Thank you, as usual, to all my fantastic reviewers: NatRose17, Guest, Guest, sophiecambellbower, Guest, aestheticpickle, and Cinematicolour!

Guest (May 3rd): Glad you're still enjoying it!

Guest (May 3rd): It may take me awhile to continue updating, but I will keep coming back to this story! Sometimes I just need to write other stories to cleanse my pallet a little

Guest (June 6th): Because I'm not a huge fan on the canon ending couples *shrug* I was already making some parts of this world AU, specifically to make Lara Jean's ancestors Blacks, so I decided why not twist a couple more things? You can read more about it in the bottom author's notes

aestheticpickle: I usually update once every month and a half. I've tried to stick to a schedule, but that doesn't work, but I would say anywhere between every one/two months a new chapter comes out!

Cinematicolour: Thanks so much for the OC! She might appear pretty soon!

Professor Slughorn says that everyone has something they're good at. He says that eventually, you'll find it.

Lara Jean believes him, to an extent. She believes that everyone has something deep inside of them that they just instinctively know, the way Margot is good at potions or how Professor Longbottom has always loved plants. What Lara Jean isn't so sure about is that everyone will find it. Sure, here at school, everyone is given the best chance. But she doesn't believe in the inherent intelligence of most. Call her a Slytherin, fine. She's just seen enough people mess up the simplest of spells to think that they won't be smart enough to magically find their niche.

This does make Lara Jean sad. She knows the feeling of not belonging and she wouldn't wish it upon anyone.

Lara Jean doesn't have this problem. She might feel apart from the Wizarding Community as a whole, always thinking too much like a muggle or for even defending her father's life, but know where her skills lay is not something she still needs to figure out.

Still, it's not until December that Lara Jean realizes just how skilled in Charms she is.

There seem to be three instances that overlap all at once, and by the end of the last week before hols, Lara Jean is more sure of her place at school than ever before.

As the class shuffles out of the Charms classroom, Professor Flitwick stops her. This is the first instance.

"Did I perform a spell wrong?" Lara Jean frets, "I know my levitation charm is a little shaky, but I-,"

"Oh! My dear, you're fine!" Professor Flitwick laughs, "You're using a third year levitation charm, I wouldn't worry at all."

"Good," Lara Jean relaxes all the way. She can't help but fret. It's close to examinations and she needs perfection.

"I was actually going to inquire if you've ever thought about joining the dueling club?"

Lara Jean frowns. She's seen the posters around the school, however, never had an interest. It's lead by Teddy Lupin right now. Despite only being 15 years old, he probably has one of the best claims, as his parents were huge parts of the Second Wizarding War and his godfather is the Harry Potter. She once saw them gathering in the dining hall, and while the colors that flashed around the room interested her, she didn't stay long.

"Well, no?" She says, "I'm not sure I'd be good at...combat. Plus, I heard from Holly who heard from Mafalda it's a lot of Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm only okay with that."

"Only okay? Not from what I've heard," Professor Flitwick laughs, and Lara Jean gives a small smile, "And that's also simply untrue. Charms- and hexes- make up almost all of the class. We used to have a Charms Club, but I still think you'd find this more enjoyable. Using charms in practical situations. You also look at problems differently. That's what dueling is. Sometimes winning isn't about drawing blood, but it's tripping your opponent up with a tickling hex."

Lara Jean tugs at her robes.

"It's not often I refer first-years. Anyone is welcome to join, of course, but first-years usually wouldn't have enough built-up knowledge to really participate. I'd just consider it. I think you'd be very good."

After class, as Lara Jean walks through the halls, she does. Rather, she runs through all the charms and spells she's been squirreling away in her mind. She imagines how to use them in a battle. She thinks about counter-curses. She thinks a lot, and slowly, it does become a mental game for her. Even if she hasn't gotten the courage to approach Teddy, she thinks of scenarios. If someone threw a leg-lock hex at her, how would she respond? How would she block? How would she parry?

