Valentine's Day. Marlene had never much cared for the holiday. In fact, most years she got by making fun of those couples who made a point out of celebrating the cheesy holiday year after year. Of course, that was before she had found herself in a relationship with a sensitive and romantic fellow. Truth be told, Marlene had not considered that Henry might want to celebrate Valentine's Day together until she left the castle to meet him on Sunday night – the evening before the fourteenth of February.

Henry met her at the main gates an hour after curfew – ten p.m. sharp. He knew the incantation necessary to unlock the main gate without sounding any alarms and Marlene rushed into his arms for a kiss the second they swung open. She was lucky if she got the chance to see Henry once a week; moments like these were special.

"I'll warn you now," she said, as they began walking down the hill towards Hogsmeade together. "I am not a, 'let's celebrate Valentine's Day' kind of girl."

"Really?" Henry smirked. "I would have never guessed."

"I have nothing planned for you," Marlene informed him pointedly. "No gift, no surprise sexy dance…"

Henry cackled with laughter. "Well, now I'm just disappointed."

"Seriously, tell me I'm not about to walk into your flat to find it filled with rose petals."

"I make no such promises," Henry teased her, only heightening Marlene's anxiety.

There were no rose petals – thankfully. Rather, Henry had prepared a deliciously warm, chocolate pudding, a bottle of fancy champagne waiting on the table to be popped. Two glasses had Marlene giggling like a schoolgirl at just about anything Henry said. She hated Valentine's Day, and grand romantic gestures, but this – a quiet evening with good booze and Court and Spark playing in the background – Marlene could enjoy.

Guys that were her age baulked at the idea of such "emotional" gestures. She didn't know any guy who could sit down and have an honest discussion about his emotions the way that Henry could. He was an amazing listener, always attentive, begging for more details whenever Marlene told a story, and he never spoke over her or tried over-explaining things like other guys did. No, Henry was a different breed of man altogether.

When dessert was over, they moved to the bed across the room, with the comfiest mattress in the world. Marlene wished she could simply disregard the castle rules and spend the night with Henry – warm in his arms. She couldn't of course. All she got were these few hours alone together before she was forced to return out into the cold and trek back up towards the castle.

They had just shagged – the wind outside whistling loudly as it beat against Henry's windows (just another reason why Marlene dreaded leaving his bed).

"Can I ask you something?" Came Henry's husky voice – his lips only a few inches from Marlene's ear. Henry had his arms wrapped around her; his chin rested on her shoulder. It was the most relaxed Marlene could remember feeling in days…

"Of course," she replied, her eyes closed, head rested on Henry's outstretched arm beneath her.

"Why did you and Black keep your relationship a secret from your friends?"

Suddenly, Marlene's bubble popped. Her eyes flickered open and she rolled over to face Henry. His expression was so earnest, his intent so pure, that Marlene could not help but answer him honestly.

"I suppose it was because we never wanted to be forced into actually becoming a couple." She had never really questioned the motives behind keeping her relationship with Sirius a secret. It had been decided early on and never once had either of them tried to change the arrangement…

"Was that how you both felt?" Henry prodded, reaching out to stroke back Marlene's hair.

"For a while I suppose. Maybe there was a point where I wanted something...different."

"Different?"

"Something more," Marlene tried to explain. "Sirius could never do that though. I don't know if he'll ever be able to let someone love him."

"That's sad," Henry frowned.

Marlene didn't want to think about Sirius. She did not want to consider all the reasons why they had never managed to make it work. Truthfully, the whole thing was still too fresh and too painful to rehash. Marlene put a swift end to the conversation when she leaned in, kissing Henry, slowly manoeuvring herself back on top of him.

Marlene hated how happy it made her feel to have someone look at her the way Henry did. In his eyes, Marlene was special. It was how she'd always wanted someone to look at her, how she'd hoped, in the end, that Sirius might begin to feel…not that it mattered now. Sirius and she were a thing of the past, something which, one day, might be a funny story to share with their friends. Marlene and Henry were solid. They were a thing of the future, a relationship which was certainly destined to last. At least, that was how it felt to Marlene that night, making love to Henry in his tiny flat, certain that she was safe and cared for with him.

Everything seemed easy then. They were falling in love and it was the first time in Marlene's life that she had truly allowed herself to do such a thing. Falling for someone, truly falling, was a terrifying feeling. She was elated now, certain that her happiness would never end.

But it would.


