"Gareth, wake up!"

I roused from sleep. James was whispering to me.

"What is it, James?"

"You're talking in your sleep, it's keeping me up." he whispered sharply.

"Sorry, I'll try not to." I said.

"Why don't you just take a sleeping potion, Garr?"

"Because they taste like shite, man!"

"You know what you were saying?" He asked, grinning.

"Tell me."

He grinned.

"Guess."

"My plans to wring your neck?"

"That and Anne's name. Over and over and over." he sneered.

"Yeah, so what?" I asked.

He cocked his head, I couldn't tell if he was confused, or just playing with me. Probably the latter.

"You've really got a thing for this girl, haven't you?"

He shook his head, grinning.

"Will you just let me sleep, James?"

"Yeah, sure. It's 5:45, though. You might as well wake up."

"Then why were you complaining?"

"Because I can." he said triumphantly, puffing his chest out.

"Your hand okay?" I asked.

His smile dropped.

"Low blow, dude. I'm not doing that shite anymore."

"I'm serious, James. I'm really worried about you. By all rights, I should tell somebody. But I'm going to leave it up to you. Get help, man."

"Yeah, I will." he waved his hand, dismissing it. "I'm going to see Pomfrey today."

I got up, got dressed, and headed to the owl ward, the closest I could get to being outside.

I switched the radio to a classical channel, being careful to use the headphones this time.

Beethoven's 9th in the bitter cold is always invigorating.

Hartman swooped in, landing on my shoulder.

He had a letter tied to his leg. It was from my parents. It was a regular written letter, as opposed to a magical speaking one.

"Dear Gareth, you're welcome for the radio, hope you're listening to it regularly. We hope you are feeling okay. Please write back soon. Love, Mum and Dad."

"Gareth, you're up early." Anne. Hartman startled, and flew to his post.

"Anne? What are you doing here?"

"I always get up early." she said, walking towards me. "Is that a letter from your parents?"

"Yeah."

"You write them often?"

"No. Not really."

She was really close now. She was wearing perfume.

"Gareth." She put her hand on my chest.

"Yes, Anne?" I asked.

"Is everything alright?"

I looked at her. I couldn't lie to her, but I couldn't break James's trust.

"No. But I can't talk about it." I said.

"I understand. Although I can't say my life hasn't been great." she said, nuzzling her head against my chest.

"Your heart is beating really fast, Gareth."

"Well, you can guess why that is." I said.

She smiled.

"Because you love me?"

"Ten points to Miss Emery."

She brought her lips to mine. I held her close as we kissed. It was a wonderful moment. Much more magical that anything I had seen at Hogwarts.

My first kiss.

As our lips parted, Anne giggled, and blushed. She pressed her head into my chest again and sighed.

"I can't believe how lucky I am."

I couldn't, either.