Chapter 13

A/N: Here's the next chapter, hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter and affiliates, don't sue.

"Hey Harry!" grinned Sarah, "Hope I'm not late."

"Not at all Sarah, you're right on time," answered Harry. Noticing Draco, he continued, "you brought company I see."

"He needed to find the kitchen, he missed dinner too."

"Don't worry Scarhead, I won't be in your way. I just need to get some food for myself and someone else" Draco replied hotly, "now if you would just show me how to get in, I'll be on my way."

"Someone else?" smirked Harry, "Don't tell me some girl actually gave you the time of day."

"If you must know, I was bringing food to Steph, I believe she missed supper as well. Dumbledore wanted me to tell her something," Draco said passively.

"Yeah, okay," snorted Sarah, "you know Steph isn't stupid, she'll see right through you."

"I'm sure she would if I was trying something, But the truth remains that I need to relay a message and I'm very hungry."

"Whatever Draco," sighed Harry, "Just tickle the pear."

"I beg your pardon! I'll do no such thing."

"Then you won't get any food, cuz I'm not opening any doors for your ugly ass" Harry pointed out, "and neither will Sarah."

"Nope, move your own rich ass for once, unless you're willing to pay me that is," she grinned.

"I don't pay Gryffindors, it's a waste of good money," he added snobbily. When no one moved, a particularly loud rumble from his stomach pushed Draco to make a move. "Oh move over!" he slowly reached out to tickle the pear, which giggled and changed into a doorknob. "Odd door…" he turned the knob and walked into the kitchen.

A rush of house elves bombarded the teens, each wishing to serve in any way possible. Draco noticed a very familiar house elf wearing an ugly tea cozy on his head.

"Dobby!" he cried, who was fool enough to employ you!"

"Master Draco! What are you doing with Harry Potter sir?" exclaimed Dobby.

"Dobby, we talked about this" coached Harry, "Draco is not your master anymore."

"Right sir, please forgive Dobby."

"No harm done. You think you can get food for four people?"

"Right away sir!" Dobby and several other house elves ran off to collect the food.

"You'd better leave Dobby alone Malfoy, he's not your slave anymore." warned Harry.

"Please Potter, I have no need for him anymore. He was unfaithful anyway. I'm so over you stealing our house elf" he answered smoothly. He grabbed a basket of food the house elves had brought back and turned to leave. "Thanks for the help by the way" he called over his shoulder. He walked through the mazes of hallways to get to the hospital wing.

"Well I'm glad he's gone," said Harry finally. "He's such a prick. Why'd you help him anyway?"

"Because I'm a polite person who helps those who need it?" she said softly.

"Right, and I'm the boogeyman," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Really? You're the boogeyman!" she exclaimed, "that's so cool!"

"Sarah, I know you hate people, so you did not help Malfoy out of the kindness of your heart." At Sarah's protesting face Harry quickly added, "not saying you don't have a kind a heart of course."

"Good," she smiled, "cuz then I'd have to kick your ass!"

"As if you could."

"Was that a challenge Potter?" she mocked, pulling out her wand and pointing it at him.

"Would I challenge you Sarah?" he asked smiling.

"Maybe if you thought you could win," she laughed.

"Probably, now why did you really help Malfoy?" he asked again.

"Because he asked somewhat nicely. And he's Steph's friend. And any friend of Steph's is a friend of mine, no matter how annoying he or she may be."

"Fair enough," said Harry, "I would never be able to help Malfoy."

"That's you, I'm me, let's eat, I'm hungry." she grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, we'll go eat. Wanna make it into a, er… a picnic, or something…?"

"You mean, like a date?" she teased.

"Yeah, er…. Well, sorta, I… if you want er…you know, just a little supper, er…. Unless you don't wanna, cuz… er, we could just go back to the common room and eat it there, no big deal. I was just, you know, wondering, if perhaps, maybe, you might like to, you know…" Harry rambled.

"Harry Potter, are you asking me out?" Sarah asked slowly.

