"You know, I've always wondered, after seven years in this school there has never been an incident of people falling off the moving stairs. Do you think they have a spell of some kind to stop people from getting too close to the edge of the banisters?"

Hermione looked surprisingly thoughtful at her question and Ron was just looking at her with mild amusement.

"Does it matter? If no-one has fallen that's a good thing isn't it?"

Hyacinth nodded, but that wasn't enough for her.

"I'm still curious though. What if someone does fall? Is there like an invisible magical safety net at the bottom?"

"Maybe we could ask a Professor." Hermione cut in. Always the logical one.

"Yeah, but there are hardly any Professors on the seventh floor, we'd have to go all the way to the bottom to ask."

"We are going to the bottom anyway Hyacinth. It's lunch." Hermione didn't think much of her statement, but Hyacinth watched as Ron's blue eyes widened and it clicked in his mind.

"Hyacinth. No."

"Hyacinth yes." She countered. Already dancing out of Ron's way.

Hermione's bushy hair moved forward as she abruptly stopped, her mouth open in surprise as she realised.

"No Hyacinth, you could kill yourself."

"I'm pretty sure there is something at the bottom to catch me."

"How sure."

"Like, 60%"

"Please say sixty percent out of sixty percent."

"More like sixty percent out of one hundred."

All the way Hyacinth was moving to the stairs, Ron unsure as to whether she was joking or not didn't stop her.

"You are kidding right Cynthia?" Ron looked slightly concerned.

"I think we should test this." Hyacinth grinned.

"Please say you think we should test this with a very non-human, non-Hyacinth shaped object that is not alive." Hermione prompted.

"But where is the fun in that?" Her grin widened.

Then they were all running.

Hyacinth towards the railing, laughing, and Hermione and Ron running after her and yelling at her to 'slow-the-fuck-down-because-curse-Quidditch-why-did-she-have-to-be-so-fast-this-is-a-terrible-idea-STOP!'

Her loose messy black hair swung about her head where it framed her face in a messy bob, her glasses glinting in front of her bright green eyes.

Hyacinth had always been fast. She was naturally athletic and had loved flying since she had first learned how. She also had two younger brothers and they often mucked around chasing each other so she was more than used to running.

Which was good for her, but bad for Ron and Hermione.

Or bad for her, depending on how you looked at it.

Her bag was tossed to the side and she winced as she heard an inkwell crack. Ah well.

Ron and Hermione also discarded their bags to run faster.

Hyacinth had never realised how long the corridor actually was.

Running faster, Hyacinth registered she was wearing a skirt and hummed.

What to do about that?

Drawing her wand she cast the charm that most seventh year girls knew, due to the fact that once they hit fifth year the boys realised there was a charm that could imitate wind and could be used to push a girls skirt up.

Many hexes had been cast because of that spell.

But there was also a sticking charm of sorts that made sure a girls skirt wouldn't rise above a certain point on her thigh.

Then she got to the railing at the end of the corridor and without stopping to think, she placed one hand on the railing and swung her legs over the side, propelling herself over the edge and into the centre of the long drop, knowing if she stayed too close to the edge of then she could hit herself on the stairs.

Freefalling Hyacinth heard many people screaming, but wasn't too worried herself.

Honestly, she'd been planning to do this since the moment she woke up that morning. She'd had a dream about it and she was curious so she had decided to test it out.

Once she fell past the fourth floor she looked down to realise there were Professors standing at the bottom.

She could faintly see the horror on McGonagall's face and took that to mean there were not in fact, safety nets at the bottom.

Hyacinth frowned at the logic in that, but nevertheless, channelled her magic to her wand and cast the charm.

"Accio Firebolt."

Sirius had bought her the broom for her seventeenth birthday. She loved it, and it was really, really fast.

Which was probably the only reason she was confident enough to do this.

The Firebolt was there in a matter of seconds, but someone had cast a spell at the very moment she cast hers and she was already slowing down.

Flitwick really made a good decision when he decided to teach first years the levitation spell, because by seventh year that spell was ingrained in their memory and it would practically never fail.

She hadn't seen the person who had cast the spell, but she could recognise that voice anywhere.

In a second she was on her broom and zooming back up, stopping slightly at the fourth floor as her eyes met grey ones and she smiled.

Then she was zooming back up to Ron and Hermione, a massive grin on her face.

"Are you completely insane?" Hermione screamed at her.

"It's fine. Look." Hyacinth held out her broomstick.

Ron just buried his face in his hands.

"Cynthia, that doesn't make what you just did okay." Ron looked like he was trying very hard to keep calm.

"You two are such spoil-sports. Anyway. I don't think the bottom does have a safety net. McGonagall looked like she was about to throw up with horror." Hyacinth paused. "Actually, I think I'll skip lunch today, I don't think she'll be very happy with me."

