I remember the first time

I was lonely without her

Can't stop thinking about her now

During the first month of the New Year, Harry and Chloe had three more dates over at his place, always during the week so Chloe wouldn't have to keep asking for days off which would certainly raise some suspicion, but when February came around, she invited him to spend the day at her Manor. Her father was away on a business trip and they had the entire place to themselves and the houselves, which they only saw during meal times. Spending an entire day alone with her was wonderful and Harry arrived home that night feeling the best he had in a long time.

As the days quickly turned into weeks, Harry found himself more and more captivated by her. He was happier than he had been in months and, although he tried to play it down, he couldn't quite fool his two best friends. Hermione was constantly asking him why he was so happy and he constantly evaded her questions. She, still being the brightest witch of her age, had certainly figured something out but she never admitted to it and Harry never brought it up.

When March came along, Chloe and Harry found themselves facing a dilemma: they were tired of spending time together only at their places. They wanted to go out together but we still didn't want to make their relationship public, which complicated matters. After much deliberation, they finally decided to try the places where Harry knew the owners, like the Three Broomsticks, and would be able to get a private and secluded table for them. It wasn't ideal, but it worked. One spring night found them trying a different place, a Muggle restaurant in downtown London. It was Chloe's idea and she had been very upset at herself for not thinking about it earlier. Harry was famous in the Wizarding world, not in the Muggle world, and they would have no reasons to worry there. They decided on a place called The Ledbury and Harry flooed to Chloe's Manor at eight o'clock, sharp. She was waiting for him in the foyer, looking as beautiful as always. He kissed her on the lips, briefly, and offering his arm. Together, they walked outside and apparated safely into an alley, near the restaurant.

The Ledbury was simply elegant, and the atmosphere was fantastic. Chloe waited as Harry gave his name for the reservation and they were soon taken to a table, which Harry had requested to be by the window because he knew she would like that. He waited for her to sit before sitting down as well, and she beamed at him. They ordered drinks and an appetizer and Chloe soon found herself halfway listening to him as her mind wondered. Sometimes it was still hard to believe she was dating Harry Potter, the one who killed You Know Who. It was easy to forget how famous he was because he didn't behave as such, something she absolutely loved about him. He was sweet, kind, and caring, always worried about others and always making sure she was fine. She liked how protective of her he had already become and how easily and effortlessly things were happening between them…

"Chloe, are you listening to me?" Harry's voice cut through.

"I'm sorry" She said, embarrassed at how quickly her mind had drifted away "really sorry"

"What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about us, and how happy you make me"

She could tell by the look on his face that her answer wasn't what he had expected, but he smiled at her all the same.

"You make me happy too" He said "and I'm really glad we kept this a secret"

"Me too"

The appetizer and drinks arrived and they ate a few bites in silence. When Chloe stopped eating after only a couple of pieces, Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I want to save room for dessert" she said "Didn't you notice how long the dessert menu is?"

"You and Ron are going to be great friends" Harry said with a chuckle.

It wasn't the first time he said that, referring to a passion for sweets and desserts Chloe and Ron seemed to share.

"They have desserts with a side of ice cream" She said, winking at him and he smirked at their inside joke.

It was the first Saturday in February and Harry had invited Chloe for dinner at his house, to celebrate her grade report from earlier in the week. She was only a few months away from finishing her training and classes were getting harder and harder, but she continued to excel.

Chloe arrived at Harry's house only to be informed by Kreacher that Harry had been urgently summoned to the Ministry, but that he would hopefully be back in time for dinner. Kreacher asked her if she wanted anything and before she could stop herself, she said yes, she wanted some ice cream. He looked at me with a confused expression and she explained to him that she has random cravings for ice cream regardless of the weather outside. Kreacher apologized for not having any and offered to go get me some, but she offered to show him how to make homemade vanilla ice cream instead. By the time Harry arrived home, over an hour later, Kreacher and Chloe were nearly finished, so he sat by the table and watched as they worked.

"I had no idea you knew how to make ice cream" Harry said.

