I'd learnt from experience that it was better to arrive at the train station early because you had less of a chance of getting caught up in the crowd and more of a chance of finding an empty train carriage. So, after having arrived early at the platform and saying goodbye to my parents I walked onto the train, finding an unoccupied train carriage.

How long would it take for everyone else to arrive?

I glanced warily between my trunk and the overhead compartment – I was never normally the first one to arrive and so someone was usually here to help me place my trunk into the compartment that I barely managed to reach even when I stood on my tiptoes.

Taking a hold of my trunk I struggled to place it into the compartment when suddenly the weight of it became all the more lighter. Looking around my trunk I met the smiling eyes of the boy on the other side as he easily lofted my trunk up. Stepping away from the trunk as he pushed me away with his shoulder, I sat down to watch him. Placing my trunk away effortlessly, he then did the same with his, sitting across from me when he was finished.

"So," he said with a playful grin, "How has my best friend been?"

I rolled my eyes, looking away from him to rummage through my purse. "I don't know Al. How has your best friend been?"

"Don't be like that," he said instantly, one of his feet kicking out to tap against my leg. I stopped my search momentarily to look pointedly down at his foot which he brought back into him. "Come on – I missed you over the summer holiday. Didn't you miss me too?"

Choosing not to answer him, I gave up my search because I'd long forgotten what it was that I was looking for. Instead I looked out of the window, biting on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling when I saw him move from the corner of my eye. He stood up only to sit down again, beside me this time. He nudged me with his shoulder in an attempt to make me look at him.

"Are you seriously going to ignore me right now? Even though we haven't seen each other all summer?" He nudged me again before letting out a sigh. "Fine but at least tell me what I did that was so bad?"

I didn't need to be facing him to know that he had narrowed his eyes at me in response to my continual silence. "Alright then – just remember that you brought this onto yourself. But you do know what I'm going to have to do to you if you continue to ignore me, don't you?"

It took me less than a second to process his words and even shorter for me to rise to my feet. I needed to put as much space between us as I could. When I started to run he would catch me effortlessly so the more space I put between us, the better –

His hand curled around my upper arm and pulled me back down beside him the moment that I had tried to take my first step away from him. His actions were a lot quicker than mine and he was tickling me before I even had the chance to try and shy away from his prodding fingers.

"Stop it!" I squealed as his arms came around me, continuing to dodge the hits that I tried to throw his way. "Albus, seriously stop."

"On one condition," He said, still not stopping. "Tell me who's the most handsome boy in the whole school?"

I kept quiet, not allowing myself to give him an ego boost. Albus narrowed his eyes even further, his hands drifting towards my neck – the most ticklish part of my body and I dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"Answer the question and I'll stop."

Looking over his shoulder I glanced into the hallway and recognised the boy passing the corridor instantly.

"James!" I cried, out, trying to get the older Potter boy to save me.

But Albus, having taking that as my answer, pulled away from me in sheer shock. He stared round eyed at me and I shook my head at his misunderstanding. James' fangirls could have him.

"Woah!" James said as he walked back towards our carriage and walked inside, "I do not need to see the two of you getting hot and heavy." He slammed his hands over his eyes.

So maybe it did look bad. My announcement might have shocked Albus enough for him to pull away but he hadn't moved far. He was still hovering over me, pushing me into the seat with his arms around me. It didn't help that we both looked a little breathless.

Pushing slightly at Albus' chest to get him to draw away I straightened up and levelled a look at James. "It's not like that."

"Of course not," he said giving me a maddeningly smug smile as he sat across from me. Scrunching my nose at him in distaste I took a leaf out of Albus' book and kicked James in the shin. But whilst Albus had been gentle when he had kicked me, I had forgotten to be gentle whilst kicking James. The smile left his face instantly.

Only it returned when Rose, Lily and Hugo walked through the train and found our carriage. Clambering into the carriage, they sat down. Rose settled down beside me and I glanced around the carriage to make sure that no one would be listening to our conversation.

"So Rose," I began, lowering my voice slightly. If any of the boys heard what we were talking about then there would be trouble. "Any news on the Malfoy crush front?"

"None that I didn't tell you by owl," She muttered back to me.

"That' what I forgot!" Albus announced, shooting up from his seat and shocking Rose and I into complete silence. Had he heard what we were talking about? I shared a wary look with Rose but rationalised it to myself. If he had heard what we were talking about then he would have been a lot angrier. "I forgot to owl you all summer."

