Authors Note- Before I continue, I have had a lot of criticism about the following part of the story. I would just like to point out that the following section is NOT a Final Fantasy fan fiction. I'm merely just using the Final Fantasy names because my friend likes them so please don't think of them as Final fantasy characters at all. Thanks.

Rinoa awoke with a start. She had just had the strangest dream. But as she struggled to remember it, it slipped from her mind like sand through her fingers.

'Damn,' she muttered. She looked over at her alarm clock. It was 5.30. Too early to get up, but too late to get much more sleep. She closed her eyes and tried to remember anything she could about her dream. She could hear her brother snoring softly in the next room. Well, her foster brother, Vincent although they were as good as actual siblings, and argued enough to prove it. But Rinoa and Vincent got on well, they mainly just argued to vent their stress on one another. And having a brother had its advantages, like their cute friends! Rinoa smiled as she thought about Tidus, and the thought that she would be seeing him later on that day. This happy thought soothed Rinoa back into sleep, and it felt just a minute later that her alarm clock was buzzing in her ear. As usual, Rinoa turned over and switched her clock off, and as usual, five minutes later Lulu opened Rinoa's door and said loudly,

'Breakfast's ready!'

Rinoa hauled herself sleepily out of bed, rubbed her eyes, and followed her foster mother down the stairs. Vincent and Wakka were already sitting at the table, shoveling cereal.

'Have you looked outside yet, Rinoa?' Vincent asked with his mouth full.

'No,' Rinoa said. She went over to the window, and gasped. Everything was covered with a blanket of white. The houses looked like they were made out of chocolate, and had had icing sugar sprinkled over them. 'Wow!' Rinoa exclaimed. It was beautiful. She couldn't remember the last time there had been snow in their area.

'I'm just going to call the school to see if it's been cancelled,' Wakka said. Wakka was Rinoa and Vincent's foster father. Lulu and Wakka couldn't have children of their own, so they fostered, and Rinoa and Vincent knew the couldn't be more loved.

'Ohh, I hope so,' Rinoa said. But a small part of her hoped not, then she wouldn't be able to see Tidus that day.

Wakka picked up the phone, and made the call.

'Good news guys,' he said when he'd hung up. 'The heating's broken, you've got the day off, ya!'

'Yes!!!' Rinoa and Vincent said, looking at one another and high-fiving.

'So what we going to do?' Vincent asked.

'Maybe you should ring your friends, make sure they all know not to go in,' Lulu suggested, while buttering toast.

'I don't know, it might be quite funny to see if Paine goes in and finds no one's at school,' Vincent grinned. Paine was Rinoa's best friend.

'Oh you wouldn't really do that to her,' Rinoa said, smiling. Vincent and Paine were going out.

'Nah. Well, shall we ring her first then?' As they had two phones in their house, and Vincent and Rinoa shared the same friends, they could both speak to them at the same time.

'Yeah, alright,' Rinoa said. She felt a fluttering of butterflies in her stomach; Vincent would probably want to call Tidus.

'Well I'll dial, you go grab the extension,' Vincent said.

'Why don't you go get the extension, you've finished you're cereal, I've still got to eat mine,' Rinoa pointed out.

'Yes, but I've got to let my food go down, I might get indigestion if I get up,' Vincent said theatrically.

'Fine,' Rinoa sighed. She walked upstairs and grabbed the phone, which sat on a table in the landing. Vincent had already dialed and he was asking Paine's Mum to get her. There was a long silence.

'Where the hell is she?' Vincent asked.

'Probably still asleep,' Rinoa sighed.

'Hello,' they heard the sleepy voice of Paine.

'Hi!' Rinoa and Vincent said at the same time.

'Hi guys,' Paine said. 'What's up?'

'Guess what?' Vincent asked excitedly.

'What?' Paine asked.

'We don't have to go to school today!' he exclaimed.

'Really?' Paine asked. 'How come?'

'Have you even looked outside yet?' Rinoa asked.

