Molly was sitting in the alcove on the sixth floor that, over the years, she'd come to think of as "her spot." She went there whenever she wanted to be alone. Social butterfly that she was, this didn't happen often, but when it did, she was glad to have the perfect place.

Not bothering to try and stem the tears that were flowing down her cheeks, Molly thought over the events of the day once more. She'd been having a great day after the run-in with Carla, but when she'd seen Carla and Callum together, which she estimated had been about half an hour ago, possibly longer, the first emotion she felt was shock. That wore off after thirty seconds, followed by a jumble of thoughts and feelings, the most prevalent of which was the need to cry. She mumbled something to her friends about having to go, and hurried out of the Three Broomsticks, back to the castle, and finally to her alcove, where she'd sunk to the floor and given in to tears. Her friends had sensed she wanted to be alone and hadn't followed, for which she was grateful. Her mind had been racing ever since.

I thought he liked me. We went to Slughorn's Christmas party together, didn't we? He had a good time. I mean, we were never officially going out, but we've been on a few dates. And I've liked him forever! I bet Carla doesn't even like him-she's probably just trying to get revenge on me. Bitch. I can't believe he fell for her tricks. How could he do this to me? And she would be overcome by a fresh wave of tears every time she reached this point in her train of thought.

She was thinking that she'd better pull it together and get back to her common room because it was almost curfew when she heard a voice call her name.

"Molly?"

Molly looked up and saw Nathaniel Goldstein standing there. She didn't have the heart to be rude to him, nor the mind to wonder why he was their. "Hi, Nathaniel," she said miserably.

"Are you-er-are you all right? No, you're obviously not," he mumbled, as if to himself. "What I mean to say is, what's wrong?"

He had crouched down next to her, and when Molly met his eyes, she found herself blurting out the whole story. Nathaniel listened closely and nodded along. If the story affected him in any way, he kept it well hidden.

"-and I've been here ever since," Molly finished. "I hate her so much."

"I bet," Nathaniel said. "I know very well how it feels to be in that situation." The expression on his face made Molly shiver slightly, though she didn't know why. Nathaniel stretched his legs out so he was sitting beside her, leaning against the wall. Molly glanced sideways at him. His brown curls were tousled from when he'd run his hands through them during her story, and his brown eyes were full of sympathy, with something more intense underneath. He wasn't half bad looking. Molly was shocked at herself for thinking that and immediately gave herself an inward scolding. But that small part of her brain simply would not be repressed.

"So," she said, mostly to distract the said part of her brain, "how've you been lately?"

"Apart from having to watch the girl I love be with someone else yet again? Oh, I've been great," Nathaniel said sarcastically.

Molly was slightly startled by his tone, as well as his response. "Oh," she said, not knowing what else could be said to that. But her brain was working hard. She knew he'd liked her back in third year, but by the time fourth year started he'd stopped stalking her, so she'd figured he was over it. But what if he hadn't been? What if he still liked her? No, she thought, that's ridiculous. It's been four years! Who likes someone for that long? She thought of Claire. She'd liked Patrick for about that long. And Claire and Nathaniel did have similar personality types...No. I'm sure there are lots of girls that are with someone right now. I'm not the only one.

But she did start to look at him in a new light as they sat in silence for a while. Silence that ended as they heard footsteps. "Oh, shit," Molly whispered. "It's probably Filch." As far as the students could tell, Argus Filch was ancient, as he'd been the caretaker in the days of their parents. Age had not helped his disposition, and he had a far fouler temper than he had in the old days.

Nathaniel looked worried. "We'd better go. I don't want breaking curfew to go on my record." Old Molly would have scoffed at that statement, but the New, More Considerate Molly thought that was an admirable thing to worry about.

The two took off, moving as quickly and quietly as they could. "Where do we go? There's nowhere to hide!" Nathaniel hissed.

Heart pounding, Molly scanned the walls for doors. The footsteps were coming closer. Finally, she found one. She rattled the doorknob. Locked. The two hurried down the corridor, panic increasing. They reached another door. Molly grabbed the handle and yanked it open. "In here!" she said. She seized Nathaniel by his robes and dragged him through the door, shutting it behind them.

Through the darkness, Molly realized they were in a broom cupboard. A very small one. To try and avoid the awkwardness of the situation, she pressed her ear against the door, waiting. The footsteps were close now. She saw a shadow moving past the door and heard a wheezing that unmistakably belonged to Filch. Gradually, the footsteps faded away.

"Okay, he's-"

Molly had turned around and stopped abruptly when she saw how close Nathaniel was standing. She looked up in his eyes and saw that he was gazing down at her.

"Molly-"

"I'm an idiot," she cut him off, heart beating in anticipation.

"I know," he said softly, and he leaned down to kiss her.


"Hey Molly!"

Molly turned around hopefully. She brightened when she saw who it was. "Hi, Nathaniel!" She was so glad it was him and not Callum Finnigan or someone of his caliber. Even Albus Potter wasn't as wonderful as Nathaniel.

"I was wondering if maybe you changed your mind about Hogsmeade?" He looked anxious.

Molly was surprised. "Why would I?"

"Well, I thought maybe you just said yes because you were caught up in the moment or something, and didn't actually like me." He stopped as he saw the incredulous expression on her face. "I should've known you wouldn't be that capricious. See you in a couple weeks, then." And, smiling, he strode off.

"What does that even mean?" she called after him, her smile just as wide as his. She turned to her friends. "Rose?"

"Variable or flighty. In other words, always changing your mind. God, Molly, why do I always have to be your personal dictionary?"

Molly ignored Rose's complaint. "Oh. Well, that's creative," she said, chuckling slightly.

"Molly, what is going on? I thought you hated him," Claire said, looking extremely confused.

"I only ever hated him in third year," Molly corrected her. "After that I just didn't particularly like him. But yesterday I realized how stupid I'd been."

"I'm with Claire," Jenna said, "I have no idea what's going on. But I have to admit, I always thought he was nice."

"Stay away, Jenna, he's mine now and I'm never leaving him." Laughing, Molly, walked off to her next class.

The other three stared at Molly's retreating back. "Definitely a loyal Hufflepuff," Jenna observed proudly.


I'll admit the kiss-inside-the-broom-cupboard was a little predictable but I couldn't resist! And I had a little fun paralleling the last scene with Molly's scene in the prologue...kudos to anyone who noticed! :) Two chapters to go...actually three counting the epilogue...hopefully I'll get them done quickly!