She is thinking about this all the time by mid-week, when the second time happens. Margot is studying with her in the library. Gen is writing to her parents in the common room and Josh is...well, Lara Jean isn't sure. She's glad to have a moment alone with her older sister, though.

Margot has a set of flashcards in front of her. She has prompts that another one of her classmates wrote up for her; situations. It's not unlike the mental puzzles Lara Jean has been crafting for herself. At each one, Margot flips through flash cards to decide which spells to use and in what order.

Lara Jean happens to pay attention to her fifth problem, as she's switching gears from Potions to Astronomy.

She leans over Margot's shoulder, reading the words: You come across a tall tree with apples at the top. You need to collect five apples, without bruising them, to bring back for a potion. How do you get them down?

She sees that Margot has started to lay out her response; She would charm a branch into a broom, use levitation charms to hold the apples in the air as she picked them, and then carry them in her arms down.

"What?"

Lara Jean blinks at her sister, "Huh?"

"You have a look on your face. One that you get whenever Kitty has done something stupid."

Lara Jean gnaws on her lip, "Well, I just...what happens if you lose concentration and the apples fall? Or worse, you do, because it's just a branch keeping you up?"

"Well I'd-," Margot begins, but frowns, "I guess, maybe…"

"What about Molliare ?"

"The charm to make seats more comfortable?" Margot repeated slowly.

"Well, you know, it cushions things. So you could cushion the ground when the apples fall and never have to get in the air at all," Lara Jean explains. It's not just because she hates flying. She feels this is the most effective way, "And then if you use Diffindo to cut the stems, added with a Scopis charm so you can accurately see where you're cutting, you'd be done fairly quickly."

" Scopis?" Margot flips through her flashcards.

"Oops, I might have read that in a 4th-year research book," Lara Jean realizes, "It's a targeting charm, for aim."

Margot stops what she's doing, "How do you just remember all of that? And I would never think to use a Molliare for something other than cushions or a bed…"

Lara Jean flushes, despite how proud she is.

"I dunno. I guess I just…" she shrugs helplessly. Charms, she is now realizing, has never been difficult.

The last moment is the night before they leave for their Holiday break. In the Slytherin Common room, as the Prefects pass out hot chocolate or warmed cider to congratulate everyone on an exam period finished, the first years discuss the tests.

When the group starts twittering about the Charms exam, Lara Jean feels confident she's aced it. Apparently, others don't feel the same.

"I thought that number two was so hard!" Lis whines, "He was purposely trying to trick us, I think," She mumbled angrily.

Lara Jean's lips quirked into a smile, until she realizes all the Slytherin first-years are scowling. Even Gen is nodding in agreement, her eyes narrowed and frustrated.

"None of those are situations you'd use lumos ," Gen said definitively, "I think Professor made a mistake. We can go and ask him after break."

"Well, actually," Lara Jean finds her voice, as quiet and strained as it is to be speaking out against all these people, "The answer was 'D'...light a candle."

The group looked at Lara Jean like she'd grown another head.

" Lumos lights the tip of your wand. Not a candle," Cressida said nastily.

"But it can," Lara Jean shot back, "Remember? Professor warned us that the light is really hot and your own wand can catch on fire if you're not careful."

"But he never told us it could light things besides our wand," Lis scratched her head.

"It seemed like an obvious jump...not everything is always going to be spelled out," Lara Jean slowly replied, but was starting to wonder if she was wrong, "Spells often have more usage than just the obvious one." She continued rambling, to convince herself of her correct answer, "Besides, in Latin, it literally means 'light', so-,"

She glanced at Gen. Her face was set into a scowl, almost a furious look. About what, Lara Jean wasn't sure. As soon as Lara Jean looked her way, she shook her had.

"I didn't think of that, but you're probably right," She said with a tight smile, almost forced.