"Mum used to make it for us ever since I can remember. I would always help her and when I was old enough, she taught me how to make it all by myself"

"What flavor is it?"

"Vanilla" She replied with a fond smile "Mum's favorite"

After Kreacher and Chloe were finished with the ice cream, he served dinner as it was already getting late and Harry was starving. By the end of the meal, they settled on the couch in the living room and Kreacher brought them two ice cream cones with a huge scoop of ice cream on each.

"Can I ask why you had to go to the Ministry?" Chloe said and Harry's face suddenly grew serious.

"Yes, but promise me that what I am about to say does not leave this room"

"Of course!"

"We are not entirely sure yet, but there have been rumors of a new group of dark wizards gathering in Britain. The Minister wanted to meet with his top, most trusted aurors and a few other officials. He wants us to find out if the rumors are true and who is behind it"

"Do you think the rumors are true?"

"Yes, wouldn't you?"

"I would. You Know Who might be dead but not all of his followers are…"

"Another reason for us to keep our relationship a secret" He said, inching closer to her and looking right into her eyes "I don't want anything to happen to you"

"Nothing will happen to me" She said putting on a brave face, but knowing he had a point.

"If these rumors prove to be true, will you let me work on DADA spells with you? Like I did with Dumbledore's Army during my fifth year?"

"You don't believe I learned what I needed while at Hogwarts?"

"Perhaps, but it would make me feel better if I knew for certain you could take care of yourself, in case I am not around to do it myself"

"That's very sweet of you Mr. Potter. If the rumors do prove to be true, we can train together"

He nodded, looking satisfied and wrapped his arm around her. Resting her head on his chest, they continued to enjoy their ice creams.

"You know Ava is going to kill us when she finally finds out, right?" Chloe began, looking up at him.

"She will have to beat Hermione to it" He joked.

"I'm a little anxious about meeting her" Chloe said, frowning at her ice cream cone.

"Why?"

"She is intimidating…"

"Hermione is great. You will like her"

"I am more concerned about her not liking me… not to mention all the Weasleys"

"Chloe" He began, and she sat up straight to face him "I just told you about the rumors concerning dark wizards, and you are worried about Hermione and the Weasleys?"

"Dark wizards are not your family and loved ones, I don't need them to like me and approve of your decision to date me"

"As long as I am happy, which I am, they will support me. Stop worrying"

"Okay" She agreed with a small smile, knowing fully well she would not stop worrying. "Do you like the ice cream?"

"Well, how can I say this without hurting your feelings…?" He teased.

She looked at him with a hurt expression and he grinned, bringing the cone to his mouth. Before she could change her mind, Chloe pushed the cone into his face.

"Hey!" He said as she pulled back and laughed at him.

"You asked for it" She said, shrugging.

"Very well then" He replied, grabbing the ice cream from his cone and throwing it at her.

The ice cream hit her forehead and dribbled down her face. Chloe quickly wiped some from her eyes and lunched towards Harry, pushing her own ice cream cone on his face. They continued to playfully fight each other until all the ice cream had melted and both the cones were reduced to useless crumbs.

"We better clean this before Kreacher comes here" She said as they stood by the couch, looking over the mess.

"We should probably clean ourselves too" He said, taking a step closer to her until their faces were inches apart.

"We should…"

"You have some here" He added, using his fingers to brush away some of the ice cream close to her mouth. Suddenly, she was very aware of just how close we were and how her heart was beating out of control "Or we can wait just a bit longer…."

Leaning in, his lips brushed hers ever so slightly. She closes her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and she did the same. Soon, their kiss grew deeper and more urgent, the sweet taste of vanilla adding a special touch to it. Several seconds later, they finally pulled away from each other, breathing heavily. Harry watched as Chloe, who was now blushing, put a strand of hair behind her ear, bit her lower lip and looked down.

"That was some really good ice cream" He said and she looked up again.

Soon, they were both laughing to the point their stomachs hurt and that was how Kreacher found them a few minutes later.

"Chloe, you are wondering again" Harry said.

