[b][u]Chapter Ten: Continued.[/b][/u]

That night, I stalled going down for dinner for as much as I could. I knew my parents wouldn't approve of me of skipping yet another dinner, second one in a row, with my family and the Potters, so sighing, at the last possible minute, I got up from my bed, which I had been sitting on, trying to read a book, for the rest of the afternoon. I put on my most favorite emerald green halter dress, which I had been told by others brought out my eyes even more, yanked a hairbrush through my hair and left my cabin. I had only just rounded the corner, when I heard someone coming up behind me. "Lils!" I heard the familiar voice of Rach calling out to me. "Wait up!"

I turned around, surprised, and watched Rachel running around the corner and skidding into a halt before me, slightly panting. "Shouldn't you be down in the restaurant, having dinner?" I asked her, confused. I had seen her earlier in the afternoon, sure enough nothing that important could've happened in the mean time that she just had to talk to me.

Still slightly out of breath, Rach shrugged as we both started walking again. "I convinced my uncle and auntie to share a table with you, your family and the Potters tonight, thought you might need the distraction." She explained. "Once I noticed you weren't there, I came looking for you. Where were you heading anyway?"

"I was just about to go down there." I said, rather defensively. "But what do you mean, I might need the distraction?" I was confused really. Surely she couldn't already know what had happened after we parted this afternoon?

Rach shrugged again. "I ran into that Black kid earlier." She said, and I couldn't help but laugh. Rach, being the smart girl that she is, grinned. "I know what you're thinking, so no, we didn't kiss. Not that I want to anyways. He actually only stopped in his tracks to talk to me, because apparently he had heard some things from James, and thought you might need a friend."

I slightly cringed as she said that, but it was barely noticeable, once I thought about the events that occurred this afternoon. "Yeah, Eric was a right down brat." I said sourly, hoping she would skip over the entire situation with James which happened afterwards. But of course, that hope was in vain.

"Yeah, and that too." She said, smirking sarcastically and sourly. That told me enough. "I still can't believe James turned you down though." She continued, as the restaurant came in sight. "He had been after you for what, four years? But now that you like him, he's chickening out! See, that's why I don't fall in love. Boys only give you a headache." She nodded wisely.

I just shrugged as I pushed open the door to the restaurant. "It's not exactly like that, he's not chickening out." I said. "But can we drop the subject now? I really don't want to talk about it." Finally, Rach picked up the hints, and she didn't say any more about it.

I sat down next to Kaylee, because I was sure she would keep me occupied and entertained for the time dinner lasted. Luckily for me, Rach didn't bring the subject up anymore, and to any outsider, it would look like I had the time of my life. I ate, laughed with everyone else at the table, and watched the entertainment crew limbo dancing, and picking out people in the restaurant at random to join.

No one could tell from the look on my face how I was really feeling deep down inside me. I hardly even looked in James' direction, only if I really had to. He had given me to many opportunities, and I turned away from him each time. Now, he had turned away from me, and although it hurt like nothing else I've ever gone through, even that time in Fifth year where my former best friend had turned against me and called me a mudblood in public, I could understand. Ha, only a fool would try it again after Lily Evans turned you down the amount of times she had turned James down. But secretly, I hoped he would try. But what were the odds of that ever happening again? It was going to be hard, but it would be best if I would try to forget about him altogether, because somehow, I guessed we were just never meant to be together.