Disclaimer: I bet you could tell me better than I could who owns Harry Potter! And, nope, it ain't me! But I do own Juliana Montoya, so no stealing! and the plot... that's mine as well, so there! Not to mention the really lame clothing store I came up with. You can borrow that one if you like. It's not like it's all that original...

Author's note: Actually, I don't have much to say... I just wanted to say something... Oh yeah! People who are reading this, because I know there are people out there, PLEASE! review. I don't care if you tell me you hate it (as long as you can back it up with some reasonabl critique) or it's a simple "I love this line insert line. Please write more! I wonder if such and such is going to happen. i really like this fic. Toodles." Or something like that. Though if you're going to keep it simple do at least say either two things you liked or one thing you like and one thing you didn't or two things you didn't like. Wow, I sound picky... Well you could be nice and do everything I asked nicely or you could just say, "hey, you asked us to reply so here I go: write more. Bye." I guess that words as well though I would be gravely dissapointed. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Chapter four

It was hard to decide whether to be annoyed that the weekend for the Hogsmeade arrived or relieved. Juli compromised by being sullen and not getting out of bed until Ginny came in and pushed her off the mattress. Once she untangled herself from the sheets and blankets, she emerged to glare at Ginny. The girl just grinned at her and told her to hurry up. With that Ginny left the dorm and Juli slowly got dressed. This was probably going to be the last time Ginny would let her wear her school uniform in her presence. Juli made sure to wear her favorite one. After putting on her glasses she rushed down to the Common Room.

When she took her final step down from the stairs, Ginny grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down to the Entrance Hall. After proving to Filch that they could really go to Hogsmeade, they hurried as fast as Juli would let them down the Wizarding village. They spent the better part of an hour looking for, as Ginny put it, the perfect store. Finally they reached Madam Mildred's Magical Muggle Attire. Just as she was about to step in, Juli moaned and turned around. Before she could take half a step Ginny grabbed her by the collar and dragged her in backwards.

The first thing Ginny grabbed was the outfit she had pointed out in the magazine. Then she grabbed a sweater to go with it. Thankfully it was mostly black, which Juli had always preferred to red. Not to say she was gothic or anything… Just very few people didn't look good in black. Next Ginny dragged her over the jean section and told her to try some on. Though the girl protested, Juli preferred the jean skort. Two hours later Juli was landed down with at least four bags of clothing and was wearing a new outfit. Personally Juli felt like a business woman wearing a professional skirt, a blouse and a blazer. As they walked down the student filled street, she sighed and glanced at the Three Broomsticks where it was probably much warmer.

"You know, there's still about an hour before we have to go back to Hogwarts," said Ginny, checking her watch. "There's time to still meet up with Harry."

"Wh-what?" stammered Juli, looking at her friend in confusion. Then she realized that Ginny probably thought she was looking at the Three Broomsticks because that was where Harry was supposed to be. "No, it's not that—"

"You may not have known you were thinking it, but I could tell," said Ginny, tapping her forehead. "I've got a sixth sense for that." She winked at Juli and took the bags from her. "I'll see you back at the castle!"

Juli watched the red headed girl rush off with five or so bags and shook her head. She seriously hadn't been thinking about Harry. But at least she would be able to get a Butterbeer and warm up a bit before she had to trek back up to school. And she guessed seeing and talking to Harry about normal things wouldn't be too bad. The worst it could do would make her like him even more and that wouldn't be too bad either. Except she had promised herself that she wouldn't force a relationship on him. Not that she wanted one but…

"Oh, hi Juli!" said a familiar voice as she walked into the Three Broomsticks absentmindedly.

"Huh? Oh, yes, hi Harry," Juli said distractedly.

She went and bought a butterbeer when she realized what she had done. Taking her mug she walked over to the table Harry was sitting at with Ron and Hermione and sat down rather noisily. Then, realizing she was going bright red, she took an extra large gulp of her butterbeer and ended up choking on it. You could tell the three were trying hard to laugh as Juli started coughing. But when she stopped she started laughing and the rest joined in.

"Well, I have to help Ron with this essay for Transfiguration," said Hermione suddenly, standing up. Juli gave her a warning stare but Hermione acted like she didn't notice.

"Do we have—" started Ron, but Hermione kicked him under the table and he shut up.

"We'll see you two later," said Hermione, grabbing Ron by the collar and dragging him off.

"Bye," said Harry, and Juli waved moodily. "It almost seemed like she was in a rush to get out of here," Harry said when they two had disappeared.

"Hmmmm…" said Juli into her mug. She finally decided to take a small sip and, thankfully, didn't choke on it this time.

"You okay?" asked Harry.

"Yeah! I'm fine!" said Juli, sitting up straight, blushing and speaking in a high pitched voice. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, for one, you're not wearing your school uniform," Harry pointed out. "You normally wear everyday."

"Ginny took me clothes shopping," shrugged Juli, feeling her voice going back to normal. "She said I needed to wear something other than my school uniform."

"I would love to be able to wear my uniform everyday," said Harry. "But the Dursleys would try to have me murdered and it would attract attention."

"Just a little," said Juli, holding up her fingers a centimeter apart. This caused another chorus of laughter.

'It's almost strange to believe,' thought Juli, as she took another sip of her butterbeer, feeling it warm her up already. 'but I laugh more around Harry than with Ginny.'

"You know, you asked me but I never got to ask you," said Harry, looking away and suddenly sounding serious. "Are you dating anyone?"

Juli shrugged. "There isn't much of anyone I would want to date at this school," she said, trying to avoid the question. "Plus, not very many people would want to date me!"

"In other words," said Harry, looking back at her with a grin. "That's a no."

"Maybe…" said Juli, blushing.

"You're not giving me a straight answer!" cried Harry, starting to laugh again.

"So?" giggled Juliana, trying to cover her blush, yet again, with a drink of butterbeer. She was far more successful this time.

"Why won't you?" said Harry, trying to look hurt. But he couldn't seem to keep a straight face. "I know, there's someone you want to date but you're too bashful to tell me. Admit it!"

"You know, this is a kind of talk girls normally have with… oh I don't know… girls!" laughed Juli, feeling her blush recede again. It was starting to become bothersome.

"Quit avoiding me!" reprimanded Harry.

"Fine!" cried Juli, a bit louder than she wanted to. So she stopped to think how she wanted to phrase this. If she just said the first thing that came into her head it would end up being 'Harry, I like you! I want to be dating you!' But she couldn't afford to say that. If Harry wanted to date her, then he would have to bring it up. She wasn't going to force it on him. Finally, she took a deep breath and began.

"Okay, I do like a guy. And he may very well like me but he has… an important job he has to do," Juli said slowly, choosing her words very carefully. "So I decided that since this job could very well disrupt any sort of relationship I wasn't going to force one on him. If he wants one he'll have to be brave enough to admit it to me and… try and work his job around it… or the relationship around the job. I guess it would be selfish to ask him to work his job around our relationship."

After she finished she suddenly found she couldn't look at Harry. So instead she closed her eyes and took some deep breathes to calm her rapid heart. When she heard movement she thought Harry, probably disappointed, had left and she felt her heart stop dead. Then it fell with a thickening plop. After another minute she deemed it safe to open her eyes. When she did she found Harry looking down at her, seemingly relieved. He held out a hand.

"Come on," he said, grabbing Juli's hand when she made no attempt to take his. "Let's talk somewhere less crowded."

"Wh-what?"