"Sorry, I was thinking about our first kiss"

"That was a fun night… we should do it again" He said with a smile, placing his hand above hers.

"We most definitely should"

A flash of light startled us and some of the people sitting on the tables nearby. We both looked around and then out of the window, trying to find the source of the sudden brightness.

"Was that lighting?" Chloe asked.

"Maybe, I don't see any clouds"

"It may still be further out"

"Maybe"

They turned back to each other as the waitress brought the food. Chloe ate her entire meal, answering Harry's quizzical look with a short sentence: homemade ice cream. Harry didn't need further encouragement and quickly ate his own meal. Hours later, Chloe woke up with a smile on her face, even though she knew it was far too early. Just a few hours ago Harry and her had had a wonderful dinner and an even better time with dessert. After their arrival at her Manor they had dismissed the house elves from the kitchen and Harry had helped her make chocolate ice cream, much of which ended up on the floor and walls after Harry started another food fight.

Still thinking about him, she got up and headed for the shower. She had happily agreed on switching her Saturday night shift with Oliver's Friday morning shift because he hadn't been feeling well and could really use some sleep. That seemed to be a good idea at the time since she didn't have training this Friday and it would give her a free Saturday night with Harry, but the few hours of sleep she just had clearly were not enough and it was with a series of yawns that she apparated to her uncle's café. She was the first one to arrive, and after going in and checking on things, poured herself some coffee. Soon, the back door opened and she heard Ava mumble something as she made her way to the front.

"Explain yourself" Ava growled, throwing something in the counter between them.

Looking up from her mug of coffee, Chloe glanced over at her best friend. Her arms were crossed, she was tapping her left foot, her mouth was a flat line, and her eyes were burning with anger.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked, sincerely puzzled.

They continued to stare at each other in silence, except for the sound of Ava's foot still taping which was really annoying Chloe. After a few more seconds dragged by, Ava nodded her head towards the counter and Chloe leaned in to look. The mug in her hand fell, hitting the ground loudly, breaking into several shards, and splattering hot coffee all around, but Chloe's mind barely registered any of that. Instead, she was entirely focused on the large picture occupying half of the front page of the Daily Prophet. The Harry and Chloe in the picture were sitting across from each other, her hand resting on the table while his hand was over hers, both smiling. The real Chloe, the one whose shaky hands now held the paper, was far from smiling.

"How long have you been seeing him?" Ava asked.

Chloe ignored her read the article, which continued into pages two and three. Of course, they knew they wouldn't be able to hide their relationship from everyone forever, but neither had expected for the truth to come out this soon, and not from them. And they both had taken precautions when going out in public, trying to avoid exactly what was happening.

"You lied to me Chloe, you said you were just friends with him, remember?"

"We weren't dating them Ava, so technically I didn't lie to you"

"Why didn't you tell me when you started dating then?" Ava replied, her tapping ceasing "I am your best friend!"

"We agreed on not telling anyone" Chloe said, finally looking up "At least not for a while"

"And why, may I ask?"

"Oh I don't know Ava, is not like he is a famous wizard or anything" She snapped, suddenly very upset.

Turning her back on Ava, she drew out her wand and cleaned the mess. Once the now fixed mug was back in her hand, she poured more coffee and tried to steady her shaky hands. Behind her, Ava had resumed tapping her foot.

"Will you please stop with that?" She snapped, turning back around "It's incredibly annoying"

Ava looked at her with an even more infuriated look, but stopped tapping her foot.

"Ava, no one knew about us… not even my dad" Chloe said, with a sigh. She watched as Ava's anger seemed to lessen "and Harry didn't tell his best friends either. We just wanted a chance to get to know each other, no pressure"

"You still haven't answered my question" She pointed out.

