Chapter 2: Jealousy Blues

A month passed and finally, October came. The sky was cloudy that day. The third to seventh year students gathered at the castle entrance for their first Hogsmeade visit for the year. After Mr. Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker who actually despises students who breaks school rules, checked a long list of names of students who are allowed to visit the village, everyone was fetched by carriages pulled by invisible horses, the same carriage they rode on the first day of school.

Finally, they arrived at Hogsmeade. The excited third year students went to Honeydukes, the very famous sweet shop in the village, and a couple of 5th years in Dervish and Banges. Harry, Ron and Hermione went to Honeydukes first, of course, together w/ Seamus, Dean, Neville, Lavender, Ginny and Parvati.

The sweet shop is packed with Hogwarts students, mostly of third years. Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly helped theselves with all the sweets. Seamus and Dean bought a lot of Pepper Imps. Neville accidentally knocked off a pile of boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and became the center of attention for a while. Ginny quickly ate her strawberry filled chocoballs after paying for it at the counter. Parvati bought a piece of Sugar Quill for herself only and Lavender carried loads of boxes of Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs and Stawberry filled Chocoballs.

After Honeydukes, the friends decided to go to The Three Broomsticks. Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking ahead of Seamus, Dean, Neville , Ginny and Parvati, who were already having a bit of a taste of the sweets they bought. Lavender on the other hand, couldn't keep up w/ her friends because of the boxes of sweets she was carrying. She was having a hard time to carry everything that she had to stop every now and then to keep the boxes from falling off. As she was walking her way towards the Three Broomsticks, with the pile of boxes covering half of her face, a familiar voice offered her some help.

"Lavender, need some help with those?" a friendly yet cold voice said. Lavender looked at her right side and surprisingly, she saw Draco, who was smiling from ear to ear at her.

Now Lavender knew that Draco has a little crush on her. It was completely obvious that Draco was starting to make a move on her.

"Uh...." was all Lavender could say. She never expected the meanest person in school offering her some help with a couple of boxes.

"Surely, you need some help" Draco said grinning broadly. He tried to reach for the topmost box but Lavender hurriedly spoke.

"No.....no thanks, I can do it by myslef." Lavender said in a hurried tone with a little bit of awkwardness in her voice. She started walking again but unfortunately, Draco blocked her way.

"Come on now, I wanna help........really." Draco said to Lavender as he got 5 boxes from Lavender's now tired and sore arms.

"Fine..." Lavender said flatly as she carried the remaining 5 boxes and continued walking toward the Three Broomsticks.

"So...where are you headed?" Draco said casually.

"At the Three Broomsticks." Lavender said awkwardly. She's not really used to be talking normally to someone she really doesn't like especially that it is Draco.

"I see. Don't tell me that these sweets are all for you." Draco said casually again.

"Of course not. They're for my sister." Lavender said without even glancing a bit at Draco.

"Oh...."

Finally, Lavender and Draco arrived in front of the Three Broomsticks. As they entered, Lavender walked faster looking for Harry and the others. Her looking didn't take long. Harry and the others were already seated and were drinking butterbeer when Lavender approached them.

"Hey....sorry for being late...." Lavender said as she put down the boxes on the floor.

"Where have you been?" Parvati asked curiously.

"Ah.....somewhere..." Lavender answered

After a while, a familar face appeared behind Lavender. It was Draco, who was still carrying Lavender's box of sweets.

"Where shall I put this Lavender?" Draco said casually again.

Harry and the others stared menacingly at Draco. Ron, who was about to swallow a piece of cream fudge cookie, coughed when he saw his pale-faced enemy.

"Just there..." Lavender said as she pointed at the place where she put down her boxes. Draco immediately placed the boxes down.

"Well....I'll just see you around..." Draco said to Lavender w/ a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah........T-thanks..." Lavender said awkwardly as if she had second thoughts on saying it.

Draco left. Everyone at the table stared at Lavender as she sat down beside Parvati.

"What was that?" Parvati said irritably to Lavender.

"What are you talking about?" Lavender answered as if nothing happened.

"You know what we're talking about, Lavender.!" Dean said.

"Why were you with Draco?" Hermione asked curiously. "And why was he carrying the stuff you bought at Honeydukes?"

"Well....." Lavender stopped. She was trying to put into words what happened.

"Well...I was having a hard time carrying the lot. He saw me and.....and...offered some help."

"And you actually accepted it!" Ron said sourly.

"How could you?! Neville said shocked.

"Well....I didn't have any choice!" Lavender answered back.

"What do you mean you didn't have any choice? You should have had second thoughts at least!" Ron said angrily.

"I did, Ron!"

