I just want to thank you guys for your support! To be honest with you guys, I didn't expect the response I got when I started this story. The Harry Potter category is so big I thought that about only ten people would read my story, but I was obviously proven wrong.

Again, thank you guys so much. You honestly rock XOXO

Disclaimer: All aspects of this story involving Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling, I only own the OC's present in this story along with any original plot line.


"You know," Keller says as I hand him ten galleons. I swear I'm not going to have a galleon to my name by the end of the school year. "I'm starting to think you're a bit jealous of Emily and Tom."

I scoff. "What?"

"Well, you seem very keen on getting Tom and Emily away from each other."

"That's because I don't want Emily to get hurt," I say, hitting him on the arm. "Look, if you're going to give me grief about this then give me my money back and I'll take my business elsewhere!"

"Not so fast," He says, raising his hands. "I'm not going to let ten galleons for snooping get away from me."

"Then don't make me angry," I say. "I haven't had my potion today."

He raises and eyebrow at me before sighing. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Emily and her friends are going to Hogsmeade today," I say. "I need you to follow them and see what they're saying about last night's party."

"Not that I'm not going to do it," He says. "But why can't you do it yourself? Isn't girl talk something you're genetically born with?"

I roll my eyes. "I can't. Tom's going to Hogsmeade and I plan to bump into him there and spend the day with him. I can't keep my eye on both Emily and Tom at the same time."

He shrugs. "Fine by me, I get paid either way."

"I know," I say, sending him a glare. "So does my purse."

"Your purse?" I hear a female voice say behind me. I whirl around and my eyes widen. It's Emily.

"Emily," I say, failing to keep from sounding panicked. "How long have you been standing there?" I pray she just came, if she heard the entire conversation I might as well be killed now.

"Just since Keller said he gets paid either way," She says. A flood of relief washes through me, and I relax. "What does he mean by that, anyway?" She asks, tilting her head. "Valerie, are you paying him?"

I'm stuck, I can't just deny it, she has too much evidence. "Uh...Yeah, I am."

"What for?" She asks, looking at me like I've gone insane.

"Um, for, uh, getting some information for me on Liz's new boyfriend!"

She raises an eyebrow at me. "Why? Do you think he's a cad?"

"Yeah," I nod quickly. That was a terrible lie, but then again I'm a terrible liar.

"Well, okay," She says. She still thinks I've lost my mind, and she's probably right. "I'll see you later then."

"Bye," I say quickly. She walks away, shooting me a weird look as she walks past. I sigh in relief as she gets out of earshot and turn to Keller. "Okay, now you have to be extremely careful when you get my information. Make sure she doesn't see you."

"When have I ever been seen?" He asks.

"Actually, I've seen you spying on me loads of times. I just don't confront you about it because there's no hope for you."

"You just say what's on your mind, don't you? You don't even bother to sugar-coat it."

"Most of the time, yes."


"I'm surprised you want to spend your day at Hogsmeade with me," Tom says, walking with me through the village.

"Well, it's sometimes nice to get away from my friends," I say, my hands in my coat pockets. "It makes room for new conversations."

He raises an eyebrow. "You're being very open-minded, Yarrow. It's almost worrying."

"How so?" I ask. Wait, did he just call me 'Yarrow?' Damn. He still doesn't trust me. He probably got suspicious when I said I was bringing Keller to last night's party. I've got to fix that. This plan has to work, I've taken my potion and I've got Tom to walk around Hogsmeade with me. Everything's in place and I can't afford for anything to screw up. I just can't.

"For years I've seen you as the hard-headed, high-tempered girl who disliked me just as much as I disliked her. But now, you've completely changed."

"Are you questioning my sanity?" I joke, raising my eyebrow at him.

"A bit, Yarrow."

"I thought you weren't going to call me 'Yarrow' anymore," I say, looking at him.

He smirks. "My apologies, Valerie. Old habits die hard."

I smile and turn my head to look at the Three Broomsticks. "Hey, do you want to get a butterbeer? I'm a bit thirsty."

He raises an eyebrow at the pub, debating whether or not to go in. "Alright," He finally says. "Lead the way." I smile at him and we walk over to the Three Broomsticks, and he holds open the door for me.

"Thanks," I say as I walk in, and he only nods in response.

