"So, where did you and Laurie run off to yesterday?" Lavender asked, forever the gossip, wagging her eyebrows at me through the bathroom mirror as we got ready for classes. I rolled my eyes,"Well, after breakfast none of us saw you pair at all until dinner."
"Nothing happened if that's what you're wanting to know." I covered quickly.
"What did happen, then?" Parvati asked as she appeared in the doorway. I was silent while I looked myself over and adjusted my hair, at the same time recalling the previous day's events.
"Laurie! Where are we going?" I laughed as I ran along behind the scruffy haired boy.
"You'll see!" He called back, a huge smile lighting up his face. He rounded a corner and suddenly I could only hear the sound of my own footsteps. I turned the corner after him and collided with a hard surface.
"You could have told me you st- Woah..."
"It's beautiful right?" He grinned. Beautiful was an understatement. We were at the top of one of the many towers of the castle that over looked the lake and the view before us was positively amazing. The sun had come out and the way the light hit the water made it shine and glitter as if millions of tiny diamonds rested at the bottom.
"I've climbed this tower before. I can't believe I've never noticed how amazing the view was."
"I guess sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses." He replied with a smile.
"We explored." I finally said with a grin, leaving the bathroom and grabbing my book bag off my bed.
"The castle?" She asked, following.
"The castle, the Forbidden Forest... The Shrieking Shack."
"The Shrieking Shack's in Hogsmead! How did you get out of the grounds?" Parvati questioned as we and entered the common room, which was already alive with students.
"The secret tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow leads right into it." I replied cheekily.
"How did you know about that?" Hermione asked, meeting us at the bottom of the stairs.
"Harry let us borrow the Marauder's Map."
"Of course he did. I swear, one day that boy is going to get himself, or someone else, expelled." She muttered.
"So that's all you did all day? Nothing else happened?"
"Thankyou."
"For what?" He replied, turning to face me.
"For doing this, for showing me all these things."
We were sitting by the edge of the lake watching the sunset. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but I think the fact that I was watching it with him made it even more amazing.
"I'm sure you've seen a sunset before."
"But never with you." I whispered, leaning towards him as he did the same.
And then we connected. Neither one of us started it, it was more of an unspoken agreement, not that I was worried about that at the time. Our lips moved together in perfection. It was like we were dancing together, to music that only we could hear. I entwined my arms around his neck and he placed his hands firmly on my hips, gently pulling me closer towards him so that I was able to manoeuvre myself onto his lap without us ever separating. It felt amazing, it felt right... It felt like home. I smiled at my last thought and for the first time pulled away, leaning my forehead on his.
"I liked that." I said stupidly, at a loss for words.
"Remind me why we haven't done it until now?" He asked, his eyes locked on my lips.
"We thought the right thing to do would be to stay friends."
"You thought, I was forced to agree." He corrected. I rolled my eyes and he continued, "All I can say i-"
"Screw doing the right thing." I interrupted, quickly kissing him again before he had a chance to argue, which was highly unlikely anyway.
"I couldn't... agree... more."He managed between kisses.
"Are we talking about what happened between you and Laurie yesterday?" Hermione asked, catching herself up. I nodded.
"There's a slight possibility that something may have happened." I teased. The three girls all unexpectedly halted.
"Sarah!" Hermione yelled, obviously eager to know.
"Come on! Just tell us!" Parvati practically begged. I smirked and ignoring their pleas, continued walking.
"To begin with, we will be learning the Silencing Charm." Professor Flitwick explained, "However, after the run through of your Ordinary Wizarding Levels, we now only have a short time left, so there is not much point in starting the theory work. You may talk amongst yourselves and move about the room if you wish. Do not think that we will be making a habit of this."
Professor Flitwick was definitely one of my favourite teachers.
"Sarah, are you going to tell me, your best friends, who you tell everything, what happened yesterday or not?" Hermione started once more, packing away her books. For a girl that didn't seem interested in anything other than school and following the rules, she was adamant to know about my love life.
"You'll find out very soon." I said sweetly, immediately standing and walking over to Laurie.
I turned back to my desperate friend with a smile before leaning down and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me onto his lap, gathering me into a hug. The whole class, excepting, of course, the Slytherins, who couldn't care less, went dead silent. A lot of very audible gasps were made, mostly by girls, followed by wolf whistles and a few "Finally!"s and "Took you long enough!"s. We both laughed at our classmates' reactions.
"Hey, girlfriend." He greeted, a huge smile stuck on his face.
"Hi, boyfriend." I replied, my facial expression mirroring his.
"I knew it! I knew something must have happened with you two! You were too bloody happy!" Tyler suddenly exclaimed as he and all of our other friends rushed over and engulfed us in conversation.
"I can't believe you weren't going to tell us!" Hermione scolded.
"This was me telling you!" I laughed. She hugged me and and was joined by Parvati and Lavender, who all grabbed some part of my body and pulled me side.
"So c'mon, tell us what happened." They prompted.
I began to recount the previous day's wonderful events, but something caused me to stop. Someone sitting amongst his fellow Slytherins on the other side of the room had caught my attention. To be honest, I hadn't even thought about Draco since the previous morning. So why was I unable speak just because he was staring at me? Why had the brilliant memory of the previous afternoon with Laurie been replaced with mine and Draco's encounter at the dungeons? In the prior moment, I had been so happy. I was with Laurie... I was finally with him, after years of unknowingly wanting to be. I should've been ecstatic and I had been, right up until the moment I locked eyes with Draco. There was something there, in his eyes. Jealousy? Hate? Resentment? Maybe all three. Although, I couldn't understand why. Yes, he had said he felt something for me, however, he couldn't name it. He said he didn't hate me, I was a rare exception, he probably just mistook that for fancying me. I couldn't help feeling guilty, and maybe even a little disappointed. Disappointed with what? I didn't even want to think about it.
