Tom and I had been dating no more than a week when a Hogsmeade trip came up for that Saturday. Naturally, Tom and I decided to spend the whole day together. What else would we do though? I mean, we were dating. Besides, Tom was able to have Avery, my Quidditch captain, move the all-day Quidditch practice to Sunday. Maybe it would be nice dating a friend of my captain.

After breakfast, we made our way down the path towards Hogsmeade. I was hoping that Tom would start a conversation. My brain was fried from Friday's classes: Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and, of course, Remedial Potions. Tom though seemed to be having a hard time coming up with something to talk about as well. Between Tom and myself, we must have said "So" in attempt to start a conversation at least twenty times. And that was just the walk down to Hogsmeade.

"So where do you want to go?" Tom asked as we reached the village.

"I don't know. Just as long as we visit Honeydukes before we go."

"Honeydukes? Now Stella, do you really need all that sugar?" he asked teasingly.

I grinned and nodded. "Yep. Especially my Peppermint Toads."

"Peppermint Toads? You like those?"

"I don't like them," I said. Tom looked at me puzzled. "I absolutely love them." I finished. "I would never get through exams or classes without them. Especially not Potions."

Tom shook his head at me. "Oh Stella."

I grinned and then spotted the Three Broomsticks up ahead. "Come on. Let's go get some Butterbeer." I said. "I'm thirsty."

"Okay," Tom agreed. He led me over to the pub and opened the door for me before following me inside. He was such a gentleman.

We got our Butterbeer and then sat down at a table for two off to one side of the crowded room. Neither one of us said anything for a while. We both just stared at our drinks trying to come up with something to say.

"So are you excited for the Quidditch Final next week?" Tom finally asked.

"Two weeks. Next week is just another training session," I told him.

"Oh. Right. Avery just keeps going on and on about it at night."

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked grinning. Avery did talk about nothing but Quidditch.

"Because he's Avery," Tom answered even though I'd meant the question to be rhetorical. "So are you excited for the match?"

"Definitely. Gryffindor's not going to know what hit them." I answered happily. And I did believe it to be true. We were an amazing team this year. Avery had pushed us to the limit and we had become unbeatable.

Tom grinned. "Are the boys tough on you?"

I smiled. I was the only girl on the Slytherin Quidditch team. A fact that the rest of the team never let me forget. They seemed to think that because I was a girl, I was destined to fail. However in the past year or two (I'd been on the team since my second year), they'd finally started to warm up a bit more to me. "They're okay. For the most part," I told Tom. "They've seemed to learn that I'm not leaving the team anytime soon. And that counts for something. I mean, they normally treat me like I'm the same as one of them."

"So you get along with them?"

"Normally."

"Good," Tom said.

There was another long, awful silence. I was beginning to wonder if dating Tom would actually work out. So far we'd spent more time in awkward silence than actually talking. I don't date much so I'm no expert, but even I know that dates shouldn't be spent in silence. This date was proof of that. Between the smiles that looked forced and the silence, it was just too awkward.

"So what's your favorite subject?" I finally asked even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer. And I was pretty sure he knew my favorites. But it was a desperate attempt to talk about something and not sit in silence.

"Potions." He ignored the face I made. "What about you?"

"Charms. And Transfiguration. I'm good at both subjects."

Tom nodded. Then we fell back into silence. I don't know about Tom but I really wanted to scream. My crush for six years was finally noticing me and we were finally on a date. But it just wasn't working out! It was driving me crazy!

Eventually, we left the Three Broomsticks. We didn't have any more conversations than what we'd already said. All I could think about was how my date with Tom should be anything but this. This was just too…Well, just too awkward.

Tom and I walked to Honeydukes and went in Zonkos. Then we decided it was time to head back to the castle. We still had a couple hours before it was required for us to be back but both of us were ready to return and have this date be over with. It wasn't really a surprise to either of us that we walked back in silence. If the whole date had been an awkward silence, why would the walk back to the school be any different?

We made our way back into the castle and then down to the common room in the dungeons. In the common room, I plopped down on a chair near the fire and grabbed my homework from the table where I'd left it last night. I knew I had to get my Potions essay for Remedial Potions done tonight. There was no way I'd get it done after Avery tortured the team during practice tomorrow.

My other goal was to block the date from my mind completely. The most awkward and horrible date ever. Emphasis on the awkward part. I was just glad it was over. Unfortunately for me, Tom decided to sit down on the couch as well. So much for that goal.

Author Notes: Well, this one was a bit shorter than last chapter. Only 1,000 words exactly. Not counting this note of course. Thanks to winterwinds1234 for reviewing my first chapter! Well, please review and tell me what you think! I'll try and get the next chapter posted soon!
~Hufflepuffcub999