Another Christmas came and went, featuring another ball, and another chance for the Dark Lord to swan himself in front of the upper classes of the pureblood world. I still had not been introduced to Voldemort, mostly because I made sure to make myself inconspicuous whenever he entered the room. It was a situation I hoped to continue for as long as possible.

Being thirteen, Cissy was finally granted her wish of attending the ball with us. She looked as flawless as a china doll in her pale blue robes, her hair up in an elaborate twisted bun that I knew had taken her close to two hours to get right. Despite her young age she drew the admiring eye of nearly every boy present, and the envious looks of women more than twice her age.

Bella too drew attention, but of a very different kind. She shadowed Voldemort's steps, and whereas before he might have ignored her in the way a parent ignored a troublesome child, now I could see his eyes constantly returning to her, calculating and considered. I watched the way he began to include her in his conversation, watched the way Bella's eyes shone so bright in response to this attention that it looked as though she had been lit up from within. I knew she was enraptured with this mysterious, powerful man who promised so much with his silky voice and predatory grace. She was like a moth drawn to a flame, and I worried for her. When Voldemort finally left, my sister slipped outside with Rodolphus, and I did not see her return.

I danced with Leo, with Rabastan (once, and only at my mother's insistence), with Andreas Yaxley and with my cousin Marcus Rosier. The rest of the time I spent with Annabelle, who was shooting longing looks across the room at Will Selwyn to no avail. The night was drawing to a close with nothing more exciting occurring than my uncle Alphard transfiguring the mantelpiece into a pig and back again, when Annabelle suddenly poked me hard in the ribs.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Her smile was gleeful. "Leo's coming over," she whispered in my ear, and I froze, my heart starting up a staccato rhythm so loud I thought it must have been audible over the music.

Leo stopped about a foot away from me. He had grown since the summer, though he still possessed the same casual elegance I had always associated with him. Looking up at him now, I was glad I had accepted Bella's offer of heels.

"Hello Andromeda," he said in that strange formal voice he always seemed to save for occasions such as these. "Could I talk to you for a moment? In private?"

I resisted the urge to glance at Annabelle, knowing the expression on her face might cause me to lose whatever nerves I had left. I nodded and we began to walk, passing the adults that milled around the edge of the dance floor. I felt my parents' eyes on me, but didn't look their way. In fact I didn't look anywhere but straight ahead until we had left the ballroom behind and were standing in the blissful quiet of the entrance hall.

We stood awkwardly for a moment. "Perhaps…" my voice sounded strange, almost high-pitched. I swallowed. "Perhaps we could take a walk in the gardens?"

"That would be nice," said Leo, so I led him in that direction, passing out into the dark of the night and trying not to shiver at the cold wind against my bare skin.

We walked a little way along the garden path, neither of us speaking. When we had gone some distance from the manor, Leo stopped abruptly.

"This is nice," he said, gesturing to the old oak tree that stretched over us, its thick branches blocking out most of the light from the manor's windows.

I nodded, my teeth chattering slightly. Leo frowned.

"Are you cold?" he asked. When I nodded he shrugged off his coat and put it around me. Warmth seeped into my skin.

"Thanks," I said.

"That's okay."

We stood close together. I could only just make out his face in the dim light. He looked very determined, and so serious I began to get a little bit worried.

"Leo?"

"Yes?"

I looked around us, as though checking we were still alone, though I knew we would be. I didn't think anyone else would be wandering around outside on such a cold night. "Did you… um, want to talk to me about something?"

In the shadowy light I saw him square his jaw. "Yes," he said, stepping forward so that the space between us evaporated. I felt suddenly very warm, despite the chill. "Andy, I wanted to say… that I… admire you."

It was a rather anticlimactic declaration. I wasn't sure that was quite how this scene was supposed to go. But Leo looked earnest enough. And I had listened to Bella and read enough books to know what came next.

