Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its related works.

Author's Note: So I know there was no Sunday update again and this is pretty late, but... at least this one is longer. And I'll just leave this here. In case anyone was wanting to see inside Lorcan's head... here you go!

Chapter Thirty-Four

Saturday, October 29th 2022

Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, Scotland

Lorcan leans against a wall. The Room of Requirement looks like something out of One Thousand and One Nights, a series of round interconnected rooms with colorful lamps and low hanging silk baldachins. Seat cushions and low tables are interspersed throughout the rooms and occasionally there is a chaise longue that more often than not is occupied by a couple making out on it. It's not at all what he would have expected from a Halloween party, but he rather likes it.

He catches himself looking for her again and tells himself to stop, but it seems to be impossible. He just can't help turning hopefully every time he glimpses a short dark-haired girl, can't help craning his neck every time someone new enters their little room. It's a little bit ridiculous, but in the privacy of his own mind he admitted long ago that ridiculous seems to be the only thing he's capable of when it comes to her.

"Lorcan? Mate, were you even listening to me?" Quentin waves a hand in front of his face and Lorcan smiles sheepishly.

"Sorry," he looks at his friend. "What did you say?"

Quentin rolls his eyes at him, but he repeats himself without further prompting. "I was talking about Meredith. I saw her earlier and she's looking drop dead gorgeous today."

"She really is," Colin agrees, ignoring the fact that Quentin is instantly glaring at him, and Lorcan has to laugh. They all know that Colin is mostly saying that to get a rise out of Quentin, but it still works every single time.

"I don't know," he says, "You know blondes aren't my type."

Colin frowns at him. "Dude… you dated Anabell last year. It doesn't get blonder than that."

"That was before I realized that," Lorcan grins at him. "Now, Q, you should really just ask Meredith out and spare us your pining."

Quentin pulls a face at him and Colin laughs. "Speaking of pining," Lorcan can tell instantly that he's going to be questioned, "You're pining. Who is it?"

"I'm not pining," he protests.

"Sure," Colin draws out the word and Quentin laughs.

"That's why you got out that old muggle song again."

"It's just a song, Q," Lorcan rolls his eyes, but he knows they've caught him. He doesn't really consider what he is doing pining. He's simply taking things slowly, making sure he's not reading too much into every word and interaction and hoping he won't destroy a wonderful friendship in the process, because by now he's too far in to back out again.

"It's the most pining song in the history of mankind," Quentin declares, shaking his head. "Anyone else up for finding something to drink?"

He doesn't wait for a reply and Lorcan grins as Colin grumbles something that sounds suspiciously like "bossy" under his breath as they follow him. They move through a succession of rooms that are all subtly different from each other and the room they were in until they reach the main room, or at least what Lorcan considers the main room. It's larger than the others and also the one the entrance leads to. Additionally, this is the room where the snack table and the drinks are. They have almost reached those when Lorcan hears Eva's voice over the buzz of the crowd.

"Lorcan!" He turns to try and figure out where she is and sees her instantly. She must be sitting on someone's shoulders because her hand is brushing the baldachin as she waves him over.

"I'll go see what that's about," he tells Colin and Quentin and squeezes through the crowds toward his sister.

"We'll be there in a bit," Quentin calls after him and Lorcan nods absently. He wonders if Grace is where Eva is. It's likely, most days the two of them are still joined at the hip after all. It used to be more than it is now, back in first, second and third year the only time he ever saw them apart was during class. He reaches the group around Eva, who is indeed sitting on someone's shoulders, Jason's to be exact. Lysander is here, talking to Zoe, and James Potter and Fred Weasley are tickling Jason to get him to drop Eva. Molly smiles at him, but she is too engrossed in her conversation with Carla and Meredith to offer him a greeting beyond that. Louisa is standing next to Carla, but she is listening to Archie instead of the other girls. She's laughing at whatever he is telling her. There are a few more people that seem to belong to this group, but he can't see Grace and he tries not to let it get to him.

Then, Jason stumbles to the side to avoid his ambushers and there she is, laughing at one of Archie's jokes, one hand playing with a strand of her hair, the other on the back of the chaise longue next to her, and... Merlin, she's so beautiful. Gorgeous. Stunning. And then she turns to him and smiles brilliantly as if he is the one person she has been waiting to see all night and he just can't help himself, can't stop himself from leaning in and kissing her. It's a soft kind of kiss, incredibly tender and even better than he imagined it.

Then his brain catches up with his actions and he pulls away because this is not taking things slowly. Not at all. And Grace is staring at him, her eyes wide and her lips parted slightly. Everyone is staring at him.

Lorcan turns on his heel and runs. It's probably a cowardly move, but no one ever said he was a Gryffindor. He stumbles out of the Room of Requirement and runs down the hallways without knowing where they lead. He runs until he can't anymore and he leans against the wall and sinks to the ground.

There are two things he is absolutely certain of. One, it had felt right to kiss Grace. And two, he messed up. He really, really did.