The Only One He Ever Loved

By True.Romance.Is.Dead.

--

JKR owns every Harry Potter essence that exists. I don't. The end.

However, Foster would be my little creation ;

--

The chapter titles are all lyrics from the song, "So Contagious" By Acceptance. The song just happened to be my complete inspiration for the entire story. And yes, the chapter's events happen to go along with what the lyrics are discussing….have fun figuring the plot out.

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"Melissa Foster." My voice sounded as cold as ice when saying her name. Melissa Foster. The head girl, the quidditch star, the walking idealistic image of beauty, the one every guy in this school was after. Melissa Foster. My enemy, the one person now that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Yet at the same time, she was my everything.

--

One:

"Oh no, this couldn't be more unexpected
And I can tell you I've been moving in so slow...

Don't let it throw you off too far
Cause I'll be running right behind you
Could this be out of line?
To say you're the only one breaking me down like this
You're the only one I would take a shot on
Keep me hanging on so contagiously..."

--Tom--

"Tom, could you pay attention just this one time!?" she yelled at me, furiously glaring with those blue eyes of hers.

"Sorry…Sorry about that." The scene outside the window had distracted me immensely, although it was nothing compared to what she does to me on a regular basis.

"Honestly, I don't know why you even asked for help on this Transfiguration essay, it's a bit obvious you know what you're doing completely. It's past one you know, and I'm exhausted."

She had me at that one, I indeed knew what I was doing…I knew the base transform charm and the entire history on it like the back of my hand. I didn't need her help, I didn't need anyone's help. How dare she even assume I was stupid enough…

"Well, no one's making you stay. I don't even know why you bothered to sit here and lecture me on the basic terms when you claim you've got 'better things to do'." I said through gritted teeth, she had hit a nerve.

"Fine." She gathered up her books and as she put them in her bag, that long, straight glittering mass of brown hair fell over her shoulder. The air around us was filled with her vanilla scent, my mind went racing as the aroma hit my senses. "I'll see you around, Tom." And with that she left, quietly closing the common room door behind her. I'm lucky there was no one else in the room at the time…god forbid they'd see me in a state like this.

--Melissa--

I flew down the marble stairs as if I was running in a muggle track race. I'd be dead lucky if I got back to my room with no one spotting me. Filch and Dumbledore would have a field day with this. "Oh, Miss Foster, "miss perfect", what's driven you to get like this?!"

A boy, Dumbledore. Actually, BOYS IN GENERAL. A cold mysterious, quiet boy that I couldn't get my mind off of. It took two minutes of seeing Tom's face to send my heart into overdrive, just two. I knew I shouldn't even be thinking these thoughts. He clearly wasn't interested as he constantly went off at me. I don't get it, all the rest of the guys will just fall down at my feet. They don't even know me. They're just perverted and are after something I'd never give them.

Tom will at least talk to me without being submerged into this lifeless state like the rest of them. I'll never win him over, I don't even know why I should bother. He's always got this look in his eye like he would rather be anywhere else than sitting in that dark common room with me.

I heard a crash, and looked around the corner. Filch was coming down the hall. Shoot. I was going to get caught. Light on my feet, I sprinted up the stairs and quickly muttered the password to this ugly portrait of an old man that guarded my room.

"Diablo."

The portrait swung open, and a rush of warm air met my face. I saw a familiar face, Mike Potter, reading a rather huge novel in front of the fireplace. I glanced at my watch, noticing now it was nearly 1:30 in the morning. A grin spread across my face as I dropped my bag by the bookcase.

"Mike, honestly, all that studying isn't going to make you any smarter at Potions…." I whispered in his ear, once I had crept up behind him. "Mel!" he jumped a good two feet in the air, knocking his book to the floor at an instant.

"Christ, do you even know what time it is?" He threw at me, as he ran a hand through his hair, attempting to restart the heart of his I had shocked.

"I should ask you the same question," I picked up his book on the floor. Another Nightmare, Another Scream. What was he doing with this? I looked up at him with a look of interest on my face.

"Well, the last time I checked, you couldn't get detentions for studying." He muttered as he grabbed the book out of my hand, obviously embarrassed by his book choice I had discovered.

