A/N Geez, it's been, what, 4 months?! Sorry to have delayed so long, but school decided that I wasn't allowed to have a life anymore, so I had very little time to write anything! And I'm sending a shout out to potterhogwarts12 for the idea for this chapter! To make up for not having uploaded in so long, I made the chapter twice as long as usual (not that I could do less with this story arc; there was so much to write!).

Jessica POV

I watched with half-open eyes as Alexia attempted to sneak around and get ready the next morning. What in the world is she doing?, I wondered as she tried to not make noise, but failed miserably at it. Today was Saturday, one of the few days we were allowed to sleep in, and here this fool was, trying to sneak around at the ungodly hour of 7. It was actually kind of funny, watching her blurry form (I wasn't wearing glasses at that point) tiptoe around and try to open and close things quietly, all the while making enough noise to wake Melanie, that is, if she were actually there. She had gotten up even earlier to go and hang with Max. Not that I saw her too, it was just what she always did on Saturdays.

But for the moment, I wasn't going to inform her of my current state of consciousness. When she finally left to go to the bathroom down the hall, I closed my eyes again, trying to slip back into the world of sleep. I wiled away the minutes before I could convince my mind to fall back to sleep by wondering what Alexia was doing. Maybe she just wants to get some homework done. No, she could do that later; she wouldn't get up especially for homework unless she had a huge project to do that would take all day, and I'm 99% sure we don't have one of those. Wait, do we…? No, only an essay for Potions and a diagram for Astronomy. Hmmm, maybe she's pulling a Melanie and going to meet her boyfriend… I quietly chuckled at that one. Heh, as if! She and Fred might make a good couple, but they aren't quite at the stage where they go sneaking off to meet each other…or are they? She's been acting a little weird lately, ever since Fred stopped coming to see her. Understandable, of course, but she keeps spacing out and frowning. What's she up to? Well, whatever it is, I can find out later. Sleeeeeep…

Alexia POV

As I headed to the Library to meet Fred, the chief thing I was wondering was whether or not this was going to go well. There were a thousand things that could go wrong and I was seeing a very large possibility of this only making things get more awkward. And why the Shrieking Shack, of all places?! How about somewhere a bit less haunted and a bit more…I don't know, normal? But then again, when was Fred ever one for normality?

I showed up to the Library earlier than the third years and above would be doing in the Entrance Hall a few floors below, thinking that if we were going to sneak there, it might take more time than simply walking. For a disguise, since first years weren't allowed in Hogsmeade, I pulled a wool hat low on my head and wrapped a scarf around my neck, ready to be pulled up and hide half of my face. The best part about it was that no one would look at me strange for having them in the castle because of the freezing cold seeping through the stone walls.

I shouldn't be doing this; I should not be doing this! This will probably break loads of school rules! I'll get in so much trouble if I'm caught, and so will Fred. Not that he'll care if he does, but I wouldn't be able to stand being the reason why he got a semester's worth of detention, I worried as I sat at one of the tables and pretended to read a random book from one of the nearby shelves. Maybe I'll just tell him that I don't want to go anymo-

"Alexia!" A whisper in Fred's voice came from around the corner of a bookcase. Hurriedly, I placed the book back on the shelf and strolled casually over to him. He was similarly dressed for the cold and espionage, with a scarf and hat pulled low on his face. "You ready for this?"

"Um, actually-"

"Good! Let's get going, then!"

"Hey, wait a sec-" I stopped myself because he was already walking away and if I raised my voice, the librarian would destroy me. Sighing in exasperation, I jogged to catch up with him.

"Hey, uh, Fred?"

"Yeah?"

"Look, about this little…excursion, I was just thinking-"

"It's going to be great, right?! I can't wait to show you the Shrieking Shack! It's the most haunted place in Britain, you know." He wiggled his fingers like a Muggle magician. His face was so excited that it was hard for me to put a damper on his spirit.

