.


"Alright, students!" Shizune's voice echoed through the courtyard and Sakura lifted her head as she wiped the sleep from the corner of her eyes. The woman waved her hand above her head, ushering the small group of head students toward her. "Gather round!"

Together, the eight seventh year students formed a half circle around her. It was a Saturday, the first Hogsmeade Saturday to be exact, and they had been called to the front of the castle for a quick meeting before the other students made their way down. Something Sakura's fellow Ravenclaw did not seem to be happy about.

Shikamaru stifled his tenth yawn behind his elbow and let his head fall forward until his chin was touching his chest. His eyes were closed and though she knew he couldn't possibly be asleep, Sakura could have sworn she heard him snoring softly. With a sigh, she elbowed him in the ribs before he could be caught by Shizune. He gave a grunt and shook his head before facing the front once more.

"As you know, it's time again for our trips to Hogsmeade and I'm counting on the lot of you to not only collect the permission forms but also keep an eye on your younger classmates. They look to you for guidance…"

Sakura glanced out of the corner of her eye to where the tall, red haired Slytherin stood on the other side of the half circle. Her first instinct was to quickly look away and pretend she had never been looking in the first place, but the sight of Karin's outfit choice for the day kept her attention glued to her. She was wearing a purple top that showed a bit too much midriff for Sakura's taste, with tight black pants and boots that reached above her knees.

It was highly inappropriate and broke so many rules of the dress code!

So why was Shizune not addressing the matter? Sakura turned away from the girl with a roll of her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. If the students could wear whatever they wanted, maybe she'd start wearing her uniform skirt rolled up a few inches or leave the top few buttons of her shirt opened. But of course, if she did that, she wouldn't make it to lunch before she had been handed a dress code violation or worse, detention.

The only reason Karin Uzumaki got away with so much was because of her family name.

"If you'll all help collect the permission slips we can get started," Shizune said with a quick smile, breaking through Sakura's thoughts. Behind her, several other students were beginning to make their way down to the courtyard. Sakura took her place beside Shikamaru, her eyes still glancing back to Karin.

"Can you believe what she's wearing?"

With a lazy peek out from behind one eye, Shikamaru spotted her and scoffed. "Is that why you look as if you sat on a venomous tentacula?

"She's showing too much of her stomach!" Sakura hissed, snatching one of the permission forms from a third year student. "We have a dress code for a reason."

The Ravenclaw Head Boy took a seat on the stone bench beside them and sighed, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. "Stop worrying so much about what everyone else is doing. Relax, go with the flow." He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back to grin lazily up at her. "Don't let the bastards get you down."

Sakura scowled down at him and collected another third year permission form. She noticed that no one had seemed to even notice the head boy yet, and more than likely wouldn't. Shikamaru was far too busy lazing about to do any of his Head Boy duties. There was no point in even trying to get him to help her and she settled for standing beside him, holding her hands out in waiting.

Only once did she let herself look back at Karin happily greeting her fellow students. Sakura didn't understand how she was one of the most liked and most popular girls in school. There was nothing going on behind her eyes when she looked at you, like a gold retriever puppy. But the girl definitely had set high sights for herself. She and Sakura had been in competition since their first year for the top of the class, though it was clearly more important to the latter.

Throwing Shikamaru into the mix, who was infuriatingly smart for someone so unbelievably lazy, and Sakura had to fight for every grade she ever made. And that was exhausting enough as it was! How could someone find the time to make nearly perfect grades, have a boyfriend, and keep their appearances up like Karin Uzumaki? Sakura considered it a good week if she managed to slap makeup on once. Doing it every day? That was ridiculous.

As the last third year placed their forms into the stack in Sakura's hand, she glanced down at her oversized, navy sweater and frowned. Her figure practically drowned in the fabric and though she couldn't be too sure, she suspected it was a hand-me-down from her father's college days. Sure, she had paired it with a nice, pleated gray skirt and leggings, but the entire outfit made what little curves she had turn to straight lines.

No wonder Sasuke preferred Karin's tight clothes and ample hips.