My shoulders visibly dropped in relief as he turned to face me and started to apologise. Tugging on his sleeve I made him sit back down beside me.

"It's fine Al – it's not a big deal. Honestly. It's fine."

"Just a quick tip, little brother," James, who had been watching our exchange with interest piped in. "When a woman claims that something is fine, it never is."

"Ignore him," I said reaching across Albus to swat his brother. "James here things that he knows everything about women when in reality he knows nothing – he can barely string two words together when he's in front of a girl he likes."

I gave Albus a reassuring smile when I saw that he was still looking at me uncertainly. A single glance over his shoulder and I felt my smile diminish as Mary Finnegan tapped on the door to the carriage, catching everyone's attention. Seeing that all eyes were on her, she smiled coyly in Al's direction. I let out a deep breath, feeling Rose take a hold of my arm as if to reassure me. Of what I had no idea but I was still thankful for it.

"Is there any space in here for me?" She asked although it was plainly obvious who that question was addressed to.

Against my will I found myself watch Al, silently willing him to tell her no. But Al, sweet clueless Al, had no idea that she was actually asking him the question. Seeing the lack of response she cleared her throat slightly before trying again.

"Albus, can I sit in here?"

"No," the answer came instantly but not from Albus. Mary looked over at Rose at the sound of her voice and her eyebrows flew up in surprise as if she had forgotten the presence of anyone else in the carriage.

"I'm quite a small person-"

"And there's still no space in here. Now why don't you go and find your friends Mary, the train is about to set off."

Left with no further room for argument, Mary turned and walked away from the carriage. The boys glanced at Rose for an explanation but she only raised an eyebrow at them. She was silently challenging them to try and say anything about her decision. The boys smartly turned back to their own conversation.

When she was sure that no one was paying any more attention to us, she squeezed my arm that she still had a hold on.

"We girls need to stick together. You keep my crush a secret and I do the same for yours."

My eyes widened, "How did you-"

"Everyone knows," she said dismissively before patting my arm when she saw the visible shock on my face. "Everyone apart from Albus that is – that boy is clueless about everything."

"Rose-"

"Relax, I've kept it a secret for this long already. It's kind of fun to see how long Albus can play clueless and how long you can act as if you're not in love with my cousin."

And with that, the whistle signalling that the train would be pulling out of the station, blew.

Rose and I were sat in the great hall completing our homework when Rose suddenly looked up at me. "What are your plans for Hogsmeade?"

"Why?" I asked, peering up momentarily from my parchment to look at her.

"I was wondering if you had any plans with the love of your life."

I narrowed my eyes at her, setting my quill onto the table beside my ink pot. "How many times have I told you to stop calling him that?" She just grinned at me. "I don't suppose you have any plans with your lover boy?"

Letting out a huff, she set her own quill down. She set her crossed arms on the table top. "Don't even mention that snake to me."

"What did he do this time?"

They clearly hadn't had a fight because if they had then I would have known by now, the whole school would have known by now. Their fights were notoriously loud and public.

"He sort of asked me to Hogsmeade."

"And this is a problem because?"

"Because he didn't ask me."

"I don't follow," I admitted, giving her a look.

"So he said that he wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me but then had the nerve to tell me that he's never asked a girl to go to Hogsmeade with him – they've all asked him." She let out an annoyed huff when she caught sight of the confusion still on my face. "Basically we can't go to Hogsmeade together unless I ask him."

"That's," I paused, searching for the right word.

Evidently I didn't need to finish my sentence as she nodded as if to say 'exactly!'

"So he can't ask you because of his pride." She nodded again. "And you're not going to ask him because of your pride." Here, she nodded even more forcefully. "Right – the two of you just make things more complicated than they need to be."

"Maybe," she admitted with a sigh and trailed off, looking at the doors of the hall.

Following her eyes I watched as Albus walked into the great hall, locating the two of us easily. He made his way over to the two of us, sitting down beside me and pulling out his own essay. I watched him closely as he continued to look away from me. Picking up my quill I turned back to my own essay – there was something wrong with him.

"You know whatever it is Albus, you can say it." I said without looking up from my essay.