"Alice…" a calm voice broke through Alice's sleepy fog. "Come on lovey, time to wake up." For a second, Alice was certain it was her mother speaking to her, brown eyes flying open hopefully, but it was Mary's face which greeted Alice when she woke up.

"Come on, if we don't get downstairs now, we'll miss breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." Alice rolled over in bed, drawing the covers up to her chin.

"Let her have the morning to herself," Alice heard Emmeline suggest from across the room. "Merlin knows Cecily Turner will find some way to pull a stunt, crowning herself the Queen of Valentine's Day." Alice had completely forgotten about the present holiday until that moment, letting out a pained whimper from her bed.

"Do you really think so?" she mumbled.

"Fuck Cecily!" Came Mary's indignant tone. "You are the brightest witch in our year, on track to be one of the youngest female Aurors ever and you're a bloody hot piece of ass. The last person you should be intimidated by is Cecily Turner."

Alice gave in, sitting up in bed, certain no matter what she did she would feel like a frumpy mess all day.

For years, Alice had loved Valentine's Day. She would purchase Frank's gift months in advance, plan little surprises for him throughout the day and write romantic notes for him to find. He'd always have the best gift though. A secret picnic on top of the Astronomy Tower, a year's worth supply of pink coconut ice (Alice's favourite candy), a book signed by her favourite author...the list went on

Emmeline and Mary helped Alice get ready that morning, practically dressing, before the three of them finally descended for breakfast. The whole journey downstairs, Mary and Emmeline did their very best to keep Alice distracted. Emmeline complained about the fact that she had not heard from her parent's in weeks, Mary was worried about a quiz in Trigonometry that afternoon.

By the time they reached the bottom of the main staircase, Alice's mind was pleasantly occupied by thoughts of anything but Valentine's Day.

"I wouldn't go in there," warned a young Ravenclaw as Alice passed her on the landing. The girl was heading towards the stairs as Alice, Mary and Emmeline made for the Entry Hall.

"Why?" Alice paused, Mary and Emmeline, stopping a few steps ahead.

"The whole place is flooded with owls! Someone sent themselves dozens of Valentines!"

"It's flooded every year—" Alice began to say when another student rushing by piped in.

"She's not exaggerating!" this girl, another Ravenclaw, turned around to show Alice, Mary and Emmeline the bird poop which covered the back of her robe.

"The Professors are evacuating the Great Hall now…" she said before rushing up the staircase, leaving the girls behind in shock. Too nosy for their own good, all three of them rounded the corner, just as a flood of students expelled from the Great Hall.

"Oi! Remus! Peter!" Mary called, picking the boys out of the crowd. Alice's stomach dropped the moment she heard Remus' name – remembering that she was supposed to be keeping her distance. For two weeks now, Alice and Remus had shared virtually no words – maintaining his promise to keep his distance for Leila's sake.

"What the hell happened in there?" Mary asked, the boys chuckling to themselves.

"Some poor kid thought he'd play a trick to prove how popular he was…"

"Who was it?" Emmeline's violet eyes lit up excitedly – as they always did when tempted by fresh gossip.

"Some Ravenclaw, Loveheart?" Peter looked to Remus for confirmation.

"Not a clue," he shrugged, "but it's hilarious if you ask me."

"Oh, hi guys!" their conversation was driven to a halt when Cecily and Frank emerged from the crowd of students, joining them near the archway. Cecily had her arm looped through Frank's, the two of them making a pretty pair, her lips painted red for the occasion.

"Were you caught in that mess?" Cecily asked them all – as if checking in on old friends.

"Not us," Emmeline interjected, keeping her tone flat and her words to Cecily few.

"Well, lucky for us we escaped clean. lucky I happened to be sitting with Frank at Gryffindor table this morning…"

Cecily made certain they were all watching as she looked up at Frank, batting her eyelashes adoringly. Alice wanted to be sick. The whole thing felt like a cruel joke, put on just to hurt her. It was bad enough seeing Remus and knowing that she could no longer lean on him as she had once done, but now to face Frank and Cecily, in love, and on such a day…

"I'm sorry," Alice apologized, withdrawing from the group abruptly. "I have to go…" she didn't bother coming up with any excuses before sprinting into the crowd, desperate to get as far away from the group as she could.

This was karma, wasn't it? She had hurt Frank; she had lied and cheated, and now he was moving on. Didn't she deserve that? If Alice hadn't been such a selfish cow, Frank would have no reason to be showering Cecily Turner with love on Valentine's Day. He would be engaged to Alice.