"What's kickin' little chicken?" A happy voice sounded at her ear as an arm slung around her shoulders. The stack of papers in her hands nearly slipped out but she managed to press them to her chest to keep them from flying away.

Sakura scowled up at her best friend and shook her head. "You're in an awfully good mood today."

"Of course, I am! We get to go shopping!" The blonde pulled her closer and together, they walked to turn in the permission forms to Shizune. "We're definitely going to go in Gladrags and I'm thinking I can sneak some dungbombs into those nasty bitches' dorm while they're sleeping so we'll need to hit up Zonko's and—"

"You know I can't let you do that, right?" Sakura shook her head with a laugh, handing the forms off to a, thankfully, distracted Shizune who was currently handling a squabble between a few third years. As the older witch grabbed the two boys by their earlobes to haul them off to the Headmistress' office, Sakura turned to a pouting Ino. "The best revenge is letting them see they don't bother me."

"Well, they bother me," The blonde retorted, crossing her arms over her emerald green sweater. At least Sakura wasn't the only one sporting house colors today.

"Who doesn't bother you? You're the easiest person in Hogwarts to annoy." By now, Shikamaru had rose from his seat on the bench and stepped between the two girls. He glanced to the Slytherin on his left and shook his head.

"It's not my fault so many people give me a reason to be annoyed." Ino swept her hand toward him. "Exhibit A."

"I could be as quiet as a mouse, and you'd still find a way to be annoyed."

"Yeah," Ino said, nudging Sakura with her elbow. "Because it's your face that annoys me."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to fire back a response but Sakura had had enough of their bickering for the day. She stepped between the two and held her hands up to shut them up. "Enough with the squabbling. Shikamaru, I think I see Choji by the bridge waving at you."

The Ravenclaw boy mumbled something too low for the girls to hear before turning to make his way to his own friends. Once he was far enough away, Sakura rolled her eyes. "I swear, you two have so much pent up sexual tension."

Ino's eyes blazed with furious disgust and she swiped a hand across Sakura's shoulders for even mentioning something so horrible. It only made her giggle and she rubbed at the spot on her arm that had been attacked.

"You're sick, Forehead. You know that, right?"

An hour later, the two girls made their way out of the post office, peering down into the box of goodies Sakura's mother had sent her. Her parents had never gotten the hang of using owls to send their correspondence, especially with her father's slight fear of birds. Though he'd never admit it, Mrs. Haruno had told Sakura in strict confidence that the first time an owl pecked at their front window, he had jumped so far off the sofa, he nearly touched the ceiling.

To be honest, Sakura didn't mind using the old fashioned way of delivering letters to her parents. She never had to worry about cleaning up owl droppings at the post office.

"Oh, look! She got our photos developed!" Ino dipped her hand into the box to pull out a few photos from their holiday last Christmas in Spain. The Yamanaka family invited Sakura along with them to the magical resort in the Mediterranean. It had been her first trip to a magical place that wasn't Hogwarts and she had filled three disposable cameras full of pictures.

These were from the last of the cameras and the two girls bent their heads together as they cycled through each one. "Wow," Sakura said, looking closely at one of the photos. "I look so tan!"

"Yeah, this must have been the day before you laid in the sun out for two hours and burnt to a crisp!" Ino giggled.

With a roll of her eyes, Sakura snatched the picture out of her hands and slid it back into the box, tying the string back around the lid. She knew there'd be a letter from her parents, but she preferred to read that when she was alone. Besides, she didn't want to share any of her muggle treats.

Thankfully, Ino didn't ask for any and glanced around the street around them. The little village was filled with students. The younger ones had been packed inside either Zonko's or Honeyduke's and the older students mingled in their cliques.

"Okay, I need some new stockings," Ino looped her arm around Sakura's and steered her to the right. "And maybe a new scarf for this winter. Oh! And maybe a few—"

Her words stopped abruptly, along with her steps, and Sakura looked up in confusion. At first, she had no idea what made the ever-talkative blonde stop talking about shopping. Across the lane, several groups of students were zipping past, firing their trick wands at one another. And between a stream of blue and yellow sparks, Sakura saw exactly what shut Ino up.

