Hey guys,

It's torrential raining where I am which sucks big time. Hopefully the sun's shining where you are so that you aren't staring at a grey sky as you read this chapter.

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.

"I can't believe you're making me do this," Serene complains as we wait outside for Keller and Tom.

I sigh as I look over at her. "How many times do I have to say 'I'm sorry?'"

"A lot more," She says, crossing her arms as she leans on the wall.

I sigh again. "You don't know how thankful I am that you're doing this."

"Yeah, yeah," She says, waving her hand. "But I'm not happy about it, you know."

"I'm aware," I say. "Just try not to be so glum when we get there, alright?"

"No promises," She says, shaking her head at me.

I sigh. "I didn't expect any..."

She turns her head as she flips her hair over her shoulder, and a few seconds later I hear her groan. "He's here."

I turn my head towards the direction she's looking at and I see Keller walking towards us, his head held high. There's no doubt he thinks he pulled a fast one on me. He did, but I get something out of this entire situation too. He seems to forget that.

"Hello, girls," He says smoothly as he stops in front of us. "My, don't you both look fetching this afternoon."

I raise my eyebrow at him. Really? That's how he's going to flirt? Oh Merlin...

Serene's probably thinking the same thing. "Afternoon, Keller," She says, I can hear a small hint of animosity in her voice.

"Good afternoon, Serene," He says, nodding to her. A red rose suddenly appears in his hand and he hands it to her with a wink and a smile.

"Uh, thank you," She says, taking the flower somewhat awkwardly. Her statement sounds so much like a question that I have to hold back my laughter, and I cross my arms and press my lips into a thin line, a smile still visible on my face.

Serene narrows her eyes to me and scowls slightly at my expression, only making me lose my composure and giggle a bit.

"So," She says, her eyes still narrowed towards me in a glare. "When's your date getting here, Valerie?"

"I don't know, he should be here soon," I say, shrugging. "I told him to come around one. What time is it now?"

"I believe it's half past one, I believe," Keller says.

My eyebrows furrow. That's odd, Tom's never late; he's usually the first one there and I've never heard of him taking up the habit of being fashionably late.

"Do you think he's already there, Valerie?" Serene asks. "Because we only got here ten minutes ago at the latest."

"Could be," I say, my eyebrows still furrowed. Perhaps he did go ahead, but my gut is telling me it's something else. My gut's hardly ever wrong.

"Well, I guess we'll know when we get there, now won't we?" Keller asks.

"Yeah," I say.

"Let's get going then, shall we?" He asked, and he holds his arm out for Serene to take.

She eyes it warily, sending me a sideways glance before finally locking her arm with his. "Come on, Val," She says as they start walking. "Don't get left behind."

"I won't," I say, walking behind them.

"I'm serious," She says, looking back at me. "Please don't, I don't fancy losing my best friend."

I know what she really means.

She doesn't fancy being alone with Keller.

"More tea, Serene?" Keller asks, holding up a teapot decorated with pink flowers.

"No thanks," She says, shaking her head. "I'm good."

"Alright," He says. "Anymore for you, Valerie?"

I take my eyes off the tacky and unbelievably frilly decorations of the tea shop and look towards him. "I'm fine, thanks." I'm actually surprised at how crowded the tea shop is. I've heard tons of girls talk about how they always want to come here on a date, and I always thought that was sweet. But then I stepped foot in this place and, well, the atmosphere alone is enough to send me running for the hills.

"How come your date isn't here yet, Val?" Serene asks me, raising an eyebrow. She's angry, I can tell. I told her I had a date and here I am sitting without one.

"I don't know," I say, shaking my head and shrugging. "I told him where we were going."

"Excuse me, ladies," Keller says, holding up his hand. "I have to use the lavatory."

Serene and I nod as he stands up and walks away, and Serene waits until he is out of earshot before she turns to me. "I thought you said you had a date!"

"I did!" I defend, throwing my hands up. "And I thought he'd show up!"

"Well, who did you even ask out?" She asks, her voice now higher in pitch.

Right, I haven't told her I asked Tom to come with me. I have to get to that. "Tom," I reply.

"Tom?" She asks, staring at me. "As in Tom Riddle?"

"Yes," I say, nodding once.

She sighs as she leans back in her chair. "You know, maybe you were right about him."

"Come again?"

