Author's Note: I'm in Scotland right now! First time in Europe! My days have been so busy here, so I haven't had much time to work on my novels, there's just been so much to do. Just in Edinburgh and Stirling for my trip, but it's been wildly exciting. Stumbled across a few Harry Potter-related places so that's been surprisingly relevant. It's a real shame that people have stolen headstones from the cemetery where JK got a lot of character names. Let's hope this will improve my writing of UK accents and slang, though. I wrote this story like 2010-2013 but it now happens to be the era this story takes place (2021-2022) so I can use fresh slang. Leaving for London soon (I met a Scottish lady who described London as a "chalk-up" because of the crime, so that's a new term for me). Also, the airline lost my luggage (well, it's supposedly still in Toronto) so I've been living in 2 outfits this whole time. Will have to do shopping in London and will have to buy a raincoat for sure.

Content Warning: Strong language (as always), sexual content, essays (the horror).

Chapter 8

Of Bubbles, Brothers,

and Boyfriends

(Riley)

"Now, maybe I had a flying carpet...flying carpet? I don't have one of those...do you?"

"I don't have a flying carpet."

"You?"

"No, stop being an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot; I'm a bloody genius! How many of you can say you successfully got into the girls' dorms? Hm?"

"Really, James? You're seriously asking us this question?"

"...Bollocks."

"Yeah."

I sat back in my chair, as I watched June and James bicker about something else. Rose was sitting beside June, smiling dreamily and staring off into space. We were in the library, supposed to be doing homework.

"Riley! Take control of your animal, will you?" June directed me, slapping James's hand away from her pile of parchment.

"Riley, Riley!" James mimicked in a squeaky voice. "Riley, save me from the scary James! Oh, Riley, hold me! Oh, Riley, lick my tits!"

"You dirty slug!" June growled, then the corner of her mouth twitched just a little into a bit of smile. "And stay out of my fantasies, anyway." She winked at me. This made James laugh a lot, then he leaned forward and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, the discomfort of which reflected on June's face and in her attempt to push him away ("psychotic bastard!"). I sighed, smiling a little, and looked back down at my Muggle Studies assignment.

"I'm serious! Fuck off!" June raged as James was now in the middle of shoving his deformed face at her as he put his hands all over the table and grabbed at anything he could find, messing papers and books and quills up and throwing them all around. June was still yelling similar things at him, hitting him and kicking him and pushing him. James was making dumb noises ("ah-duh-duh-duh-ra-ra-ra-guh-guh-baaahh!") and the louder June got, the louder he got, until eventually they were just making noises at each other.

Approximately two minutes later, Mrs. Fornswore marched up to our table and hissed like a furious snake at the two of them. She was giving them a warning at first, until James proceeded to rock back and forth on the two back legs of his chair (something that teachers everywhere seem to hate) and she yelled at the both of them to leave the library immediately.

Rose and I watched as she escorted them out (they had been just a little unwilling to leave as soon as she'd suggested). James was declaring at the top of his lungs to everyone in the vicinity that this was "librarian brutality" and that he demanded to see his lawyer. Meanwhile, June was still whacking him on the arm and telling him to shut up "you stupid, annoying wank-prick-tosser-prat".

"Now can't you just imagine their children doing the exact thing that the librarian's doing, in oh, say, seventy- eighty years?" Rose said calmly, twirling a lock of hair in her fingers. I laughed and nodded in agreement.

"I can just see them in their wheelchairs, hitting each other with walking sticks or throwing empty pill bottles at each other," I replied.

"And pouring glasses of prune juice on each other," Rose chuckled. She looked down at the mess of the table then and I looked back at my textbook, glancing at my notes every now and then.

"Agh, I hate essays," I groaned after a period of silence.

"What do you hate about them?" Rose asked, looking up from separating her papers and June's papers and James's papers.

"It's just how structured they are, I guess." I rested my textbook back on the table and leaned back in my chair.

"That's June's problem with them too!" she said, her eyes grinning at me. "So, I told her to not think of it so much as a structured essay, but instead think of it as a relationship."

"What?"

