Author Notes: Let's go on with the fourth chapter! As always, all constructive criticism is appreciated and looked forward to


"Demelza, there's something… something I must tell you." Harry whispered into her ear. In response, Demelza merely nuzzles against his bony chest. She liked that touch so much.

"What is it?" She mumbled into his shirt, not even bothering to look up.

"I've told Ron and Hermione. It's time you know it too. I… I won't…"

Sensing danger, Demelza's head sprung up to face Harry's stuttering face. "What is it, Harry?" She asked, her voice buttered with anxiety.

"I won't be returning to Hogwarts next year."

Demelza's protest stopped dead in her lips as her mind went on to ask a thousand questions. It was on the verge of exploding into a billain fragments when Demelza asked, "Why?"

"I've got… work to do."

"What work?" She demanded, sitting up on the seat. Ron and Hermione were leaning against each other opposite them, deep in blissful slumber. To her right, Luna Lovegood was eyeing the pair of them with mild interest with her protuberant eyes, while further up, Neville Longbottom was snoring loudly like a fat undersized elephant.

"I can't tell you." Harry stammered. "Please?" He moaned.

Demelza couldn't say she wasn't hurt when she said, "You can tell about it to Ron and Hermione, but not me!" The recent memory of Harry breaking up with her for his supposedly 'saving people' thing, as Hermione had put it, still stung like venom in her chest. She hadn't fully forgiven him for that.

"It's not like that."

"It's exactly like that." Demelza shrieked. All three of Ron, Hermione and Neville jerked in their sleep, but Demelza didn't care. For a blessed span of a few weeks, Demelza had dared to believe Harry trusted her. But all of that were reduced to a heap of ashes in a single second.

"It's some… task Dumbledore has told me to do." Harry said lamely, trying his level best to silence her before the others woke up to create an embarrassing scenario for both of them.

Demelza's anger ebbed a bit, but not enough for her to just shut up and return back to sleep with Harry as her pillow. She crossed her arms and huffed. "What task?"

"Again, Dumbledore has forbidden me from saying anything to anyone." Harry gave a sad little smile.

Demelza still couldn't believe Harry didn't trust her. "But that did not stop you from telling Ron and Hermione."

"They won't be returning either. They will join me on this… this… kind of a… mission. That's why I told them."

But then, a brilliant idea struck Demelza, which made her excited enough to smile in glee. "Then, I am going with you too."

"What?" Harry eyes turned wide in horror. "No way!" He said, shaking his head.

"But why?" Demelza asked in a hollow voice, gently placing her hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I can't risk your life."

"Oh no! Not again Harry."

"It's risky!"

"Do you think I would want to live after the news of your death?" Demelza countered with a determined pair of eyes.

"I am flattered." He said, trying to inject a dose of humour into the proceedings, but Demelza knew better: it was a technique he often used to wriggle out of uncomfortable situations. She had seen Harry use it frequently against Hermione. Well, he wasn't going to escape this time.

"Your humour won't have your back this time, Harry." Demelza smirked. "Now tell me, what's this all about."

"Please, Demelza." Harry moaned. "Just spare me for this once."

"Fine." She huffed, standing up on her feet. Tears were prickling her eyelids, and her voice was choked when she said, "You don't have to bother with me anymore. I will just walk off."

Harry too stood, his eyes displaying the purest horror. "Demelza-"

Demelza didn't want to give him any more chances. She didn't want to hear his soft ethereal voice console her, push those tears back into her eyes and make her love this boy once again. No, she preferred to walk off from his now before falling in love so much that it became excruciating painful.

Sliding open the compartment door, she exited, turned back to close it. The last thing she saw was Harry running behind her, Ron rubbing his eyes with his hands like a two-year child, and Hermione in a state of utter ruins mentally, trying to comprehend what the matter was. Well, the matter was: Demelza was hurt.

Demelza barely heard the compartments echoing with laughter and mirth on both sides as she slowly continued on her way to… wait! Where was she going? She spun around to see if Harry was following her, but it broke her heart to see the entire passageway behind her completely empty. Harry didn't really care about her!

Turning back, Demelza came face to face with Sue Mary, a nasty girl, one year ahead of her. The only pieces of infortmation Demelza could recallabout her were that she was a big fat bully and that she was friends with Ginny Weasley.

If it weren't for the utterly broken state of her heart, Demelza would have found it surprising and a little frightening to find her here at this moment. Even more confusing was the fact that Mary had an unpleasant smug on her face – the kind of expression often seen when she was eyeing her next target.