Sasuke stood near the steps outside Gladrag's, his arm tight around his new girlfriend's waist as they chatted to a few other Slytherins. He was smirking at something, his chin resting on Karin's shoulder. She was talking animatedly with her hands on her hips, but she looked back at Sasuke and smiled up at him.

Sakura recognized that smile. It was the same one she used to look at him with. It was a smile of happiness.

"Come on, let's go to The Three Broomsticks." Ino turned her away from the scene, quickly rushing them back past the post office. "I'm thirsty anyway."

She hadn't been before, but Sakura was feeling a bit thirsty herself. Her tongue sat heavy and dry inside her mouth and she hugged her parcel closer to her chest. Having something from her home, a little piece of her parents, near to her made her heart ache for home.

Maybe it was seeing Sasuke so happy with his new life, she couldn't tell for sure.

She just knew she wanted to go home.

"Hello Ino, Sakura." The soft voice at their left made both girls stop on the sidewalk, turning to find a fellow seventh year smiling to them. Instantly, Ino's hands gripped a bit tighter at Sakura's elbow and she made a small squeak in the back of her throat.

"Oh, hey," Ino rasped, pressing a hand to her chest as she cleared her throat. "How are you, Sai?"

The Slytherin boy glanced between them and tilted his head to the side, staring at the box clutched beneath Sakura's arm. "I saw you coming out of the post office earlier, but you looked a bit preoccupied with your package. I'm doing well, how about yourself?"

"We're good. Ah, actually—" Ino looked at Sakura, lifting her eyebrows. "We're heading to The Three Broomsticks for some tea. Would you want to join us?"

Sakura hid her sigh and looked away, pursing her lips in annoyance. Well, this was just lovely. She had to witness pure happiness between Sasuke and his new fling only to follow it up with being the third wheel.

Just lovely.

But she knew Ino had been eyeing Sai for the past year and had been uncharacteristically shy about approaching him. This was her chance to finally click with the boy and Sakura would never stand in her way or make her feel bad about inviting him along.

"I would love to," he said. His answer immediately made Ino's lips spread into a wide smile. "But I was on my way to the Quill shop."

"Oh, okay, well—"

Before Ino could stammer her way into a missed opportunity, Sakura stepped up and smiled sweetly to Sai. "Why don't you go with Sai and I'll go get us a table. You two can join me when you're finished." She quickly winked at her best friend and pulled her arm out from around Ino's.

The blonde stared in surprise, blue eyes wide and sparkling at the idea of being alone with her crush of over a year. She mouthed thank you and the two of them turned back to head to Scrivenshaft's. For a moment, Sakura stayed on the sidewalk, watching Ino stare up at the boy next to her.

Well, if she couldn't have the romance she wanted, she definitely wanted Ino to have the one she wanted. Sakura would just live vicariously through her until she could graduate, get out in the real world and find a better man than Sasuke Uchiha.

She sighed and turned back toward the pub, wishing she could truly want that path for herself. It was definitely the one Ino and Tenten kept shoving her toward, but she had been on the path she thought she wanted. What were you supposed to do when you were shoved violently off your path and had no way back?

A group of third years raced past Sakura, nearly shoving her into the street and she quickly dodged them. She glared after them as she leaned against the wrought iron railing leading up a few steps into a bookstore. It was a narrow building wedged between the post office and a wizarding law office. Books were stacked against the windows, but Sakura could see around them enough to know that the place was relatively empty.

A hunched, old man sat on a stool at an ancient looking cash register, the book in his hands drooping lower and lower as he nodded off. Sakura smiled, wondering if this was what Shikamaru would look like in his old age.

She tucked her package beneath her elbow and hopped up the steps, opening the heavy door with a bit of a struggle. The two bells above her chimed happily and the old man on the stool jumped awake, his book tumbling to the floor.

"Oh, a student," He grumbled, stooping down to retrieve his book with a bit of a struggle. Sakura smiled apologetically and turned to make her way through the maze of shelves.