"Well yeah. Jeez, it's just intriguing that you'd be up late reading the one book Dumbledore had locked away in the Restricted section 5 years ago…"

"I'll see you in the morning Mel." He wasn't going to answer anything on the topic now. He picked up his things and headed up the staircase in the corner of the room towards his bedroom. He'll probably just stay up there and read…

Something was up, he didn't want my nose in it. That was just how Michael was with me. Ever since we came back for our 7th year here at Hogwarts, he'd been different around me. We were really good friends, but suddenly he'd become quite distant ever since he found out I had gone to see Tom Riddle a few times. Maybe Mike was jealous of Tom? No, I shook the idea out of my head. Neither Mike nor Tom were interested in me, they'd never be. I grabbed my bag and headed up the staircase, but it wasn't to my room that I was going.

--Mike—

Mel was getting the best of me lately, it's hard to believe the one girl who I used to tell everything I can't even mutter a word to now. It's just so hard to trust her now, since she's been hanging out with that Tom Riddle. No one even talks to the guy, what the heck does she see in him!? Everyone thinks he's strange…he doesn't really say much to anyone. Dumbledore's probably the only one who doesn't bash him on a regular basis. I don't know what's going on in Mel's head, but if she's seeing Tom, it can't be good.

God, I wish I could tell her what was running through my mind…I flopped onto my bed and just laid there, staring up at the ceiling. Telling your best friend that you want to date them isn't the exact easiest situation. I wish there was some way I could see if she was interested in me, it'd be so awkward if she wasn't and I just told her. Things would never be the same, she wouldn't want to talk to me if she knew all I was thinking about was staring into those amazing eyes of hers and holding her in my arms. I just, wish there was an easier way to handle this. There never is though. Anything that involves Mel will not be easy, not at all. And especially if we share this tower and everything? If we were dating it'd be the greatest thing ever, I'd be able to just be alone with her all the time. Magic, had its ways. I'd never really appreciated the secluded head person's quarters up until now.

She's standing outside of my room, I can hear her breathing. I sat up on the bed, and turned around and saw her staring right at me through the crack of space between the door. Our eyes locked, and I swear, I could have just lost it right there. She just has the prettiest eyes in the world…I want to just die every time I look at them. She drives me insane sometimes, thinking about her. Everything, just everything about her is perfect. For all I know I won't ever be good enough for her. She kept looking at me, and I stood up and walked over to the door.

"Mel, this is weird." I said, as I stared at her standing there. This whole thing was ridiculous.

"You're acting all weird, it isn't just the situation." She stepped into my room and sat on my bed. "Come on, when was the last time we even had a normal conversation?! You've been so distant lately, every question I ask you, you dodge it. We don't hang out anymore, we haven't gone out on the quidditch pitch at midnight on a Saturday and played in ages. Whenever I even say Tom's name, you get this look on your face like you're going to kill someone. Mikey, you're my best friend. Probably the only friend I have that even knows me, and whatever's going on, I don't like it." She said all in a breath, staring right at me.

I sat down across from her, desperate to just take her right there. I couldn't tell her what I wanted to tell her, there was just no way she'd not freak out. That's what Mel does, something happens that she doesn't like, she freaks out. I wish I could tell her why I've really been friends with her since second year, since that one crazy potions class. I wish I could tell her that every time she takes her hair out of that pony tail thing that she does that I lose my train of thought completely. I wish I could tell her from day one I've been in love with her, from day one she was all I wanted.

"I don't know what to tell you Mel." Was all that came out of my mouth. She looked pretty sad, not to mention tired. It was getting later and later, almost to the point where there was no point in even going to sleep. I'd be getting out of bed the second my head hit the pillow.

She did something weird then, something she'd never done before. She reached out and put her hand on my arm. My blood raced, she was closer than she'd ever been next to me.

"You can tell me anything Mike, come on. I can tell by that grim expression you're wearing that something's bothering you. Out with it!" she pleaded.

There was about 8 inches separating us. And her hand was still on my arm. I thought she was going to burn a hole in my skin, the reaction of her skin against mine was going to make me insane.

"I, just, it's complicated. Kind of a long story for this late at night." I knew she was going to get mad at this, mad at me for not being honest with her. But I could I really tell her what I was dying to get out?

