I return to my bunk after brushing my teeth and lay down. And scroll through my phone and I see a recent picture on Assante's page on Hognet. The picture on Assante's page on Hognet showed her sitting on a bench on a pier with the caption "10 years of locks all gone. Onto a new chapter." I double tap the picture and leave fire emojis under her picture.

Josh kicks my mattress. "Stalking Assante, I see."

I look over the rails. "Creepy, I just put the emojis. What are you doing stalking me?"

"I wasn't stalking you. Rosie sent me a screenshot of the comment."

I lay back down and looked up at the ceiling. "You and your girlfriend are two peas in a pod."

"Remember, if neither of you says anything, a date will never happen."

"Just mind your business. I know what I am doing."

"mhmm, okay, you know we only have 1 more year left in Hogwarts and then we are off our own. Plus, she's American, so there is no guarantee she'll stay in the UK."

"I know. I got this. Good night, mate."

"Goodnight, buddy."

I rolled over to my side. Hopefully tomorrow doesn't turn out to be a complete failure.

My stomach wakes me up, and I climb down and get dressed in a sweater and sweats. I scroll my phone for a few minutes, and I see my perfect has given me the temporary guest passcode and I send a text to Assante.

Me: Hey Assante, the guest passcode is Wyvern

I get an immediate text back

Assante: Thanks. Do you want to meet after breakfast?

Me: That's a plan.

I make my way down to the Great Hall and I sit down next to my roommates and begin filling my plate. Josh sits next to me looking flushed and looks at my plate. "Where does all that food go?"

I shrug my shoulders. "it's fuel for my growing body. Where were you this morning?"

Josh fills his plate. "I went to see my girlfriend."

I give him a side eye glance. "In her room?"

Josh smirks.

"How do you not get caught?"

"If I tell it's not a secret anymore, but if you need to see a certain Ravenclaw without getting caught. I may spill my secrets."

I shake my head and continue eating. I glance at my watch and see it's 10:40am and I get up and make my way to the Gryffindor common room. My phone beeps and I look down and see it's the family group chat.

Vickie: We have a date for the wedding 06/22/2024

Roxie: Yay I'm super excited for you Vic.

Mum: Where is the wedding?

Teddy: We were hoping to have it at the Burrow.

Dad: You and Victorie would need to talk to gran.

Vickie: I will send an owl to her.

Grandpa: no need, I can ask Gran. However, I need to give her a day to cool off. I'm trying to teach her how to use the muggle phone and it didn't go too well.

Uncle George: On a scale of 1-10, how mad is mum?

Aunt Ginny: Why George?

Dad: What did you do?

Uncle George: Why do you guys assume it's about me?

I disable the notifications. Mum and aunt Ginny started the group chat, and they can be lively occasionally. I can read the messages when Assante leaves. I put my phone in my pocket and found a spot in the common room to wait for Assante. Among the students playing games and talking in the common room, I notice a few from other houses. When my mum and dad were at Hogwarts, they said that students from other houses could not enter the common rooms. When my older cousins started at Hogwarts, the rules changed to allow a place for students to meet. They built an all-house common room, but it gets crowded on snowy days like this.

I scroll through my gallery, and I find the picture I want to be painted. It's a picture I took when we had a summer camp out at the Burrow. It was on the eve of the Battle of Hogwarts and the death of Uncle George. My family started this tradition years before I was born. We pitch tents, eat food, roast marshmallows and we get to hear stories about Uncle George. The adults also like to share stories of their times at Hogwarts. My grandma was talking about the time Uncle Harry and dad took the flying car when they missed the express. The fire is blazing and my parents share a moment. I wish to have a love like theirs one day. As I lift my gaze from my phone, I am immediately drawn to Assante and find it impossible to look away.