Before I could stop myself, I asked, "You think I'm pretty?" He must have picked up on some of the insecurity I tried so very hard to hide and raised his eyes to mine. Those beautiful grey eyes grew soft as he murmured, "Gorgeous."

I scoffed, holding my arms open in anticipation of the quaffle. "That's what he gets for playing around with someone's feelings. Bloody ogre." "That sounds like something you wanted to say to me," Flint called out from behind me and I winced, reluctant to face my captain. Me and my bloody mouth

But really, what was the big deal? We were only flirting; it was just a bit of fun. "Try it if you're brave enough," I goaded the waiting Gryffindor whose eyebrows rose in surprise at my words. "I've been meaning to see if your skills lived up to all that bragging you've been doing. I hope you're not setting me up for disappointment."

"Draco," I called out gently, taking his arm again and laying it across my thighs. Soaking some cotton wool in the Dittany, I gently patted it onto the burn. "We all have our scars you know. It's very rare to have gone through what we've been through without receiving any scars along the way."

Narrowing my eyes at him, I reached out to fist his shirt in my hands and yanked him the rest of the distance towards me. My action brought an abrupt silence to the circle and Oliver, now less than a few centimetres away from me, raised an eyebrow challengingly as if daring me to go through with it. I'd show him.

"Your answer?" he demanded and before I could ask him what he was nattering on about, he gestured to the parchment that lay forgotten on the table top. "Are you going to go with me or not?" "Isn't it obvious?" Rolling my eyes, I realised that he'd released my bag and promptly picked it up and slung it over my shoulder. "No."

"The chasm was already there," I informed him, drawing away from him. "The moment you set foot in this school and changed, that was the moment I lost you." And the moment you lost me.

"You know," I said quietly, making sure my brothers didn't hear me. "If Krum approached me; I'd leave you for him in a heartbeat."

"Why do you do it to yourself?" I asked, pouring a glass of orange juice which he stole for himself with a smile. "It's a Potter thing," he said eventually. "You wouldn't understand."

"You're doing a lot better than you think," I assured him quietly and when he rolled his eyes, I smiled gently. "I mean it Harry, you've come a long way. Helga, when I left Hogwarts you'd been a scrawny little fourth year – you've grown a lot since then."

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed and I'd grown up around a boy who liked to hide his true feeling behind a shield of mischief. It gave me the ability to look past an outer image and see what was really going on. I could see past James' shield of mischief, just as I could see past Black's façade of indifference. "He's staying at ours," I assured him, more gently this time.

"What the fuck!" Blackburn demanded, glaring at me. "I should be the one saying that!" I insisted. "Because of your idiotic dare, this fool's only gone and taken a love potion."

"Infatuation," he scoffed, shaking his head. "My type? Fine, my type is stubborn Gryffindors, two years older than me." "Be serious here Charlie –" "Oh, and I forgot," he added a little harshly, taking me by surprise. "She really really needs to be pining after my older brother. You know, just to add another level of unneeded tension."

So, it was one kiss. He wasn't the sort of person to break up with his girlfriend over one kiss, was he? I mean, the kiss wasn't even my fault! He'd been the one to initiate it.

"He kissed me," I confessed, watching as her eyebrows draw up in surprise. "He kissed me and I ran away from him."

"Draco's unwell," he said finally, steamrolling over my attempt to ask what was wrong with him. "He's been fitful since and asked for you. He said something about needing some peace and that you'd understand what that meant."

"I mean it," I insisted steadily, "I don't need saving Frank; ever since we were little you were always so adamant about saving me from anything that troubled me. But this time – this time I don't need saving."

"Black," I began, leaning my hip against the table as I assessed him closely. "Are you interested in more or something?" "Malfoy," he copied, "what if I am?"

"You have to believe me," I murmured quietly, unable to meet his eyes, "that was never my intention. I never wanted to hurt you." "Maybe it wasn't your intention," he accepted after a moment.

"This is a really bad time to begin crushing on someone," he admitted quietly, drawing away from me, "especially a muggle at that."