Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter.


As Harry had asked after their conversation, Priya tried to keep a watch on Malfoy, especially during their Prefect Meeting or patrols (which he somehow managed to get out of doing patrols with her). He also asked her not to get too close to him, though and she thought it was cute that he was worried about her safety. Malfoy was only getting that one chance to frighten her; she'd hex him into oblivion next time.

So far, after that conversation in the hallway, Malfoy made sure he was nowhere near Priya by himself. Any time they were in the same place, he glared at her, this hateful glance. It was so interesting to her, considering, before last year and all the fiasco with the Inquisitorial Squad, her and Malfoy had escaped each other's radar. Now the hatred was palpable.

"What happened?" Blaise asked her, one afternoon on their way to Ancient Runes. "Draco won't say a word."

"I made a better potion than him the other day while you all were at the Apparation Test," Priya lied. "He's just bitter."

"That sounds like him," Blaise agreed. "But it seems more than that."

Priya shrugged. "Who's to say?"

She knew that wouldn't hold off Blaise for long but it worked for the time being. She didn't know what he expected; it wasn't like her and Malfoy were ever going to be friends.

On a more positive note, Katie Bell returned to school and seemed to be feeling well. Harry told her that Katie didn't know who had given her the necklace, had no memory of anything that happened until just two weeks ago. It was unfortunate but it was great that the older girl was back. Harry seemed pleased as it meant his Quidditch team was back to normal and practices were going well.

A couple of nights before the Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor match, Priya was sat in the common room, working on an essay for Transfiguration when the common room door flew open. Stella appeared in the doorway, looking around frantically for a moment before her eyes landed on her friend. She dashed over, plopping down on the couch with her, eyes wide. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"I can't believe you haven't heard!"

"Hear what!?"

"Harry! He cursed Draco Malfoy!"

"Wait, what?"

Stella nodded. "Malfoy was seen being carried to the Hospital Wing by Snape and moments after, people saw Harry running around covered in blood!"

"That could mean a number of things," Priya argued. "Harry is often beat up for some reason or another."

"No, it happened! I heard it from Moaning Myrtle! She saw it all happen. Malfoy tried to hit Harry with the Cruciatus Curse and Harry hit him with something that sliced him up."

Priya stared at her friend for a moment before looking around the room. Sure enough, everyone who was coming into the common room was gossiping, whispering. She thought she heard Harry's name more than once.

So much for being stealthy about this whole Malfoy thing.

Through the grapevine, Priya found out that Harry had gotten detention every Saturday till the end of the term, meaning he was missing the last game. Everywhere she went, Slytherins said his name mockingly while his fellow Gryffindors said it angrily. Guinn was ecstatic, though she tried to hide it well in front of Priya; Harry missing the game gave her team a winning chance.

As they headed out to the Pitch that Saturday, Priya saw Harry move in the direction of the dungeons. She couldn't imagine how devastated he was. She made a promise to herself that she would find him after the game, win or lose.


Harry rushed up the stone steps after Snape had finally released him from detention, trying to hear something, anything, but it was quiet, meaning the game was over. He hesitated outside of the Great Hall, before turning towards the stairs, knowing that the Gryffindors would have headed to the tower to party, whether or not they won.

"Harry!"

Oh, but that voice.

He stopped on the stairs as Priya came out of the Great Hall, hurrying towards him. She looked windswept and the blue and silver scarf was fetching on her. She smiled as she got closer and Merlin for a moment Harry was sure he couldn't breathe.

He stuck his sweaty palms into his pocket. She grinned. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," he responded. Looking behind her into the Great Hall, there was nothing that gave away the game. No cheers, no cries of sadness. . . . "Came to give me the bad news?"

"Bad news?"

"About the game."

"What game?"

"Merlin, you're maddening!"

"Oh, that game. Gryffindor won," she said in this offhand way, teasing him.

"We did?" Harry cried.

"I wish you could have been there, Harry," Priya said, eyes bright. "It was brilliant. Your team was brilliant."

"Tell me everything."

