Disclaimer: I don't own anything affiliated with Harry Potter. That gold mine belongs to J.K. Rowling, that fabulous woman.

"James!" Bidelia tapped her friend on the shoulder. He was by the lake, under the same tree that his father and grandfather had their first romantic encounters with their wives.

"Huh?" He looked up at her from his Transfiguration essay. When he looked up, he expected the sun to blind him but it didn't. Bidelia stood in between him and the sun, and the way that the latter hit Bidelia's hair entranced James for a second.

"Guess what?" When he didn't jump out of his stupor, she stomped her foot. "James!"

"Huh?" He shook his head like a dog trying to get water out of its fur.

"McGonagall is going to tell me about my parents." James saw the look of elation on her face.

"But I thought I already showed you who your mother was."

Bidelia sighed. "No, James, you showed me who my mother could be. Just because I bear a strong resemblance to a Death Eater doesn't mean she was my mother."

"You do have a point, but I have a feeling that McGonagall is going to tell you that Bellatrix was your mother." James held out his hand. "Don't worry about that, though. Sit down with me."

Bidelia ignored his hand but sat down. She looked out across the lake, but didn't see it or the other students walking or sitting around it. Instead, she saw in her mind's eye the perfect family. A woman, her mother, not the woman that James showed her. A man, her father, with laughing eyes and a real smile, not the fake ones that she always saw on the people that walk into the orphanage looking to adopt. Not like the fake smile that Miss Cole always had on her face. Nor like the drunken smile the older boys at the orphanage had after a drink or two.

"Bidelia?"

"Hm?" She was still in her own world, dreaming of a real family that loved her instead of one she didn't want and didn't have.

"I kind of… wanted to talk to you about something. Not your parents," he added hastily.

Bidelia sighed. "What is it, James?"

"I kind of…" he began. He twisted his hands into knots, nervously fidgeting. James struggled to find the words to finish the sentence.

"Well? Spit it out! I haven't got all day, I need to go see McGonagall."

"I know it goes against all unwritten codes and rules as far as mingling with people from other houses goes, but I kind of maybe think I sort of could possibly like you," he rushed.

Bidelia shook her head, confused. "What the bloody hell are you going on about?"

"Damn it, Bidelia, I'm trying to tell you that I like you!"

Bidelia's eyes grew as big as saucers. "What?"

James took a deep breath, ready to explain. "I've liked you for some time now, but I thought that since you were Slytherin and I was Gryffindor that it really wouldn't work out. But then I figured, why should I worry about what house we're in? In any relationship there's going to be struggles, so I figured, you know, we could see if it'd work out."

Bidelia opened and closed her mouth much in the manner of a fish. Finally: "I like you too, but this'll have to wait." She glanced at the sky. " I have to get to McGonagall before dark."