She tried to ignore the loud huff coming from across the room, but she couldn't help but glance up for a second to see what was happening.

It was a boy; she vaguely recognized him from her classes. He was quiet and never said a word to most people, but he always had answers for the professors. But he wasn't like a regular Ravenclaw; he didn't study all the time and he was very curious.

Eleanor looked back down at her book and turned the page. She had to finish the first novel in the series this weekend so she could start on the second book by Monday.

And then she almost dropped the book when she felt the presence of someone right in front of her. A person wanted to confront her, talk to her – what was she supposed to do? She didn't know what to say. Did she have to introduce herself and make conversation? What was she going to talk about?

With her heart racing, she looked up and locked eyes with that boy from across the room.

He was shifting his weight on each foot, back and forth, as if he didn't know what to say. "Hi, I'm Liam," he finally proclaimed, his words jumbled.

Eleanor blinked, still looking up at him. He wasn't wearing his uniform but that was common for students on the weekends. Eleanor wore her skirt and tie everyday, even on Saturdays and Sundays, because she didn't have time to goof off. The boy was wearing a jacket; perhaps he was cold? Or maybe going somewhere. But he was too young to go to Hogsmeade – did he try to sneak in?

The hopeful expression on his face suddenly faltered. "Uh, I thought I would ask what you're reading..."

Eleanor looked back down at her book and lifted up the cover so he could read it. Liam glanced at the title and said, "Oh, I've heard of that book. It's the first in the series, right?"

She found herself talking before she realized it. "I'm Eleanor." Maybe it was because he looked so hopeful. Maybe it was because he knew what she was reading, but the fact was she had finally said something. She had talked to this random boy and there was no taking it back.

He immediately took the seat across from her. As if he had been waiting to tell someone, he exclaimed, "You'll never guess what happened-"

"You were caught trying to go to Hogsmeade?" Eleanor said without hesitation.

His eyes widened dramatically and he said in a hushed whisper, "Are you a seer?"

She couldn't help it – the corners of her mouth twitched upward. "No, I-" She hadn't planned on saying more than a couple words to him, but then she was rambling. "You're wearing a jacket which means you're either cold or went outside. Since it is quite warm in here, I assume you were outside and since it's Hogsmeade weekend and you're a curious person, you probably tried to sneak in. But since you're back here, someone must have caught you."

Liam blinked a couple times and finally said, "Wow."

Eleanor nodded slowly, still expecting him to run away at her reasonings. When he didn't say anything, Eleanor sighed and turned to the next page in the book. There were only 354 pages to go.

"Hey."

This time, she did drop her book. Startled, it fell right out of her hands, sliding off of her lap and onto the floor.

Liam didn't waste any time to lean down and pick it up. "I'm so sorry!" His own voice was wavering and Eleanor could tell that he thought he did something awfully wrong.

She took the book back from him, never taking his eyes off of the boy. "It's okay. Thanks," she said softly.

He let out a sigh of relief. Eleanor paused, watching him. He was bad at this too; maybe he didn't have any friends either.

"Um..." he stalled, analyzing her for any unpleasant reaction. "Do you want to play a game?"

Eleanor immediately shook her head without a second thought. "I don't play games."

Liam's eyes widened again. "What?"

"I don't-" Eleanor began to repeat, but Liam was scrambling out of his chair.

"Stay there!" he exclaimed as if she was going to leave. She watched him run off through the door into the dormitories.

Within seconds, he was back, sprinting over with a grin on his face.

"I haven't had a chance to use these. I got them from Diagon Alley when I was shopping for my books. A brand-new pack! I'm usually stuck with my brothers' old things but they're not wizards so this is just mine."

Eleanor watched as he brandished a deck of Exploding Snap cards. She involuntarily moved back.

"Oh, they won't explode. I don't think so, at least," Liam told her. He looked down at the cards. "I don't actually know how to play, but I promise, it'll be fun."

He took the cards out of the package and handed some of them to Eleanor. She couldn't find a reason to say no; he looked so eager. Even though she had to finish her book, Eleanor found herself shuffling her cards.

His bright smile made Eleanor feel as though she could do this. If only to keep him this happy. Maybe she could be that happy too.

-x-

"Hmm..."

He mused, leaning on his hand to look at the structure they'd built. Both Eleanor and Liam had no clue how to play the game and they decided on making a structure out of the cards instead.

Eleanor watched him intently, biting her lip with the anticipation of his next move.

"How about right..." His hand hovered over the corner of the structure and Eleanor winced, having that feeling that it wouldn't end up -

BOOM.

Eleanor ducked, missing most of the soot and the ashes as the cards erupted. With a hammering heart, she waited a few seconds before peering over the table. Liam was frantically trying to pick up the pieces, fully covered in bits of blackened cards.

He caught sight of her and his eyes widened (in fear this time).

"I'm sorry!" he proclaimed again, practically climbing over the table to get to Eleanor.

He immediately began picking out the pieces of card from Eleanor's curls hastily while continuing to mutter his apologies.

"You're right – this was a bad idea – what was I thinking? - you probably hate me now – I swear, I'm so sorry..."

Eleanor couldn't help it. His crazy ramblings caused her to break out into a smile and laugh softly.

Liam immediately stopped what he was doing. "What?"

"You're crazy," she immediately exclaimed.

He paused, that frightened look still in his eyes. Eleanor knew he was analyzing her smile and her reaction, trying to make sense of it. "Is that a good thing?" he asked slowly.

She paused. "Very."

He stared for a second and then chuckled incredulously, going back to cleaning up the mess with a smile on his face.

So, I was recently reading the reviews of chapter 61 of Nobody Sees Me Wishing where Eleanor and Liam became friends and decided to write this. This story will be told in snippets that follow their life. They'll be in 3rd person limited, switching back and forth between the limited view of Eleanor and Liam. And I'm not saying whether or not they'll be getting together - this is just a story about the two of them. I've been writing it for awhile now and finally decided to post.

This is almost a way for me to procrastinate the next chapter of Suddenly I See. That story is becoming more of a chore for me and I love this one.

You're all invited to speculate and wonder about Liam and Eleanor's lives. And...go!