The past two weeks with Lavender had certainly been interesting. Harry actually got to know her as a person rather than an abstract idea based on Hermione's stories – which actually were more like complaints about her dorm-mates – and he had to admit she was a lot of fun to be around. A breath of fresh air, so to speak.

Her bubbly and giggly personality did manage to charm him, he had to admit. She took great joy in the smallest things but was also just as quickly crushed by them. She didn't seem to be doing the whole feeling-thing half-arsed. It certainly was something that required major adjustments from all of them – even Hermione, who shared a dorm with Lavender but didn't spend any time with her otherwise – considering neither of them was particularly touchy-feely. Ron was too 'manly' to be so. It really was funny how awkward he could get when it came to this whole feelings-business.

Harry wasn't any better, though, but he knew that it came less from his own inert awkwardness and more from his years of living at Privet Drive. He simply was not used to be on the receiving end of any kinds of affection. Being around someone as Lavender was something akin to a culture shock. Even the most affectionate member of their Trio couldn't prepare him for the blonde whirlwind of emotions that was Lavender Brown. Hermione liked to give hugs here and there, but she was extremely shy. From what he knew, her family life was very stable and loving, and her parents indulged their daughter's love for literature a lot and were open to her attending a magical school. However, Hermione was a victim of bullying throughout her childhood, which very likely was the reason behind her shyness.

Lavender simply soared through a different hemisphere when it came to feelings and stuff.

Harry didn't mind, though. It made her who she was and, once he actually took the effort to get to know her, he rather liked the person Lavender Brown.

Definitely more than the abstract idea, that much was certain.

However, Lavender Brown could also be just as stubborn as he was.

Earlier today, after their morning run, he had told her in no uncertain terms that she would be no part of their adventures. And yet, here she was, waiting for him in the common room while everyone else was asleep in their dorms.

"Mister Potter," she greeted him with a playful grin and a teasing lilt, sitting on one of the sofas with a leg crossed over the other, "I've been expecting you."

Her teasing and playfulness should be familiar to him by now – they'd spent almost all of their free time together these past two weeks after all – but it still made his throat close up and his face heat up.

"No." It was a single word with only a couple of letters, but more than enough to convey everything he wanted to get across at this moment.

"But why?" she whined, getting swiftly up to her feet and closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. "I'll be good! I promise. I'll follow your lead."

Harry sighed, getting a bit frustrated now.

...and distracted. She smelled very flowery.

"Laven–"

"Also, if you don't let me come with you, I'll just follow you anyways."

He opened his mouth to retort but decided to just give up instead. "You are impossible."

"Is that a yes?" she asked excitedly. "I knew you'd see things my way!"

"It's not like you are leaving me much choice," he muttered. He moved his hands inside his jacket's pocket, pulling out his father's invisibility cloak. "You can't tell anybody about this, okay?"

Her eyes widened in wonder. "These are so rare!"

He watched her hand reach out to touch the cloak, fingering the fabric. Not wanting to waste any more time, he threw it over her, then joined her under it. He felt his face heat up at the close proximity to the blonde witch, her scent – was it her perfume? – all the more powerful under the cloak. It was different, so different to be here in this position with Lavender than it was with Hermione. "C'mon," he croaked out and cursed his nerves for the millionths time as he was clearing his throat.

"Lead the way, Harry." She grinned at him, looking more excited than she should.

He didn't say anything when he felt her hands grab his arm – not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. It still was entirely foreign to have someone touch him like that on such a regular basis. Once again, he found himself comparing how different the things she did were to when Hermione did them – like holding onto him or casually touching him. Hermione wasn't that touchy a person, to begin with, and when she did touch him he never had his throat close up or skin heat up. It only ever happened with Lavender.

He tried to ignore the sensation of her hands on his arm. Still, he could feel it clearly, even through his jacket. Her thin fingers gripped him tightly, and that particular area on his arm she held onto felt distinctly warmer than the rest.

He led her through the darkened hallways of the castle. After years of sneaking about, he knew the fastest and safest routes leading outside by heart.

