The rest of Peter's first year flew past. He struggled through challenging classes, tough professors, exams, and trying to balance his group of friends, which was what every young person did, but he had the added pressure of being a wizard. The newness and excitement of being a wizard kind of wore off after the mounds of work he had to do. But he still wouldn't trade it for the world.

Summer was too long and felt like it dragged on for ages. Peter wrote to his friends practically every single day, and it was a nice way to keep in touch, but he missed being able to see Lucas and Matt and everyone and actually be with them. Plus, his mom was beginning to get mad at how fast Lucas went through her treats. Sometimes he'd walk to the local (muggle) grocery store and buy his friends desserts from there, but they could tell the difference.

So he spent most of his summer inside the house, because any of the few friends he used to have ditched him once he went away, spending time with his little sister, vaguely wondering if she would be magic too if he was, but mostly he just wished desperately that September first would come sooner. And when it finally did come, Peter stood in the train station, laughing with all his friends, and thinking that this was the happiest thing that ever could have happened to him.

Peter definitely did not have a problem. And that problem (which there wasn't even a problem) did not manifest itself in Jason McConnell.

Great.

So maybe he did have a tiny problem. And that problem might have something to do with Jason, but mostly his smile and his hair and the way he said Peter's name and basically his entire being. Peter wasn't really sure what was going on with himself lately. All he knew is that he got a weird feeling in his stomach when he looked at Jason, and when he would be at Quidditch games and he would hear Ivy yelling Jason's name and Jason would turn on his broomstick to wave at Ivy and grin, Peter felt something that he would almost describe as jealousy. But he brushed those feelings aside because he knew it wasn't right.

One evening, when Peter, Lucas, and Matt were sitting in the Gryffindor common room and talking, the topic of one Ivy Robinson came up. Lucas couldn't stand her personality but thought she was pretty hot, Peter thought she would be nice once they got to know her more, and Matt was completely and utterly infatuated with her.

"Have you even seen her?" Matt protested. "She's beautiful, and amazing, and perfect, and-"

"Down, boy," Lucas joked. Matt rolled his eyes.

"If you saw her the way I did, you'd understand," Matt replied. "Right, Peter?"

But Peter wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. He was staring into the fireplace, deep in thought.

"Yo, Peter," Lucas nudged him, making Peter jump slightly. "You keep zoning."

"Oh! Um, sorry," Peter said hastily. "I was just, um. Thinking."

"About what?" Matt asked.

"Probably about how pretty Ivy is," Lucas said mock innocently, batting his eyelashes.

"Okay, no," Matt began, and the two of them started arguing again, leaving Peter back to his thoughts.

Truthfully, Ivy was what had began his whole thought process. The way Matt talked about Ivy eerily reminded him of his own feelings for Jason. Which was so weird, because Peter wasn't like that. He liked Jason, but not the same way Matt liked Ivy. He figured he just wanted to be Jason's friend. Really badly. Because Peter was just a normal 12 (practically 13) year old. Who also happened to be a wizard, which wasn't actually all that normal, but Peter was good at pretending.

And he maybe just happened to have a teeny-tiny crush on Jason McConnell.

"I'm going to bed," he announced while Lucas and Matt were still arguing, running to his room before anyone could ask him what was going on.

He quietly cried himself to sleep that night, hoping when he woke up, those feelings would be gone.