"It's about our Hogsmeade plans," he started quietly and I glanced across the table briefly to see that Rose was in fact listening to our conversation. "I just – I might have to cancel. Mary came up to me and I kind of promised her that I would go with her."

My quill came to a still at the sound of her name but Albus had no clue as he continued to work on his essay. Silently I continued the sentence that I had been halfway through writing.

"I'm really sorry," he said after moments of prolonged silence.

"Albus don't worry about it. It's fine."

He stopped writing suddenly and turned to look at me even though I continued to face my parchment. "Again with the f word."

I forced myself to roll my eyes playfully, "Really Albus you don't need to listen to everything James says."

Eventually we both returned to our own essay and I was stopped halfway when a piece of parchment landed in front of me. I recognised Rosie's handwriting instantly.

I thought you said that you didn't have a date?

Picking up my own quill I penned a quick reply.

It wasn't a date.

If it was then he wouldn't have cancelled on me.

"I've got a surprise for you," were the words that Rose greeted me with when I exited my Arithmancy class to find her waiting outside of the classroom.

I gave her a calculating look; she looked far too pleased with herself for it to mean anything good for me.

"Is this a surprise that I will actually like?" I asked cautiously when she linked her arm through mine as we headed to the great hall for dinner.

"Probably not," she admitted. "But I think it's a necessary surprise."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"I just- I saw the way you reacted when Al told you about Mary and well this is something that should get him to pull his head out of his ass."

"Rosie-"

"Just trust me on this." She gave me a soft look. "Please?"

"Fine," I relented with a sigh. "Lead the way."

It was with a beaming smile that Rosie led me the rest of the way to the great hall but instead of heading to the Gryffindor table, she steered me over to the Ravenclaw table. Ignoring the look of confusion on my face she continued to lead me down the table and stopped once we were standing behind two heads of blond hair.

Letting her arm slip from mine she tapped one of the boys on the shoulder and he turned to look at her curiously. When he recognised Rose and his eyes moved to look at me he let a smile grace his features. Lorcan Scamander?

"Hello," he greeted me pleasantly and I smiled back.

"Hello," I replied, side eyeing Rose who was watching our interaction with interest. "What's going on Rose?"

"Lorcan here is going to make Al jealous."

"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously looking between the two of them who seemed to think this was a reasonable plan.

"Don't forget about me," the boy that had been sitting beside him – Lysander Scamander turned and set his arm around the shoulder of his twin, "It's my job to make Malfoy jealous."

"I'm sorry but how is this a reasonable idea?" I asked now looking between the three of them who had planned this behind my back.

"It's not," Lorcan admitted, "But if things go well you get a boyfriend out of this; whether that boyfriend is me or Potter will depend on how the plan works out."

He grinned easily at me, taking my hand and raising it to his lips to signal the end of the conversation. I cleared my throat and pulled my hand back, catching the amusement that my reaction had caused him.

Before I had a chance to ask when exactly they had come up with this idea, Rose was dragging me over to the Gryffindor table and I found myself sitting in my usual seat beside Al. He had obviously been watching us as he turned to me the moment that I had sat down.

"What was that about?"

"I have a date with Lorcan Scamander," I said quietly, in a tone that made my disbelief obvious.

This 'date' with Lorcan had been off to a good start. He had been waiting for me by the great hall and had escorted me to the carriages. We had spent the day with Lysander and Rose as they led us around Hogsmeade.

"I just- I don't understand why you agreed to do this. I mean what do you get from this?" I asked looking up at the younger boy.

"I'm not doing this without gaining anything." He said with a smile.

"And what are you gaining from this exactly?"

He looked down at me with a strange smile. "I'm spending time with the girl I have a crush on."

My eyes widened as I looked away from him uncomfortably. "You have a crush on Rose?"

He let out a low whistle. "Wow you're dense. You, I have a crush on you."

"Alright," I said awkwardly. "You're helping me make Albus jealous even though you have a crush on me?"

"It's annoying to see the girl I like pining after some guy who doesn't even notice it." Seeing the look that I was giving him, he rolled his eyes, "Don't let your heart bleed for me yet – it's only a small crush. It will disappear eventually."

We continued to talk as we made our way through Hogsmeade following the other couple that was part of our 'double date'. I stopped still when I saw the building that Rose and Lysander had just walked into.

"Come on," Lorcan said appearing beside me.

I gave him a flat look. "There is no way that I am setting foot in Madam Puddifoot's."

