CHAPTER 1

February 14, 2002

"Fuck," Harry whispered, breathless against her back. She leaned back, her dark hair falling over his face as he placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. She leaned down, pulling up her jeans before fastening them. "Where are you going?"

"Home," she answered, brushing a few pieces of hair that were stuck to her face. "Thanks for that." She smoothed her hands over the top of her head taking a moment to glance at the dark haired boy that she had practically grown up with.

"A-any time," Harry stammered, a little thrown off that she was so quick to leave.

"This is the last time, by the way," she stated plainly. She checked her pocket for her wand, making sure it was still there.

He smirked, then opened his mouth to say, "You said that the last time."

"Well this time I mean it," she snapped. She quickly opened the door to the broom closet they were hiding - well, fucking in.

"Tsai, what's your damn problem?" Harry asked, following her out of the closet, confused. As the rest of the team had left back to the ministry, they snuck off to a closet in the muggle university where they were hunting Death eaters that were hiding out. He hurried after her as she began to walk away, almost as if she couldn't get away fast enough.

"Harry… this… we shouldn't be doing this. This is the last time and I think you and I both know that," she said again, emphasizing the word last. He chased after her, allowing his mind to wander back to the first time…

"Merlin, Diana. You could've gotten yourself killed," Harry shouted, angry at his partner. They had just come back from a mission and he wasn't happy about how it had gone on. "It's like you have a death wish or something!"

"Oh c'mon, Harry. Don't be dramatic," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. She was beginning to get a little too cocky for his liking on their missions.

"Don't gaslight me. You're my partner on mission. It's my job to look after you," Harry rebutted, finding himself more and more annoyed at the woman that stood before him.

"Just because your wife left you doesn't mean you get to push your codependent bullshit onto me. I've always been perfectly capable of handling myself and you've never had a bloody thing to say about it till now," Diana shot back, seething.

She hurried to collect her things in her office before heading home. This was the last conversation that she wanted to have tonight.

"Tsai!" Harry barked, stopping her in her tracks.

"What?" she snapped, pausing. "We did a damn good job. We got the bad guy. What's the fucking deal?" The two locked eyes, the tension in the room palpable.

"I-," Harry stammered, seemingly unable to finish his sentence.

Diana dropped her messenger bag as Harry charged over to her, pulling her into a passionate angry kiss. He backed her up against the desk and leaned in to kiss her again. She turned her head with a smirk, causing him to shoot her a hesitant look. She turned around, using both of her hands to push everything she could on the desk off of it. She hopped up on the desk and pulled Harry in for another kiss, before laying back on it.

"I know," he said, shrugging eagerly, having caught up with her.

"We just got caught up in the moment," she pointed out, rationalizing what had just happened, as they walked side by side.

"I know," Harry repeated.

"What happened to working on your marriage?" she shot back, shooting him a look. She could tell he was trying to keep up - physically and emotionally - but she had no intention of slowing down.

"She's, she says she wants some more time. Something about ehm, finding herself," Harry mumbled uncomfortably.

Diana nodded, understanding his persistence. She paused her movement to look at him, "I thought you said we'd be alright… you know… after we- that this wouldn't be a problem."

"I know, I know," he said, shaking his head at himself. "It's just… and then we did it again and-, we just-," Harry stammered.

"I know," Diana repeated, mirroring his response with a sigh. "I'm willing to forget it if you are."

"Well, I don't want to forget it. Besides, I am separated, Di-," Harry pointed out.

"Yeah? And I'm not interested in getting involved with a married man," she interrupted. "Too messy."

"I understand," Harry agreed, taking a moment to respect her decision. "Yeah. We're good."

"Good, because we make a damn good team. Hate to ruin that, you know?" she asked, hopeful of his answer. Harry only nodded in response as she turned to go once again.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Harry asked, following behind her.

"I've got to go. I have a date! And if you insist on following me, you better hurry up so I'm not late," Diana explained, easily.

"A date?!" Harry exclaimed, in surprise.

"Yes," Diana shrugged. "I thought you said we were good."

"With who?" Harry asked, not ready to let it go.

"You don't know him," she answered, guarded. And the truth was, he didn't.

"Diana…" Harry trailed off, dissatisfied with the fact that they had slept together in a broom closet and she was going home to get ready for a date.

"Go back to your wife, Potter," she said, raising an eyebrow before disapparating back to her flat.

Sleeping with Harry was never a part of the plan. A mission gone wrong had put the both of them in a dangerous position and after they had made it back to the office, one thing led to another. Chalk it up adrenaline and a very vulnerable Harry Potter. Ginny was playing for the Holyhead Harpies and was away for so long. It had caused a few problems early on but the time away was beginning to draw out. She said she needed time to figure some things out - to find herself. They had gotten married so young - right after the war - and neither of them really knew who they were.