The way the books were shelved, it was hard to find anything in particular. Little cards floating near the shelves displayed what genre she could expect, but the muggle fiction shelves had what looked like physics and mathematics textbooks. She leaned forward and blew a thin layer of dust from the top of one of the aging textbooks before squeezing into the muggle crime genre.

There was only enough space to shuffle side to side and she made her way to the back, right corner, finding a small section of humor and comic books. Most looked as if they hadn't been touched in decades and as she lifted one of the covers, the corner of the paper crumbled in her fingers.

She quickly dropped it and glanced around the shelf to make sure the old man wasn't watching her. He seemed to have nodded off once more.

"How can anyone find what they want in this place?" She mumbled, looking up at the books towering above her, nearly touching the ceiling.

At the other corner of the store, she heard a small giggle and her eyebrow arched. She slid a few books out of the shelf at eye level and peeked through the opening. Two shelves down, near a large barrel overflowing with paperbacks, was a man. From her position, she could tell he was tall and nicely dressed in a pair of dark slacks and suspenders that stood out against the crisp, white shirt.

Actually, it looked a lot like—

Sakura pressed a hand to her mouth to hide the gasp. She quickly freed two more books from the shelf so she could get a better look at Professor Hatake. He stood with a book in his hands and his back to her in what looked like the romance section?

She frowned and glanced back to the old man behind the counter. He had to have made a mistake labeling the sections. There was no way her mean, strict Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was reading romance. He had to have been reading '101 Wicked Wizarding Murders' or something similar.

But if that were true, why was he giggling like a teenage girl reading a love scene for the first time?

Sakura leaned closer to the shelf and stood on her tiptoes, trying to position herself to get a good look at the book. His shoulder was in the way and she frowned, blowing out a sigh that stirred the dust up around her. She jumped back but it had already began tickling her nose.

She couldn't avoid it.

She was going to sneeze.

Pressing her face into the bend of her elbow, Sakura tried to make it a quiet sneeze but failed. The sound echoed around the near silent bookstore and once again, the man at the front counter dropped his book.

Professor Hatake cleared his throat and Sakura ducked behind a stack of thick books that she felt could hide her well enough. She held her breath, waiting for the horrible moment he'd walk around the shelf and catch her spying on him. Her eyes squeezed shut as his footsteps grew closer, making the loose floorboards creak beneath him.

He turned toward the center aisle and made his way toward the front counter. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and peeked around the shelf. Sure enough, he stood at the register and set down an orange book with bright red letters on the cover. From so far away, she couldn't quite make out what it said but she knew for sure that if she saw another one, she'd recognize it.

She glanced over her shoulder to the romance section and waited for the bell to ring over the door. Once he had left the store she hurried to the corner where he had been standing and scanned the spines of the books. It was fairly easy picking it out.

While most romance books chose soft pinks, or pastel colors, the one he had been giggling about was like a bright, orange beacon. Sakura plucked the book out and stared down at the two people on the cover; a man running after a woman who didn't seem to want the attention.

She raised an eyebrow and flipped through the pages, finding a section toward the middle. Right away, the words made her blush and she snapped the book shut with a soft thump. The blush creeping up her throat could have lit a dark room.

Not only did the infamously strict Professor Hatake read romance but he read romance that would make most people blush. Sakura whirled on her heel and tossed the book onto the overflowing barrel. She hurried to the front door and pressed her forehead to the glass, trying to see which way he had disappeared to.

Just before he turned at the post office, Sakura caught sight of the brown, paper bag swinging at his side. It would seem he was going to the Hog's Head.

"You're getting finger prints all over my door!" The curmudgeonly man at the register grumbled at her, shaking the book in his hands.

Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed through the door, staring the same direction Professor Hatake had disappeared. She wondered how long she could follow him. Not that she truly cared what he was getting up to, but after finding out his little secret, she was far too curious to ignore it. A part of her was aware that she was playing with fire and that if he knew she was spying on him, he probably wouldn't be too happy about it.

But she owed him a little payback for scaring the hell out of her the other night and whatever juicy little information she could find out, it was worth the risk.

