"Tell me all about it!"

"Oh, it was great."

"Details, lady, details!"

"Amazing!"

"Emma."

"Okay, fine."

We were sitting in the library, huddled around Emma in armchairs. Steph, who had been attempting to transfigure a fly on the windowsill into a button, had given up and was listening intently to Emma's story.

"So, i went up to him sometime after dinner and I said, 'Thanks for the gifts, they were really sweet,' and he said, 'I have one more, actually,' and he asked me to go to Hogsmeade that weekend with him! Of course, I said yes, because I was actually planning on asking him that in the first place, and we went to Zonko's and the Shrieking Shack and them Madame Pudifoot's!" Emma paused, taking a breath before continuing. "And then we just walked around for a while because everything was so pretty with all of the snow, and we held hands!"

"Eeeeeee!" Steph and I exclaimed, lowering our voices only when Madame Pince, who was lurking, vulture-like, behind the shelves, gave us a dirty look. "So, was it everything you had ever hoped for and more?"

"Yes! I'm so excited. I mean, it was a little strange, having been friends with him for five years, you know, but I can get used to it." She grinned again. "I hope I do! He was really sweet and the date was perfect." Emma was already a very energetic person by nature, but right now she was practically buzzing with happiness. She turned her focus to me. "So, what about you? Is everything back to normal?"

"Oh! You mean, with Dustin? I think so. I mean, he hasn't been acting weird or anything. I'm trying to just forget about it."

Steph looked curious. "What happened with Dustin?"

Emma cackled. "She got drunk at the party and kissed him."

"What!"

"Shh," hissed Madame Pince.

"Emma!"

"What? I didn't think it was a big deal?"

"What part of 'trying to forget about it' do you not understand?" I groaned, putting my face in my hands, exasperated.

"You kissed him?" repeated Steph.

"I was drunk!"

"Quiet, or leave!"

Emma said, "Let's just go," so we gathered our things and dashed out of the library, while Madame Pince brandished a feather duster threateningly after us.

I really was trying to forget about it- it was a stupid mistake and he knew that, so then why was he acting so weird? I had taken Emma's advice and avoided talking about it, which seemed to work- for the most part, things were back to normal between us. Except, they weren't. I mean, at practice he would act perfectly civil and normal, but whenever I said 'hi' in the halls he wouldn't respond, and he would act cold and distant whenever I asked to borrow his quill or something. I was getting pretty sick of it. Why was he acting like this? I had made it abundantly clear that everything that had happened was just a drunken screw up.

Even Cho had noticed something was off. She pulled me aside after practice one day and asked, "What is up with you and Dustin? He's acting like you insulted his grandmother."

"I dunno," was my reply, shifting my Comet-Two Fifty between my hands nervously. Cho didn't know anything about the kiss, but if Dustin kept up this behavior, she was going to find out.

"Well, talk to him. I can't afford anything that might mess with our energy right now. We're doing great right now, and I intend to keep it that way," she said.

So I tried. I really did! But whenever I tried to approach him in the corridors, he would slip away. I would rush to the door the moment charms class ended to try and catch him, but he would be lost in the crowd. I had no idea how he was managing to evade me, but whatever he was doing, he was doing well. Not to mention the fact that I was feeling particularly stressed- the homework load seemed to be getting, if possible, more intense than ever. I would stagger back into the dormitory at ten, weighed down by a stack of books with several rolls of parchment teetering on top, quill held between my teeth, and more than often I would wake up in the morning passed out in an armchair in the common room when I was too tired to go upstairs. One night, I awoke in an unfamiliar setting, only to realize that I had passed out in the library. My neck was sore from sleeping in an awkward position, with my head laying on an open copy of Ten Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, which I had been reviewing with for the Herbology test. It was definitely past curfew. I cursed under my breath, and quietly slipped out of the chair, book tucked under my arm. I crept down the dark and silent corridors, heart pounding in my chest so hard I feared it would draw the attention of Mrs. Norris. When a shadowy figure rounded the corner ahead of me, I nearly screamed.

"Katherine?"

My heart leaped into my throat. Dustin.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. "It's past curfew, you'll get in trouble!"

"So will you," I countered. "What are you doing?"

He scratched his head uncomfortably. "A lot on my mind, I guess. Needed some air."

"And a detention."

He scowled. "Oh, yeah, like your intentions are noble. What are you even doing?"

"I fell asleep in the library, I was on my way back to the common room."

"Oh. Okay."

"Actually, this is probably a good thing," I said, adjusting my grip on the book. "I've been meaning to talk to you, but you keep evading me."

"About what?"

It was my turn to scowl. "You know what," I snapped. "You're acting all cold and aloof. I told you it was a mistake and you agreed, so then why do you keep acting like this?"