Diana stepped out of the shower, quick to wrap a towel around her body. She wasn't wild about going on a second date on Valentine's Day. He was a man from the Department of Muggle Affairs and it was true that Harry didn't know him. She never went for the kinds of guys that thought going on a second date on Valentine's Day was a good idea, but he was sweet and she was willing to give him a try. She wrapped her hair up in the towel to let it absorb the water from the shower as she picked out her dress.

It had been so long since she had gone on a date that she enjoyed. Hermione and Ron teased her endlessly that even when she was single that she was taken. If only they knew…. She had boyfriends, sure, but there was always something missing. A part of her heart would always belong to him.

Her hands sliding underneath his cloak to wrap her arms around him. She didn't want him to know that she was crying so she buried her face into his jumper hoping she could leave the tears brewing behind her eyes there.

"I don't want to let go," she whispered against him.

"Me neither," he whispered back.

There was no one around to hear but it was as if all either of them could do was muster out a whisper. They held each other for what felt like an eternity before she slowly began to pull away from the embrace. She looked up at the boy - much taller than her - and into his icy blue eyes.

"Ehm," she began, rumbling into the pocket of her cloak where she had hid it. "This is… you gave this to me in our fourth year. Remember?" She could feel the tears in her voice.

"Yes, of course," he replied, softly.

"Here," Diana said, handing him the photograph.

The boy looked down at it. They were smiling and laughing as the moving picture played out. Clad in an emerald green formal dress, she was pushing him away and they continued to laugh without a care in the world. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her that night. Of course he remembered.

"I want you to have it," she added.

"I-, thank you," he said, taking the photograph. He held it in his hands, afraid of what this meant. It all felt so… final.

"I've got to go," she said back, her voice lowering to a whisper again as she turned to leave their meeting place - one they had been meeting in for two years now.

"Diana!" he called after her at a whisper shout.

"Yes?" she asked, turning to the blonde boy, her eyes misty and hopeful. She wasn't sure what she expected him to say.

There was a long pause before he opened his mouth to say, "I'm sorry."

Diana nodded, defeatedly, "I know, Draco."

He watched as she left, his heart feeling as though it had been ripped from his body. He knew it was the right thing to do… to let her go… so why didn't it feel right? He turned the photograph over in his hands to see that she had scribbled something on the back of it.

"Find me when all of this is over."

Her heart would always belong to the boy that she had loved in secret and the love that couldn't be. She loathed the idea of having anything to do with him so the two were repulsed to find out that they had come to enjoy each others' company. From then on it was all secret meetings, hangouts, and hoping that they'd get paired together in other classes. She hated how arrogant he was and how much he made her laugh. He couldn't stand the fact that she always had to be right and that he noticed how her eyes lit up when she smiled. But they couldn't, so no one said a thing. Diana shuddered, thinking of how it all ended.

Diana rummaged through her bag to find her house keys, her feet aching from wearing the pair of heels. She held the shoes in her hands, walking barefoot all the way down the hallway to her flat. The date had gone as they always go and she couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with her. Well, she knew, but she wasn't ready to let go just yet. She sighed out in dissatisfaction before wrapping her fingers around her keys, pulling them out of her bag merely a few doors away from her flat.

It often went like this: she'd meet a guy, get excited about the prospect of someone new, but before she got to know him, she'd lose interest. She had had a handful of longer relationships barely lasting a few months. It wasn't them - she knew - and sometimes it was. She'd knew she was self sabotaging - holding out hope for someone who wasn't even in her life anymore - but there was always something in the back of her head, and her heart, telling her it wasn't right and that she wasn't ready.

"Find me when all of this is over," she heard herself say, recalling the memory of their goodbye. She thought about him often - more often that she'd like to admit. Some days were better than others. There were days where he was all she could think about: where he was, if he was safe, why hadn't he found her after the war. Others, mostly when she had met a new guy, she'd forget to think about him and then chastise herself mentally when she realized that he had slipped from her mind. Perhaps that's why she couldn't let anyone else in.

Diana turned to her door, placing her key into the lock of her flat. She turned the key, hearing the click of the lock sliding out of the door and opened it.

"Diana," she heard the familiar voice say, stopping her in her tracks. She froze as the door swung open and she let go of her keys. It couldn't be... She turned to the voice and had to steady herself against the wall so that she didn't fall over. "Wow… you look lovely."

"Draco?"

A/N: New story! Can't wait to share this one. Memories are in italics and will be moving forward for mid scene flashbacks. Song inspiration: "Ribs" - Lorde