"Yeah, I guess maybe I am…" he said, starting to grin. "Nothing too official yet," he added hastily, "but I'd like to try it out and see what happens. I was thinking, maybe we could go to that dance together," he asked, seemingly with more courage than his first question.

Sarah looked at her feet to hide the blush that had crept onto her face while Harry spoke. "I'd like that. It would be my pleasure to attend the dance with you."

"That's great!" exclaimed Harry, "Fred and George were right, if you just ask right away, there's less of a chance of the girl being taken."

"Okay…" replied Sarah.

"Yeah, last time I waited so long before asking the girl I liked, when I finally got around to it, I was too late." he explained, "so I asked someone the day of the dance, or something like that. I didn't even want to go with her, but I didn't exactly want to go alone. I danced with her once, then I ditched her."

"Um, Harry?" interrupted Sarah, "you're kinda ruining the pretty little moment we were sharing."

"Huh? Oh sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to do that. You're the first person I wanted to ask, so I'm happy to go with you."

Sarah smiled, "you're weird… but kinda cute, so I'll let you off the hook this time" she teased.

"Cool" he laughed, "come on, let's go find a spot to have our picnic before all this food gets cold."

"Good idea. But let's stay inside, I don't feel like going outside."

"I got just the place." Harry took the basket and started to lead Sarah to the room of requirements.

When they turned the corner they noticed a Gryffindor with bushy hair running up ahead and vanishing around the closest corner. Sharing a glance, Harry and Sarah walked up to what they knew was a dead end hallway. Peeking around the corner, they saw Hermione pressed against the wall gasping for breath.

"Oh gasp hey Harry. What are you doing here? Pant" fibbed Hermione.

"Come on Hermione, this has gone far enough" Harry said exasperatedly.

"wh…whatever do you mean Harry?" asked Hermione, casting Sarah a quick glare which Sarah eagerly returned.

"Your damn jealousy of my friendship with Sarah," he said angrily. "She's in Gryffindor too, so you don't have any other reason to hate her!"

"But Harry! Don't you see? She's trying to rip our trio apart!" cried Hermione, tears leaking slowly from her eyes.

"Wrong Hermione. She was trying to fit in." Harry answered coldly, "she was just looking for friends" Sarah looked up at him, afraid he may go a little too far in his heated state.

"Harry, it's no big deal…" Sarah said slowly.

"You're right, it wasn't that big of a deal. But it is now." He continued, undeterred. "Hermione, I'm not asking you to like Sarah completely, but I'm asking you to chill out and give her a chance. She won't ruin our trio, but she can even it out by making it a quartet. Do you remember first year? When Ron and I gave YOU a chance? It's your turn now."

The three teens stood in silence until Hermione finally spoke up. "You're right Harry, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry to you too Sarah. I guess book smarts doesn't automatically make me people smart. Can we call a truce?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess. But if you do something I don't like, I WILL point it out." Sarah replied slowly. "Now, don't mean to be rude, but Harry and I had plans that I was kinda looking forward to."

"Oh, right, sorry about the whole eavesdropping thing. Won't happen again." Hermione apologized.

"You should go hang out with Ron, I think he likes you" winked Sarah.

"Yeah, right," Hermione blushed, "anyway, I'll get out of your way. Seeya later."

Harry stood in a daze as Hermione walked past them and down the hall.

"That was just way too easy," he complained. "You two are up to something, aren't you?" he accused, looking at Sarah.

"Give a girl some credit Harry" Sarah laughed, "we're not all stubborn like you and Ron." She took off down the hall calling back over her shoulder "now hurry your ass up, I'm starved!"

Jogging over towards her, picnic basket in hand, Harry showed her how to make the room of requirements appear.

"All you have to do is think of what you need, then the door will appear and the room will have everything you need" explained Harry.

"Oh cool, do we have to think the same thing together? Or do we each think our own thing?" she asked.

"Tell you what, since it's your first time here, I'll let you do all the thinking." Harry smiled, "just picture your perfect picnic place in your head and concentrate."

"Ok," she replied as she closed her eyes. When she opened them again there was a door where the wall used to be, "that's so cool!"