"For the past three months or so"

"That actually explains a lot" Ava said, all traces of anger gone. "And you know you will have to tell me everything"

"Well aware"

"Then I suggest you start soon, three months is a lot of time"

Chloe nodded, actually eager to share with Ava the happenings of the past few months. Now that they were no longer a secret, she could have her best friend back, so to speak. After disposing of the paper, they both resumed getting everything ready. Chloe opened the doors and before long their usual costumers came in and she completely forgot about the article in the paper, but of course that didn't last very long. Almost an hour after opening, a small crowd of witches and wizards carrying feathers, notepads, and cameras walked in and Chloe suddenly found herself with her back pressed against a wall as pictures were taken and several shouted questions at her. She shot one pleading look towards Ava, but her friend was already coming to the rescue. Chloe watched as she elbowed her way over, avoiding any eye contact with those around her.

"I'll take care of this" Ava whispered, before turning to face the crowd "Get out of here!"

Chloe watched as she told the reporters to leave, and laughed when she threatened to curse them all if they didn't. If they knew just how serious she was, they would have left at her first demand.

"Ava, I can't leave. You can't work alone!" Chloe yelled, hoping she could hear her over all the noise "I don't want to leave you by yourself"

"I'll owl Oliver" Ava said as she drew her wand "Go!"

Chloe knew better than to argue, so I used her wand to bring her belongs over, made her way to the counter aided by Ava's spells, ran through the back door and apparated home. Safely inside their beautiful living room, Chloe walked to the windows and peeked outside. It was hard to tell how many from this distance, but it seemed that a smaller crowed than the one at the café was by the gates and clearly waiting for signs of her. Chloe groaned, hoping that her father would choose to apparate directly inside the house or take the floo network; either way, she hoped to get to him before that crowd did. She looked around the house, suddenly very anxious. Without work to distract her, what was she to do? She wondered if Harry had seen the article yet and if he was fighting a mob as well… She guessed he probably was. She very much wanted to see him, but knew the Ministry would be just as full of curious people, and she would already have to deal with it in two days when training resumed… she would rather avoid it for now.

For what it felt like an eternity she considered many different things to keep herself busy, like going back to work (assuming Ava had dealt with everyone, surely she had), going back to bed (but sleeping would be impossible), or going to visit her uncle (probably a good idea, considering his coffee shop was the place invaded by crazy reporters this morning) but in the ended she decided to change back into her pajamas and trying to read a book. She was about to sit down when an owl she recognized as her uncle's caught her attention. Opening the window, she retrieved the letter and tore into the envelop. It was a letter from both Ava and Oliver assuring her the crowd of reporters was gone, but several people had come in wanting to see Harry's new girlfriend, so she should stay home. Oliver also said he would work the rest of her shift and that her uncle was also helping out. Putting down the letter, Chloe grabbed a blank piece of parchment and wrote them back, thanking them for their help and telling Oliver to take tomorrow off, as she would be coming in for him. She knew they wouldn't like it, but she refused to let her relationship with Harry interfere with work.

She tried really hard to read the book, really did, but nothing she read registered in her mind and she finally gave up, slamming the book shut. Getting up, she headed to the kitchen deciding that a nice mug of tea might help. She had barely taken three steps however, when a loud pop came from behind her Turning around, expecting to see her father or one of the elves, her eyes fell on Harry and for a few seconds, they simply stared at each other. His expression was hard to read, and he watched her as if trying to decipher her expression as well. Growing tired of the unusually painful silence between them, Chloe thought of what to say but Harry was the one to finally break the silence.

"I'm sorry"

"For what? You can't possible blame yourself for the article" She replied, trying to make sure he knew she wasn't upset with him.

"I know, but I never wanted this to happen. I went to the café the moment I saw the paper and Ava told me what happened... are you, err, ok?"

Chloe watched him as he looked down for a moment, angry at whoever was responsible for the article, only because they were causing unnecessary aggravation to the man in front of her. He was visibly upset and worried, and she hated it.

"Harry" She started in a low voice, and he finally looked up again "I'm fine, promise. I knew this might happen and now that it did, we will deal with it… together. Please stop worrying about me"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Harry, I am" She gave him a warm smile and to her relief, he smiled back "Did you get surrounded by a mob of reporters too?"

"No, unfortunately for them Ron saw the paper much earlier than I did and he made sure none of the reporters knew where I was meeting with the Minister, or for how long. Once I came out of the meeting, Ron handed me the paper and helped me leave the ministry without being noticed. There were a few reporters still outside the café when I arrived, but they didn't dare follow me in."