"Well why didn't you say NO instead?!"

"Because it would be so rude if I turned him down especially that it's only the first time he offered something from me!"

"He's our enemy, Lavender! Everyone hates him. At least you should know that!"

"I know that, Ron!"

"Then why didn't you refuse?!"

"I told you already! I didn't want to be rude to him. And besides, why would I turn down a nice offer?"

"NICE? He wasn't being nice, he's just trying to show off!"

"You don't even know that!"

Harry and the others couldn't stop Ron and Lavender from arguing. They were like gunfire shooting rapidly.

"Of course I do! He's trying to show off 'cause he likes you! and besides you should've asked some help from us instead." Ron argued.

"Why is it a big deal to you?" Lavender said angrily.

"Because you shouldn't be associating w/ him!"

"And why is that?!"

Finally, Hermione was able to control the heating argument.

"Hey....c'mon, stop it!" Hermione said as she looked at Ron and Lavender.

"Thanks a lot Hermione." Harry said relieved.

After staying at the Three Broomsticks, The friends decided to split up to give Ron and Lavender some---.....well......space. Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to visit Zonko's joke shop while Seamus, Neville, Lavender, Ginny and Parvati were at the Dervish and Banges. Dean stayed behind at the Three Broomsticks 'cause he was going to meet with Padma there.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ZONKO'S JOKE SHOP

At Zonko's, Harry, Ron and Hermione were greeted by non other than the Weasley twins, Fred and George.

"Hey there you three!" George said as he approached them near the Dungbombs stall. Fred followed.

"Fred! George! How're you?" Harry asked.

"We're fine. We definitely love it here!" Fred said cheerfully.

"Yeah......'Been taking some stuff while the owner isn't looking. He's easy to be tricked, really." George said.

"What? You're shoplifting?" Hermione said surprised. "And to think that you work here...."

"No we're not!" Fred said trying to defend himself and George. "We we're just.....checking if it works well...."

"Yeah Right..." Hermione said sarcastically.

"So, How's 6th year?" Fred asked

"Fine. The same as last year..." Harry answered

Harry and Fred talked for a while. George, on the other hand, kept his eyes focused on Ron.

"What's the matter Ron?" George asked

"Oh him...don't mind him. He's in a bad mood..." Ginny answered

"Bad mood? Awww....our little brother is in a bad mood Fred, shall we cheer him up?" George said tauntingly.

"Shut up George!" Ron said still with anger in his voice.

"What's got into you?" Fred asked scowling.

"So? Are you guys going to buy something or what?" George said.

Harry and Hermione bought some of the Dungbombs. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't in the mood to buy anything. Fred and George still stared at their brother, trying to figure out what has been bothering him.

After Zonko's, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny decided to go back to their carriages and were brought back to the castle.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Harry, Ron and Hermione hang out at the common room for a while. They were actually waiting for Seamus, Dean, Neville, Parvati and Lavender, who still weren't back from Hogsmeade. Harry and Ron were playing Wizards' Chess on the center table between the two opposite couches near the fireplace wherein Hermione and Ginny sat. Finally, the portrait hole swung open, revealing Seamus, Neville, Parvati and Lavender.

"Hey!" Neville greeted "Cool! Wizards' Chess!" Neville quickly sat on the couch behind Ron and began watching as Ron's queen piece hit Harry's bishop.

"Where's Dean?" Hermione said as she looked around for him.

"Probably at the school grounds, enjoying a little walk with Padma..." Seamus said as he sat beside Neville. Parvati sat beside Seamus and Lavender sat beside Ginny, opposite them.

"I won!" Harry said as he checkmated Ron's queen piece.

"Damn...." Ron whispered.

"That's enough play for me." Harry said as he sat beside Hermione.

"I wanna play! Seamus wanna play wizards' chess?" Neville said as he repaired the broken chess pieces to its original form.

"Alright. But I'm warning you. You'll definitely lose..." Seamus said confidently.

"Hah! Try me!" Neville said as he made his first move.

Ron and Lavender were avoiding each other's eyes. They were still thinking about the heated argument they had at the Three Broomsticks.

Suddenly a tapping noise was heard. Parvati looked at the window and saw a cute white owl tapping furiously at the glass window. It was Lavender's owl, Magenta.

"Hey Lavender, I think Magenta's got something for you."

Lavender walked silently towards the glass window and opened it. She untied a piece of parchment tied on her owl's legs. Lavender caressed Magenta's head for a while and after which, the white owl flew away then out of sight. Lavender closed the window and walked back to the couch where she was seated. She sat down and read the letter silently. It wrote:

Dearest Lavender,

I was just wondering if you're free next Saturday night. I just wanted to invite you for a walk at the school grounds next Saturday night. I always wanted to get to know you more that's why I'm inviting you so that we can have a little chat then. I'm also planning to give you a gift I just bought in a Wizarding shop in France last summer. So, I hope you would come. But if you can't, it's Ok. There's still lots of time. But please do come. I'll meet you at the castle entrance at about 7 pm. I'll be expecting you.

