Dodson Tanner hadn't been able to focus on his schoolwork for a few months now. Every time he sat down with the intent of casting a spell or brewing a potion, those enchanted red locks got on his mind. Maybe that was why he was failing his classes. Why all his teachers had looked at him different lately, trying to find out why their former all-star student was crashing and burning. But wouldn't it all be worth it, Dodson asked himself, if he could be with Ron Weasley?

Dodson stood up from his desk and walked over to the entrance of the Slytherin common room. He debated whether or not to open the door. He needed to finish his scroll for potions tomorrow, and being with someone else would distract him, but he wanted to try and find Ron in the library. They had just hit it off about a month ago, and every time they talked, Dodson seemed to tremble and stutter. Dodson had prepared this time, though, with conversation topics. He had even practiced saying sentences in the mirror to himself. Some might call it crazy, but Dodson was the kind of person to prepare. He opened the door of the common room and traversed the winding, moving staircases to the library.

There sat Ron, looking as beautiful and sweet as always. Dodson would have said he swept him off of his feet, but he had already swept him off his feet many, many months ago. Ron shyly looked up towards Dodson.

"Hey… Ron! Do you think I could study with you?"

Dodson immediately felt like a fool. He was too entrenched in his own embarrassment to notice that Ron had turned a little red as well.

"Um… sure."

Dodson took a seat. Surely Ron's response meant that he didn't like him. Nevertheless, he took a seat.

"Hey, can you help me with my scroll on the antidote to common poisons? I can't seem to get it to flow correctly."

"Sure," Dodson replied. He leaned over to help a blushing Ron Weasley with his homework. Dodson, even though he was flunking Potions and all his other classes, was quite the writer. If only he could just get himself to focus…

"Well, it's pretty simple, really. If you just change the sentence structure in these lines, it won't sound so repetitive…" Dodson looked at Ron's ginger hair and lost his train of thought. This was unlike him. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"

"No, you're fine. That's really, really helpful."

The two met again to study a month later. Though Dodson figured he would have gotten past being so awkward after the last visit, he remained a tomato in color once he saw Ron again. He wanted to have the confidence to just walk towards him and ask him out, hold his hand, even to just be natural. But that confidence evaded him.

"Have you done your Spells homework yet?" Dodson shook his head. "Well, do you want to work on it together?" Dodson smiled.

"Sure."

The visits by Dodson in the library became regular. First, it was every couple of weeks. Then, it was weekly. Eventually, it became daily. Not only were Dodson's grades going back up, he realized he was happier. Maybe chasing Ron Weasley wasn't a bad idea.