Besides, he looked a bit preoccupied with his books about men who liked to stick their heads under women's skirts to taste between their legs. The passage from the page she had briefly red made another round of heat flare up her face and she squared her shoulders, following after him.

The Hog's Head sat at the end of a side lane, and though she was fairly sure students were allowed inside, Sakura had never ventured that far. It wasn't exactly the type of place she would care to go and had heard that the place had so much dirt on the floor, it would dirty up your shoes.

The closer she walked to the building, she could barely make out a figure that resembled Professor Hatake sitting at the bar. It was a bit difficult to see through the dusty windows, but there was no mistaking that silver hair that seemed to defy gravity.

Thankfully, he seemed to be preoccupied with whoever was sitting next to him at the bar and Sakura quickly slipped in the front door behind a large fellow wearing a long, black trench coat. She fell into the first booth in the pub and slid across the hard, weathered wooden plank. A splinter snagged her leggings and she frowned down at the tiny hole opened up behind her knee.

She grabbed a sticky menu from the table and opened it up, ducking behind it before Professor Hatake could turn and catch her there. The pages of the menu were water damaged so badly, she could hardly make out a single item for sale. Not that anyone cared about the food served here.

It was quite clear that anyone in the establishment came to get drunk.

Sakura leaned to her left and peered around the flap of the menu, staring at the back of Hatake's head. He talked to the man next to him and she recognized it as her Charm's professor. The guy was so nice and cheerful. She would have never pictured the two of them as being friends, but it was clear from the way the two men laughed and clinked their beer mugs together that they were.

It was so bizarre.

Could she have been wrong about him this whole time? Why did he have to be so mean to them in class, her specifically? She wondered if it was some sort of defense mechanism or maybe he just didn't know how to act toward his students. Whichever the reason, she hoped he'd start to lighten up a little on them and maybe dissolve this strange, sparring club he forced upon them.

Professor Gai slid off of his stool and announced that he has to use the men's room before stomping off toward the back of the bar. His steps were a bit more sluggish than normal and Sakura wondered how much he had to drink before Professor Hatake had joined him.

Alone at the bar, he looked down into the mug in front of him and did something that made Sakura's eyes go wide in surprise. He pulled his mask to his chin and brought the beer up to take a sip. Though she couldn't see him straight on, she could see the side of his face and the slight curve of his cheek. It was just a fraction of a shade paler than the rest of his face and Sakura was transfixed on it.

After taking another sip, he replaced the mask back over his nose and the trance he had placed on her was broken. She blinked and ducked back behind the menu. What was she doing? Spying on her professor, following him through the streets and hiding all to get a look at his face. She was being absolutely ridiculous, and it was time she left before he noticed her there.

Before Professor Gai could make his way back from the bathroom, Sakura slipped quietly along the bench, avoiding the splinter this time. She slid the menu along the table as she went, using it to shield him from seeing her.

With a quick peek out from behind it, she caught him looking the opposite way and knew now was her chance. She stood up from the seat and spun on her heel, slamming right into the bartender who happened to be balancing a large, circular tray filled with beer mugs on top. He stumbled back and the tray tipped, each glass falling over and raining down to the floor with a loud splatter.

Sakura's hands covered her mouth and she tried to wedge herself between the wall and the booth but couldn't fit in the six inch space. Her eyes lifted from the now muddy, filthy floor to the rest of the patrons of the pub, all staring at the scene.

And one particular pair of dark eyes fixed directly on her bright, red face.

"Oh, god bloody damnit!" The bartender shouted, slamming the tray down on the table as he snatched a rather dirty looking rag out from his back pocket. "This is the last year I allow students in this place. I swear on Merlin's grave they bring nothing but trouble…"

Sakura stared at the old man as he shuffled back behind the bar to snatch his wand out from beneath it. He glared daggers at her and flicked his wand toward the shattered glass. They hopped back onto the tray and he tossed them into a large trash bin in the corner of the bar, leaving the spilled mess at her feet.

A part of her wanted to run as fast and far away from the pub as she could, but she had been caught in the splatter and the front of her sweater was covered in beer. The wet fabric clung to her skin and she swiped at it.