Priya laughed, but launched into a detail description of the game, complete with sound effects. Harry tried to listen, he really did, but he found himself very distracted. Those beautiful, cinnamon eyes. She had always been pretty, even when she had been mean to him, but there was something extremely beautiful about the way her hair graced against her cheeks and that damn smile that she graced him with much more frequently. It was hard to believe that just a year ago they couldn't stand each other. Now, he couldn't get enough of her.

This year had been trying in more ways than one, but every time she was near him, every time they spoke, those were the bright spots. He hadn't acknowledge these feelings to anyone because of whatever her relationship was with Blaise Zabini. But then, she had asked him on a date. She sought him out as much as he did her. He had realized, after the holiday, that whatever shampoo she used was the third scent from the Amortentia at the beginning of the year. . . .

There had to be something there right?

"Harry, what are you –?"

Had they always been standing this close? At some point, his hands had drifted up to cradle the sides of her face. Her bright eyes were wide, confused and shocked.

Screw it.

He kissed her.

For five seconds, the world around them stilled. For five seconds, Harry was able to forget everything; missing the last game, whatever Malfoy was up to. . . . it all flew out the window.

For five seconds, all that that mattered was him and Priya Celestina Tollop.

And then she pushed him away.

The world came back into focus. Harry looked from her to the entrance of the Great Hall, where at least fifteen people had seen him kiss her. There was a couple of people in the Entrance, from various Houses, whispering. Harry turned his gaze back to Priya. She still looked confused and shocked, but mostly she looked angry.

"Priya," he started, but she shook her head. With a shaky breath, she turned and ran away from him, up the stairs. "Priya, wait!"


Priya froze while exiting the Ravenclaw tower the next day. Harry, sitting on the floor across from the door, stared back at her.

The night before, after 'the kiss', Priya had run back to the Tower, burying herself under the covers. She was used to the rumors, she was used to people talking about her, but this was something new entirely. By the time her friends had made it back to the Tower, the whole school seemed to know that Harry had kissed her.

The girls, surprisingly, were unsympathetic to her plight.

"Oh get out of it," Stella had said. It was surprising to see the usually happy blond glaring at her. "Isn't this what you wanted? You've been pining after this boy all year long and now he finally kisses you and you run away?"

"In front of everyone!" Priya cried out, sitting up in her bed. "It's embarrassing. People just stopped talking about me and now here we are again. And I haven't been pining!"

"I think it's romantic," Muni argued. "And maybe you haven't been pining but you've definitely paid Harry Potter a lot more attention than you used to and vice versa. So he kissed you in front of the whole school? This is exactly the kind of behavior we expect from Potter. The question is, how are you going to react to it?"

"Poor boy is probably so embarrassed," Guinn said, with a smirk. "You practically rejected him."

"I wasn't rejecting him," Priya said. She looked down at her hands. "I just – I didn't really know how to respond. . . . I've never been kissed before. . . ."

That part was true. She had dated Kevin Entwhistle for like a week in their fourth year but they had never kissed. After that, Priya had been too preoccupied with school work and then fifth year happened and when was she supposed to have found time to kiss anyone?

This, of course, set off a round of teasing and gushing and questions about how the kiss was. In all that, Priya knew she was going to have to apologize to Harry. He probably had a completely wrong idea about everything. She had woken up with the intent of finding him; she couldn't say she was surprised he was already there (probably used the Map to see where she was).

Priya let the door to her Tower close behind her. Harry stood up quickly, brushing off his jeans as he did so. "Hey. I was wondering if we could –"

The door to the tower swung open again and three fourth year girls came out. They stopped at the sight of the two of them, looking back and forth. Priya shot them a glare. "Move. Now."

One of the girls squeaked, grabbing the two of her friends and hurried off. Harry watched them leave quickly, an amused smirk on his face. He met Priya's eyes again and the smile fell. "Priya –"

"Come on," she said, walking off. After a moment she heard Harry follow after her. The two of them walked though the school. Priya kept her head held high as she walked quickly; around them, people whispered and giggled.

