A/N: If you haven't already, you might want to read some of my other stories before you come to this one, specifically HOUSE OF CARDS and THESE MORTALS. It's not compulsory, and I hope you can enjoy this even without doing that, but the whole initial situation will make more sense if you've read them, and you'll know who my second protagonist is.

This story starts a few weeks after THESE MORTALS ends.

Hazel waited for him by the river, her insides swirling like the brown January waters of the Lune that ran past beside her.

In some ways, she was here against her better judgement. A large part of her mind told her that it would have been better to leave it as it had been settled. Yes, she had behaved unfairly to him, but they had had no contact for five months. He had not tried to get in touch in that time, which surely meant that he was over her by now. The whole thing was something that should never have happened, and now that it was over it should remain over. It had been a random colliding of worlds, nothing more. He was arrogant and thoughtless, a reckless rule-breaker, and well-known for his casual habits with girls. Not to mention being her best friend's worst enemy. All reasons why she should have left well alone.

And yet here she was. Because almost dying with someone bound your life up with theirs in ways that were unexpected and confusing. Because he was also charming and funny, treated her with respect, and was annoyingly, undeniably attractive. Because she felt guilty for the way she had treated him. Because she had finally managed to clear things up with Scorpius, and he'd told her she should make her own decision rather than base it on what he thought. And because, in those five months, she'd found that she missed him a lot more than she'd thought she would.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned round as they stopped. There he was, standing just a couple of metres away, looking exactly the same as he had the last time she'd seen him. Brown hair casually tousled, broad shoulders, not tall but taller than her, his hands buried in his jacket pockets. Her heart thumped, and it wasn't entirely nervousness.

"Hey," he said.

His voice didn't hold much of the confidence or amusement it usually did. In fact, she thought he might be as nervous as she was, and that made her feel a bit better.

"Hi," she said, and gave him a small smile.

This seemed to encourage him, and he smiled back.

"How've you been?"

"Oh, fine, thanks," she said, wishing this could be less awkward. "How's adult life going"

He laughed. "Adult life's overrated. But it's okay, I suppose."

Hazel took a deep breath. If she put it off, she'd never get round to talking about it.

"I'm sorry, James," she said. "For the way I treated you, I mean. It wasn't fair. I should have at least given you an explanation, instead of just running away like that."

For a moment, he just looked steadily at her. She tried to read his expression, but she didn't know what to make of it. Then he sighed, moved across beside her and leaned forward against the railing that separated them from the edge of the quayside and the river. He looked down, as she had done, at the water.

"Well, I'm sorry too," he said. "I probably shouldn't have kissed you like that. I pushed things too fast. I just, well, I thought you, y'know, wanted the same thing…"

"James." She stopped him, dismayed by the implication of what he thought he'd done. "You don't have to say sorry for that. I did want it. I mean, you literally stopped and said 'is this okay?' and I said yes! That isn't why I left."

"You left because your best friend hates me." He spoke evenly, and it wasn't a question.

"It wasn't about the fact that he hates you – it was about the reasons he hates you. And I know you're not that person underneath, but I just… Well, I'd been pretending all summer. Pretending it was all no big deal, and that it didn't matter that I hadn't told him, because it wasn't anything important. And then you kissed me and I realised I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't keep on pretending, James. I couldn't ignore it, or act like his feelings didn't matter. He's too important to me. And I didn't know what to do, so I just panicked. That's why I ran away."

"Well." He tried for a light tone. "I suppose that's better than thinking you were suddenly disgusted by me." He glanced sideways at her. "So us meeting today… Is this you giving us some closure before we say goodbye? I mean, obviously I understand if it is. I'd just kind of like to know where we stand, because all you said was that you wanted to talk. Which usually doesn't mean anything good."

"I don't really know," she admitted. "I do want to talk – I don't know what else I want. Honestly, everything in my head's telling me I ought to just end it and let it go, but I couldn't do that. I couldn't leave things up in the air the way they were." And she'd missed him, but she didn't know how to say that. "Plus," she went on hurriedly, "I wouldn't mind knowing what the hell this is about."

From the front pocket of her bag, she produced a piece of the thick, heavy parchment witches and wizards liked to write on. He looked at it, puzzled.

"What is it?"

"A letter I got." She held it out to him.

He took it, unfolded it, and started to read. His puzzlement changed to shock, and then to horror, and she watched his face turn dark red. After a moment, he looked up.

"I'm going to kill him," he said, his voice sounding slightly strained, as if fighting with some emotion.

"I take it he is who he says he is, then?" she asked.

"Oh yeah." He laughed, although he didn't sound very amused. "Of course he is – this could only be a member of my family."