'No, I just got up,' Paine said. 'Why?'

'It's snowing!' Rinoa said happily.

'Really? Wow!' Paine said, suddenly chirping up.

'The boilers are busted so school's cancelled!' Vincent said happily.

'Great!' Paine said. 'So what are we going to do today then?'

'Well...we hadn't thought of anything...it's kinda cold to do anything,' Vincent said.

'Not if we wrap up warm,' Paine said. 'Why don't we go to the park?'

'Hey, good idea,' Rinoa said. Perhaps if they all went out as a group, Vincent would invite Tidus.

'That's a good idea,' Vincent said. 'But could we arrange to meet a bit later, I want to back to bed for a few hours.'

'Typical,' Paine tutted.

'Well, I bet you wouldn't mind going with him,' Rinoa teased.

'Oh please,' Paine said, sounding embarrassed. 'So, shall we invite Tidus then Rinoa?'

'Um...I dunno, I guess it's up to Vincent,' Rinoa said nervously. Paine was the only one who knew about Rinoa's feelings for Tidus, not even Vincent knew, and Rinoa knew Paine was making a dig at her. 'In fact, I think we might call him now.'

'Right, fine,' Paine said. 'Meet in the park at one?'

'Yeah, see you then,' Rinoa said.

'Love you,' Vincent said.

'Love you too. Bye Rinoa,' Paine said before hanging up.

So next, they called Tidus.

Harry was sitting alone in the dark, and he had no idea where Claire was. But this was no dream. He remembered the last time he'd seen her. It was that fateful night; she'd come back to the dormitory when everyone else but Harry had gone back to bed. Harry had stayed up, worried about her and waiting for her to come back. Eventually, when his eyes were about to close, she came back. She was with Snape, and she said she went up to her dormitory. When she came back, she had a suitcase.

'Claire, what's going on?' Harry asked.

'I'm sorry Harry,' Claire said. She had tears in her eyes. 'I'll never forget you.'

'What? Claire, what's going on? Where are you going...Claire..?' But before Harry could answer, Snape had dragged Claire out of the common room. Harry rushed after them, but they were gone.

'Claire!' He called down the corridor. 'CLAIRE!!!'

That was the last time he'd seen her. She hadn't come back. Harry felt like a part of him had been ripped out of his body. He was so confused and upset, he had just reached the height of his relationship with Claire, and she had just been taken from him, and he could not think why. He felt so lost. Not only had he slept with Claire, but also he had formed a tight bond with her and he felt like he'd lost one of his closest friends. He couldn't believe this had happened to him again. He had lost yet another person he had allowed himself to get close to, who was going to be next? He had thought things were bad the morning he had woken up after he and Claire had slept together and she had gone, but at least she had been around so he could have sorted things out with her. But now she was gone, and there was nothing he could do. No one seemed to be willing to tell Harry where Claire had gone, or give him any reason for why she'd gone. Every day seemed to get longer than the last. Ron and Hermione were getting worried about Harry, because he was being so quiet. They both also missed Claire, but neither of them had become so withdrawn as Harry. It was like he had lost his spirit.

Rinoa and Vincent were at the park with Paine, Rikku and her boyfriend Zell, Selphie and her boyfriend Irvine and Yuffie and her boyfriend Kimhari. There were all messing about in the snow, throwing snowballs at one another and Zell had started building a snowman, they were just waiting for Tidus now. Rinoa was wearing a warm white coat and matching pink gloves and scarf, and looked pretty with the falling snowflakes in her hair. She couldn't wait to see Tidus. And suddenly there he was, walking through the snow, leaving a trail of footprints behind him. Rinoa's heart skipped a beat.

'Hi guys!' he said, waving.

'Hey Tidus!' Vincent said, dropping the snowball he had been making, and one promptly hit him in the back of the head. He turned around and started lobbing snow back. Tidus walked over to Rinoa.

'Hey,' he smiled. Rinoa always felt a little awkward with Tidus when they were in a group. They were all coupled up, Rinoa and Tidus were the only two left over. It was like there was something binding them together.

