Briar watched him with curiosity as he shuffled closer. He stumbled when he neared her but managed to steady himself before he fell. He slightly blushed and stuck out his hand with the dandelion in it. He murmured, "For you."
She felt something odd...
The end of the year was slowly approaching, and Professor Sprout told Briar that she was on the verge of failing Herbology.
While Briar knew she wasn't the best student in Herbology, she couldn't believe she was doing this terribly. She gaped at Professor Sprout, "You're joking."
Professor Sprout adjusted her hat uncomfortably and shook her head. She sighed, "I'm sorry, dear. I'm sadly not joking. You are not doing very well in the course."
Briar's face fell as she realized what this meant. If she couldn't pass Herbology, that could greatly harm her chances of being a potioneer one day. Any single blemish could hold her back from the future she wanted, and this was unacceptable. She spluttered, "Well, there must be something I can do to fix this right?"
With a calm smile, Professor Sprout nodded and explained, "If you can do well on the final exam, you can still pass the course and even do moderately well, but I think that a tutor may be best for you, dear."
"A tutor?" Briar blinked. She hadn't even thought of that, and she wasn't sure why it had slipped her mind. She was no stranger to tutoring.
Her father had gotten her dozens of tutors as a child to teach her what she needed to know before Hogwarts. He was strictly against Muggle schools, but her mum tried to argue to send the young Briar to one to understand what muggles were like. Despite Briar's mum's valiant attempts, her father was always firm on his decision to keep his daughter away from "filthy muggles." As a result, Briar had dozens of tutors to teach her what she needed to know as a child.
Briar nodded at Professor Sprout seriously. She wondered, "How can I find a tutor?"
Professor Sprout faintly smiled as she pulled a spare leaf from her hair. She chuckled, "Oh! I have one for you already. My brightest student has agreed to help you."
"And that would be...?"
"Oh! Neville Longbottom, of course!" She chirped merrily as she began to care for some of the plants beside them in the greenhouse with gentle movements of her hands.
Briar wasn't expecting that response. She figured Professor Sprout was going to tell her her tutor would be some Hufflepuff she didn't know very well, but for some reason, Briar was pleased it was Neville instead.
She nodded with a small smile and sighed, "Oh, thank you so much for your help in this. I'm going to work hard and turn this around, I promise."
"I know you will, dear," Professor Sprout cheered, but she was already distracted. She became heavily involved caring for the flitterbloom in front of her, its tentacles swaying ever-so-lightly from side to side.
Briar excused herself from the room, hoping to find Neville soon. She wanted to meet with him as soon as possible to get their first tutoring session set up. She also wanted to discuss payment with him. It would be an uncomfortable conversation with her father, but she knew if she sent him a letter, he would certainly send her the needed funds to pay for tutoring. Her father's primary goal was that she succeeded, so Briar was certain she could get the funds.
She hurried through the corridors with all of this on her mind, but she couldn't find him anywhere she looked, and she knew that the Gryffindor dorms were the last place to check. She blinked slowly and took a deep breath before she moved towards their common room. She felt her shoulders become even stiffer as she got closer, but she pushed on.
Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws visited the Gryffindor dorms regularly, so she reasoned that she had nothing to be worried about. She had a reason to be going there after all.
She was climbing up their staircase when Potter started racing past her. Grimacing at what she was about to do, she finally called, "Wait, Potter!"
He stopped on the staircase and turned around to look at her quizzically. He quipped, "Come to ask me to dance again?"
"No," Briar denied without hesitation. Potter stared at her with raised eyebrows for a moment, but she interrupted his shock with, "Well, I was just curious if you've seen Neville Longbottom? Professor Sprout said he would help me study for Herbology."
Potter expected the black haired girl would be ashamed to admit she would be getting help from a Gryffindor, but she just stared at him as she awaited his response. He coughed, "Uh, he's probably in his dorm I suspect. I can go get him if you just wait here."
Briar glanced around as more students filtered past and shot her sideways glances. She shook her head and sighed, "Can you just tell him that I was looking for him for tutoring?"
Potter nodded and watched Briar as she hurried from the stairwell. Her footsteps were quick yet confident as she fled the lion's den.
With each step, her shoulders and chin lifted a little higher with the knowledge that she was one of few Slytherins to ever get that close to the Gryffindor dorms. She felt fearless and invincible, but that all came crashing down once she arrived back at her room.
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