It was difficult not to feel like she had completely ruined her life, striding that morning through the empty corridors of the castle, wiping tears from her cheeks. Luckily for her, most students had returned to their Houses following the bird poop incident. Alice pushed open the door to one of the stairwells only to be greeted by the sound of someone sniffling back tears – as if mirroring Alice's exact feelings.

She paused, startled, and a stunned, golden-haired Ravenclaw boy, looked up in horror from the window seat he was curled up in. His blue eyes were swollen and bloodshot from crying and he turned pale as a ghost at the sight of Alice.

"Oh, please don't tell them where I am," he whimpered, fresh tears streaming down his pale cheeks.

"You're the one who sent all the owls to the Great Hall?" Alice inquired; her own emotions suddenly paled in comparison to the humiliation of this young boy.

"It wasn't supposed to go like that! I…I didn't mean for there to be so many…"

Alice's eyebrows raised curiously. "You used magic then?" He nodded shamefully, cheeks turning rosy red. Alice could not help but feel badly for the kid, having experienced her fair share of humiliation at Hogwarts herself.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Alice said, descending a few steps to get closer to him. "No one has to know."

"But they all saw! Everyone in the Great Hall—"

"No one can really say whether or not you were truly sent all those Valentines, can they?" Alice challenged him. Slowly, the boy's expression softened.

"You really think that could work?"

"Anything works so long as you're confident enough to convince others," she assured him, grateful to see the fear slowly start to drain from his round face. Alice extended her arm, offering him a hand down from the windowsill.

"I'm Alice Griffith," she introduced herself once the Ravenclaw was back on his feet.

"Roy," he replied, shaking Alice's hand before adding, "well, my friend's call me that, I'm Gilderoy, really. Gilderoy Lockhart."


James and Lily both had a free period after lunch. Usually, Lily insisted they use it to do something productive – studying in the library or preparing the Prefects patrols. Today though, James had convinced her to make an exception. This particular Monday, instead of work, James drew Lily up to Gryffindor Tower after lunch, the pair escaping to his dorm room for time alone.

"I can't be late for Potions," Lily reminded him, sitting down on the end of James' bed as he went into his closet – searching for his surprise. He'd been holding onto it for over a month now – ever since they returned from the holidays.

"We've got well over an hour," James reminded his girlfriend, "you won't disappoint dear Sluggy."

James turned back to face Lily, holding a long rectangular box covered in brown wrapping paper. Lily's green eyes bulged.

"We said no gifts!" she squealed in horror.

"This doesn't count," James insisted, slowly approaching as Lily stared at the package in his hands as if it might combust at any moment.

"But…I didn't get you anything…"

"I didn't spend a dime on this," James assured her, sitting down on the end of the bed beside his girlfriend. He placed the gift gingerly into her hands. "Just open it won't you?"

Lily opened the wrapping paper delicately, undoing each corner with care before sliding the jewellery box out, flicking it open with a gasp. Inside, on a red pillow, was a long golden bracelet lined with diamonds and small opal gemstones.

"It was my grandmother's," James began to explain, "she gave it to me before she passed away. It was the first gift she ever received from my grandfather. She never took it off…" When Lily's eyes found James', they were filled with tears, her bottom lip trembling.

"This is so sweet…"

"Oh Lil, I didn't want to make you cry…" James used his thumb to wipe the tears from her eyes as they slowly escaped.

"I shouldn't be the one to have this…" Lily began to protest, "it's too special—"

"She didn't want it to sit in the back of my closet forever," James shook his head. "It was supposed to be passed along. She wanted you to have it."

"She didn't even know me," Lily argued, still looking at the bracelet as though it were the most valuable thing she had ever beheld. "What if I were to lose it? Or it breaks? What if we break up and you hate me and the very fact that I've worn this bracelet causes it to lose all sentimental value for you?"

"Now you're just looking for excuses," James pointed out, Lily's green eyes rolling.

"I'm serious! It's too important to just give away…"

"I'm not giving it away. I'm finally giving it to the person it belongs to." Lily looked up at James, green eyes flooding with new tears. "It belongs on your wrist Lily; it always has and no matter what happens between us, it always will."

"God, you're stubborn."

"You'll wear it then?" James grinned happily.