"I... admire you too," I whispered softly. He leant closer, and my eyelids fluttered shut in expectation.

I heard Leo exhale, and a moment later I felt the pressure of his lips to mine.

There were no fireworks. Just an odd tingling in my lips, and a lurch in the pit of my stomach. Leo's lips were warm against mine. We held that position for a moment before pulling away. I could not see in the darkness whether he was blushing or not, but I thought he must be. My own face was burning as though it had been thrust straight into an oven.

"Shall we… shall we go back to the party?" Leo asked.

Secretly I would have rather stayed under the tree and kissed him some more, but I wasn't about to admit that. Leo took my hand as we walked back the way we had come, and he held it like that all the way back into the ballroom. Once there, he maintained the contact just long enough that everyone in the hall could see it for themselves, then released me. It had been a calculated move, but I didn't really mind. In the world of our parents everything was pre-planned, and I had no doubt this had been too. That wasn't mine or Leo's fault. It was just a fact of life.

"I think my parents are preparing to leave," Leo said, jerking me back to the present. In the light of the room I thought he looked rather pale. "Goodnight Andy."

He left me standing in the centre of the room. I did not have to wait long before Annabelle ambushed me, taking the hand Leo had just relinquished and dragging me off to a more private corner to talk.

"So?" she demanded at once. "What happened?"

I sighed. All at once I felt exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to be alone in my room. "I don't know. We talked. He… we kissed. And then, we came back here."

Annabelle's ecstatic expression did not seem to match the rather mundane report I had just given her. "So you're an item now?" she asked breathlessly.

I shrugged. She seemed to take this as confirmation, and gave me a bone-crunching hug. "Oh Andy, that's so wonderful. Your parents will be so pleased."

I tried to smile, but the motion felt strained. I did not want to think of my parents just then.

Bella was the one person I would have liked to confide in, as she was the only one I could talk to about boys without being mortified. But Bella was nowhere to be found, and she was not in her room when I retired for the night. I curled up on her bed, determined to wait for her return, but it had been a long day and before long my eyelids were drooping.

I woke with a start to the muffled sounds of someone climbing through the bedroom window. It was pitch black, and a spike of irrational fear shot through me as I lurched for my wand, casting a lighting charm with fumbling fingers.

The figure at the window froze, and I caught a glimpse of wild black hair and dark eyes that were wide with alarm, before I realised it was my sister. Memory of the night's events rushed back to me, and I slumped against the headboard, waiting for my heartbeat to return to normal.

"Andy?" my sister's voice held a tremor, and I wondered if I had scared her as much as she had me. "What are you doing here?"

I glanced tiredly at the clock, and saw that it was half-past four in the morning. "If mother knew you were sneaking off until dawn, she'd be so mad," I mumbled.

Bella strode over to the wardrobe and yanked it open. "Don't be such a bore," she said, sounding more like herself. She began to wriggle out of her robes. At sixteen she had the body of a young woman, all curves and hollows and milk-pale skin. Above her red lace brassiere, the tops of her breasts swelled generously. I wondered when she had become so grown up.

"Were you with Rodolphus?" I asked.

She gave me a look that clearly said: Don't ask questions you already know the answer to, as she slid into her nightgown.

"You're lucky the House Elves don't check on us anymore."

"Did you come here just to lecture me?" she demanded. Picking up a hairbrush from her dresser, she came to sit on the bed, nudging me to the side with her hips. "Or was there another reason you slept in my bed last night?"

As usual she had a way of cutting straight through my defences. I stared at my hands, wondering if I was making a big deal out of nothing. Several hours of groggy sleep later, I was not even sure how much of my memory was real, and how much the concoction of my over-active imagination.

"Leo Avery kissed me tonight."

I heard Bella's sharp intake of breath. A second later she grasped my chin and turned my head so that she could peer into my face, so intently I felt as though she was trying to see into my soul.

"Bella…"

"Where?"

I frowned. "On the lips."

