Chapter Three

Harry wanted to slam his head on the desk. He sat in the library, thumbing through book after book, trying to find a solution. The task was tomorrow and he still had no idea how he would hold his breath underwater for the allotted time. He was nervously sweating as he read spell book after spell book, searching for a magical solution. He checked the clock, realizing it was almost curfew. He rubbed his temple, trying to appease his throbbing headache. As he looked up, he spotted Pandora slipping out of the restricted section. His heart thumped as he stood up quickly, approaching her immediately.

"Hey," she greeted, a guilty look coming on her face. She knew she had been caught.

"How did you get in there?" he hissed, looking around to see if anyone had noticed her.

"Perks of being too scary for confrontation," she confessed, motioning to the weasel-like lady in charge of securing it. "She won't come up to me 'cause she's scared I'll bewitch her."

"Could you help me with something?" He asked desperately.

"What's up?"

"Could you see if you could find any sort of spell that could help me hold my breath for an hour? I've been trying to find something for hours but I just can't…and the task…it's tomorrow…"

"Okay, okay. Just watch my back, okay? The librarian may be scared of me but unfortunately not everyone is," she spun around and slithered back in, disappearing in between the dark bookshelves. Harry stood as her look out, noticing the way the librarian nervously quivered as she saw Pandora reenter the restricted section. A few minutes passed and Pandora did not reappear. Harry began to grow nervous as the time ticked by. Soon enough curfew was upon them, then past, and Pandora had still not come out.

"Pandora!" Harry hissed. He heard the door to the library open.

"Oi! Who's in here?" A familiar voice called out. "Students out of bed past curfew?" Harry bit his lip in horror. It was Filch! He cowered against the door to the restricted section, praying he wouldn't come close. He heard the thump of his footsteps as he clomped through each aisle of bookshelves, his lantern bright against the surrounding darkness, as he looked for who was still in the library. The door behind Harry opened abruptly and he nearly fell over. Pandora raised her empty hands and opened her mouth to explain, but Harry slapped his hand over her mouth to stop her. He mouthed Filch's name and her eyes widened in fear.

She motioned to the back door. He crept towards it, avoiding the ray of light coming from Filch's flashlight. He slowly opened the door, waving at her to follow. The door creaked and Filch's flashlight flew onto Harry. He raced out of the library before Filch could process who he was and flew to the common room. When he had finally reached it, he was breathless. He felt a twang of guilt as he wondered if Pandora had made it out of there without getting caught. Pushing the thought of Pandora away, he decided to go to the library first thing in the morning and continue his search.

Harry was asleep. His face pasted to the desk, books surrounding him, when he was awoken. He recalled forcing himself out of bed and to the library but upon reaching it, he must've fallen asleep. He opened his eyes and came face to face with Dobby.

"Ah!" He shrieked. Dobby apologized profusely for scaring him. Harry shook him off, checking the clock and realizing with horror he had only ten minutes before the task. And still no spell. He began to panic, expressing his dilemma to Dobby as he threw his jacket on.

"Has Mr. Potter heard of Gillyweed?" Dobby asked suddenly.

He had done it! And gotten second place nonetheless! Harry was practically skipping as he walked back to his room, remembering the cheers of the audience. A hand reached out from behind the wall and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, yanking him. He tripped over his feet and practically fell into Pandora, an angry look on her face as she let go of his shirt.

"You left me!" She yelled.

"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, the guilt from the other night bubbling up again.

"I got detention," she scowled, her eyes ablaze with anger. "And you just got away, scot free, forgetting that I was in there to do you a bloody favor."

"I'm really sorry, Pandora. I know I got you in trouble. I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you," he said. She appeared to soften a bit, her shoulders relaxing. He took that as a good sign and continued. "After all, what I did was completely wrong. You were helping me and being a good friend and I-"

"Whoa, stop." She raised her hand quickly, a look of disgust crossing her face. "We aren't friends, Potter. I barely know you."

"What?" Harry was shocked.

"You don't know me and I don't know you. And I sure as hell want to keep it that way." She spat. Harry felt like he had been slapped across the face. He swallowed a lump in his throat and knitted his eyebrows together in anger.

"Fine," he snapped, turning on his heel and storming off. He couldn't believe how quick she was to throw their friendship away. Or, really, deny its existence. He could still hear the venom in her voice and it stabbed at him like a knife to his ribs. He felt his good mood disparate as he continued to the Gryffindor common room, his mind replaying the fight over and over.

Pandora sighed and inhaled deeply. But no matter how much air she sucked in, she couldn't shake the feeling of suffocation that was tightening around her chest. She blinked back tears as she languidly walked back to her common room, her feet dragging behind her. When she finally reached it, she strode past her two friends chattering excitedly and flopped onto her bed, her blonde hair splayed over the pillow. She couldn't escape the thought of Harry, with his aqua eyes and half smile that practically forced her to smile in return. She didn't mean to blow up the way she had, but she knew what the expectations were for her. And becoming friends with Harry Potter was not one of them.