Harry Potter squinted his eyes as he tried to form a shape out of the mushy dredges of tea left in his cup. He was in 6th Year Divination class with Professor Trelawney, who kept sneaking glances at him, hoping that he would shriek in terror, 'I'm going to die!' But no such luck as of yet.
"Ron," Harry said, nudging his best friend and his partner for that day's tea reading, "does this look a bit like a heart to you?"
Ron sniggered. "Yeah, mate, and you're gonna fall in love this week." Ron had a good laugh at this, which attracted Professor Trelawney's attention.
"Anything wrong?" she asked, her eyes large with hope behind her glasses. "Did you see the Grim?"
"Oh, no it was much worse," Harry fibbed. "I saw this knife-like thing, which means that I'm overdue for a good stabbing."
"How terrifying!" Professor Trelawney looked absolutely delighted.
Suddenly, Harry got an idea that would help him out of class early; there was only 10 minutes left anyways.
"Yes, Professor, I feel very frightened. Would you mind if I head back to Gryffindor Tower and leave class a bit early? I feel the need to reflect and brush up on my protection charms." Harry even wobbled his lip slightly, but not before making sure his back was to the rest of the class.
"Um, well, I suppose, if you need time to reflect…the future can be terrifying!" Professor Trelawney looked a bit startled at first, but then a small smile crept onto her face. Finally, one of her more reluctant students was taking divination seriously.
"Thanks Professor!" Harry grinned as he grabbed his bag, winking at a flabbergasted Ron. "Later, mate."
Harry strolled down the hallway, swinging his bag and humming that new song by the Weird Sisters. He didn't feel like heading back to the common room quite yet, and since he had a hall pass, it wasn't like he could get in trouble.
He continued on for a bit, then decided to turn down one of his favorite secret passages, the one behind the tapestry of a lion that would lead him closer to Gryffindor Tower but would also give him a bit of time alone.
Looking over his shoulder, he quickly lifted the tapestry and stepped into the stairwell. Feeling his way in the dark, he began to climb the stairs one at a time.
"Oof!" Harry tripped over something large that was right on the stairs and fell flat on his face.
"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry!" A girl's voice said. "Lumos!"
Harry sat up, embarrassed, and looked at the source of the voice. His eyes widened as he took in the girl's pretty features: fair, clear complexion, large blue eyes, full rosy lips, high cheekbones, elbow-length, straight light brown hair, and a slender body type. She was very pretty, and as their eyes locked, Harry could've sworn that time had slowed down, just for a moment.
"Um…hello." The girl held out her hand nervously as Harry shook himself out of his reverie. "I'm Adela."
"Er, hi, I'm Harry Potter." Harry grabbed her hand and shook it gently, then persisted to continue holding her hand for a few moments.
"Harry…"
"Yes?" Harry looked up eagerly.
"You can let go of my hand now."
"OH! Right, right, sorry!" Harry blushed as he pulled his hand away.
"That's alright." Adela smiled at him. "So what are you doing in here? I thought it was my special place to write." Adela waved a journal at Harry before putting it back in her bag.
"Oh…I, uh, my friend's brothers showed this to me." Harry cleared his throat.
"Yes, my boyfriend showed it to me this place, and I love it! So what year are you in?"
Harry's heart sadly skipped a beat when Adela mentioned her 'boyfriend.' He couldn't figure out why though, as they had just met. "Sixth Year, you?"
"Fifth. So tell me about yourself, Harry. And I already know about your scar…even thought I'm muggle-born, I don't live under a rock." She laughed.
Adela was so easy-going and nice, Harry found himself telling her all about himself. The two were so absorbed that they didn't even notice all the other students coming out of their classes in the hallway.
"So your cousin really had a pig's tail coming out of his bum?" Adela was laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Yes, and he was squealing like a pig in fright, too!" Harry clutched his stomach, laughing, and reached out and put his hand on her shoulder to steady himself.
"Oh, that's rich." Adela wiped her eyes and smiled at Harry.
"Um…Adela, you're in Ravenclaw, right?" Harry brought his hand back and put it in his lap.
"Yes, the house for the wisest ones," she said, pulling up straight and winking at Harry.
He grinned at her, feeling his stomach flip over. "Well, I was just wondering, if you wanted to, on the next Hogsmeade trip, to come with—"
"Freddie!" Adela jumped up and wrapped her arms around a tall, red-headed boy.
"Hello, love." The boy pulled Adela to him and kissed her passionately.
Harry stood up and brushed off his cloak.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" The boy pulled away and Harry saw that it was Ron's brother, Fred Weasely.
"So I guess we have the same person to show us the secret passages," Harry said to Adela.
"Really! I didn't know you two knew each other!" Adela's cheeks were pink and her smile was large as she turned to Harry.
"Indeed. Now what were you two doing talking to each other? Nothing I wouldn't do, I hope." Fred grinned and wrapped his arms around Adela's waist.
"We were just talking," Adela said confidently, turning around to makeout with Fred again.
"Right." When nobody responded, Harry began his trek up the stairs. "Well, I guess I'll be off then…"
"Wait! What was that you were asking before, Harry?" Adela pulled away from Fred slightly, and cocked her head at Harry.
"Oh, um, nothing," he mumbled, about to turn around.
"Alright, see you around then!" Adela smiled at him before turning back to Fred.
"Later, mate!" Fred gave him a little wave before locking lips with Adela again.
As Harry headed to the common room, elated with having met Adela, who was beautiful, nice, and funny, but also trying to block out the final image he had of Fred fumbling with Adela's blouse button.