Hey Everyone!! I'm not sure if anyone even read the last chapter yet, because I didn't get any reviews (except from two people… thank you Greek Mione and Spiral Digger!!) *cough cough, hint hint, nudge nudge* Okay, I'm done with my little hints now. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Enjoy, and please review at the end!!

~Chapter Ten~

Kylee awoke to find that she was more tired than when she went to bed, tired and frustrated. For the last week she had been completely tense due to frustration and lack of sleep. The frustration came from the fact that Harry had been avoiding her. Ever since the kiss, he has been taking extra careful measures to make sure that he didn't "bump" into her. He got up early and went to the Great Hall before she was awake so that he could eat and leave before she got there. He hid out in the halls so she couldn't catch him between classes. In the classes he did have with her he would arrive right as the bell rang so she wouldn't be able to talk to him and then he would be the first out the door so that he could lose her in the crowd. It was really very frustrating. The lack of sleep came from the dreams she had been having. Surprisingly, they were not the dreams that she usually had. Each night she had a dream about Harry. Her mind wandered as she remembered the dream from last night.

~Harry was just about to make a beeline for his classroom when she caught his arm. He looked at her in defeat as she told him that he had been avoiding her. They stepped off to the side of the hallway to talk. "Harry, why have you been avoiding me?" "What do you mean? I have not been avoiding you," he replied while trying not to look at her. "Please, just tell me what's wrong. Why won't you talk to me? What did I do," she asked in exasperation. "You didn't do anything. It's me; it was my fault for letting it happen. The kiss was all one big mistake. I was avoiding you to keep from telling you that because I didn't want to hurt you, but you're very persistent. So, now you know. You can stop following me around now." After he was finished he turned around and walked away, leaving her standing there shocked. She tried to call out to him but she found that she couldn't speak, she couldn't use her voice.~

Kylee shuddered slightly as she remembered the dream. Though she didn't think Harry would say something that harsh, the dream represented what she was afraid was going to happen. Ever since that day all she could think about was the fact that Harry was avoiding her and there had to be a reason. She had to talk to him, but how? Then something dawned on her. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before," she said while smacking her forehead and jumping out of bed. She quickly dressed, brushed her hair, and grabbed her bag before running out of the dormitory and leaving the common room without slowing down. She quickly made her way down towards the Great Hall while mumbling to herself.

If Harry gets up early to eat and then leaves before I get there, then he has to go somewhere for the rest of breakfast. He doesn't go to library, because I've checked. I've checked all possible places, all except one. It's so simple, I just can't believe I haven't thought of it till now. Where else would he go other than the Room of Requirement?

Kylee walked right past the Great Hall and quickly stepped behind the tapestry thinking of the room. She opened the door as soon as it appeared and walked in. When she looked up and saw that Harry was there she gave a sigh of relief.

"Harry, I'm so glad I finally found you. Why have you been avoiding me? I've been trying to talk to you ever since…you know," she said while walking over to him and sitting down next to him.

"You have? I've been in here every morning. I thought that if I went in here you would come after me since this is our meeting spot. When you didn't come the first morning, I thought that you regretted the kiss and you didn't want to talk to me, so I avoided you."

"Oh! I know this may sound stupid, but I didn't even think of the possibility that you could be in here until this morning. I was afraid that you regretted the kiss because you've been avoiding me! But, I guess we were both wrong. So…You don't regret kissing me," she asked while looking at him tentatively.

"Of course not…. It's just--"

"What? What is it?"

"Well, everyone that I get close to dies. I don't want to put you in danger," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Harry! None of those deaths were your fault! And to me, you're worth me putting myself in danger."

"Don't say that… I'm not worth it--"

"Yes you are. What am I supposed to do? Hide away and never get near you? I would rather put myself into danger than live my life without you. You're the closest friend I have ever had, and now we can be more than friends. We can have a stronger relationship than anyone else could, and you want me to pass up the chance. Well, I won't do it! Some things are worth doing, no matter what the consequences."

"You really mean--"

Harry was cut off in the middle of his sentence as Kylee closed the remaining space between them and placed her lips over his in a fierce kiss.

