Once again I apologize for taking so long to get this up. Schoolwork got amazingly overloaded again, and I've been recruited for color gaurd. Yay! XD That, and I'm suppose to be starting an 'E-zine' for the youth at my church (I'm excited 'bout that).

So, once again sorry, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

--Chapter 24 - New Relationships--

We got a month's worth of Saturday's detentions for being out past curfew. Our excuse was we where taking a walk and had lost track of the time. Harry didn't inquire any further then that, thankfully. The last thing we needed was our parents and all the rest of the Weasleys (and Potters) to know that we ended up snogging . . . all alone in a secluded clearing.

The next morning, we ate breakfast, not talkingto each other much. Maddie tried to question me, but I deflected her questions, saying that I had to be somewhere. That wasn't a lie. Ricky and I's detention included helping clean the dishes after every meal on Saturdays. We had to kneel in from of the elf sized sinks to wash them properly.

"I stand by the fact that my uncle has a twisted sense of humor," Ricky repeated for the dozenth time.

"You've made that known," I said irritably.

"Whatssa matter?"

"My fingers are pruney! I hate washing dishes without magic!"

"So do I, but this is what we get when you keep us out past curfew."

"Me? You could have stopped at anytime, you cad."

"And why would I want to? You're a great kisser." Ricky leaned over and kissed me on the corner of my mouth. I smirked. That was a new complement.

"Thanks. So, what are we going to tell everyone?"

"About?"

"Us."

"Us?"

"Us."

"As in friends us, or snogging us?" he teased. I threw a wet rag at him.

"Us us. As in the fact that we're dating now." A horrible thought occurred to me. "We are aren't we? Or did I just make an idiot of myself?" I smacked my forehead. "I did, didn't I?" With a sigh, I went back to furiously scrubbing a plate. Ricky took the plate and the scrubbing pad from me.

"No, En." Putting a sudsy hand on my cheek, he kissed me in a very non-'just friends' way. I let him pull me close; I wrapped my arms around his neck. For the second time (out of the three) that I've kissed Ricky, we were in the kitchen, getting soaked by the soapy water of discarded dishes. The kiss tasted rather soapy but wonderful all the same. "Convinced?" Ricky whispered in a rough voice. I inhaled deeply and nodded, laying my head on his chest. "As for what we're going to tell people. . . "

"Let's not," I murmured. "Everyone'll just make too big of a deal out of this. Plus, Alice won't like this at all." Laughing nervously, Ricky pulled back slightly.

"Would you kill me if someone already knew?" I sighed and looked him in the eye.

"Who?"

"Will," he said apologetically. I grinned slightly.

"I don't mind that William knows. He's good at keeping secrets."

"What--" There was a loud creak off to our left. The footsteps were too heavy to be a house elf. Ricky and I jumped apart, and hurried to start scrubbing dishes again.

"Aren't you two done yet?" James moaned. He walked over to the counter and sat on it, shifting uncomfortably when he realized that it was wet.

"There area lot of dishes!" I pointed at the large pile next to me.

"You know it's close to lunch now, don't you?" Sirius asked us. "And it's really boring talking to my sister and girl cousins without you there, En."

"Nice to know I'm missed," I grinned at Sirius. "But we've been working hard to get these dishes clean."

"Apparently. You're both soaked!"

"Sure," Ricky grinned at me. "How else would be get so wet?"

Two weeks went by. Everything pertaining to Ricky and I's relationship was going as smoothly as possible. William was actually a big help in the whole 'covering up' portion, handing out believable excuses this way and that. It must have been from all that practice he'd gotten from his fan club ('cause you do not want to be caught by those crazed girls). We made sure not to say anything within the presence of anyone that knew us, but when it was just the two or three of us, we had a great time discussing everything, not excluding Ricky and I's relationship.

One Friday morning, I came down to breakfast late. Ricky hadn't gotten there yet either, and I figured he'd slept in as well (it was a Saturday after all - But if he was purposely blowing off scrubbing dishes I'd have to hex him or something). I sat down next to Angelique and greet every happily.