Sincerely, Draco Malfoy

Lavender felt nervous. She didn't know what to do; whether to show the letter to her friends or just keep it to herself. Parvati stared at Lavender for a while then focused her eyes on the piece of parchment clutched on her best friend's hand.

"What does it say?" Parvati said w/o taking her eyes off the parchment.

"Oh....ah....n-nothing." Lavender stuttered. "It's just a letter from my....my sister." she lied quickly.

Hermione looked at Lavender as if she was doubting her.

"Are you sure, Lavender?" Hermione asked.

"Y-yeah...."Lavender said barely.

Hermione stood up and walked in front Lavender.

"Can I see it, then?" Hermione said.

"Ah...well...." Lavender didn't have any choice. She handed the letter to Hermione without even looking at her. Hermione read the letter silently. Her jaw almost dropped when she read that it was from Draco.

"He's inviting you for a walk?" Hermione asked Lavender.

"Yes...but...."

"Can I see?" Parvati grabbed the letter from Hermione and read it. She had the same expression as Hermione's when she finished reading the letter.

"Don't even think about it Lavender..." Parvati said disgusted.

"But--!"

"What's going on?" Harry asked curiously as he looked at Hermione and Parvati.

"You explain, Lavender." Hermione said flatly.

Lavender began to explain the contents of the letter. Harry was shocked, so was Ginny and by the look at Ron's face, he seems to be irritated. Seamus and Neville lost their concentration by hearing this.

"He's asking you out? Talk about desperate!" Seamus said as his pawn piece made a move.

"So, what are you going to do?" Ginny asked Lavender eager to know what her friend has in mind.

"I don't know...." Lavender answered.

"You don't know? you should know what to do! DON'T COME!" Neville said irritably.

"Neville is right Lavender. I mean, we don't know what he's trying to do. It must be a trap or something..." Harry suggested.

"Yeah. Maybe he's using you to get back to us....especially Harry." Hermione said as she went back to her seat.

"Well---"

"Why don't you just go? You wouldn't want to turn down a nice offer right?" Ron interrupted, still with a bit of anger in his tone. Lavender stared irritably at Ron.

"Fine! I'll go!" Lavender said.

"What? Lavender you can't!" Parvati demanded.

"Of course I can! and I will."

"Good for you!" Ron said sarcastically.

"It definitely is." Lavender said sarcastically as well. She stood up and walked towards the spiral staircase leading to the girls' dormitories and out of sight.

"She's mad, I tell you!" Neville said as his knight piece attacked Seamus' pawn.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Ron and Lavender hadn't talk to each other for a week and they didn't want to because they know that they will end up arguing again. Ron became angry at Draco even more. He always curse him whenever he passes by the Gryffindor table during lunch and when he sees him talking to Lavender. Lavender on the other hand, felt angry at Ron because he keeps on making sarcastic comments that isn't very nice when Draco was being talked about even if he deserved it.

At last, Saturday came. They just came back from another Hogsmeade visit. Lavender seems to be having second thoughts at the last minute. She was at the girls dormitory, together with Hermione, Ginny and Parvati, trying to decide whether to come or not.

"You can't back out now" Ginny said.

"Ginny is right Lavender. Now that you already told him that you will come." Parvati said as she sat down on her bed.

"I thought that you were sure about coming? Why are you having second thoughts now?" Hermione asked.

"It's because....."

"Because?"

"Because I don't know what to say to him. I mean, what are we supposed to talk about? He's a Slytherin. We surely have a lot of differences."

"Then why did you tell us that you'll come?" Parvati asked curiously.

"Because..." Lavender had a sudden thought of Ron. "It's Ron. He---"

"Ron? What's my brother got to do with all this?" Ginny said without letting Lavender finish.

"I don't know! The more he argues with me about Draco, the more I wanted to accept Draco's offer." Lavender said sourly.

"Why?" Parvati asked

"Because he's so sarcastic and all. He keeps on bragging about Draco's attitude and he keeps on convincing me how evil he is that's why I shouldn't come with him. I just wanted to show him that I can do things whenever I want to and without someone telling me to."

"So, you mean to say that you agreed to go with Malfoy just because of Ron?" Ginny asked

"Well....maybe.....sort of..."

"Lavender, can I ask you something?" Hermione said earnestly.

"Sure."

