Author's Note: Anywho, I've just graduated high school… Yay for me!

Disclaimer: I only own Delilah Longbottom, everyone and thing else belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter Ten: Hogsmeade II

Delilah trudged behind her friend, his long strides giving him a more than decent head start.

"Merlin's Pants, Dean!" she called out, causing an elderly witch to lift her head and tut. Delilah shook it off and quickened her pace. "Stop right now Dean Thomas!" However, he did not turn. He continued walking back up the path to the school.

"Oi! Dean, you git!" Delilah stopped at an instant, the Irish accent ringing through her ears. "She's trying to talk to ya!"

"She being the crup's mother." Delilah muttered under her breath, shaking her head. She spotted Lavender by Seamus' side and she suddenly didn't feel like thanking him for his help. Delilah turned to look at Dean, silently pleading with him to speak to her – if not to tell her what had happened when he was running from Snatchers, but to spare her having to look at Lavender latching onto Seamus' arm.

"Yeah, right." Dean walked back to the raven haired girl, looking down at her with a sigh. "Let's go to Honeydukes, 'kay? As long as you drop it." Without another glance at her long time crush and his girlfriend, Delilah stepped forward and in the directions of Honeydukes, her eyes watching her boots make small puddles in the wet ground.

The rain had started when they were sitting in the Hog's Head but had ceased before Dean's abrupt exit, it had left puddles everywhere and the ground being pure slush. Delilah's hand found the crook of Dean's elbow as she manoeuvred around the larger puddles.

"Seamus said he was looking for you," Luna said as she appeared beside the two Gryffindors. "Did he find you? It sounded rather important."

"He didn't mention anything." Delilah answered abruptly, already wanting the encounter out of her mind. "I just want some sweets." She thanked Dean as he reached forward to open the shop's door before she pulled him in behind her.

"What were you after?" he questioned and she turned around to look at him, a sour smile on her face.

"Don't think you're getting away with it that easily," she snapped at him. "You're lucky Seamus inadvertently saved your arse."

"What do you want, Dee?" he pressed and she shrugged.

"Why?"

"I'll get it." He offered, pulling some gold galleons from his pocket. Delilah looked down at his hand with wide eyes and smirked.

"You shouldn't have shown me that." She said, a huge smile gracing her elegant face. "Now I'm going to buy some of everything."

While, she may have been slightly exaggerating, she did manage to buy more than she had intended. As she pushed through the other Hogwarts' students, she placed handfuls of Ice Mice, Fizzing Whizzbees, Jelly Slugs, Cauldron Cakes, Sugared Butterfly Wings, Liquorice Wands, Sugar Quills, Chocoballs, Banana flavoured Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and a box of Pink Coconut Icefor good measure.

Dean watched in amusement as she placed all of her sweets onto the counter without any thought. She was never one to care who thought she was being an Occamy, and this trip to Honeydukes only solidified that fact.

"Do you have enough?" she looked up at Dean hopefully and he nodded with a laugh. "Where'd you get all this money from?"

"Mum got a new job that pays a lot more, so she gave me some extra money for Hogsmeade trips."

"You're so lucky." Delilah picked up the large brown paper bags and followed Dean out of the store – his large stature made it easy for him to push through the other kids. "Dad earns bugger all at Eeylops."

Again, Delilah's hand found Dean's elbow and they walked back through Hogsmeade, heading towards the bridge that would take them back to the castle. Halfway back to the school, Delilah felt another presence beside her and when she turned to her left, she noticed that she had to look up as much as she did with Dean. There only two other people she knew who were that tall. And her cousin was still sitting outside Honeydukes with Luna.

"Afternoon, Blaise." She smiled at her newest friend. Dean nodded silently in Blaise's direction after Delilah squeezed his elbow.

"What have you got there?" Delilah held up the paper bags that read Honeydukes on them in cursive.

"Enough sweets to last me the whole year." She smiled happily, "They should be gone by the end of the week." Both the boys chuckled and she felt genuinely happy for the first time in weeks. Seamus and Lavender were far from her mind and she was yet to witness Dean hex Blaise into oblivion.

"I hadn't heard anything about you two dating." Blaise said casually and Delilah's eyes widened to twice their usual size.

"No, no. Merlin's beard, we aren't dating." Delilah said quickly.

"Could have fooled me. You looked awfully cosy all day." Despite the cool wind, Delilah felt her cheeks heat up and she hastily removed her hand from Dean's arm and shook her head.

Her good mood was ruined as quickly as it had arrived. Seamus entered her head and she feared that he, too, might think she and Dean were dating. Dean and Blaise kept talking over her head, Dean assuring Blaise that he hadn't been in a steady relationship since he and Ginny had ended theirs two years prior. Delilah briefly heard of a summer fling but due to the whole destruction of his seventh year, there hadn't been much time for relationships. She was thankful when Blaise began to tell Dean about his love life; it was entirely non-existent. Normally Delilah would have taken any opportunity to pry into his life to get to know more about him but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

The castle appeared in front of them and she ran into the courtyard instantly, knocking over a few second years as she ran up the stairs and continued through the halls.

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" She briefly heard Filch scream at her but she was hardly going to stop.

"Dee!" Dean shouted up at her from the ground floor – she was already on the third and making her way towards the next staircase.

Dean was a bit torn up. Delilah had seemed offended at Blaise's accusations and he was unsure how to take it. He didn't know if she offended about the dating him part or maybe she actually fancied Blaise himself and needed to make sure that Blaise knew she was single. Either way, Dean was hurt.

"I'm not dating Dean." Delilah said breathlessly as she stood in front of the Fat Lady.

"Wonderful dear. Password?"

"Pomegranate." The Fat Lady swung open and Delilah ran inside, seeing Hermione sitting in front of the fire. "I'm not dating Dean."

"Pardon?" Hermione asked tiredly.

"Dean, I'm not dating him." Delilah repeated herself with a deep breath. "Does Shay think we're dating? Shay can't think we're dating."

"I don't know, Dee. I'm trying to finish this essay." Putting her bags down on the table, Delilah sat down in the armchair and drew her knees to her chin. "He's dating Lav."

Delilah nodded in understanding. She pulled out her wand and waved it around quietly, a string of lights appearing from the end. She made shapes in the air, each one disappearing after thirty seconds.

"In the name of Merlin's most baggy y-fronts." Dean huffed out as he finally entered the common room. The younger students stared at him confused though Hermione looked up at him with a light shrug. "Dee, what was that?"

"I don't want Shay to think I have a boyfriend." She admitted to him quietly and he breathed out roughly before breathing in quickly.

He shook his head, put a hand on her for a moment and then walked away, moving up the staircase.

"You need to start thinking before you act, Delilah."

"I know, Hermione. I know."