"I haven't been acting weird," he protested lamely.

"Give me a break! You ignore me when I say hi, you practically break your neck running away when I try to talk to you. What is up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Dustin, cut it out."

"I said, nothing!"

"You're not fooling anybody."

"Okay, fine! I like you."

I just stood there, stunned. Heat rushed to my face, and the book suddenly felt very heavy in my arms. "What?"

"You heard me," Dustin mumbled, looking as red in the face as I felt.

I was speechless. About a thousand thoughts were racing through my brain, a lot of which were incoherent because of my internal screaming, which I wasn't sure was happy or just completely freaked out. Or both. I realized that my mouth was agape, and I quickly closed it. "I don't... know what you want me to say to that," I whispered. The silence was deafening, ringing in my ears.

"Then don't," he said, and very suddenly I became aware that we were kissing. I became, if it was even plausible, even more surprised. But not unpleasantly so. My mind was such a whirlwind of emotions it was hard to settle on one- Merlin, Kat, just choose! And then we broke apart, and I felt a twinge of disappointment in the pit of my stomach.

"Oh- uh- I'm sorry, I- don't know what-" he stammered, wringing his hands.

"Shut up," I said, and grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him back. It was warm and an excited, tingly feeling was coursing through my body as we stood there in the dark, empty hallway. Ten Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi lay abandoned at my feet. His hands rested gently on my waist, and my legs seemed to turn to marshmallow beneath me and I had to grip his shoulders for support. We kissed until I ran out of breath and surfaced, heart working overtime as though I had just run a marathon.

"Wow," I said, before the pause could become too long. "That was..."

"It was something," agreed Dustin. I could do little more than stand there, exhilarated. "Wow," I repeated stupidly. "Um..."

"Again?" he suggested. His voice was tentative, and when our gaze met it seemed to take all his willpower not to turn his eyes down to the floor.

"I think," I said very seriously. "That might be one of the best ideas you've ever had." And it was.

I was giddy. Ecstatic. Even Malfoy's taunts, his constant annoying presence during potions couldn't bring me down. I was walking on sunshine, baby! Of course, this sudden shift in my mood had not gone unnoticed by Steph and Emma. Lucas, who had started hanging around more now that he and Emma were officially a thing, was caught off guard by my sudden sunny demeanor.

"What's up with you?" he had asked one morning at breakfast, while I was spreading cream cheese on my bagel. "What do you mean?" I asked, dipping the knife into the tub for another round.

"You know what I mean," he said. "No one smiles that much over a bagel. Why are you so excited all of a sudden?"

"Oh, you know, I'm just really glad I got a good score on that Transfiguration test," I replied, lathering on another layer absently. "I was expecting to fail it."

"Yeah, right," chimed in Emma, looking up from her parchment on which she had been writing an essay for potions. "You're super happy all of the time now. Why?"

I put a hand to my heart, pretending to be offended. "Isn't my cheerfulness enough for you? Must you dissect my mood every waking hour?"

Emma quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, there's something seriously wrong with you."

I laughed it off, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep this a secret for long. I wish it didn't have to be a secret at all- it would be so much easier if it wasn't- but Cho was dead set on her rules. Teammates were not allowed to date. Not at all. If you were, she threw you off of the team. Neither of us wanted that, so we agreed it should be kept private, even from Steph and Emma, which I felt bad about. Still, there was no way I was getting thrown off that team. My enthusiasm had been shining through in my performance during quidditch practices- yesterday, I had outflown the entire team, dodged every bludger sent my way, and caught the snitch in less than five minutes flat every time we brought it out to scrimmage. Thoroughly exhausted but satisfied, our team ended the last practice before the final game of the season on a high note. "I don't know where you're getting this energy from," Cho had told me. "But keep it up- all of you. If we want to win, we have to pound Gryffindor tomorrow."

Gryffindor had been our only roadblock in our goal of achieving the quidditch cup. Their team captain, Harry Potter, worked them just as hard as Cho did, and several times they had to shout each other down for the rights to the pitch. Harry was fast, with a better broom than mine, and I doubted he would be as susceptible to my maneuvers as Malfoy.

By the time the day of the final game arrived, my stomach was churning with nerves, but I managed to force down a glass of pumpkin juice and a slice of toast.

Emma must have noticed how nervous I was looking, because she patted me on the shoulder. "You'll do great, Kat," she said encouragingly. "You've been training for this forever."

"Yeah," I mumbled without really listening.

