Disclaimer's on chapter 1

Penny collapsed against the base of a tree when her legs finally tired. She couldn't believe she had just done that; angrily lashing out against a fellow student, even one as annoying as Merula. As if that weren't bad enough, poor Isaac had seen the spectacle and no doubt wanted anything to do with her anymore. The thought alone was enough to bring tears to her eyes as she curled up against the tree.

"Penny?"

The witch hiccuped in shock as she looked up to see Isaac standing in front of her.

"You okay?" He asked, kneeling down in front of her. He had been lucky to catch sight of her disappearing round the corner of a building and had managed to follow after Penny to where she was now. With everything that had happened to her this semester alone, he was amazed she had managed to keep herself together up until this point. The question now was, would she ever be able to recover?

"Is Merula okay?" Penny asked in concern as she wiped her eyes.

Isaac couldn't help but snicker as relief swept through him. Only Penny would bite off someone's head then ask afterwards if they were okay.

"Only you Penny…" He sighed softly, smiling at the witch as she looked up to him in confusion. "She had it coming. Just thought it would be me bringing her down a peg again."

Penny returned the smile with one of her own with one that didn't reach her eyes. Clearly she was still embarrassed she had acted like that in front of him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, staring at her knees. "I completely ruined our day together."

"I wouldn't say that. Sure, Merula showing up and butting in wasn't expected but we hadn't really planned what we were going to do today." Isaac pointed out, sitting down beside Penny. "At least we have some idea about how to do things on our next date."

"Next?" Penny asked, her blue eyes looking curious and hopefully at Isaac. "You still want to… you know… go out with me? Even after…?"

"Even after." Isaac confirmed leaning against Penny so their heads were resting against each other.

Penny's smile widened as she leaned comfortably against Isaac, happy in the knowledge that they still might have a future together for the remainder of their days at Hogwarts.

"Fancy just walking back to Hogwarts?" Isaac asked after a while of sitting together in comfortable silence. The…date hadn't gone to plan but perhaps the return trip back to Hogwarts would be a pleasant consolation. Hopefully Penny's soft smile suggested she was thinking along similar lines.

"Sure." Was all she said as she stood up and held her hand out for Isaac.

Hand in hand, the pair of trainee mages set off down the path. At first, the silence was pleasant. But Penny decided it was time for something of a more…personal conversation.

"Want to know something?" She asked Isaac tentatively.

"Sure." Was Isaac's response both curious and a touch nervous about what Penny was going to surprise him this time.

"Before I came to Hogwarts, I was actually really shy." Penny admitted almost too quietly for Isaac to hear. Hear it he did, and almost stopped walking from the shock of it.

"But.. you're Penny Haywood. The most popular, prettiest…Hufflepuffiest Hufflepuff Hogwarts has ever seen." Isaac tried to explain more to himself rather than Penny. He just could not imagine Penny being…well, not the Penny Haywood he had met back in first year.

"Hufflepuffiest?" Penny echoed, trying hard not to blush and giggle at what he just called her. If that wasn't a word, maybe it should be.

"Well…yeah. Modest, hard working, pleasant. You're all that and then some." Isaac explained. Had she not been the witch walking alongside him, would they have ever met? Even had he not invited her to join himself and Rowan back in their first year, Isaac found it hard to fathom making it through all his school years without Penny's input at several occasions.

"And?" Penny prompted nudging Isaac gently with her shoulder bringing him out of his thought bubble.

"And…what?" Isaac replied nervously. Had she been talking to him without him knowing?

"You said that I'm, in your own words, 'the most popular, prettiest, Hufflepuffiest Hufflepuff' in Hogwarts." She quoted as she stepped in front of him forcing him to stop walking so she could look him in the eye. "Did you mean all of it?"

Unable to keep eye contact with her, Isaac looked away feeling his face becoming increasingly warmer. He only now realised exactly what he had said to Penny. There was no turning back now, it seemed.

"Of course I meant all of it. I've always thought you were pretty. Especially when you're happy." He confessed softly.

Next thing he knew, Penny was hugging him tightly as if she had been waiting for him to say those exact words. Hugging her back, he had to admit that he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that he had said it out loud and, judging by the response, she definitely seemed to appreciate the sentiment. He hoped.

