Thank you so, so much reviewers. You are lovely, lovely, lovely people :). I appreciate it lots!

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May We Look Ever Forward

Part Two: Your Arms Around Me

Chapter One

The sign above the Great Hall doorway was the talk of the school for two weeks, and almost everyone was speculating about the culprits. The teachers interrogated student after student, but could find out nothing. It was late at night in the common room, and Grace, Albus, Scorp and Rose had spread their homework over a table. Scorp had given up completely on his essay, and was staring moodily out the common room window.

"What do you guys reckon?" He asked for the millionth time that week. No one needed to ask what he meant, knowing he was about to go on about the carvings, just as everyone else was doing,

Grace sighed, "Scorp, we've already told you, all of us, we have no idea."

"Which of the Slytherins do you reckon it was? I'll bet it was Goyle,"

"Nah, it can't be him," Put in Al

"Well, why not?"

"Because he can't spell, can he?" They all laughed at that.

"Hey, Grace," Dennis Longbottom was standing behind them

"Uh, hey Denny," Said Grace, clearly confused, as they rarely spoke to one another outside classes.

"Could I have a word?" He asked.

"S-sure." She said. She exchanged perplexed looks with her friends

They stepped outside the portrait. Denny ruffled his hair, and took a deep breathe. Oh God, thought Grace, 'This cannot be going where I think its going, can it?'

"Um, so there's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up soon,"

'It IS going where I think its going!' She started to silently panic. "Yeah, I noticed,"

"I was wondering, if you're not already going with someone, though you probably are, but if you're not, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me." He said this all very fast, and without looking at her properly. Grace weighed up the options. Dennis Longbottom, of all people, was asking her out. He was a lovely guy- Head Boy, Gryffindor, brave, nice to everyone. She couldn't think of a reason to say no, either than the fact that he wasn't the boy she wanted to be going to Hogsmeade with next weekend. 'Why can't this be Al asking me?' She thought bitterly. But Al was never going to ask her, the prat. And Dennis was nice, and he certainly wasn't unattractive, and maybe if she gave him a chance…

"Well, no one's asked me. Sure I'd like to go with you. That'd be great" She smiled at him and he breathed a sigh of relief,

"Really? Well, great. That's, that's really good,"

She laughed, "Okay, well, I have that nasty herbology essay your dad set me to finish, so I should go do that."

He grinned and said, "I'll tell him to ease up on that stuff,"

She grinned back, "That would be much appreciated."

"So, I should go finish patrolling the corridors. I'll see you around?"

She smiled, "Yeah, see ya."

She walked back through the portrait ("He's a lovely boy, Dennis Longbottom. Not half as forgetful as his father before him!" Said the Fat Lady) and sat back down at the table, the slightest of smiles on her face.

"What was that about?" Demanded Scorp

"None of your business," She replied coolly

Al looked up at her, "What'd he say, Gracie?" She met his eyes and her stomach flip-flopped

"Nothing," She said, "Buzz off, you guys."

She took a piece of parchment and scribbled on it to Rose, Be discreet with your reaction as your read this. Dennis Longbottom just asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him and I said yes.

"Hey, Rose. Can you take a look at the last bit I wrote for this essay? I'm not sure if it's any good."

Rose took the parchment out of her hands. She read it, raised her eyebrow and said, "Pass me your quill, Grace. I want to add a few things to this last sentence that you've missed out."

She returned the parchment to Grace. Dennis Longbottom!? What?! I was convinced that he was gay! He's never gone anywhere near a girl! Oh, except for that one time he went to the Christmas Social with Cathy Robal, but I just figured that was all for show! Wow, I can't believe it. Are you excited? Do you like him?

Grace read it over, "Thanks, Rose. That helps. I think I'm going to go to bed though."

"Me too, actually." Said Rose, "Goodnight boys."

The girl raced upstairs, Al and Scorp watching them, "Mental," Said Scorp, "The pair of them,"

Al gave a noncommittal noise in reply, and went back to his essay. Whatever Dennis had said, it was enough to make the girls rush away to discuss it in private. And that could only mean one thing: Dennis Longbottom liked his Grace.

"So, do you like him?!" Said Rose, very seriously, as they hid in the bathroom from the other girls in their dorm

"Well, I dunno," Said Grace honestly, "I mean, he's nice and everything,"

"Yeah, and…" Said Rose

"I just, I don't know. I guess I'm a bit thrown by it all really. It's pretty unexpected."

Rose looked as if X-Raying her. Grace sometimes pitied Rose's children, because they would never be able to get away with anything without their mother knowing about it, "Are you not over Louis?" she asked her finally

Grace waved a dismissive hand, "No, I'm well over him."

Rose's face softened, "He was pretty upset when you guys broke up, you know."

"It wasn't easy on either of us. I wanted to be with him, I really did. But it just wasn't going to work, Rose. He fancied himself a lot more than he fancied me, and what kind of a relationship is that?"

Rose nodded, "I didn't say you were wrong in ending it, just that he was upset."

"Scorp tore him to pieces for leaving us there at the battle, remember?"

"Vividly." Said Rose, "I think his words were something like, 'useless, good-for-nothing pretty boy who doesn't deserve to be in Gryffindor' if I'm not mistaken."

