WARNING! THIS IS THE FLUFFIEST CHAPTER OF THIS WHOLE STORY SO FAR. WATCH OUT.

"Hey Harry. I'm really bored. Am I allowed in here? Can you believe they don't have a single computer in this whole school that I can use? How am I supposed to email and instant message?"

Harry smiled. It was Lauren, and she was all questions.

"Nah, you're not allowed in here, but that doesn't matter. Come on in!"

Lauren went in. "You won't believe how long it took for me to get here!"

"How long did it take you?"

"Like ten minutes."

"Wow!" Harry said; holding back the urge to roll his eyes. "Why so?"

" 'Cause I knocked on like every door trying to find the right one. Jeez, you wouldn't think they'd put fifth years three dorms from the top."

"Hmmm."

"Yeah."

"So…"

"Whaddya wanna do?"

"Dunno. Can'i sit down?"

"Oh yeah; over here." Harry led Lauren to the red velvet window seat. She sat down pretzel style. Harry joined her and sat the same way. He was captivated by the way the sunlight seemed to literally bounce off her silky blonde hair.

"Wow; it's so beautiful!" Lauren exclaimed, staring out the bay window and breaking into Harry's thoughts.

"The lake?" Harry asked, baffled. He shook his head for a moment, telling himself: don't stare, don't stare…

"No, the grass."

"What's so great about the grass?" Harry was confused. He looked outside, hoping he didn't miss anything. The grass was green. Nothing was different.

"I'm being sarcastic, Harry. Of course I mean the lake. What's that thing that looks like it lives in it?"

"You mean the squid?"

"A squid lives in a lake on the school property?"

"Yeah."

"Mm-hmm." Moments later, she said, "Ugh, I've got an annoying song stuck in my head."

"Same here," Harry agreed. He searched his brain and remembered the words of a song he had heard over the summer at the Dursleys. He smiled at the thought. The Dursleys had become especially kind to him for some odd reason. For all Harry knew, they could have become Death Eaters or one of Voldemort's supporters. But they had granted him more independence and had bought him a stereo and a TV for his room.

"So what's stuck in your head?" Lauren asked.

"Some song I heard over the summer. Just two lines, though. Its go like:
'I see myself in the pouring rain
I see hope come over me' "

"I know that song! It's that Gwen Stefani and Moby tune. It's an American song, you know."

"Oh. So what's stuck in your head?"

"The KC and Jojo song Crazy-you do know who KC and Jojo are, right?"

Harry shook his head. "Er…not exactly. They're singers, I think."

"Yeah. Well, this song is-was, actually-always on the radio on the countdown. Me and my friends thought it majorly sucked. But other peoples apparently thought otherwise 'cause it was always like number four. But then there was this cool song that started coming on, and that started the 'cool song' streak. Songs like Joe featuring Mystikal 'Stutter', Nelly 'Ride With Me', Crazy town 'Butterfly', Mystikal 'Danger', and Ja Rule 'Put It On Me'.

"Hey! I just forgot 'Crazy'! Well, I didn't forget it, but that doesn't matter, now, does it? Now I've got 'Ride With Me' stuck in my head. That's a much cooler song, if you ask me. If you wanna come and take a ride with me, smoke some weed in the back of the limousine-Oops!

"You probably can't mention drugs and stuff here, right? Some of my friends did drugs back in Etines. Of course, there were laws and stuff. But that was sort of the whole point. You couldn't get me anywhere near a joint, though. Ugh, drugs are just gross. I did smoke a cigarette once, like a really long time ago 'cause it was the 'cool' thing to do, but haven't gone near that sort of stuff since. Its just sickening and it'll ruin you. Some of - some of my buds got shipped to the hospital because of drug overdoses. Stuff like heroin and marijuana was easily accessible somehow. Don't ask me how, though. Ugh, I don't even like thinking about drugs. They're just gross."

"Do you always talk this much?" Harry asked.

