Chapter One
Harry had seen her around school before. And, now that he thought about, he could even remember that she was in his same year. But he never really noticed her. Not like now. She had long, wavy golden blonde hair that shined when the light hit it just right. Her eyes were dark and sullen, even though they were grey. She had a soft smile and perfect, rosy lips to go with it. Her Gryffindor robes seemed to fall flawlessly and her wand fit perfectly in her delicate hand. Harry! He heard somewhere in the distance. HARRY! It sounded closer now, but Harry was still staring at her from across the common room. "Harry!" Hermoine was yelling.
"Wha-oh. Sorry, I must have dosed off." Harry replied.
Hermoine stared at Harry crazily for a moment, then returned to her Potions essay. "So, the Calming Drought…'Harry offered, dying to change the subject. "I don't even know what this bloody potion does!" Ron said with his head in his hands. Ron stood up, rolled his essay and put it back in his bag"I'm going to play Quidditch, want to come Harry?" But Harry didn't hear anything, for he was still staring at the girl across the room. "Harry?" Ron asked again. "Don't bother, Ron. Harry's too busy drooling over girls to play Quidditch. Speaking of busy, you should really continue your essay, it's due Wednesday." Ron rolled his eyes and stomped away, leaving just Harry and Hermoine sitting at a table in the Gryffindor common room. Hermoine leaned in closer to Harry, "Well, Harry, what's her name?" Hermoine asked , a smirk on her face. "What? Oh, uh, I don't know." Harry replied. He picked up his quill again and began a sentence about the many uses of the Calming Drought. Hermoine stared at Harry, waiting for him to continue but all that could be heard form Harry's side of the table was the scratching noise of a quill on parchment. "You should go and say hello, Harry" Hermoine pressed, waving her hand in front of Harry's face. Harry looked up, annoyed, "Why, Hermoine?" Hermoine looked startled by Harry's behavior. She blinked a few times before responding, 'Well, Harry, it's obvious you like her." Harry blinked. "I think it would be really nice if you went over there and introduced yourself" Hermoine added, sounding hopeful. "Fine, I will go and say hi" Harry said, defeated. Harry rose from his chair and walked across the room, Hermoine 's eyes watching him the whole time. As Harry approached the girl, he noticed that she was watching him out of the corner of her eye. Why did it seem that everyone was staring at him? "Uh…hi, I'm Harry." The girl turned around to face him, she was even prettier in person. She had a few freckles across he slightly upturned nose. Her eyes were big and round and her eyelashes seemed unnaturally long. "Isabella," she said holding out her hand. She had a gaze like Dumbledore, it seemed she could see inside of him and knew everything about him." Uh…so…you're a fifth year, right?" Harry asked. "Yes. You're a friend of Ronald Weasley, right?" "Oh. Yeah. You know Ron?" "Yes, well, um…he kind of follows me around…" Isabella said blushing. Suddenly, Harry had a thought. Maybe Isabella was interested in Ron, not Harry. After a few seconds Harry replied "In a bad way? Does, he, like…annoy you?" Isabella had a faint trace of a smile on her lips. "Well, between the constant asking me if I would like to go to Hogsmeade with him and when he is talking about Quidditch, I'd have to say…maybe a little." Harry stared at Isabella. It didn't seem like she liked Ron. "Ron has been asking you to go to Hogsmeade with him?" Isabella blushed again. "I doesn't really matter. I have a boyfriend." Harry felt like someone had punched him right in the gut. He looked down at his shoes and raised an eyebrow curiously. "Anyone I might know? Harry said, still studying his shoes. "Maybe. He's a Ravenclaw. His name is Roger Davies." Harry had heard that name before…during Quidditch. He was the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, he was very handsome. "Cool…well, I have to go get back to my Potions essay." Harry said as he turned around to head back to his table. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around. Isabella was smiling at him, "Goodbye, Harry." she said. Harry nodded and continued to the table where Hermione was waiting for Harry. "So, how did it go?" Hermoine asked, leaning in again. "She's nice." Harry replied with a shrug. Hermoine looked at Harry sternly. "I meant with the fact that you like her! Did you ask her out? Harry stared at the table top. "Not exactly…" "What do you mean 'not exactly'?" Hermoine asked with a raised eyebrow. "She has a boyfriend." Harry said without really moving his lips. "Oh…" Hermoine sat back. "Who is it? Someone we know?" Harry shrugged, finally looking up. "Roger Davies." Hermoine didn't look even slightly surprised. "Well, I thought it would be someone like that." Hermoine said. "Like what?" Harry asked. What kind of person would he need to become to get her to like him? "Well," Hermoine began, "someone good-looking and popular." Harry felt embarrassed. Was she implying he was not good enough for her? Sure, he was popular enough. He never really considered his looks 'good' but he wasn't ugly. Hermoine cleared her throat and continued her Potions essay, not looking up even once. The conversation was over.