Finally, she stepped outside, taking a deep breath of fresh air. Harry finally came up next to her as they traveled down the stairs. Priya continued to move towards the lake, Harry beside her. He was doing well, she thought. She was sure he wanted to say something but he was being very patient.

Priya stopped near a tree by the lack, turning to face Harry, who looked ready to burst. She took another breath. "Harry –"

"I'm sorry I kissed you," Harry interrupted.

"But –"

"I just – kind of got caught up in the moment and I didn't think about it and, Priya, I like you, a lot, but I shouldn't have just kissed you out of the blue like that. It was weird for you, I'm sure, what with Zabini and –"

"Harry, breathe!" Priya reached forward, pressing her hands against his chest. "Wait . . . why do you keep bringing up Blaise?"

"Well, I figured – don't you – aren't you or weren't you seeing each other?"

"No!" Priya took a step back from Harry. "No, not now, or ever!"

"But – the two of you are always together!"

"So are you and Hermione! No one thinks the two of you are dating!"

"They did for a while in fourth year. But I see your point!" He added quickly, when she glared at him.

"Blaise is my friend, a really good friend. But we have never once considered a romantic relationship." Priya looked out at the lake, shaking her head. "And then there's you. . . . You kissed me. In front of everyone."

"I did. Wait . . . is that what you're mad about?"

Priya glanced up at him. "Do you make it a habit of kissing girls in hallways?"

"Merlin, no!" Harry responded. "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

"My point is. . . ." Priya stopped, not quite sure what her point really was. She sighed again. "I guess —I just don't understand. . . . Do you have . . . feelings for me?"

Harry shoved his hands into his pockets again, fidgeting. "I think . . . I think you're maddening."

Priya cocked in eyebrow. "Okay."

The boy across from her grinned. "You're stubborn and sometimes you can be really scary –"

"This is going really well."

"—but you can also be so . . . warm. And you're brilliant and beautiful. And – and I know you said you're selective with who gets to know you and I'm really, really glad that I get to be one of those people because you're absolutely amazing. So yes . . . I care about you a lot."

Priya's face felt hot. She looked down at her trainers. "You could have just said it, you know, all of that.. . . Or something to the effect of 'I really like you'."

"Yea, but it would have been as romantic," he said with a grin. Harry hesitated, the grin fading just a bit. "So –"

"Harry, I really like you." She looked up at him, a smirk fighting its way to her lips. "I really do."

"Yea?" His grin widened and he took a step closer to her.

"Yes, you silly boy. . . . I think you're –" Priya paused, turning to fully face the lake. "You're so annoying. . . . I still think you're reckless and impulsive and you drive me insane –"

"Great start, Tollop."

"But I also, sort of, like that about you, sometimes because that makes you brave. You're kind and you make me smile and laugh. Getting your letters over the summer always made me so happy and spending time with you was even better. You look at me as if I'm the only person you see which is . . . nerve wracking but also wonderful. It doesn't hurt that you're good looking with a stunning pair of green eyes."

Priya looked up to see that Harry was grinning at her, a slight blush to his cheeks. "See? Not so hard was it?"

"I'll have you know, though, that public displays of affection aren't really my thing . . . and it's not really fair that that was my first kiss."

"Was it!?" Harry asked, aghast. "Merlin, I'm the worst."

"Oh definitely," Priya agreed, smirking. "So, where do we go from here?"

"Well . . . the way I see it, we've got two options. We could either pretend like nothing happened, go back to trying to be friends, though I'm sure it'll be awkward. . . ."

"That sounds fun."

"Of course."

"What's option number two?"

"We could take a walk around the lake, just the two of us, finally get that date that we didn't get?" He held out his hand to her.

Priya looked up at him, taking in the scenery and this moment. If you had told her, back in first year, that this is where she would end up, confessing her feelings to the one and only Harry Potter, she would have laughed. Now, here she was, and the moment had happened and –

Merlin, was she happier than she had felt in a while.

I'm doing okay, Mum.

With a smile, she placed her hand in his.