Dread pooling in my stomach, I trudged out of the Great Hall thirty minutes later, gripping my broom with more force than necessary. The team was waiting in the locker rooms, and I changed into my gear and stepped onto the pitch where Cho was assessing the weather. "There's clouds covering the sun right now, so we'll have good visibility, but it's a bit windy so don't count on it, they could move. The ground's a bit muddy, so not great for the kickoff, but it'll be fine. We've been practicing in all weather. All right, team." Cho turned to face us. "This is it. We either win or we lose, but if we lose I will personally flay you all alive. I would wish you all luck, but I don't believe in it. Luck is for people who don't have enough skill to make it through the day without tripping over their own feet. I believe in tough training, and hard work. So, go out there and don't be intimidated." We all nodded, muttering our agreement, and Cho reached out to grab my shoulder. "Hey, Rayleigh."

"Yeah?"

"Did you know, Potter and I used to be a thing?"

"Oh. Uh, no."

"Well, now you do. Kick his arse for me, would you?"

"You got it, captain," I said, grinning despite myself.

We positioned ourselves on the pitch, watching the excited fans pour into the stands. My palms were sweating with anxiety. I watched Harry and Cho shake hands, watched Madame Hooch hold the quaffle high over her head, and fling it into the air. The whistle sounded, and the game began! I was moving in an instant, soaring careful laps around the field, scanning furiously for any sign of the tiny golden ball. The game was moving quickly- already, we were leading ten to nothing. I had long since learned to tune out the commentary so as to focus on the snitch, but I allowed myself to catch a few words:

"And excellent save by the Ravenclaw keeper, Dustin Campbell, and the quaffle goes to Ginny Weasley, she's taking it down the pitch- nice maneuver there- she's scored! Ten points to Gryffindor!"

Muttering a curse below my breath, I swooped lower, eyes darting around the pitch. There was a sudden gasp from the crowd as Jimmy Peakes, the Gryffindor beater, hit a bludger my way. I dove to the side, nearly avoiding decapitation.

Focus, Kat, focus.

"Demelza Robins takes control of the quaffle, and she's heading down the pitch- she passes it to Katie Bell- oh, she's dropped the quaffle, Ravenclaw in possession." Cho shot down the pitch like a bullet, weaving past the Gryffindor player's defenses.

"She scores! Ten points to Ravenclaw." I pumped my fist so excitedly I nearly fell off my broom as Ron, the keeper, hurled the ball back into play, where it was snatched up by Demelza. The game was moving at a rapid pace, the ball flying between the players so quickly that Dean Thomas, who was commentating, kept running out of breath and had to gasp for air. Someone in the Slytherin stands was orchestrating a rousing chorus of "Weasley is our King," and Dean gave up shouting over the noise and just let the crowd listen to it for a few minutes. "He cannot block a single ring," I hummed along, because the tune was really quite catchy. And then I saw it.

Harry must have seen it at the same time I did, because we both took off within milliseconds of each other, streaking through the air towards the glimmering speck. The snitch zipped downwards and I followed, the wind whistling deafeningly in my ears as I flew only a couple of feet above the ground. The Slytherins still belting out their song combined with the sudden roar from the crowd was so loud it was making me lose my focus.

Neck and neck, we flew, arms outstretched towards the tiny golden ball. Harry's broom was faster- no matter how much I urged my old Comet-Two Fifty I knew I wouldn't be able to pull ahead, so without thinking I launched myself from my broom and the momentum gave me the extra couple of inches I needed to snatch the struggling snitch with both hands and clasp it tightly to my chest. I tumbled to the ground a few feet below with a painful oomph, narrowly avoiding getting my eye jabbed by my broom as it whizzed past my face. There was a moment of confusion- had I fallen, was I hurt?- but Harry braked and landed, defeated, and I held the snitch above my head to thunderous applause.

The entire team practically crushed the life out of my lungs piling on top of me, screaming themselves hoarse, cheering wildly. There was so much chaos that I couldn't tell for sure, but I think Cho was sobbing. Or swearing. I wasn't positive. We sank to the ground in a tangled heap of blue and silver, and in the commotion Dustin managed to plant a kiss on my cheek and I nearly melted with happiness. I was hoisted up onto their shoulders and paraded down the field, through the Great Hall, and carried all the way up the narrow staircase into the Ravenclaw common room, where someone had stolen down to the kitchens and set up a massive celebration. The party was full of cheering and laughter and butterbeer, although I made sure to avoid the firewhiskey (again, smuggled in by a seventh year) so as not to end up with my arms around the neck of some random partygoer. Instead, Dustin and I found times in between the pandemonium to sneak off and exchange a few secret kisses- broom closets, empty classrooms, tucked behind a statue of a one-eyed witch. Delirious from joy, fingers hopelessly intertwined. In that moment, everything was perfect.

I should have known it was too good to last.