Lauren laughed. She smiled and said, "I guess so. You're funny, Harry."

Harry smiled back. "Thanks. So tell me about yourself. I don't know anything except your first and last name."

"Okay. Well, my name is Lauren Michele Paller-Lachey. My name means meet the dull, join them, and care for 'em till they're not dull anymore. It's kinda funny, I guess. I've lived in New York-New York, Milwaukee-Wisconsin, and Napa-California. I used to go to Etines, but got sort of expelled. Me and my bro Bri always played practical jokes on peeps. Brad helped most of the time. They sent us here 'cause Dumbledore's supposed to be nice and understanding and stuff, which it seems he is, right? Anyway, Brad was looking forward to it less than me and Bri. Of course, Bri was into the girls more than I thinking about the guys, but it seemed super cool to be really far away from America to me, you knowaimean? My mom's a witch and my dad's a wizard, except me and Bri didn't know till I got the letter from Etines. Kind of a big ol' surprise to us. Kinda cool either way, though. Well, I guess that's it."

"Okay, you do talk a lot! I didn't know you got expelled. I like what your name means, except I don't think I'm part of the dull you have to care for." Harry smiled mysteriously.

"Okay, so, tell me about yourself. I don't know much about you except your first name!" Lauren said, grinning.

"Well, okay: I'm Harry Potter, but you probably realized that from my scar. Um…I play Quidditch for the Gryffindor team; I'm a seeker, started playing in my first year. I guess my best friends are Ron and Hermione. I hate Draco Malfoy; he and I have been enemies since who knows when. Sirius Black is my godfather. My mum and dad, Lily and James, are dead. Voldemort killed them Halloween about fourteen years ago. Last year we had this Tri-Wizard tournament thing with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Sort of won that, except my sort-of-friend Cedric Diggory was killed by Voldemort that night. I witnessed Voldemort's coming of power that night. He took my blood and made it his. I guess that's-Lauren?"

Lauren had pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face into her hands. Harry, afraid she was crying, just sat and stared. Quickly, Lauren pulled her head of her hands and looked at Harry.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I barely ever cry. even ask Brian. But you've got such a sad past. It's no wonder; you're Harry Potter of all people, of course your past is sad. It's just that I hadn't realized who you were. I mean, I thought you were just another kid who made fast friends. That's why I smiled at you back in the Great Hall. I didn't even notice your scar until a few seconds ago. I didn't even realize that you were a celebrity." Lauren buried herself in her hands once again.

"Oh." Sort of reluctantly and warily, Harry put his arms around Lauren in a sort of hug. She accepted it and squeezed back.

Suddenly, Lauren seemed to regain her composure and pulled out of the hug. She sat up straight. "Sorry about that, Harry."

"That's okay," he mumbled

Lauren gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. He grinned like an idiot and was at loss for words. Searching his brain frantically, he quickly said, "So what do you want to do now?"

"You and your Englanders. Always speaking 'perfect English'."

Harry was confused. "Hmmm," he said intelligibly.

"Whatever."

Lauren and Harry resumed staring out the window in silence. Harry peeked at Lauren. she was staring at him. He quickly averted his eyes and looked back out the window. Suddenly, Lauren turned and put her hands on Harry's cheek. She pulled his face toward hers, and gently kissed him.

Harry's eyes opened wide. Panic registered almost immediately. He could almost feel the adrenaline fly through his bloodstream. He saw Lauren shut her eyes and followed suit. He felt himself tense up, and immediately tried to relax. But how could he? Here was a girl Harry had known for just hours who was already kissing him on the window seat of the Gryffindor fifth year boys' dorm room!

Not knowing what to do, Harry tentatively wrapped his arms around Lauren. She in turn hugged him back. Harry, feeling apprehensive, let himself get lost momentarily in the kiss. Immediately, he relaxed. His heart thumped in his ears. Funny things a kiss does to you, he thought, feeling all his muscles relax.

Suddenly, the door opened.
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mushy mushy mushy. yuck.