Hey everyone!

First, I'd just like to say sorry for the slow updates, and I will try to be more frequent.

Next, I'd like to point out a small inconsistency in this chapter. By this point in the Harry Potter novels, Moody (aka Barty Crouch Jr.) has taken the Marauder's Map from Harry. However, I'm pretending that hasn't happened for the sake of the story. Sorry if that confuses anyone.

Also, pls don't hesitate to message me - as always, any feedback is appreciated!

Enjoy! (●'◡'●)

I spun around, wand in hand on instinct.

Harry was standing there, looking at me in shock, a piece of parchment clutched tightly in his hand.

"Lean," he repeated. "What are you-"

"Merlin's beard Harry," I hissed, descending the stairs and rushing over to a still dazed Harry. "Never sneak up on me unless you want to face the consequences of the Furnunculus Curse."

Harry pointed at the one-eyed witch statue. "You—you know about the passageway to Honeydukes?"

Instead of answering his question, I simply cocked an eyebrow. "Do you?"

Harry's eyes fell briefly on the parchment in his hand. "Yeah, yeah I do."

"Is that why you're here?" I inquired. "To get to Hogsmeade?"

"Yes," he said, a little too quickly.

I crossed my arms, giving him a look. "On a Thursday night? Any particular reason?"

"Err... I always go on Thursdays. It's... um... less crowded?"

"That might've actually fooled me if you hadn't said it like a question."

Harry sighed reluctantly. "Fine. The truth is I was looking for you. I didn't see you in the common room and Hermione told me you weren't in your dorm, so I..." He glanced at the parchment in his hand, an action that didn't go unnoticed.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Nothing," Harry said hastily, trying to hide it behind his back.

"Accio parchment," I murmured without hesitation. I caught it easily, but when I opened it, nothing was written inside anywhere. "What is this?" I demanded.

"Like I said, nothing." He attempted to snatch it back, but I moved out of the way in time.

"I don't buy it," I said in annoyance. "This is not a normal piece of parchment – and you're going to tell me what it does."

Harry sighed and – much to my surprise – relented, drawing out his wand and tapping the parchment in my hands. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said.

The effect was instant. No sooner had he uttered those last words did lines start to form on what had appeared to be an ordinary piece of parchment.

"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers," I read aloud, "are proud to present the Marauder's Map. What's the Marauder's Map, Harry?"

"It's a map of Hogwarts," he explained. "It shows everything from secret passageways to—"

"That's us!" I suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the two dots with the names Harry Potter and Leaena Malfoy. I took a couple steps backwards, eyes glued to the map as the small dot with my name also moved backwards.

"This is ingenious!" I exclaimed in awe. "Whoever made it..."

"It was my dad," Harry said proudly. He pointed to the words at the top. "He was Prongs. Apparently, it was a nickname he had when he was in Hogwarts – that was when he and his friends created this map. Although at some point Filch must've found the the map as it was in his office when Fred and George discovered in their first year. It was them who gave it to me last year."

My excitement quickly faded at the mention of the Weasley twins' names. Looking back at the map, I quickly spotted Fred, George and Lee's names. They were moving in the secret passage I'd just come from, and were now seconds away from reaching the end...

"Hurry," I said, grabbing Harry's shirt and pulling him down a random corridor. I glanced back at the map as I ran, halting when I realised Filch had just turned down this same corridor. My heart sped up when I noticed the dots labelled Fred, George and Lee were coming towards us from the opposite direction.

I was trapped.

Looking around frantically, I almost fainted with relief when I noticed a half-open broom closet. Still gripping Harry's shirt, I climbed in, pulling Harry along with me and closing the door behind us.

"What—" Harry started to ask but I silenced him by shoving the map in his face and pointing to the dots. His eyes widened with curiosity but, much to my relief, he stayed silent.

We kept our eyes glued to the Marauder's Map as Filch, Fred, George and Lee's dots got closer and closer to our hiding place.

Fred, George and Lee were the first to reach our area. We didn't need the map to tell us that as we could quite clearly hear their conversation.

"Why would she even come this way?" Lee whined. "The Gryffindor common room is in the opposite direction."

"To throw us off her trail," Fred answered instantly.

"Or maybe, she's expecting you to go searching the castle for her so instead went back up to the common room," George suggested unhelpfully.

"I heard footsteps down here," Fred protested.

Lee groaned. "Just give up man!"

"I hate to say this, but Lee's right, Fred," George said. "We can't just wander the castle looking for her all night. Let's go to the common room and wait a bit. If she doesn't show up in the next few minutes or so, then we'll call it a night and go looking for her first thing in the morning. That'll probably be best anyway – it'll give her time to cool off."

"I guess," Fred murmured sadly. I watched as their three dots turned and headed back up the corridor, away from Filch who was nearing our hiding spot.

Once he had finally passed us, I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding in. Still, neither Harry nor I spoke until the caretaker had fully turned the corner, heading in the opposite direction as Fred, George and Lee.

"Okay, what was that about?" Harry demanded. "You were in Hogsmeade with Fred, George and Lee?"

"We went out to celebrate Fred and George's birthday," I said vaguely.

