They talked back and forth like that for months, always telling just how much they missed each other

They talked back and forth like that for months, always telling just how much they missed each other. Then Emily started getting super busy with schoolwork and her social life at Hogwarts. She would forget to write him back, leaving his letters on her nightstand, only to forget about them. She would find them days later and only write about how she was sorry it had taken her so long to write back and she would respond to whatever he had said in his previous letter. Her letters were getting briefer with each one she wrote.

She still cared about him, she did, but her life had just gotten so hectic. She had forgotten what it was like at school. Things were different from what they were during winter break. She was doing homework half the time, and the other half was spent doing something or other with the trio. They had all gotten closer over the year; they were all best friends. Besides, it was hard not being able to see him whenever she wanted. She found Connor slipping to the back of her mind most of the time. Things were different. It didn't feel the same to her anymore. As much as she didn't want to accept it, she knew her feelings for him were dwindling. But she didn't want her first and only legitimate relationship to fall to ruins. It was about a week later on an April morning when Emily received a certain letter from him.

Emily,

I can't stand this anymore; I have to see you. I want to look into those beautiful brown eyes of yours and I want to hold you in my arms again. I miss your touch and your laugh…damn I miss everything about you. I love you, baby. Meet me at the train station this Saturday? It can just be the two of us for the weekend, what do you say? I need to see you. It's hard not being able to for so long. I miss you more than you know. Please say you'll come. It would mean the world to me. The train should arrive around one so I hope to see you then. I love you!

Connor

She packed a few sets of clothes and shoes and was on the train that Saturday by eleven. She had to see him; she had to know if seeing him would change anything. She had to find out if things would be, could be, back to how they were if she was only with him in person. She hoped to God they would, but one could never be sure. She was eager to see him after being away for so long, yet afraid of what she might find out at the same time. She didn't want things to be over between them. Things couldn't be over between them.

He was sweet and outgoing and fun to be around. He had a great sense of humor and he was very loving. He was always very romantic and chivalrous. And he loved her to death. She didn't want to crush him like that. She didn't like hurting anyone's feelings; she could never stand to see someone hurt. She especially didn't want to see Connor hurt, and she especially didn't want to be the one doing the hurting.

But most importantly, he was her first. She had always imagined waiting until marriage. But then Connor came along. He was punk; she had always had a thing for punks, with their shaggy hair always falling into their gorgeous eyes, their tight skinny jeans, and their lip rings-oh their lip rings. Plus, he was a total sweetheart. And he was quite forward, which she wasn't used to, but she did enjoy that. She found it refreshing to have someone tell her how beautiful and amazing she was all the time. It makes a person feel special and wanted. And that was how she felt with Connor.

Heck, she even contemplated about him possibly being the one. But things had just changed so much since she went back to school. She couldn't be sure of anything anymore. Maybe if she hadn't had to go back to school or if he hadn't have had to move, things might be perfect between them…

Nerves wracking her body, she sat down in an empty compartment near the front of the train. Time seemed to stand still and move at the speed of sound at the same time. Time seemed to drag on, yet she was there before she knew it. It was something she had never experienced before. It was an odd feeling.

She wondered if she had made the right decision is coming. Her head was telling her that everything would be great and back to normal once she saw him, but her heart had this nagging feeling that deep down she knew that wouldn't happen.

She stepped off the steaming train, tugging her bag across the barrier, and searched the crowd until she spotted a familiar form. Her heartbeat sped up as she made her way towards him. He seemed nervous yet excited as he rocked back and forth anxiously. Reaching her destination, she tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to her. His face lit up as he recognized his love staring back at him. "Emily!" he yelled, pulling her into a firm hug, her feet hovering over the ground for a moment as he lifted her up in delight and then set her back down.

He then proceeded to plant a passionate kiss on her lips. She had to admit, she liked kissing him, that's for sure. What could she say; he was a good kisser. Yet it still didn't quite feel like it used to…

Maybe I'm just nervous…I mean I haven't seen him in so long…

He just stared into her eyes for a moment, making her a tad uncomfortable, and then sighed. "I just can't believe it's been, what, five months since I've seen this beautiful face," he told her, placing the backside of his hand gently against her cheek. This made her blush. Even after all of the things he had said to her and everything they had done together, she was still a bit nervous around him. Though it might have had something to do with the fact that she hadn't seen him in months so she was no longer accustomed to his ways.

"So," Emily started nervously. "What do you want to do?"

"It doesn't matter as long as I've got you with me," he told her truthfully. Her cheeks reddened at this. Somewhere in the five months they had been apart, she had forgotten what it was like for someone to be so affectionate and forward with her; it was odd. It almost felt like they were starting all over again, like she was back at home for winter break and she had just met him.

"There's that lake near our house?" Connor spoke up again. "We could go swimming?" I knew I should have brought my bathing suit…

"I kind of didn't bring my suit…" she informed him.

"Ah well. Who needs a swim suit when you've got a perfectly good birthday suit?" Emily snorted at this.

"Sure," she laughed, rolling her eyes. He grinned at her playfully.

He placed her bag in the trunk of his car, opened the passenger door for her and helped her inside, before walking over to the driver's side and getting in. The two of them then headed off to the lake. Once there, Emily followed Connor over to a secluded spot hidden under the cover of some trees.

He kicked off his slip-ons and jeans and then tugged off his band tee before throwing the clothes onto the ground and jumping into the mild water. Emily stood there watching as he surfaced. "Come on in, the water's nice," Connor told her, grinning. She thought for a moment before slipping off her green colored jeans and hot pink top. What the heck, she thought as she jumped in after him.