She glanced at her watch. "Mike, it's now 2:15 in the morning. Something tells me that I'm not going to get any sleep tonight."

I laughed at that, she was right. "Come on…tell me…I've got the time." She squeezed my arm, attempting to plead with me. She had that "puppy face" and pouted at my silence. "You're such a meany! We're practically eighteen and we can't even have tell each other what's on our minds. Real nice…"

The thought of someone walking in on us just entered my mind. I know no one would, but still, how would this look to someone else? Her hand was still on my arm, and if it stayed there for another minute I might go numb. We were sitting in the middle of my bed, less than a foot away from each other. This could look very bad, as if…

"EARTH TO MIKE. HELLO." She waved her free hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, zoned out there. I just, I don't think I can tell you this Mel." I said to her, watching the grin on her face slowly melt away.

"Why not?" she took her hand off of my arm, to my relief, yet complete displeasure. She sat there looking a little mad.

"You're reaction, it wouldn't be good…" I started to say, totally not watching what was coming out of my mouth. For some reason I started playing with the bracelet on her delicate wrist. I had given it to her in second year for Christmas. She'd gone crazy, she'd see in some shop window ages before then in Hogsmeade. I can still remember her cheeks flushed from the winter air, pointing in the window at it.

"How do you know, you can't read my mind!" she protested, now watching me play with the heart charm on the bracelet.

"Yeah but still. I just know you too well Mel, this is the kind of thing where I can totally judge your reaction."

She wasn't happy with that answer. "Oh really? Try me." She looked me straight in the eye, those ice blue eyes locking with mine again. Now I knew why every other guy went weak at the sight of her. She truly was beautiful, and here she was sitting across from me. She could be with any other guy, honestly I thought in ways she deserved better.

"Okay then." Something must be possessing me, the nerve I had right now was not usually like me. I knew what I was doing at this exact second was going to change everything. I wasn't so sure if I wanted it to change, I liked things the way they were now. Only yet still, I'd hold her hand when she cries and kiss her and tell her it's going to be okay, rather than just rub her back and talk her through it. There were things that Mel and I shared that no one else did, but I still felt like there was this gap between us at times. A gap only one thing could fill.

--Melissa—

Mike was acting totally strange, he was moving towards me…and we were close enough right now as it is. I knew were this was going, and my heart was going wild. This was it, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Did I really still fancy Mike over Tom, or was it the other way around? My heart was telling me one thing, my common sense the other.

Suddenly, before I could even think, his lips were pressed against mine and my arms were around his neck. The feelings I thought I didn't have for him were suddenly very obvious about being there. I felt like my entire body was on fire, the feeling alone was amazing. I had only kissed one guy before, and that was a stupid thing that shouldn't have even happened. It didn't mean anything to me, not like this did. Finally he broke away, letting me breathe.

"Mike…" I was at a loss for words.

"Mel." He whispered as he ran his thumb down my jaw. "I wish I could have actually you know, told you. I wanted to ages ago…but…"

I stared into his eyes, attempting to grasp what I was hearing. Could Mike have really felt for me what I was feeling for him?

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked quietly, wanting to just pour out everything I had ever felt for him. I wanted to tell him how I had cried those nights when he and Carina had been together because I couldn't bear the thought of him with someone else. I couldn't though, he couldn't possibly like me for as long and as much as I did him. He interrupted my thoughts, again, his fingers interlacing with mine.

"I thought you were all about Riddle now, so that made things just a tad difficult. I didn't really know how to tell you." His face was faintly red, I could tell he was embarrassed about admitting this to me.

What he said got to me. I hadn't thought of Tom since I walked out on him a few hours ago. Yes I was attracted to him, very much so, but I liked Mike too…and Mike was now sitting here holding my hand. So, I really don't have a choice now. I mine as well date Mike as I know how he feels, I knew Tom would never even see me that way. Mike was destiny, Tom was just free will. There was no way around it, I was going to have to get past my immature thoughts one way or another.

"Gah Mike, if only you knew. How long have you felt like this?" I wanted to know, thinking about how I felt in second year when he gave me that bracelet. I was all exited, any 12 year old girl would be. He was the guy I secretly drooled over in my diary late at night. A guy I secretly wished I was dating, as I watched him date countless girls in and out over these last few years. It was the same with Tom, but I knew I couldn't have Tom.