"Oh ho!" Mary yelled in glee. "Ginny! Come on. Someone wants to pay you a visit."

Demelza's insides churned with horror, but before she could run back or even open her mouth in defense, the door of the compartment on their right slid open with a horrible creak, and Ginny Weasley came into view.

"Who is it, Sue?" She asked, confronting Mary so that her back was towards Demelza. She hadn't even seen her yet. Perhaps, it was an opportunity for Demelza to just slip away.

The nasty smirk on Mary's punk face widened, further frightening the wits out of Demelza. "Just turn around and find out for yourself."

Ginny spun about like a top to face her. "Who is it… oh my God! Is it Robins?"

"Well guessed!" Mary complimented. "It seems poor little Robins has just tasted the bitterness of reality. Isn't it, Robins?"

Those words confirmed Demelza's suspicion that tears were indeed lingering on her face. She quickly rubbed them off by the back of her palm, but the damage was done. Ginny glared down at her, kind of like Professor McGonagall.

"I knew this was coming." Ginny said in an even tone, but Demelza could sense the slightest tinge of glee in her voice. "But I can't really blame you. You were never really good enough."

"What do you mean?" Demelza shrieked. In any other moment, she would have thought of the entire situation as terrifying enough to remain silent, but the Gryffindor Lion inside her was roaring aloud, urging her on to take on these two girls – who were not only older than her but also much more popular.

Both Ginny and Mary were quite surprised to find Demelza Robins standing her ground, if their raised eyebrows on their faces were any indication.

Mary recovered from her shock earlier. "I think you know what we mean all too well, Robins."

"Speak for yourself, Sue. I don't want to get involved in all this." Ginny muttered grumpily to her friend. But Mary didn't seem to have heard it, or even if she did, she chose to ignore it.

"You aren't good-looking, you aren't popular. Your grades are poor." Mary ranted on, counting her fingers. Blood boiling in her veins, Demelza tried to glare her down, but it proved futile in silencing her. "I really wonder what Harry sees in you."

You are cute and sweet and I like the idea of snogging you so much! Harry's words rung in her ears, as if someone was shouting them right into her ears with a loudspeaker.

"You aren't even good at Quidditch. Don't argue!" Mary said, pointing a finger threateningly at her. "Contrary to what everyone believes, we won that match because of Ginny, not because of you!" She sneered.

Demelza couldn't believe her ears. After scoring thirty goals – a staggering two-thirds of the entire score their team had ended with, this was what she was deserved to hear?

"I think you are an idiot." Demelza said through clenched teeth. But she regretted saying that the very next moment, when she found herself on the receiving end of Mary's wand. Her eyes were bloodshot and filled with the direst cruelty, while the smirk on her face had swiftly dissolved into thin air to be replaced by a sadist smile.

"Another word, Robins." She whispered, slowly and dangerously. "And I will make you regret you ever coming to Hogwarts."

Demelza didn't know what she should do. As much as she wanted to argue back, the tension in the air was escalating rapidly.

"Sorry, I will just walk off." She squeaked out, finally deciding that getting into a fight won't be her cup of tea. It wasn't something to be ashamed of, she had years of experience of scampering back like a frightened mouse when confronted by more powerful adversaries.

Mary, it seemed, was in no mood of letting her go away so easily. "Not so soon, Robins." The same unpleasant smirk crept back to her face. "The Cruciatus Curse ought show you your place – is in the dirt."

Ginny tilted her face to regard her friend with utmost bemusement. "Leave it, Mary! She isn't worth the trouble." Ginny tried cooling down things, but sadly, it didn't seem to work. The horrible smirk on Mary's face widened to much that it made Demelza wonder if the smirk would just rip open her jaws. She would certainly like that.

"Ready Robins? One two thr-"

"LOWER YOUR WAND, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!" A loud voice bellowed from behind. Demelza spun around to see, to her delight, it was Harry. But what was that in his beautiful green eyes? They were filled with something Demelza couldn't have believed in her wildest dreams: Harry's eyes were overflowing with the purest shade of hatred and contempt.

"I- I-" Mary stuttered behind her. Demelza turned around to face the bully when Ginny spoke up. "Harry, I had nothing to do with any of this."

Harry seemed incredulous. "You bloody well had everything to do with this, Ginny! You didn't stop her trying to curse Demelza, did you?"

"Harry…" Demelza leaned forward to whisper into his ear. "She was trying to save me."

Harry's head briskly turned around to regard her. "Really?" He asked in a completely difference, somewhat surprised voice.

Demelza nodded.