"What do you think of.....Ron?"

Lavender stared at Hermione. She never expected her to ask such a thing especially about Ron. Parvati and Ginny began staring at her with slight smiles on their faces.

"Why are you asking me that, Hermione?"

"Well....nothing. You two argue a lot, but it's not that you don't like Ron, right?"

"Well....yeah. It's not that I don't like him. I like him when he doesn't keep on bragging about Draco. He's quite impressive, actually. Being Quidditch keeper and captain and all."

"Oh..."

Parvati and Ginny stared at Lavender with smiles on their faces as if they were able to come up with the perfect conclusion.

"Do you LIKE my brother?" Ginny asked still smiling.

"What?!"

"Like---as in, LIKE. I mean, who knows? You might be hiding something from us, well...are you?" Parvati asked smiling maliciously at her best friend.

"What?!" Lavender said again surprised. "I like Ron as a friend ONLY. It's not what you think it is. Although he's a bit of a pain sometimes..." Lavender said turning a bit pink.

Hermione, Parvati and Ginny started teasing Lavender. Lavender didn't give up explaining to them that Ron is nothing more but a friend to her, well....that's what she says.

Hours passed. The sky outside was turning yellowish-orange as the sun began to set. Soon, the yellowish-orange sky began to fade and was replaced by dark blue, with stars scattered twinkling all over it. It was 6:30 in the evening and Lavender, was preparing herself for that night. She wore a simple light brown long-sleeved top, pedal pushers and a pair of white sneakers. She now wore a purple headband instead of the pink one she usually wears. Hermione, Ginny and Parvati were already at the Great Hall. Soon she left the girls dormitory down to the Gryffindor common Room.

GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM

The common room was not as boisterous as it always have been. It's because some of the students were now at the Great Hall for Dinner. She looked around at the common room for a while and suddenly spotted someone sitting at the couch near the fireplace, staring at her. It was Ron. She had second thoughts on whether to talk to him, or just leave without saying a word. Ron, moved his eyes away from Lavender, frowning. He knows that she'll probably go meet Draco at the entrance by now, but he couldn't help but notice how pretty she is that night, well she's always been, he tought. Lavender suddenly walked towards Ron and spoke in a soft voice.

"Why are you still here? Aren't you supposed to be at the Great Hall by now?" Lavender asked sincerely.

"Yeah. But I'm not hungry." Ron said still avoiding Lavender's eyes.

"Oh...."

There was a long silence. The both of them still felt uncomfortable knowing that they had just been into a huge arguement the past few days. It was Ron who broke the long silence.

"Well....you should be going now. You don't wanna keep Malfoy waiting..." Ron said quite irrtated and soon he stood up and went to the boys' dormitories.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- THE GREAT HALL

As usual, the Great Hall was filled with busy Hogwarts students enjoying their fruitful dinner. At the Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson has been telling her friends about Draco's "date" with Lavender. Everyone knows how much she likes Draco, and the fact that he's going on a date with a girl who just threw pumpkin juice all over her face made her really angry. Unfortunately no one knew about the date, so Pansy told everyone about it----her way. She told the the whole story the other way around.

"Actually, Lavender has been sending letters to Draco all summer. How desperate could she get?" Pansy said disgusted as she ate some of the carrot pudding on her plate.

"Flirt." Blaise said flatly.

"I admit, Draco likes Ms.Goody-two-shoes a bit. But not that much. Lavender is way too obssessed about Draco! In fact, she was the first one who asked Draco out.!" Pansy exaggerated once more. A couple of Slytherin girls who were listening started to feel disgusted of Lavender.

"If only Draco didn't like her, Ms.Goody-goody wouldn't stand a chance!"Pansy said as she finished her carrot pudding. "And to think that she's a Gryffindor....ugh!" she added full of disgust in her tone. The Slytherin girls scowled even more.

"Yeah. We all know that Gryffindors and Slytherins are enemies. Didn't she think of the consequences at least?" Blaise said disgustedly as well.

"Well there's only one thing I have to say about her. If she keeps on bugging Draco--my Draco, then she'll have to suffer the consequences...."Pansy said with an evil grin on her face. Blaise grinned maliciously as well.

Meanwhile at the Gryffindor table, Harry and his friends were talking non-stop about Lavender's so-called date.

"Maybe it wasn't a date after all. Maybe he wants to kidnap Lavender and threaten her into telling the password to our common room so that he and the other Slytherins could destroy our common room with dark magic!" Neville exaggerated. Harry and the others stared at him blankly.

"Well....It was just a thought." Neville said embarassed.

"Well....maybe he's just so-into Lavender that much." Ginny said.

