Chapter 1:

Dorothy Longbottom had a lot of nervous habits. It was probably because she nervous nearly all of the time. Currently, rather than biting her gnarly nails or running her fingers through her soft blonde hair until she began accidentally pulling it out, she had her hands on the yellow and black tie around her neck, wringing it between her hands, smoothing it back down against her shirt, and then squeezing the silk out of it again.

"Dorothy?"

She snapped back into reality, the reality she wanted so desperately to escape. "Sorry, what, James?"

"I asked what you thought of my idea. Good?" he asked, not bothering to ask about the pained and uncomfortable look on her face. "You know, flowers, chocolate?"

"No," she said, releasing her tie. "Not even close. You want to get Jen back, right? Prove how much you love her? Flowers and chocolate are sweet, yes, but that doesn't do anything to prove your love. You've got to make this personal. Show her how much you know who she is, that she's not just some girl you can let slip away."

"This is so hard," he said in frustration. "I love her, she loves me, why can't we just be together again?"

"She wants to make sure you love her," Dorothy said, picking up her quill as Professor McCain continued his lecture on the Patronus charm and its application, a subject that had reentered the NEWTS Charms curriculum after its prominence during the Potter Ages. "You did make out with that sixth year at the end of term party last year."

"I was drunk! She can't hold that against me!"

"Obviously, she does. And if you're serious about this—"

"I want her back, Dorothy. No question."

Dorothy bit her lip and nodded, her free hand once again yanking on her Hufflepuff tie. "Then stop moaning and start thinking. What does she like?"

Dorothy wanted to grab her books and run out of class after they were dismissed, but she didn't. She walked out with James and stood by his side as they made their way down the corridor, while he continued to bounce ideas off of her to woo Jen Brady back into his waiting arms.

"What do you have next?" James asked.

"Huh? Oh, Potions with Ravenclaws."

James froze. "Is Jen in your class?"

"Of course she is. Doesn't she want to be a Healer?"

Ignoring her, James continued, "Does she ever talk about me?"

Dorothy wanted to lie. She wanted to tell him that she never mentioned how nice his hair was, how he always could make her laugh even when she was mad at him, and how she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out before she got back together with him. Dorothy didn't want to tell him that she talked about James just as much as James talked about her. "Well?" James pressed.

"Yeah," Dorothy sighed. "She does."

James jumped with a whoop of joy. Dorothy frowned and started walking again. "What does she say?" James asked, catching up to her.

"I don't remember," she said quickly, wanting the subject to change desperately.

"Seriously, Dorothy? Come on. You have to remember something."

"I'm a bit busy trying not to fail, sorry," she snapped. James looked surprised at her outburst. She immediately was overcome with regret. "Sorry, it's just…well, you know how Potions is my worst subject. And can't I apply to be an Auror without a passing grade."

"You want to be an Auror?" James asked. "Since when?"

Dorothy looked at him in disbelief. "Since, well, forever! My dad was an Auror until my mum got pregnant, and I've always wanted to help people. Didn't you ever wonder why we had so many of the same classes?"

"I guess I never pictured you as an Auror," James shrugged. "Always thought you'd teach or something. You're too sweet."

"James, I've wanted to be an Auror longer than you have," Dorothy said, obviously hurt. "I almost had an internship under your dad, but we couldn't afford it."

"Really?" James said, obviously surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Dorothy choked on the breath she'd just taken. "Are you kidding me? You and Freddie pushed me to go for it!" Then, against her better judgment, she added quietly, "Or do you stop remembering things about me when my shirt's on?"

James's face hardened. "Dorothy."

"What?"

"I don't need you making me feel bad about what happened over the summer. We agreed to forget about it, remember?"

Dorothy looked at him, her hurt evident in her eyes. "Do you regret it?"

"Regret it?" James asked. "Hell no!" He looked at her, and a stupid grin slid onto his face. Dorothy felt horrendously dirty beneath it. "Trust me, I do not regret what we did. Do you?"

"No," she said softly. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"You made me feel like a prat there for a second," James said laughing.

"Yeah," she said, the ghost of a smile still on her face, obvious to anyone that there was nothing behind it. "It was rude."

"Let's get you to Potions," James said, taking her arms and leading her down a staircase.

"You're walking me to class?" she said, not bothering to hide her surprise and delight.

"Yeah!" James said eagerly. "Maybe we'll run into Jen, and I can talk to her!"

"Oh," Dorothy said, her face having fallen. "Okay. Makes sense."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Dorothy responded quickly. "Just tired, you know? First month back is a bit exhausting."

James smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a brotherly way. "Aw, come on, Dorothy, you'll be fine. Just think, seventh year! We're almost done!"

"Yeah," Dorothy said, her eyes falling back to the floor as James blabbered on, not noticing her demeanor. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"There she is!" James hissed as they turned into the Potions corridor. Dorothy looked up and saw Jen Brady at the other end of the corridor, her thick red hair floating down over her shoulders as she walked, no, flounced, to class. You could hear her chipper laughter echoing through the small space, and Dorothy couldn't help but admire her perfection. It was almost annoying, really. "How do I look?"

Dorothy turned her gaze to James, who was nervously messing with his hair. "Fine," she said, grabbing his hands around the wrists. "She likes your hair."

James grinned. "She does?"

"Let's go, Romeo," Dorothy said, leading him down to the door.

"Hey, Dorothy!" Jen said with a smile. "You look cute today."

Dorothy felt her face heat up with embarrassment as she stammered out a thank you to Jen's compliment. "You too," she added.

