CHAPTER TEN
Lara woke up that morning with pain everywhere. The Quidditch training the night before had been intense, and she had pulled muscles in places she didn't even know HAD muscles. As she limped towards the bathroom that morning, she bumped into Harry, who was also limping towards the bathroom.
"Can I remind you Potter, that the pain you're feeling right now, yeah, it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" Lara said. Harry pulled a face.
"Don't remind me Black." He said, wincing as his feet hit the cold tiled floor of the bathroom.
"Where's the fun in that?" Harry didn't reply as the two began to brush their teeth. "By the way Potter, what do you think of the Weasley sister?"
"Ginny? I dunno... why the hell are you asking?" Harry said, confused as to the random question.
"Just curious. I think it's pretty obvious that she looks at you as more than just a friend."
"Oh I see. Yeah, I did know, but I don't see her as anything more. I thought about it a few months ago, but I realized that I wasn't asking her out because I wanted to, it was because everyone else wanted me too." Lara nodded in understanding.
"Poor girl."
"Please don't. I know, okay?" Harry said, slightly impatiently.
"You know Hermione and Ron are still not a couple."
"Yes I am aware of that." Harry said, sighing as he thought of his poor love struck friend.
"It can't continue like this, you realize. The poor girl is tearing her heart out over him. Why doesn't he just ask her out?"
"Same reason she doesn't ask him out. Too scared of rejection." Harry said simply, as he spat out the toothpaste and rinsed it out. Lara followed him seconds later.
"It's quite tragic actually."
"Just because you've found your Mr. Right." Harry snapped. Lara frowned at this comment. What does he mean by that? Was he talking about Draco? Lara pondered over this. Was Draco the one she was meant to love for the rest of her life? For some reason, she didn't think so.
*****************************************************
At breakfast the next morning, Draco joined the Gryffindors again for their last meal before the bulk of the students departed for the holidays. He was chatting animatedly with Hermione and Ginny opposite him when Lara arrived. He smiled at her as she sat down, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Hey, how are you?"
"Bad... pain..." Lara said, grumbling.
"Quidditch training right? That bastard of a captain isn't training you right if you are in so much pain the day after."
"Try telling him that." Ginny said, snorting into her food. She fell silent when she caught Draco staring at her, blushing slightly. The blonde was perplexed by this reaction, but found he couldn't take his eyes away from Ginny. The two continued to stare at each other until Hermione's voice, asking Draco a question about potions, interrupted their moment. They broke eye contact and the moment was forgotten. Neither believed that anyone had witnessed the moment. But they were wrong.
Lara, from her seat next to Draco, had watched the entire affair unfold.
******************************************************
That night, she sat in the common room staring into the fire, pondering what she had seen earlier on.
*'I should've been mad at him, it's obvious he likes her. But when I think about it, I'm not. In fact, I'm happy for them. That's not right is it? My boyfriend likes another girl and I'm not phased by it...' seems like he's not the one I've been looking for after all'...* Lara was not happy by the conclusion she had formed in her mind, but somewhere, deep in her heart, she knew it was right.
Her train of thought continued to run through her head until the door opened, admitting Harry.
"You left dinner early." He said simply, taking a seat on an adjacent couch.
"Yeah, I had some thinking to do."
"Do you want to...er. ..talk about it?" Harry asked uncertainly. Lara looked up at him, smiling slightly.
"You don't do this often, do you?"
"Do what?"
"Talk to girls about stuff... problems." Harry shook hid head slightly as Lara laughed. "Okay Potter, come here and I'll drown you in my sorrows. Goodness knows why I'm going to tell you..." The raven haired boy got up slowly and sat himself down on the couch next to Lara.
"I don't know either, but shoot." Harry said. Lara sighed, before opening her heart out to Harry.
"I was watching Draco today at dinner. And he had this... oh gosh this sounds so stupid now..." Lara said, putting her hands in her face.