"It's possible. It's quite obvious, though. Lavender is extremely attractive and I doubt that no guy wouldn't like her-- -even Malfoy." Seamus said.

"Do you think it's possible for Lavender to like Draco after this?" Parvati said worriedly.

"I don't even wanna think about it!" Hermione said.

"Well she---"

Harry stopped. He couldn't finish what he was saying. He was somewhat distracted by something ----or better yet, someone. Just across the Gryffindor table, Harry found himself staring at Cho Chang, Ravenclaw's seeker and captain. He felt his insides turn a bit as he continued staring at her.He stared dreamily at her black hair w/c was tied into a ponytail, her small, twinkling eyes, her rosy red cheeks.........In general, he was completely looking at her, admiring every inch of her features. Hermione, who was seated beside him, noticed his weird and sudden silence.

"Harry? Are you Ok?" Hermione asked but Harry seemed not to have heard her.

"Hello?Harry?What are you----"

Hermione just happened to figure out what was going on. She happened to turn and look at what Harry was staring at and to her disappointment it was Cho Chang. She immediately knew that he was looking at her. Hermione looked back at Harry and noticed him blushing. She fell silent as she stared down at her plate, frowning.

"Nice view you've got there Harry!" Dean teased as he motioned the others to look at the Ravenclaw table. Hermione on the other hand, didn't move. She was still frowning at her plate.

"Oooh Cho Chang!" Parvati teased.

"Still looking pretty, what do you think Harry?" Seamus said beaming at him.

"Um....ah.....y-yeah..." Harry said still blushing, as he came back to his senses.

"But the two of you are not even that close...." Neville said. Harry frowned. He didn't want to think about it a single bit.

"You started having a crush on her since third year and up to now, you still do. What does she have that other girls don't?" Dean asked.

"Beauty." Hermione said flatly, still frowning. "I just don't understand why most of the guys admire a girl because of her beauty. What about the others who don't have it? They don't deserve to be unnoticed when they have something to be proud of! They don't deserve to be left alone!" Hermione said angrily as she stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. Harry and the others were surprised.

"What's her problem?" Ginny asked as she continued eating the roast beef on her plate.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Meanwhile on the castle grounds, Draco and Lavender were walking peacefully under the moonlight with a slightly cold wind moving against them. Lavender felt a bit uncomfortable, while Draco treated Lavender as if he'd known her since they were little.

"My father is planning to buy a mansion in France so that we have somewhere to stay at during the summer." Draco said proudly. "How about you? How was your summer? You must have been busy then 'cause you didn't even write back to all the letters I've sent you."

"Well....yeah I was busy." Lavender said quickly. She didn't want to tell him straight to the point that she really had no intentions of answering back to all his letters. "My family and I went to.....to....Germany." she lied.

"Ah...Germany. My father also wanted to buy a mansion there. He's friends with almost all the rich wizards and witches in the whole world. He's been popular with them too." Draco said proudly again, this time with his chin up.

"Oh...." Lavender said as she thought about how conceited Draco was.

There was a long silence. Then Draco cleared his throat and spoke again.

"So, have you already finished your Potions essay?" Draco said as he changed the topic.

"Oh...oh that. No...not yet." Lavender said uncomfortbly.

"I can help you. I admit, I'm really good at it."Draco said conceitedly. "If only Granger isn't too much of a book maniac then I'd be top of the whole 6th year batch."

"Hermione, isn't a book maniac. She just loves to read and study.You don't have to blame her for that." Lavender said as she defended her friend.

"I forgot. She's your friend. Sorry....but still that pathetic little mud.....that pathetic little muggle irritates me." Draco said. He didn't want to call Hermione a mudblood in front of Lavender. "Anyway, why don't you tell me more about yourself...." he added, smiling.

Lavender felt more umcomfortable. She didn't know what to say to Draco, now that she's starting to get irritated of Draco's boastfulness.

Still, they walked together until they have reached the lake. They both decided to sit by the lake, still with the cold wind brushing through their faces. "You feel cold? You can borrow my robe..." Draco said as he removed his robe and placed it over Lavender's back.

"Thanks." Lavender said relieved.

"I want to give something to you." Draco reached something from his pocket. He handed a small, glittery, red box to Lavender. Lavender opened it and to her surprise, it was a Magic dust necklace. She held it with her hand, amazed, as its pendant was filled with purple enchanted dust moving like a spiral orb inside.

"Wow. Thanks..." Lavender said still amazed.

Draco placed the necklace around Lavender's neck. It shined brightly on her chest. Lavender stared at it thinking. She just couldn't believe that she's witnessing Draco's, well, good side.But there must be a reason for that, she thought.