As if in answer, Penny untangled herself from Isaac but not without kissing him on the cheek before pulling away from him with great reluctance.

"W-what was that for?" Isaac stammered, his face Gryffindor red as he brought a hand up to his cheek almost not believing what had just happened.

"Isn't it obvious?" Penny giggled her own face a matching shade as she clasped hold of Isaac's hand tightly and pulled him along the path back towards Hogwarts.

Once Isaac came to grips with the implications of Penny's actions, the pair continued their walk to Hogwarts, sometimes talking about anything that came to mind between bouts of pleasant silence as they went. When the familiar silhouette of Hogwarts came into view, Isaac noticed Penny seemed to be slowing her pace until she was almost dragging her feet as they crossed the stone bridge into the school's courtyard.

"Something wrong?" He asked in concern.

"It's… just…" Penny could only look at her feet, unable to properly explain this feeling of dread inside of her.

Isaac caught on instantly to what was wrong. Today had been all about escaping the current dilemma facing Hogwarts, in particular Beatrice's imprisonment inside a painting. Once they crossed through the main doors and were back inside the school walls…

"We'll get Beatrice out, Penny." Isaac promised her, surprised by his own tone of confidence in his voice. Until this year, every other curse he had broken had affected Hogwarts as a whole. With the fate of Penny's sister on the line, Isaac was under pressure like never before yet the conviction in his voice seemed to get through to Penny.

"And if it gets too much to you for you again… Well, we can always go to Hogsmeade again." Isaac told her hoping she would catch on to what he was implying.

"Sure! But on one condition." Penny quickly added, managing to keep her excitement curbed enough as a sudden thought came to mind. "You have to quit quidditch once this season is over."

Whatever it was Isaac was expecting Penny to say, it was not that. Quidditch was something both of them enjoyed- he enjoyed playing it while Penny enjoyed watching him play, sometimes even taking time off from her studies to watch him during training. If he was no longer playing after this year was over, then what would they…

"Oh." Was all the boy wizard could say as the knut dropped.

"Figured it out, have you?" Penny teased. "I know you need to take some time off as well. And while you have so many extracurricular activities compared to me, we do have quidditch in common. So, since we'll be…doing this more… I figured…"

She wasn't blushing but Penny was still feeling rather shy as she tried to explain things to Isaac who, thankfully, understood what the witch was trying to say.

"And you're okay with this? Giving up watching quidditch to spend time with me?" Isaac asked quietly, gently holding Penny by the waist.

"Well…I wouldn't say no to a date to a quidditch game or two." Penny admitted smiling softly, looping her arms round Isaac's shoulders as the two leaned in.

"For the spectators sake, I would suggest you keep your vulgar displays of affection to a minimum."

As if hit by a stinging jinx, Isaac and Penny separated at the sound of the familiar voice of Hogwarts' Potions Professor as he appeared from the shadow of the main entrance. While he knew Penny held Professor Snape in high regard, Isaac didn't know if he should be asking how long he had been there or why he was there as if waiting specifically for them. Wisely though, he kept them questions to himself.

"It has come to my attention that Miss Haywood has verbally assaulted Miss Snyde without provocation while in Hogsmeade earlier today." Snape drawled in his usual low tone, a mere look stopping the two students from attempting to talk over him. "Given Miss Haywood's current circumstances and her near flawless track record in my class, I am willing to overlook the incident…this time."

Both students breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"As for you, Branford. Professor Rakepick is requesting your presence in her classroom. Apparently, she is assuming you have forgone quidditch today to further progress into undoing the Portrait Curse." Snape continued deflating Isaac's jovial mood like bursting a bubble. "I would suggest reporting to her swiftly since your outing is now completed."

"Yes, Professor." Isaac sighed glumbly giving Penny a half hearted goodbye smile before setting off in the direction of the DADA classroom.

"And Branford." Snape called out to him. "While your new relationship status with Miss Haywood is having a positive effect, I will not hesitate to take points from my own house should things between the pair of you distract her from her studies. Now get moving, the pair of you."

Blushing from Snape's implications, Isaac and Penny quickly heeded his words and headed towards the Grand Staircase. Neither of them braved even a glance at the other until they passed through the archway and would have to finally part ways until supper time.

"Guess this means it's over." Penny sighed, glancing from Isaac to her boots and back. Despite the awkwardness and interruption by Merula, she really had enjoyed herself for the first time in a while.