"And that's awesome and all, but I don't really…think that…you know…"

"Know what?" He looked at me curiously, completely oblivious to what I was trying not to say out loud.

"I don't really think this is a good idea," I answered gently, prepared for the disappointment to fall across his face, but it didn't happen.

"Ah, it'll be fine; I'm taking you through a secret passageway, so they'll never see us."

"A secret passage, huh?" Despite the rules I'd be smashing to bits if I did this, the idea of a secret passage was too much to resist; I had to see for myself. That didn't mean I was going to go, I just wanted to see it. Yeah, that's it, I'm just going to check it out, and then I'll walk away. "Where is it?"

"It's by the stairs that lead to the DADA classroom, a one-eyed witch statue. Just tap her hump and say Dissendium, and the hump opens up. The hole is sort of small, so it may be a bit more difficult for me than you," he explained as he led me in the direction of the statue.

"Yeah, you and your enormous body, causing all kinds of problems," I teased.

"Hey, are you calling me fat?! That hurts my feelings, Alexia, that really does. You should be ashamed."

I punched him lightly on the arm, "I was just kidding and you know it, Mr. Emotional."

"I'm not emotional!" he cried dramatically, "What on earth makes you say that?!"

"Oh, no, there is absolutely no emotional breakdown going on here; clear off people, there's nothing to see!" I called to the empty hallway around us. "But seriously, why are you taking me to the Shrieking Shack of all places? Honeydukes is a bit more my style, just sayin'."

He shrugged before replying with a small smirk, "Honestly, it's because I thought it'd freak you out. It's a creepy little place, all wood with boarded-up windows, and I'm testing your bravery. Well, and my own."

"Testing my bravery and your own? What for?" I wondered.

"George and I have made a bet to see if either of us have the guts to go up to the Shrieking Shack and actually break off a piece of the wood from the outside. There's only a weak fence keeping people away; most keep away out of choice. There are some seventh years that haven't actually gone to the place because of the rumors about it. I just wanted you to be there when I have my triumphant moment against George. Plus, you'll have my eternal respect if you come touch the Shack with me."

Hmm, eternal respect, huh? But still, I'm sure there are rules against this… "I don't know, Fred, this is still breaking a bunch of rules…"

"Don't worry about it. Who's going to catch us? The teachers only check people when the students leave for Hogsmeade, and since we'll be taking this passage, they won't see you. We can just walk back to the castle because they assume that the only way to Hogsmeade is through them and no one will slip past, so they won't realize you're not supposed to be there. It's not breaking the rules if you aren't caught."

"Er, yeah, it is, actually, but fine, whatever. Let's go," I agreed, realizing I wasn't going to change his mind, and also realizing that I kind of wanted to go, just to feel the excitement of being a rebel for once. By this time, we had reached our destination, and the one-eyed witch was waiting for us with a look that said she knew exactly what we were doing and did not approve of it in the slightest. Maybe it was just my imagination, though.

Fred walked up to it, slipped around behind where I almost couldn't see him, and poked the witch's hump, chanting, "Dissendium!" The statue opened, revealing an admittedly small hole. Fred was right about one thing; I would able to do this rather easily, but he might have some trouble. That'd be really awkward if he got stuck, I thought to myself.

Fred shoved himself into the hole and slipped out of sight. There must be a slide of some sort. His voice wafted up from the darkness, "Come on, we need to get going! Everyone's already left and we'll be late. George'll think we're chicken!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," I called back. Sliding into the hole wasn't the problem; it was the steep slope that dropped me into the darkness that I wasn't all that comfortable with. Especially when I had reached the bottom and crash landed on top of Fred. Well, at first, I didn't realize it was Fred, I was just thankful for the soft landing. Then I became aware of the fact that what had made my landing soft was warm and moving under me as I lay on top of it. "EEK!" I scrambled off of it, hoping it wasn't Fred but knowing it was.

"Lumos," a winded voice groaned and a wand tip that wasn't my own lit up, revealing Fred lying on his back on the ground. "Blimey, you certainly pack a punch."

