There he was. Sitting in the back of the classroom like he usually did. He looked so alone. 

Should I go sit next to him?

No, I thought. That was a stupid idea. He's obviously saving the seat for one of his friends.

 I passed his table and looked hesitantly back at him. He caught my gaze and I quickly turned around. I was about to walk to the other side of the classroom when I hear his voice. 

"Hey Danielle. You can sit next to me if you want"

Shocked, I turned back around to face him. He was smiling and pulled out the chair next to him for me to sit down in. Staggering, I put my bag down and clumsily sat down in the chair. 

"Thanks, Scott", I mumbled.

"No problem", he said still smiling. I noticed he was looking a little tired.

I was about to say something back when Professor Snape started talking.

"Today you will be concocting the Calming Draught", he said in the same drawling voice he used everyday.

Great, I thought. I really needed one after what had just happened with Scott seconds ago.

"You will be working in pairs. Send one person to get the ingredients from the supply cupboard. Your instructions are on the board."

"I'll go get the stuff and you can read what's on the board", Scott said as he got out of his chair.

I tried to read what was on the board, but I just couldn't concentrate. Scott had just asked me to sit next to him. Scott. I've had a crush on him since we were first years. While I shook myself out of my daydream, my best friend Allison caught my eye. She gave me a big thumbs up and I smiled back at her.

Scott had returned with all of the ingredients. "Alright, let's do this", he said.

It started out pretty well. I played it cool and tried so hard not to do anything stupid in front of him. But my thoughts kept going back to the fact that he was standing a foot away from me. 

Professor Snape walked up to our table, looked inside the cauldron, and looked back up at me with a sneer on his face. 

"What is the meaning of this, Miss Hale?"

"Hmm?", I said confused.

"Your potion is orange and the instructions have clearly stated that at this point, it should be bright pink."

Startled, I didn't know what to say. But that was when Scott chimed in. 

"Sorry Professor, I think I added too many porcupine quills.", he said.

"Very well, Mr. McCall. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for such an amateur mistake", Snape said and he walked away.

"Thanks for that," I said to Scott, not even making eye contact with him.

"It's nothing really. He hates you way more than he hates me already." I felt grateful that Scott had saved me like that, but I was still embarrassed that I did something to make him save me.

The bell rang and we were excused. As I was packing up, Scott tapped my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "We should really talk more." And he just walked away. At that moment, I got goosebumps and thought I had just hallucinated what I heard.

I walked out of the classroom with Allison, who kept asking for details on what had happened between me and Scott. I told her I would tell her later because I was still in a state of shock.

But I just couldn't get over the last thing he said to me. We should talk more.