After three weeks of lessons, a few things were becoming blindingly obvious to Harry. For starters, Rory was getting to be excellent at Legillimency and Harry was making zero improvement. It was clear that the only reason he'd successfully pushed her out of his head in the beginning was because she was brand new to this.

The second thing that was obvious was that the better Rory got at poking around in his head, the less she wanted to do it. Maybe Snape got some sick joy out of invading Harry's privacy, but Rory did not. She'd warned him that in theory, she could see whatever was in his head, real or imagined. That was no longer a theory. As a result, there were a few times when the lesson ended with them unable to look each other in the eye or say anything other than "Hello" or "Good morning" to each other for several days.

The third thing that was obvious to Harry—.

"This is useless," Harry said as they finished their lesson for the evening. Rory scoffed. "Your time is probably better spent studying for OWLs or something because I'm absolutely rubbish at this."

"Nonsense," Rory said. "You're working hard. I can tell. You just have to keep at it."

He wasn't working that hard. If he really tried, he knew he could probably shut his mind to Voldemort. But he was struggling to keep Rory out. It was so hard not to want to share everything with her, even the embarrassing things.

"If I can't even keep you out, how am I supposed to keep him out?" Harry asked.

"Practice," Rory said. "You think I was basically able to learn all this overnight?"

"You were. You got it right on your first try," Harry said.

"Fine," Rory conceded, "but take into account that in this particular instance, I am a freak of nature, so I'm not actually the standard you should hold yourself to."

"And what standard should I be holding myself to then?" he asked. He grabbed his bag from the floor. This felt pointless. The only thing he seemed to be accomplishing was making sure Rory knew every embarrassing and inappropriate thought he'd ever had about her.

"When's the last time you dreamed about the Hall of Prophecy?" Rory asked.

Harry shrugged and sat down on a desk. "I'm supposed to be avoiding that, right?"

"Obviously, but that's good," Rory said. "You weren't going into his head voluntarily, which means you're making an effort to keep him out and it's working."

Harry hadn't considered that. But, if Harry was being honest she stalked his dreams a lot these days. Why would he bother thinking about Voldemort when he could dream about her? When he could remember all the time he spent kissing her, holding her, laughing with her, why would he even think about the Department of Mysteries?

"I know we all want immediate results and instant gratification, but sometimes you have to work for it," Rory said. "You just need to pay better attention to know when it's actually paying off."

"Paying attention is not one of the things I'm well known for," he said.

Rory laughed. "Well, you're excellent at lots of other things."

"Obliviousness?" he asked.

She laughed again. That was one thing he was enjoying about these lessons, and probably one of the reasons he was not excelling at it. They were spending so much time together now. They talked easily. They laughed easily. Because of the nature of the lessons, there were fewer and fewer secrets between them, and they were in their own little bubble keeping this secret from everyone else.

"You don't give yourself enough credit for how good you actually are," Rory said. "Remember everyone joining the illegal club so you specifically could teach them to do magic."

"Yeah, but you helped me with that," Harry said.

"Harry, the most advanced magic we learned in that class all came from you," she said. She sat down beside him on the desk, dropping her bag to the floor so she would fit. "You had to teach me. Or did you forget that?"

"Impossible to forget since you keep reminding me," he said.

"I only keep reminding you because you need constant reassurance that you're actually a really good wizard," she said. "I don't want you to forget."

"Some people might think I was arrogant if I was aware of how good you're saying I am," Harry said.

Rory shrugged. "Sometimes, arrogance is deserved. I don't know anyone else who Voldemort has attempted to personally kill three times who came out the other side of it. That's got to mean something."

Maybe it did. Harry hoped it did.

"Wish it meant something with this thing specifically," Harry said.

"You'll get there," Rory said. "Can't be good at all the things all the time."

"Something about not judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree and all that," he replied. She chuckled. "Unless it's you, of course."

Rory's cheeks tinged pink, and she gave a little shrug.

The most important thing Harry had learned in these lessons was that he was still very much in love with Rory and no matter how many times he told himself that he would be content with them being friends, he was going to wake up every day and look at her every day and still be in love with her.