"Oh I disagree," he muttered before he swung me over his shoulder and I had to bury my face into the back of his shirt to hide my blush.

Merlin, this was the most embarrassed I had ever been in my life. To make matters worse Albus was in here and I knew that Albus was in here because I heard him call my name. Looking up from Lorcan's shirt I gave Albus a small wave before hiding back into the shirt.

When he had sat me down and we were facing the other couple, we ordered our drinks. Looking out of the window as the other three talked I watched as Malfoy walked passed the shop, glancing in casually. He stopped when his eyes landed on Rose and then shifted onto the boy sitting beside her. His friends looked back at him but he waved them off.

Straightening up he made his way into the shop, eyes narrowed onto Rose. I risked a look back at Rose who was oblivious to Malfoy. Only when he was standing beside the table and had cleared his throat did Rose look up at him. Malfoy's eyes left hers a moment later and went to Lysander and I had to give Lysander credit for not paling under Malfoy's intimidating glare.

"What the hell is going on here?" He demanded.

"What does it look like Malfoy?" Rose asked coolly and I picked up my cup, settling back into my seat in order to get comfortable and watch the show. From the corner of my eye I saw Lorcan do the same.

"I thought we had an understanding Weasley?"

"Did we Malfoy?"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her and grabbed her hand. Keeping a tight hold on it, he pulled her out of her seat before leading her out of the shop. I pouted; they were just getting to the good part.

Looking at the now dateless Scamander I raised my eyebrows slightly when he said, "Well it looks like my work here is done," with his eyes fixed onto something behind my shoulder.

I watched as a girl exited the shop and he followed shortly after her. Turning back to Lorcan I raised an eyebrow, "Don't tell me – that was his price; he make Malfoy jealous. Rosie makes her jealous."

Lorcan nodded and I looked around the shop.

"You do realise that you're going to have to tie me up to keep me in here now, don't you?" I asked.

"I don't think so," he replied taking a sip from his own cup. "I think my natural charm will keep you here."

"You seem to be delusional." I put my cup down on the table and set a hand on forehead. "Are you sure you're not sick?"

He took a hold of my hand and placed it on his chest. Then in the cheesiest voice he could muster, he said, "Only love sick."

Pulling my hand away from him I couldn't contain the laughter that burst out of me. Lorcan leaned down towards me once I had stopped laughing.

"Don't look now but lover boy looks jealous." He whispered the words in my ears and a blush covered my cheeks at his close proximity. Trailing a finger across my burning cheek he said, "You blush really easily – that might come in handy."

"How?"

"Hey guys." Lorcan pulled away from me at the sound of Albus' voice and turned to look at him and Mary as they stood behind the now unoccupied seats of Rosie and Lysander. Albus sat down and Mary looked at him for a moment before following his lead. "What are the two of you doing here?"

"Probably the same thing as you Potter," Lorcan said, looping his arm around my shoulder. Albus' eyes narrowed on Lorcan's arm but he made no further comment.

Mary was the one to fill the silence. "So I could never picture the two of you together. It's weird to see you on a date together."

"Why not Finnegan? I mean it's weird for me to see you and Potter together but I have liked her for a while now. I mean just because I haven't declared my feelings for her at every opportunity that's presented itself to me doesn't mean that I don't like her."

The fact that I knew his true feelings made everything so awkward. Maybe if I didn't like Albus, if I had known about Lorcan's feelings earlier then I might have been able to give this date a try. I could have acted as though it was a real date. Regardless of the fact that Albus was sitting across from us, glaring intently at Lorcan.

Lorcan made a show of trailing his hand to my neck when he realised that I was spacing out. The moment I felt his fingers graze the skin of my neck I jumped at the contact. He looked at me, his eyes brimming with mischief.

"You're ticklish aren't you?"

"Don't you dare," I warned trying to put some distance between us. His arms drew closer to me and I slapped his arms away from me. But his hands quickly wound to my sides and I let out a shriek as I tried to get away from him.

Albus cleared his throat roughly, silencing both Lorcan and I. Straightening myself out in my seat I glanced over at him and saw that he was clutching at his cup so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

"Albus what's wrong?" Mary simpered, laying a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her hand away all while keeping his death glare locked onto Lorcan.

"Do you mind not doing that to my best friend?" He asked.

