Chapter 5: New Love
It was two weeks since Martha and her friends had started at Hogwarts and they were busy with classes and homework to worry about much else. But Martha found herself looking with longing at Dean whenever she passed him, and she knew he was also looking at her with the same kind of longing in his eyes. She knew her parents wouldn't mind her having friends, but a boyfriend was a different story. Both her and Dean were friends, but she was also longing for his love in return. But there was a problem with that. She didn't know anything about love, so she decided to talk to her parents about it.
"Mum, Dad, there's something I want to talk to you about." She said after approaching her parents that Saturday and sitting in her mother's office.
"What is it Martha?" Sirius asked her softly.
"I want to know about love." She said and both Sirius and Natalie looked surprised.
"I didn't think you'd ask about that at only eleven, Martha, but I guess if you want to know, we can't stop the curiosity." Sirius said and Natalie shot him a glare.
"Alright Martha, love is a very complicated emotion. Sometimes we think we're in love, when we're just infatuated with that person." Natalie explained.
"What's infatuation?" Martha asked, slowly becoming more curious.
"Infatuation is sometimes also called 'Temporary Love', and the reason why is because you fall desperately in love with a person, but it never lasts long. It's usually only from the person's looks, and not their personality, their most important feature. If its love at first sight, its most likely infatuation, but if you gradually fall in love, and it's the personality that you like, then it could be counted as true love. Alright?" Sirius said and Martha nodded.
"Okay, so how can you tell when you're in love?" Martha asked.
"Before we answer that Martha, what's with the sudden need to know? Do you have feelings for someone?" Sirius asked her and ducked only just in time to avoid a tap across the top of the head from Natalie.
"Sirius, that's her privacy." She said. "Martha, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to." She said softly, turning to Martha.
"That's fine, Mum. And Dad, there is someone. His name is Dean, and I can't help looking at him and wishing I was in his arms." Martha said, blushing.
"Okay. That's all I wanted to know. And there's no need to be embarrassed about saying that Martha; love is a natural emotion. Now, to answer your question, what your feeling at the moment whenever you look at him, is one way to tell, but only if it eventually grows into wanting, not only to be in his arms, but also wanting to kiss him. That's one way; another is when you feel your heart racing whenever you're in his presence. But that varies with people. Some people's hands will sweat and they'll find that they stutter whenever they're talking to the person, and others will only want to be with them forever. Some will even go as far as to actually kiss the person whenever they're in their presence, but I suggest you don't go that far. I suggest you tell him verbally how you feel." Sirius explained.
"But why do some people actually kiss the person they like, if they don't even know if they like them in return?" Martha asked, puzzled.
"Because they find it's the easiest way to find out whether the person has the same feelings for them. If they pull away from the kiss, they don't like them, but if they go with it, they like them. It's not a very good way to find out if the person's in love with them, because they might already have someone else, but some people seem to think it's the easiest way to find out." Natalie replied. "But if you really feel you love Dean, I suggest you ask yourself whether it's the personality or the looks that you like."
"It's the personality." Martha said.
"Alright, are you friends with him at the moment?" Sirius asked her.
"Yes. I was also wondering if you'll allow me to have a boyfriend, though."
"We'll have to talk to him first. Because we're not sure if he's going to treat you in the way that we'd prefer if the both of you are that desperate for a relationship." Sirius said seriously.
"Okay. Do you want me to let him know how I feel before I bring him to you, or do you want me to bring him before I let him know how I feel towards him?" Martha asked.
"Tell him how you feel first, that way, if he feels the same way to you, you can bring him to talk to us, because there's no point bringing him to us to talk about how he'll treat you if he doesn't have the same feelings towards you." Natalie said and they could hear Sirius laughing softly in the background. "And just between you and me, Martha, I'm glad some things don't change – your father's maturity levels for instance." She added, and both of them laughed. Sirius stopped laughing and looked at them with a strange expression on his face, but Natalie and Martha only laughed harder on seeing this.
"Seriously, what are you two laughing so hard about?" he asked them, his hands on his hips, but Natalie and Martha laughed harder still at that. "Alright, will you two please stop laughing and let me know what you're laughing at?"
"First of all, your maturity level, secondly, the expression at us laughing, and thirdly, the fact that you weren't able to figure out why we were laughing." Natalie said, still laughing.
"Okay, before I die from laughter, I'd better go talk to Dean, and see how he feels." Martha said, her laughing ceasing to a giggle as she walked out of the room.
She approached Dean the next day and asked if she could talk to him in private. He agreed and followed her into a deserted classroom.
"Dean, I … I'm in l-love with …" she began nervously, blushing.
"Martha, I love you too." Dean said and she smiled, as they drew closer together. Martha knew they were going to end up kissing, but she didn't know whether she wanted to kiss him or not. Eventually, he kissed her and she was surprised at first, but she decided to go with the flow. They stood there for ten minutes, kissing, Dean with his hand on her waist, until Martha remembered that she was supposed to take him to her parents so they could talk to him. Wishing it could've lasted forever, she broke the bond and instead, he hugged her tenderly.