"Does…that…answer your question," she said, a little breathless due to the length of the kiss and the rapid fluttering of her heart.

"Yeah," he replied while leaning in for another, gentler kiss.

When Harry pulled back and ended the kiss he looked at Kylee. God, she's beautiful, he thought. Kylee looked back at him and smiled.

He has the greenest eyes I have ever seen. When he looks at me like that I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of crystal green…

"So…um, do you, er, wannabemygirlfriend," Harry asked while saying the last part quickly as one word.

"What?"

"I, er, asked if you want to be my, um, girlfriend," Harry said while turning a flattering shade of red.

"Oh," she said while smiling at the severity of his blush, "Of course I want to be your girlfriend."

"Um, great! You know the first Hogsmeade trip is, er, coming up---"

"I'd love to be your date for the Hogsmeade trip," she said, not waiting for him to finish what he was saying.

"Oh, good….Well, we have Defense next and we should probably get going. We have twenty minutes to get there," Harry said after looking at his watch and standing.

"Oh, yeah. Hmm, you must be a bad influence on me because I never used to completely forget things like going to class," she teased, loving how easy it was to make him blush. "You know I'm just kidding, right?"

"Oh, er, yeah…of course," he replied while heading out the door.

When they emerged from behind the tapestry they were met with the site of the majority of the students in the school making their way out of the Great Hall to get to class. Luckily no one saw them come from behind the tapestry. They made their way into the crowd in order to go to their own class. Kylee noticed many students, mainly Slytherins and Gryffindors, giving them strange looks for walking so close together. She glanced over at Harry and saw that he was trying to avoid the looks they were getting.

Well, obviously no one has anything better to do than stare at us, so lets give them something to stare at, she thought.

She reached over and grasped Harry's hand in hers. She immediately heard several gasps from people in the crowd…and Harry.

Good Lord, I hope I don't give him a heart attack. I've noticed he doesn't really like all the attention he gets, but those pricks don't have anything better to do other than nose into our business. Ugh, I can't stand nosy people!

"Kylee…What are you doing," Harry whispered.

"I happen to be minding my own business and holding my boyfriends hand, which, last time I checked, is permissible to do without getting stared at by a bunch of people," she stated loud enough for everyone to hear while staring pointedly at a few less subtle observers. "I really hope you don't mind, Harry. It's just these people are getting on my nerves. If they're going to stare then we might as well give them something to stare at," she whispered, low enough so only Harry could hear.

"Oh, well…I think it's about time that I need to show everyone that I can do something without having their approval," He whispered back.

"Hmmm, Now who's rubbing off on who," she asked while giving him a devious grin.

"It can go both ways," he replied while leaning down and placing a quick, but tender kiss on her lips.

Kylee was most definitely shocked, but in a good way.

Well! I think I might be a bad influence on him. Hmmm…no, I think it's good for him to come out of his shell for once. Humph, If I had known that kissing him was all it would take, I would have done it a lot sooner! Well, ok…technically it was him who kissed me first; but that's not the point!

"My, my…what has come over you, Mr. Potter," she asked while gracing him with another grin.

Harry seemed to think for a minute before he said, "You…your carefree disposition is quite contagious."

"Well, it's a good thing I already have it," she replied as they reached the Defense classroom.

A third of the students were already there, including Draco and Meridith. They had been talking in the back corner of the room, but that was until Draco saw a certain lovely Slytherin walk in holding hands with his most despised enemy…who just happened to also be a Gryffindor. Even Professor Lupin looked a little shocked, but that soon turned into a look of happiness that was caused by him knowing Harry had finally found someone. Kylee just stared at all of them as if daring them to say something about this highly unusual sight. Her and Harry walked over to her usual spot near the middle of the room, her favorite place to sit, and she plopped down in her seat while letting go of his hand. She looked up at him.

"Where are you going to sit," she asked.

"Well, it just happens to be a win-win situation. You see; I can sit right here beside you and save these two seats for Ron and Hermione. That way I can sit next to all of my favorite people," he said while putting his bag in one seat and one of his books in the other before plopping down in the seat next to her.