"Ava can be very scary when she wants" Chloe said with a chuckle.

"Remind me to never get on her bad side" He kidded.

"That's very wise of you Mr. Potter" She agreed, solemnly.

"She seemed very troubled that you didn't tell her about us"

"She was, but we talked about it and I'm sure she will be fine. Ava can be a little dramatic sometimes… How was Ron's reaction?"

"It was okay, he said I have a lot of explaining to do but he's not the one I'm worried about. Hermione will probably jinx me"

"Then I suggest you be ready" She replied, with an understanding smile.

He nodded and walked closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist while she wrapped hers around his neck and rested her head on his chest. For a few minutes they stood like that, enjoying each other's company, until a loud pop caused both of their heads to snap in the direction of the sudden sound. Standing just a few steps away from them, taking off his hat and placing his bag on the floor, was Chloe's father. He seemed not to notice the for the first few seconds but when he finally did, the look of surprise on his face made her want to laugh.

"Hi dad" She said, as casually as possible.

Harry, who had tensed the moment we heard the pop, quickly untangled himself from her and turned towards her father. She glanced at him and the look on his face also made her feel like laughing. It was rather hard to say which men looked the most shocked to see the other, although Harry's expression was also apprehensive.

"Dad, this is Harry… Harry, this is my father, Elliot" Chloe said, trying my best to shake them both from their inertia.

"Harry, as in Harry Potter?" My dad asked, his eyes momentarily glancing at the lightening scar, his tone of voice suggesting how incredulous he was that one of the most famous wizards ever was casually standing in his living room.

"Umm… yes sir" Harry said, taking a step towards him and offering his right hand.

"What a pleasure to meet you, my boy" Elliot said, taking Harry's hand with both of his "It is an honor Mr. Potter"

"Harry, please call me Harry sir"

"And please call me Elliot, Harry"

Chloe chuckled, and both men turned her way. She shrugged and took a deep breath.

"Dad, I… there is something we need to tell you" She began, glancing at Harry. He looked just as nervous as she felt.

"Is everything ok?" Elliot asked, looking from one of them to the other.

"Yes sir, I meant Elliot" Harry replied fretfully, and Chloe chuckled again.

"Then what is going on?"

"Harry and I made the front page of the Daily Prophet because…" Chloe began, but her interrupted again.

"You did?" He asked, looking at his daughter.

"Yes. They found out that… well… Harry and I are dating"

The look of surprise they had seen on his face when he first saw Harry was absolutely nothing compared to the look he was giving them now.

"My daughter... is dating Harry Potter… the Harry Potter?" He whispered, mainly to himself.

"Umm, yes." Chloe said "We never meant for the paper to find out before we had a chance to tell everyone, but they did"

"How?"

"We are not sure" Harry said "But I will find out"

"Is that why you are here and not at work?" Elliot asked his daughter.

With Harry's help, they told her father about what had happened to both of them that morning. When Chloe mentioned about the reporters outside the Manor, he reacted much like Ava and promised to handle it as soon as they were done talking. Before long, Harry excused himself and promised he would owl later and after shaking dad's hand one more time, he left. With Harry gone, my father went to deal with the crowd outside. After coming back in, he kept Chloe talking nonstop, answering some of the thousands of questions he seemed to have about her relationship with Harry. When Chloe finally convinced him to stop asking questions, it was lunch time. The house elves came by to ask if they should cook us lunch but Elliot sent them away and offered to take her out to eat, before realizing that would entail leaving the Manor. He apologized and offered to go get them something instead, but she shook her head.

"Dad I am just dating Harry, not being accused of blowing up something" She protested.

"I know darling, but won't you be upset if people approach you?"

"Annoyed perhaps, but they will grow tired eventually. Plus, I know of a place they won't bother us" She said, with playful a grin.

Catching on, Elliot waited as Chloe quickly ran to her room and changed clothes, before they flooed to Paul's office at the café.