And now he was going to kiss her. He wouldn't let himself consider for a moment that this might go badly. He was going to just go with his gut and make himself believe that there could only be a positive outcome to this. There had to be.

He leaned into her and registered the slight shift of her body towards his, the tilt of her head upward towards his. Her fingers fidgeted against his on the desk. She closed some of the distance between them, their lips were almost touching.

The door opened. Pansy Parkinson stood there looking beyond amused.

"Against the rules to go sneaking around the castle snogging, you know," Pansy said.

"We weren't—." Rory started.

"Course you weren't. Heard you're both more in Ravenclaws the way I hear it," Pansy said. "Of course, that doesn't really explain what you're doing here then, does it?"

"No rules against having a chat," Rory said.

"Always turns to something illegal when the two of you are chatting doesn't it?" Pansy replied.

"If you're going to give us detention for absolutely no reason, then do it so we can get on with our lives," Rory said. She slid down from the desk and picked her bag up from the floor.

"What about 10 points from Gryffindor for being suspicious?" Pansy said.

"Prefects can't take house points," Harry said, getting his own bag.

Pansy pointed to the "I" badge on her chest.

"Inquisitorial Squad can though," Pansy said. She held the door open and stood there until Harry and Rory were in the corridor. She smiled at them. "Enjoy the rest of your night. Hope you don't get caught lurking around again. Other people might not be as nice as I am."

Pansy practically skipped off down the hall. Rory rolled her eyes.

"She's right," Harry said. "It could've been Malfoy."

Rory chuckled. "I guess so."

They both stood in silence, the moment before Pansy walked in hanging over their head. He didn't want to leave things like they were.

"Rory," he started, "before just now—."

"It's fine," Rory said quickly, not letting him get another word out. "Don't worry about it. I'm actually going to go to the library for a bit. I wanted to get a book Hermione recommended for Ancient Runes before bed."

"I could go with you," Harry offered.

"I would really prefer to go alone, actually. If you don't mind," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Rory walked away quickly, leaving Harry alone again. He was so frustrated with Pansy, but also with himself. If he wanted to fix things with Rory, he was going to have to do a lot more than just kiss her and hope for the best, not that he'd even gotten that far.

He got back to his room and flopped down on his bed.

"You alright?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine," Harry said.

"Tough lesson?" Ron asked.

"Something like that," Harry said. He rolled onto his side and his eyes landed on his bedside table. He sat up and pulled the drawer open. The bracelet he'd given Rory at the Yule Ball was there, but other things from Rory were there as well. He felt like an idiot all of a sudden. He knew exactly what he needed to do to talk to Rory. To end this horrible silence once and for all.


Rory was planning on getting the Ancient Runes book from the library after her lesson with Harry. She hadn't expected to get to the library and hide there until it closed to ensure that she would not run into Harry again before the night was over.

She could not believe he'd tried to kiss her. No, he hadn't tried. He was definitely going to kiss her. She was going to let him. She didn't know where her head was.

Rory was startled from her thought by a tap on the shoulder as she headed to the exit of the library. She turned and saw Stephen.

"Hey," she said. "Didn't see you."

"You seemed pretty distracted. Didn't want to bother you," he said. "You've been pretty hard to track down since the Minister's visit."

"Trying to stay out of trouble," Rory said. They stepped out of the library and she put her book in her bag.

"Can I walk with you a bit? I just wanted to chat about something," he said.

"Sure," she said.

They started up the stairs toward Gryffindor Tower. They were silent for a few minutes. Rory didn't egg Stephen on about what he wanted to say. She had some idea and was already dreading the way things were going to go.

"I thought I'd use that empty classroom to study last week, so no one would bother me," he said. "But I saw you and Harry go in there."

Rory stopped walking and looked over to him. "It's not what you think. I'm just tutoring him in potions. He was having remedial lessons with Snape, but then he set Snape off so he stopped them. I've been helping him. And Umbridge just assumes Harry and I are plotting to take over the school when we're in the same room together."

He tilted his head incredulously. "Is that all?"