"That doesn't explain why you're now avoiding them."

"I never said it would," I snapped back.

Harry stared at me blankly for a long moment, before chuckling – much to my surprise.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What?"

"I miss this," Harry admitted. "You and me. Talking."

Of course I knew what he was getting at. How could I forget that all I've done for the past five weeks was go out of my way to avoid him despite the fact we shared all our classes together. Well, now that we were standing in a broom closet together, I'd say that whole avoiding thing was over. And frankly, I wasn't sure I wanted to keep it up anyway. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Harry..."

"You don't have to say anything," Harry said quickly.

"But I want to," I insisted. Harry said nothing so I continued. "I was embarrassed about what happened that day at the lake, so I reacted defensively, kicking you out of my life without a second thought. But some recent events taught me that some people have friends for... benefits of some sort. So when you meet someone who likes you for who you are and not the profits you can offer, that's not something you should throw away just because of one conversation."

My voice faded as I looked up at Harry who was staring at me as if I was some puzzle he had yet to figure out.

Suddenly, I was very aware of how close our bodies were to each other. So close, I could hear his heart beating. I swallowed nervously as Harry shuffled his feet closer to me, keeping his eyes locked with my own. Unconsciously, I leaned forward.

But then something in me snapped me out of whatever trance I'd fallen in and I jerked back instinctively. Harry jumped back too, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I-I don't know what – I'm sorry –" he mumbled.

"I want us to be friends again," I blurted out. "Like really do. Not just because it's easier than avoiding you. Please?"

Harry smiled warmly. "Of course Lean."

I returned his smile, then glanced around at the broom closet we were still in. "Um... maybe it's time we..."

"Great idea," Harry said, eagerly pushing open the door. In his hand was the Invisibility Cloak, which I had completely forgotten existed until now.

"We could've just hidden under that!" I groaned, feeling incredibly stupid. Although I felt a bit better when Harry told me the cloak probably wouldn't have reached as far as our toes.

We started walking in the direction of the common room, every few seconds glancing down at the map to make sure neither Filch nor any teachers/prefects were coming our way.

Fortunately, we managed to reach the Fat Lady's portrait without seeing or hearing anyone. Once inside, I was relieved to find the common room empty - Fred, George and Lee must've already gone to bed.

Harry immediately walked over to the staircase leading to his dorm but I hung back. When I first left the Three Broomsticks, all I'd wanted was to crawl under the covers of my warm, cosy bed. But now, I realised I wasn't in the least bit tired. And even if I did fall asleep, I'd just wake up and have to face confrontation yet again.

Noticing my hesitation, Harry paused at the foot of the stairs, looking back at me with an expression like he was torn between staying or going. In the end, he stepped backwards off the step and walked over to me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, of course," I lied. I turned my head to avoid eye contact, fearing he'd be able to see right through me. I was staring out the window.

It was cloudless night – the perfect night for an astronomy class. With the clouds gone, the stars seemed twice as bright as ever, illuminating the night sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I said to Harry who was now standing directly behind me, so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. "One day, I hope people can actually go be up there, instead of just studying planets in school."

"Muggles already have," Harry said. "The Americans have even landed astronauts on the moon."

"Astronauts?"

"People who travel in space."

"Wow..." was all I could say. "Imagine having a job like that? I mean, I don't see myself going out into space if given the choice, but I'd rather that then to be stuck behind a Ministry desk my whole life."

"Didn't you go to a politics program?" Harry asked.

"Not by choice," I said. "I'd rather be here at Hogwarts with you than any stupid politics program." Then, realising what I said, I felt myself blush so I hastened to say, "Here with you and Hermione, Ron and Neville. All of my friends."

"Not Fred?" Harry asked subtly.

I could feel his eyes piercing the side of my head. I simply shrugged. "Nah, I wouldn't stay for him."

"Okay," Harry said, dropping the subject, sensing I didn't want to talk about it, for which I was immensely grateful. "So, if you don't want to sit at a desk all day, what do you want to do?"

To be honest, I'd never really thought about what I wanted to do after Hogwarts. I guess, I just assumed my parents would force me into some boring but well paying job as soon as school finished. But as the end of my education grew nearer, I knew I couldn't let myself be pushed around by my parents. My future is my future, not theirs.

"I want to do something," I answered at last. "I don't know what yet, but I know I don't want to die without accomplishing something greater than myself. Does that make any sense?"

Harry smiled. "Yeah, yeah it does."

"So, how about you?" I said, turning from the window to face Harry. "What do you want to do after Hogwarts?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I thought of maybe becoming an Auror."

I smiled. "You'd be a great Auror, Harry. I mean, you did defeat one of the most powerful wizards as a baby - don't forget to put that on your resume."

Harry chuckled as I turned back to the window.

There was a moment of silence in which we both just stared out into the night sky. Then, Harry spoke. "I think I like you, Lean."

"I think I like you too, Harry," I grinned back. "You're a really good friend."

"No, I mean, I like you," Harry repeated, adding extra emphasis on the word 'like', which could only mean one thing.

"I have feelings for you, Lean," he added.