Her first reaction to the letter, when she had received it, had also been shock. Then it had turned to anger, and she had thought at first that James himself must have been behind it, but his response just now had just proved that he was not. That was a relief, and left room for her to start seeing the funny side.

"D'you think he actually knows that influenza is just the flu?" she asked conversationally.

James looked back down at the letter. "No. I'm going to guess he got it from a book."

"A book written sometime in the first half of the twentieth century, maybe? Because I don't know about the magical world, but for us, flu isn't really that serous - at least, not if you're eighteen and otherwise totally healthy, which I assume you are. I mean, not to downplay the idea of you dying from it or anything…"

His lips twitched. "Well, to be fair, he doesn't actually say I'm dying."

"No, he just implies it's possible," she agreed. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm glad you're not."

She caught his eye, and a moment later they both dissolved into laughter.

By the time she could speak again, the awkwardness had somehow faded.

"Merlin, I'm so incredibly sorry about him," he said at last, recovering.

She opened her mouth to speak, but all that actually came out was: "Why?"

"I don't know. Well, that's a lie. I think I probably do know."

"So, are you going to tell me?" she asked, after a slight pause. "Come on, you have to now."

"He overheard me talking about you," he said reluctantly. "Well, he actually overheard my brother mention you to me."

"You and your brother were talking about me?" she interrupted.

He'd gone red again. "Please don't make this even more embarrassing than it already is. He heard part of a conversation, and started asking questions about you. And he doesn't know how to mind his own business and keep out of other people's lives. I expect he thought he was helping."

"Helping to do what, exactly?" she asked.

She was quite keen to know what they'd been saying about her, and why it had prompted James's cousin to do this. The letter was entirely ridiculous, but it was definitely an attempt to push them together, which meant that James must have given his cousin the impression he wanted to see her.

"Well, you know," he mumbled, staring at the water. "I wanted to talk to you, but you'd said you didn't want me to contact you, so there wasn't anything I could do, was there? It was kind of driving me a bit crazy, though. He doesn't know what happened, or about anything you said," he added hastily. "He barely knows anything actually, but he obviously worked out some of it."

She had told him not to contact her, although now it seemed stupid and melodramatic, especially when he hadn't really done anything wrong, to be banished from her life. She'd just been looking for any way out of the situation, and for some reason she'd thought it would be easier if she never saw him again. She'd been wrong about that.

"Well, when you think about it, it sort of worked," she said with a small laugh. "If he was trying to get us in the same place – here we are."

He also laughed. "I s'pose so. He's still an interfering little shit."

"Must run in the family then," she commented. "I mean, given that this is coming from the guy who had a go at his sister because she went to the pub with someone he doesn't like…"

He groaned. "You heard about that?"

"Of course I did. I talk to Scorpius as well, you know. Although he's very sure that he's only friends with your sister, nothing more, so there's probably nothing to get excited about there. Still, you can't say much about your cousin interfering."

"Hey, you should be as annoyed as me!" he protested. "It affects you too!"

"Yeah, well I was, at first. Now I just think it's funny, more than anything. Plus…" She hesitated, then ploughed on. "I'm actually kind of glad. The letter's stupid, of course, but I actually did want to talk to you. I owed you an explanation. Only I was putting it off, because I didn't know what I was going to say, and I kept thinking it would maybe be easier not to. Then this sort of… pushed me into it. Partly because I wanted to know where the hell it came from."

"Right." He sounded uncertain again. "So now that you've explained and stuff, where does that leave us? Because I just want to say," he went on, before she could respond, "that what I said in the summer still applies. And I know you've got loads of good reasons not to want to see me, let alone go out with me, and that most of them are to do with things I did in the past, so there's nothing I can do to undo them. I just… well, I s'pose I just want to know if I've got any chance at all, and if there's anything I could do to give myself a chance. And if not, I totally get it, and I hope we can still be friends. I'll get it if you don't want that either, though. I just need to know, that's all…"

She watched him as the words came rattling out, her fingers gripping the railing and a pale sun catching the red-gold highlights in his brown hair, his face half tilted towards her and his eyes anxious and unhappy. She'd come here today with no idea of what decision to make, or where their conversation would take them, just knowing they had to have it. Thoughts and arguments and counter-arguments had been going round and round inside her head for months. And now suddenly they'd all flown away, and the future was still an unknown blank, but the decision for right now was crystal clear in her mind. In fact it was barely a decision. Sometimes, you had to stop thinking too much.

Hazel gripped the front of his jacket, pulled him round and kissed his lips.