"It won't be stupid, just talk to me." He said sincerely. Neither of them could quite comprehend this quite sudden amity, but neither questioned it either. They merely accepted it.
"Well... he had this moment with Ginny, where they just looked at each other for like... a whole minute. And I knew, I knew by the way she looked at him, and the way he looked at her, that there was something between them." Harry nodded at this information, frowning. "But that's not the worst bit. When I realized what it meant, I wasn't sad at all. I was actually happy for them. And it made me realize, Draco's not the one."
"The one in the prophecy?"
"Yeah." Lara said softly.
"I thought you didn't believe in love." Harry said.
"Well..." She girl said, not convincing him in the slightest.
"Well..." Harry said, mimicking her. Lara sighed.
"Okay, so let me rephrase what I said. Love does exist, but not this deep, heart- wrenching, 'i-would-gladly-die-for-you' love, the kind my prophecy talks about."
"I reckon you're going to eat those words one day."
"I reckon you're wrong."
"The day I fall in love like that Potter, is the day I sing in public."
"Just you wait Black, just you wait!" Harry said, laughing.
"How do you know so much about it anyway? First hand experience?"
"Not yet, but I know it's out there. And I hope I get just a slice of it before I die."
Now it was Lara's turn to laugh.
"You poor, delusional romantic."
"Okay, enough about this topic of conversation. What are you going to do about my favourite blonde haired Slytherin?" Harry asked.
"I think I'm going to break up with him."
"Bit drastic don't you think? It was only a moment."
"I'm not breaking up with him because of the Ginny thing, that just makes it easier." Harry couldn't help but smile at this comment. "I'm breaking it off because this whole thing has made me realize I don't love him. Not like I should."
Harry nodded.
"Well I don't know much about relationships..."
"Because you've never been in one." Harry glared at this comment, but chose not to dwell on it.
"But I think you just might be doing the right thing, for once."
"Thanks for the support." Lara said sarcastically. Harry merely shrugged his shoulders before hopping off the couch and heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
****************************************************
The next day, Harry and Lara worked the whole day, intent on finishing their holiday homework early so as to enjoy the rest of their break. Harry had never taken on this method before, he usually left all his work till the last day. This usually didn't work particularly well however, so he adopted Lara's scheme to see if it was any better.
On Monday afternoon, Christmas Eve, Harry closed his Charms book slowly, having finished his final piece of work for the holidays.
"Finished?" Lara asked as Harry emerged from the study with a pile of books and headed towards his room. There, he dumped them on his bed before joining Lara in the common room.
"Incredibly, yes. I can't believe something you came up with actually worked."
"Don't sound so surprised." Harry grinned.
"But I am." He said honestly. Glaring, Lara grabbed a cushion from behind her and threw it at Harry, who got it square in the face.
"As a seeker, I'd expect you to have better reflexes."
"As a human being, I'd expect you to not be so up yourself." Harry retaliated.
"Admit it, my arrogance is appealing."
"Nothing about you is appealing Black, live with it."
"Bull, you're telling me if I walked in here wearing red lacy underwear, you wouldn't get turned on."
"I'm a teenage boy, I probably would." Harry admitted. "But not willingly." He added. "It's the same as me asking you if you would get turned on if you caught me in the shower or something."
"Please don't give me sick mental pictures."
"Sick? Don't lie Black! The thought of me naked just makes you get all hot and bothered." Lara laughed.
"You're learning from me you are. That is the comment of an arrogant selfish bastard."
"But the difference is, I make it look good." Harry said, smirking as he lay himself down on the long couch.
"Don't take up the whole thing." Lara said, whining.
"Why the hell not? You aren't using it."
"Well what if I was going to?"
"Tough." Harry said simply. Lara narrowed her eyes. Before Harry had any idea what happened, he suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him as Lara collided into him, obviously trying to push him off the couch.
"Ow! Gerroff!" Harry's muffled voice came from amidst the folds of Lara's fluffy nightgown.
