It's Just A Little Dirt (Iris)

He knew that he was in for it if he didn't finish this project soon. He smacked back the creeping tentacles of the Venomous Tentacula and picked up a bag of fertilizer.

"I am not going to be your snack, thank you," he said to the plant as he went back to his post. He sprinkled a bit of the food on the plant that he'd been working with and added some more soil to the pot.

It was extremely warm in the green house that day. Max wiped the sweat from his forhead with a clean part of his shirt and packed down the soil around his Flutterby bush, and looked around for the watering can. He found it by the door, retrieved it and after filling it, watered his project.

With a sigh, Max leaned against the table behind him. He was done. All that was left was to put the pot on the window sill, and then clean up after himself. He looked around at the mess that he'd made while repotting this bush. It was considerable, that was for sure.

He'd always had an easy time with Herbology. For some reason, it had come easily to him since he'd started the class in first year. He'd gotten high marks from day one, and his teachers wondered why he didn't go into something to do with Horticulture. He'd smiled and replied that his chosen profession didn't need it, but he'd continued with Herbology in his NEWT's purely for recreational reasons. Well, that and to fill one of his three free periods. He was a sixth year and extremely busy, but he didn't need many NEWT's to become a councelor, he'd learned.

He placed his Flutterby bush in the window so that it could get the most light, and went to get the broom. While he was sweeping up the dirt he'd dropped he felt someone's eyes on him. Turning around, he smiled.

"Well, it's not very often that I have a visitor while I'm working here, but I can't say that it isn't welcome. What can I do for you?"

Max

Iris didn’t have much experience buttering up members of the female gender. She was used to getting everything she wanted from the guys around the school, but she found that other girls usually couldn’t stand the sight of her. That wasn’t her fault. Well, it was not all her fault. Was she to blame for the fact that they couldn’t keep their eyes off her? Was she to blame when they wanted to leave their girlfriends for her? Okay, so maybe she didn’t need to flirt so much. But if those guys really loved their significant others, she wouldn’t be a temptation whatsoever. She figured she was just helping them realize their true feelings. But today was not about flirting, or charming the pants off of anyone. Today was about begging Professor Wallace to raise her Herbology grade to something that wouldn’t get her ass booted out of her father’s house.

She walked into the greenhouse, expecting to see the professor that held her fate in her hands. But she was nowhere in sight. Someone was there, though...Max Xandex. He was her age, but in Gryffindor. She thought he was attractive, in an extremely adorable way, and couldn’t help but see that he seemed to know his way around the greenhouse. She smiled when he asked what he could do for her, and she immediately moved toward him and sat unbelievably close to him. She made sure that her skirt was hiked up a bit...nothing wrong with showing a little leg...and she looked into his eyes, smiling softly.

“Two things,” she said in her sultry voice. “One, you can come a little closer and let me kiss you, just to see what it’s like. And two...you can tell me how you got to be so good at Herbology. Because I could use some help.”

Iris

310

The broom fell out of Max's hand. He stared in shock, his deep chocolate eyes nearly falling out of his head. She wanted to kiss him? Him? He cleared his throat nervously.

"I've always been good with plants. I don't know where it came from, it's just always been this way. I could help you with Herbology, sure. But why on earth would you want to kiss me? I mean, I know you said you wanted to find out what it would feel like, but I'm bisexual, and have a kind of......well a thing for Warren Griffen."

He shrugged and bent to pick up the broom. Finishing his sweeping, he pushed it into the dust pan and tossed the mess onto the compost pile. He turned around to face the girl again.

"Um... Iris, isn't it? What kind of help do you need in Herbology? I have some time before I have to get back to Gryffindor Tower to get ready for dinner."

He smiled and dusted his hands off on the seat of his jeans, looking around for something that he could see what she needed help with, but not knowing what that was exactly, he was kind of lost.

"I'm Max Xandex, by the way," he said with a small smile.

"Oh, I know who you are. And yes, I know you are bisexual. I've questioned it myself a time or two, but I am definitely more attracted to men. I don't have a problem with your sexual orientation, or anyone's for that matter. I'm a lover, not a fighter," she grinned. No statement had ever been more accurate. Iris Monroe was a lover for sure.

She looked Max up and down, wondering why on earth he didn't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. She knew why she didn't have a significant other, and that was because they all came with too much baggage. She was not exactly issue-free herself, so that was another reason for her to not be tied down to anyone. But Max seemed like the sweet type. From what little she had already witnessed of him in and out of class, he looked to be a perfect gentleman, always putting the needs of others before his own. But did that mean that he wouldn't at least go to first base?

"Max...come here, I'm not going to bite. At least not hard," she winked. "Unless you want me to, of course."

She grabbed his belt loop and pulled him to stand directly in front of her.

"Now tell me more about this 'thing' you have for Warren Griffen. Because if it's just a crush, well then...I don't see anything wrong with a little pre-emptive snogging, do you? You've been kissed, right Max? Oh, and don't worry about helping me out in Herbology just yet. I can wait if it means getting to kiss you. Don't you want to kiss me?"

She looked into his eyes and her pouty lips silently beckoned him to her, whether he knew it or not. If someone could be given marks for flirtation, as well as temptation, Iris would have the highest grade of all.

Max felt her pulling on his belt loops and moved involuntarily closer to her. His brown eyes widened as she wrapped her arms over his neck and asked him if he'd been kissed, and whether he wanted to kiss her. He had to clear his throat a few more times before he could answer.

"Yes, I've been kissed, and I have to admit that it would be nice to kiss you, since you are very attractive, but I'm kind of a one person guy." He had to laugh inwardly at his choice of words since he hadn't chosen between women and men in the sentence. Iris had said that she was definitely more attracted to men, but he honestly couldn't choose between which sex he was more attratced to. He found members of both equally attractive. Some more so than others, but they were always both male and female.

He'd even found that he was attracted to people that he really shouldn't be. Like Leila Carter and her boyfriend Xander Colson. He knew that he had no chance with either one of them, they were together, that much was obvious, but there was nothing he could do about that. Warren, however was the first that he had felt more than a passing fancy about. Until now.

He swallowed hard as he looked at the girl in front of him. Max had a slight knowledge of her reputation, but he just couldn't control his thoughts. One of which was that if Warren found out what was happening right now, he'd be furious.

"Iris, I don't think that I should kiss you. It wouldn't be right. I'm interested in Warren."

Iris stuck out her bottom lip and made her eyes big. If there was anything she had perfected over the years, it was her pouting. It never made a difference with her parents. They could have given a shit about her. But with her exes and other partners, it usually worked wonders. However, Max seemed almost immovable. He was damn faithful, and part of her really admired him for it. But the other part wanted to scream and shout that a kiss was just a kiss, and if there was an attraction between two people, it should be explored.

"Okay fine, Xandex. You don't have to kiss me. But I am sure as Hell going to kiss you."

And before he could object, Iris pulled Max against her and kissed him deeply. He tasted fantastic, and she was going to take advantage of this moment as much as possible, especially because he was probably about to get really pissed off. She didn't mind, though. Kissing him was worth it. Iris wasn't one to ask for permission. When she wanted a person, she usually just went for her desires without question. Sometimes it had resulted in guilt or heartbreak for her, but she had gotten very skilled at ignoring these feelings.

She pulled back and smiled at him, her cheeks and lips flushed from the lack of oxygen their kissing had brought her.

"See? Completely and utterly worth it. And you don't even have to feel guilty, because I am the one who kissed you. Go ahead and tell Warren. From my experience, jealousy only helps further along attraction."

She smiled and casually took out her text book.

"Now, what do you know about Venomous Tentaculas?"