"How often have you done this?" she asked him in a hushed whisper, her breath tickling his cheeks.

It smelled like mint. He wished he had brushed his teeth too. "More often than I should have," he muttered in response.

"I don't think I'll ever do anything like this again. Just sneaking around past curfew is giving me anxiety," she whispered and inched closer to him, almost pressing herself into his side.

He didn't trust his voice enough to reply. Instead, he just focused on the task at hand and led them through a secret passage outside and onto Hogwarts' grounds.

"How did you know that was there?" Lavender asked him curiously, still keeping her voice low.

Harry just gave her a wry grin as his answer.

The night air was cold, the freezing temperatures stinging his face, and he could make out the condensation of both his and Lavender's breath beneath his invisibility cloak. They picked up the pace and made their way towards Hagrid's hut. Harry remembered they had to walk a bit beyond the giant man's home before they'd have to step into the forest.

"Have you been to the Forbidden Forest a lot?" Lavender asked.

"Twice, I think," Harry muttered, slowing down once they were past the first line of trees and inside the forest. He cast a Lumos, using his free hand to hold the wand. She suddenly tensed up, her nails digging into his arm, and he was once again glad that he'd decided to wear a jacket. A jacket – it occurred to him – Lavender was missing, and he could feel her shivering beside him. "Are you cold?" he asked her, and she gave an emphatic nod.

After making sure they were alone, he got out from under the cloak and took off his jacket, offering it to her. She beamed at him in thanks once she took it and put it on, snuggling into the warmth it provided.

"Thank you very much, kind Sir."

He sighed in exasperation at her teasing tone and threw the cloak over them once more, this time really feeling the blonde's nails digging into his arm. For a brief moment, he realized that he never found out if Lavender had taken care of that chipped nail polish she had complained about midweek. He dismissed that thought quickly again. It wasn't important right now.

"Have you ever seen any creatures in here?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper again. "It's so creepy…"

"Both times, yes," Harry admitted, thinking back to his first and second year in Hogwarts.

"Like what?"

He hesitated at first. Then, he was about to answer but ended up deciding against it regardless. "You are better off not knowing."

She pressed herself even closer to his side, both her arms now fully wrapped around his. "That's not making me feel better."

"Sorry," he muttered.

They kept on walking farther into the forest, the only sounds coming from the crunching of dead leaves and fallen twigs beneath their boots.

Lavender then pointed to a spot ahead of them, a bit farther to the left. "There."

He followed her pointing finger – the polish was not chipped anymore, he noted idly – with his eyes and saw something illuminate the deep darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

They marched towards the flaring illumination with a brisker pace. Neither of them commented on the roars they started to hear, but Lavender's nervousness was evident by the imprints of her fingernails she was desperately trying to leave on his arm. The smell of burned wood got stronger with every step, and he was certain that he saw charred bark on some of the trees. Harry finally figured out what exactly they had been seeing this whole time: columns of fire.

"Nox," whispered Harry and slowed down considerably, gradually and carefully creeping near to what appeared to be a clearance. They passed a thicket of bushes and trees and the cold air started to feel distinctly hotter. Both of them gasped in shock the moment they saw the reason: there were four dragons, controlled by a group of handlers, roaring and snapping, spitting columns of fire all around them.

"Oh no," Lavender gasped.

Harry looked at her: she was whimpering and shivering, her mouth was agape and her eyes wide in terror, and she had her arms wrapped around her midriff, reminding him of the day her name came out of the goblet. Without really thinking about it, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders after she had released it, and led her back to the path they came from, away from the creatures and their handlers. He pulled the cloak off the both of them, holding onto it. He wasn't sure if Lavender's violent shivering came from the cold, but if her wide eyes and gasping breaths were any indicators, he'd doubt it.

"I'm going to die, Harry. I'm literally going to die. I'm going to get burned alive or eaten. Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, ohMerlinohMerlinohMerlin…"

"It's going to be okay, Lavender," he whispered to her, unsure of what else to do. "I know you are strong. You know you are strong!"