We were now laying back on his bed, our hands radiating warmth as we confessed these things we probably had been dying to tell each other. Well I knew how I felt about Mike for the longest time, but I wasn't so sure about what he was thinking.

"Honestly Mel, a long time," my heart did jumping jacks as he said that. This couldn't be happening, finally… "I guess you could say I've pretty much been in love with you since that Christmas years ago…"

Oh. My. God. He was on top of me now, kissing me as if there was no tomorrow, as if we didn't have classes to attend in 7 hours time, as if there was nothing else in the world that mattered. My lips were going to bruise, the pressure was there now. His tongue slipped between my teeth and as ours met, I could literally feel myself losing the bit of control I had on myself at that moment. I had wanted this for so long, and now here I was making out with the guy in his bedroom. My fingers ran through his hair, over his arms, ohhhh mannnnnnn his arms. All this quidditch for Gryffindor…it'd paid off. I knew what girls said about him, that he was "completely effing diehard sexy". And he was…

So this is what you could call passion, when you wanted to be with absolutely no one else, wanted nothing but this person. I was going to have to block Tom out of my mind completely, and the idea honestly wasn't tearing me apart like I thought it would. Mike continue kissing me, his arms slid around me and eventually his hands under the fabric of the shirt I was wearing. His fingers electrified me as he moved his hands over my bare skin. Those girls would have a field day with this. "Little miss perfect and her boyfriend had one heck of a night last evening…"

Boyfriend. Boyfriend. Mike would end up my boyfriend. The concept was hard to grasp, I hadn't ever really dated anyone. Maybe I was letting him go a little too far?

To my saving grace he came up for air. "Mel? You okay?" he asked quietly, searching my eyes.

"Yeah, it's just, late…and we have a class at 9 you know…and I really don't want to get a detention for falling asleep in McGonagall's class…" Babbling. The one trait I wish I didn't have.

He laughed and kissed me more. "Oh come on," he said between kisses. "You think I'd keep you up that late?" and he smiled at me. God, I loved that smile.

"You already have Jenkins, you already have." I grinned as I sat up, his face again only inches from mine. I got up off of his bed, despite that he attempted to pull me back down on top of it.

"You could crash here if you wanted, what's the point in even going to your room now? It's like…3:45 Mel." He laughed.

"Eh, Mike…" Spending the night with a guy!? Yeah that's something I definitely don't do often . Call me conservative or whatever you want. I'd barely even kissed a guy before and suddenly the open invation to...Me and Mike had slept in the same room and everything before, like when our year had this party and we all bunked in his friends room. That was because we'd risk getting caught by Filch or some teacher if we went down those stupid loud staircases back to our towers. That was totally different.

He grabbed my hand, and he had this look in his eye. "Oh come on," he pulled me into his arms. "I won't try anything!" he joked.

"Potter, I refuse to trust you." I kissed him. I could feel him smiling.

"Foster, I refuse to let you kick my ass in class tomorrow morning, jeez, let's attempt to get some sleep?" We hadn't use last names on each other since our good old competitive days.

"Fine, but let me go get some pajamas or something else at least. I'm not sleeping in jeans!" I said, and practically ran out of his bedroom. Childish thing to say, even stupider thing to do. I was just so, shocked?

As I sprinted down the staircase steps, and then up the set to my room, my heart was racing. What had just happened? Had me and Mike really just totally confessed ourselves out there? Am I really going to go back and sleep in his room!? I'm 17…not 12. This time it's not going to be me, him and ten of our friends all sleeping on the floor, between fits of laughter and throwing things at each other. It's going to be just me and him…all alone…in this dormitory at Hogwarts probably doing some stuff that Dumbledore would rather die than know of.

I picked through clothes in my drawer, noticing how I REALLY needed to go get a different wardrobe. Maybe Parker and I would go shopping next Hogsmeade weekend or something. Everything I had was just…old? I finally decided on slipping into a red tank and black satin shorts. Simple enough, I was so exhausted. I headed back towards Mike's room, and when I got there he was grinning to the point I thought he just might permanently be stuck like that.

"So Melissa…" he whispered into my ear as I crawled under his bedcovers and into his arms.

