Shadowed Dreamland
i. new
It wasn't the first time that he had played the game.
It was second nature to him, the slight smirks and enticing glances. It was always a half-truth built on a lie, and in the end they woke up alone. He had danced the routine many times before. It was the Gryffindor robes that made it different.
It was the vivid red hair and the challenge mixed with the invitation that made it interesting. It was the spirit, unhidden by masks of friendship or admiration, that made it new.
(And then it was him who woke up alone in the morning, with nothing but the faint lingering scent of her shampoo. That was new too.)