She turned the knob and walked into an outdoor field. The air was warm and smelled of sweet lilacs and roses. The sun shone brightly on a little stream that ran over the rocks and pooled into a crystal clear pond at the base of a large oak tree. Sarah ran into the room and set up the blanket she had conjured under the shade of the oak. Harry followed her slowly, looking around at Sarah's perfect world.

"Nice Sarah. You like living in the dream world?" he asked.

"Dreams are sometimes better than reality ya know." She pointed out, "now will you please, please bring the basket over here so that I can eat?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He put the basket on the blanket and sat next to Sarah, "here you go, you get first pick."

"Good," Sarah ripped open the top and stole a sandwich. Peeling back the plastic wrap that covered it she took a big bite. Finishing her mouthful, she looked up at Harry and grinned, "I guess I could share," she teased as she slid the basket back over towards him, watching as he grabbed a sandwich for himself. Sarah then turned her attention to the landscape her imagination had created. Sighing in contentment, she lay down on her back and looked up at the blue azure sky while finishing her sandwich.

"Ya know, about the whole Hermione thing, she's not so bad, I just can't stand her know-it-all sense, as if she can never be wrong and that books can always be relied on. But they can't…" she trailed off, noticing she was rambling.

Looking at her curiously, Harry asked "What do you mean?"

Sitting up, Sarah sat Indian style she blew her bags out of her face, "I mean they're good and all, but you can't rely on them all your life, some things you have to learn from experience and not do biased things because of some text you read. It's just that books help you for studying, but in the real world, they won't do you much good. Take Quidditch for instance," she paused to catch her breath. "You can only read so many things about it, but you won't get a real feel for it unless you play it for yourself. You need that type of hands on experience to get by and it's something books can't give you. It's like a false sense of reality that you think prepares you for life, but actually does the opposite," pausing on her spiel, Sarah took a deep breath. Looking at Harry's lost expression she raised her hands defensively.

"Sorry, kind of rambled into smart mode…" she apologized, head downcast. Appearing aghast at her apology, Harry shook his head.

"No, no, that's not it, just thinking. I guess I kinda look clueless when I do so." He half-heartedly laughed. Head slowly raising to look him in the eye, Sarah blushed.

"Still sorry for rambling. Tend to do that a lot." Chuckling, Harry was at a loss as to what to say. For in all honesty, she did have a point, and it'd be one for Hermione to learn; books weren't everything after all.

Sticking her tongue out at him as he laughed at her, Sarah dug into the basket to see what else was in there. Noticing there were two pieces of cake, an impish grin crossed her face as she thought of Harry with a face full of icing. Taking out a piece, she made it look as if she was going to eat it.

Making eye contact with Harry, she faked innocence as she took a handful of cake and spread it onto his face. Rubbing it until icing covered every inch of his face, she licked her fingers clean before saying "and that was my fun mode, hope you like vanilla icing." She laughed at the look he shot her as he tried to get the icing off his glasses. Sarah wiped off the tip of his nose and stuck her finger in her mouth to lick off the icing.

"Mmm, not really into vanilla since I prefer chocolate, but it seems to taste better coming off someone's face." teased Sarah as she winked at him. Glare turning into a blush, all Harry could do was childishly stick his tongue out at Sarah. He discreetly took out the other piece of cake. Seeing something move out of the corner of her eye, Sarah frowned at the cake in Harry's right hand.

"Nuh uh, no way Potter!" she muttered as she hopped onto her feet. Smiling maniacally at her, Harry stood up as well, cake in hand.

"Oh, but you said you like chocolate so you should really like this one," he said, waving it near her face. Eyes widening, Sarah made a run for it. Heading towards the room of requirement's door, she was about to reach for the knob when the door flung open. Stopping mid-step so as not to smack into the open door, Sarah's face paled as Harry came up behind her and got the cake in her hair.

"Eww…" she groaned as her hands automatically went to her head. When someone cleared their throat, she was brought back to the person who had opened the door. She looked up at Hermione and waved off the impending question, "food fight," she stated before asking why she ran in.