"Uh....Draco....Can....can I ask you something?" Lavender asked stuttering a bit.

"Of course. Anything..."

"Why.....why are you being so nice to me?" Lavender asked seriously.

"Because...."Draco paused as he stared at the lake then soon he looked at Lavender straight in the eyes and said "Because I like you..."

Lavender froze. She never expected Draco to say anything like that, especially to her and knowing that he's mean ,cold and selfish, the idea of Draco being a kind person was a complete joke.

"You can't!" Lavender snapped.

"What? Why can't I?" Draco said surprised.

"Because I'm not in the same level as you are. We are totally different people. And the fact that you are a Slytherin, it's so impossible for you to like a Gryffindor like me." Lavender said trying her best not to say words that could hurt Draco's feelings.

"It doesn't matter! I haven't felt anything like this for a girl before..." Draco said leaning a bit closer to Lavender.

"But Draco, think about it!" Lavender said as sincerely as possible. "You're only being so nice to me, because you like me but you're cursing my friends like hell.....Why don't you just be yourself? Act like the real Draco that everyone knows. Act like the real Draco that I know. I'm not saying that you're mean by nature. Or if you really want to be nice then be nice to my friends as well. Or maybe......or maybe....it would definitely be better to just forget about me....There are a lot of other girls out there....We are way too impossible to happen. " she added.

Draco stared at Lavender for a very long time. Soon, he began to lean closer to her---close enough for him to kiss her. Draco and Lavender's lips were just an inch away from each other away when Lavender turned away. She stood up quickly, shaking a bit.

"I'm so sorry Draco. I appreciate your kindness....the letters, this fancy necklace...." Lavender took a deep breath before continuing. "----it's just that, It's really impossible. I hope you would understand. I''m really sorry..." Lavender removed Draco's robes from her back and gave it back to him. Lavender gently placed her hand on Draco's shoulder and once again thanked him for his kindness. After which, she walked back to the castle. Draco just stood there, not taking his eyes off where Lavender have left. The moonlight shone over his pale face as he stood there, deep in thought about what Lavender said to him.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- It was a beautiful and sunny Tuesday morning. After what happened 3 nights before, Draco hasn't shown any sign of stalking to Lavender since then. Maybe he finally decided to forget about her. Lavender on the other hand, never told anyone about what happened the night when she and Draco went out.

After breakfast, Harry and his friends headed for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom for their DADA class.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS CLASSROOM

Professor Lupin was not in the room yet when Harry and his friends entered. They will have their DADA class with Hufflepuff that day. It's really odd, though. The moment Lavender entered the room, the Hufflepuff students began staring at her, as if she was something weird-looking. They settled themselves down as Professor Lupin entered the room. Still wearing the same worn out robes, he greeted the class with a smile.

"Good Morning class! Today, We will be talking about gargoyles. Now who knows something about them?" Lupin asked still beaming. As expected, Hermione raised her hand before anyone else could. "Yes, Ms.Granger?"

"Gargoyles are weird looking creatures with an average size of wings. Their ears are a bit larger and its skin can be either gray or green depending on how it evolves. It usually lives in old castles and towers."

"Very good, Ms.Granger! 10 points to Gryffindor! Now, I have a chart over here explaining the evolving cycle of gargoyles." Lupin said as he walked towards the blackboard pointing at a chart with his wand. "Who among you can explain the first picture? Let's try....Ms. Brown."

Lavender stood up. The Hufflepuffs started whispering and murmuring again. Harry and the others don't seem to understand why, even Lavender doesn't.

"Please students, Ms. Brown has something to say here.....Continue Ms. Brown...." Lupin said smiling at his student.

"The first picture shows the gargoyle inside its larva. It will take a month before it comes out of it." Lavender said, not minding all the whispers and murmurs around her.

"Very Good Ms.Brown! Another 10 points to Gryffindor. A gargoyle's first stage is it's hatching stage. The larva serves as its egg and after a month, as Ms.Brown said, it will hatch and the baby gargoyle will come out. Who would like to explain the second picture?"

Justin Finch-Fletchley explained the second picture and gained his house 10 points. The third stage was explained by another Hufflepuff named Susan Bones and was awarded another 10 points. The last stage was explained by Dean Thomas who gained 10 house points for Gryffindor as well. After the discussion, Prof. Lupin asked the students to make notes from their book which should be finished at the end of the period. Lavender, who was busy noting important terms from her book, felt a light tap on her shoulder. Lavender turned her back to see Hannah Abbot seated behind her.

"Hannah, what is it?" Lavender asked.

"I just couldn't help it..." Hannah said.

"Help what?"

"Well....I can't believe that you're actually stalking...."

"Who?"