Grace grinned, "Nope, those were it. I don't know what I was thinking, dating Louis in the first place. I know he's your cousin and all, but he's just so… different. We're such different people, and we want completely different things from life, and we wanted completely different things from that relationship. I sort of just, agreed to it."

"Sort of like you just agreed to Dennis?"

Grace nodded and Rose sighed, "Just give him a chance, Grace. Who knows how it'll go?"

But lying in bed that night, Grace thought she knew exactly how it was going to go. She and Denny would go to Hogsmeade, and it would fun. And she would have a good time, and he would be a gentleman. And at some point he would want to hold her hand, and she would let him because it would feel right. And she would be caught up in the moment, and it would seem like the right thing to do. And if he tried to kiss her, she would probably let him. And then she would come home, and then it would all be made official over the course of the next week and none of it would be what she wanted because the only thing she wanted was Albus Potter, who never so much as looked at her twice. He was her friend; her best friend, really. But she didn't think he'd realised that she was a girl yet. Or that he ever would realise that she was a girl. She remembered this night, mid-way through 5th year, when he had looked at her and the look in his eyes was just… indescribable. But he'd never looked at her like that again; he'd never so much as shown the tiniest bit of interest since then. Whatever that look in his eyes meant, it didn't mean what Grace wanted it to mean. Sighing in frustration, she rolled over, punching her pillow. She wished, as she always did when she lay awake thinking of Al, that she could go back to when she didn't like him, because it had been so easy back then. They just gelled so well together; understood every inch of one another. There were so many things she liked about Albus Potter. She liked how he'd finally let his ridiculously messy hair grow long past his collar, and how he was constantly pushing his glasses up his nose. She liked the face he made when he was trying to remember something. She liked the four or five random freckles on his nose; the only ones he'd inherited. She liked him best when it was just the two of them, and he was relaxed and loud and funny. Her favourite memory of him was one from their summer holidays after they'd finished their 2nd year. Scorp hadn't been allowed to come for the holidays, so it was just her and Al, and they had been playing in the forest near the Potters home in Godric's Hollow. Grace had gotten lost while they were playing, and she couldn't find Al anywhere. And she was crying loudly, because she was alone, scared and lost. And then, by some miracle, he had appeared out of nowhere, and held her until she had stopped crying. Then they'd walked home holding hands, and when they got there, Mrs Potter made them hot chocolate, and they had spent the whole night curled up in Al's bed and Al had told her stories about his parents in war the until she'd fallen asleep. And it had been perfect. Lost in the thoughts of that day, Grace fell into an uneasy sleep where her dreams were filled with Al and she woke up the next morning with wet cheeks and a heavy heart.

She and Al were sitting together at the back of DADA, taking notes before they began practising the latest spell. He whispered to her, "What did Dennis Longbottom want last night."

She pursed her lips, and then sighed. She couldn't lie to him, "He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him. And I said yes."

"Oh." Said Al, and kept writing, keeping an eye on Teddy, though he didn't think he'd get into trouble from him "Do you fancy him?"

Graces insides squirmed, "I don't know."

"Then why are you going?" Whispered Al, putting down his quill and looking at her

She stopped writing too and stared at him, "I don't have to explain myself to you, Albus Potter!"

"Fine, then. Do what you like."

"I will!" She snapped back, "I will do exactly as I like!"

Rose and Scorpius turned around from the desk in front of them, questioning looks on their faces.

"What do you see in that guy!?"

"He's nice! He's just, genuinely, a nice guy. He's got a good head on his shoulders. He's very caring. He's brave, and he's kind."

"Well, I'm sure you thought Louis was all those things too, but then he left us for dead to save himself."

She growled in frustration, "What is your damage here, Al? Is really about Louis? If it is, then look. I'm sorry I broke up with your cousin and hurt him! But, like you said, he left us for dead! And I'm sorry now that I'm moving on! But if it's not about Louis, then tell me what the hell your problem is because really, this isn't any of your business!"

"This isn't about Louis!" He hissed at her, "You shouldn't have dated him in the first place! The fact that he's my cousin is irrelevant here; he's still one of the world's biggest gits. And how is this not my business?" Said Al, indignant, "You're one of my best friends, I care about you, and what you do!"

"Well, thankyou, but I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions and perfectly capable of taking care of myself,"

"Oh yes, of course! And I say again, Louis was an excellent decision!"

"I thought you said this wasn't about Louis, Al!"

"It isn't!" Al said, his voice rising, "But I guess he's part of it!"

"Then what the hell is this about, because you've got me pretty damn confused!" She said, throwing down her quill completely, very aware that many people in the class were staring at them, including Dennis and Teddy.

"Nothing," He muttered, realising everyone was watching them too "Don't even worry about it, hey."

"Fine." She said, her voice catching in her throat. "I won't then!"

"You guys right there?" Said Teddy, looking from one to the other, concerned

"Fine," Said Al too loudly, "We're great, Professor Lupin."

Teddy stared at Al for a minute, but recognised that he was in one of his moods, and just ignored him, thinking it was better to get on the with lesson than to attempt to try and pull Al Potter out of a mood swing.

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More coming soon my pets!! R&R and above all, enjoy!