"Lame," Cressida intoned, "Sides. Only weirdos like Lara Jean could have gotten that."

"I don't know if I'd call being 'intelligent' weird," Holly swooped in, narrowing her eyes at the younger girl, "I think you're just jealous."

Cressida stomped to her room, "It doesn't matter. Daddy says he'll get me into any job I want one day. School hardly matters."

As soon as she'd left, Lis looked at Lara Jean uncertainty.

"Does lumos really mean 'light'?"

"Uh-huh. All the spells are in Latin," Lara Jean said, picking at her nails, "It just makes sense."

Holly was looking at Lara Jean curiously, "Perhaps. Not many make that connection. Merlin knows I haven't, but I guess."

"Only you would," Gen bumped her arm, "But I mean that in the nicest of ways."

Lara Jean had thought everyone made that realization.

However, she thought about her months leading to her Hogwarts letter. When she'd been pouring over that first-year spell book, praying for magic at her fingers, she'd noticed all the words sounded funny. For awhile, she'd thought she wasn't doing magic because she was pronouncing the spells wrong. So she'd looked up the Latin. From there, it was a quick jump and hop to see that spells and charms were just mixtures of Latin words. She learned Latin quickly, with a precision and interested toward charm work. She understood where each spell came from, the latin root and meaning and connected it to all the ways it could be used.

She knew magic was more than throwing latin words together, sure, but it didn't hurt to know it either. If you said words that sounded like latin, perhaps 25% of the time you'd end up saying a real spell.

More than that, there'd been so many times in class that Professor Flitwick would inquire to the class about what a spell would do. Lara Jean had always been dumbfounded as to why none of the students understood, immediately, what the spell probably did.

For example, Colloportus came from the latin words 'colligo' and 'portus'. Colligo meant to bind something, to glue it. Portus meant door. Binding a door...gluing a door...securing a door...locking a door...locking things...jumping between the words had been mentally only moments away. Lara Jean had stared at the rest of the class, who wore blank expressions, while she threw her hand up and she wondered why the heck no one else knew? Wasn't it so obvious?

She now saw it wasn't.

As near embarrassed as she was that she was the only person to have seen this, more so, Lara Jean was proud.

She went to bed murmuring Latin under her breath.

XXxXX

"Are you gunna write me, Lara Jean?"

Lara Jean looked at the doors of the compartment on the train to see Peter lingering by the threshold, his bag slung over his shoulder. Right now he looked almost smug. No, not smug, confident. That smile that made teachers just shake their heads at him.

The train was stopped in Platform 9 and ¾, students streaming off to go home for the winter. Lara Jean, Gen, Josh, Holly, and Margot had all been sharing a compartment. Margot was alwardy gone, hugging some Ravenclaws goodbye before disembarking.

Peter had come out of nowhere, or rather, stopped on his way off.

"I-,"

"Why?" Gen flippantly questioned, "You're just her Flying tutor," She reminded him.

"It's also a short break, but-," Lara Jean started, intending to say they might get one owl in, but she didn't want to be mean. Plus, she didn't dislike Peter.

"Oh," Peter's whole smile dropped, "I guess...you're right. Both of you. I just thought-,"

"You were friends?" Gen snickered. Lara Jean sent her a nasty, angry expression.

"Sorta…"

"Gryffindors think everyone is their friend, ugg."

"I think you mean Hufflepuffs," Holly quipped, looking awkward. Josh too was trying not to be noticed, but sent Peter an apologetic look.

"Still." Gen huffed, "What are you waiting for?" She asked, making a 'shoo' motion with her hand. Peter looked ready to say something else, but moped away.

"Genevieve!" Lara Jean cried, furious.

"If you encourage them too much, they'll just hang around like lap dogs." Gen said, "I'm doing you a favor."

"He's only ever been nice to you!"

Lara Jean grasped her things, stomping off the train, intending to find him. He had already vanished into the crowd.