"I'm so sorry!" I helped him up, only to have him bang his head on the top of the tunnel.

"Merlin's pants!" he cursed under his breath, rubbing the spot that collided with the low earthen ceiling. "What'd you do that for?"

"Oh, right, like I'm going to smash your head on purpose."

"No, I mean why did you scream?"

"Well, you see, I kind of thought you were a monster that you hadn't told me about for a sec there," I lied sheepishly.

He shook his head disparagingly, "Yes, because I'm going to take you into a dark hole with a monster in it and not tell you there's a monster." Fred set off down the passage, leading the way with his wand. I stood and looked back at the slide, wondering who could have carved a thing like this. It was remarkably smooth and really long, but not impossible to climb up again. Right, duh. Magic!

"Hurry up! Why are you still standing there, slow poke?" he called back when he noticed that I hadn't followed yet.

"Coming!"

We continued along the passage for what felt like forever, Fred constantly ducking his head and me just walking like normal, grateful for once that I wasn't much taller than 5 foot. As I walked, I concentrated on trying to see if I had any control whatsoever on when my powers cut out. If I could find a way to switch it off for a while, then this spine-tingling experience wouldn't cause my hair to faze to some weird electric color on our trip to the Shack. All I did was focus on the fuzzy sensation and try to convince it to tone it down a little. At first, it was as stubborn as I am and refused to react in any way, but then it slowly started to fade.

After ages of walking, when I was starting to feel like the walls were closing in on me, Fred stopped, causing me to run into his back. "Whoa! Why'd you stop?"

"Because I'm tired and the next stage our little journey is going to be even worse than this one," Fred answered in a slightly breathless voice. He leaned on the wall, breathing deeply. Then, with renewed vigor, he pushed on up the stairs that I hadn't been able to see until now because of the bulk of his shoulders.

I shook my head, even though he couldn't see it, and teased, "For a Quidditch player, you aren't too fit, are you?"

"Hey! There's no running in Quidditch, so we're not required to have extremely toned and muscular legs like you apparently expect us to have." A few moments of silence passed before he asked, "So, how's life, Alexia?"

"Uh, it's good, I guess. Of course, it'd be better if you could think of some less cliché small talk to pass the time."

"I see how it is," he answered in a fake hurt voice. "Me and my small talk aren't good enough for you!"

I laughed, "You're such a dork sometimes. A cheesy, sarcastic, dorky ginger." And adorable, let's not forget that one, I mentally added.

He scoffed, "Look who's talking, other cheesy, sarcastic, dorky ginger! Don't try to deny it; my charm and good-looks are just too brilliant for you to handle, and sometimes they overwhelm you so much that all you can do is insult me to cover up your feelings."

Fred turned to grin cheekily at me, and I examined him like I was appraising a piece of meat. "The good-looks are there, but in the charm department, you're a little lacking, sir," I assessed, as I shoved his back playfully; his eyes widened slightly and he looked down at me, a little surprised, but I couldn't figure out why. I was just being honest! He turned around without saying anything. As time went by, I tried to count the steps, but I gave up somewhere around the 150s. "Are we there yet?" I whined.

"Almost, almost, just have some patience, young padawand," he replied with the air of a long-suffering parent placating an annoying child. But, unfortunately, he hadn't done it quite right.

"Er, it's 'padawan', not 'padawand'," I correctly with a slight smile in my voice.

"You and your fancy Muggle references that I don't get! How was I supposed to know?!" he grumbled in return.

Grinning, I pointed out, "Because I've used it before, and I said 'padawan'."

He didn't reply because we had reached the top of the stairs and the end of the secret passage. Turning, he put a finger of his lips to silently say, "Stay quiet!" After turning out the light on his wand, he pushed up on a section of the ceiling, lifting it cautiously and peering out to see whatever it was that was beyond my sight. Fred signaled for me to follow him quickly as he pushed himself out of the hole and ran across the floor, hiding behind a pile of boxes. I swiftly did the same, pushing the tile that covered the hole back into place, and we listened for any noise that would alert us to the presence of someone coming down the stairs that were a few feet away. When we heard nothing, Fred and I snuck quietly up the stairs to the door. The smell of warm sugar wafted from the crack in the door and I instantly knew where the tunnel came to. Honeydukes!

