Disclaimer's on chapter 1

It was with no surprise that Isaac found Penny on the fourth floor of the grand staircase staring sadly at the painting imprisoning her younger sister Beatrice. He had been hearing gossip that Penny was spending almost every waking minute outside of meals and classes here. Tonks swore she had even seen her sneak out of the Hufflepuff dorms in the middle of the night to go see Beatrice.

He just hoped they could break the Portrait Curse much sooner than they had the previous few years, not just for the Haywoods' sakes but before anyone else suffered Beatrice's fate.

"Penny?" He cautiously called out to her as he approached so as not to startle her too badly.

Even so, he still saw her jump as if surprised by a wizarding Christmas cracker going off behind her.

"Oh… Hi Isaac." Penny managed to greet him cheerfully although Isaac knew her mind was still on her sibling. "Come to see if I'm not trying to brew another dangerous potion before getting some rest for tomorrow's quidditch friendly?"

"I…won't be playing tomorrow." Isaac told her hesitantly.

"What!?" Thoughts about her sister were reluctantly shoved into the corner of her mind to make way for concerns for Isaac. "What's happened? Are you okay? Is someone-"

"Penny!" Isaac literally had to grab the witch by her shoulders while calling out her name to get her attention."It's fine. I'm not hurt or anything."

Hearing this caused Penny to sigh in relief feeling like some weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She was becoming aware of the fact that she was increasingly relying on Isaac more for support ever since third year when he convinced her not to take the forgetfulness potion the two of them had just brewed to forget about poor Scarlet. Speaking of shoulders, Penny blushed as she realised Isaac was still holding onto hers.

Realising this himself, Isaac let go of Penny and took a step back, his face feeling slightly warmer than it had a second ago.

"Yeah, Rowan and Skye are saying that I should miss the game and use the day to relax." Isaac explained looking anywhere except at Penny unaware the witch was blushing also and staring profusely at her shoes. "I was going to head into Hogsmeade instead and…was hoping…well, wondering actually. If you would like to come with me?"

He couldn't believe he actually managed to say that out loud to her. He had played the planned conversation inside his mind so many times he had lost count yet, now that Penny was right here in front of him, his mind went blank.

"Come… with you?" Penny blinked looking up from her feet. "You mean…like…as in…?"

"Friends!-As friends!-Not a date but as friends!" Isaac blurted out wishing for the ground to suddenly swallow him up. How was this so hard to do now? Had confessing to Penny he had a crush on her really changed his perspective?

Penny couldn't help but giggle. Sure, this was rather difficult for her as well for similar reasons. But the sight of poor Isaac tripping over his words as he tried to invite her out for a friendly trip to Hogsmeade was too amusing to not laugh. The giggle was contagious as soon both of them were snickering at the silliness of the situation.

Feeling much better after their giggle session, Isaac found himself much more himself and not the bundle of nerves he was a few minutes earlier.

"So, think you can pry yourself from quidditch for a butterbeer in Hogsmeade or are you wanting to see Rath knock out someone's teeth again? I hear there's a pool going for her taking out at least one player before the snitch is caught." Isaac added wincing slightly as he remembered the time he took a bludger from Rath in second year so that Slytherin could win the house cup.

"Well…normally I'd prefer quidditch carnage to delicious butterbeer." Penny admitted smiling properly for the first time in a week. "But since you're the one asking…sure."

Hearing her agreement, Isaac finally realised he was holding his breath and exhaled perhaps a little too loudly causing Penny to giggle again. He had to admit, he kind of liked the sound of her laughter, it made him feel lighter on the inside strangely.

"Great." He said before getting the feeling the silence between them was starting to become awkward. "Uh…so, shall we meet up in the courtyard tomorrow morning?"

"Sure." Penny nodded cheerfully, definitely more her usual self now than she had been before Isaac turned up.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then!" Isaac told her deciding to part ways on a high note before things started to get awkward.

Getting another nod of agreement from the cheerful witch, Isaac bade Penny goodnight feeling rather elated that not only had Penny agreed to go out with him tomorrow- just as friends- she had reverted back into the cute blonde witch he had been crushing on since second year. He couldn't help but pat himself on the back for the accomplishment.

Watching Isaac leave, Penny barely managed to look to see if anyone was around before clasping her hands tight over her mouth in an attempt to muffle the squeal of elation that escaped her lips. Even she was surprised that she was so happy about being asked out given their mutual agreement about breaking the Portrait Curse being their top priority. Then again, Isaac was her first crush and had entered fifth year with the hopes of something like this happening- without Beatrice being imprisoned, naturally.