"Tom Riddle," She says. "Maybe you were right when you said his charm was all an act."

My eyebrows furrow. I wasn't expecting that. If I remember correctly; Serene was the one who said Tom Riddle was good-looking the first day of school this year. That seemed to change relatively quickly. "I was?" I ask her, staring at her intently.

"Well, think about it," She says, crossing her arms. "What kind of guy just blows you off like that? I'm surprised you aren't furious."

Oh, trust me, Serene, I am angry. I'm just not showing it. If I hadn't had that potion this morning, I'd be livid. I knew something was up when Tom agreed to go on this date with me that quickly; there wasn't even much hesitation involved on his part. For some reason, I thought that he would actually show up, but he knew as soon as I asked him that he wasn't going to come. That means he doesn't trust me, that means I haven't made any progress.

That means I'm basically back at square one.

I sigh as I look at Serene. "I don't know why he didn't show up," I say with a shrug. "I thought he would."

"Are you hurt by it?" She asks.

"No," I say. I'm more upset that I haven't got as far as I want to, Tom not coming is just icing on the cake. "Why?"

She shrugs. "You just seem a bit upset. I don't blame you though; it's probably not fun being stood up."

My eyebrows furrow. How would I seem upset? If Emily wasn't attracted to Tom, I would be glad that he didn't come. I'm not all that upset about it, so I don't know why she thinks like that. "I'm alright," I say, picking up my tea cup.

"Okay, well if you need to talk about it, I'm here."

"I thought you were mad at me."

"I was," She replies. "But then you got stood up by a guy you fancy."

I choke on my tea, and the next thing I know I'm coughing like mad. "W-What?" I finally ask as my coughing subsides.

"Well, it's obvious," She says. "You sit beside him every chance you get, you spend most of your free time with him, and you even thought of him as your first choice to be your date."

"He's the only guy I know well enough," I say quickly, somewhat defending myself. I may need to get Tom to trust me, but I can't stand the thought of Serene thinking I fancy him. She'll never let me live it down!

"That's rubbish, Val," She replies, shaking her head. "You know a fair few guys, Valerie, and normally anyone of them would be your first pick. Even Abraxas if it came right down to it."

"I don't fancy Tom," I say, shaking my head.

"It's really starting to look that way," She tells me.

"Looks can be deceiving," I retort.

She shakes her head. "Not always."

I'm about to reply when I see Keller walking towards us and I sigh as I take a sip of my tea. "Your date's back."

Serene turns her head and lets out a small groan as she sees Keller, and he sits beside her and flashes her a smile.

I can only sigh.

Because my mind's concentrated on how I'm officially back at square one.

"He stood her up?" Elizabeth asks, staring at me in disbelief.

"He sure did!" Serene exclaims.

"It's not that big of a deal," I say, throwing my hands up.

They both look at me like I'm mad. "Of course it is!" Elizabeth exclaims. "What makes him think he has the right to just blow you off like that?"

"You shouldn't hang around him anymore, Val," Serene says. "He's trouble."

I shake my head in disbelief as I stand up from my bed. "Wait a minute, weren't you two the ones who wanted me to stop accusing Tom of being trouble?"

"Yes..." Elizabeth says slowly. "But that was before he stood you up."

"Why does it make any difference?" I ask, staring at the both of them.

"Because you're our best friend and we're protective of you," Serene explains, crossing her arms as she sits on her bed.

"Especially when it comes to boys," Elizabeth adds in.

"It shouldn't make any difference now," I say, shaking my head. "You should have trusted me when I said Tom was trouble in the first place."

"We weren't thinking straight," Serene defends. "He's good-looking and charming, Val! He's not the first boy who I would've thought would blow off a girl, until now that is."

"And I was saying that for quite some time, Serene," I say. "But you didn't listen. Neither of you did!"

"Well, we're listening now," Elizabeth says. "And we don't think you should hang around Tom."

"It's strange that you even thought about becoming friends with him," Serene says. "You thought you were right for the longest time, and it turns out you were."

I shake my head. Unbelievable, my friends have completely turned their perspective around after one incident that proves me right. To be honest, if I could, I would never speak to Tom Riddle again, because I'm just as upset as Serene and Elizabeth are about this. But I have to continue talking to him, this is just a bump in the road, and it's one I have to overcome.

