Chapter Five

*Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter related things.*

"He seemed nice, don't you think?" Alice said as she walked out of the dining hall with Alec. "Yeah, not so much," Alec said back, almost sneering. "What do you mean?" Alice asked. Harry had seemed nice enough the 20 minutes she had sat with him. "Well, people talk about him. He's a stalker, and he follows around girls just like you. I'd stay away from him if I were you." Alec said, feigning concern. "Oh, well, okay then. Hey, I gotta get to class. See you later," Alice said, kissing Alec's cheek. Well, she thought to herself, I guess Alec knows what he's talking about.

Alice continued down the hallway towards her classroom, and was almost in the door when she heard a familiar accented voice. "Alice, hey." She looked over her shoulder to see Harry standing about 15 feet away. She smiled at him nervously before ducking into her classroom. Wow, that was weird, she thought. But probably just a coincidence. Once her class let out, Alice decided to go to the campus store (much like a convenience store) to pick up some milk. She was in line waiting to check out when she glanced out the window to see Harry headed towards the building. She hurried herself through the line and left through a back door before he even reached the building. Okay, that was a little bizarre, Alice thought. She kind of shrugged it off and headed to the library to do some homework.

Alice sat down at a table in the corner of the library, grateful for the silence to get some work done. She had barely made a dent in her homework when she realized that someone was standing behind her. She turned around and jumped slightly at the sight of Harry. "Seems like I'm seeing you everywhere today, Alice," Harry said, laughing. She grabbed her stuff and nearly ran out of the library.

Harry didn't understand. He had thought that Alice was a nice girl (and very pretty) and so he didn't understand why she kept avoiding him. Harry sat down at the now empty table in the library where Alice was sitting a minute before and began to think about it. I saw her in the English hallway this morning; her classroom is next to mine.

When I said hello, she did smile at me, so that's good. But then she ran into her classroom. Maybe she was just late. Then I was on my way to the campus store to get a snack after class, and I could swear I saw her sneaking out the back door. Then I come to the library to print off notes for my class tomorrow, and I see her sitting at this table. So I come over to talk to her, and she runs out the door! Did I do something wrong?

Harry held his head in his hands and sighed. This was not going the way he intended it to. Maybe she just didn't want anything to do with him. Harry picked up his backpack from the floor and headed back to his room.

Alice walked across the campus towards the student union with a smile on her face. After she left the library and got away from Harry, she had gone to a coffee shop on the other side of campus and treated herself to a latte and had a chance to calm down. She walked in the doors of the union and headed down a hallway to the left to find Alec. It was 3:00 pm, so he'd likely be hanging out here. Alice rounded the corner and stopped short to see Alec talking with his friends. "Yeah, she really fell for it," Alec was saying, laughing. Who is he talking about? Alice wondered. "All I told her was that Potter kid was a stalker and she ignored him the whole day! Hahaha," Alec continued. "I thought you were gonna leave her for that chick from you math class, Ella," one of Alec' friends, a boy Alice knew from her history class said. "Why choose one when you can have both?" Alec said, and that got them all laughing.

Alice was pissed, to say the least. She stormed up to Alec and slapped him across the face. "How fucking dare you lie to me. We're through." She spat at him before storming off. Alec didn't even bother to chase after her, instead calling out, "You'll be back. You'll miss me soon enough." Alice had tears running down her face before she even left the union. How could Alec do that to her? She cried as she walked towards the dorms to be alone. He lied about Harry, too, Alice thought. He was such a nice kid, and I ignored him all day just because of that ass! Alice sobbed into her hands and sat down on a bench along the sidewalk. She was attempting to compose herself when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Alice, are you alright?" Harry said. He had been on the way to his dorm room when he spotted her crying alone on a bench. Even though she had seemed to ignore him all day, he had to stop and help her. "Oh, Harry. I'm sorry about today. Alec is such an asshole." "Hey, calm down, it's gonna be alright. Tell me what happened." Harry sat down on the bench next to Alice and she buried her head in his shoulder. She sat and told him the whole story. Harry was almost fuming by the end of it. Not because Alec had called him a stalker, but because he had hurt Alice. "He doesn't deserve someone as great as you," Harry said, hugging Alice. He felt cliché saying it, but damn was it true. Alice pulled some tissues out of her bag and began to dry her eyes. Even with mascara running down her face Harry still thought she was beautiful. "Thank you, Harry. You're really sweet," Alice said, wiping her eyes. Harry pulled a piece of paper from his backpack and a pen. He wrote down his cell phone number and his room number and handed it to Alice. "If you ever need anything, anything at all, please feel free to call or come by," he said as she took the paper and smiled at him. "Thanks," Alice said, "I will."

Harry headed back to his room and snuggled down in his bed. It had been an interesting day. After he had left Alice sitting on the bench (she assured him she was okay) he had come back to his room, finished up some homework, gone to dinner, and had spent the rest of the evening reading for his classes. Pretty exciting stuff. Harry was just about to fall asleep when he heard a knock at his door. He stumbled out of bed and headed to the door.

Harry opened it to see Alice standing in his doorway. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and pajama pants. She didn't look too steady on her feet and smelled of liquor. "Heeeyyy, Harry," Alice slurred. She stumbled forward and almost fell but Harry caught her. "Alice, what are you doing here? Are you drunk?" Alice giggled for an answer. "I'm fine, Harry. I was just in my room thinking about you and thought I should come over and show you just how much I like you. Alice tried to pull Harry close to her but he stopped her. "Alice, you're drunk. And as much as I'd love for you to, erhm, show me (Oh god, did he want that) it wouldn't be appropriate. Come here and lay down on the couch, you're sleeping here tonight so I can make sure you're okay." Harry went to his bedroom and came back with an extra pillow and a blanket. He set up everything on the couch and told Alice to lie down. He sat up and made sure she was okay for almost an hour, though she fell asleep after about 20 minutes. Harry yawned and headed back to bed.

Alice woke up the next morning with a terrible headache. Where am I? She wondered. Alice looked around and sat up. It took her about 10 seconds to remember what happened last night. She groaned and held her head in her hands. Well, that's a great way to start things out. She got up off the couch and knocked timidly on Harry's bedroom door.

Harry had been up early that morning. He was worried about Alice. He checked on her once to make sure she was okay, and then spent the morning working in his room. He heard a knock on his bedroom door and opened it to see Alice standing there. "How are you feeling?" He asked her. Alice smiled at him, "Oh, not too bad, considering. Thanks for….everything." Harry smiled back. Her smile was infectious. "Just glad to know you're alright, dear." Did I really just call her dear? Alice's face seemed to redden slightly and she looked down at the floor. "Well, I should probably get back to my room. See you around." Harry walked Alice to the door and opened it for her. "Yeah, see ya," he said. He was sad to see her leave, but given the circumstances, it wouldn't really be appropriate to ask her to stay. Alice walked out the door and stepped into the hallway. Harry turned to head back into his bedroom. "Oh, Harry?" Alice said. Harry turned back to face her. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips softly.

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Until next time,

Eridium Blight