Harry made out sniffles in the darkness of the forest. "Hug me already, you idiot!" Lavender said in a small, teary voice, and he felt himself react, embracing her the moment her arms reached around his neck. He suppressed the urge to pat her back. Instead, he opted to tighten his arms around her to just let her have the cry she clearly needed. It was obvious how utterly terrified she was, and he couldn't fault her for it.

She was tightly pressed against him and her flowery fragrance invaded his senses. He could feel the wetness from her tears on his neck, he could feel her breasts through his jacket pushing against his chest. The night was freezing cold, yet her breath against his throat felt burning hot. Their hips were dangerously close to each other, and he was hyper-aware of that fact, trying to inch away, just a bit, but Lavender was latched onto him with a strength that surprised him.

Here she was, utterly terrified and relying on him for comfort, and he...he was having reactions. Reactions that made him stiffen, and he wasn't talking about his body in general. That would make sense. The...other stiffening didn't. Well, it did, it just wasn't appropriate given the circumstances.

So he did what he had to do and thought of Vernon. Then of Filch. Then, his thoughts took him to Snape. It was a cruel thing to do to himself, but, as Vernon would put it: a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Lavender didn't really, actually cry either. There were no sobs wracking through her. Instead, with every whimper and every shaky breath escaping her, he felt her body shiver violently.

"What am I supposed to do, Harry?" she asked pitifully. "I can't handle dragons! I don't know what to do…"

"We'll figure it out," he reassured her. "Don't worry about it."

His words sounded hollow even to him. He was pretty sure she'd be worrying about it until the first task was over.

Harry was having trouble concentrating. The reason was sitting a couple of chairs to the right and two rows in front of him in charms class. His head was propped up on his hand as he was glancing at her direction. She was giggling again with Parvati – ambient noise. Her hair was braided and she wore it over a shoulder. He realized how particularly soft and silky it looked today. It suited her. Her skin always looked soft and silky after all. He also noted idly that her hairband today was turquoise in colour.

Recently, Lavender's been constantly on his thoughts for multiple reasons. For one, he'd learned, she was a very nice and happy girl. She was fun to be around and her smile was like sun rays breaking through a cloudy sky and making everything warmer.

He shook his head. That thought would be one of those he'd be taking to his grave with him. Returning his attention back to more important things, he looked again at the blonde witch.

She didn't deserve to be in a position that forced her to fight dragons. Draco Malfoy would be more fitting, and it would be almost poetic too. The little, slimy, blonde dragon fighting actual dragons. He briefly wondered if all that oil in Malfoy's hair was flammable. At least she appeared to be back to her usual self after her panic attack in the forest. He wasn't sure how exactly she had bounced back, but he sure was glad she did.

Anyways. Yes, he was extremely worried about Lavender. So much so, it made his stomach clench in painful knots. He wondered how it was ever possible for her name to come out of that goblet, how it was possible to confuse his name with hers.

He didn't know what he'd do if something were to ever happen to Lavender. It was a bit unfair that only after something like this transpired did he actually start to pay attention to her and care about her. Before, he always ignored the blonde witch. Now, he saw the beautiful girl with a fun personality she actua–

"Mr Potter!"

He was startled out of his thoughts by Mr Flitwick's call of his name and Hermione's prodding of his side.

"Please do pay attention to class, Mr Potter. These wand-movements are quite important. 5 points from Gryffindor."

His face flushed in embarrassment at the annoyed muttering from his house-mates, and he sat up to try and concentrate.

"What's going on with you?" Hermione asked in a whisper from his left.

"Nothing," he muttered his response, glaring at his desk to hide his mortifying blush.

"You've been out of it the whole day. Since the weekend actually."

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and saw her squinting at him, clearly trying to figure out his problem. Dread was forming in his stomach. On top of the worrisome stomach knots for Lavender, he was now also having dread build up because Hermione was going to figure out his Lavender-related problems. He, Harry Potter, was going to get a stomach ulcer at age fourteen.

