4th year, February

"You are such a pig," Mia said to Patrick in disgust. Most of the Gryffindor common room turned to look at them at the sound of Mia's voice, then returned to their own conversations upon realizing it was just some fourth year friends fighting again.

"What?" he cried defensively, not bothering to look at Mia and tear his eyes away from Gina Conti's retreating form.

"You're just staring at her like she's a piece of meat or something," Mia said.

Patrick looked to Alex for support, but Alex just shook his head and returned to his essay.

"She's a fairly pretty piece o' meat, then," Patrick grinned unabashedly. "I'm thinkin' it's time t'be a carnivore."

Mia hit him upside the head.

"Ouch, what the hell was that for?"

"You can't just objectify girls like that."

"Everyone else does it!"

"So if everyone else decided to jump off a bridge, you would, too?" Alex said.

"I dunno, how high's the bridge?" Patrick snapped.

"You sound like your mother!" Mia exclaimed, horrified, at Alex.

Alex scoffed. "Not like your parents, of course. Too immature to do anything responsible."

Mia stared at him, dumbfounded, before she slammed out of her chair and stormed out through the portrait hole.

Alex dropped his head into his hands and pinched the bridge of his nose. Shit. This was happening all the time, now. They'd somehow start fighting even though it wouldn't make any sense for the fight that had originally been taking place.

Patrick chuckled. "You're doin' a really bad job o' winnin' her over."

Alex glared at him. "You're not exactly helping."

Patrick shrugged. "You're the one who says the exact wrong thing every time you open your mouth. What is this? Valentine's Day hormones?" he teased. "I thought you would've gotten over your nerves after your 'Christmas Kiss'." Patrick waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up," Alex grumbled. He looked back at his essay. He was so bad at this. All he did was fight with Mia lately. Especially now. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was sure that the excess of hearts and boxes of chocolates everywhere spurred it on a bit.

He kept thinking of the mistletoe on Christmas that he and Mia had gotten stuck under. And how that kiss under the mistletoe had been anything but friendly. It kept popping up at random times: during class, studying, at the Quidditch pitch, in his dreams, in the shower... Everywhere. And it was driving him insane.

"Erm, Alex?"

A soft voice caught Alex's attention and he turned to see Cassie, Mia's sister, standing near him.

"Hey, Cass," he smiled.

She smiled shyly and tucked a blonde curl behind her ear.

Alex felt it before he heard it. Patrick's lovestruck gasp. And then came Cassie's widened eyes when she saw Patrick. "H-hey, Patrick," she mumbled, staring back down at her feet before turning to Alex again.

"I couldn't help overhearing," she started and Alex wanted to groan, "that you and Mia are having a few troubles." She sat down in the seat her sister had just vacated. "You know, you might just want to tell her. Or just kiss her."

Alex's eyes widened. "W-what?" he choked.

"Please," she rolled her eyes, "like you don't want to."

Patrick grinned. "I like this girl more every day," he gestured to Cassie.

Cassie blushed. "But really," she said earnestly, "you're her knight in shining armor and if you stop blundering around, she'll be your fair maiden!"

Patrick snorted. "I'll be your knight in shining armor," he muttered, his eyes flickering unwillingly towards Cassie. Alex got the feeling that his friend wasn't kidding as much as he tried to make it appear that way.

"Alex, just think before you speak," Cassie said. "She's your best friend, has been since you two were four. You know her. Which means you know what buttons to push," she narrowed her eyes and Alex squirmed, "and you push them too much because she infuriates you."

Alex opened his mouth to object, but nothing came out.

A superior look came over Cassie's face. "I know, I know, you infuriate her, too, you're still best friends, whatever. Wait 'til Kate gets up here next year; she won't tell you any of this with class, like I just did. She'll yell and scold you."

Patrick chuckled. "I swear, Cassie, darlin', your whole family is a force o' nature."

Cassie's cheeks turned bright red. "T-thanks." She turned to Alex and patted him on the head. "It'll work out eventually," she said before she walked away.

Alex turned to Patrick and nearly growled. "You look at Gina Conti like that, not at Cassie Malfoy. She's barely thirteen years old, for Merlin's sake."

Patrick's head whipped back to Alex, away from where Cassie sat, giggling and laughing with her friends on the other side of the common room. His eyes were wide and too innocent. "What on earth are you talkin' about, Carmichael? I ain't doin' nothin' o' the sort."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Be sure you don't."

"Jesus it's like you're her older brother," Patrick muttered. "Brother-in-law," he added snottily.

Alex pretended not to hear.

But Cassie was right: he kept blundering. It was like his tongue was tripping over itself. Every time he saw Mia now, he didn't remember the little girl who had pushed his face into piles of mud and wrestled with him in the backyard, anymore. He saw the little girl who had kissed him when they were four, the not-so-little girl who had given him the best snog of his life under the mistletoe two months ago. She looked nothing like a little girl, anymore.

It unnerved him. When had her freckles become cute, rather than chicken pox? And when had he gotten taller than her? He was just tall enough that when he looked at Mia, he saw right down her –

Alex gulped and steered his mind away from such directions. Scorpius would murder him for it.

"Why don't you send her a Valentine?" Patrick's voice cut through Alex's murky thoughts.

"You're kidding me, right? Not only will she think it's a joke, it won't change anything."

Patrick shrugged. "You'll never know if you don't try."

Alex looked up to see Mia climb back through the portrait hole and stop to talk to Joseph Corner. She smiled and laughed, flicked her hair over one shoulder; Alex's stomach curled and his fingers clenched around his quill when she touched Corner's arm.

He'd just have to wait; she clearly didn't want to be with him.

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