"We're good," Veronica replied sounding a bit weirded out. "You okay?"

"Of course! Why do you ask?"

"'Cause you seem rather . . . That is you're very--"

"Cheerful," Maddie interjected. "For a morning anyway."

"I woke up happy," I shrugged, pretending to be unaware of the strange looks my friends were giving me. Morning person I am not, but I was given an amazingly wonderful good-night kiss before going to bed last night. I fell asleep happy and woke up the same way. It was nice.

"You got something in the mail," Ronnie, still looking at me warily, handed me a small package that had been on the seat next to her.

"Oh, thanks." I took the package from her and inspected it eagerly. There was no return address, nor any incriminating handwriting. I didn't think it was from my parents, 'cause they usually just sent letters. I opened it curiously. Inside was a chocolate bar from Honeydukes wrapped in pale lilac foil (it was my favorite kind - caramel filled), and a small note card:

Lovely as an Autumn day
Brilliant as the sun
Will you ever look my way
Before our days are done?

--Your Secret Admirer

Calmly I put the note and the chocolate back in the box. Veronica who'd been reading it along with me, watched me in astonishment as I started to eat my breakfast. About three minutes later she exclaimed, in a very loud voice I might add, "How can you just sit there?"

"What?"

"That note--!"

"I'll think about it when I've got some protein in my system, thanks." I bit a piece of sausage in half pointedly. "Protein makes you smarter."

"What'd the note say?" Angel asked.

"It was a poem from a 'Secret Admirer.'"

"Really? Oh la la!" Angel breathed, putting a heavy French accent on the last bit. I groaned under my breath. This was going to be a long breakfast.

"'Wow' is right!" Maddie agreed.

"Guys," I started in a warning tone. They ignored me, as always.

"Who do you think it is?"

"I dunno." Veronica scanned the tables. "No one looks nervous . . . Do you think it could be a Slytherin?"

"Ew, no."

"Ricky?" Angel gave a high pitched squeal. Well, this is just great. Maddie cannot keep a secret to save her life, can she?

"Guys," I began once more, "Why don't you focus on your own love lives as opposed to mine. I'm sure they're much more fascinating."

"Do you think it could be Ricky?" Maddie asked me.

"We're friends, Mads."

"Right," she muttered sounding deflated.

They resumed discussing my love life. A bit annoyed, and wanting to find out why Ricky hadn't come down for breakfast (I still say that if he'd been trying to skip detention, I'd have his Head Boy's badge). After grabbing my box, I walked to the double doors, glancing to the Ravenclaw table as I went by. William hadn't been sitting with us either, and I was curious to see why. Upon seeing his reason, I smiled to myself and ducked out of the hall.

William had been sitting with Zarah. They had been talking almost shyly to each other, and believe me, neither of those two are shy. William must have 'made his move,' so to speak.

Humming a cheerful tune, I traipsed up the stairs to my dorm. I put the box with the note and chocolate bar on my desk before heading down the passageway connecting Ricky and I's rooms. Ricky was sound asleep, snoring softly. I sighed and crawled across his mattress.

"Ricky?" I touched his arm gently. He muttered something and turned away. With a sigh, I stretched out on the bed next to him. "Ricky," I whispered in his ear. "Are you going to wake up on your own, or do I have to forcibly wake you up?" I watched his face closely. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Come on you prat! We've got dishes to scrub, cousins to keep in the dark, and a secret admirer to find!"

Ricky groaned and rolled over. "What . . . Admirer?" he muttered.

"Yes, my dear boyfriend. I received a chocolate bar and a poem in the mail this morning." Still half asleep, Ricky tugged on my arm. I laid down and scooted closer to him.

"Okay," he mumbled, half asleep once more. I gave him none too gentle poke in the stomach. "Hey!" he protested.

