Romilda Vane.
The fire burned down in the grate no one who was left in the Gryffindor common was inclined to throw another log on. Harry most certainly wasn't, it would have become rather obvious that he was up to something.
What he was doing was standing as still as he could. He was under his invisibility cloak, watching. He had left it too late now, he should have left the room when it was busier when there was more noise. Now there was only one other person in the room. The girl he'd been watching, the girl who had become a fascination with him.
It had started innocently enough. He had wanted to confront her, but not to make a scene. What sort of girl uses a love potion? Now he found himself captivated with her. He was frequently making weak excuses to get away from his friends so he could slip on his cloak and watch her.
With a suddenness that almost made his heart stop she put her book down and looked directly at the place he was standing. "You do know that is really creepy?"
Harry held his breath, she might be bluffing. Although the wand pointed in his direction seemed to indicate she wasn't. He saw the first movements of her casting stupefy. He threw off the cloak and stepped to one side.
Her wand was instantly lowered and a smile lit up her face. "I did wonder, I had hoped it was you. So are you going to join me rather than just watch me? It's much comfier here on the sofa rather than standing in the corner."
Harry found himself moving without thought. He was so bewildered over having been caught watching the girl. A girl who had tried to trick him with a love potion and was now calling him creepy.
As he sat opposite her, her smile grew wider. "This was all I ever wanted you know? To get your attention, for you to notice me." She looked away then back up meeting his eyes. " I'd never thought about the implications of a love potion. It was a cheap one from Zonko's. I'm sorry, it was so thoughtless. Some of my favourite stories revolves around a love potion. I'd be told it didn't matter provided they wore off. I'd always thought of them as romantic. Hearing about what happened to Ron I've had to rethink them. I'd be terrified of someone coming after me in that state and the idea that I might take one and end up like that." She shuddered as she spoke. "It's a horrible idea and that I used one." Her voice tampered off as she spoke and Harry leaned in to hear her. "I'm sorry. It's just I keep saying the wrong thing, insulting your friends getting nervous and giggling. All the things I know you hate."
"How do you know what I hate? You don't know me." Harry challenged her. He was glad to get her apology but her assumption she knew him irritated him.
"Of course I know you, I've grown up with you. I met you when I was eleven. I've eaten all my meals at the same table as you, I've spent my evenings sitting in front of the same fire as you. I've seen you happy and sad, I've seen you when your best friend thought you were a liar and how much that hurt you. I wanted to comfort you then but I was only twelve. I saw you cluelessly looking for a date when half the girls in the school would have killed for the chance to go with you, me included. Yes I know you, I even know what you are thinking. That I'm just another fan girl. I was, I admit it but all I want now is to be someone who you talk you, then maybe I can convince you, maybe you'll see my worth, I'm not phrasing this right. I do want to date you but I want it because you do. That you've seen me not the giggly fan girl who used a potion. I'm a pretty fair flier not that you could tell from my performance from the quidditch try outs."
She turned to him suddenly.
"Lets go flying." Her expression turning from thoughtful introspection to enthusiasm, Harry suddenly had an idea of how she could use a potion without thoughts of the consequences.
"It's past midnight."
"You mean you've never been out past curfew. Maybe I really don't know you."
"It's one thing to sneak around the castle, It's another to go flying round the grounds."
Harry couldn't tell if she'd heard or listened but she got up from the sofa and ran up the stairs leading to the girls bedrooms. Hopefully she wouldn't return. It didn't take long for that hope to be dashed as she returned with a broom in hand.
"I'm not going to join you."
"I think you will." Her face lit up with an impudent smile. Instead of heading for the portrait hole she headed for the main windows.
"Don't do that."
She paid no heed to his warning and with managed to get herself and the broom out of the window. "Coming?" With that she dropped downward out of his line of sight.
Harry ran to the window. He couldn't see the black haired girl against the night sky. The moon was three quarters full bathing the grounds in a pale light. Harry scanned the sky looking for the girl. Flying out from their stables and heading towards the forest were the thestrals taking flight in flocks.
It was unlikely the Romilda could see them and while harmless they could unseat her if she flew into them blind. This was his main concern as he ran to get his broom and headed for the window. This would lead to trouble but he couldn't let her fly into the thestrals. So he kicked off and out from the window. He dropped before stabilising.
It didn't take him long to find Romilda she was staying close to the castle.
"Those things are out flying, they scare me." She pointed at the thestrals as the wheeled in the moonlight.
"You can see them?"
"Yes, although my friends can't. After Christmas they were pulling the carriages my friends still think its magic but I could see those reptile horses."
Conflicting things to say ran through his head, he rejected 'who died over Christmas' as too insensitive. "That happened to me in fifth year. Everyone thought I was mad."
"Oh you're anything but. It was a mistake to come out here. Sometimes I just get an idea and act without thinking. Like the love potion or going flying after midnight. Shall we go back to the common room?"
"We won't be able to, it's impossible to open the windows from the outside." Harry informed.
"Didn't you leave them open?"
"It's a magic castle, and the most secure place in the country. They would have shut as soon as I left the room."
Romilda seemed to shrink on her broom. Looking very much a child. Her brown eyes opened wide. What are we going to do?"
"I'm quidditch captain. We can go to the locker rooms, they will open for me."
He led the way. Staying close to the castle. He had a fair idea where the staff had their quarters although the magical architecture could change when no one was looking. He landed near the green houses and headed towards the pitch.
Harrys robes brushed the matthiola longipetaia causing their heady scent to fill the air. In contrast he Romilda's perfume smelt of jasmine as she walked close beside him. Her arm brushing his as they walked. It wasn't an altogether unpleasant experience as they walked the moon lit grounds.
As he placed his hand on the door of the changing rooms he felt it unlock. The aroma that met them was distantly on the sour side. He could see her nose wrinkle as she stepped in.
The benches were bare and it was decidedly spartan and lacking in comfort.
"Are we staying the night here then?" Harry was constantly surprised at her ability to go from someone strong and almost a woman to a little girl. Her brown eyes looked big and wide and her confidence had shrunk away as she looked around the room.
"It's not my first choice but it gives us something to work with." With that he started to transfigure the wooden benches to cushioned sofas. He decided beds might be misconstrued.
Romilda quickly got the idea and added touches making it feel homely and pleasantly fragrant rather than sporty.
He took a seat on the sofa and she sat next to him and leaned against him. "Your warm and a charm wouldn't last long."
Harry tried to get comfy and found himself with his arm around her shoulders her hair brushing his face.
"I dreamed of this although there was one more thing." Her voice was low and sleepy.
"What do you want Romilda?"
"I want you to kiss me, to be lost I your arms. Is that so bad? To walk round the lake hand in hand, to kiss you in the moon light, or as the sun sets. In the morning with the dawn or anytime when you want.
There is no potion at play here. The only attraction you feel is the normal one of a boy for a girl, the only reason for kissing me is because you want to. There is no need to doubt what you feel."
Harry looked down at her adoring brown eyes inches from his own. The scent of Jasmine filled him as he breathed her in and closed those last few inches.
She was simply intoxicating.