Across the room, she was faintly aware that the one person she had hoped would ignore the whole thing was making his way toward her. She tried not to look directly at him, but it was a bit hard now that she had an inkling of what he was hiding behind his mask.

There was a slight gleam in his eyes as he made his way toward her and she wondered if he was smiling. "Are you alright, Miss Haruno?" The tone of his words told her that he was indeed smiling.

Great, he had caught her and was laughing at her misfortune.

Sakura sighed and accepted the napkin he handed her, mortified that most of the beer on her was across her chest, pressing the material into the curve of her breasts. She turned away from him slightly, hoping he didn't notice how embarrassed she was. With the help of the napkin and a quick Scourgify charm, her sweater was back to its previous state.

"I'm fine," she finally answered, shaking the hair from her eyes as she handed the napkin back to him. "Just a bit embarrassed."

From around Professor Hatake, she could see the other Hogwarts professor in the pub make his way back. He stepped up to them, hands on his hips as he eyed the muddy floors beneath them. "I heard a crash. Did something happen while I was in the restroom?"

Professor Hatake cleared his throat and gestured toward Sakura. "Just a small spill. I don't think anyone was physically harmed."

Just my pride, Sakura thought to herself, glancing between the two men. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth to tell them both she was going to leave and crawl in a hole to die, but was cut off by Professor Gai. He grinned down at her. "Ah, Miss Haruno. Ravenclaw's top student for the past seven years. It'll be a dark day at Hogwarts when we no longer have your bright mind in our classes."

Both she and Professor Hatake turned to him and shared the same look of incredulous curiosity. She had been complimented by professor countless times through the years, but it was always Gai who never failed to give her the strangest ones.

She couldn't help noticing that Professor Hatake didn't seem to share the same opinion as his friend. He cleared his throat once more and turned back to her, forcing a smile that she noticed behind a shift of his mask.

"I should go," she mumbled, turning toward the door. "Sorry for bothering you."

She was out the door before they could even bid her farewell and outside in the air, she took a much needed, deep breath. The inside of the pub had gotten far too stifling with Professor Hatake close to her and she preferred it when he wasn't staring at her.

Behind her, the door opened once more. "Miss Haruno," a familiar voice called, making her stop and whirl around.

Professor Hatake made his way toward her, hands stuffed in his pockets, and the smile was present in his gaze still. Suddenly, she felt as if she were having trouble catching her breath and she couldn't help remembering that beneath his mask, his face was pale.

"Yes, Professor?" She managed to croak, hoping he didn't notice the catch in her voice.

"I just wanted to tell you that I've managed to shift some things around on my schedule and found some time for us to start our lessons."

"Oh, okay." Sakura swallowed, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm afraid next Saturday is the only day I'll be available, around three in the afternoon."

She quickly ran through her mind, trying to find any excuse though she wasn't sure why. Quidditch flashed in her head and she looked up at him. "Next Saturday is the first Quidditch game. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."

Professor Hatake arched an eyebrow and the look in his eyes felt rather teasing. "I didn't peg you to be much of a Quidditch fan."

"Well, I'm not," she started, folding her arms over her chest. "But I do have friends who play, and it is the first game…" Her words trailed off as she realized that he didn't seem to care. The infuriating look never left his gaze and she was almost sure that he was teasing her now. With a sigh, she continued, "But I guess I can miss it."

"Good." The mask shifted again, and she pursed her lips as she stared up at it. "I'll see you in class, Miss Haruno."

Not waiting for her to respond, Professor Hatake turned and made his way back into the pub, letting the door shut with a soft rattle behind him. For a few seconds, Sakura stared after him. It's true, she wasn't much of a Quidditch fan and usually tried to use any excuse to get out of attending the games.

But this was one time she didn't think she'd prefer to miss it.

In one week, she would have to face her fears and get far too up close and personal with a man who both terrified her and sparked her curiosity in ways she had never imagined. She just hoped he would abandon the strict, hard-ass Professor for the one who giggled at romance novels in the back of a bookstore.


AN- Well, next chapter will be fun to write :)