"You know." She moved closer as she prepared to dive into the explanation. "It starts out, that's the introduction; you're in a relationship, so that's the main idea. What's the thesis statement?"

"Uh..." I looked down at my notes. "No muggle's life is without magic."

"All right, but what's the thesis statement about your relationship?"

"Err, I don't know."

"Well then, let's just say it's 'I love her'. After being in this relationship for a while, you feel that this is one hundred percent true, but you need to make your girlfriend believe you."

"Oh, right."

"So, what is the purpose of this essay?"

"Uuhh...well..."

"You're not that stupid, Riley."

"To- thank you, by the way- to prove that I love this girl?"

"Yes."

"Soo..."

"So, you have three paragraphs to explain the three main points that support your love for her."

"Right..."

"And after you've explained these points as well as you can, it all comes back to the thesis statement, in the conclusion, right? It all comes back to 'I love her'."

"Okay, I think I get it..."

"Structure is one thing," Rose went on as she backed up a little. "The other essential part of an essay is conviction," she continued. "Passion. That's why I always found 'I love you' to be a useful thesis statement for this metaphor. Because it's easier to be passionate about love than about Muggle Studies. But if you just bullshit the whole thing, thinking about love, it might just work out."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that I spend five paragraphs rambling on and on about one point, only to come back to the same thing in the end."

"Absolutely. That's essays for you."

I chuckled to myself, looking down at the notes. I had all the information there, all I needed was to sort it out and inject some feeling into it. Let's get started then. I blew out my cheeks and dipped my quill into the ink bottle. I thought about Aura. I tried not to, but she just kept entering my mind.

It seemed to take forever. Rose left shortly before I finished. And when I had finished, I thought it was the hugest piece of shit I had ever written. But there was no way I was spending any more time on it, so I packed up my bag and left the library.

As I passed a window, I glanced out to see fluffy, light grey clouds, with small breaks in them here and there to reveal pale blue sky. This was the first day in weeks that it hadn't been completely overcast and rainy. I decided that I would take advantage of the semi-nice weather and go outside, at least for a few minutes.

Not many other people shared this idea, I found, as I trudged through the mucky grounds. The air was fresh and crisp, and it revived my essay-heavy brain. I took in deep breaths of air, feeling winter steadily approaching as my lungs were filled with the biting cold. I was just approaching one of Hogwarts' many courtyards, when I saw a group of people. I slowed my pace, still unsure of who they were.

"Say what you will, my dear, I think it's getting out of hand," one of the girls was saying as she played with the blonde boy's hair.

"Well, it's no big emergency. I've got plans this weekend!" the boy replied in a voice very similar to that of Scorpius Malfoy. In fact, it was. And the crowd around him consisted of Zaid Travers, Freddie Thompson, Katie Heath, Olivia Tennison, Angela Fenn and Eve Stroud.

"Yeeah, we're going to get fucked up to the max!" Zaid exclaimed.

"Right, right, of course."

"Well then, why don't you let me cut it, babe?" Eve smiled as she slipped onto Scorpius's lap.

"You're mental, Eve," he laughed, stroking her cheek. "I'd never let you do that."

"I'm pretty glad of that actually," Eve replied with a giggle and a kiss on his cheek.

"Oh god, you two are sickeningly clingy," Freddie groaned as he rolled his eyes.

"Well, hey, you never had to sit through you shoving your hand in Aura's knickers every ten minutes," Katie said with a sneer and I found myself scowling at them all.

"Hey, hey now, that was different."

"Yeah, it was worse," Angela said.

"Whatever. Just because you lot are a bunch of pussies."

"Just because we're normal." Eve raised an eyebrow, the hand around Scorpius's shoulder absently stroking the side of his head.

"Yeah, normal, right."

"Tosser," Angela said.

"You're just jealous," Freddie replied, leering at her.

I shook my head and walked past the courtyard. I soon found my way to an empty bench where I laid down on my back. I reached into my rucksack and took out the bottle of bubbles. I blew hundreds of shiny bubbles and watched as they floated away. Sometimes I picked up bubbles with the wand and then merged them with other bubbles to make them into one big super bubble. After that, I reached out and popped them with my finger, muttering "mee-moo-mee-moo" in a high voice.