"No," she said impatiently. "I mean where did he kiss you? In front of our parents? In your room?"

"Oh," I blushed. "Um, we walked into the garden and, um, under that old oak tree – "

"Did you enjoy it?"

I tried to shrug, but it was difficult when Bella held my jaw in a vice-like grip. "I guess so…"

"And what happened then?"

"We walked back inside. He held my hand and we said goodnight."

"He held your hand in front of everybody?"

"Yes."

Bella hesitated, before releasing my face. I resisted the urge to rub my chin, which had gone slightly numb. I waited for her to speak, but she began to brush her hair in silence, wincing every time she hit a snag. After a moment of watching her struggle I reached out and took the brush from her hands. I had always been better at combing Bella's hair. She was too rough, too impatient…

"You haven't said anything," I commented after more than five minutes of silence had gone by. I could see Bella's reflection in the full-length mirror on the other side of her room. She looked very intense. "Are you angry?"

"Why should I be angry?" she asked in an eerily calm voice, that told me she was anything but.

I decided to try a different tact. "Do you like Leo Avery?"

Her lip curled. "He is… acceptable." She must have seen my face fall in the mirror because her next words were rushed. "His family is well respected, and pure. His mother was a Parkinson. What's not to like?"

"Well it's just…" I ran a hand over her sleek curls. They still held the chill of the night in them, against my bed-warmed fingers. "You seem rather… angry, every time I mention him."

Bella was on her knees and twisted to face me before I could blink. She drew me into a quick, fierce embrace. "Oh Andy, I'm sorry," she said, and I was stunned to hear raw emotion in her voice. It struck me then just how long it had been since Bella and I had had a true heart to heart. She hardly ever confided in me anymore, and I had not realised how much that hurt until just then. "I don't want to lose you, not to anyone!" She held me at arm's length and I saw that her eyes were bright with tears. "You're the only one who really understands me. I won't let them take you!"

All of a sudden I was frightened. Bella's expression had gone past passionate; it was manic. Her fingers dug into my shoulders so tightly I knew I would have bruises. Her voice shook and two fat tears spilled out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. I thought this was all rather an overreaction for a kiss that had lasted less than ten seconds.

"Bella," I attempted in a calm voice. "I'm not going anywhere. Leo's not… he's not taking me anywhere."

She was breathing heavily, and I wondered if she even heard me. Slowly the frantic, maddened glow dimmed from her eyes, until she was simply staring at me.

"Of course he's not," she said in a passive voice, completely at odds with her previous speech. She detached herself from me and sat with her back turned, waiting for me to continue brushing her hair. "As long as you like him, Andy, that's all that matters."

I should have been relieved by her reasonable words, but I was not sure I believed them. The memory of her hands digging into my flesh, and her eyes wide and frantic and almost wild, was all too fresh for me to simply brush them aside. I watched my sister's expression in the mirror, but it stayed calm, like a milk pond, for the rest of the night. I thought that was deceiving though. Below that tranquil surface lay a raging torrent, a tempestuous flood of passion and anger that I was not sure I knew how to handle anymore.

News of mine and Leo's hand holding travelled fast, and by the time we returned to school it was well accepted that we were a couple. This did not particularly bother me. Leo was considered a catch, and I had no problem with people believing we were together. Inwardly, though, I felt a twinge of guilt every time I thought about it. Besides holding my hand as we walked through the corridors, and the occasional peck on the cheek in the morning at breakfast or before bed, Leo did not display what I would have considered the necessary characteristics for me to describe him as my boyfriend. We had not kissed on the lips since the night of my parents' ball, and we spent barely any time alone together. I spent plenty of time sitting beside him in the common room, but we were always surrounded by other people and talking was limited to what was necessary. We did not share any secrets, or confide in each other; indeed, I felt I hardly knew anything more about Leo Avery than I had at the start of the year, or in fact the year before that.