The air in the pub is smoky and it adds to the crowded atmosphere. It takes Tom and I a bit of time to find a table, but we finally do. I take off my coat and hang it on the back of my chair as a waiter comes to take our order.

"Two butterbeers, please," Tom says as he sits down across from me. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some galleons.

"Oh, I can pay," I say, reaching for my purse.

"No need," He says, handing the waiter the money. "I've got it."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. He's paying? That's what a gentleman would do. Then I remember that he puts on an act of charm, there's no doubt his chivalry comes with that. "Oh, okay," I say, nodding. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," He says, turning to look at me.

"So," I say, tilting my head. "While we're waiting, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

He raises an eyebrow at me. "You want to know about my life?"

"Well, yes," I say, placing my hands in front of me. "We're becoming friends yet we hardly know anything about each other. Not exactly the best start to a new friendship, I would think."

He leans forwards and rests his hands in front of him. "I'm more curious about your life," He says. "I assume it's far more interesting than mine."

A red flag immediately goes up. I can't just back out of it now, I have to tell him something. I just can't reveal any information that's too personal, I don't want this conversation coming back to haunt me later. His eyebrow is still raised at me expectantly and I press my lips into a thin line under his gaze. I still say it's a good thing I have that calming potion, or else I'd probably be glaring at him for staring at me.

"Well," I say, shrugging. "My life's pretty normal; it's not really that interesting to me. My dad has a high up job in the Ministry of Magic." There, that's not too personal. Anyone who's read the Daily Prophet knows what my dad does.

He raises an eyebrow at me, looking intrigued. "Really? What does he do?"

"He works very closely with the Minister of Magic," I say. "He's not home much, so I don't really get to ask a lot of questions."

"That's a shame," He says, looking at me. "Having such a high ranked job you'd think he'd get more time off than the average Ministry worker."

"He actually has to do more work than all of them combined," I say, chuckling lightly. "It doesn't really matter to me much, anyway. I'm always here for school so even if he was home I wouldn't get to see him much. It's been like this since I was little, I've never really minded. Growing up, I always had my nose in one of my mother's old books and didn't notice because I was kind of lost in my own little world."

"Valerie Yarrow lost in her own world?" He says, raising his eyebrows. "I find that hard to believe."

I chuckle. "I was mostly dreaming about when I finally got to come to Hogwarts. I was so jealous when my brother went before, I hardly spoke to him during the holidays I was so spiteful."

"Now that I believe."

"It is more in tune with my character, isn't it?"

"Very much so," He says. He looks behind me and squints slightly. "Isn't that Keller?"

My blood runs cold. If Keller's here, that means Emily is too. Sure enough, I hear a girl's voice laughing behind me, but I don't turn around. It's Emily and her friends. I was hoping I wouldn't run into them, that way Emily couldn't pry into what I was doing. I pray she doesn't notice me; hopefully the pub is too crowded and smoky for her to spot me here. I also hope that waiter gets back here soon, the sooner I get my butterbeer the sooner I can leave with Tom unnoticed.

In the corner of my eye, I see the waiter walking towards our table with a tray of two butterbeers and a small amount of relief floods through me. I'm not in the clear yet though, I've still got to drink it and escape the pub without Emily or her friends noticing. I smile at the waiter in thanks as he places my cup in front of me, and Tom nods politely to him.

I immediately pick up my cup and bring it to my lips, drinking the liquid greedily. Tom watches me, sipping on his butterbeer instead of inhaling it like I am.

"You seem anxious," He notes, raising an eyebrow at me.

I stop midway through my drink and remove the cup from my mouth. "Do I?"

"Yes," He nods. He's eying me suspiciously, and I know I've got to think of something to cover my tracks quickly.

"I'm just really thirsty," I say, and I bring my cup back to my lips and down the rest of my drink. I sigh as it's finished off, and I place the empty cup on the table. I look at Tom and find him smirking at me, taking a sip out of his cup. "What?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckles lightly. "You've got butterbeer on your upper lip."

My hand flies to my mouth and I use my tongue to lick off the drink. "Oops," I say. "Should've paid more attention."

He shakes his head. "There's still some there." He picks up a napkin that sits on the table. "Use this," He says, handing it to me.

"Thanks," I say, taking it from him and wiping my mouth.

He smirks at me. "Next time we have butterbeer I'll be sure to bring more napkins, one might not be enough if you keep drinking like that."