"Michael I swear to god I'm going to be downing massive amounts of coffee in the morning if you don't shut up." He kissed me on the lips one more time, sending sparks through every part of me, and then blew out the candle on his nightstand. At that very moment, I thought of Tom. I pushed the picture of his face out of my mind, I needed to just live in the moment right now.

Mike kept his arms around me, and I snuggled up against him. Hello rock hard abs, fabulous to meet you. I could feel him kiss my lips, then my forehead, then my hair, as I attempted to drift off to sleep. I had managed to sleep alone, cold, for 17 years. The fact seemed horrible to me now.

--Tom—

Well, this just ruined my morning. That Melissa Foster just walked into the Great Hall hand in hand with that Michael Potter. Michael Potter, god he disgusts me. Little Mister I Know Everything, All the Girls love me because of quidditch! What a prat.

I couldn't believe this though, Melissa with Michael? Well, I guess you could say it was kind of obvious, the way that they were with each other all the time, laughing, breaking rules together, hanging out together. God only knows what they were really doing in those head person's quarters.

I pushed my eggs around my plate as I watched them sit down on the quiet end of the Gryffindor table. How disgusting, love was. They kissed as they poured each other coffee, as everyone else stared at this in amazement. Lord, what had happened in ONE evening? Last time I checked these two weren't dating. Idiot Michael, always after the ladies. I swear, I'm pretty amazed that guy isn't flunking all of his classes. All he does is stare at Melissa and every other girl with a chest, and yet he passes with top marks. Bloody git.

Well, I consumed the rest of my eggs and sipped a bit of tea. No one else was around me, to watch me spy on the two lovers habits. Quite a few people were now staring. God, it was so freaking appalling that they would just suck the crap out of each other's faces over toast. First of all, toast was not the thing you make out with a girl over. Honestly….this is a eating area, lord, I'm going to be puking if I watch anymore of this. I hate these people. Oh, excellent, good old Peeves just floated towards them. Looks like I'll get my morning entertainment of other's peril after all.

"POTTY AND FOSTER ARE IT AGAIN. LOOK AT THEM GO PEOPLE, LOOK AT THEM GO. YOU'D NEVER SUSPECT IT NOW WOULD YOU…PROFESSOR, I'VE GOT CANOODLING AT THE BREAKFAST TABLE HERE…." Screamed Peeves over laughter.

The two broke their kissing to my extreme relief, I swear, the sight was most absurd. Potter said something to Peeves as Foster turned a bright red, ha, embarrassment was SO fun to watch. Maybe I'll make Potter my new target, after all, this could seriously be entertaining.

People around me finally unstuck their noses out of other people's business and went back to their breakfast. Glancing at the clock, it was nearly time for McGonagall's class. Joy, if it was one thing I hated more than the sight of Potter and Foster together, it was a class with them and that wretched witch.

--Mel—

Waking up in Mike's arms was probably the best thing I've ever experienced. Honestly, at first, when I opened my eyes to see his face an inch away from mine and his arms still wrapped around me, I was shocked. I couldn't believe what had just happened. I not only confessed my feelings to him…but I made out and slept with him too? I really had the nerve then didn't I? It wasn't like we'd done anything bad though, seeing as we hadn't actually done the deed…God jus the thought of it was scaring me. I'm sure, yes, it'd be great, but still, I wasn't exactly going to jump into the situation head first just yet. I was only 17!

I loved the feeling of his arms around me, absolutely loved every second of it. I didn't want to wake him, we'd both probably be pretty groggy considering we'd gone to bed only 3 or 4 hours ago. He was so warm though, it was like sleeping across from a fireplace, which he did actually in fact have in his room. The beauty of being head boy, I suppose.

I saw his clock on a table, and noticed it was around 7. The morning light was still barely making it's way through the windows. Class wasn't until 9, so we could still sleep just a bit longer…

Snaking my arms around him like he had his around me, I snuggled back up into him. I watched him sleep, with that angelic face. Oh, how I was so happy he was mine now. Just everything about him, was flawless. Even his flaws were flawless. He seemed to be smiling just faintly, as he slept.

As 7:45 rolled around, I decided it'd be best to probably wake him up. Sure, we'd only take a few minutes to get ready as we had our own private showers and such. Yet the lingering 4 hours of sleep would definitely have an effect on us. I kissed him, and watched him stir awake.