"I'd rather stay here thanks." Lara said smugly. Suddenly, she felt Harry stir, and before she knew what was happening she found herself on the floor by the couch. Harry had obviously used all his energy to push her off.
"Why you little..." Lara began, but she didn't finish. Instead, she grabbed Harry's arm that was hanging down and pulled him onto the floor next to her.
"Ow!" Harry said, wincing as he hit the ground with a dull thud.
"You deserve it." She said simply.
"I wasn't the one who came and sat on me." Harry snapped back.
"Well I wasn't the one who was hogging the couch." Suddenly the two of them were fighting again, but not like they usually did. This time, there were no heavy punches, no bruises or black eyes, even though they could easily have injured each other quite a lot. No, this time, when they fought, it was different. It was almost as if they didn't want to hurt each other, though they didn't understand why.
The two had been rolling around on the floor for quite a while, until suddenly Harry got the upper hand. He had rolled Lara onto her back and was now straddling her, his hands holding her wrists down so she couldn't fight back.
"Got ya." He said simply, smirking at her. Lara glared back at him.
"For the first and last time Potter." She replied, trying to struggle out of his grip but failing miserably. It was Harry who first realized exactly what position they were in, and how compromising it would look to anyone who walked in. He made a sharp intake of breath as he felt Lara wriggling below him. The brown haired girl noticed his intake of breath and stopped wriggling. It was only then that she too realized their position. The two stayed silent for several seconds, neither making any effort to get up. For the first time in her life Lara found she had no witty remark, in fact she was speechless.
Suddenly, something inside of Harry clicked. He got up quickly and sat on the couch, a slight blush painting his cheeks.
"Sorry." He said shortly. It was all he managed to say. Lara got up quickly and went to sit down next to him.
"It's ok." She replied. Harry nodded and got up off the couch, walking to his room and closing the door with a soft click. Lara fell back on the couch, confused and surprised at what had transpired. What the hell?
Lara woke up that morning with pain everywhere. The Quidditch training the night before had been intense, and she had pulled muscles in places she didn't even know HAD muscles. As she limped towards the bathroom that morning, she bumped into Harry, who was also limping towards the bathroom.
"Can I remind you Potter, that the pain you're feeling right now, yeah, it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" Lara said. Harry pulled a face.
"Don't remind me Black." He said, wincing as his feet hit the cold tiled floor of the bathroom.
"Where's the fun in that?" Harry didn't reply as the two began to brush their teeth. "By the way Potter, what do you think of the Weasley sister?"
"Ginny? I dunno... why the hell are you asking?" Harry said, confused as to the random question.
"Just curious. I think it's pretty obvious that she looks at you as more than just a friend."
"Oh I see. Yeah, I did know, but I don't see her as anything more. I thought about it a few months ago, but I realized that I wasn't asking her out because I wanted to, it was because everyone else wanted me too." Lara nodded in understanding.
"Poor girl."
"Please don't. I know, okay?" Harry said, slightly impatiently.
"You know Hermione and Ron are still not a couple."
"Yes I am aware of that." Harry said, sighing as he thought of his poor love struck friend.
"It can't continue like this, you realize. The poor girl is tearing her heart out over him. Why doesn't he just ask her out?"
"Same reason she doesn't ask him out. Too scared of rejection." Harry said simply, as he spat out the toothpaste and rinsed it out. Lara followed him seconds later.
"It's quite tragic actually."
"Just because you've found your Mr. Right." Harry snapped. Lara frowned at this comment. What does he mean by that? Was he talking about Draco? Lara pondered over this. Was Draco the one she was meant to love for the rest of her life? For some reason, she didn't think so.
*****************************************************
At breakfast the next morning, Draco joined the Gryffindors again for their last meal before the bulk of the students departed for the holidays. He was chatting animatedly with Hermione and Ginny opposite him when Lara arrived. He smiled at her as she sat down, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Hey, how are you?"
