~Jen's POV~

"You're all doing very well," Professor Bauer approved. "No homework this time. You're all free to go."

Beth sighed and put all of her stuff back into her bag. "This class is so hard."

I snapped my bag shut and laughed as I shouldered it. "Did you really expect it to be easy? Professor Bauer is preparing us for real life situations."

"I know that," she said as she followed me to the door of the room. "And I do appreciate it; it's just that this class is stressing me out more than I thought it would."

"Because you try too hard."

"How can you try too hard in a class?" she asked me.

I sidestepped a slow moving Slytherin and exited. "You try too hard on your spells, which is why you can't get them, which is what's stressing you out. Just let go and you'll get it."

"Easy for you to say," she mumbled. "Everything is easy for you. Naturally beautiful, naturally smart, naturally talented…"

"Beth." I stopped walking and faced her.

She faced me and smiled gently as she reached out to touch my arm. "I don't mean that as a bad thing, Jen. Not at all. I wasn't taking anger out on you and I don't hate you for being perfect. But I wish you could see how it is."

"I have flaws, Beth."

She smiled. "I know. But I have more." Then, she continued walking and I followed. We made it into the Great Hall and saw our roommates, but a person blocked the way when I tried to go to them. "Hey, Jen, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I tilted my head back slightly and saw that it was Hale Jacobs that had asked. I looked to Beth, who was grinning at me and nodding her head vigorously. Then, I looked back at Hale. "Sure."

"See you in a minute," Beth said and headed off to where Kendra, Emma, and Cassie were sitting, all of them watching me.

Hale smiled. "How are you?"

"Good," I told him. "You?"

"I'm good." He rubbed the back of his neck and then sighed. "I just wanted to ask you something."

I readjusted the bag on my shoulder. "Then ask."

He looked nervous. "I just wanted to know if you would want to come to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday."

My heart thudded in my chest for a million different reasons. I hadn't dated any guys since Ernie, and that was because I wasn't sure that I wanted to. I had this dream (call it a fantasy if you want) that I would find the guy that was perfect for me someday and that when I did, it would all work out and I would know that he was the one. But, I hadn't found him yet. What if I was dating Hale when this guy came along? Or, worse, what if Hale really was the one and I didn't give him a fair chance? All of these thoughts swirled around in my head and made it difficult to concentrate.

But I did hear him say, "I already asked your brother and he approved."

That cleared my head. "You asked James if you could ask me out?"

He smiled at me. "Well, yeah. You said that he doesn't really like any guy that talks to you, so I figured I might as well try to get on his good side before I asked you out."

"And he said yes?" I asked, surprised.

Hale exhaled a laugh. "Yeah, I was surprised too."

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"So…?" he asked me.

I reached a hand up and fiddled with a strand of my curly hair. "Um, yeah. That sounds fine. But I have to be back kind of early because-"

"James already told me."

I raised an eyebrow. "He did?"

Hale laughed. "He gave me rules."

I slapped my forehead with my hand. "Oh, Merlin."

He laughed. "They weren't bad. Listen, we can just meet outside the castle Saturday, alright? I'll let you get back to your friends."

I looked at him and smiled. "That sounds good. Thanks."

"See you," he said and passed me.

"See ya."

I hadn't even set my bag down yet when Kendra asked, "What was that?"

I slid onto the bench beside Beth. "He asked me out."

They all squealed.

"What'd you say?" Emma asked me, leaning forward as if that would make her hear the answer faster.

"I said yes," I shrugged and reached for the pitcher of water.

They all squealed again and I winced.

"So are you two going to Hogsmeade together this Saturday?" Beth asked, seemingly the calmest of the group.

I nodded and buttered a piece of bread. "Yeah, we are."

"We have to find the perfect outfit," Kendra said.

"That pink top?"

"Or the blue one," Emma offered.

I looked at Beth, shaking my head in a mixture of amusement and disbelief. "You'd think that they were the ones going on the date."

She laughed. "Well, first date clothes are important, you know. You don't want to send the wrong message."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't even know what the right message is."

"That you're a young, sweet, innocent girl that wants to remain a virgin until her wedding night," James said as he slid into the seat beside me with a devilish grin.

"Or longer," Sirius put in as he sat across from James.

I rolled my eyes. "We weren't talking to you."

"You should wear a turtleneck," James said as if he hadn't heard me. He reached for the bread. "And some jeans."

"Yeah, and maybe I'll put a scarf around my face too so that absolutely no skin is showing," I said sarcastically and with a roll of my eyes.

Without taking his eyes off of the bread that he was buttering, James said, "That would be fantastic. Do you have one big enough? I suppose you could borrow Sirius'…"

"But you'll have to be sure to bring it back," Sirius jumped in as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. "It's French silk, you see, and I would be very upset if I lost it."

My roommates giggled, but I just rolled my eyes. I was used to Sirius' and James' antics. So, I looked past them and at Remus. "I got a very high mark on that Ancient Runes essay that you helped me with."

He laughed. "I recommended one book."

"Which I used in most of the essay," I pointed out and reached for another piece of bread. "I have it in my room, by the way. I'll get it back to you tonight."

"Sure."

"How should we do your hair?" Kendra asked, looking at nothing, concentrating.

"Depends on the outfit," Emma said.

"Everything depends on the outfit," Cassie said. "Even the makeup. So we're going to have to figure out-"

"Guys," I cut in. "Just drop it for now, okay? It's only Monday. We have until Saturday to figure it out."

Kendra's mouth dropped open. "You can't just pick out your outfit the day of the date! You have to have some foreknowledge so that-"

"Yeah, Jen!" James nudged me and winked. "What are you even thinking?"

"You've lost your marbles," Sirius said, his mouth full.

"Sirius, stop talking with your mouth full. James, stop talking in general."

Remus laughed until James kicked him under the table.

"You know," my brother said. "Hale came and asked me for permission to ask you out."

"He did?" Beth asked, surprised.

"That's so sweet!" Kendra said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Adorable," Cassie agreed.

I nodded and ladled some dumplings onto my plate. "Yes, I know. He told me. He also told me that you gave him some rules." I set the bowl down and leveled him with a look. "What kind of rules, James?"

He looked taken aback. "Just the usual ones, Jen. Sirius and I stuck to the basics."

"And what are the usual ones?" I asked him, not looking away. I was almost scared to hear what they had to say, but I would be too curious if they didn't tell me.

"You know," he said. "He has to walk like a duck all the way to town."

"He has to dress in slacks and one of his mother's blouses," Sirius put in.

"He has to talk in a high, squeaky voice."

"Like Peter's."

"Hey!" Peter protested in a high, squeaky voice, which made James and Sirius crack up.

I sighed and looked back at my plate. "On second thought, I don't want to know."

James shrugged. "If you say so."

Remus started talking about Transfiguration and I listened partly to that and partly to Kendra's makeup plans for me. When the meal was finally over, I stood up and asked Beth, "Want to come to the library with me to see if we can find that book that we're going to need for Flitwick's class?"

"Sure," she said and stood.

"We'll talk outfits later," Kendra said as if she thought that I was going to be worried about it.

"And hair!" Emma put in.

"And makeup!" Cassie said.

I sighed and Beth and I walked away from the table. Beth laughed a little and looked at me. "We're all very interested in your date with Hale."

"Obviously," I said.

She elbowed me lightly in the ribs. "Especially since you said that you would never date him."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't expect a cordial invitation to a ceremony so that you can say 'I told you so'."

"I won't," she said. "But only because I'm a good friend."