Chapter 8

Two weeks later she agreed to meet Creevey again, but it was, as he had suggested the previous time, near the Forbidden Forest where few students dared to go.

They both knew it was highly dangerous, the Carrows could catch them, but Riley would just mouth off to them and be sent to Snape's office, which was what she was aiming for, mostly. Snape couldn't punish her, he had tried before, but she was too cocky with him. She had never flaunted it in the previous years, but she valued her Potions marks, this year, however, he had no control over that.

He gave her a parcel that she just stowed in her pocket with a promise to open it later.

"You know I love you, right?" The young Gryffindor said as she settled on the grass.

"You've said it before, but I don't believe you, Creevey, you do not know what love is," She sighed, lying down and staring at the clouds, "Please don't ruin my Saturday by announcing it seventeen times, because I will leave and go snog Draco or Pansy if you do."

He laughed at her joke before settling down next to her.

"Where do you see yourself? After the war, I mean," He asked. Riley shook the dark brown strands of hair out of her green eyes and looked at her companion.

"Probably as a Quidditch player, but Quidditch will be dead by then, so probably as some nosy reporter for the Daily Prophet," She said, "How about you?"

"I want to be an auror, like Moody, but the real Moody, not that imposter from my third year." Creevey shivered.

"Like Harry Potter?" She corrected him, and he blushed at being found guilty. She rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself.

"Why Quidditch?" He asked, "I mean, no offense, but it's traditionally a men's sport, isn't it?"

"Quidditch is freedom. To me it is, anyway, because I feel so caged in all of the time, and when I get on a broom… it is so open, so free, and I feel like I can conquer the world." She said, imagining the last time she had flown with Draco, which had been the previous day, and the daring tricks she'd tried.

She was a born flyer, and she would give up her soul to be able to fly for the rest of her life.

"You would make a good reporter too; you have a way with words." Creevey said softly, and when she opened her eyes to return to reality from her flying fantasy, she saw the younger boy smile at her.

"Why an auror?" She changed the focus from her to him.

"Well… they help the people, Riley. They are so strong and brave and so good at what they do!" He said enthusiastically.

"So you are a goody two-shoes? I would never have guessed." She teased him. He growled playfully at her before laughing.

"Maybe… maybe I can become a photographer, I can get the skills and everything, and then I can be your assistant. I would always be with you, and isn't that great? I'd be with the person I love," He was like a small puppy, and she couldn't find it in herself to burst his bubble, "And we could travel all over the world for stories! We could see the pyramids and the Eifel Tower, oh that would be so romantic! And I could ask you to marry me there!"

She sat up, alarmed, "Hold on, kid! We aren't dating, we will never be dating, and you can write us travelling over the world on your stomach and wipe it off." She said quickly. What he had said had terrified her. He looked a bit hurt.

"I will make you fall for me, Riley, some way or another." He vowed. She didn't reply that she had already started to fall for him. At least she thought she did, she wasn't sure. She had never really fallen in love before. But her reactions towards Draco… she liked having him around. But she also liked having Creevey around. It was confusing.

With that he leaned over her and pressed his lips to hers. She had heard a lot about first kisses, they were supposed to be magical and you were supposed to hear bells or waves or some crap like that. She felt nothing. No stars exploded in her head nor did she feel arousal pulse through her body, as those stupid novels said it would. The media had ruined this moment for her, hadn't it?

She didn't even close her eyes, like he had, and she found his expressionless face fascinating. His lips were cold, she noted. When he withdrew, her wand was at his throat.

"I warned you, kid, now you will learn. Eat fucking slugs." Light exploded from her wand, and Creevey shot backwards. She rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip and licked her lips – he tasted salty.

She stood up to check if he was all right, and when he vomited a slug, she nodded, satisfied, before making her way back to her dormitory. Pansy would love this story.

And, as Riley had predicted, Pansy had loved it. The black-haired girl had laughed so hard that she fell off the bed and continued to laugh.

After that, school became a bit harder, what with NEWTs coming up, and she also had a brutal murder to plan, because Snape had revealed to her that whoever killed her parents were on the Dark Lord's team. She now was a bit against the dark side, because it had been their pawn that killed her parents.