"Why are you guys so upset about this anyways?" I ask. "It's not like it's affecting you!"

"Because we don't like it when people break our best friend's heart!" Elizabeth exclaims, throwing her hands up.

"Besides," Serene starts. "You fancy him and it's not fair that he did this to you."

I groan. "Again with the fancying thing?" I ask. "Look, Serene, I already told you this, I don't fancy Tom."

"You shouldn't deny it, Val," Elizabeth says, shaking her head. "It's incredibly obvious."

"How, Liz?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"You sit beside him every chance you get, spend most of your free time with him, and chose him as your date for today," She explains.

"That's exactly what I said," Serene states, crossing her arms.

I sigh. "Well, you're reading everything wrong." They are...sort of. I don't fancy Tom, but I'm trying to get him to date me. I completely understand their confusion, but that won't stop me from denying it. "I don't fancy Tom."

"Why are you even trying to deny it?" Elizabeth asks me. Why am I trying to deny it? Because I'm still trying to convince myself that none of this is real. That and it's not the time to have those rumours floating around the school. Emily will hear them, and then she'll do something about them.

"Because it's not true," I reply simply.

"Or maybe you just don't want to admit it to yourself," She says. "You've been acting complicated lately. I wouldn't put it past you to do something like that."

"Acting complicated?" I ask, staring at her in disbelief. "How have I been acting complicated?"

She sighs. "One minute you're trying to be his friend, the next you're telling us that you don't fancy him."

"That's not acting complicated!" I say. "That's just making sure people don't get the wrong idea."

"But then you turn around and defend him for standing you up!" Serene exclaims. "It's sort of complicated on our end!"

"Sort of complicated?" Elizabeth starts. "It's very complicated."

I sigh. "I don't fancy him."

Serene shakes her head. "It's really starting to look like you do, even the first years notice it."

My eyes widen slightly. The first years notice it? But they've only been here for at least three months; they don't know the full extent of my hatred towards Tom Riddle. How can they notice if I've been spending more time with him suddenly. "What do you mean?" I finally ask, staring at the two of them.

"Gossip spreads fast around here, Val," Elizabeth says. "You should know that by now."

"The first years knew within a week of being here that you and Tom didn't get along, and hadn't for some time," Serene explains. "It was only a matter of time before they started to notice your attitude change towards him."

"They even already think the two of you are dating," Elizabeth tells me. Oh no, if the first years think that, then Emily definitely thinks that.

"They do?" I ask, trying to clarify.

She nods. "Yeah, they do at least. Everyone else thinks that you fancy him, I even heard some Hufflepuffs talking about it in the girl's room."

The Hufflepuffs are talking about it? I'm in trouble. "What are they saying around the Common Room?" I ask. If the Slytherin gossip is anything like the Hufflepuff's, then I have to get out of square one quickly.

"The same thing," Serene shrugs. "They all think it's really odd that you suddenly decided to become friends with Tom, and everyone's come to the same conclusion."

"Which is?" I ask. I know what it is, but I'm clinging to the last, small hope that I'm wrong.

"You fancy Tom Riddle."

I sigh. "And everyone's thinking that?" I ask, sitting down on my bed.

"Most people from what I've seen," Serene tells me. "The rumours really started swirling when you went to Hogsmeade with him."

"I don't understand why the population of Hogwarts even cares who I was at Hogsmeade with," I say.

"It's because you're a prefect," Elizabeth says. "Everyone pays attention to the prefects, that way they know who to avoid in the halls."

I let out a sigh. "So what do I do?" I ask. I'm really out of ideas now; I know Emily's most likely heard these rumours. I'm desperate now.

"First of all," Serene says. "Stop denying it, it isn't helping your case."

"Anything else?" I ask, sighing.

"Second of all," She says. "Stay away from Tom. He stood you up, you don't need that."

"Plus," Elizabeth starts. "If you're that upset about the rumours, staying away from him will help them fade."

"Exactly," Serene states. "See? It's in your best interest to stay away from him."

I can't help but think it's a bit ironic that my friends are trying to keep me away from Tom Riddle, while I'm trying to keep him away from Emily.

Things just got a bit more complicated.

Sorry it's a bit shorter than usual, this rainy day has got me down.

Please review!

PS. I've got a question; who's your favourite OC I've added into the story so far, and why?