One of the rituals of a new couple at Hogwarts was their first Hogsmeade trip together. This pressure was increased tenfold by the fact that the first Hogsmeade date after Christmas just so happened to fall on Valentine's Day. Strictly speaking this was a Muggle tradition that we purebloods eschewed, but in reality it was a school-wide event that was impossible to miss unless you lived under a rock, and even then you might find it difficult. I was dreading the attention and was rather glad when Leo asked me, rather abashedly, if I would mind him skipping Hogsmeade for Quidditch training.

"We've got Ravenclaw next week," he told me as we walked across the ground to Herbology together. "If we beat them we go top of the table. Bletchley wants me to practise, and there's really only this weekend to do it."

He sounded so anxious that I almost felt bad for him. "It's alright," I said quickly. "I know how important Quidditch is to you." And to me, I added silently. In my mind I could still hear Professor Dumbledore telling me, Slytherin will have a good team this year… but not, I believe, good enough to win the Cup. I think that particular honour will go to Hufflepuff. Damned if I was going to let that come true.

"Are you sure?" Leo was walking sideways so that he could stare into my face, his eyes searching my expression for some hidden offence. I didn't think he would find any. Truthfully I was rather glad; the last thing I wanted was to walk around Hogsmeade all day being stared at and whispered about. At least this way I could do what I wanted and nobody would pay any attention to me.

"Of course," I said with a smile. "I hope you smash Ravenclaw. Anything to help the team, right?"

He grinned broadly and kissed my cheek. "Thanks Andy, you're the greatest."

Nobody else seemed to share my casual attitude. Bella was outraged. She stormed into my dormitory the morning after my talk with Leo, her expression furious.

"Get out," she ordered Phylissa and Helena, who were preening themselves in front of the mirror. They scampered for the door at once, and she rounded on me. "Is it true?" she demanded.

I made a show of yawning. "Is what true?"

"Don't act thick Andy," she glared. "Is it true that Leo's not taking you to Hogsmeade?"

"He has Quidditch practise."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "Does he just?" Her voice was so threatening that I felt immediate intervention was required.

"Bella," I began in a warning tone, getting to my feet. "Don't you dare do anything to him."

"He can't brush you off like that!" she burst out in a tone of outrage. "Who does he think he is? I won't let him Andy, I'll – "

"For Salazar's sake Bella, it's just Hogsmeade," I responded, my own voice rising in exasperation. "It has absolutely no importance in the scheme of things."

"That's not the point," she argued. "It's about respecting you – "

"He is respecting me," I interrupted. "He asked me if it would be alright, and I said yes."

"If he wants the privilege of being your boyfriend then he has to act like it – "

"I think I'll decide how my boyfriend has to act thanks – "

"And that doesn't include just tossing you whenever he gets an itch for a broomstick – "

"Quidditch is important, do you want to see Ravenclaw beat– "

"Just because his dad's big in the Ministry doesn't mean he can treat you like this – "

"I'm perfectly fine with –"

"Time he learnt how lucky he is to even be in your – "

"Bella!"

"What are we fighting about?" asked a third voice, and we both whirled to see Cissy standing in the doorway, an amused glint in her blue eyes. "Actually don't answer that," she continued, letting herself in. "We're arguing about Leo, right? And his preference for Quidditch over Hogsmeade with Andy."

I scowled at my little sister. "Do the walls have ears or something?" I demanded.

Narcissa arched an eyebrow at me. "It's called shouting, Andy."

Bella was still huffing. "You could do better," she told me. "You could have any pureblood boy you wanted. If Leo doesn't have time for you perhaps someone else will."

I didn't think much of that suggestion. "But I like Leo," I insisted, maintaining eye contact with my sister to try and hammer the point home. "I like the fact that he doesn't think Hogsmeade is a big deal. It's a sign of a healthy relationship when both parties are comfortable enough to be themselves."

Bella rolled her eyes. "You're so lame," she said, but the storm of her anger seemed to have passed.