"You were fine when you went to the forest with Lavender...it can't be about the dragons either, you'd just be focused and not distracted…"

She scooted a bit closer to him and followed his line of sight, which he quickly averted to the tiny Professor and the pile of books he was standing on, but it was too late.

"Oh–"

He slumped down on his chair in resignation and with a frown on his face, as he felt the furious flush spread across his features.

"–my God, Harry."

He glanced at the bushy-haired witch at his side, who just stared ahead at the blackboard and Professor Flitwick's notes. All he could do was mentally groan at the faint blush on her cheeks and that infuriating smile she so miserably failed to suppress.

"Accio pillow!" he shouted and easily snatched the pillow floating at his direction out of the air.

"Accio Harry's pillow!"

He sighed as his pillow flew from his hand towards a certain blonde with a turquoise hairband. "Why? You have your own pillow right there."

"Give me a good reason why not," Lavender challenged him, throwing his pillow back at him with a teasing grin before resting her hand on her cocked hip.

"Because you have a pillow right there," Harry pointed out dryly. Again

"That's not a good reason, though."

Harry was about to retort again but simply decided not to instead. He tossed his pillow back onto the ground a ways ahead of him and summoned it once more. He became rather proficient with this charm since they started practising during the weekend after his and Lavender's nightly outing.

"This is interesting," Hermione said from her position on one of the tables with a book about dragons on her lap. "Multiple male dragons can fight over one female and it can result in death for several of the males."

"Sounds familiar." Parvati giggled with Lavender quickly joining in.

Harry, however, scowled and concentrated on practising his summoning, pointedly ignoring Hermione's fun facts.

Ron though seemed to be trying to partake in the fun. "Charlie once said that a female dragon injured a male during...when they…" He muttered the rest in such a low voice, Harry wasn't sure if any of them heard.

"Oh yes," Hermione picked up where Ron left off, "it says here…'Breeding dragons are highly aggressive. The larger females oftentimes try to bite the smaller males. Females have been witnessed to stop a breeding male in the middle of the act and chase them away. Dragonologists theorize it may be a way for female dragons to guarantee the strongest possible genes for their young."

"Could you maybe just read actually useful things out loud?" Harry asked. "Like, what are their weaknesses?"

"I'm getting there Harry," Hermione said innocently. "Here…'Dragons have a highly developed sense of smell. When the females are ready to breed–'"

"Alright, I think this is enough for today," Harry announced loudly.

"Does this charm work on people?" Lavender suddenly asked, and Harry gave her a curious look.

"Dunno."

"Accio Harry!" the blonde exclaimed with her wand pointed at him.

His eyes shot wide open when a sudden pull dragged him to the witch. He tried to dodge her but couldn't fight the magic. Crashing into her, he at least did his best to be the first one on the ground, so, as quickly as he could, he grabbed her waist and turned them around. He landed painfully on his back, a groan escaping him.

"My hero," a breathless voice whispered into his ear before it took on that familiar teasing lilt again. "You can let go of me now, you know. You saved me from being crushed already."

His face bright red, he released his hold on her as if he got burned – the feel of her soft waist on his hands memorized – and tried to apologize but all that came out was incoherent stuttering.

Lavender got up from him, the loss of her weight on him more prominent than he expected it to be, and dusted off her school uniform. Once done, she looked at the snickering audience with a pretty blush on her cheeks. "Don't accio people, children. It's very dangerous."

"Except, " Hermione said, fixing Harry with a deviously gleeful expression, "if you–"

"Accio book behind Hermione's head!" Harry hurriedly shouted with a glare.

"–want to mate–OW!"

"And not all of us can have the ever-so chivalrous Boy-Who-Lived save us, can we?" Parvati giggled, and Lavender wasted no time to join in as she held out a hand for Harry to help him up.

He took it with a muttered 'thanks', and she gifted him a brilliant smile in return, which sent his heart racing. Her hand was soft and warm, and, once he was back on his feet, he didn't want to let it go. Still, he did.

"Nuh-uh, this one's mine," Lavender said to Parvati's comment.

Harry blinked at her in confusion, not sure what to make of that statement.