"Lara Jean, wait," Gen leapt after her, "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know you actually liked his company."

"I don't know if I would have written him, but," Lara Jean crossed her arms, "What? You're only nice to people if I like them? How about being nice to everyone."

"That sounds like a lot of work," Gen said. She said it so honestly, with such a face that Lara Jean couldn't help but laugh a little, "If I see him, I'll apologize," She said with the longest sigh in the world.

"Thank you."

"Lara!" A tiny blob darted through the crowd, attaching itself to Lara Jean's leg.

"Hey, Kitty! Where's dad?" Lara Jean hugged her sister back.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?" Gen said, patting Lara Jean's shoulder as she left, "Have a happy holiday!"

"You too."

"Honey, there you are! I'm going to get lost forever in here one of these days," Lara Jean's father huffed, finding the pair.

"Dad!"

"Hi, honey. You have a good fall? Want to come back and live with me?" He teased as he pulled her into a big hug.

"Not a chance," Her eyes shone, "I have so much to tell you!"

XXxxXX

Christmas was a haul. Lara Jean got no less than five new spell books, to which she eagerly tore into before the gift-giving was even finished. She also got a couple new clothing items, some fancy colored ink, and her favorite candy. From Kitty, she got a new journal, embossed in her name. From Josh she got a pack of Bertie Bots Every Flavored Bean, with a note that they'd eat them together over break. From Gen, she got a set of 'purse potions', like a mini vial of Pepper-Up and simple Anti-Pain; things that any witch or wizard may need on a day to day basis. From Holly, she got a soft green and silver sweater she'd been knitting.

The most curious gift was from Margot.

The box was tiny; hidden behind the tree.

She opened it...and found nothing.

Lara Jean shook it, wondering if there was an invisibility charm on it. She dumped it upside down. So far, empty.

She looked at Margot questioningly.

"Oh! You opened my gift." Margot stood up, coming to sit by her, "It's not finished."

"Huh," Lara Jean held the box in her lap, "Well, you could have told me. I'm not upset-,"

"No, it's purposely not finished."

"Sounds like you're laaaaazyyyy." Kitty teased from the couch.

"It needs to be finished at school," Margot snapped at Kitty. She breathed in, "We were learning that there are magical items that are imbued with magical qualities. Like wands. You don't just pick it up in a forest and wave a stick around. I digress. We also discussed about how family casters can make items stronger. So I thought we'd charm something- I haven't decided what yet- at school. Something you wear all the time, like fabric or a necklace or...I dunno what." Margot finished.

Lara Jean beamed, "That's so cool! I can't wait! Thanks Margot!" She threw her arms around her sister.

"It still might not work," Kitty reminded.

"Gee, thanks, Kit."

XXxxXX

Later that night, after a very long dinner with relatives, Lara Jean came back to her room.

They hadn't ever met her maternal grandparents, although now they were in the wizarding world, it was just a matter of time. They always met with her father's parents instead. Up until this year, Lara Jean had always liked seeing them. This year, it was just tedious. No one could mention anything about the Wizarding World and her grandparents asked her and Margot a lot of questions about her new boarding school.

She hadn't paid attention to the previous two years to Margot's fake answers. She should have prepared better.

She was always just worried she was going to slip up. That she'd reveal something and the Ministry would appear and obliviate her family and send her to Azkaban. Margot said she was overreacting, but Lara Jean didn't think so.

They stayed about four hours, with plans to meet later, but it seemed like an eternity of questions Lara Jean wasn't ready to answer. By the time they left, she was exhausted and had a mental list of all the items to pre-arrange with Margot, so their stories matched.

She'd figure that out tomorrow though.

She slid into her desk seat, spying the new inks on her desk.

She took out a sheet of paper, dipping a quill in. She paused above the paper, unsure what to write.

She remembered Peter's forlorn face on the train. It popped into her mind without warning, and then, she couldn't get it out.