"Dean, I need to take you to my parents so they can talk to you and make sure you'll treat me right." She said and he kissed her briefly, before following her out of the classroom and towards the Hospital Wing, where Natalie's office was located.
"Before I go in to talk to your parents, may I ask who they are?" Dean asked her softly.
"My mum is Professor Talleo, and my dad is – I don't want you to panic – but my dad is Sirius Black." She said in an undertone. Dean stopped in his tracks.
"Wait, Sirius Black is in the castle?" he asked her so no one else could hear.
"Yeah, he has been since school started, but he's not a murderer. He's innocent. Please believe me Dean." She said softly to him, regretting that she'd mentioned that she was the daughter of a convicted mad mass murderer.
"I believe you, Martha." Dean said after a slight pause.
"Thank you Dean." She whispered and he kissed her again before they continued on their way.
When they reached Martha's parents, she walked into Natalie's office with Dean and her parents looked at him, then at Martha. Sirius was smiling slightly in a way that told her that good news was probably going to come to her, and at the same time, he was nodding slightly and Martha knew he was pleased with what he saw. Natalie, however, was looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face; however it appeared that she, too, was pleased with what she saw.
"Mum, Dad, this is Dean." Martha said nervously. "And Dean, these are my parents."
"Dean, if it's alright with you, we would like to have a bit of a talk with you concerning Martha." Natalie said kindly to him, motioning for him to take a seat.
"Martha, if you want, you're allowed to stay with him while we talk to him." Sirius said to her and she grinned at him and sat down next to Dean.
Eventually, Martha's parents had stopped questioning Dean about how he would treat Martha and started talking to each other about whether or not Martha would be allowed to be in a relationship with him.
"Dean, Martha, we've come to a decision. We've decided to allow you to have a relationship, on one condition." Sirius said seriously.
"What's the condition, Dad?" Martha asked her father curiously.
"Martha, your father and I both know that it's natural to want to experiment, but I suggest that if you feel you two want to experiment with each other in bed, I suggest the word protection is remembered and put into action. If you fall pregnant Martha, your father and I will have no choice but to forbid you from seeing him any more. Do you understand that, guys?" Natalie said seriously. Martha and Dean looked at each other and blushed slightly, nodding.
"Well, I guess that's about it." Sirius said and Martha and Dean stood up. "You may go now, guys."
Martha and Dean thanked Sirius and Natalie and walked out, before breaking into a run towards the Ravenclaw common room. When they got there, they saw Dora kissing a boy. They were the only ones in the common room, with everyone else making the most of the sunshine before the snow began falling. Martha recognised the boy Dora was kissing as Daniel Brown, from the sorting.
"Dora?" Martha asked, looking quickly at Dean. Dora and Daniel broke apart and blushed when they saw Martha and Dean standing there.
"You're in love? With Daniel?" Dean asked her, looking at his best friend. Dora sighed deeply and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I hope it's alright with you. Sorry Dean, I know he's your friend." She said.
"That's fine, we're just surprised. Nothing more. Hey, Dean and I are in love, so what do we care?" Martha said and Dora and Daniel looked relieved, before their heads snapped up as what Martha had said sunk in.
"You are?" Daniel asked, looking surprised.
"Yeah." Dean said, laughing at Daniel's expression. He didn't seem at all embarrassed to admit it.
"Well, then I can see why it's not a problem." Dora said, and she and Daniel walked to the armchair in front of the fireplace, sat down on it and started kissing again, their arms wrapped around each other. Dean and Martha looked at each other, grinned and walked to the furthest corner and Dean pulled Martha into a tender hug, before kissing her.
"Why don't we go up to the girls' dormitories?" Martha suggested, pulling away from the kiss. Dean agreed and the two of them walked up to the girl's dormitories, and walked in, sitting on Martha's bed, before starting to kiss again. Eventually, Dean stopped kissing her lips and went to the neck, unbuttoning to top button of her shirt. She gasped, before remembering what her mother said.
"Dean, we shouldn't …" she whispered, pulling away.
"Why not, Martha?" he asked her.
"Remember what my mum said? About not experimenting in bed without protection. I know she meant sexually, and we're almost about to do that." She said.
"She said without protection." Dean said, shrugging.
"Dean, she meant protection as in a condom or something along those lines. Something to stop me getting pregnant." She said.
"Alright, but I know my dad has some condoms, so I could always take some during the Christmas holidays." He said, kissing her.
"Does that mean you're going home for Christmas?" Martha asked, pouting.
"Unfortunately it does. My parents told me I was to come home during the Christmas holidays so I can have Christmas with my family. If you want I can ask them if it's alright if you're allowed to come over for Christmas." He said.
"Awesome. I'll just have to ask my parents." Martha said softly, kissing him again, just as the dormitory door opened and Adelyne walked in with a boy who had gumleaf green eyes and dark brown hair. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Martha and Dean.
"Who's he, Martha?" she asked her.
"My boyfriend, Dean. Who's that?" Martha replied.
"This is my boyfriend, Eric. He's a second year." Adelyne replied, and Martha noticed Eric had his arm around Adelyne's waist.