"I don't think I have a choice, do I?" James shook his head as he carefully picked up the piece of jewellery, wrapping it around Lily's left wrist.

"You're never getting that off," James told her as he fumbled with the tiny clasp, struggling to secure it. Lily held her hand out to admire the bracelet, a smile spreading slowly from cheek to cheek.

"I'll never want to," she promised, leaning in for a wet kiss. "Never."

Lily was the first and only girl James could ever imagine giving such a special heirloom to. He knew it was on the right wrist, the person he had long since known he wanted to spend his life with. It was impossible to explain how he could know at only seventeen that he had met his match, but Lily was like no one else.

"You know if you asked me to marry you right now…" Lily began to say, their foreheads lightly pressed against each other. James laughed.

"You'd say yes?"

"Of course, I would." She kissed him once more, with great passion, arms looping around the back of his neck. "I love you."

If he'd had a ring, he would have done it – he would have gotten down on one knee and asked her right then and there. It didn't matter that they had only been dating for three months or that up until a year ago, Lily Evans had hated his guts. They were only seventeen – not even finished school yet – and still, marrying Lily Evans seemed like the most rational thing James Potter had ever wanted to do.

They were happy – blissfully so. Lily did not even think about the time – or the fact that she should be studying for an upcoming test - as she and James stripped from their school uniforms and crawled beneath the covers, tangled up in one another's arms, lips drawing patterns on the other's body. At that moment there was no war, no foreboding danger; they were safe, their friends were alive, and life was good. James could truly believe that he and Lily would have a long and happy life together. He could picture a wedding with both of their families, her mother smiling proudly from the pews, his own parents in their sitting room – surrounded by grandchildren. Such things seemed possible that day, lying in bed together, making love, certain that life would treat two young people well.

How could they know what was to come?


It was Valentine's Day – the most romantic day of the year – and yet, Remus could not seem to raise his spirits. All-day he had not been able to evade the sinking sense of guilt he felt following his encounter with Alice that morning. Avoiding one of his closest friends had been torture. Remus had not realized how much he had come to rely upon Alice until he was forced to be without her. She was a good listener and the least judgmental person Remus had ever met. It was difficult for him to rationalize the distance between them, day after day when it only seemed to lead to more misery.

Remus was supposed to be preparing a surprise for Leila. He wanted their first Valentine's Day together to be special, a night to remember, but getting into the romantic spirit was difficult when he felt so low. How was he supposed to enjoy his day when he knew that Alice was somewhere in the castle, hurting? Wasn't he now partially responsible for some of that pain?

"Oi, Moony." Sirius dragged Remus back into reality after tossing a wad of rolled-up parchment at the side of his head. They were sitting at one of the round tables in the Gryffindor common room (Remus, Sirius, and Peter) getting homework done before they helped Remus set up his surprise.

"You look like you're about to take a History of Magic exam," Sirius joked, "everything okay?"

"Fine," Remus lied, eyes dropping back down to his textbook.

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Peter pried. "I'm sure everything will go off without a hitch—"

"Really, I'm just tired is all," Remus ended the conversation with a tight smile, neither Peter nor Sirius appearing convinced.

Leila was supposed to meet him before the entrance to the Hufflepuff Basement at six p.m. sharp. With the aid of The Marauder's Map, Remus had scouted out an abandoned classroom on the seventh floor which the boys had agreed to help him fill with food and drink (a special dinner Remus had asked the House Elves to prepare, with some financial incentive). It was supposed to be a romantic evening for the two of them and he wanted to be excited, yet it was impossible when something in his life was so amiss.

"I think I'll take a bath," Remus stated abruptly, shutting his textbook.

"We'll meet you by the entrance to the kitchen," Sirius replied, glancing up as Remus turned to exit the bustling common room, no intention in his mind to take a bath. Rather, once beyond the portrait hole, Remus pulled the Marauder's Map out of his book bag and located Alice's name – heading straight towards her. He couldn't stand it anymore. Two weeks had more than proved Remus' respect for Leila's feelings, and the fact that he and Alice were not in any way romantically involved. Couldn't they all just be friends now?

He followed Alice to the Library and located her near one of the aisles in the back, sitting at a table with Marlene. Quietly – so as not to get himself reported to Madam Pince - Remus greeted the pair and slid into the vacant seat beside Marlene.

"I'm so sick of this stupid arrangement," Remus blurted out, Alice's brown eyes widening in surprise. "I don't want to keep ignoring you."