She wrote him, in her opinion, a nice letter. She apologized for Gen's behavior, yet again. She explained she did think they were friends, not just a tutor-student relationship. She said she was happy he was always nice to her and thought of her, despite being in a different house. She wrote about her Christmas, and asked him what his family did? She ended it with a flourished signature, one she'd been practicing.

She realized she didn't know his address, but it didn't matter.

She took it down to her owl.

"Can you take this to Peter Kavinsky, please?" She asked, holding it out. Owls were magical. They knew the way...she hoped.

Her owl cooed and took the letter.

She hoped it found its way to Peter.

XXxxXX

New Year's Eve found the Coveys next door at the Sanderson's, along with a group of other neighborhood families. Lara Jean was able to reconnect with some of her childhood friends, who didn't need even magic to be impressed by her boarding school. For the first time in a very long time, Lara Jean felt...cool.

Still, she migrated outside, away from the noise soon enough. She kicked her feet in the fluffy snow of Josh's backyard, her house scarf wrapped around her nose. Sure, it had only been a week and a half, but Lara Jean missed Hogwarts already.

No, she missed magic . She missed how it settled over her skin, the taste of it on her tongue, the feel of it. It was everywhere, even when she didn't notice it. Here? It was just missing. It felt less real here, some weird dream or simulation.

"Hey, you ok?"

Lara Jean turned to Josh. He came offering two glasses.

"I got the red stuff. Not the white."

"Yeah, the white fake-champagne is gross. It's known," Lara Jean teased in agreement, accepting the cup with her cold fingers.

Josh motioned to the tree. He used his gloved hands to brush away a place for them to sit.

As they sipped their fake-wine, watching the starry sky, Lara Jean felt a bit of the magic she'd been missing creep back in.

"So, has it been worth it?" Josh asked. Lara Jean took the jellybeans from her pocket, shaking out a handful. She turned them up for him, let him rifle through for a black one, "Licorice or ash."

"What? This Christmas? I mean, sure." Lara Jean said. Josh had already popped the candy in, and started choking.

"Ash. Def ash." He spat on the snow, "No, I mean being a witch."

"Oh. That's easy. Of course." Lara Jean couldn't imagine another answer. She picked up a pink candy. Bubblegum or lobster. She chewed carefully. Thank Merlin, bubblegum.

"I don't know why, but I always worried about you at Hogwarts."

Lara Jean felt her heart drop. "Hmm," She replied, but her stomach felt weird.

"Just because you'd set your mind to anything. And that's dangerous."

"So what? I should just never do anything?" Lara Jean asked, scowling.

"No. Yes? I'm not sure." He paused for a good long time, picking his next words carefully, "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"Josh," Lara Jean laughed, "I could walk out that door and be hit by a car. I'm not safer here. And Hogwarts is pretty safe. Plus I'm good at what I do."

There was another long pause. Josh got a dirt bean, instead of chocolate. Lara Jean knew because his face scrunched up.

"I'm thinking of joining dueling club."

She hadn't, not definitively, until that moment. She'd imagined it in passing, but now as she spoke it, she realized she did want to throw herself into this.

"People's bones get broken sometimes in that."

"As they do riding dragons," Lara Jean pointed out, "I'm not fragile, gosh!" She stood up.

"You're just my best friend," Josh expressed, "Lara Jean, I worry. Like I do about my parents or my friends in Hufflepuff. Caring too much is one of our key traits."

"I think you care the right amount." Lara jean whispered. If she were bolder, she may take his hand in hers or kiss his cheek. She opted just for a quick hug.

One day, she told herself, she'd get the courage to tell him.

XXxxXX

Lara Jean was entirely ready to return to Hogwarts by the time holidays ended. She would miss certain things; like her queen sized bed and really soft sheets, or the way her dad made the best tea, but they were little in the long run. She missed Hogwarts so much more.

Gen wouldn't be returning until the second day of classes, as her family was off in the Alps having a probably wonderful time. She couldn't wait to see her again.