"Well, here's your class, Dorothy. See you later?" James said, acting as though he hadn't even noticed Jen, which was impossible for anyone. It was like she was a walking neon sign of perfectness.

"Um, sure," Dorothy said, wanting to shrink as she watched Jen's smile falter.

"James," Jen said slowly. "Hey."

"Jen!" James said, smiling as he finally allowed himself to look at her. "What are you doing down here?"

"Class," she said. "You know."

"Yeah," he said, running his hand through his hair nervously. "Makes sense."

Dorothy felt like she was going to throw up.

"How've you been?" James asked. "You look absolutely brilliant. Bloody fantastic, really."

"Really? You think so?" she said, her eyes brightening.

"Course I do. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," James said, a slight blush tinting his ears.

Jen bit her lip, obviously embarrassed. "You look pretty good yourself, Potter."

"Oh, it's Potter now?" he teased.

"Maybe." She grinned saucily at him. "So what've you been up to?"

"Blowing off homework, hounding my Quidditch team, dreaming of you…yourself?"

Jen smiled. "Pretty much the same. Being Captain is much harder than I thought it would be."

"Agreed," James said with a chuckle. "Luckily, Gryffindor is just exploding with athletic talent…" He trailed off, winking at her.

Jen laughed. "Are you insinuating Ravenclaw isn't?"

He smirked. "Precisely."

"Well, I'm going to go to class now, see you later, James," Dorothy said, dashing into the Potions classroom, not sticking around long enough to even hear a goodbye. Or to not hear one, which would probably just crush her.

"You know, I really hate it when you tell me about James because I just want to hit Bludgers at him in practice all the time afterwards, but I can't."

Dorothy laughed from her spot on the library floor leaning up against a bookshelf, ankles crossed. Her shoes and satchel sat next to her and her ridiculously large Potions textbook was open on her lap. "Freddie, you're sweet."

"Seriously, Dor, why do you let him treat you like that?" He asked, his handsome dark face pulled into a frown.

"He doesn't even realize, Fred," she said looking down and toying with the fraying strings on the bottom of her skirt.

"You know, your problem is that you're too nice." Freddie said, leaning against the stone wall and sliding down it to sit next to her. He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, revealing brown, muscled forearms.

"Hey, Hufflepuff pride," she joked.

"When will he push you too hard, Dor? Is it even possible?" he asked quietly. Dorothy didn't answer. Honestly, she didn't know the answer. "He keeps taking and taking. When will you finally put your foot down?"

Dorothy leaned her head back against the stone. "I dunno, Fred. Maybe once there's nothing left?"

"Dor," he said seriously.

"I just can't say no, Fred," she said, stopping him. "You know what he means to me. He's all I've ever wanted."

Freddie turned her head to face him. "You're worth so much more than some meaningless snogging in his bedroom."

"You don't understand, Fred," Dorothy said, looking into his chocolate eyes and sighing. "I'd rather take what I can get than not have anything at all."

"He's using you."

"I know."

"So if he asks for your virginity next time Jen doesn't laugh at his jokes, will you become his slag too?"

Dorothy gasped and broke the eye contact, quickly standing up and carrying her book to the table. "You're supposed to be helping me with Potions, Freddie."

Freddie looked at her back and sighed. "Yeah. Course. You do realize I'm not even in the course anymore, right?"

"You're the jerk who tested out of NEWT level last year to get another free period to test designs." She looked over at him and pouted. "Please? I'm lost without you."

"You're lost with me," he muttered standing. "What are you learning?"

"The ways to distinguish them by physical characteristics. I've got a test next class."

"Well, that's not too difficult," Freddie said, loosening his Gryffindor tie and picking up the textbook.

"We learned it today, but it was a little hard to hear over James this and James that." Dorothy's voice was filled with obvious dislike, and she continued to mumble nothings beneath her breath. Freddie peered at his best friend over the text book to see her twisting the ring on her finger. He rolled his eyes, realizing that she was torturing herself again. "Why's she got to be so perfect anyway? No one is that great. Why does she have no flaws?!"

"Dor. Get over it. You need to learn this."

She sighed and shook her arms out, nodding. "You're right. So, poisons are usually bitter smelling, right?"

Lying in her four-poster that night, Dorothy couldn't sleep. Her head was reeling, the words of others floating around, keeping her from relaxing into slumber.

We agreed to forget about it, remember?

You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

He's so sweet. Maybe I should just let this whole thing go.

I mean, I do love him.

When will he push you too hard, Dor? Is it even possible?

So if he asks for your virginity next time Jen doesn't laugh at his jokes, will you become his slag too?

Dorothy frowned, rolling over. She didn't want to think about any of it now. Not how James used her, not how Jen wanted him back but was trying to hold out for dignity's sake, not how Freddie wished she'd realize he wasn't worth it. She reached over to her bedside table and opened the drawer, pulling out a seemingly innocent leather journal. She grabbed a quill and flipped it open to a section near the back that had been added magically.

"Freddie?" she wrote. "You still up?"

She stared at the parchment for a moment, biting her lip. Waiting.

"Adding the alarm to these things was a really dumb idea," appeared on the next line in his scraggly handwriting. She giggled quietly. "What's up, Dor?"

"I can't sleep," she wrote back.

"So obviously that meant I couldn't be sleeping either?"

"I'm sorry. Tell me a story?"

It took a moment for Freddie to respond, and Dorothy feared he'd closed the journal and gone back to sleep. Then: "Anything for you. Give me a second, my brain's still a bit asleep."

"I love you, Freddie."