After staring through the crack in the door, we edged out and into the shop, instantly trying to look like we'd been here the whole time and had every right to be there. As my eyes fell on the endless lines and rows and shelves of all manner of candy product, I couldn't stop the "Whoa" that escaped my lips. Pumpkin pasties, acid pops, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, exploding bonbons, Ice Mice, Pepper Imps, Fizzing Whizzbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Cockroach Clusters and more were arranged in colorful masses about the shop and I wanted a taste of everything (except the Cockroach Clusters), but Fred gently pulled me through the shop by the elbow, saying, "They'll be time enough for that later. We can come back after I show George how much braver I am than him."

"Why are you so obsessed with beating George-oh wait, you're in Gryffindor, that's why," I answered myself, but he looked slightly offended.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Gryffindors are the 'brave at heart' ones, right? So that's why you're determined to show how brave you are," I explained as we exited the shop and emerged in the bitingly cold wind of the main street. Snow was piled everywhere, and Fred and I pulled up our scarves to protect us from the frozen flakes that were still in the air.

He thought for a second, "It's more like I'm in Gryffindor because I'm brave than I'm brave because I'm in Gryffindor."

"That's what I said."

"But that's not what it sounded like you said."

"Well, that's what I meant!"

"And I'm supposed to be able to read your mind?"

I laughed a bit, "Yes, obviously! I can read your mind, so why can't you read mine?"

Fred rolled his eyes as he led me further down the crowded street, past the various colorful storefronts that glowed warmly, inviting the shoppers to come in out of the cold. "You can read my mine, eh? Well, what am I thinking right now?"

"You're wondering what I'm going to say," I answered simply, knowing from experience that that's what everybody does when asking this question.

"Wrong!" he crowed. "I was marveling at the way I can see my breath in the air; it never gets old!"

I elbowed him as we reached the end of the street and kept going, leaving the bundled-up people and lighted windows for a small, cold, dreary path that led to a creepy wooded area. "Somewhere in your mind, if not the forefront of it, you were wondering! Therefore, I'm half-right." Through the trees, I caught my first sight of the Shrieking Shack. Even though it was still far away, I could tell that it was a disintegrating structure, old and worn. It gave off an ominous aura, and I was glad that I'd convinced my powers to lay low for a bit; otherwise, my hair would have been suspiciously not red, and I would have no excuse to tell Fred.

"Do you always have to be at least somewhat right?" he asked with a slight grin.

"Well, it's a very satisfying feeling, being right," I shrugged in reply. When we reached the clearing before the fence that we had to jump, I noticed that George was nowhere to be found. Looks like we hurried for nothing. "Should we wait for George?"

He glanced around for a second, but he didn't really seem to be looking that hard. After shrugging, he suggested, "You want to just go now so we can have it done by the time he gets here?"

'Nope, no, and definitely not,' was what my nerves said, but my mouth said, "Sure, why not?" And so, because of my traitorous mouth, we sent off toward the fence and the haunted residence behind it. A very strong part of my brain was screaming, 'You're an idiot! Get away from there! You could be killed!' But again, against my mind's wishes, my body decided that going towards the house was a fun idea and should definitely be done. It's just a house, Alexia. It can't do anything to you and no one has heard any screaming in it for years now, I tried to convince myself with logic, but it wasn't doing much. At least I had Fred there for moral support. Unconsciously, as I was walking, I started drifting closer and closer to him until my arm was brushing his as we crossed the snowy expanse to the Shack.