"We've got detention still remember? If we're late, Harry will come looking for us, and I highly doubt it will do anyone good to find us in bed together. Besides, now that we're dating we shouldn't be doing this in the first place."

"Fine," Ricky, still in the same tired tone, said and rolled out of bed. I sat patiently while he was in the bathroom getting dress. He came out a few minutes later dressed in gray trousers and a dress shirt. He put on his tie and pulled his sweater on before turning to me. "You said you got that chocolate right?"

"You sent it?" I asked, a bit surprized by my new found knowledge. I never expected Ricky to be the kind of guy to write poetry.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I wanted to get you something, but I thought it would look odd if I just did without being your boyfriend. Plus this could throw some suspicion off, don't you think?

"Did you like the poem? I sat up half last night just making sure it rhymed."

I smiled at Ricky. The poor guy was leaning against his couch. Helooked exhausted; dark circles were under his eyes. I was touched he'd stayed up so long to write a short poem just for me. No one had done anything remotely like that for me. Ever. I climbed off the bed, walked over to Ricky shyly, and gave him a kiss.

"I loved the poem, thanks." Ricky smiled sleepily at me and wrapped one of his arms around my waist.

"I'm glad," he told me before burying his face on my neck. ". . .You're soft." We stood there for awhile, arms around each other. We were half listening out for footsteps, half enjoying what we had. Ricky had enough sense to pull away. "Come on, we're late as it is."

I nodded and took his hand. Silently we walked out the door.

Later that day, I was sitting in a secluded part of the library by myself. I was suppose to be studying for a test in my politics class, but I couldn't concentrate. I was lost in thought, trying to figure out my love life. I loved Ricky, but I really didn't want to deal with all the Weasleys making a huge deal out of it all. But what if our relationship went further? What would we say then? What if . . . ?

I heaved a sigh just as someone tapped my shoulder. Surprised, I fell off the couch. I looked up to see who'd made me fall. William Weasley was towering over me with an expression of barely controlled amusement. I glared at him.

"You alright there?"

"I'm fine," I replied as dignified as I possibly could. William held out his hand. I took it, and he helped me up.

"Okay then." I frowned at him before sitting back down. William picked up my overly-large-with-tiny-print text book and sat down next to me. I sat quietly while he flipped through the pages. Afterafew moment he turned to look at me. "I asked Zarah out."

"I saw you two at breakfast today. When did you ask her out? What did she say? When's the wedding?" I tugged on his sleeve impatiently. William grinned in a shy manner (and in my very candid opinion, that smile just makes him look even more handsome then usual), and tucked a long piece of strawberry-blond hair behind his ear.

"It's a funny story actually. I was walking back from the library the other day, and I noticed Zarah talking with one of her friends. For some reason I forgot to stop walking while I was looking in her direction and fell down the stairs. I think I must have blacked out for a second because when I had opened my eyes, Zarah was next to me, asking if I was alright.

"Now, understand I was very dazed or I probably wouldn't have asked her at all, but when she helped me up I asked if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade sometime and have a drink . . . or something. She said yes!" The shy smile was replaced with a giddy one. "We'll be going out tonight."

I congratulated him warmly, wishing him the best of luck with Zarah. Oh, I couldn't wait to talk with Zarah about this. She and William together? It was such a nice thought. Plus, he must be head-over-heels for her. I don't think I ever caused him to be distracted in that way.

It was abit sad in a 'lost love' sort of way, but I had Ricky now. I couldn't be luckier to have him. He's always been there for me after all, and he's stood up for me on numerous occations. I loved him. But. . .did he feel the same about me?

I know he likes me, or he wouldn't have said he did, but did he love me?

One more chapter down and a few more to go. Yay! I hope you enjoyed this chapter (tell me if you did!). I've never had a boyfriend myself, so I'm not entirely sure how the whole thing works. I'm just winging it at this point.

Sorry if there are any errors. My computer was shut down twice as I was editing this, so I might not have caught all the errors I had originally.

Thanks for reading!

Anne