"Joining choir now?" a voice asked from above my head. I slid my head back on the bench to get an upside-down look at June.

"Oh, hi," I said, waving at her. "What're you doing here?"

"Followed the bubbles," she answered, motioning to the air around and above us.

"Oh. 'Course." I sat up and slid over, nodding to the spot beside me and she sat down.

"So," she muttered as she took out a cigarette. "How you doing?"

"Tremendous," I replied. "You?"

"Superb." She blew smoke in the other direction, then swept her hair all onto one side of her head.

"Nothing to do?" I asked and she shrugged.

"Rose keeps slipping off somewhere without saying anything. Aminta's life is dedicated to her boyfriend, who I met the other day and he's a complete fuddy-duddy. Dima's obsessed with schoolwork, even when she doesn't have any to do." She smiled at me as she crossed one leg over the other. "She has nightmares about school, and I can hear her yelling in the night, 'don't fail me! Don't fail me! I'll do extra credit! I swear I didn't cheat!'" She laughed and I joined in. "Lacey's even too busy. She's been arguing with Scorpius, so she spends all her time with her dorm mates."

"Mm," I replied. "That sucks."

"What about you? Nothing to do?"

"Well," I started, taking a breath and leaning forward to rest my chin on my hands. "When James isn't obsessing over how he got into the girls' dorms he keeps trying to hook me up with different girls in the school. Aura hasn't been feeling well lately, but she spends all her time either grading papers for teachers or with Jade and Marcy, who only talk about vapid things like clothes and makeup and snogging. Lucas is all about preparing for 'life after Hogwarts' and Henry never stays in one place for too long ever since he found out he has a stalker in second year."

"Hmm. Perhaps we should get some new friends then." She raised her eyebrows at me, taking a long drag on her cigarette.

"Or spend all our time together."

"Should be a thrill."

"Gobstones?"

"What?"

"I'm asking if you would like to play Gobstones, but I don't have any, so..."

"That's all right."

"Yeah. Sorry to get you all excited for nothing."

She slid forward on the bench, resting her head on the back of it and staring up at the sky, the corners of her lips upturned pleasantly. I imitated her pose, putting the bubble wand to my lips and blowing more bubbles. She laughed and I positioned it so that it was in front of her mouth. She blew a cloud of bubbles out to mingle with mine. I sighed and June looked at me.

"How's the wooing of Aura going, anyway?" she asked.

"Non-existent."

"Ah," she muttered, turning back up to look at the sky where only two of the bubbles lingered. "Ever thought of making her jealous?"

"Huh?"

"You know; dating someone and showing her what a phenomenal boyfriend you can be and all that."

"You mean using someone?"

"I mean a friendly agreement." She raised her eyebrows. "You and me. It's not like we like each other."

"When in the history of literature and muggle films and T.V. has that ever worked out the way it was meant to?"

"Come on..."

"I don't think so." I stood up. "Later." She rolled her eyes as I started to walk away.

"You know where to find me!" she called after me, lying down on her back on the bench and resting her hands on her stomach. I peered up at the sky to see the blue patches growing. The sun even peeked out for a moment or two.

I jogged up the stairs on my way to Gryffindor tower, then I did a double take as I saw two people sitting on a bench in the hall and kissing. That was what I saw on the first take. On the second take I saw my little sister kissing some slimy Slytherin prat.

"Hey! You take your hands off of her, you wanker!" I yelled as I rushed forward and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away from Teagan.

"Riley! Calm your tits, bitch!" Teagan screeched at me, getting to her feet and shoving me. I let go of the kid and gave both of them a hard look.

"You are not allowed to touch my sister!" I told the boy, pointing my finger in his face. "And you put a sweater on!" I ordered Teagan who looked down, frowned and then folded her arms over her chest.

"I'm so sorry," the kid said apologetically, brushing his hair back.

"What's your name?"

"Marc," he replied. "Marc Voclain."

"How old are you, Marc?"

"Fifteen...sir..."

"Well, you should know that never in my life will I allow anyone under the age of twenty to touch my sister!"