Out of nowhere, wind whistled through the broken openings in the windows of the house, causing a ghostly moan; I grabbed Fred's hand out of instinct. He glanced down in surprise, and I noticed his face was pale (well, paler), but he still tried to smile weakly. Then he looked straight ahead at the approaching destination with a forced kind of determination that said he had wanted some comfort too, but was too 'manly' to admit it. We strode along, getting closer and closer to the hovel that had haunted the outskirts of Hogsmeade for many, many years. It had collected these years and held onto them too, because this house looked every bit as old as it probably was. What little paint that remained was peeling off and of an indeterminate color, and the wood that the house was made of was splintering and weathered-looking. At least it will be easy to break off, right?, I though nervously, trying to keep up my optimism.

Soon we were right up next to it, and I reached out with a slightly shaking hand to grab a splinter of wood off of an exposed support beam. I did it! I actually made it, I cheered in my mind, and a tiny smile worked its way onto my face as I examined my prize and then the spot where it came from. After grabbing his own sliver of wood, Fred tugged my hand that he was still holding and whispered, "Okay, now let's go."

"Yeah," I agreed, and we hurried away from the eerie cabin as fast as we could through the snow. The trip back was much faster than the one there, as can be imagined, and we were back at the fence in no time at all. All the sudden, I burst out laughing in relief. "We did it! We actually went up to the Shrieking Shack and tore a piece off!"

Fred started laughing too and soon we were collapsed in the snow, our knees having finally given out on us after that period of extreme stress. He was still holding my hand, a fact that my mind wouldn't let go of no matter how many times I told it to stop; however, I also had no intention of pulling away. I sat up after a moment because my jacket was getting soaked, but stayed sitting in the snow, still marveling at our completion of one of the Herculean tasks, or, at least, its modern magical counterpart. Fred showed me his splinter of wood and we compared our trophies. "Ha!" I crowed. "Mine's bigger than yours!"

"Oh, stuff it," he said, lightly punching my arm with the hand that had been recently holding mine. He also sat up and looked around the woods, "George still isn't here. He must've wimped out or he would have been here ages ago. I'm so going to rub this in his face!"

"Hey, not everybody can be a brave as you are," I reminded him gently.

He looked at me for a second before asking, "Do you really think I'm brave?"

"Well, sure! The Sorting Hat wouldn't have put you in Gryffindor if you weren't, and besides, look at what you just did! You walked right up to the Shrieking Shack and ripped a piece off, when some people are afraid to even come and look at it."

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Er, thanks. But you were pretty brave, too, for being a little Ravenclaw." A teasing half-smile lit up his face, simultaneously making me want to punch him and kiss him. Wait-kiss him?! Oh, no, there will be no kissing, thank you! No kissing whatsoever and that's final. I looked away, my face feeling a little warm, to hide the fact that I had just thought about kissing him. If he learned that I thought of him as anything other than a friend, it would ruin the perfectly good friendship that we had, and besides, why would he want to date me, a half-meta two years younger than him? But, as this was not my normal reaction to teasing, he asked, "Is something wrong? I didn't offend you by calling you 'little', did I?"

"Oh, no, it's not that, I just…was thinking about something," I explained, still not looking at him.

"A knut for your thoughts."

"Don't you mean a – you know what, never mind. And anyway, it's nothing; don't worry about it," I replied, hoping he would drop it, but knowing he wouldn't. I was once again glad that I didn't have to worry about my ever-changing hair, because if I had the use of them right now, I would be fazing before his very eyes.

He held up an actual knut from his pocket, bringing a smile to my face, and said, "It's only an expression, but I'll actually give it to you if I have to, you know."

"How dare you threaten to give me money, sir?! I am a lady!"

"Alexia." His tone stopped me. He wasn't joking anymore, but staring deep into my eyes, or he would be if mine weren't still averted. At present, all he was doing was looking at me intensely. "Won't you tell me what's on your mind?"

"No, really, it's nothing," I replied as I finally gazed back at him, and he dropped it. I pushed myself to my feet, ready to go back before anyone missed me, but Fred stayed sitting.

