A spark of interest glinted in his eye at Holiday's intelligent response and a smile came unbidden to his lips. He'd seen some good looking girls around-really beautiful ones, but dumber than a Hufflepuff during O.W.L.'s. And the brilliant ones were always looking like cross between a spell gone wrong and the backside of a thestral. But this fiery red head was a helluva a looker and appeared to have some spark of brains-even if she was a typically pompous<i>Gryffindor.</i><br/><br/>As if her flattering blush wasn't interesting enough, her assertive and confident attitude definitely had his full attention. It wasn't enough that Fior was a rich, Pure blood from an excellent family and high status in house Slytherin. He was mostly an ass to the other students because he was bored out of his genius mind and until that moment, hadn't met anyone other than himself, that could encompass both intellect and beauty in one package.<br/><br/>Ah! She'd also figured out that keeping the potion boiling was the only way for it to work! He'd only mentioned the root because he'd never even come close to helping anyone with their homework. If they were too stupid to read, then it most certainly wasn't his problem. There was no spell to fix stupid!<br/><br/>As she leaned in and placed a saucy little finger on his mouth, he licked it quickly, thinking that like most girls, she'd squeal and jump back in surprise. He could hardly await what her reaction would be.<br/><br/>When Holiday popped off her final comment, manipulating to get in the last word, Fior couldn't help but chuckle. That was SO female. Not to mention a Gryffindor move if he ever heard one. He liked her fiery hair with a fine temper to match. Why shouldn't an intelligent pure blood not know his or her own exceptional worth? Low self-esteem was one of the ugliest things to witness--in his own high and mighty opinion.<br/><br/>Professor Weaver strode into the room and Fior sat up a little straighter, ready to learn. He always enjoyed Defense Against the Dark Arts, because it let them really get hands on experience and not just shoving their noses in a book waiting for the slow readers to catch up.<br/><br/>When the Professor asked his question, Fior immediately stood in response while leveling a sharp blue eye on Holiday's emerald green ones, daring her to refuse the unspoken challenge.