Rory nodded. It was mostly true.

He still seemed unconvinced and shrugged.

"What is it?" she asked.

He reached out, his hand came out to rest on her shoulder. Her skin broke out into goosebumps and she swallowed dryly. "I like you, Rory. I know you know I like you."

Her stomach gave a lurch. There it was. She smiled at him, feeling uncertain. "I do know."

"But this isn't happening, is it?" he asked. "You and me? It's not going to happen." He was smiling at her.

"Stephen," she started.

"It's fine. I just want to be on the same page is all," he said. "I'm glad we're friends. I want us to be friends. I just thought… Maybe there was something here."

Rory frowned. "There was. I think you're great, and I really like you, Stephen, it's just—."

"I'm not Harry Potter am I?" he laughed.

"It didn't seem fair to even consider going out with you when I was still dealing with all that," Rory said.

"That's good of you," he said.

"Still," Rory started.

"Stop. I think you're funny and brilliant and beautiful. Of course, I'd like you. But I think I'll manage," he said. "As for you… Seems like you might still be dealing with all that."

It seemed like that was all Rory thought about most days. She'd got back to school thinking she was better off being alone for a while. Now all she was thinking about was Harry.

"Yeah, something like that," Rory said.

"I think Harry…" Stephen thought for a moment. "He still looks at you the same way he always has. Even when he was with Cho."

"Looks at me like what?" Rory asked.

Stephen shrugged. "Like no one else matters."

Rory felt herself blush. "You're talking awfully nice about Harry Potter for someone hoping I would go out with him a few minutes ago."

"I'm very good at managing my expectations," Stephen said. "Think you and Potter will work things out?"

Rory shrugged. "I haven't really been able to figure out where I want to land on that."

"I think that means you've already made a decision, but you're perhaps being a little too proud to act on it," Stephen said. "That's a problem all you Gryffindors seem to have. A bit too proud for your own good."

That wasn't the first time Rory had heard that comment and she doubted it would be the last.

"Anyway, don't think this means you're off the hook for helping Susan and Padma with Divination on Saturday. I think they only actually invited me along as a formality," Stephen said.

Rory nodded. "I'll be there."

"Excellent," he said. "Goodnight, Rory. Good luck."

She waved goodnight to Stephen and they went their separate ways. She was definitely going to need that luck.


To Rory's immense relief, Harry was pretending that whatever had almost happened in their Occlumency lesson hadn't happened and she was able to get through classes on Thursday without any trouble and she hardly talked to Harry. But Friday they had Defense Against the Dark Arts which meant that Rory would be sitting next to him for two hours. She hadn't been actively avoiding him like she was before Easter. Most of the time, they even had meals together. She spent all day also pretending nothing had happened.

But being in such close proximity to him for so long, had her head spinning. She wasn't paying attention to anything Umbridge was saying, which wasn't unusual, but Rory at least pretended to pay attention most of the time. Today though she could tell she was doing a poor job of it.

"Miss Lupin," Umbridge said as they were packing their things up at the end of the lesson. "When you come back on Monday, I do hope you'll do a better job at focusing on the information. Your lofty career aspirations will require you to dedicate some level of focus."

Rory nodded but rolled her eyes as soon as her back was turned. Umbridge being annoying aside, Rory was annoyed too. She couldn't tell anyone what had happened. Harry was supposed to have been with Snape and Rory was meant to be in the library. She couldn't tell Matilda or Neville about the Occlumency lessons.

Rory and Harry were both pretty certain that, without exception, everyone was going to tell them that this was a bad and dangerous idea. And no one was going to believe her if she told them that she was simply tutoring Harry and that was why they were sneaking around the castle without telling anyone. Stephen hadn't believed her when she'd told him before. Rory wouldn't have believed her either.

So Rory had no choice but to play the almost kiss on repeat in her head over and over again. Kicking herself for almost letting him, and being angry with Parkinson for interrupting them.

"You never did say what happened during your careers advice session," Harry said as they walked into the corridor.

"The short version is that I told her that I wanted to do her job, but to do it better and without being a racist bigot," Rory said.