'It's great we don't have school today,' Tidus said.

'Yeah,' Rinoa agreed.

'Why don't we help Zell with his snowman?' Tidus suggested.

'Okay!' Rinoa agreed. But as they were walking over to him, an ill-aimed snowball hit Rinoa. In retaliation Tidus grabbed a handful of snow and threw it back. And so they were drawn into the fight.

Later on, when the day was getting late, and Rikku, Zell, Irvine, Yuffie and Kimhari had gone round to the fish and chip shop to buy some food. The others were all talking and messing about in the snow. Rinoa was just hoping that the others would get back soon with the food, when Tidus pulled her to one side, into the trees.

'Hey,' he smiled.

'Hey Tidus, what's up?' Rinoa asked, a little flustered by being pulled so close to him.

'Just wanted to talk,' Tidus shrugged. 'Let's go over to the play area,' he suggested.

'Okay,' she said. She felt the flutter of butterflies in her stomach at the thought of being alone with Tidus. They walked over to the children's play area, and sat down on the swings.

'So, what did you want to talk about?' Rinoa asked.

'I dunno,' Tidus said, lowering his eyes to the ground. 'Well, actually, I do know.' He looked back up at Rinoa. She felt his gaze on her. 'Rinoa, when we first met, we were all just friends. But then Zell and Rikku started going out, then Kimhari and Yuffie, then Irvine and Selphie, and then Paine and Vincent. So now it's just us two left.'

'Yeah...' Rinoa agreed.

'Well, don't you think that means anything?' Tidus asked.

'That we hang out with a lot of people who can't get boyfriends or girlfriends outside of their friendship group?' Rinoa asked jokingly.

'No,' Tidus laughed. 'Although that seems quite true. When Vincent invited me round for the first time, and he introduced me to you, I liked you straight away. You were so sweet and pretty. I thought about asking you out for a long time, but I never quite plucked up the courage. And then our friends all started going out around us, and nothing sort of ever happened.'

Rinoa didn't know what to say.

'I guess what I'm saying is,' Tidus said, walking around in front of Rinoa and taking the chains that supported her swing in him hands. 'Maybe I should have taken my chances. Because it just seems like we're meant to be together.'

Rinoa looked into his bright blue eyes and suddenly it felt like they were suspended in space and time. They were suddenly both lost in the moment. Rinoa felt like she was floating, and she tried to bring herself down, back to the real world, but she couldn't. She could feel Tidus wrapping his strong arms around her, and she gently placed her hands on his chest. Rinoa closed her eyes as Tidus got closer to her...

'Hey guys!' they heard a loud voice behind them. Tidus jumped and pulled away. Coming up behind them was and Rikku, Zell, Irvine, Yuffie and Kimhari. Luckily, they were too far away to have seen when Tidus and Rinoa were doing, although a few of them probably could have guessed.

'Where are Vincent, Paine and Selphie? We've got the food,' Rikku said, as they got closer.

'Oh, they're just through those trees,' Tidus said awkwardly, unable to meet Rinoa's eye.

'Well go and get them Zell,' Rikku told him. 'We can sit on the swings and eat.'

Zell went and got Vincent, Paine and Selphie. When they got back they all found places to sit and eat, the boys let Rikku, Rinoa, Yuffie and Paine sit on the swings. Irvine and Selphie sat down on either end of the seesaw, and the rest sat down on the climbing frame. They all sat eating their chips, talking and laughing. Rinoa kept feeling Tidus's eyes on her, but every time he looked over at him, he looked away. She bit into her burger. But somehow now, she didn't feel like eating. It felt like something really special had happened between her and Tidus, and now she had to sit there and pretend nothing had happened. As they ate, it was starting to get dark.

'I think we should be getting back,' Vincent said, walking over to Rinoa when she had finished her food. 'Lulu will be getting worried about us.'

'Yeah,' Rinoa said. She wanted to get home and think about everything that had happened.