It was grand reuniting with Holly, who hugged her tightly and excitedly told Lara Jean about her vacation. Lara Jean listened intently all the while. That first morning, Josh sat with them at breakfast, in the absent seat of Gen.

Lara Jean reached for his mug of hot chocolate, a familiar motion, but spat at the taste.

"Josh, is this Mountain Dew?" She asked. She'd always hated the flavor of the soda. If she were going to drink something, root beer or Coca Cola was far superior.

"You like that shit?" Holly, who had only tried muggle soda once, found it weird and too sugary. This in particular was unappealing to her, something Lara Jean had been trying to say for years.

"I brought some cans back in my suitcase. I was going through withdrawal, Lara Jean!" He dramatically exclaimed, "Withdrawal!"

"What happens when you finish those cans?"

"I wither away and die," he said, straight-faced.

"Or beg your parents to send you more?" Lara Jean prompted.

"Yeah, or that."

A note landed squarely in front of Lara Jean. She uncurled it to see it was from Peter, who had thrown it rather accurately across the tables.

"Ooh? Is it something scandalous?" Holly asked with a bit too much excitement.

"No, just Peter, asking if we can meet on Thursday for more lessons." She said, remodeling the note. That's actually all it was. It didn't say anything about her Christmas letter. She hoped it actually made it to him.

"Did he always do it like that?" Holly craned her neck to look across the tables.

"Yes," Lara Jean lied. He hadn't but she didn't want to give Holly a reason to tease either of them. Usually, he asked during class, but this wasn't unwanted either. Lara Jean appreciated having the actual piece of parchment in front of her, something tactile.

"You could have asked me. I'm not bad on a broom," Josh said for the umpteenth time. Lara Jean, foolishly, liked to imagine maybe he was jealous of Peter. She doubted this, as much as she hoped.

"He was assigned. He's a good teacher, honestly," Lara Jean said, as she always did. She probably could have switched her tutor to Josh, and the part of her that longed for him wondered why she hadn't yet.

Across the room, she gave a thumbs up to Peter.

Something about the brightness in his smile reminded her why she continued on with Peter, although she admitted she didn't know what the feeling was.

XXxxXX

"Okay, so where did we leave off after break?"

Lara Jean bit her lip, staring at Peter. She adjusted her hat and mittens, shivering as a winter breeze chilled her to her bones. She took out her wand, whispering a warming charm under her breath. She had perfected charming an area to be warm, but not so much a moving person. She scowled at her inability to complete the charm.

"What was that?" Peter asked.

"A warming charm," She said, "One that didn't work."

A flash of panic crossed Peter's face, "Crap, we didn't learn that-,"

"No, I found it. In an older textbook," She paused, "Last time we met, I'd managed to get the broom to come to me...sorta."

Peter nodded in thought, as though reconnecting the last lesson to his current state. He kicked away the snow a little with his foot, setting down the broom.

"Okay," He lifted both his hands to show his fingers crossed, "Let's do it."

Lara Jean took in a deep breath, holding her hand out above it.

"Up," She said confidently. Well, semi-confidently. Convincingly confidently if she had to classify it.

The broom did not move.

She tried thrice more, but nothing seemed to work.

Peter wasn't ruffled.

"Okay, okay, it's been a long break," He held up his hands, "But I think you're falling into the same pitfalls. You can't lie to magic. I might think that you sound like you want the broom to come to you, but the broom knows."

"The broom is a piece of wood," Lara Jean choked out.

"Well, how does your wand know the spells you say out loud?" Peter challenged. Lara Jean scowled. He'd one-upped her on that, she had to admit.

"Well, then it knows. I hate flying."

"Lara Jean," Peter clicked his tongue.

"What?" She snipped back.

"I'm honestly just trying to imagine it. You failing Flying. Literally failing. A troll, or worse. You-,"

"Okay, I get it!" Lara Jean sighed, wishing she could just be inside, "I'm awful."

