"I need to find a lover that'd stare at me the way you gaze at your potions" Lily teased as she sat before Dahlia, who snorted to the Potter's words.

"They rarely exist, trust me, Lil, don't get your hopes up"

"Right, so what do you say about your admirers over there?" Lily pointed over her shoulder to a group of male and females that Dahlia had a couple of flings with.

Dahlia peered up from the potion she was staring at in her hands," You see, that look they have it desire and indigence"

"Right, okay...How do you handle them if they go too far?" Lily leaned forward whispering," I mean, there has to have been some of them that had become jealous"

The brunette smirked and closed one eye waving a finger on her free hand," All of them think I am incapable of love, so they know not to expect anything more"

"You can keep going by that, but once the truth is revealed—can you imagine the trouble you'll be put through? It's a dangerous game you are playing, Dahlia"

The older female shrugged and resumed back to her potion-making," I don't plan on ever correcting their assumptions, so as long as I play along, they won't know a thing. Win-win, right?"

Lily sighed and didn't bother to further her argument because she knew she'd repeat herself over and over. Plus, Dahlia was amazing at adlibbing and constructing ruses that'd result with her winning the dispute.

It was her own safety extensive that removed chances of cornering her to be unable to respond back. It was her own way of allowing herself to be indulged into things that did not benefit her.

To her, all of the dreams and fantasies that most of her age wanted were all superficial to her.

She did not want to fall in love because to her, it was a weakness that she was not prepared to permit into her heart. She couldn't think of bearing another reason to overthink at night and be a constant reminder of the pain she's faced losing her mother.

Dahlia was afraid of her own heart and pain—so she chose to lock away a part of her to be sheltered and safe.

Upon her returning back to the Gryffindor Common room, Dahlia stopped in her tracks seeing Hugo ruffling his own hair with one hand while the other was crumpling a piece of paper.

She blinked watching him throw it across the room towards the fire. She continued to observe him as she walked closer and ended up appearing behind him looking over his shoulder as he started to write on a new piece of paper.

"Ah, so my words ended up bothering you" She exclaimed seeing the title of the essay

Hugo flinched and leaned back holding a hand to his chest," Bloody hell, Jones—don't just appear out of nowhere like that"

She chuckled kneeling down to his height, while placing her chin on her palm that rested on her knees," The properties of Invigoration Draught is not based off the right set of ingredients" Dahlia explained as she pointed to the book in front of him," Many potioneers have never come to the conclusion that the length of after brewing it changes the duration and strength"

"But...Professor Slughorn explained the importance of correctly following the instructions" Hugo furrowed his brows, getting invested in the explanation she had for him.

"Slughorn is not wrong, but that is just a directional approach. He did not say to directly mimic the procedures" Dahlia brought a finger to her head pointing to it," With the lessons, he had taught us prior to making it and writing the essay was him guiding you to experiment what you've learned"

"So, when you read my essay..." Hugo asked but trailing off knowing she'd explain

"The reason I said what I did was because you were practically stating things you've read not experimented on. Until you've seen the multiple outcomes of the subject you want to write, you'll end up just rewording the textbook"

Hugo sighed in defeat while lowering his head," Fine, you win—I need your help, but that is it—Only help with this assignment, nothing else"

"It was not like I asked for anything in return, Granger-Weasley" Dahlia smiled in victory which made him groan at her self-satisfaction.

"You are a menace"

"I'll take that as a compliment" She added with a wink, before returning to helping him with his assignment.