"What about Leila—"

"At this point, she has to understand. You're my mate, that's all. If she wants to keep her boyfriend sane, she'll need you around to give me advice." That got a smile on Alice's face.

"I don't want to be the reason you and Leila are fighting," she insisted.

"Merlin, who cares about what Leila thinks," interjected Marlene. "You two are friends, plain and simple. Respect in a relationship goes both ways."

"I think she'll understand everything when I explain it to her tonight," Remus assured them.

"Do you have a plan for today then?" Alice inquired, eyes lighting up. "Something romantic?" Truth be told – Remus was grateful to finally have someone he could get "romantic" advice from considering he had no experience within the department. About divulging his plans to Marlene and Alice both girls insisted that Remus allow them to help decorate the room.

"I don't think you can simply put food in an empty classroom and expect it to feel romantic," Alice told him.

"Leila seems like the kind of girl who would expect rose petals and violins," Marlene agreed.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to hire a strings quartet within the hour," Remus quipped.

"No, but we could make sure you have candles, silverware, flowers…"

"I doubt we'll find half those things in this castle by six—"

"Leave such complicated matters to us women," Marlene assured Remus, patting him on the back. "You boys tend to the easy stuff." Remus put up his hands in surrender.

"Fine by me."

X

By some miracle, Marlene and Alice had managed to make the room look rather magnificent. The bland, white walls had fairy lights strung across them, and there were rose petals, in a trail, leading towards the single, square, red-clothed, table in the centre of the room - a single rose sitting on one of the plates.

"This is amazing," Peter gawked, pausing to take in the room once the boys had placed the food from the kitchen on the back table – a line of desks pushed together.

"How the hell did you two manage this?" Remus was in shock. When Marlene and Alice had come up with the idea for the room, he'd never expected them to come close to creating it…

"We just used a little thing I like to call magic," Marlene teased, the boys all rolling their eyes.

"Come on, you've got to get yourself downstairs to meet Leila," Alice prodded, a big grin spreading across her face.

"Make sure to tell her how beautiful she looks!" Sirius reminded him as Remus stepped out the door, waving his friends' goodbye.

Remus got to the entrance of the Hufflepuff basement at two to six, catching his breath from the swift journey downstairs. He watched as students came and went, climbing in and out of the narrow tunnel which led into their common room. Ten minutes passed and then another before Remus truly began to panic about the location of his date.

Remus waited until a Hufflepuff boy came down the corridor, approaching the barrels, and stopped him to ask if he could check for Leila McAllister in the common room.

"Fine," he shrugged, looking Remus up and down with pity. It was not nearly the night he had planned. Remus had expected to be excited (perhaps slightly anxious) but he had not anticipated this sinking feeling of dread in his gut as he waited for his girlfriend. He wiped his palms along the surface of his black trousers as they began to sweat, his nerves growing the longer he stood out there alone, certain something was amiss.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Leila crawled out of the tunnel to the Hufflepuff basement. She stood up at her full height, turning to face Remus with a scowl on her face, arms crossed against her chest.

"What's happened?" Remus asked, stepping away from the wall.

"Is it true that you and Alice were sitting with each other in the library?" Leila demanded, fury in her eyes.

"Yes," Remus admitted.

"After you specifically promised me you wouldn't do that," Leila spoke through clenched teeth. "It's a betrayal."

"Leila…" Remus sighed, shocked by the rage in her voice. "Look I, I wanted to talk about this tonight, I think that I have more than proven I respect your sensitivity around Alice, but she is my friend, and today is tough for her—"

"How do you expect me to trust you!" Leila screeched. "You've lied to me easily before, who's to say you wouldn't do it again?"

"I told you the truth," Remus reminded her, voice hushed. "You know that there is nothing going on between Alice and me. I love you; I want to be with you, can't you see that?"

"I'm afraid that if I trust you again…"

"I'm not going anywhere." Remus insisted, stepping towards Leila. "You're stuck with me."

"Promise me…" she looked up at him, brown eyes rounded in fear. Remus wrapped his arms around her, Leila melting into the embrace, her anger dissipating.

"I promise that I love you and only you," Remus swore, laying a kiss on the tip of Leila's button nose. "Can you forgive me?"

After a short pause, she nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Of course," she replied, their lips finally meeting, romance returning to Valentine's Day.