"Can we stay here a bit longer?" he asked. It must have gotten colder at that point because the already reddish color of his cheeks became a bit deeper.

"Well…okay. But not too much longer. I don't want my friends to notice I've been gone for a suspiciously long while," I relented, sinking back down to the wet ground.

He looked around at the twisted, bare trees for a second before saying, "I know I've already asked you this, but how's life? And this time, I want you to really tell me about it, okay? Tell me about your friends, your classes, things you found funny, something that ticked you off beyond words, whatever you feel like. Just tell me something about anything."

That's an odd request, I thought, but complied anyway because this would at least be something to talk about. "Well, recently, my classes have been okay, but just okay; not too hard and not too easy, just as I expected them to be by this point. I believe we'll be learning how to make a pineapple tap dance next week in Charms, and I'm really looking forward to that! It'll probably be tricky at first, but a tap-dancing pineapple?! Come on, is there anyone who can honestly say that they wouldn't want to see that? No, there isn't." I paused for a breath and Fred gestured for me to continue, a small smile playing about his mouth.

"Melanie and Max are still dating, and I swear, they must be made for each other or something, because they haven't had a single fight in the entirety of the time I've known they were dating. How often does that happen? I mean, seriously, no fights whatsoever? It's got to be impossible, but it's not! It blows my mind sometimes. And Jessica is still the meddlesome matchmaker she always was. She can't seem to give up on the idea that I need to be dating someone, and recently that someone is Draco Malfoy. And that's another thing! Did you know that-"

"Wait, what?" A look of alarm and confusion flitted across his face.

I assured him, "Yeah, she's a bit of a nutcase, right?"

"Draco Malfoy? Why would you date that little git?"

"See, my Dad also works with Mr. Lucius Malfoy, although not like he works with your Dad. It's sort of an outside-of-the-Ministry project. But anyway, we've spoken before and I even went to his house on Christmas, but while I've told her endlessly that I don't like him, not even as a friend, Jessica insists that we would make a good couple if-" I was about to babble on and say 'if you and I didn't work out', but luckily, my mind kicked in and shut me up. That sentence could have made things incredibly awkward.

"If…what?"

"If there was no one else better, that is!" I hurriedly said with an unconvincing smile on my face. Not that I meant to be unconvincing; I could just tell that it was by the look on his face. Then suddenly, he broke out in an evil grin not unlike Jessica's when she was on the verge of teasing me about Fred. Oh, the irony.

"No one better? Oh, you've got someone in mind then, a little crush perhaps? Go on, tell me who it is!" He started nudging my arm insistently like a little kid begging for some candy, his eyes wide with comical suspense. "Please?!"

"Nope, no, and definitely not!" Now there was an awkward subject!

"Well, if you won't tell me, I'll just have to use process of elimination! So it's not Draco Malfoy, and it's not Max. That narrows it down a little," he pronounced determinedly, furrowing his brows is concentration.

My eyes rolled almost without my telling them to, and I sarcastically remarked, "Oh, yes, that really narrows it down. I'm sure you'll figure it out in the next minute or so."

My words didn't deter him, "I just have to take what I know of you and apply it! First off, you're not the type to pine for any old bloke with a pretty face, so he's probably someone you know. There, that narrows it down quite a bit doesn't it?" I had to agree with him there… "And since you're 11, it's not going to be someone too many years older than you, so he'll be a third year at the maximum." Okay, that's kind of scary. "With your type of personality, he's most likely not a Slytherin. Not that there aren't a few nice people in Slytherin, but more often than not they're a 'Draco Malfoy' kind of person. Anyway, so now I have a pretty nice-sized pool of people to choose from, wouldn't you agree? This is the part where you come in."

"Oh, goodie!"

"Yes, I knew you'd be enthusiastic. So, tell me, is he in Ravenclaw?"

"Nope." I was planning on saying no to everything he said to put him off the trail.

"Hufflepuff?" I shook my head. "Ah, so he's in Gryffindor. That makes it loads easier!"