"Isn't she?" agreed Narcissa, checking her reflection in the mirror. "Here she is with a steady boyfriend finally and she'd rather he ride a broomstick than spend time with her. How tedious!"

"Maybe you should show me how it's done, Cissy," I threw back at her.

"Maybe I should," she smirked.

"You'd have to get a date first."

"Well now that you mention it," she said, her grin widening as she turned to face us. "I'm going with Lucius Malfoy."

"WHAT!?"

But she had scampered out of the room before Bella could sink her teeth into her, and I was too busy laughing.

I went to Hogsmeade with Annabelle. We passed a fun but uneventful day at the shack up on the hill, before heading to Honeydukes and stuffing our pockets full of licorice wands, chocolate frogs, and my personal favourite, black pepper imps. We went to the Three Broomsticks for a warm drink and to get out of the cold, and saw Narcissa sipping butterbeer with Lucius. I did not think it was particularly appropriate for my thirteen year old sister to be spending all that time alone with a boy, but after all of Bella's hassling about Leo I would have felt like a hypocrite to make an issue out of it. Rabastan and Helena were there too, though I thought both of them looked miserable, and I couldn't help but smirk at the way Rabastan kept scowling out of the window at passersby. I thought the two of them probably deserved one another.

In the far corner, half tucked away behind a wilting fern, I spied Ted Tonks and Emily Howard, looking rather cosy for a pair that were supposedly not dating. I rolled my eyes and turned away. What did I care what a Mudblood and a Half-blood got up to on the weekend? Nothing, of course.

In the end Ravenclaw defeated Slytherin, although Leo caught the snitch and reduced what would have been a humiliating margin into something resembling a respectable score. It was not much consolation, and the Slytherin common room was glum and morose after the defeat. It guaranteed we could not win the Cup, marking the third year in a row that we had been bested. The fact that Ravenclaw had been bottom of the ladder prior to the game only added insult to injury. Personally I felt it was karma for Rabastan being on the team. He had dropped the Quaffle half a dozen times and missed three blatant shots on goal. He was not smiling tonight, I noted, and neither Phylissa nor Helena were hanging off his arm anymore.

Wanting to escape the stifling atmosphere of the common room, but not yet ready to retire to my bed, I left the dungeons on my own, slipping out when no one was paying much attention. My initial plan was to go to the library, but halfway along the third floor I changed my mind, and walked straight past the entrance instead. I had no particular destination in mind, simply enjoying the freedom of walking along the empty corridors, the silence unbroken save for the slight rattling of the castle windows in the wind and the odd creak from a suit of armour…

I stopped, suddenly, at the end of the corridor, as voices filtered through the silence towards me. A boy and a girl, by the sounds of it. After the initial surprise I was about to keep walking, not particularly interested in eavesdropping; that was, until I stepped closer and recognised the boy's voice.

"…should go back."

It was Ted Tonks. I froze where I was, halfway around the corner. The voices were coming from inside one of the rooms ahead. Doing a quick count of the doorways, I thought it might have been the Trophy Room.

"No, let's stay."

I scrunched up my nose. That was Emily Howard, the same Hufflepuff girl who had called me a bitch and then tried to apologise for it in the girl's bathroom. Now I really did want to move. The last thing I needed was to overhear any of their night-time activities. But I could not decide whether to go forward or back, and in the meantime the two of them kept talking.

"We're missing the party," said Tonks.

"Who cares? It's nicer up here. Ha, look at this one Ted – Cygnus Black the Third, Head Boy, 1938. Can you believe it? Who would make that freak Head Boy?"

I felt myself scowl fiercely, and my hatred of the Howard girl exploded to new heights in my chest. My hands curled into fists inside the pockets of my robe.

"You didn't know him," said Ted mildly. "Maybe he was alright."

Emily scoffed. "As if! This is the man that gave us Bellatrix Black, Ted. If he's alright then Voldemort must be a great chap too."