'Bye Paine,' Vincent said, kissing her. 'Bye everyone.'

'Bye,' Rinoa said.

Tidus looked at her and smiled. Rinoa smiled back at him.

Rinoa was running through a forest. It was dark all around her and the trees were dark and forbidding. She was chasing a small golden ball, which was flying along ahead of her. It shone in the darkness; it was the only light around her. Suddenly it started flying up, higher than Rinoa could reach. And as it got higher, Rinoa felt her feet lifting from the ground, and she started flying up after it. She flew higher and higher, up above the trees so she could see all around her. And in the distance, was a massive castle.

Rinoa woke up late the next morning, as she had been up for a long time, going through everything that had happened with Tidus. She could scarcely believe it, he had liked him for so long, he was good looking and funny and they really clicked. And now she'd found out he'd liked her ever since they'd first met. She felt so excited and happy, like she was walking on cloud nine. And yet they had been interrupted, and Tidus seemed to have avoided her after that. Rinoa hadn't found out what he wanted to happen between them. What if he had been about to say that he had gotten over his feelings and now he just thought of Rinoa as a really close friend? What if Rinoa had comletely got the wrong idea that they were about to kiss? If that was true, thank God they had been interrupted, because Rinoa would have been mortified if she had kissed Tidus when that wasn't what he wanted. Rinoa had been tossing and turning for hours, going from completely unhappy, thinking that she shouldn't have deluded herself over Tidus's feelings, to recalling in her mind the moment before they had kissed and imagining what would have happened next. But eventually, she feel asleep. Little did she know that Tidus himself was going through much the same thing that night, if not worse.

When Rinoa awoke the next morning, she struggled to remember her dream, which she was sure had been significant in some way, but as always seemed to happen with her, the dream slipped from her memory.

Paine called her later that morning, and she, Rinoa and Rikku arranged to go shopping. The next day, Rinoa spent catching up with homework she hadn't done. She didn't see Tidus that much at school and very rarely alone, so it was quite a long time later until they could talk properly, which caused Rinoa a lot of angst.

It was Christmas, and Harry was unhappy. Christmas had never been that much of a happy time for Harry. While staying with the Dursley's, it had been perhaps his least favorite time of year, seeing Dudley being spoilt while he had nothing. After coming to Hogwarts, he had found it much more enjoyable, being with people he cared about, but it was still hard, especially when his friend's went away to visit their families. But this had been the worst Christmas ever. Harry was at his lowest point ever. He had lost Sirius, which was terrible after finally finding someone he could call family. Then he had met Claire, who had been able to get closer to than he had anybody and he felt he had been able to confide in her. And he had just found out that she had been his closest link to Sirius. And now he had lost her too. Harry had never felt so alone, and he had been alone a lot on his lifetime. He didn't know why he was going on, he felt like he had lost the only good thing in his life.

At the same time, Rinoa, who had just broken up for the Christmas holidays, was having a great time. Lulu and Wakka never did anything by half for their foster children, especially at Christmas time. Their house was decorated stunningly, inside and out, and they had a giant tree in their living room, which stood over countless presents. However, one of the downfalls of your brother going out with your best friend was that occasionally wanted some alone time, so Rinoa was sitting watching Jerry Springer while Paine and Vincent were up in his room. Rinoa was tempted to go up there and crash their little party when the phone rung. Sighing, she got up and answered it.

'Hello?'

'Hi Rinoa? It's Tidus.'

For a moment there was silence. 'Hi Tidus, Vincent's just up in his room with Paine, I'll get him for you shall I?'

'Actually Rinoa, it was you I wanted to talk to. I was wondering if I could meet you at Babbling Bridge in an hour?'

'Um...sure,' Rinoa said.