"Bad... pain..." Lara said, grumbling.
"Quidditch training right? That bastard of a captain isn't training you right if you are in so much pain the day after."
"Try telling him that." Ginny said, snorting into her food. She fell silent when she caught Draco staring at her, blushing slightly. The blonde was perplexed by this reaction, but found he couldn't take his eyes away from Ginny. The two continued to stare at each other until Hermione's voice, asking Draco a question about potions, interrupted their moment. They broke eye contact and the moment was forgotten. Neither believed that anyone had witnessed the moment. But they were wrong.
Lara, from her seat next to Draco, had watched the entire affair unfold.
******************************************************
That night, she sat in the common room staring into the fire, pondering what she had seen earlier on.
*'I should've been mad at him, it's obvious he likes her. But when I think about it, I'm not. In fact, I'm happy for them. That's not right is it? My boyfriend likes another girl and I'm not phased by it...' seems like he's not the one I've been looking for after all'...* Lara was not happy by the conclusion she had formed in her mind, but somewhere, deep in her heart, she knew it was right.
Her train of thought continued to run through her head until the door opened, admitting Harry.
"You left dinner early." He said simply, taking a seat on an adjacent couch.
"Yeah, I had some thinking to do."
"Do you want to...er. ..talk about it?" Harry asked uncertainly. Lara looked up at him, smiling slightly.
"You don't do this often, do you?"
"Do what?"
"Talk to girls about stuff... problems." Harry shook hid head slightly as Lara laughed. "Okay Potter, come here and I'll drown you in my sorrows. Goodness knows why I'm going to tell you..." The raven haired boy got up slowly and sat himself down on the couch next to Lara.
"I don't know either, but shoot." Harry said. Lara sighed, before opening her heart out to Harry.
"I was watching Draco today at dinner. And he had this... oh gosh this sounds so stupid now..." Lara said, putting her hands in her face.
"It won't be stupid, just talk to me." He said sincerely. Neither of them could quite comprehend this quite sudden amity, but neither questioned it either. They merely accepted it.
"Well... he had this moment with Ginny, where they just looked at each other for like... a whole minute. And I knew, I knew by the way she looked at him, and the way he looked at her, that there was something between them." Harry nodded at this information, frowning. "But that's not the worst bit. When I realized what it meant, I wasn't sad at all. I was actually happy for them. And it made me realize, Draco's not the one."
"The one in the prophecy?"
"Yeah." Lara said softly.
"I thought you didn't believe in love." Harry said.
"Well..." She girl said, not convincing him in the slightest.
"Well..." Harry said, mimicking her. Lara sighed.
"Okay, so let me rephrase what I said. Love does exist, but not this deep, heart- wrenching, 'i-would-gladly-die-for-you' love, the kind my prophecy talks about."
"I reckon you're going to eat those words one day."
"I reckon you're wrong."
"The day I fall in love like that Potter, is the day I sing in public."
"Just you wait Black, just you wait!" Harry said, laughing.
"How do you know so much about it anyway? First hand experience?"
"Not yet, but I know it's out there. And I hope I get just a slice of it before I die."
Now it was Lara's turn to laugh.
"You poor, delusional romantic."
"Okay, enough about this topic of conversation. What are you going to do about my favourite blonde haired Slytherin?" Harry asked.
"I think I'm going to break up with him."
"Bit drastic don't you think? It was only a moment."
"I'm not breaking up with him because of the Ginny thing, that just makes it easier." Harry couldn't help but smile at this comment. "I'm breaking it off because this whole thing has made me realize I don't love him. Not like I should."
Harry nodded.
"Well I don't know much about relationships..."
"Because you've never been in one." Harry glared at this comment, but chose not to dwell on it.
"But I think you just might be doing the right thing, for once."