"Draco Malfoy..."

Lavender stared at Hannah Abbot with great disbelief. She never stalked someone in her life and wasn't planning of doing so especially if it is Draco Malfoy. Lavender stared at Hannah thinking. Did she actually knew about their walk by the castle grounds three nights before? If she did, who told her? Those were the questions she wanted to ask Hannah.

:"And you even chose Malfoy over Ron...and after that you started sending him love letters all summer " Hannah added.

"What? That's not true! I never stalked anyone!" Lavender said outraged.

"C'mon Lavender, you can tell me the truth. Although it's really unnatural for a girl to be overly obssessed with a guy....I promise, I will understand. Almost everyone knows, anyway." Hannah said worriedly.

"What are you talking about Hannah? I never---"

"Ms. Brown and Ms. Abbot are you done with your work? I suppose so since the both of you are chatting already..." Lupin said with eyebrows raised.

Lavender shook her head, embarassed and continued her work. She had a hard time concentrating because she was thinking about the stuff Hannah told her. Obssessed? With Draco? That's a complete joke. But Hannah has never joked around in that manner before.

Before the class was dismissed, Prof. Lupin gave them some homework. They were to research about the different types of castle gargoyles.They were going to have a graded recitation about it on Thursday. After DADA, Harry and his friends went to the Great Hall for lunch.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- THE GREAT HALL

Tables were filled with delicious and heavy food. Harry and the others started chatting while they were eating the food on their plates.

"I hate graded recitations...." Seamus said as he sliced a piece of roast beef on his plate.

"C'mon it'll be great.!" Hermione said trying to be optimistic.

"Anyway, Lavender, we have Divination tomorrow! I'm so excited!" Parvati said excitedly.

"Y-yeah...." Lavender said in a quite uneasy tone. She was still thinking about what Hannah said.

"Are you Ok, Lavender?" Pavati asked worriedly.

"It's just that......Hannah told me something...." Lavender said still feeling uncomfortable.

"What about?" Dean asked.

"She told me something about stalking Draco."

"What?Why did she say that?" Ginny asked shocked.

"She said something about me being obssessed with Draco. But I'm not you see....I think that's why everyone stared weirdly at me during Defense Against the Dark Arts. Someone must've been spreading false stories about me to everyone..."

"But who?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Let me think.....who do you think is the person who hates Lavender so much?" Seamus said in a would-be-obvious tone.

"Pansy." Harry said flatly.

Suddenly, Colin Creevy, came walking towards Lavender, with the usual camera held on his hand.

"Hi Lavender! Is it true that you've been going out with Draco? And that you're obssessed with him? Can I take a picture of both of you together?" Colin asked all three questions at the same time. Lavender was so embarassed. Ron was started to get pissed off again. Ginny, who decided to shoo Colin away, asked him nicely.

"Colin, this isn't such a great time to be taking pictures. Now please, if you don't mind we're having lunch here...." Ginny said nicely to Colin.

"Sure Ginny! See you later! Bye Harry!" Colin said as he went back to his seat.

"See? Everyone knows about it already." Lavender said disappointedly.

"Actually...we've been hearing about it too..." Hermione confessed.

"What? Since when?"

"Yesterday. But we didn't mind it at all 'cause we know it definitely is not true." Parvati said

"What happened last Saturday night, anyway? You never told us." Dean asked.

"He didn't happen to tie you up on a chair now did he?" Neville asked seriously.

"No, Neville. We just walked and talked...."

"About what?" Harry asked curiously.

"About.....things...." Lavender said avoiding Ron's eyes.

"Like what?" Dean asked.

"Like........how we spent our summer holidays and stuff...."

"And?" Parvati asked staring blankly at Lavender

"I....I asked him......about....why he's......why he's being so nice and all...." Lavender said with difficulty.

"What did he say?" Ginny asked waiting curiously for Lavender's answer.

"He said he's being nice because..........because......he likes me...."

"Whatever! pale faced freak!" Seamus said angrily.

"Then what?" Neville asked as if he was investigating some crime.

"He gave me a Magic dust necklace.....then he...."

Lavender paused. She didn't know how to explain to her friends Draco's attempt of kissing her.

"Then he what?" Hermione asked.

"Promise me first that you guys won't react so much, no matter what happens...."

Everyone nodded except Ron who was staring at Lavender angrily.

"He....tried to......he tried to kiss me...." Lavender finally said.

"What?!" Dean said shocked.

"That is so gross!" Parvati said shocked as well.

"You kissed him?" Ron said in an obviously irritated tone.

"I didn't kiss him! He just TRIED to." Lavender defended herself.

"What's the difference?!" Ron said angrily. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"I did!"