Luckily, before the girls or anyone else could notice my distraction, the school bell tolled and I hurriedly gathered my books and rushed out of the room. Unluckily, Draco had done the exact same. So, instead of getting away from him faster, I ended up slamming into him in the corridor, just outside the classroom.
"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't watching." I stuttered, kneeling down and picking up my belongings that were now strewn across the stone floor.
"Next time you should try watching, saves me from picking up after you." He said cruelly, handing me the last of my books.
"What's your problem, Malfoy?" I spat, not taking kindly to being spoken to in that way.
"You know what my problem is, Eddie." He retorted, eyeing the boy that had just walked up beside me.
"Hey, Malfoy." Laurie greeted pleasantly, not noticing that the situation was anything but that. Draco did nothing but glare at him.
"C'mon, Draco!" Blaise called from further down the corridor.
His lingering friend turned back to me, but his glare faltered as soon as his eyes met mine, however he quickly recovered himself. One of Draco Malfoy's many talents was the ability to hide his emotions extraordinarily well, so it baffled me that he had crumbled, even if for a millisecond, when he looked at me. Ashamed of what he had just let slip, Draco turned on his heel and hurried to meet his waiting friend.
"What was that about?" Laurie asked, confused. Granted, the pair weren't joined at the hip, but the two had always gotten on to some extent.
"He was probably just in a bad mood." I lied without even thinking about it, not daring to look him in the eye, for fear of giving myself away.
Laurie slung his arm around my shoulder and we started for our next class, Defence Against the Dark Arts, with yet another new teacher, Professor Umbridge, from the Ministry.
"Please do come in students." She said in a slightly sickening, sweet voice.
Everyone did as she bade and took their seats. Professor Umbridge continued into her O.W.L speech, as all of the other teachers had done thus far. She then began to go through the subject's course and its aims when a problem arose.
"Excuse me, Professor, but there's nothing written in the course aims about actually using defensive spells." Hermione pointed out. She was right, of course.
Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.
These were the only things written on the blackboard. There was certainly nothing about using defensive spells at all.
Professor Umbridge looked quite amused, "I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?" She said with a small laugh, "You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way-" She continued calmly.
"What use is that?" Harry said loudly, obviously not liking the idea of not using magic either. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a-"
"Students will raise their hands when they wish to speak." Professor Umbridge interrupted. He immediately thrust his hand in the air and waited to be called upon.
"What good is theory work going to be in the real world? It won't prepare us for what's out there." I argued, ignoring the fact that she had not asked me to speak.
"Your hand is not up, Miss?"
"Eddie."
"Well, Miss Eddie," She drawled, "I can assure you, there is nothing 'out there'. Who do you imagine would want to attack children like yourselves?" She enquired. I scowled at her seemingly permanent happiness and made to answer, but Harry saved me the trouble.
"Oh I don't know..." He began in a fake thoughtful voice, standing and pushing his chair aside, "Maybe... Lord Voldemort?" A lot of people gasped, Lavender even screamed. Professor Umbridge, however, remained perfectly calm.
"Now, let me make a few things quite clear." She began, "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned. This is a lie." She spelled out. I stood as well, utterly outraged.
"It is NOT a lie!" Harry and I shouted simultaneously.
"Detention! Both of you!" She ordered triumphantly. "Friday evening. Five o'clock. My office. Now sit and be quiet, I won't have any more outbursts from you."
But I was determined to stand my ground, Harry the same, but he tried to stop me.
"Sarah, no. I don't want to get you into any more trouble!" He hissed. But I ignored him.
"Cedric Diggory? How did he die?" I started. This time, everyone gasped. I may not have been there when it happened, but I hadn't had to see it to know Harry was telling the truth.
Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows and stared, unblinking, at me. Hermione and Tyler, who were on either side of me, both grabbed one of my sleeves and wrenched me into my seat, but that didn't stop me from talking.
"Excuse me, Miss Eddie?" She threatened coldly.
"Cedric Diggory." Harry took over. "Are you saying that he dropped dead of his own accord?"
"His death was a tragic accident."
"It was murder." I stated bluntly, now sitting rigid in my chair, involuntarily.
"Voldemort killed him and you know it!" Harry spat.
That was it for Professor Umbridge. She beckoned him to her desk, wrote a note and sent it and Harry on their way. As he passed me he shook his head, warning me not to say anything more on the matter. I decided to take his advice. Any more outbursts and I'd probably end up with a week's worth of detentions. That, I didn't need. So, for the short remaining time of the lesson, I kept my head buried in our pathetic excuse for a text book, Defensive Magical Theory, concentrating hard on keeping my mouth shut.
Study hall was next and as it was only the first day of classes I used this time to read a new book Fred and George had recommended, Idiot Incantations: Be the Perfect Prankster, it was definitely amusing and it made me slightly less infuriated about the squabble in my previous class.
Just as I dumped my books on the table in the Great Hall for lunch, I spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione enter. Approaching them, Harry noticed the worried look on my face and sensed what I was thinking.
"Don't worry. I haven't been expelled." He reassured. I sighed with relief.
"Who did she send you to?"
"McGonagall, but she's on my side. She just warned me not to cause trouble for myself." He explained.
"I'm sorry if I got you into anymore trouble, Harry." I said.
"No! Thankyou for standing up for me. I just wish I hadn't got you in trouble."
"It's only one detention, and Umbridge was totally out of line." I shrugged.
"According to a lot of other people she's not. Everyone thinks I'm lying and that Dumbledore is an old fool for believing me." He explained, clearly frustrated.
"We believe you mate." Ron calmed. Everyone nodded in agreement, Harry smiled weakly.
Love is in the air? Hope you're enjoying, please remember to review! :)