I hear laughter, and it takes me a moment to register that it's coming out of my mouth. I'm laughing at Tom's joke even though it's aimed at me. Merlin, that potion is a miracle worker. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Emily looking over at the two of us, and my stomachs sinks. I make it look like I haven't seen her, but I know she sees me, and I can see the unreadable expression on her face as she watches me as I continue to laugh.

I can tell she's hurt and jealous, because she probably thinks we're on a date.

I have to admit, it looks that way, doesn't it?


"So what did she say?" I ask Keller as I walk over to him in the empty Common Room.

He sighs. "Most of the trip consisted of her going on and on to her friends about clothes and whatnot."

"And what else?" I urge. I need to know Emily's conversations. Oh my god, I'm snooping on my sibling's life. I'm turning into David.

"Well, once they got to the Three Broomsticks," He says. "The conversation quickly turned into them wondering what you and Tom were saying. They think you two were on a date or something like that, and Emily's not happy about it."

I sigh. "Well, look, I'm not putting it past Emily to have her ask you to snoop for her. If she asks, do not accept her offer. No matter how much money she pays you."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "You actually think she'll come to me? She looked like she was about to vomit when she found out you were paying me."

"That doesn't matter," I say. "If Emily has an opportunity, she'll take it."

"She's like me then," He says. "If she offers me enough money, I will accept her offer whether you like it or not."

"But-"

"Ah, nope. No use in trying to make me do otherwise. This is strictly business."

"Look, I'll pay any amount if you promise me you won't accept her offer if she asks."

"Five hundred?"

"Five hundred galleons? My mother would never give me that kind of money!"

"Then I can't promise you anything."

I let out an annoyed huff. "Is there anything else you want? Anything at all?"

He thinks about it for a moment before responding. "That Serene friend of yours is quite attractive."

"And?" I ask hesitantly. I don't like where this is going, I really don't like where this is going at all.

"And it would be really great if I had the chance to date her," He says.

I sigh. My head's screaming for me to get a grip, I can't just put my best friend into this. "Fine," I say. Apparently I don't care about Serene. "If you promise you won't help Emily, I'll get you a date with Serene." Oh god, I'm an awful friend.

He smiles. Of course he's smiling; he's getting what he wants. "I believe we have a deal."

"Great," I say, crossing my arms. "Now, will you please go away? I need to think about how I just gambled with my best friend."

He chuckles as he walks into the boys' dormitory, and just as he disappears Emily enters the Common Room. I want to run to my room because I know by the look in her eye that she's going to bombard me with an endless amount of questions.

"Hi, Emily," I say tentatively, looking at her.

"Hey, Val," She says, walking over to me. "So I saw you at the Three Broomsticks with Tom today."

"Yeah, that was me."

"Oh, well, did you have fun?"

"I did actually."

"That's good...So...What did you two talk about? If you don't mind my asking."

Emily's not to good at this, even an idiot would know she's trying to fish information out of me. "Nothing, really," I say, choosing to remain vague with my answers. "We just got to know each other a bit better, that's all."

She nods. "You know, from where I was sitting, it almost looked as if the two of you were on a date."

"Oh?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," She says. "It looked a lot like that." She pauses before speaking again. "He didn't ask you on a date, did he?"

The words escape my mouth before I can stop them. "What if he did?"

She looks slightly taken aback and flustered by this question. "Oh, uh, well, I'm just curious. A little sister always wants to know if something's going on in her big sister's life, especially if that something is getting a boyfriend."

I shake my head. "Tom isn't my boyfriend."

A look of relief and happiness finds its way to her face, and she does a lousy job at trying to cover it up. "No?"

I shake my head again. "No, he isn't."

"Oh, well, I guess I was mistaken then," She says. "Anyway, I've got to go. Talk to you later." With that, she quickly rushes into the girl's dormitory, a bounce in her step. I sigh as I watch her leave. No doubt she's gone to tell her friends that I'm not dating Tom and she can still have a go at him. She's probably already imagining what she would wear on her first date with him. I can't let that first date happen.

I've got to take Tom Riddle off the market.

Quickly.


Things are getting a bit more dramatic! I've always loved writing drama.

Anyways, if you guys review I would love you forever and I would genuinely have a smile on my face for the rest of the day!