He was surprised. In the second before their lips met, she saw his eyes widen, and his mouth was open for the beginning of a word. It took him only a moment of rigid shock, however, and then he was kissing her back. It was hard, urgent, hurried, the rush from a suddenly broken dam. His chest pressed to hers, his hands on the small of her back.

And then he broke away and she looked up at him. He still held her close, hands resting on her hips, and she could see the light spread of pale freckles across his nose, and feel his heart beating – a little faster than usual, but so was hers. There was a slightly dazed expression in his eyes as he looked down at her.

"Wow. That was… not what I expected," he said softly. "Does this mean I have got a chance?"

She sighed, meeting his gaze. "James, you've always had a chance, right from the first night I met you. I tried to hate you, once I found out who you were, but I couldn't ever do it. I like you, but…" She closed her eyes, almost wishing she had succeeded in managing to hate him. "Oh God, there are so many reasons why this shouldn't work."

"I know," he agreed.

She opened her eyes again, and he was frowning.

"But if we both want it, and want each other, isn't it worth at least giving it a go?" he went on, and she could hear the slightly desperate hope in his voice. "I know I don't exactly deserve it – I deserve you to hate me, but you've just said you don't. And I swear I'm trying to be less of a waste of space…"

She gave something that was almost a laugh, with a hint of a sob. "You're not a waste of space. And yes, I want to give it a go…"

"Seriously?" His eyes lit up. "I mean, is that actually a yes…?"

"Yes," she said with more assurance. "On a few conditions."

He still looked like his birthday had just arrived, but a slight wariness came into his face.

"What are they?"

She took a breath. "You have to be nice to Scorpius."

"I haven't done or said anything to him for months!" he protested.

"Yeah, because you haven't seen him for months – you left school! But if this is going to go anywhere, you're going to have to get used to being in the same space as him. I'm not saying you have to suddenly be his friend – I can't force either of you to like each other. But you have to be civil, at least. To him, and about him."

He looked a little sheepish. "Well, I can probably manage that. As long as he doesn't say anything to me – or are you saying I've got to smile and be polite even then?"

She sighed again. "Well, I'd like to think you're capable of rising above it, just like I'd like to think he won't say anything to you. But fine – just don't start anything."

He nodded. "Okay, got it. Is that it?"

"No." She hesitated. They still had their arms round each other, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to have this conversation right now, but it was important. At least, it was important to her. "James, the trouble is, we come from different worlds. No, we do," she went on, seeing him open his mouth to protest. "We literally do. And I know that because I've been friends with Scorpius for eleven years, and I've still never even seen the street where he does most of his shopping. And if… if we're going to go out, we have to understand each other's worlds. I can't deal with secrets and pretending."

He was looking a little puzzled, although he was nodding slowly. "Okay. I think I get that. But you already know about the magical world…"

"No, I don't," she interrupted. "Not really. I know Scorpius, and I know stuff about his life. But until recently, his parents pretended not to be magical whenever I came round. I don't know any other witches or wizards, apart from you, and for most of the time I've known him, Scorpius wasn't even allowed to do magic in the holidays. And I know I can't go to all your magical places – I get that. I'm just saying I need you to be straight with me. All the times we met up over the summer, I never saw you do any magic. But I'm guessing you must do it all the time, and that's what I mean about not pretending. I want to understand it – I want to know what's normal for you." She stopped, because a grin had appeared on his face. "What? Did I say something funny?"

"No," he assured her quickly. "I agree with you. I don't want to pretend either. But hey, you know I'm pretty sure there's nothing stopping you getting into Diagon Alley if I take you. I've seen Muggleborns' parents there loads of times. And there are other places. Not everywhere's as protected as places like Hogwarts or the Ministry."

"Really?" She stared doubtfully at him.

"Yeah, of course." He shrugged. "It might not technically be something I should do, but who's going to care? Or notice? Although actually, I don't know how public you want to make this yet. I doubt if we'd get into trouble – well, you wouldn't anyway – but we'd definitely get spotted if we went to Diagon Alley."

"Well, I'd tell Scorpius first then," she said. She wasn't sure how he was going to take it, and the thought was an uncomfortable one, but she pushed it away and smiled. "There isn't anyone else I know who'd be likely to hear about it. So that would be up to you. But could you actually take me there?"

"Sure. But you've already experienced how much my family likes to stick their noses in things, so let's maybe put a hold on that one for a bit – because you can guarantee we'd run into some of them there. They're everywhere." He grinned at her. "We can start somewhere else, though. What would you like to see?"

His grin was infectious, and she felt one starting on her face too. She didn't really know what there was to see other than the places they'd already mentioned, and she didn't really care. There were still plenty of difficulties to be overcome, but she found that right now she didn't really care about those either.

"Everything," she told him, pulled him down towards her and kissed him again.