Catching her breath, Hermione looked at Harry before talking, "Ron's gotten into another fight with the Slytherins and I need help." Looking at her curiously, Sarah pulled out her wand and cast scourgify on herself and Harry.

"Go help her with Ron, I'm going to go visit Steph before lights out. Meet you in the common room later" said Sarah as she put away her wand, she whispered a thank you to Harry for the picnic, she nodded goodbye to Hermione and headed towards the hospital wing.

"Where is he?" grumbled Harry, trying to mask his irritation. Taking his hand, Hermione led him down near the dungeons where Ron was having an insult match at wand point with three second year Slytherins.

Slipping into the hospital wing, Sarah headed towards where Steph's bed was. Noticing a shadow illuminated against the white curtain dividing Steph's bed from the others in the wing Sarah wondered if perhaps it was Draco.

'He may be an ass and all, but if Steph can get along with him, don't see why I can't myself. So no bitchyness from me unless he starts it' she thought to herself. Drawing the curtains back, she greeted the two inside and asked Steph if she was okay.

"Yeah, Draco fed me, so I think I'll live until tomorrow" she laughed. Smiling, Sarah stayed to talk with them for a bit before saying goodnight. Promising to meet up with her in the morning before first period, she walked out of the room.

She said the password and walked into her common room, she figured she might as well start on some of her homework, since it appeared that Harry wasn't back yet. Pulling her books out and dragging them back into the common room. She dropped into one of the big armchairs in front of the fireplace and started on her Herbology assignment. She thought to herself that it was all boring nonsense, she soon found herself doing her last bit of homework, which consisted of her potions homework. 'stupid Snape and his demanding ways' she cursed under her breath, biting back a yawn as she dipped her quill into her ink bottle.

By the time Harry had cooled Ron down and had returned to Gryffindor tower with Hermione, Sarah had completed her assignments and had dozed off in front of the slowly dying fire, whose burning embers flickered shadows over the dark walls. The lights had long since dimmed in the common room as all the other students had gone to bed.

Finding Sarah asleep in the armchair surrounded by her homework and textbooks, Harry couldn't help but watch her for a bit. Not able to pinpoint the thoughts running through his head, he bade Hermione and Ron goodnight before walking over to Sarah. Placing his hand on her left shoulder he gently shook her. Waking with a start, Sarah bolted upright in the chair and looked around frantically pointing her wand out ahead of her, until she noticed Harry grinning knowingly. Wiping the sleep out of her eyes as she yawned, she sleepily pushed Harry's hand away.

"What time is it?" she asked as she stretched like a cat.

"Well past midnight" he replied, holding back a grin at how cute she appeared at the moment.

"Blah!" she muttered under her breath as she flopped back down into the overstuffed armchair. Giving her a funny look as he caught onto what she muttered, Harry looked down at her schoolwork.

"Seems you've gotten quite a bit done."

Looking up at him, Sarah stifled another yawn as she nodded her head. "Did two weeks worth of assignments that I usually hold off until the last possible second."

Eyes widening in shock at first, Harry soon bit down on a laugh. "Sorry to keep you waiting for so long, Ron's rather stubborn," he apologized. Waving it off, Sarah bent over to retrieve her books. Pushing off of the armchair, she pulled out her wand and cast a levitating spell on them.

"I feel too damn lazy to carry everything back upstairs" she said to his raised eyebrow. Smiling, Harry shook his head once more. "Well, ummm… thanks for dinner and all, though cake in the hair isn't as funny as cake in the face," she frowned. Chuckling as he recalled their food fight, Harry walked with Sarah towards the dormitories, books floating behind them.

Coming to the division that split the girls side form the boys, Sarah surprised Harry by drawing him into a hug and pulling away to kiss him on the cheek. "Night Harry," she whispered as she started her ascent up to her room. The smile on her face as she got ready for bed was the same grin that was still present when her head touched the pillow and she fell into a deep, pleasant sleep.

A/N: voila! A none cliffhanger chapter. I hope you liked, you know the drill, plz read and review. We love to read the reviews.

Ja ne

Aries and Kie