"I don't know what you're problem is Potter," Lorcan began confrontationally. "But I can assure you that my date doesn't mind." Albus' face clouded over in anger but Lorcan ignored him and slid out of his seat. "Didn't I promise to buy you some sugar quills?"

I looked up at the hand he offered me and rolled my eyes as I set my hand in his. "You mean that you bribed me into coming with you," I corrected.

We made our way out of the shop and I struggled not to look back. But the urge to look back had almost disappeared when we were far enough that the shop would not be seen if I had turned to look over my shoulder.

"He looked really jealous," Lorcan admitted, his voice made of equal parts triumph and sadness. And in that moment I let myself believe him. "It sucks that there's someone else but I'm also happy for you."

"Lorcan-"

My words were cut off by him taking a hold of my arm to tug me in the direction of Honeydukes. Only once we were in the shop did he explain, "Potter's following us."

Glancing back over my shoulder I watched Albus push his way into the shop, followed by a slightly haggard looking Mary. Sure enough, it seemed like they were following us.

"What do we do?" I asked looking to Lorcan for guidance.

"We act as if we haven't seen them yet. Now, I thought you wanted sugar quills?"

It was probably no more than ten minutes later that Albus called my name from the other side of the aisle as I was about to join the queue to pay for my sweets. He walked over to the pair of us and I looked around for Mary and found no sign of her – had she left?

"Albus?" I asked as though I had no idea what he was doing there.

"I need to have a word with you," he explained when he came to a stop beside us.

I glanced at Lorcan who simply reached over to take the sweets from my arms. "Go, I'll just pay for these."

"Wait, let me give you money-"

"Forget it. Although if you insist on paying me, I'll accept another method." With that he dropped a kiss to my cheek and straightened up again. "There – paid for in full."

Lorcan left the two of us alone to join the queue and Albus, once he had left, took a hold of my arm and proceeded to drag me out of the shop.

"What are you doing Albus?" I asked when we were outside of the shop, standing away from the entrance so as not to block the steady stream of people going into the shop.

"What are you doing with him?" He demanded.

"That's a bit of a stupid question isn't it Al?" I gave him a look. "Merlin, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm on a date."

"Yeah with Lorcan Scamander of all people." He said with a sneer, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I don't know what your problem is Albus." I stared up at him questioningly. "Lorcan is a genuinely nice guy."

"He's a kid."

"He's only in the year below us!"

"That doesn't make him a nice guy," he scoffed. "The only reason he's here is so that he can get laid."

"Is that what you think of me? That I'll sleep with anyone that takes me on a date?"

"No of course not-"

I didn't give him a chance to explain as I turned around and walked back into the shop, stumbling almost instantly into Lorcan.

"Woah, what's wrong?" He asked when he peered down at my face and seeing my expression.

"He thinks I'm easy." I said as if it was no big deal, giving him a forced smile. "All in all; mission failed."

Rose was big on female solidarity and someone how she had managed to rope Lily into the idea. Even though the so called enemy was their cousin and brother. They seemed to know whenever he was around and had made a habit of moving me away from him. While I understood that they were being good friends and I was grateful for that but I couldn't stand it because it was Al. I couldn't see the heart broken look on his face every time they did move me.

I had finally managed to lose them both and ducked into the library. Heading to the corner that I knew he would be in and finding him sitting alone, I set a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright Al?"

He looked up; his face falling almost instantly. "Shouldn't you be with Scamander?"

I sighed, sitting beside him; I was tempted to admit that it had all been a plan. "We broke up."

"Why?" I bit on the inside of my cheek to stop a smile when I heard the tone of his voice, "He seemed really nice."

"He was really nice." I paused as I searched for the right words. "He just … didn't know me as well as I want a boyfriend to. I think that he might be just friend material."

"So he didn't know things like your birthday?" He inched closer towards me. "Or what you're favourite colour is? Or that you can't stand shrimp or –"

"No."

"What you're saying is that he wasn't...me?"

"Yes," I muttered quietly.

I looked away from him as he leaned down and pulled me closer to his side.

"Look at me."

I shook my head stubbornly.

"Alright. You've forced me." I knew that tone all too well. Standing, I was forced onto his lap as his hands went to my sides.

"Stop!" If I started laughing now then I would be kicked out of the library, we both would. But something told me that Albus didn't seem to care about that.