Mary had not yet confided in any of her friends about her blossoming romance with Reginald Cattermole. She knew that the union – Mary's boisterous personality paired with Reg's quiet demeanour – would appear absurd to her friends. Besides, these days everyone was distracted. Marlene was obsessed with Henry, Lily was obsessed with James, Alice was in a perpetual state of depression and Emmeline, well, half the time even Mary didn't have a clue what she was up to.

"What's the plan for tonight then?" Emmeline inquired at dinner, sitting on the bench beside Mary, Alice, Marlene and Lily across from them. Mary's stomach knotted at the question, knowing very well that she already had plans.

"I think James has something planned for us," Lily informed them guiltily.

"Alice and I are getting drunk," Marlene announced.

"Oh! I'll jump in on that." Emmeline turned to face Mary, violet eyes lit up, "McDonald?" she asked. "How about you?"

"Well, I might join you guys later," Mary began, brown eyes planted on her half-finished bowl of stew. "I've actually got a tutoring session booked…"

"Tutoring!" Alice exclaimed. "People book tutoring sessions on Valentine's Day?"

"What sorry sack is requesting tutoring on Valentine's Day?" Emmeline asked, horrified.

"It's my fault, I'm the one who didn't realize what day it was…" Mary could feel her cheeks growing red as she tried anxiously to cover her tracks. "Anyway, I'll be done by nine." At least, she would be now if it meant an end to any suspicious questions that might be thrown her way.

After dinner, while the rest of her friends made their way to Gryffindor Tower, Mary instead headed to the opposite end of the castle, meeting Reg in their "secret spot." At least, that was what they'd taken to calling it. In fact, it was only a hidden spot, underneath the spiral staircase in the North Tower. Mary and Reg would lay down their robes and spend hours together - hidden from the rest of the castle. Sometimes they read to each other, napped, or cuddled, sharing kisses.

Today, Mary was the last one to get there, Reg already waiting with a grin on his face. She got down onto the stone floor beside him, layering her robe on top of his own, resting her book bag down in front of her.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Reg said, drawing a wrapped gift from behind his back. Mary rolled her eyes with a smile still plastered her face.

"We said no gifts," she reminded him.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't help it," Reg shrugged, looking proud of himself as Mary undid the wrapping paper, opening it up to find a record inside.

Bob Marley & the Wailers Kaya

"Bob Marley?" Mary turned the record over curiously, Reg nodding excitedly beside her.

"He's one of the greatest musicians of this decade! Absolutely brilliant. Oh, I can't wait to see your reaction when you listen to him for the first time."

"It was your great taste in music which drew us together," Mary noted, reading over the tracklist on the back of the record. She handed it over to Reg, distracting him for a moment while she opened her bag and quickly withdrew the neatly wrapped parcel she had packed.

"I thought we said no gifts!" His face dropped.

"Yeah, well, couldn't help myself," Mary shrugged sheepishly, repeating Reg's reply.

For Reg, she had purchased a copy of The Lord of the Rings – a book which her brother Patrick had raved about for weeks after finishing. Somehow, Mary knew that Reg would love it too. After gifts had been exchanged, Reg leaned back against the wall, as he usually did, Mary coming to rest her head against his chest, listening to the sound of his racing heart as he held her in his arms.

"This must seem a lame Valentine's Day," Reg suddenly said, "compared to the others you've had…"

Mary couldn't help but laugh, drawing herself up to face him. "Others?" she inquired. "There haven't been any others."

Reg seemed surprised. "I'm sorry I…I just assumed…"

"Having men desire you physically…well…it's not quite the same as being cared about," Mary tried to explain. "No one has ever cared enough to try as hard as you have." Slowly, so as not to spook him, Mary leaned in, lips brushing against Reg's. "You are one of a kind." Their lips met again, both smiling. "And I am so lucky to have found you."

She meant it too. Never have Mary expected to be so lucky, especially not at the age of seventeen. She had never dreamt of finding someone with the empathy and quiet intelligence of Reginald Cattermole. He never made her feel insignificant, nor did he treat her like a piece of ass. He loved her. Mary could feel it in his every act.

She wished so badly at that moment - drawn together in an intimate embrace - that she could open her eyes and repeat those three words that Reg had so graciously offered her. His emotions flowed freely, without fear of rejection, and they always would. It was simply how Reg operated. Mary would never be that way; Not with the way she'd been raised. No matter how badly she wanted to fall head over heels for Reg, she could not do it, despite the fact that she was, indeed, falling in love.