Chapter 1

When the flowers turn their face towards the sun in the springtime, I think of him. I think of how he saved me from a life I wasn't meant for in the first place – or maybe I was and I just wouldn't accept it. I think of how he was my angel, still is sometimes in the dark, in the nights when I allow us to exist together. I think of how much we became a part of each other, and how we were ripped apart countless times by circumstances far beyond our control. I think of how much I miss him, and wish I could see his comforting – sometimes arrogant – smile. I think of love between the most unlikely of people and I have hope for the future because I know anything is possible and everything you think could never happen does.

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"Have you ever jumped off of anything, Mione?" Ron asked from beside me.

"No of course not; I'm not an idiot!" We had been walking briskly to Potions when we'd started another row.

"Then you can't claim that you take risks." He pointed to Harry who was – extremely unobservant – on my other side. "Take a look at Harry," he said, calling up the wizard's attention. "He's bloody brilliant! He's fought off death eaters and dementors! And you, you've done nothing like that."

"And you have?" I countered angrily, "I don't recall you ever fighting off anyone with a skill beyond your own – or jumping off of anything. You're a foul git to be so hugely hypocritical."

"I'm a Quidditch player, Hermione," He said regally, placing his hand over his heart. "I'm face-to-face with death every game."

"No one's died from Quidditch, Ronald," I retorted, "Only you would be so dramatic."

"Me, dramatic? You're the bloody bookworm who can't ever let anything go. When's the last time you saw me crying over an A-?"

"When's the last time you got an A at all, Weasel, I bet you can't even remember, you're-"

"Alright!" Harry bellowed from behind us, I hadn't realized he was even paying attention. "That's enough, I'm sick of you guys fighting all the time."

I looked at him, eyes wide. Harry wasn't ever prone to break outs.

"I'm sorry," I said honestly, I didn't want to anger him. Ron just shrugged, head hung low in embarrassment.

Potions was weird after that; Harry's particularly grim mood hadn't changed a bit and I could feel the tension in the air. Something was wrong, but I didn't know what, and I planned to ask him later. However, at the time being, I had to deal with Professor Snape, who also seemed quite irritable. I wondered if all the guys in Hogwarts had simultaneously – and rather impossibly – started their periods. I giggled at the thought of Ron PMS-ing.

"Miss Granger!" Snape roared, coming over to where I was sitting. "What is so funny?"

"Nothing, Professor," I blushed as everyone at the Slytherin table – except Blaise who was looking very intently at me – snickered.

"Well if you're unwilling to share your amusement, then maybe you can share it in detention!" I groaned inwardly and out of the corner of my eyes I saw Blaise's smile. I frowned, wondering why Slytherins were so bloody annoying.

Later at dinner, Harry was still acting weird and not really talking to us. After I'd asked him what was wrong, he'd only given me the vaguest reasons; his studies were too hard, and his head was hurting. I knew that he and Ginny had just recently had a row, but surely he knew that they would make up, they always did.

I was so preoccupied with Harry's mood-shift, that I didn't even notice that I was late for detention until Ron muttered about it after desert.

"Oh!" I said and got up. I noticed a few chuckles behind me as I ran out of the main hall. I was too worried to be truly bothered by this.

I checked the time as I ran down the halls and into the lowest level of Hogwarts. I was already ten minutes late, Snape would kill me. I tried to push from my head the fear of whatever punishment I would have as I hurried along. When I reached the corridor, I slowed down my pace; something inside me was protesting every move.

I stopped just outside of the Potions class, trying to catch my breath and calm my nerves.

I opened the doors slowly and walked through the row of desks that had seated many very bored students before. I looked for Snape in the potion closet but I didn't see him there either. I frowned and sat down at one of the desks. Not really knowing what to do, I pulled out my big, black potions book and started writing down excessively long potions ingredients on a piece of parchment. I figured that if Snape were to walk in and I wasn't doing anything, he would have every right to get mad – or at least he'd think so. But this way, he would have no reason to complain.

"What are you doing?" Someone chuckled from behind me. I turned around quickly, causing my neck to hurt.

"I could ask you the same thing, Zabini." I frowned, rubbing my neck.

"It's just weird that you would be doing homework because you wanted to." He smirked and sat down next to me. I noticed how his hair fell handsomely into his face and how he pushed it back, sighing.

"Yes, but not nearly as weird as you being here on a Friday night when you could – and probably would be – shagging some girl senseless."

"Me?" he asked mockingly, his eyes wide. I smiled. "I can't believe you would suspect me, the good Slytherin, to be so awful."

My eyebrows rose pointedly; he smiled.

"Okay, yeah, you're probably right." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"So why are you here?" I asked again.

"Who would pass up the chance to be with someone like you, Granger?" Great, I thought, he was a smooth talker. I tilted my head to the side and rolled my eyes again.

"Seriously, Zabini, why are you here?"

"Snape asked me to." He shrugged. I was confused at that, but too tired to try and figure out why.

"Okay so what's my assignment?" He shrugged again.

"I don't know," He looked around, "I guess we just do whatever. Hmmm," he mused and placed his hand underneath his chin. "What's fun in a potions classroom?"

"Not much when Professor Snape teaches…" I muttered. He snickered.

"Granger, the good witch, actually admitting that she doesn't like a class?" He was mocking me, I could tell, but something about the way he said it told me it wasn't meant to be demeaning. I smiled softly.

"Shut up,"

"Okay I got it!" He jumped up and ran to the front of the classroom where Snape's desk was.

"Got what?" I asked warily.

He held up two of Snape's vials and wiggled his eyebrows excitedly. I laughed, but was still a bit worried; I hoped that whatever it was wasn't going to get us in trouble.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he went around to one of the first years' cauldrons.

"Ah perfect," He smiled wickedly, "Dylan Gremaldi; no one likes him anyway."

"What are you talking about, Zabini?" I went over to where he was, standing near the cauldron, and looked down into the simmering blue liquid.

"Okay here's the deal," He handed me a vial. I looked at it skeptically, "We each take our vial and do a little mixy-mixy and then, in the morning when Snape drinks his everyday butterbeer, he'll find that there's a nice surprise. He'll be dancing all morning." He said this last part in a very excited, almost childlike way. It was endearing. He looked up at me to see my eyebrows raised, and my mouth curved into a smile. He smiled too.

"Sounds fun doesn't it?" He said as he dipped his vial into Gremaldi's cauldron. It was true what he said though; that nobody liked Gremaldi. He was a spoiled child who was uncharacteristically snotty for a Hufflepuff. It felt much less guilty because it was him.

The potion bubbled when it hit the cool sides of the glass vial and it nearly fizzed over.

"Come on Granger," He titled his head towards the black pot.

"I don't know," I hesitated. "I'd feel so bad, and I'm not really big on getting caught."

"You think most people are?" He laughed, "Nope, we're just good at avoiding getting caught. Plus, Snape loves me. If he found out it was me, he would probably applaud me for my 'use of higher level potions skills.'" He said in a mock voice. I laughed but shook my head.

"Fine," he sighed, "But I'm going to have fun."

"Don't worry I'll have fun watching you, Zabini." I said as he walked up the aisle but he stopped and turned around when I said his name, making me crash into his back.

"Will you, then?" His smiled sexily. He was so close to my face I could hardly breathe, "I didn't realize you felt that way. Naughty girl." He smiled and I blushed.

"You know I didn't mean it that way, you bloody git." I hit him on the shoulder and he continued on, pouring the potion into Snape's cup.

"Won't he see that?"

"Nope, cause he always asks me to get his coffee for him." Another wicked smile came into his features. I rolled my eyes.

This was definitely better than doing potions homework.