Harry now turned to face Ginny with some degree of embarrassment. "I am sorry, Ginny." He said in a hollow voice.

Ginny had her arms crossed. "Apology accepted." Without waiting any further, she grabbed hold of Mary's shoulders and pulled her back into the compartment.

Looking around, Demelza saw quite a crowd had gathered around them to witness the scene. She could tell Harry was finding it something annoying to deal with; but she couldn't help it, could she?

"Look at that, an Ice Brownie!" A misty voice shrieked. All heads turned towards one direction. Demelza herself was among one of the people who found herself looking at empty air – hardly looking like something remotely close to Ice Brownie, though she hadn't heard of that either. However, a strong grip on her wrist stole her attention, but before she could protest, she found herself being dragged along by Harry. Ahead of them, the Luna girl was standing, a wide smile adorning her face.

Reaching her, Demelza saw Harry's face too break into a grin. "Thanks Luna."

Luna's smile, if possible, widened even more on hearing this. "You are welcome, Harry."

"I take it that you didn't understand what happened there?" Harry turned to Demelza with some amusement in his voice. Demelze merely shook her head.

"I told them of an imaginary creature. It's natural human reaction to look at where I was pointing." Luna explained. "So you see? All those people glancing back gave you and Harry time to run off and escape."

Harry, whose smile had been growing broader and broader with every word Luna was uttering, now said, "To put it simply, Luna helped us escape."

It took Demelza a few moments to process all that information. By the end of it, she finally realized exactly why Harry was so fond of this supposedly loony girl.

"Thanks Luna." Demelza smiled, and she meant it.

"You are welcome." The other girl offered.


"Why can't I go with you, Harry?" Demelza confronted Harry once more when they had landed on Platform nine and three-quarters. Harry had been content enough to wave Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna goodbye before walking through the barrier to the Muggle side, where the Dudleys were inarguably waiting for him. Though the topic was never discussed in the house, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had made it very clear through their attitude that having a girlfriend wasn't something they would accept with a smile – Harry had told her.

"Because it's dangerous. And I won't be able to forgive myself if something happens to you." Harry explained gently.

"Do you think I will forgive myself for not accompanying you if something happens to you." Demelza countered.

"I will write to you." Harry tried to entice her, as if hoping that would shut her up. Was she wasn't a two-year old child who could be silenced by a toffee? Demelza remarked to herself. "Everyday."

"I still don't want to go to Hogwarts without you." She pouted. "It won't be any fun."

"You have OWLS next year. Better prepare for that instead of planning to have fun." Harry scolded.

"Says the boy who ran an underground Duelling Class during his OWL Year." Demelza retorted.

"That was different." Harry said impatiently. "I needed to make sure everyone was learning defense – real defense. What Umbridge was teaching us was utter Ministry crap."

Demelza knew she could do no further: Harry's mind was bent on this mission.

"Well, then. Good luck, Harry!" She said with a sad smile.

Harry, on the other hand, seemed confused by her gesture.

"What?" Demelza frowned.

"Nothing." Harry murmured into his sleeve. Then, he looked up to face her with a brilliant smile shining on his face. "Well, I thought you would kiss me good luck."

Demelza smiled, leaned towards him with her eyes closed, and most happily complied.

"Let's go now." Harry said after they broke off. Hand in hand, they slowly walked towards the barrier. But upon reaching it, Harry stopped dead in his tracks. To add up to her confusion, he briskly broke free of her hand and turned to her.

"Remember one thing. Once we are onto the other side, we are strangers. Don't talk to me unless it's something absolutely important."

Demelza nodded. She was going to miss Harry so much. She knew she would.

She made a silent prayer to God to keep Harry - her Harry – safe.


There are a few important things I wish to say.

Firstly, I won't be able to update next week as I am going out on a holiday. Hopefully, that would spark some good ideas within me for the continuation of this story. So yeah, sorry for that. Kindly bear with me.

Secondly, there was something important I wished to ask of you, my dear readers. Is this perfectly normal to not get reviews on your stories for the first few months? Because I hardly get any.

Is this because the story's not good? Is there something wrong with the writing? You can tell me about it without any qualms. I may write stories, but I am still learning. Each and every second of writing, I learn something new. Do tell me what's wrong. I really really need reviews. They motivate me so so much. In their absence, there are times when I honestly feel like giving up on this story. It's so depressing.

I won't torture you with my ranting anymore. So thanks for reading. See you after two weeks!

And I do promise one thing: the next chapter would be a brilliant one. I have some raw plans in mind. Stay in touch. Take care!