"Uuhh..." Marc.

"What?" Teagan.

"Shit." Me. "I meant to say...never in my life will I allow anyone to touch my sister while she is under the age of twenty!"

"Oh my god, Riley," Teagan groaned, putting her hand to her forehead. "Just because you haven't got a sex life doesn't mean I can't have one either!"

"You're fucking fifteen!" I shouted at her. "Don't talk to me like—" I quickly lowered my voice as a crowd of younger students passed by. "Don't try to act like you're all mature and grown up because you're not. You are a fucking child, Tig. You are a whiny, needy, foolish, temperamental, immature, young fifteen-year-old."

"Are you saying I'm nothing but an annoying little brat?" she asked in a small voice, looking taken aback at my statement.

"No, that's not—" I started in a softer voice, but her lip was trembling now as she glared at me. "Teagan, listen. I didn't mean it that way."

"Whatever." She shrugged, turning and walking away briskly. I blew out my cheeks and ran my hand through my hair.

"You think I'm gonna let you talk that way to my girlfriend, hm?" Marc said, putting his hands on his hips and cracking his neck.

"Shut up." I shook my head.

"Hey man, do you think we could reach an understanding here?" he said in a reasonable tone.

"All right, you stay away from my sister, and I won't punch you in the face."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, backing up a step. "Listen, man. I really really like her! You know? 'Cause she's super beautiful, right? And she's got a great sense of fashion...And she's really funny too. All my friends love her."

"Whatever," I mumbled, shaking my head, and walking past him.

When I entered the common room, I didn't see Teagan anywhere. I slumped down in one of the couches with a sigh. It wasn't long until Aura joined me with a similar slump and sigh. I looked at her, but her eyes were closed. I looked over at the door to the girls' dorms just in time to see Amelia stick her head of unruly blonde hair out and look around the room. When her eyes landed on me she scurried over to stand beside the couch with her hands clasped behind her back. She was wearing mismatched socks, the sparkly blue one pulled up to her knee while the pink argyle one was bunched around her ankle.

"Yes?" I asked after a moment of her staring at me with an almost smile.

"Teagan wanted me to give you this," she pronounced, pulling a folded-up piece of parchment from behind her back. She handed it to me, then gave me a hard look and returned to the girls' dorms. I unfolded it, then scoffed and raised my eyebrows.

"Really fucking mature," I muttered. Aura looked over at it.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a death scheme," I explained. "We used to draw them when we were kids to depict the death and/or torture of kids that we didn't like." I smiled at it. It was animated. Dad used to animate them for us before we could do magic.

"I never knew that."

"Yeah. Guess it's just a brother/sister thing."

"Why'd she make one of you?"

"'Cause I called her a kid," I told her. "And freaked out at her and her boyfriend."

"Nice one."

"Yeah." I folded the paper up and put it in my back pocket. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Cut the crap, Aura, I know something's wrong. So, tell me."

"How is it any of your business?" she spat. "Just get off my case."

"I'm worried about you..."

"Well fucking stop it!" She stood up to glare at me.

"We used to tell each other everything!" I stood up as well.

"Oh yeah, as if you haven't been keeping secrets from me!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" For a second I thought she knew that I loved her.

"I've waited patiently for fucking years for you to at least hint at it, but you never fail to lie outright to me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"All right, let me spell it out for you! You. Are. Gay! Gay, gay, gay, gay! Everyone knows."

"Gay..."

"Gay!" She gave me a cold look then stormed away.

"No no— wait! Aura! I'm not gay! I'm—" I called after her desperately but broke off as I saw people beginning to stare at me. Oh fuck. Aura thinks I'm gay? Everyone thinks I'm gay? It was true I'd never given a second thought to the other girls at Hogwarts. And, of course, being a member of the Potter Pack, it wasn't like I'd never been flirted with or asked out by girls. But I'd ignored all the attention and refused every one. It wouldn't be fair to them; I just wasn't interested.

I left the common room, feeling restless and frustrated. I walked around agitatedly for a while, changing directions suddenly, getting confused, bumping into people. Then I stopped for a moment, closed my eyes and breathed. And then I moved about in a sort of daze. I hardly even realized where I was until I sat down on a bench outside.