"Ah, I love it when you show your intelligence," she said, smiling at him.

"What? You mean Potter actually has intelligence?! And all this time I thought that inflated skull of his was empty," taunted a familiar drawling voice.

"Drrraaaacccccoooo," she said while he ignored her.

"Why don't you just go away, Malfoy," Harry said while standing up. She could see his muscles tensing up.

"Oh, is that all you can think of to say? Seems like I had the right idea about your level of intelligence. What is it, negative one," Draco sneered.

"Will you guys stop," she asked while once again being ignored.

"I said Sod off, Malfoy," Harry ground out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'm so scared. Did somebody actually start acting like a Gryffindor now that he has a Slytherin on his side," Draco taunted again.

"HEY," she shouted, jumping out of her seat just as Harry looked like he was losing control of his temper. "Well, I'm glad something got your attention. Now will you please shut up? I mean both of you," she said as Harry started to open his mouth. "I'm not on one certain side. I like both of you. Draco, stop trying to bait Harry, it's so childish. Harry, stop getting so riled up that's exactly what he wants you to do. My God, what is this? Sometimes it feels like I'm dealing with two first years, not sixth years," she said exasperatedly while throwing her hands in the air for emphasis. "Do you two ever give it a rest? I mean, you've been going at it for six years, don't you think that's a bit long? Would you at least try to act civil towards each other when you're in front of me?"

As she finished she looked at both of them pointedly as if waiting for them to do something. They seemed to be in shock over her little outburst, but she was just sick of all the bickering. Of course, it was Draco who recovered first.

"Fine," he snapped and walked back to his seat.

"The shows over people," she snapped as she realized that a lot of people were still staring at her and Harry (who was now sitting in his seat trying not to bring forth her wrath once agian).

"Alright, I would really appreciate it if you would all look this way so I can start class," Professor Lupin said and waited for everyone to turn to face him. "Good, now today we're going to be learning about a few dangerous creatures. You may have learned about some of these before, but, seeing as you had a less than satisfactory teacher last year, we are going to be reviewing at the same time. Now, who knows what a Dugbog is?"

As usual, Hermione was the first with her hand up in the air, but Dean Thomas also raised his hand. If anyone looked shocked that someone other than Hermione had raised their hand in the first place, they were further shocked when Professor Lupin called on Dean.

"Yes, Dean. Why don't you tell us what the Dugbog is," Professor Lupin said while giving him an encouraging smile.

"Well, it's a creature that resembles a piece of wood or a log, but actually has a head and claws," he stopped for a moment while he tried to remember more about the creature, "And it will attack the ankles of humans if they get too close."

"Very good, ten points to Gryffindor. They can be found in the marshes of Europe, North America, and South America. I managed to get my hands on one so that you could see for yourself what they look like."

Professor Lupin walked back behind his desk and bent down out of view. When he came up again he was holding an aquarium that had, from what they could tell, a very angry looking log in it.

"This little guy tried to maul me when I purchased him from a trader. As you can see he is most definitely not happy about being in this cage. Now, can anyone tell me what they prefer as food," he asked as he set the cage on a table near the front of the room. "Hermione…"

"Their favorite food is the mandrake. They eat the mandrake and leave the leaves on top so it looks as if the plant is still there," she said with a smug air as if trying to redeem herself for not being the one to answer the last question.

"Correct, another ten points to Gryffindor. Now, this next part you should be taking notes on."

The rest of the class went well. They spent the rest of the period learning about Dugbogs and spells you can use to deflect them from harming you. After Defense Kylee had double Advanced Ancient Runes with the Ravenclaws. She was one, of three, sixth year Slytherins in the class. The rest of the class consisted of a few Ravenclaw sixth years, and the seventh year Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Harry walked part of the way with her before they had to say goodbye so he could get to his class.

"Kylee, I'm sorry about the 'little' argument with Malfoy. He just grates on the nerves and makes want to pummel him," Harry said while looking sincerely sorry.