"Keep your voice down."

"Why?"

"I thought I heard something."

I was shaking. Literally, shaking. I didn't think I had ever been so angry in my entire life. As quietly as I could I slunk back the way I had come, my vision almost blinded by rage, my feet padding silently on the smooth floor. I didn't stop until I had reached the common room. My face must have looked like murder, because nobody approached me and even Bella looked a little apprehensive as she asked "What's wrong Andy?" I shook my head and stalked into my room, drawing the hangings closed around my bed.

People often make the mistake of assuming that because I turned out differently to my sisters we must have had nothing in common at all. The reality is that I was and still am a Black, for all I chose a different path. Those who truly understand my character would not be surprised to learn that the day after my night time prowl Emily Howard had a rather unfortunate accident with her bag, a bottle of super-stain ink, and an entire tub of non-removable slime. I knew I had visited Zonko's for a reason.

Fourth year was passing in a blur. I woke one morning to find the sun shining hotly, my exams only a week away, and a letter from my parents announcing they had secured us all box-seats at the Quidditch World Cup Final, to be hosted in Britain that summer. After that the holidays could not come quickly enough. And at last there was something Leo and I could truly relate to; our conversations flowed more freely as we discussed the strongest teams, potential wildcards, and which players from which countries would cause the most damage.

"I think Spain are a real chance," I said, not for the first time, as we lay under the shade of a beech tree near the lake and pretended that we were doing something productive towards studying for our exams. Our conversation had veered from tickling charms to Quidditch within five minutes of sitting down, but I didn't really mind.

Leo shook his head. "Nah," he said. "They'll bomb out, just like last time. They always look good against the bad teams. But put them up against Romania or Australia and they won't stand a chance."

"What about Mexès?" I asked. Alberto Mexès was widely acknowledged to be the best Chaser in the world.

"Takes more than one player to win a game of Quidditch," said Leo with a frown. I thought after his brilliant, unrewarded performance against Ravenclaw, that he might be speaking from personal experience.

I lay back against the grass, abandoning all pretence of studying. Leo and I were sitting close together, but not touching. I had wondered if he might take my hand or some other romantic gesture, since we were all alone and it was that sort of day. But so far he had done nothing but pull at blades of grass. I sighed.

There was a peal of laughter from nearby. Lifting my head, I saw a crowd of students around the lake's edge, their shoes off as they splashed in the water to cool down. They were some distance from us, but I recognised the blonde head of Ted Tonks as well as the tall figure of Frank Longbottom. I rolled my eyes and flipped onto my stomach, closer to Leo.

"Do you think Australia could go all the way?"

"Depends on whether Royston Idlewind can stay fit or not," he answered. "If he plays, I reckon they're a good chance."

I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by a high-pitched, feminine scream. Emily Howard was running away from Tonks, who was splashing water in her direction. I groaned.

"What's wrong?" asked Leo.

"Nothing," I muttered. "Just… I hope the squid eats her."

"Who?"

He hadn't even noticed the commotion. "Nobody," I said. "Anyway, I suppose we should study?" I glanced at him hopefully from beneath my eyelashes, wondering if he'd take the hint and decide that kissing was a much better activity than exam revision on such a lovely day. But he merely grimaced and opened his textbook at a random page.

"I hate Charms," he said. "What a waste of time. As if I'll ever need to know how to tickle someone with magic."

"Yeah." I pillowed my head against my hands, feeling thoroughly dejected. Was I doing something wrong? Perhaps I should ask Bella for tips on being more seductive. Salazar knew she had no issues with Rodolphus. The two of them spent close to every waking minute together. I wondered where she was right then. Definitely not lounging by the lake; that wasn't Bella's style.

"Something wrong?" asked Leo.

I shook my head, though I knew I was pouting. "No."