"Bet Tonks is waiting for you with all the juicy gossip from the match today." Isaac said, speaking the first thing that came to mind.

Normally, gossip such as this would excite Penny. Now that the date was over and they were back in Hogwarts, her cheerfulness was dwindling as the reality of events started weighing down on her shoulders once again. As such, all Penny could do was glumly nod her head in response, not even bothering to bid Isaac a goodbye as she made to descend the staircase towards the Hufflepuff common room.

Isaac clearly saw the change in Penny's mood and knew he had to do something before she became a shell of the witch he knew and was coming to see more than just a friend.

"Penny!" He called out as he approached her.

Turning round, Penny had no time to react as Isaac wrapped an arm round her waist and cupped her face with his free hand as he kissed her square on the lips. Her eyes widened before fluttering closed as she leaned into the kiss, hands clasping the front of Isaac's jacket as her mind succumbed to blissful emptiness.

It could have been seconds, minutes, hours even she could not have cared but, only once the feeling of his lips against hers disappeared did Penny's eyes open, her hands tightening their hold on Isaac's jacket to prevent him getting further away. As if struck by a silencing charm, her lips tried to form words but no sound came out.

"Thought I should return the favour from earlier." Isaac said, reluctantly prying himself free from Penny's grip. "I'll see you at supper tonight."

"Yeah…Sure…" Penny replied vaguely aware she had waved him off as he headed up the staircase towards Professor Rakepick's classroom before heading off herself towards her common room.

She had no clue how she had made it to the entrance to the common room let alone get in. The whole trip from the staircase to common room, her mind was replaying the kiss: how it felt to have had her first kiss with her first crush, how it felt to feel his lips against hers as he held her in his arms, along with a myriad of other things related to that moment alone. Even when Tonks and Chiara came to greet her, Penny felt like she was walking through a dream.

"Wotcher, Penny!" Tonks greeted her not noticing the daze she was in. "You missed a cracker of a match: Rath put Charlie's new house team keeper Wood into a coma minutes into the game."

"Uh-huh…" Penny replied only vaguely hearing her friend as she kept walking in the direction of her dorm room.

Both Tonks and Chiara stared after their friend in disbelief as she left them. They knew she was going off on a date with Isaac, and had heard she had chewed out Merula when she tried to ruin it for them, but had the date really been that bad? Personally, Tonks thought those two going out together was well overdue so to see Penny not looking like the cat that had caught the canary was rather worrisome.

Wanting to check to see if she was okay, Tonks and Chiara followed after Penny. The pair were just in time to see Penny drop face down on her bed, bury her face into the pillow and let out such a high-pitched squeal, it could put a banshee to shame. Even muffled by a pillow, they wouldn't have been surprised if the whole of Hogwarts heard it.

"Date went well then?" Tonks asked, holding back a snicker. Closest to hearing Penny scream like that was last year's House Cup Final.

Now finally back to normal, Penny did her best to keep facing away from her friends expectant looks as she busied herself sorting her hair.

"Uh…you could say that." She tried to brush off desperately trying to keep her face neutral.

Tonks and Chiara were having none of it. They knew from Penny's body language alone that something spectacular had happened between her and Isaac and Chiara was the first to broach the subject.

"Did you two kiss?" She asked both her and Tonks leaning in as they waited for the reply.

Penny didn't reply verbally. Her beet red face and wide smile as she shyly nodded was all the answer they needed causing Tonks and Chiara to cheer and laugh as they tackled their fellow badger to the bed in a comforting hug of congratulations.

"Okay, you. Details. Don't leave out anything!" Tonks demanded.

Without a hint of reluctance, Penny began regaling her date to Tonks and Chiara in great detail. Perhaps later on, she would feel like she should not have said so much. No doubt Isaac would be getting interrogated by Tonks about his version of events, even without the whole school hearing of it by suppertime. Right now however, she was beyond happy and even when the euphoria ebbed away, she was going to be counting down the days to their next date.

Fin

This was supposed to have been a simple one shot yet it's taken two years to complete. Perfect timing I suppose as it's been fifteen years to the day I first came onto this site. Who'd've thought I'd still be posting stuff huh? Not me that's for sure.

Hope you enjoyed reading my fic, hope to post something else again soon