Harry snorted, repressing a laugh.

"You told her she was racist?" he asked.

"What I said was that I was going to send her an owl every time I undid one of her racist and bigoted laws, as a thank you for inspiring my career choice," she said.

Harry openly laughed. "Wow. No wonder she gave you detention."

"Yeah. I'd basically decided that getting detention was worth it if I could tell her exactly what I thought about her," she said. "Might've held back if I'd known what the detention would be though."

Rory was still recovering from her evening in the closet. Thankfully, it was mostly nightmares and not the debilitating panic attacks she'd been having last summer. She wasn't sleeping well, but she was grateful she was sleeping at all this time.

"And you call yourself a seer," Harry teased. Rory smiled. He was probably the only one who was brave enough to make a joke of it. If she couldn't laugh about it, she'd cry after all.

"I learned my lesson at least. And think my dad will actually drop dead of a heart attack if I get into any more trouble this year," Rory said. "Thankfully too busy studying to get into trouble."

"Except with Pansy," Harry said. Rory felt her cheeks heat. So much for pretending that hadn't happened.

"Harry!" Ron called out from down the corridor.

Harry waved to him and then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

"I think this is yours, by the way," he said, putting into her hand.

Rory raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Harry flashed her a smile and then headed off after Ron.

"What are you two chatting about?" Matilda asked, coming up to her with Neville.

"Nothing. Careers advice," Rory said, shoving the piece of parchment in her pocket.

"Kind of wish Umbridge had sat in on mine, just for some spice," Matilda said. "Instead I had to listen to McGonagall tell me how disappointed she was that I didn't want to do anything with Charms. She said I'd have a real knack for it if I applied myself."

"She's right," Neville said.

"Yes, but I don't want to apply myself, Neville," Matilda said. "I want to tell other people what to do in low-stakes situations. That's all I've ever wanted."

"It wouldn't kill you to be the slightest bit ambitious," Rory said.

"Ambitious? What do I look like? A goddamn Slytherin?" Matilda said.

Rory went with her friends to the courtyard, opting to spend the afternoon sitting outside. It was getting to be beautiful outside now and after spending weeks couped up inside at Grimmauld Place and her flat, being in the sunshine was a treat. She spent the afternoon working with her friends, filling in parts of a star chart from memory for their astronomy class.

It wasn't until it was nearly dinner time that she went back to her dorm and remembered the piece of paper Harry had handed her. She fished it from her pocket and sat down on her bed.

She realized pretty quickly that it wasn't actually a piece of parchment, but a folding piece of cardstock. Harry's handwriting was scribbled on one side of it.

I didn't see an expiration date on this, so I hope it's still valid. My room. 6:15.

Rory was beyond confused until she unfolded the piece of card and saw a few doodles that had taken her what felt like hours to get just right and the nicest calligraphy she was able to master at the time.

A coupon, she'd made for Harry for their anniversary in November. She'd made several duplicates of most of the coupons, but only two of these.

Kiss and Make Up

He'd given her one after they had their argument at Grimmauld Place just before Christmas. When he'd given it to her, she'd said that she hoped he never needed to use the other, the one she held in her hand now.

"I think if that were true you wouldn't have made two of them," he said.

Because nothing was ever a coincidence when it came to Rory, especially where Harry was concerned.

"You going to change for dinner?" Matilda asked. She was standing in front of her dresser, pulling a t-shirt over her head.

"Actually, I'm kind of beat. Think you could just bring me back a sandwich or something? I think I'll have a lie down while it's quiet before I go to the library later," Rory said.

"Alright, but don't make me hunt you down to force you to eat," Matilda said. "I know you've been feeling like shit lately because of your detention with Umbridge, but you have to take care of yourself. I will report on you to your dad."

"I know," Rory said. Everyone was going to snitch to her dad if she started acting out of sorts again. Everyone had written to him about her detention with Umbridge. Even Harry. She was going to take care of herself or they were going to make her take care of herself.

Thankfully, Rory had every intention of making sure she found Matilda after dinner because wasn't actually going to have a nap before. She was going to talk to Harry Potter.