There was a strained silence. After a moment I glanced up to find Leo studying me with a frown. His eyes bore into mine, and I thought I saw the moment when the situation clicked for him. He leant towards me, and I lifted my head off my hands expectantly.

My stomach gave a lurch as he kissed me. It was nice, but nothing special. I wanted to move my head, to do something to make it more interesting. Perhaps I was a bad kisser; perhaps that was why we hadn't done more of this? Leo's lips were soft and warm; his breath tasted like peppermint. I grazed his bottom lip with my tongue and felt him tense.

He pulled away and I had to suppress a stab of disappointment.

"Rabastan's coming," he said. I thought I heard a note of relief in his voice, and it did nothing to improve my mood.

"Great," I muttered. Rabastan was indeed striding toward us. I wondered if I could pack up my things fast enough to make a run for it; but I knew how rude that would look, and word of it would certainly get back to my sisters. Maybe Leo would tell him to go away and we could go back to kissing?

"Hi," said Rabastan when he had approached within earshot. "Am I interrupting?"

"Yes," I said, at the same time as Leo said "No."

Rabastan looked between us, his eyes lingering on my no doubt sour expression. "Uh-huh." His gaze dropped to Leo's open textbook. "Studying for Charms?"

"Yep." Leo gestured to the spot beside him. "Want to join?"

I had to stifle a groan as Rabastan sat down beside us. "I hate Hexia," he drawled, stretching out his long legs on the grass beside me. "Rodolphus says she used to be married to a Muggle. Can you imagine that? No wonder she's always giving me strife. Well, she'll be pushing up daisies soon enough."

I glared at him. "I like Professor Hexia."

Rabastan flicked his hair out of his eyes in a careless gesture. "Of course you like her," he said scornfully.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

"Only that you're a teacher's pet," said Rabastan. "You wouldn't say a bad word about a teacher if someone threatened you with the Cruciatus."

I glared at Leo, wondering if my supposed boyfriend was going to stick up for me against such a comment. But Leo was suddenly very interested in a blade of grass. I scowled and got to my feet.

"Where are you going?" demanded Rabastan.

"Back to the castle," I said, looking at Leo. "Are you coming?"

Leo hesitated. "Er…"

"Whatever then," I said, spinning on my heel and stalking off. If he would rather sit there with Rabastan than be with me, that was his prerogative. I wasn't going to stand around waiting like some lovesick puppy.

I had barely made it to the other side of the lake when I heard him running up behind me.

"Andy wait!"

I clenched my teeth and stopped walking, and Leo came huffing to my side.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said. We were close to the group of Gryffinpuffs now. I thought I could see Ted Tonks staring at us, and that only made me more annoyed. If there was one thing Slytherins prided themselves on, it was not airing their dirty laundry in public.

"You shouldn't be so rude to Rabastan," said Leo.

This was so unfair that I momentarily forget my resolve not to argue. "What?" I spluttered. "Me? What about him?"

"You're always so snappy with him," said Leo. "If you would just be a bit nicer – "

I glared at him, furious that he would choose to take Rabastan's side in this. "I'll be nicer when he stops being such a prat."

I saw Leo's jaw clench, and thought he might have been biting his tongue.

"Are you quite done lecturing me?" I asked coolly, turning to go. "Because if you are – "

"Andy wait." He pulled me back quite suddenly, so that I stumbled against his chest. Before I could do anything, he kissed me again. But it was not a soft, passive kiss like the one under the beech tree. This was hard and bruising, a statement of intent. It left me feeling breathless and my lips slightly tender.

I walked away once it was over, and Leo didn't try to stop me. My mind was burning with questions, but I wasn't sure I had any answers.

The path back to the castle took me close to the group of Huffledors. Ted Tonks was still staring at me, wearing a slight frown. I glared at him so fiercely as I went past that he raised his eyebrows at me. Remembering what he had said about trying too hard to be haughty, I stuck my head in the air and ignored him, stalking away with the conviction that Bella had been right when she said all boys were idiots.

.