Malfoy and I circled for the next month, being polite to one another, but not especially kind. I continued to try and get information from Al, who was being exceptionally hard to crack, which was unlike him. Sha continued to ghost around the castle, doing the same things everyday and getting thinner and thinner. I was worried about her, but she wouldn't tell me anything either. I noticed that she wasn't really talking to Asher, Lily, and Hugo any more.
One day in early February, I was finally fed up with all of the secrets. I went down to the Great Hall for lunch and found my lovely little brother sitting with another Gryffindor boy. I glared at the other kid, and he scarpered.
'So, brother-o-mine, what's up with you guys and Sha?' I asked, grabbing a sandwich. No one would object to the Head Girl sitting at the Gryffindor table with her little bro.
'What d'you mean?' he asked shiftily.
'I mean, that y'all aren't talking. What's going on?' I asked. Yes, I said y'all.
'Nothing's going on. I don't know. It doesn't really have anything to do with me. Go ask someone else!' he got up and left the table.
Okay, so that's a touchy subject. Reminding myself to keep an eye on Saoirse, I moved to the Ravenclaw table and ate my lunch.
That afternoon, I had Charms. I sat with Chase Rawlings, a fellow Ravenclaw and Prefect. We ignored the Gryffindor boys, and actually had a good time. He was funny and uncomplicated, a nice change. At supper that night, Chase sat with me, which garnered a raised eyebrow from Louis, which I ignored. I can sit with whoever I bloody well like.
The next evening, when I was studying in the Prefects common room, Chase came and sat down next to me with his own studying. We quizzed each other on Charms for a while, until we were sure we both knew all the material, and then we fell into chatter about Quidditch (he's a Beater). We fell into a sort of awkward silence, and then he spoke.
'So, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend,' he began. I could see where this was going. 'On Valentines Day. And I was wondering if you'd like to go with me.' I considered it. I liked him, for sure. He was sweet and simple. So I agreed. We talked for ages more, until midnight, when I fell into bed with a smile on my face.
I sort of glowed through the next week. I spent lots of time with Chase, ignoring the disgusted looks we got from Malfoy. We became good friends, and by the time the weekend rolled around, I was completely comfortable around him.
Saturday morning, I woke up and just lay in bed for a moment, marvelling at how wonderful I felt. I rolled out of bed, already wide awake, and grabbed shower things. I bolted the bathroom door and looked at myself critically in the mirror.
I didn't really have a huge opinion of what I saw. I had perfect skin, my one vanity, from years of avoiding make up and twice a day face washing since I started at Hogwarts, practically. My coppery brown hair was pretty, sort of layered in waves, a little past my shoulders. I was built like my mum, but with my dad's height; I was 5'10". My skin was fair, the result of being a redhead, with a light dusting of freckles across my nose and cheekbones, so light that you could only see them up close. I looked like a Weasley, but not completely so; I fit in with the clan (unlike Indy) but I wasn't picked out as a Weasley walking down Diagon Alley. I didn't like my eyes; they were too blue, like cornflowers or the sky. Surrounded by too-dark lashes in my pale face, they looked weird and out-of-place.
I laughed at my silliness and showered, then dressed in jeans, a green cami under a black sweater, and black boots to keep my feet out of the slush. I put a scarf and gloves in my coat pockets and carried my coat with me to breakfast. When I reached the Ravenclaw table, I slid in next to Chase. He poured me coffee, and I thanked him, but didn't drink it; I never drink coffee, not since that over-caffeinated incident in fifth year. I like my ability to speak without gibbering, personally.
I had a cinnamon bun for breakfast, because there is nothing, I repeat nothing better than a Hogwarts cinnamon bun. (A/N: If any of you have had fresh Keats Camps cinnamon buns, you understand. Actually, if you have, message me and we'll have a chat about their wonderfulness.) After breakfast, I bid Lou goodbye (he just raised one eyebrow a hair at me; he hadn't spoken a word that morning) and we headed out into the cold February morning.
When we reached Hogsmeade, Chase led the way into Scrivenshafts, because he needed a new quill. While he searched for the world's most perfect quill, I delved into the corner full of books. I found one that I wanted to read right away: The Rise and Fall of the Darks Arts (Revised). My mum had the original, but I hadn't read the revised version, which included the return of Voldemort, the Battle of Hogwarts, and a great deal of other things, which made it roughly the size of a small building. I paid for it and asked for it to be sent up to Hogwarts, paying the extra for the pleasure of not carting it up to the castle, then joined Chase in his search for the perfect quill.
After that, we went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to ogle the brooms and buy some polish for Chase, then to a little teashop called Madame Puddifoots. (I don't know how that woman stays in business, what with all the horrible fanfic encounters that take place there.) He ordered us coffee.
There were doilies and pink things everywhere, and all the other girls in there were elegant and made up. I felt sort of awkward. Chase and I talked, about our families and stuff. When I listed my extended family, Chase's mouth dropped open.
'So let me get this straight; you're related to half of Gryffindor House, and your clan's insanity reaches down the Southern Hemisphere?' I thought about this for a moment.
'Yup, that sounds about right.' I fiddled with my full coffee cup, some confetti in lurid shades of pink floating on the surface.
He shook his head. 'Weird. And you're all that close?'
'We're about as close as you can be. Close enough that we're all this close to killing one another all the time.' He didn't laugh. Tough crowd.
'It's just me and my parents at home,' he said. 'We spend holidays with my grandparents. Other than that, it's pretty quiet. I can't imagine how you could be in a crowd of people like that, in the middle of everything.'
'Actually, it's surprisingly easy to get lost.' I said.
'How do you get lost? It's not exactly like you read the map wrong in the middle of Christmas dinner and find yourself in Iceland.' Which would be a feat indeed, because Iceland is a large land mass across a large body of water (read: the Atlantic Ocean) and most definitely not contained within the Burrow, or the Potters', or even my house, although I can't speak for Hughie's room.
Anyways, I dropped it. If he didn't get that already, he might never, and that was all right. He finished his coffee (I hadn't touched mine) and paid, then we headed back to the castle. On the walk back up, he realized he'd dropped his glove. We went back for it, and we took a shortcut through a grove of trees to the road back to Hogwarts. He stopped, and so did I, and then he kissed me.
He wasn't an excellent kisser, but he wasn't bad, and I kissed him back, because I could, and he was kind, if a little slow, and fairly good looking. I put my arms around his neck and he put his hands on my waist and we kissed for a while like that, and then headed back up to the castle holding hands.
We spent the rest of the day in the common room, at either end of a couch, playing our feet against each other. After dinner, I studied in the joint common room, until he came and balanced his book on the soles of my feet, which faced the ceiling while I lay on my stomach on the floor. Then we studied together, and then just talked, me leaning against him, him playing with my hair between his fingers. I went to bed content.