Harry wheeled around in the common room once again to see if Lavender was there. Harry was Lavender's recent obsession, and He was getting quite sick of it. She constantly watched him in the library, and sat as close to him as possible in all of the classes that they shared. Her and her friends would look over at him, giggling, and when Harry looked over at them, would give him a sheepish smile and look away as if she hadn't see him. Harry had never really talked to her before, but now Lavender had shown a sudden interest for him, almost out of nowhere.
He had assumed she began this fascination with him when he had won the most recent Quidditch match against Slytherin by catching the snitch during a freefall flip in the air (after which he fell off his broom and had to spend the afternoon in the hospital wing). Since then, Harry has been her stalk-ee. He wondered, "Why this Quidditch match? The others played just as well; why can't she stalk Ron? That save was stunning. His best, even!" But now Harry had to return his potions homework, as he hadn't quite understood the use of oxymel in early treatments for fever. He slumped in his chair and got to work.
The next day, Harry had been especially careful not to run into Lavender or her giggly friends. So he took a different way to get to Charms class that morning. In fact he hadn't run into anyone yet that morning, until he heard a voice calling to him.
"Oy, Potter! Heard you got a new girlfriend." The voice behind him belonged to Seamus Finnegan. Seamus had apparently has a little crush on Lavender, but Harry disregarded it as a rumor. "I don't like Lavender," he responded irritably. "Good. Because she's my girl."
"Oh, am I?" Harry spun around to see Lavender had been following him on his way to Charms. "What-" he said, stunned, but before he could finish his thought, Lavender had continued with Seamus. "What makes you think I'll go with you?"
Seamus, abashed, stuttered, "er- but- he- you-"but couldn't finish his thought before she gave him a disgusted look and walked away. Harry had actually felt bad for Seamus; his face was turning red. Everyone in the hallway was eyeing him strangely as they walked by. Furiously, he stormed off to his Transfiguration class.