"You've returned," June remarked.

"Yes," I said, and I turned to look her square in the face. "I think I should take you up on your offer."

"Why the change of heart, may I inquire?"

"Aura thinks I'm gay." I sighed despondently. To my surprise, however, June was smiling.

"Won't she be surprised, then?" She winked at me and then clasped my hand in her cold one.

"But, listen...this can't turn out how it does, well, usually."

"Okay, okay. I promise I won't start to like you. Happy?"

"And I promise I won't start to like you."

"Good."

"Also," I added, "would you quit smoking?" She paused for a moment.

"Sure."

"Really? Just like that?"

"Yup. I've never actually been addicted." She shrugged.

"Why d'you do it then?"

"Don't know," she muttered, twisting her mouth to the side in thought. "Just something to do, I guess. Calms the nerves too."

"Well, okay then. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

A week later, seventh year boys' dorm, my bed.

"Well...do we have to?" I asked June doubtfully.

"Come on, loser," she said, rolling her eyes. "What better way to break the news to your buddies that A) you are not gay and B) you have a super smoking hot girlfriend?"

"I just don't know."

"Oh my god, Rye, it's just kissing! Haven't you ever kissed a girl before?"

"Well..."

"...kissed a boy?"

"No. Come on!"

"Just asking." She shrugged and leaned back on her elbows. "No one will believe us for a second if they never see us kissing. I've kissed Henry for fuck's sake. If I don't kiss my own boyfriend, they'll all think it's a scheme to cover up your gayness. And then they'll all believe you're gay."

"Okay, okay, fine." I scowled.

"And anyway, you'll need some practice before you finally win Aura over."

"Yeah, I suppose." I smiled at the thought as she sat up again. I looked at her and she looked at me. I licked my lips. Shit! Was I not supposed to do that? I was nervous. I was really fucking nervous. What if I was shit? What if I was just unkissable?

She was grinning at the look of anxiety on my face. She began to lean toward me. What if she hated it? What if she decided to call it all off because I tried to take her lips with me? What if-

There were footsteps coming from outside. I could hear voices and the door was opening. I was just about to turn around and call out to them, to stop June, but just as I began to move my head to the side, she entwined her fingers in my hair and brought her lips to mine. It felt a lot nicer than I could've imagined. I closed my eyes and rested my hands on her waist, reveling in the feeling of her lips pressing gently across mine. I kind of felt like I was floating. So that was kissing. It was amazing.

"Oh, no way! Rye's getting laid!" I could hear the sudden guffawing of James, and June and I broke apart. James, Lucas and Henry were all standing by the side of my bed, the hangings of my bed pulled wide. "That's ace, man! That's fantastic! Oh, do continue though." He took in an after-laughter-recovery breath, still grinning like a fool, and sat down facing June and me.

"Oh, wipe that smug look off your face, you sleazebag." June rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, tell me, my lovelies: what was it that finally brought you two lovebirds together, hm? Was it me? I knew it! I am the King of Love! I am the world's greatest Cupid! Matchmaker Extraordinaire!"

"Shut your humongous mouth, you creep!" June scowled at him. "It was not you! If anything, all you did was prolong our separation. But now I realize how wonderful little Riley is."

"'Little Riley'," Lucas chuckled, joining the three of us on the bed. "So, what's so little about him?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively. James was done for, hitting his head on the headboard for laughing too hard.

"His resemblance to you three," June replied, putting her arms around my waist.

"Okay now, fellows, can we make nice?" I asked as Henry finally joined us on the bed. In my opinion, they make the beds here at Hogwarts way too big. It's like they're just screaming at us to have an orgy. I quickly banished that horrible thought from my head.

"Well, do you want us to leave you alone?" Henry winked at us, and James punched him in the arm, making him cry out.

"Don't even say that! If they're going to be doing anything, I must be witness to it," he proclaimed. The other four of us gave him looks of disgust.

"That's pretty gross, James," I said.

