the state of grace; year five.

this is the worthwhile fight; love is a ruthless game, unless you play it good and right.

april, year five.

DISCLAIMER: The quote and chapter title belong to Ms Taylor Allison Swift, all else that you recognize is property of JK Rowling - she's just letting me borrow them to tell a story.

It was dreary outside, and a telltale sign of what was to come as Amelia Nott and Roxanne Weasley ate their breakfast that morning. Roxanne, who had her runes textbook propped against a jug of pumpkin juice, was hardly paying attention to anything going on in the Great Hall as she mindlessly ate her toast, her eyes darting quickly, trying to soak in as much as she could. Her studying had gotten horrendous since the holiday had ended, and Amelia had airily said that they had time to prepare for OWLs, not that her friend had - or even really was.

"It'll all work out," the blonde had said with a wave of her hand one night, trying to ward her best friend off as she stitched the hem of her skirt.

Roxanne didn't know how the girl could be so calm. These sealed their futures… but, Roxanne knew what Amelia's ideal future was, so maybe the girl didn't have much to worry about after all.

Amelia, who had happened to look up and across to the Gryffindor table made a face. "Oooh, he's staring over here again!" she whined, shooting the offending Gryffindor boy a glare, sticking her tongue out for good measure. Roxanne didn't hear her as she turned the page of her textbook, and Amelia, who hated when her best friend ignored her, poked her side hard.

"Ow!" she hissed, jerking over to the left and into a third year girl, who cried out in protest. "Oh shut up!" Roxanne snapped before turning to Amelia, "Why'd you do that, you bint!?" In the commotion, her textbook had fallen back, and Amelia had caught the jug and propped it up right.

"He's staring again!" she repeated, making sure the jug was sturdy as she pulled back, giving Roxanne an annoyed look.

Roxanne rolled her eyes, "Who is?"

Amelia gestured to the table across the hall and Roxanne turned, seeing a pair of grey-blue eyes dart to the side, as if he'd been listening to James Potter's overly dramatic story complete with handwaving and loud noises, but she saw the smile and knew he was secretly having a laugh at her. "So what?" Roxanne sniffed, pretending like her heart hadn't sped up or her cheeks hadn't reddened. Amelia wasn't fooled in the slightest and rolled her blue eyes.

"Oh sure, you don't care," she hummed and poured herself more tea, sipping it and friend's fists clenched.

"I don't!"

"I didn't say that you didn't," Amelia said back, sipping her tea again.

Both girls looked at one another before Roxanne broke first, rolling her eyes and grinding her teeth. She saw him looking at her again and she blushed, her stomach exploded into butterflies and suddenly there was a clatter. Her arm had knocked a platter of eggs that had showered everywhere and the third year girl wailed again, this time red faced and brown eyes swimming as people turned, laughing at her and Roxanne who were now covered in bits of scrambled egg, she wailed, "Are you serious?!"

Roxanne waved at her impatiently and pulled out her wand, concentrating and with a wave, the mess was gone. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she heard Amelia mutter, "Show off," under her breath. Roxanne breathed heavily a bit and took a sip of juice. She had been practicing her nonverbal spells, but it was a lot to do simple spells, but the progress was astonishing considering they wouldn't learn it until their sixth year.

Pulling herself out of her seat, she ignored Caleb's stare again and looked at her best friend, "I'm going to class, I want to make sure my transfiguration essay is still decent."

Amelia waved, still cutting up a bit of bacon, "Alrighty then, Annie, see you in potions."

Roxanne took off out of the Great Hall, her bag swinging behind her as she still kept her nose in her textbook, reading as she went up the marble staircase. She heard someone coming up behind her fast and moved to get out of their way, eyes still in her book when it was suddenly snatched out of her hands. "Hey!" she shouted, looking up and seeing him run up the stairs, the book held over his head like a prize and he was laughing. "Caleb, seriously!" Running up after him, she breathed hard and cursed. "Give me my bloody book, Wood!"

Caleb, who was leaning against the banister casually, her book propped open to the wrong page (causing her to grit her teeth in frustration) and was pretending to study it. "These symbols are so fascinating," he said to her in a mock Roxanne voice, holding the book out of her reach when she lunged for it. "You could translate a whole book with enough hard work and dedication."

Roxanne jumped for her book and he laughed, lowering it and holding it high again. She gritted her teeth before giving him a kick in the shins, grabbing the book when he lost balanced. "Don't be a sodding git," she snapped, shutting the book and brushing it off. He laughed at this, not stopping even when she gave him a warning glare.

"I could take points you know, and you and your band of idiots have lost Gryffindor so many."

He waved her off, "Don't get on your hippogriff at me, most of them are points you snatched."

"Hardly. After all the things I've caught you alone doing, be lucky it wasn't more."

He rolled his eyes, but it was more in endearing to her than annoyance. It was their same song and dance: he annoyed her, she got annoyed, he did something and she took five points for being a pain in her bum. This time, however, it was different. He bent down as she shoved the book into her stuffed bag, grinning at her. "Listen, we Gryffies are having a victory party tonight, in the Room of Requirement, and I was wondering if you'd come to it."

She looked up him and snorted, "Victory party? Victory for what? Not setting the castle on fire!"

"Well there's that small victory, but also the Quidditch House Cup, of course!"

She gave him a dry look. "And here I thought James Potter couldn't be more arrogant. The cup is hardly in your hands."

"Au contraire," he tutted. "As if that cup is going to Hufflepuff, be serious. Those duffers don't stand a chance against us!"

"If you do recall one of "those duffers" happens to be one of your best friend and my brother," she reminded him cooly, crossing her arms and he laughed.

"Freddie is not on the team, he doesn't count!" She rolled her eyes and began to walk down the hallway, turning into the runes corridor and he grabbed her hand gently, the act surprising her more than upsetting her and she looked at his hand in confusion, but he dropped it as fast as he grabbed it, his playful look never leaving. "Listen, it's a party, a fun thing I know you oppose, but it wouldn't be so awful if you made an appearance."

She looked up at him, for a moment her eyes were taken by his splatter of freckles around his face and the dimples his smile made, and with that, she found herself nodding, unable to find herself being able to say no. "Yeah… I'll consider it," she said. He stood at full height, towering over her, looking excited and pleased.

"Excellent, then I'll consider seeing you tonight."

With that, he walked off with a wave and Roxanne clung her bag, watching him go. Her heart raced as she watched him leave, unsure of what she was going to do as her stomach did a flip. One thing was sure, though: she had begun to care a lot more than she was willing to admit, and that much scared her as she went into the classroom, forgetting exactly why she'd left breakfast early, and not finding it in herself to really care.

Author's Note: Reviews are welcome.