching Lily about the issue, and Cordelia shook her head, violently enough for her hair to cover her face. “N-No…I d-don’t think that’s a g-good idea,” she blurted out as her hair strands were pushed back to where they sort of belonged. Lily was the belligerent sort when it came to that. The Hufflepuff had seen some of the Gryffindor Quidditch team members approach her about joining the team again, and Lily fought tooth and nail to escape that conversation. Ganging up on her about her grades was bound to turn out the same way. “Sh-She already knows she n-needs help with Ch-Charms and-and asked m-me for it. M-M-Maybe st-study with her in your b-best subject and she’ll learn?” Cordelia was pretty much at a loss when it came to the most efficient way to teach Lily. The girl had zero attention span and found more interest doodling in her notebook and making strange noises during class. Getting Lily to stay on track would probably require a chair with restraints on it – but that also had the possibility of turning into her favorite game too. It was frustrating.

@adrian ● 325 ● Ms. California by Beach Bunny

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

She said she didn't think Adrian was part of the problem but he had a hard time believing that. Well, not that Cord didn't see it that way, that was fine, but that he wasn't the issue. Still, he didn't really think it was his responsibility to fix Lily's situation. He had the faith that she could figure things out on her own.

Still, Cord was worried. She said she didn't think that Adrian should bring it up, suggesting instead that he study his best subject with her as well. As far as required courses, that was probably Transfiguration. He nodded. "Yeah, that's not a bad idea... if we get one tutor for each class maybe she'll think of it like a game," he chuckled. That was one of the best ways to get through to Lily Potter.

cordelia regan smith
(we are both so great at answering this...)

[cordelia regan smith]

▲

The entire Lily situation was stressful, and while Cordelia knew that it was bound to be bad this time of year, things were only amplified because the Gryffindor girl was involved in all of it. She knew that Lily wouldn’t be completely offended by offers of help, but if it came down to it looking like an intervention, everything would go south. Fast. The other problem was that she waited literally until the last second to realize that she was going to have an issue in all of her classes. Cordelia wasn’t sure if that was due to her not caring or poor time management, but it was the core problem to all of this.

Running her hand through her hair anxiously, she nodded in agreement to Adrian’s addition to her plan. One tutor per class definitely seemed like it would work best. The only problem there was finding someone for each, and then somehow wrangling Lily throughout the day to get her to study in each respective subject. Game or not, that was going to be beyond difficult with the way Lily operated on a fundamental level. Cordelia had spent enough time watching her friend comprehend and process situations, and tricking her into a study game was definitely going to be hard to do. “That m-might be the only way…” she agreed, though it came out sounding a lot more hesitant than she intended it too. “Y-You don’t think it’s t-too late, do y-you?”

@adrian ● 245 ● Rearview by beach Bunny

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Cord agreed that it might be the only way, and Adrian pursed his lips to the side slightly. He wasn't sure he believed that she agreed with him... but then she added, asking if he thought it was too late and his brow furrowed intensely. "I think..." he started, but then he paused to run his hand through his hair and let out a long sigh. He really wasn't sure about any of it, especially if Cordie was concerned enough to actually approach him about it. 

But, maybe it was the Gryffindor in him, but he felt like he had to give her a little hope. "No, I don't think so. I think there's always a chance. I highly doubt she'd want to stay longer, plus we'd both be gone so... maybe that's motivation enough," he hoped that be enough. 

He wasn't sure what he'd do if she was left behind.

cordelia regan smith
(wanna wrap it? )

[cordelia regan smith]

▲

He thought…what? Cordelia was expecting an answer back almost immediately. As much as she liked to think that she sort of understood Lily, it always seemed like Adrian knew that much more about what the Potter girl was thinking. Even Lily said so at times, or acted like he did. Cordelia was just there as a buffer – to keep her in check when she could. Somehow Lily seemed to understand the glares or the shushes in class or at the library, because when there wasn’t someone there to do that for her it was like listening to the girl on a megaphone 24/7. Admittedly, up until the previous school year, Cordelia had disliked her immensely. She was a distraction in and out of class and seemed to not know what consequences were. Now Cordelia realized that she did understand what they were, and simply enjoyed ignoring them. Not passing her final exams had a much larger repercussion than anything else Lily had probably ever done. At least to the Hufflepuff’s knowledge

Adrian eventually said that he thought there was still a shot, but that it would take a different sort of motivation. She nodded her head in agreement, because getting Lily to sit down and study definitely wouldn’t cut it. For every time that happened, there would be a dozen other instances where it wouldn’t. The two of them could only help her so much too, before it became a detriment to their studying as well. “I hope so…I-I’ll let y-you know if I-I find anyone else to help…” Cordelia said, letting out a deep exhale, before turning to leave. She had no idea how this was going to work out, and considering it was Lily, almost anything was possible in the coming months.

[The End]

@adrian ● 294 ● How We Do It by Lights

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0