The kiss was soft and hesitant. Abby felt the Professor begin to respond, his lips parting and beginning to kiss her back but then he tensed and pulled away quickly. His hands went to her shoulders and stepped back so that she was at arms length.

Abby flushed furiously, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. She cast her eyes downward, waiting.

"Abby…" Professor Travors whispered in a pained voice. "You're beautiful. But this is wrong on so many levels. I'm not the one for you, and even if I were, it would never work."

Abby choked back a sob and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry." She managed to say. "I understand. I should leave then, I suppose." Abby voice cracked on the last part of her sentence.

Abby was numb on her walk back to the Hufflepuff Dorms. All her emotions caught up with her when she reached the warmth of her bed.

For the next two weeks Abby managed to avoid Professor Travors' class. She would then copy the notes of her dorm mates while they were sleeping. Abby had become somewhat of a recluse. She skipped all of her meals, and only snuck down to the kitchens when completely necessary. She had also barely slept. To put it bluntly, Abby was a mess.

It was a chilly November Saturday; Abby pulled on a sweatshirt and some jeans and went down toward the doors to the Grounds.

As she neared them, she felt eyes on her. The eyes didn't bother her as much as the whispers that she heard next,

"I heard that she and Professor Travors shagged and now she's pregnant with his baby."

"No, that's all wrong, I heard that she practically jumped his bones, and he rejected her. Seriously, who wouldn't though?"

"I bet she's going to fake being pregnant for attention."

"I heard her throwing up in the prefects' bathroom yesterday morning. Morning sickness for sure."

Anger coursed through Abby's veins. "Would you all just bugger off? And shut the hell up about what you don't know!" She shouted, her head whipping around to glare at the groups of people talking about her. As she turned, she caught the gaze of a grey-eyed boy standing in the corner of the Entrance Hall.

Tears filled her blue eyes and she whipped around, speed walking toward the door. Once outside, she broke into a run toward the far edge of the lake. After about ten seconds of running, she heard someone shouting her name.

A glance over her shoulder informed her that it was Sirius who was following her. Looking back cause her to stumble and fall on the cool grass. She allowed her body to collide with the grass and she rolled onto her back, squeezing her eyes against the tears in them.

Sirius dropped down on the grass beside her. He was silent for a moment before breaking the ice.

"So nice day today, eh?" Abby opened her eyes and looked over at him, catching his gaze. Sirius was slightly taken aback by the pain in her eyes.

"What are they talking about, Abby?" He asked in a soft voice. Abby let out a small sob and sat up, biting her lip.

"It's not true, right?" He inquired. Abby looked at him incredulously.

Sirius raised his hands in surrender. "I was just making sure." He said, defensively. "I didn't think it was."

Abby continued to stare at him for a minute before saying, "You don't even know me."

Sirius shrugged before laying back into the grass. "Doesn't matter. I know enough." He paused for a second. "There must be some reason they're saying those things though, right?"

His eyes were closed and Abby looked him over, she nodded, but then realized that his eyes were closed. "Yes." She said softly.

Sirius nodded. "So you didn't shag him?"

Abby glared at him, "What do you even want, Sirius? Why are you here?" Abby got to her feet, her arms crossed over her chest.

Sirius' eyes opened at the harsh tone in her voice. He too got to his feet. "I dunno." He said simply, turning and walking away.

After he left, Abby walked to the far end of the lake, sitting by the edge. Her knees were pulled up to her chest. The sun was beginning to set and Abby rested her head against her knees.

"Hey, you a'right then?" Abby jumped at the voice behind her. She turned to see none other Professor Travors standing behind her. Abby felt the overwhelming urge to run, but her legs refused. She turned back to the lake.

"I'm perfectly fine." She said in hard, cold voice. Behind her, Professor Travors sighed. He seemed to be trying to decide something. Finally, he sat down in the grass beside her. "You've been skipping meals. I don't think that constitutes being fine."

Abby shrugged, not saying anything. Abby noticed that Professor Travors was careful to keep space between them, sitting far enough away that either party could move a good deal and still not touch one another.

There were several moments of intense silence before the Professor spoke again. "Look Abby…" he started by Abby stopped him.

"Don't." She said, straining to keep her voice even. "I don't care."

"Obviously you do, as you have stopped attending my class." Professor Travors raised his voice slightly, as he was beginning to get irritated.

"Just bugger off!" Abby said before she could stop herself. She hadn't meant to say that to him. "I didn't mean that." She whispered. "You've obviously heard the rumors, and I apologize for any trouble I might have caused you."

"Abby, I don't give a damn what the rumors say, I'm not worried about what people are saying about me. I've spoken to Dumbledore and he knows the truth. It's what people are saying about you that worries me." He spoke softly and gently, his hand coming up to tilt her head toward him.

Abby turned her head against his hand. "It shouldn't. I'm fine." She said simply. It was blatant that she was not fine and her lack of concern for anything was beginning to grate on the young man sitting beside her.

"You're hardly fine! Look at yourself. You're a mess. Hell, I'm a mess! I can't stand to see you sulking about, not eating, looking like you've hardly slept and knowing that I caused it!" Professor Travors paused, taking a deep breath. "But there isn't anything I can do. I can't give you what you want. Even if I wanted it too."

With those words he stood, brushing his jeans off. "You can't keep doing this though. You can't not attend my class and expect to become an Auror. It just won't work. Grow up a little bit, Abby."