'Okay, see you then. Bye,' and with that, Tidus hung up. Rinoa was left holding the receiver, the dial tone ringing in her ear. It took a moment for what had just happened to sink in. Tidus wanted to meet her. And from the sound of his voice, it was important. What was this about? Rinoa couldn't feel anything except nervous, because quite equally, he could be inviting her there to proclaim her love, or to tell her that she had completely misread the other day. The only thing Rinoa could do was get ready. She looked out of the window. More snow had the fallen last night but the day didn't look too cold, there was no wind and the sun was shining brightly. Rinoa decided what she wanted to wear and then went to see if it was around and not in the wash.

A while later there was absolutely nothing left that Rinoa could do her appearance. She stood nervously in front of the mirror, trying to smooth already smooth hair into place. She had put on her while snow boots over a pair of light blue River Island jeans. On top she was wearing her pink face top, with her while coat over the top. Her hair was straight and shiny. Her mascara was perfect. Just then, Paine came downstairs.

'Hi Rinoa, you going out?'

'Yeah, I'm going to meet Tidus,' Rinoa said.

'Oh, I see,' Paine grinned, although she didn't really. For some reason, Rinoa hadn't even told Paine about what had happened that day in the park. Maybe because not mentioning didn't make it quite real or maybe because Paine would totally take it the wrong way and get Rinoa's hopes up, and Rinoa didn't want to be let down. 'Have a good time. Do you know where the Capri Suns are? Vincent sent me to get some.'

'I'll show you,' Rinoa sighed.

Later on, Rinoa was walking down to Babbling Brigde. It was a place that was roughly in the middle of all of the houses of those in their gang and it had become a good place for them all to meet. It was a particular favorite of the couples, because it was quite a romantic place. It was in a very nice area, and was a pretty little road bridge over a river. On the side were four white benches all next to each other which people could sit on and look over the river. All around were trees, which made the place especially in the spring, when he blossom was out and you could even see the occasional duck swimming by. It had been a favorite place of Rinoa's to go when things got a bit hectic in her house, and she just wanted some peace to think. Rinoa walked down the avenue that led to the bridge, and as she came around the corner, she could see Tidus sitting on the middle seat. He looked deep in thought and was staring at the running water. Rinoa walked up behind him, and put her hand on his shoulder. Tidus jumped to his feet with surprise. 'Rinoa!' he said. 'Look, I've been going out of my mind, I can't stand this any more...' and suddenly he grabbed her, and kissed her. Rinoa had kissed boys before. But never like this, this was passionate and intense; she could feel how much Tidus wanted her. But just as they were getting into the kiss, Rinoa jumped back and gasped.

'Rinoa? What is it?' Tidus asked with surprise.

'Nothing...I'm sorry...' Rinoa apologized. She wanted to show Tidus that jumping back had had nothing to do with him, so she walked back to him, and pressed her lips against his. This time, it was perfect. It didn't happen again. But Rinoa couldn't forget what she had just seen. As she had been kissing Tidus, another boy's face had flashed into her mind. Someone who she had never seen before, and yet for some reason, she had been kissing him.

Rinoa and Tidus decided to go back Rinoa's house. Now they knew they wanted each other, they were all over each other, laughing at private jokes, and they walked back to Rinoa's holding hands. Both had been waiting for this for a long time.

Back at Rinoa's house, she had Tidus sat kissing on Rinoa's sofa. They had loud music on, and things were getting pretty intense. Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

'Rinoa, could you please turn that music...oh, hi Tidus,' Vincent walked into the room.

'Hey mate,' Tidus said, who had quickly moved away from Rinoa.

'I'm just making some sandwiches. Does either of you want one?' Vincent asked.

'No thanks,' Rinoa and Tidus said together. Vincent went out into the kitchen, and Tidus whispered to Rinoa,

'Why don't we take this up to your room?'

'Well...okay,' Rinoa giggled.

They quickly scarped upstairs.

'So I was thinking, after Christmas we should all go into town and spend our Christmas money. I know there's a few CD's I want, and I know you love to clothes shop, so maybe we could spilt up and then meet up again for lunch. What do you think? Guys?' Vincent looked into the living room. Tidus and Rinoa were gone. He had been talking to himself.