"No, no, wait, he's not in Gryffindor," I lied, sending him a challenging look and hoping he'd buy it.

"Well, he's got to be! Unless he really is in Slytherin…?" He examined me for an answer, which I obliged in the form of an exaggerated shudder and a furious shaking of my head. "Then you're lying about one of them!"

I dangled a possibility in front of him, "Or he could be an old friend from the States, you know. I never said he was from Hogwarts."

"That is true, but if he was back in 'the States', you wouldn't be reluctant to tell me about him because I would most likely never meet him," he pointed out, seeing a loophole I'd missed. "Therefore, he goes to Hogwarts."

With no small amount of respect, I honored him with the highest praise I could think of, "You know, you should have been in Ravenclaw if you can figure out this much with what little I've given you to go on!"

Fred only waved me off, "With my exam scores? Yeah, right. But don't try to change the subject at hand! I will find out who he is eventually!"

"Good luck."

"Thank you! Now really, which house is he in?"

"I obviously don't want you to know who it is, so why would I tell you?"

"So he must be someone that I know, too! Brilliant hint, thanks." Then a thought seemed to strike him, "It's not Harry Potter, is it?"

Shocked, I answered truthfully, "No! I don't even know him! I've barely said ten words to the chap!"

"Ha! You said 'chap'! Our British way of speaking is finally rubbing off on you! Maybe by next year you'll be saying 'Happy Christmas' without a second thought. I think you might even be picking up a bit of an accent already!" Yes, that's right, Fred, keep talking about my speech patterns becoming British and forget about the crush…

"Top o' the mornin' to ya, gov'na!"

"…"

"I-I'm sorry…"

"You should be absolutely ashamed. That was terrible."

"Yeah…"

With a smile, he pushed himself up, "Now, that horrifying display aside, didn't you say you wanted to check out Honeydukes?" Fred checked his watch. "We've still got a little time before you're suspiciously missed and I doubt you'd want to spend it sitting in a creepy wood with me."

"Hmm, candy shop or creepy forest…? I think I'll go with the candy shop," I agreed and scrambled up, following him back the way we'd come. "So, what's your favorite candy there?"

A pained expression crossed his face and he cried, "That's like making me choose between my children!"

I gasped in fake shock, "You have children?! And you're only thirteen, too! Scandalous!" He pushed me playfully, making me stumble a bit, but I went right back and shoved him, too.

"Don't talk nonsense," he reprimanded as we reentered Hogsmeade and melted into the bustle of people again. It was strange after having been alone for so long to suddenly be pressed in on all sides by witches and wizards. Fred guided me back to the brightly-lit sweet shop and we pressed inside. And I do mean pressed. The place was so packed with students and otherwise that there was barely room for us to maneuver our way over to the nearest shelf!

After staring around for few minutes, I grabbed a handful of this and that and a few of those, shoving them all in a bag that I would use to carry them when I'd purchased them. Fred was still deliberating on whether to get some Fizzing Whizzbees or a box of Ice Mice, so I worked my way over to the check-out line without him. When I got there, I was greeted with an unexpected sight. George was standing not too far from me, looking totally unconcerned that he'd completely blown us off! He was laughing with Lee Jordan about something or other, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I had half a mind to march right up to him and rub it in his face that a little Ravenclaw girl was braver than he was, but as I watched his lips, I saw his mouth say, 'Fred'. He was talking about his brother! Was he laughing about the idea of him waiting there alone?!

By this time, the line had moved so that I was a bit closer to where he was standing, but he was apparently too preoccupied with the conversation to notice me. "He came up with some kind of pretext for taking her to the Shrieking Shack yesterday, and if I know him, it'll probably have something to do with daring and bravery, like the true Gryffindor that he is. I wonder how it's going, or if they're already heading back?"

Lee looked pensive for a moment before asking, "Do you think he found out if she fancies him or not yet? That was the whole point of the thing, but he can be an absolute dolt at this stuff. Ah, I still laugh every time I think about his face when he asked us what to do! God bless him, he's helpless when it comes to women liking him."