"Thanks for the support." Lara said sarcastically. Harry merely shrugged his shoulders before hopping off the couch and heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
****************************************************
The next day, Harry and Lara worked the whole day, intent on finishing their holiday homework early so as to enjoy the rest of their break. Harry had never taken on this method before, he usually left all his work till the last day. This usually didn't work particularly well however, so he adopted Lara's scheme to see if it was any better.
On Monday afternoon, Christmas Eve, Harry closed his Charms book slowly, having finished his final piece of work for the holidays.
"Finished?" Lara asked as Harry emerged from the study with a pile of books and headed towards his room. There, he dumped them on his bed before joining Lara in the common room.
"Incredibly, yes. I can't believe something you came up with actually worked."
"Don't sound so surprised." Harry grinned.
"But I am." He said honestly. Glaring, Lara grabbed a cushion from behind her and threw it at Harry, who got it square in the face.
"As a seeker, I'd expect you to have better reflexes."
"As a human being, I'd expect you to not be so up yourself." Harry retaliated.
"Admit it, my arrogance is appealing."
"Nothing about you is appealing Black, live with it."
"Bull, you're telling me if I walked in here wearing red lacy underwear, you wouldn't get turned on."
"I'm a teenage boy, I probably would." Harry admitted. "But not willingly." He added. "It's the same as me asking you if you would get turned on if you caught me in the shower or something."
"Please don't give me sick mental pictures."
"Sick? Don't lie Black! The thought of me naked just makes you get all hot and bothered." Lara laughed.
"You're learning from me you are. That is the comment of an arrogant selfish bastard."
"But the difference is, I make it look good." Harry said, smirking as he lay himself down on the long couch.
"Don't take up the whole thing." Lara said, whining.
"Why the hell not? You aren't using it."
"Well what if I was going to?"
"Tough." Harry said simply. Lara narrowed her eyes. Before Harry had any idea what happened, he suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him as Lara collided into him, obviously trying to push him off the couch.
"Ow! Gerroff!" Harry's muffled voice came from amidst the folds of Lara's fluffy nightgown.
"I'd rather stay here thanks." Lara said smugly. Suddenly, she felt Harry stir, and before she knew what was happening she found herself on the floor by the couch. Harry had obviously used all his energy to push her off.
"Why you little..." Lara began, but she didn't finish. Instead, she grabbed Harry's arm that was hanging down and pulled him onto the floor next to her.
"Ow!" Harry said, wincing as he hit the ground with a dull thud.
"You deserve it." She said simply.
"I wasn't the one who came and sat on me." Harry snapped back.
"Well I wasn't the one who was hogging the couch." Suddenly the two of them were fighting again, but not like they usually did. This time, there were no heavy punches, no bruises or black eyes, even though they could easily have injured each other quite a lot. No, this time, when they fought, it was different. It was almost as if they didn't want to hurt each other, though they didn't understand why.
The two had been rolling around on the floor for quite a while, until suddenly Harry got the upper hand. He had rolled Lara onto her back and was now straddling her, his hands holding her wrists down so she couldn't fight back.
"Got ya." He said simply, smirking at her. Lara glared back at him.
"For the first and last time Potter." She replied, trying to struggle out of his grip but failing miserably. It was Harry who first realized exactly what position they were in, and how compromising it would look to anyone who walked in. He made a sharp intake of breath as he felt Lara wriggling below him. The brown haired girl noticed his intake of breath and stopped wriggling. It was only then that she too realized their position. The two stayed silent for several seconds, neither making any effort to get up. For the first time in her life Lara found she had no witty remark, in fact she was speechless.
Suddenly, something inside of Harry clicked. He got up quickly and sat on the couch, a slight blush painting his cheeks.
"Sorry." He said shortly. It was all he managed to say. Lara got up quickly and went to sit down next to him.
"It's ok." She replied. Harry nodded and got up off the couch, walking to his room and closing the door with a soft click. Lara fell back on the couch, confused and surprised at what had transpired. What the hell?