nearly, v e r y nearly

They pass each other every day.

If they spoke, they would find out that she likes Gobstones and he likes chess, and that her favorite sweet is Bertie Bott's and so is his (she likes the variety, and he likes knowing that there is always at least one cherry-flavored one in the box), that she supports the Cannons and he supports the Falcons (they've inherited their Quidditch teams like she's inherited her father's nose and he's inherited his mother's bad eyesight) and that both of them love Filippa R. Tahoe's 'In the Muggle World' novels.

They would find that she has a pet cat named Andantino, and he has an owl named (creatively) Owl. If they spoke, they would find out that she dances in the rain, and he carries an umbrella even when it's sunny.

They'd find out that both of them are mad about Indian food, and that both of them hate steak-and-kidney pie, and that he likes Jane Austen better than she does. They'd find out that he has two left feet, and that she's still willing to teach him to salsa.

If they spoke they would find out that they both are free on the next Hogsmeade trip and that, no, she wouldn't mind going with him.

They would find out, three hours into their Hogsmeade trip, that she's decided that he's a bit of a stick in the mud and that he thinks she's got a serious death wish, but that they'd still like to go on the next Hogsmeade trip together.

If they spoke, they would find out that he would tell her his ears are too big, and if they spoke, they'd find out that she would kiss them and whisper "I think they're cute." They'd find out that he would fall in love with her smile, and that that would the first part of her he kisses on their fourth trip to Hogsmeade, right on the tiny gap between her two front teeth.

If they ever spoke, they would find that they would have three children and two would have his much much too soft hair, one of them would have her too crooked nose, and all of them would smile her gap-toothed smile.

If they ever spoke, they would find out that they would become the world to one another.

But all they ever find out about one another is Shitty, Jumped-up Pureblood and Prejudiced, Cocky Gryffindor and they never speak, just pass without touching and walk away.