"I know, it's alright. I know how he can be, but once you get to know him he's really not all that bad sometimes. Just, will you please try not to pummel him most of the time?"

"I suppose I can try, but I'm not promising anything," he replied while giving her a quick kiss and walking into his classroom.

Kylee managed to make it to her Runes class right before the bell rang. The class was going pretty well, they went over some runes that she had learned about last year at her old school. Then the rune of friendship came up. She immediately though of Jess.

Our love of runes was one of the many things we held in common. This was her favorite rune. I hope she can forgive me for moving on. I hope she knows that her death really effected me. But Harry helped me through all that…now I'm able to just remember the good times we had together while she was still with me. All the pranks we used to pull on her brother…

With a small smile still on her lips she came back to reality when the bell rang and the Professor yelled that they needed one page on the rune of friendship. She gathered her things and made to run out the door so she could talk to Harry for a minute before she went to the library but, unfortunately, the Professor called her back.

"Yes Professor?"

"I noticed you were a little distracted by the end of class, is everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah everything's fine. The friendship rune just brought back memories of one of my old friends. It was her favorite rune and when we started talking about it I just kind of got lost in the memories."

"Well, do pay attention from now on. This is an Advanced level class."

"I know, I will," Kylee replied while turning around and finally making it out the door.

Well, now I definitely don't have time to meet Harry. I'll just have to see him at dinner. He's probably in the Great Hall already anyways.

Normally she would see him at lunch, but she needed to go to the library to look up some information and get a few books for an assignment she had in Charms.

It's finally time for dinner! Ugh, I think History of Magic is the most boring subject ever. I know it's only an hour and a half long, but it seems like it's at least double that amount of time. Then he gave us a three foot essay to write.

She entered the Great Hall a little late. She had gone right to the Common Room after classes to get her homework out of the way. That way she would get to spend the time after dinner with Harry, and he could spend the time before dinner with his friends. Ron and Hermione didn't approve of, or trust, her. Why? Because she was a Slytherin, and partial friends with Draco Malfoy. They just automatically thought her to be a slimy Slytherin. They wouldn't even give her a chance. So, they definitely couldn't all spend time together and get along. She just went over and sat in her usual seat across from Meridith. Dinner was going by fairly quiet because Draco was still being snappy over her reprimand this morning.

"Draco, will you please stop sulking? Your even putting me in depressed mood," she replied teasingly, trying to get him to talk to her.

"---"

"Draco…Come on, you know I didn't choose sides. I yelled at both of you equally."

"---"

" Ugh! Fine," she snapped, "If you're going to be this way about it then I'll just leave."

She stormed out of the Great Hall and right out the door of the Entrance Hall, but stopped on the stairs of the castle. She took a deep breath and sighed while turning her head towards the sky to look at the stars.

They're so beautiful and peaceful…they're in their own world.

"Kylee…," she heard her name whispered and looked behind her to see Harry standing there.

"Shhh…look at the stars. Aren't they beautiful tonight?"

"Yeah, they are," Harry replied while closing the remaining space between them and wrapping his arms around her waist.

She pulled his arms tighter around her and leaned into the embrace. She didn't know how long they stood there like that, silently gazing at the stars. After a while Harry stirred and looked at his watch.

"Hey," he whispered in her ear. "It's getting late, we should go to our dorms."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

They walked inside, lightly grasping each other's hands. When they reached their parting place, the stairs, they stood there for a moment before Harry leaned in and lightly kissed her on the lips.

"Goodnight," he whispered in her ear before turning and walking up the stairs.

"Goodnight," she whispered back, not even sure if he could hear her.

When she returned to the Common Room she found it nearly empty. She walked up to her dorm and fell into bed, not even bothering to undress.

Author's Notes:

Hey everyone…whew, it took me awhile to write all that! It's my longest chapter yet! Aren't you proud of me? After days of trying to finish it…I did! Yay! I hope you all enjoyed it….please write a review and tell me what you think of the story, the plot line, my writing, whatever….just no flames please! Well, this chapter had a bit of fluff in it, but, we all need some fluffy moments every now and then! Well, what are you waiting for? Review! ~Kala