She missed them. Goodness, she missed them. Her mother had been the kindest person in the world, but she always hid it from society, coming across as a hard person, while Riley knew her mother always went out of her way to help someone. She'd lost count of how many times her mother had told the bookshop to ask people, especially the unfortunate, half-price and she would pay the other half. She loved her mother, because she could always trust her mother with everything. The Frost family hadn't picked a side on the war, but she knew her parents were good people.

Her father always had a soft spot for small children and often bought ice cream for the first years, telling the shopkeeper to just give them away to the newcomers to the wizarding world. He always played with her cousins, who were much younger than she was, and it wasn't creepy either.

She threw herself into her homework, not even bothering to read Creevey's letters; she just tossed them. She didn't have time for that now.

She barely had time for Draco and his flying practice, but since he was reimbursing her for the betting money, she made time for him. She also spent her evenings with said boy, who had decided to tutor her in Charms.

One night they'd been going through the movements, and she moved her hand so much that she poked him in the eye with her wand. He had laughed it off, like the old Draco would never have, and moved to stand behind her. His arm had cradled hers and he showed her to move in slow-motion.

They had looked at one another when sparks flew from her wand, and the tension was so thick. She was sure they would've kissed if it hadn't been for the squad of evildoers entering the Common Room, back from torturing the other students.

She spotted Creevey a few times at their practices, and she once saw him smile at her laughter in the air. But she saw Draco's smile too, and he laughed with her. She could share this with him.

It was after one of these practices, on a Saturday, that the Gryffindor approached her. She had stopped answering his letters, and he was sending one every day now.

"Why haven't you been answering my letters?" He asked, waving at Draco. The latter just nodded at the younger boy. Draco was not impressed.

"I won't be long, Draco," She promised, before turning to Creevey, "Because I don't have time, Creevey." Only that wasn't it entirely true. She was confused. Creevey had kissed her, and while it wasn't an absolutely mind-numbing kiss, she had liked it, and she liked talking to him. But she also liked being with Draco.

"Is it because we are on different sides?" He wanted to know, and she sighed.

"After this war, Creevey, I will most likely be dead."

"Why?"

"Because it's impossible for me to wage a war on my own."

"You're not on your own," he said, "It doesn't matter which side you're on, you will have people with you."

"Not the side I'm on, Creevey." She scoffed, folding her arms crossly.

"Which is?" He asked nonchalantly, but she knew her answer could make or break their friendship.

"Neither." She said evenly, watching his expression.

"I don't understand." He said, a frown adorning his handsome young face. He still was cute, and now he had added a pout to the works.

"I'm not on a side. I'm on my own side, and I am alone on my side." She said softly, feeling as though Draco had been a better conversationalist. Draco had understood immediately.

"Don't you support Harry?" He asked, and she knew that was the friendship-altering question. And if she lost whatever they had, it was fine with her, because she didn't have time for romance, or the need for it.

"No." She said. She didn't elaborate, because he wouldn't listen.

She looked at Draco, who was waiting for her expectantly for her. She made to leave, shifting the broom from one hand to the other, when Creevey snatched her wrist, and she nearly hit him with a broomstick over the head, when he kissed her.

He pressed his lips to hers in wanton, as if trying to pour all of his love into this one kiss – which she honestly thought was a load of bullshit, you cannot pour emotions as though it is a drink.

How… how dare he? How could he? He'd stolen her first kiss, and now he was forcing it on her, with Draco right there! It had to be a trick. A prank by the Gryffindors, she was sure. Oh, and she had told all of those things! How could she be so stupid?

She pulled away and proceeded to hit him over the head with the broomstick before licking her bottom lip – still salty.

She trudged over to Draco, wishing nothing than the world swallowing her whole. She had just alienated one of the only guys that would ever probably like her, and that she liked back, but she didn't realise it at the time.

She wanted to turn around and apologise, but she couldn't, her pride was holding her back, her paranoid nature was enveloping every sense that she had and she was waiting for other Gryffindors around every corner, ready to attack her or to ridicule her… her head was spinning with everything, and soon it was more than just her mind spinning, but her head too, and she felt her breathing becoming difficult. What was happening?

Spots appeared in front of her eyes and before she knew what was really happening, everything had turned black.