"Yeah...I guess it is," he said uncertainly, but the uncertainty quickly vanished (as emotions tended to be fleeting, though quite concentrated, with him) and he leaned forward to pull June and I into a very rough, very tight, very uncomfortable hug. "Come on, everyone! Let's congratulate this new-born couple!" he shouted into our ears, making both of us wince and groan. Lucas and Henry were quick to obey him, rocking us in their arms. "Okay now, shoo!" he ordered suddenly, breaking us all apart.

"What?" I asked.

"Shoo, shoo, shoo!" he repeated, this time making shooing motions with his hands. "We have very important, very secret business to take care of and we can't have you two in here distracting us with your moans and groans and whatnot."

"It really beats me how nobody has cut your tongue off yet." I shook my head as I slid off the bed, offering my hand gentlemanly to June as she followed.

"Oh, they have," he replied, now pushing us out of the room. "We just have a really great school nurse." He grinned, then slammed the door in our face.

"It would be nice if next time, the nurse decided to put a Pinocchio tongue in him," June remarked as we descended the stairs. "You know, for every lie he tells, the tongue swells up. Or perhaps every insult."

"He wouldn't last five minutes," I replied, and we both laughed.

"Well, are you ready?" June asked as we paused before entering the common room. "Now that James knows, it won't be long before the whole school's talking about it."

"It's too late now, anyway." I shrugged.

"Yup." She smiled warmly. "Just act as macho as possible and Aura will be yours in no time!"

"You really know a lot about this, huh?" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh yes," she replied. "Don't worry; I'll make sure to bring you as many hard-to-open jars as possible."

"That'll do the trick." And then we walked through the door.

"Brilloney!" Rose exclaimed as she pounded on June and hugged her savagely. "We can all go on double dates, yeah Seth?" She nudged Seth in the arm, and he shrugged, exchanging a 'women!' look with me.

"Rye and me? On a date?" June muttered, tapping her lip in thought. "Nah, that doesn't seem quite right. I think we're a lot less conventional than that, you know? We should probably have kids, hate each other, then go on dates. How does that sound?" She looked at me.

"Oh yes, that sounds perfect," I replied.

"Aaawww! You two are just so cute!" Rose crooned, clutching Seth's hand as if she needed his help to get her through it.

"Last minute scone before class, snookums?" June asked, waving an iced scone in my face. She had taken to using pet names, such as was Rose's tendency, though she usually drowned them in sarcasm and accompanied them with funny faces.

"Why thank you, honeybunches," I said as I took the scone and blew a kiss at her. She mimed catching it and stowing it in her heart. Everyone around us seemed to be eating it up.

We had actually become one of Hogwarts' famous couples. This was mostly due to the fact that only about two hours after James' discovery of us, the walls of the whole castle were filled with posters depicting little cartoons of June and me. The headline read: "HOGWARTS' MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR NOW REGULARLY BONING NEW GIRL". The moving picture was of two stick figures (one wearing a skirt and a bow, the other with curly hair) holding hands and leaning in to kiss, upon which point a multitude of hearts burst forth, rising into the air until they popped like bubbles. Then they pulled back, smiling, and it repeated.

Under the picture was written: "Yes, that's right! Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you! The heart of Riley Finnigan has finally been captured by the very funny-looking and slippery (though lucky-lucky) June Slorrison (There was a line through this spelling, and beside it was the correct name). Feel free to call them 'Jiley' or 'Juley' or even 'Rune'. And congratulate them too! And if you have any gifts for them, you may deliver them to James Potter."

Ever since then, I've had people coming up to me and congratulating me or telling me they "knew I had it in me." Teagan even took me aside one day all serious, then she gave me a brotherly punch in the shoulder and congratulated me. Then she said that she was going to be a "douchebag protective older brother" to June so that I knew how it felt.

"So, you gonna walk me to my class now?" I asked June, who wrinkled up her nose.

"Really? Really?" she asked in mock disbelief.

"Come on, how lazy can you get? You have a free period right now."

"Oh fine, you got me," she said sheepishly, standing up. We walked through the halls, not even holding hands, but everyone we passed reacted to our closeness.

"Ah, bugger," I muttered as soon as we reached my classroom. "I've got a quiz today."