"How?"

"I turned away from him...."

"How near did he get to you?!"

"Why do you have to ask that, Ron?"

"Why are you reacting so much about it then? Maybe you did kiss him after all."

"No I didn't! You're being so pathetic Ron!"

"I'm not! Maybe you are!"

"Can't you even understand a simple explanation? And besides, why are you reacting so much about it anyway?"

"Because you're my friend..."

"Friend? A friend who doesn't even understand simple explanations such as that? I know that you hate Draco, but why do you keep on arguing with me when it comes to him and me?"

"Why are you asking that?!"

"Because I wanna know. You wouldn't just get angry at me for going out on a date with him. There's got to be a reason. Or maybe you're just jealous of him!"

"Jealous? Don't make me laugh! If there's one last thing I have to do, then that would be liking you which I think would be impossible! You're only attractive because of your new hair style. Let's try cutting it off and see what you'd look like. Probably Dobby the house elf....or even worse!" Ron said with uncontrollable anger in his tone.

Harry and Hermione were shocked. They were the only ones who knew about Ron having a crush on Lavender and to think that Ron had actually said somthing that could hurt Lavender's feelings was really unbelieveable. Seamus and the others were shocked as well.

Lavender stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, teary eyed. She didn't expect Ron to say such a thing. Even Ron was surprised, himself. He couldn't control his temper anymore that's why he was able to say such harsh things to Lavender without realizing he was saying it. 'Great. Nice Move, Ron' he told himself as he frowned at his plate, feeling guilty about what he said to Lavender.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM

At the Gryffindor Common Room that night, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on the couch near the fireplace and discussed all about what happened at the Great Hall during lunch.

"Apologize to her, Ron" Hermione commanded as she put her thick Arithmancy book inside her bag.

"How?" Ron asked sadly.

"Well...give her a letter. Or a present..." Harry suggested.

"Do you think it will work?" Ron asked curiously.

"Maybe.....If you didn't insult her like that then you wouldn't be thinking about ways to apologize to her now." Hermione said looking at Ron with great disappointment.

"I didn't know what I was doing! If only I can tell her that I'm really jealous...."

"Then why didn't you?" Harry said.

"I can't, Harry! It would be obvious."

"Why don't you get some rest and think about it in the morning." Hermione suggested.

"Right! I'm tired, anyway. Goodnight Hermione! See you upstairs Harry..." Ron said as he went up to the boys' dormitories,still a bit sad, and then out of sight.

"Poor, Ron" Hermione said.

"Yeah. If only he hadn't been stupid enough to say such a thing...." Harry said as he wiped the lenses of his glasses.

"Well....the damage has been done. We can't do anything about it now." Hermione said as he stared a Harry for a while.

"I guess you're right. Well, I should be getting some sleep now. I have to get up at 5am" Harry said as he looked at his watch.

"Why so early?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Oh I actually forgot to tell you, didn't I? Well....Cho...Cho and I decided to practice Quidditch together" Harry said blushing.

"Really? How come?" Hermione said a bit disappointed.

"I.....I finally had the courage to ask her, and luckily she agreed! Seamus gave me some advice. I'm quite nervous about it really. " Harry said blushing even more.

"Oh......That's...nice...." Hermione said as she avoided Harry's eyes. Since the moment she realized that she feels something more than friendship for Harry, she started to feel uncomfortable whenever Harry talks about Cho. Eversince, she knew that Harry has a crush on Cho and the thought of it now, really made her hopeless. Cho is attractive---very attractive and Hermione thinks that she wouldn't even stand a chance.

Harry noticed Hermione's silence and decided to break it himself.

"Hermione, are you Ok?" Harry asked sincerely.

"Oh...y-yeah....I am." Hermione said quickly.

"Maybe you're just tired. You better get some rest now." Harry said worriedly to Hermione.

"Yeah....maybe I should." Hermione stood up and grabbed her bag from the center table. "Well....Goodnight.... and oh.....have fun w/ Cho..." Hermione said with a faint smile on her face.

"Thanks. Goodnight..." Harry said as he gave Hermione a huge smile and went upstairs to the boys' dormitories.

Hermione walked up the spiral staircase, thinking. 'Did I just tell Harry to have fun with Cho? I can't believe I said that!' she thought feeling disappointed. She thought of all the moments he had spent with Harry. She couldn't help but smile, thinking about all of it. But a sudden image of Harry and Cho together started to fill her mind. She tried to compare the way Harry treats her and the way he treats Cho. As she reached the door of the room, she finally had a conclusion. She is definitely JUST a friend to Harry.

End of Chapter 2

Whew! I'm still working on the third chapter. I'd be posting it here soon!