She locked eyes with him as she broke the surface of the water. They just swam like that for a moment, staring into each other's eyes before Connor interrupted the silence. "You know, boxers are nothing like swim trunks," he informed her, which she thought was really random. "They are much more uncomfortable, I really must say."

She then had an idea about what might happen next, but she wasn't sure if he would actually do it or not. The answer was yes; with a quick 'there', Connor had removed the soaked boxers and threw them up on the shore. Oh my God…I can't believe he just did that! And in a public place, at that! I hope no one comes over here…

A smirk appeared on his face as he slowly made his way over to her. "Oh, no you don't," she told him, backing up as fast as she could in the water. She bumped into the shore; in the particular spot they were in the ground didn't slope down into the water, so it was fairly deep.

Seeing that she was backed up against the shore with nowhere to go, Connor slowly closed the distance between them. "Get away from me, naked," she told him, a grin spreading over her face unintentionally. He just laughed and proceeded to kiss her shoulder, neck, and jaw hungrily before guiding his thin lips up to her own and planting a passionate kiss on her, making her giggle in spite of herself. She had missed being wanted and treated so lovingly; she liked it. Getting caught up in the heat of the moment, she reached down and slipped off her bottoms and threw them on shore near Connor's. He looked at the article of clothing lying on shore and then into the chocolate brown eyes of his girlfriend. Their lips met once more in a tangle of passionate kisses before they took things a little bit further.

That night, after eating out at one of Emily's favorite restaurants, they rented a hotel room for the weekend. Of course they couldn't go to her house and as far as she knew, he had moved all the way to the United States so they couldn't just go there.

Emily felt a little strange after that day's happenings, but she tried to just shrug it off. It was the first time they had been together in months. She just assumed it was only weird because they hadn't seen each other for so long. She was still hoping that things would begin to feel normal once more. Yet as she lay in bed with Connor that night, with his arms around her tight, she couldn't be quite sure of her feelings for him. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, coming to the conclusion that they just had to be together for a while longer, maybe sleep together once or twice more, then it would be like old times.

But for some reason, she found herself dreaming about Ron that night. She couldn't understand why, though. I mean, they were just friends, right? They had always been just friends since the beginning of the year. Why should she be dreaming about him? She continued to think this over as she stretched and sat up in the uncomfortable hotel bed the next morning. She looked over at Connor to find him sitting up in bed, staring at her. He looked as if he had been waiting for her to wake up.

"Morning," he told her indifferently.

"Morning," she replied, noticing his strange attitude. "Is something wrong?"

He said nothing for a moment before saying something irrelevant to her question. He was acting as if he hadn't heard her. "You were saying some guy's name in your sleep," he told her, jealousy and anger evident in his voice, yet an emotionless façade was still plastered on his face. "Ron, or something along that line. That's that guy at your school who you call your friend, isn't it? The one who said those horrible things to you? What were you doing dreaming about him?"

She didn't know what to say. Had she really said his name last night in her sleep? She didn't know how to respond to that. "Did I?"

"Yes, you did."

"Well, I don't know why. But yes, my friends were in my dream, including Ron. You sure his name was the only one I said?" That wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't like she was about to admit that she had been dreaming about only Ron. She didn't even know why she did.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. You kept me up for a while and during that time the only name I heard you say was Ron's," he told her.

"Oh," she muttered. She didn't know how to respond to that. Connor looked down at the sheets that were covering the two of them.

"Are you seeing him?" he asked her quietly. There wasn't much anger left in his voice. He sounded heartbroken. Imagine thinking about the girl you loved so much being with some other guy. Your heart would be breaking, too.

"What? No!" she told him, surprised that he would even ask that. "Of course not!"

He looked up at her. "Well, you don't usually dream about someone who you are 'just friends' with."

This caused Emily to sigh. "Well, we are 'just friends'. I don't even know why he was in my dream last night. I don't know how many times I can say it."

He didn't say anything for a moment. "You have been acting differently, since the train station. You just seem…like you don't care anymore. It hasn't been like it used to be."

"I care about you, I do! Don't you even think that I don't. But you're right. I don't know…it's just that it feels weird. It's been months since I last saw you and everything. Things are just…different. I'm just not sure if I feel the same as I used to," she told him truthfully.

Connor shot up out of the bed angrily. "And you've felt this way the whole time? Even when we were at the lake? Every time I held you? Every single time we had sex?"

She just stared at the floor, unable to look him in the eyes. "I just thought that if I gave it time, and that if we did things like we used to, that the feeling would disappear."

"But I guess it didn't, now did it?" he yelled, frustrated. Emily just continued to look at the floor. She didn't know what to say.

"So you knew you didn't love me anymore, yet you still took the time to come here just to sleep with me a few times and tell me it was over? Is that it?"

She couldn't help the tears that were forming in her eyes as she shot up out of the bed herself. "I can't believe you would say that! That isn't it at all!"

"Oh, isn't it?" he spat angrily. He paced back and forth for a second. "Why don't you just go back to your little Ronnie?" He picked her clothes up off of the floor and threw them at her, making the tears that she was trying to hold back come forth. Tears pouring down her face, she grabbed the clothes and shakily put them on. She grabbed her things and made to leave, but stopped at the door.

"Connor-" she started.

"Just leave. I don't even want to look at you anymore," he told her quietly. The look in his eyes made her heart hurt. A sob escaped her lips as she turned the door handle and left the hotel room.