"Ha ha, sucker!" June grinned at me.

"Hey, maybe as my girlfriend you should give me a good luck kiss? Hm?"

"Eewww, kiss you? That's nasty," she answered, shooting me a disgusted look and making to leave.

"Hey, you're such a liar! You know you're dying to kiss these bad boys." I gestured to my lips as I made smooch-y motions with them.

"Fine, fine," June said in an exasperated tone as she rolled her eyes. "As long as you never call them 'bad boys' again."

"Done," I replied, and she cleared her throat professionally. The first two times we tried to kiss, she burst out laughing, then I did because she was laughing. The next two times, we both burst out laughing. The time after that it was just me that laughed, and she wacked me on the arm for 'not being serious'. Then we finally succeeded, and she skipped off freely while I entered my classroom.

"So, it's true then," Aura said as she sat down at the desk next to me.

"Huh?"

"You and June," she clarified.

"Oh. Yeah, it is," I replied, almost wanting to scream out 'no it's not! It's all fake! I love youuuu!' (Making sure to include many extra Us.) But I didn't because I'm not a complete idiot.

"So...you're not gay?" she asked slowly.

"No," I answered.

"Right. Sorry about what I said then..."

"Well, I'm sorry for dressing so sharply and drinking cocktails and staring at men's asses," I said with a smile, and she let out a soft laugh.

"I should've known to talk to you about it before just assuming. But, you know, everyone else thought it was true and for as long as I've known you, you've never fancied a girl. And you know how impossible it is to get a straight answer out of James."

"Wait, you asked James about it?" I asked and she nodded. "What'd he say?"

"Well, most of his answer was joking about gays and about what you must be doing in your spare time. The rest of it was laughter and the occasional stab at me. So, yeah."

"I'm going to kill that tosser," I murmured darkly.

"Well, I guess I'm glad that you weren't actually lying to me," Aura said, hugging me warmly. "Wait, does this mean that all those times you saw me semi-naked you were turned on?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you're my best mate! I'm not some perv!" I answered instantly, then I regretted the words as soon as they'd left my mouth. Great, now it sounded like I thought Aura was ugly and that I wasn't attracted to her and now...bollocks.

"Oh." She turned back to the front of the class. Shit. Okay, on the count of three I was going to spill it all to her; the truth. No, best to flip a coin. Heads; I tell her, tails; I don't. I took a knut out of my pocket and placed it on my thumb, then I tossed it into the air with a tiny tink! It turned over and over in the air so quickly that it might as well have been a tiny, glittering, metallic bubble. Then it came down and I tried to catch it but...the reason why I had never been good at Quidditch arose as the coin bounced off my palm and skittered across the floor out of sight. Hand-eye coordination, the devil. But then it was time for the quiz.

As the quiz had just finished there came a tap on my shoulder. I looked behind me to see Eve Stroud smiling and twirling her hair around a finger.

"So, I heard about you and June," she said in a low voice.

"Yeah, who hasn't?" I asked with a chuckle. I could see that Aura's head was down as she pretended to be reading a book, but her eyes were not moving. "I wouldn't be surprised if James hung up notices in Hogsmeade." Eve laughed sweetly.

"She's cute, isn't she? I think you two make an adorable couple," she confided.

"Thanks," I said, glancing to the side to see Aura turning the page over. "She's funny."

"Funny? I heard she's great in the sack," Eve mentioned and I found myself making a nervous, wheezing, gurgling sound.

"Where did you hear that?" I asked.

"James."

"Oh. James. That makes sense," I replied. "He can be a bit of a liar."

"I know," Eve laughed. "But he's got panache and style."

"Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes. "More like arrogance and a big mouth. And no brains."

"He's your best mate."

"And I love him like a mother."

"Don't you mean brother?"

"No, I mean I feel like I'm his mother. Cleaning up after all his messes and everything."

"Well, I'm available if you ever need a babysitter," she offered while her blue eyes sparkled like frost on a winter morning.

"And would that be with or without your boyfriend? Not too fond of my little boy, is he?" I glanced across the room to where James was throwing crumpled-up balls of parchment at Scorpius' head who was, for the time being, ignoring it.