"Maybe I've been going about this the wrong way," Peter said with a sudden burst of clarity, "Lara Jean, what terrifies you more? Failing or flying?"

"Failing." Lara Jean didn't even have to think.

Peter motioned to the broom, eyebrows raised.

"Up."

The broom came to her immediately.

"Peter, look!" Lara Jean cried, so relieved it almost hurt. As relieved as she'd been the moment she turned the lights off in her bedroom.

"Woah, calm down. There's still a lot to learn." Peter said, but was beaming, "Can we move on then?"

"What next?"

They spent the next hour more productive than ever before. Lara Jean still abhorred the idea of flying, but Peter had made a fair point. She wasn't going to fail any exams at year's end. She would do it out of spite; which was a common Slytherin way of looking at things.

As the lesson wrapped up, and Lara Jean prepared to go back inside and take a nice long hot bath, Peter stopped her.

"So, uh, Lara Jean...Merry Belated Christmas," He mumbled, shoving out a badly wrapped present in front of her. It looked like a blind-folded monkey had done it, which told Lara Jean that Peter himself had done this. Something about that was endearing.

She took it gently.

"Peter, I," Her throat went dry with shame, "I didn't-,"

"You sent me that letter. On Christmas." Peter replied, "So, you sorta did give me a gift. I was sure you wouldn't."

"I'm not cruel," Lara Jean whispered, feeling almost hurt, "I might be a Slytherin, but I'm not like-,"

She cut off hard. She swallowed. She didn't want to be saying awful things about her best friend.

"I know that. But I still...anyway, it's not much." Peter said, brushing it away. He still lingered, head tilted.

Lara Jean unwrapped it. She was careful not to rip the paper. The paper was a pair of Hippogriffs with wreaths around their necks, zig-zagging through the green background. She wanted to keep this for herself, maybe tucked away in a box.

Inside was a box. Inside the box was a thin charm on a delicate necklace. It was clear it wasn't terribly expensive, but it still was a step above costume jewelry. On the end of the chain was a silver snake. When Lara Jean set it down on her palm, it slithered in a circle, before pausing again. She could feel the enchantment on it.

"I was with my parents and I saw this in a store and I just...well, I thought you might like it. I dunno," Peter said unsure, his face bright red, "I mean, sure, it's a little on the nose but-,"

"I love it," Lara Jean felt the words bubble over, "It's really nice, Peter."

Peter smiled for a second, his face indescribably happy as Lara Jean clipped it onto her neck, before shrugging, as though it was no big deal, "Just, I guess, thanks for being my friend."

"You don't have to thank me for that." Lara Jean's father had taught her to be kind to most, to keep friends, to make an effort. She wasn't going to listen to Gen, because Peter was an okay guy.

"I really do," Peter insisted, "So, well," He clapped his hands, startling Lara Jean, "We continue to meet next week?"

"You still think we have to meet weekly?" Lara Jean tried to stifle her long sigh.

Peter laughed, "I think it may be a miracle to save your grade. But it's an undertaking I'm willing to do."

I'm still taking OC's! Go to the last chapter to see the specs to fill one out if you'd like to submit one :)

Just to bring back to the attention of some, because there's been some questions, this is a slightly AU'verse...
A lot of the BIG THINGS are the same, but some of the 'end couples' are changed.
*It started with making Lara Jean a Black. In my mind, her grandmother was the 4th Black Sister, the youngest after Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa
*The canon character couples are: Hermione/Draco, Harry/Daphne Greengrass, Neville/Ginny, Ron/Luna, Hannah/Cedric, George/Verity. This is due to personal preference. They won't be talked about a ton, but they are there!
-If you want to see a full list of their kids and the kid's personalities, go to my art tumblr 'youngbloodlex22' where I've been posting and will continue to post every day a new artwork set based on these OC kids!