He ran a hand over my hair, smiling. "Morning," he whispered, then leaned in to kiss me. Morning breath. I now why everyone complained of it. It was still too sweet though to ruin the moment. We kissed for a few minutes, then finally sat up. I looked at my surroundings, half laughing. Mike wrapped my hand in his, and buried his face back in his pillow. "Ay dohn wanna geh ep." At that I did laugh, then kissed the cheek of his that was exposed. He pulled me on top of him, laughing and kissing me. The 8 o' clock bell sounded as usual, signaling the late sleepers it was now or never that they'd better rise.

He let me slip out of his arms and we got out of bed. "Mmm, I'll see you in a few minutes?" He kissed my ear, apparently attempting to inhale whatever perfume that was left. "Surely." We kissed again, and then I left him to his privacy and went down the cold marble staircase. My feet froze practically, at the touch of the marble.

Stupid Hogwarts uniforms. Honestly, these stockings… I hated them. We were allowed to wear heels at least, which was nice. I pulled my skirt up around my hips, and fastened the button. Finally I got around to putting on a bit of makeup. I couldn't do it magically, so I had my mother send me the Muggle stuff her sister sent her ever once in awhile. It was really quite useful, I found out. There was something called "eyeliner" or whatever, it really made my eyes stand out. To my, and the male species benefits. My hair could be in better circumstances, but seeing as it was now 8:15, it might be a better idea to shower tonight instead of now.

Mike met me at the bottom of the stairs, looking hot as usual. His slightly long black hair was messed up and in his face as it always was, and his dark blue eyes were amazing, sending me into cardiac arrest. He flashed me that brilliant smile as he took my hand, leading me towards the portrait hole.

"Breakfast, I assume?" He kissed my cheek as we made it out into one of the main halls.

"I'm actually not that hungry." I noticed, to my shock. Usually I was always starving.

"Oh come on…" he made a face, and the aroma of fresh scones hit us as we neared the Great Hall.

"On second thought-"

"Don't even finish your sentence Mel." He laughed, probably reading my mind.

We sat down among the usual group of our friends, Margo, Dina, John, Drew, and Patrick. Mike took his free hand and instantly loaded his plate with food, I on the other hand was getting immense stares from Margo and Dina.

"Girl, there something you wanna tell us?" Dina whispered, and Margo kicked me under the table. "Since when do you hold hands in public with him?" Then it must have dawned on the two girls, because they're mouths dropped. Patrick even looked at me, and smirked. He mouthed "YOU HOOKED UP." and grinned as he elbowed Drew. John even caught on, as he started laughing as Mike attempted to stuff his face with food.

"So guys, fancy telling us when you started dating?" John wondered aloud.

"JOHN!" Dina and Margo screeched, obviously mad they couldn't ask the question first.

Mike swallowed his mouthful, and then squeezed my hand under the table. "Well…" he started to say, but was then cut off by Drew's "So my only question is, how long have you hidden this? We all knew something was up in those secluded quarters of yours…"

"Honestly Drew, it was even until last night-"

"AHA SO YOU DID HOOK UP LAST NIGHT!" Margo triumphed over her newfound piece of gossip.

"Hey man, come on, lets see the show!" John joked as he helped himself to more bacon.

"Well, if you must…" Mike said and then pulled me into him and attempted to French me in front of our friends. Really classy Mike, nice job showing the guys I'm taken….Hmmm….The idea of those girls in the loo struck me. Why not show 'em Mister Gorgeous was now off limits? I kissed him back and Margo sent another painful kick to my shin. "Melissa, what happened to that Head Girl role model thing you were talking about?" Dina teased.

Mike stopped kissing me for a brief second to whisper "Well, we'll have to give 'em a run for their galleons now won't we…" and it was then I could have sworn I saw Tom Riddle staring at me. His eyes flickered to someone else at an instant though, so I'm sure it was just in my head. My stomach dipped though, and I got this weird rush out of nowhere. Tom's eyes, I swear, they'd always get to me...

Of course to my luck, as Mike and I went back to our little "show", Peeves came in and sent everyone into a hiatus. My sex life was probably the topic of conversation for everyone this morning, great.