"They're complete opposites," Eve noted. "That's why they don't get along."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Also, their families," she added. "But opposites attract."

"Ah, so you see the sexual tension just as much as I do? That's comforting," I replied. Eve laughed, then gazed up at me through her black eyelashes.

"You have a way with sarcasm, don't you?" she asked smoothly.

"It's a talent. My silver tongue."

"You don't have a silver tongue," she said with a tinkling laugh. "I have a silver tongue, James has a silver tongue, but you don't. You have a grey stone tongue."

"What?"

"You have an awkward way of speaking. You have a nervous, clumsy tongue. You can't tell stories or lies with your tongue. With every lie you tell, your tongue gets heavier. You have the tongue of a fool; hiding honesty behind jest and wit."

"Well, if I'm honest, shouldn't I have a golden tongue?" I asked, though my mouth had gone strangely dry. She hadn't taken those piercing eyes off of me. I could hear the silver in her words.

"You don't have a golden tongue." She shook her head. "Maybe one day you will. A silver tongue is best at weaving tapestries of lies. A stone tongue is best at remaining the same and keeping things unsaid." I frowned at this and was about to ask her more, but the sound of a large bell filled the castle, and she ignored me to pack her things away. As I was leaving the class, James crashed into me, putting his arm around my shoulder.

"Well then, has she turned you against me yet?" he asked as we joined the crowds of students in the halls.

"Who?" I asked.

"June, of course."

"Oh, sure."

"I knew it! Hey, I saw you chatting up Eve there. Nice one!" He clapped me on the shoulder. "Just a late bloomer, then, aren't you? First girlfriend and now bang! you get another and another and another. Just tell me how many you rack up by the end of the week, yeah? Maybe share some with me? Funny aren't they, women? You walk around the school for seven years and they want nothing to do with you, then the moment you become available, they all want a piece of you. Very finicky."

"Did you tell Aura I was gay?" I asked, ignoring the rest of what he'd said.

"What? Whatever would make you say that?" he asked, and I just glared at him. "Okay, no, I didn't. I merely neglected to deny it."

"Great. Just great."

"Well, hey, what do you want with her anyway? You've got Slipper! She's a funny one."

"Have you also been going around telling people that she's 'great in the sack'?" I accused.

"What? Do you really think I'd do a silly thing like that?" he asked innocently, and I gave him a look. "Okay, yeah, I did mention it to a couple people. But if it's not true, you've gotta let me know. Hate being wrong, don't I?"

"Well, you've never actually given a shit for as long as I've known you," I told him.

"Baahh, that's because I'm always right about what matters," James assured me and I rolled my eyes. Finding a shred of modesty in the whole of James Potter would probably be akin to finding a toothpick in the warehouse of crates at the end of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. "I'll see you at lunch though; I've got Potions with the lovely Abbascia." He waved to me, then fell into step with Madison Spurling just ahead. I could hear him turning up the charm while she laughed at his words.

When I walked into my Muggle Studies classroom I was instantly assaulted by my teacher, Professor Malkin. She was holding a stack of parchment in her chubby hand and smiling at me.

"Oh, Mr. Finnigan! I'm handing back the essays today and I just wanted to tell you how much I loved yours!" she gushed. For a moment I thought I had misheard her. Or perhaps I had accidentally stepped into someone else's body and walked into someone else's class and received someone else's praise. But she continued to beam at me.

"Uh, thanks," I replied. It seemed like the suitable answer.

"I tell you, I used to be an English teacher in muggle schools, and I'm quite an appreciator of the essay. You did quite well on it! And the extended metaphor was superb!"

"Right, okay," I answered, then I sat down at my desk. I looked out the window while the teacher started to pass out the essays. The sky was a sheet of endless off-white, and every now and then, the tiniest crystals of ice could be seen drifting through the air, like tiny children in white nightgowns tiptoeing down invisible stairs. Winter had begun, the frozen air seeming to have crept into the very stones of the castle, traveling through the shoes of the students and settling deep in their bones. The chill of November. There were only two days left until December. Eighteen days until Winter Holidays began. Twenty-seven days until Christmas.