Cold water poured over my cheerful spirit at hearing this conversation. It was all a pretext to find out if I liked him?! So that's what he'd been so insistent on finding out who I liked! And he probably thought that this was what I was going to say in the hospital wing the other day! He'd put in this much effort just to find out if I fancied him? While that was a little flattering, I'd just broken some very important school rules for nothing more than the confirmation of a little crush! He hadn't wanted to spend time with me, he'd only wanted to get some information out of me, and then he probably would have forcefully told me to go away after finding out I did like him. Testing my bravery! As if! I can't believe I let myself think he really wanted me to be there for a triumphant moment of his.

But what about the Quidditch game, when he gave you a hug? And what about coming to see you after the break? And what about asking you about your life and listening to you? He'd got to like you at least a little, a tiny voice whispered, but it was insignificant compared to my pride which had just been mortified as much as Mr. Darcy's when he first proposes to Elizabeth. How do I know he doesn't do that to every girl! He could have been leading me on without knowing it. And besides, what's there to like about me when he's friends with tall, beautiful girls his own age like Angelina Johnson?! My face flushed and I felt myself an inch from crying, but I held it together because it wasn't worth it to cry over a jerk like that, and because I was still in a store, not the best place to bust out crying. Most especially not when the person making you cry and his brother and his best friend are in close vicinity. I took deep breaths in and out as I paid for my candy, resulting in some looks of concern from the cashier, but I just waved off the worried questions.

I was about to exit the shop when Fred walked over, smiling, with his hands full of merchandise and asked, "Hey, wait for me, would you?" All I did was shoot him a glare of disgust and keep walking, determined to go back to the castle and pretend none of this ever happened. However, I would tell Jessica about this to make her stop teasing me about Fred and I possibly dating. This incident kind of blew the prospect away. The sound of candy being dropped came from behind me, as did his voice, "Wait, Alexia!"

"No!" I didn't even turn around, but he caught my hand.

"No, please! What happened? A minute ago you were smiling at me and now you look like you hate me!"

The confusion on his face only aggravated me more, and I couldn't help retorting nastily, "Because I do hate you, you lying little weasel! I heard your brother and Lee talking in there while I was in line." Shaking off his grip, I turned once more, but once more was held back. The crowd around us thinned as people realized that some sort of fight was going on and wanted nothing to do with it.

"What did you hear?" he asked intently, his eyes meeting my glare without hesitation.

"'Yesterday, he came up with some kind of pretext for taking her to the Shrieking Shack, and if I know him, it'll probably have something to do with daring and bravery, like the true Gryffindor that he is.' 'Do you think he found out if she fancies him or not yet? That was the whole point of the thing, but he can be an absolute dolt at this st-stuff.'" My voice started to fail me and the tears were quite insistent on falling now, but I wouldn't let him have to satisfaction of seeing me cry. "You lied to me! You didn't want to share 'a tr-triumphant moment' with me, you wanted to know if I liked you or not and just needed some reason to get me alone! For your information, I was not going to say I f-fancied you that time in the hospital wing! I was going to tell you something far more personal, and now I'm exceedingly glad I didn't! But then again, maybe I should have. You probably would have run away and that w-would have saved both of us a lot of trouble! Now let me go!" I ripped my arm from his grasp and stormed away, satisfied that he wouldn't feel the need to ever talk to me again now that I'd figured him out.

The tears started to fall as I walked, but I blamed them on the icy wind. My Texan body wasn't used to all this cold; that must be it because there was nothing else that could make me cry right now. I was perfectly fine. No, you're not, that little voice sighed, but I told it to zip it because no one had asked its opinion, most certainly not me.

A/N Guys, it's been almost a year since I started uploading this fanfic! January 20th is our official 1 year anniversary! Although, I'm gonna be honest, I want to get this story done before we have our 2nd year anniversary... If you have any questions, comment, concerns, leave a review!