"Caly... no. Tell me it's not true, that you didn't."

"He asked me out, what was I supposed to say?"

"How about 'no' for starters?"

"George, I'm almost 15. Don't you think I'm old enough to go on a date?"

"A date, yes. With him? No. Absolutely not." We sat next to the tree in the same place we had before. Only it was around 8 pm. The older students from my house, once again enjoying some drinks, as George and I sat away from the castle, enjoying our sobriety. We watched them from the far up hill as they ran around, jumping in and out of the black water and being unnecessarily, yet joyfully loud.

George and I romped around and played in secret, until the alcohol really started taking hold of the other students, then we would retreat and turn our energy to conversation: philosophical, shallow, meaningless, deep, ill-witted, pointed, charged... it didn't matter. The conversations were ours, and we enjoyed them to their fullest.

It seemed, however, that the enjoyment was slowly dying as George's eyes turned almost harsh at my news. "I told you when we first talked about Slytherin that the people there were bad news. You really think that that's changed much in the past couple days since you've been here?"

I hated the thought of George being upset with or disappointed in me. I hated that look in his eye. "And i told you, that not all Slytherins are evil. It's just a date, George. One date." He sighed heavily, showing his obvious disapproval. "If he tries getting fresh, you'll be the first to know, and I will do nothing but cheer you on while you beat him up. You can even have the other Gryffindor boys join you and just demolish him if you want."

"What has Draco said about this?"

"I haven't mentioned it to him, yet. I figured if I cared more for your opinion than his. Though I technically don't need either." I felt guilty throwing the last bit in, and immediately regretted it, wishing I could pull the words back into his mouth. The pained expression that briefly flashed across his face only made me feel worse.

Yes, the statement had been true, and technically would work in my favor as George wouldn't want me to stop telling him things, but he was not someone I wanted to manipulate. I needed him and wanted him on my side.

"Why is this so important to you?" Somewhere during our bickering, he had moved a bit away from me, but he drew closer again as he asked his question.

Wanting to give him a complete honest answer, I took a moment to think. "I hang out with guys all the time George. I'm surrounded, constantly, by you and Draco and all his friends," he looked as though he's about to interrupt, but I press forward before he can, " I'm in a new place full of new people. I don't really have a lot of friends of my own."

This time, he succeeds in interrupting. "I'm your friend."

"But you're a Gryffindor first." The words came out pointed, almost as if I was accusing him of some kind of offense, though I didn't mean them to. "Regardless, Adrian asked me to go out with him, and it made me really happy. He's nice to me, and he's the first guy to actually approach me in that way. Why would i say no?"

He shook his head, still looking distressed and determined. " Don't tell me you can't see that all of Draco's friends are trying to get a shot with you."

I quickly put this thought down. "They were drunk when that happened."

"No, Caly, no. Before that. They all wanted to talk with you. They saw how gorgeous you looked. They knew how awesome of a person you were, and still are, and... Caly they definitely started to desire you then, and not in a creepy sense of course, but just truly want you." His words sunk into me, but I couldn't help wanting to brush them off as soon as they did. The thought of any of Draco's friends thinking of me in that way was ridiculous. "And it's not as ridiculous as you're currently thinking it is." The knowing and accusing look in his eye made me laugh, and I bumped my shoulder against him to show that he had managed to lighten my mood.

He bumped back, making me laugh even more as I was thrown off balance, falling sideways into the grass."Ya big brute!" It was all I could do to make my words sound accusatory before I sent my weight back into him, making him wobble a bit, though nothing more. Playfully, I scowled at him and tried pushing once more.

This time, he moved himself out of the way, throwing me off balance again, leaving me to fall across his lap. With my chest against his knees and my face almost to the grass, he took advantage of the moment and dug his fingers into my ribs. "Gah! Not fair! Not fair!" This was his weapon of choice; when in doubt, tickle. Luckily, he didn't drag it out for too long before helping me roll onto my back to get my face away from the dirt.

My head now rest in his lap as I lay sideways to him. He was looking down at me. When he smiled, it was always just slightly crooked – so slight I often wondered if anyone noticed it but me – and he showed all of his perfect white teeth. Many times, it was still very much a boyish grin that lit up his blue eyes. He wore his hair a bit shorter now, three or four inches off his head, though it had a playful, tousled look.

Needing to look away from him, I looked past him to the sky. "So many stars."

He leaned back on his right arm, following my eyes upward. After a moment, his other hand came up and began playing with my hair, almost absentmindedly. "It's one of the things I love about being out here. All the stars. So beautiful, yet so out of reach." His gaze dropped to me, and I could see the simple smile that upturned one side of his mouth. "I still don't like it, Caly." With that, he brought the conversation back to where it started. His fingers continued to move gently through my hair as he spoke. "You'll be making a mistake."

The look in his eyes told me how deeply he believed what he was saying to be true, and it hurt me to see that I made me feel that way. Even so, I pushed on."If I'm making a mistake, you've got to let me make it. And I might be, I admit it, but how else will I learn, right? People are always there to tell me what decision I should be making, and are always there to catch me before I fall, and adjust my path so I'm always on the right track.
"But I've never been allowed to just completely fall off the track. I need to do that, at least once. But, George, I'll never feel brave enough to risk completely failing if no one gives me a little leeway."

With a sigh, he lowered himself backwards against the rock. "Sit up." Sitting upward, I set my head against his shoulder, still lying sideways from him. He put his arms around me. "I'm never going to like it, Cal. I trust you, but I don't trust him. Regardless, you're right. If you want to go out with him, go and I'll try to keep my negative feelings at bay as long as you promise to be honest with me about everything that does or doesn't go on."

"Of course."

"I am giving you a dung bomb." His words told me that he had reached a point of acceptance. He did not approve, but he accepted, and that was what I needed. I couldn't help but smile up at him, and he smiled in return, pulling me closer. "I just don't want you giving yourself to him in a way he doesn't deserve."

"I won't. I promise."