Hyacinth went to escape through one of the hidden passages to the Gryffindor common room, but Ron grabbed her.

"Oh no. If you're going to give us heart attacks then you're going to reap the consequences."

"Ron." Hyacinth stared imploringly at the red-head, but he just raised his eyebrows and made an unamused face at her.

"Uh. Fine. I hope McGonagall doesn't call my parents. If she does then I'm doing a runner."

"You're so dumb Hyacinth. I still can't believe you did that."

They were on the fourth floor stair case and Hermione was still going on at her.

Hyacinth was ignoring her in favour of lamenting over her broken inkwell.

"It's gone everywhere."

"Well maybe she should have thought of that before you threw it to the side in favour of jumping over the stairwell banister."

Hyacinth narrowed her eyes at Ron.

"Since when did you decide to become the voice of reason?"

"Since you decided jumping to your death was a good idea." Ron shot back.

"Well firstly, I wasn't jumping to my death, it was an experiment, and secondly, I had my Firebolt with me."

"You had it with you?"

"Well, I had my wand and an Accio charm and that's basically the same thing."

"What if it had gone wrong Hyacinth? What would you have done then?" Hermione stopped in front of her and crossed her arms.

Hyacinth moved around her, once again pouting at the fact she was the smallest person in their group.

"Then I would have trusted someone else to catch me."

They carried on in that vein until the trio reached the ground floor where the Great Hall was.

As predicted by Hyacinth, not only the Professors, but also her parents were waiting there.

And her two younger brothers.

And Remus.

And Sirius.

"How did you all get here so quickly?"

That was the wrong thing to say. Her mother looked like spitting fire and her father was looking at her like she was insane.

"When Dumbledore sends us a patronus telling us to get here quickly because you've jumped from the seventh floor, we tend to worry."

There was so much sarcasm at the end of that sentence Hyacinth had to bite back a remark about the hypocrisy of her mother telling her to stop being so sarcastic all the time.

"Hyacinth, what on earth possessed you to do that?" Her father was perhaps the sternest she had ever seen him.

"I'm sorry okay. If I had the choice to go back and not do it, I would, but it's already done so I can't."

"Is that because you realise how foolish what you did was, or because you don't want to have to deal with the consequences?" Remus asked.

Sirius was laughing at her. Some Godfather he was. Hyacinth shot him a look.

He just smirked at her.

"Sirius, don't encourage her."

"I'm not encouraging her." Sirius turned to her, "Don't jump off of potentially fatal platforms okay?"

"I had my Firebolt with me, and I would have been fine anyway!"

"No you would not have!" James looked frantic and her mother and Remus had the exact same face.

"Well, I had faith in this school that I wouldn't be hurt. I thought, due to the fact that we have moving stairs, that there would be some kind of safety net."

"Miss Potter. We do not have those precautions because there had never before been an incident that required them. I assure you, we will look into it now you have pointed that out to us." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling.

McGonagall didn't seem to share his countenance. Hyacinth was pretty sure she was counting back from 1000 in her head.

"See, I have potentially saved someone's life. You should be proud of me."

Several people snorted.

"You are so grounded when you get home."

"I'm seventeen! I'm a legal adult!"

Her younger brothers were grinning at her. Harold and Howard. Otherwise known as Harry and Howie.

Hyacinth really had to wonder at not only her parent's choice to name all their children so that their names began with 'H' but also why they had to choose those names.

The amount of times everyone mixed up her brothers names was astonishing.

She was so glad she didn't have a sister for that to happen to her.

Her younger brothers were an annoyance enough anyway.

Harry was 15 and Howie 12.

They got on much too well though. Which was bad for her, because those two together spelt trouble.

"We're still your parents."

"I'm going to live with Sirius if you do this to me."

"No you are not, because you will be grounded."

Hyacinth groaned.

Which was the wrong thing to do.

"If you insist on not taking this seriously then we will have to think of something that will make you take us seriously Hyacinth."

Merlin, she loved her mother but sometimes she was so overbearing and annoying.

"Look, it was just a bit of fun, and I had everything in control. Please stop making a big deal out of this. I won't do it again okay." Hyacinth made a move to retreat.

"You could have died."

"No, I couldn't have. There were plenty of people ready to catch me anyway. Why do you think I did it at lunch when there were so many people on the stairwell? I was caught with a Wingardium Leviosa before I could even summon my broom, so thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."

It took a while, but finally (after relocating to McGonagall's office, and her brothers being sent into the Great Hall for lunch along with Ron and Hermione and everyone else who had stayed to watch) her parents left and she was allowed to go.

Before they left Sirius pulled her aside.

"Don't worry. You're parents just assumed the worst. They're not over the initial terror yet. You won't be grounded, so don't get so snippy with them. They just aren't used to the fact that you can do what you want yet so just don't provoke them."

Hyacinth had relented after that, but she'd also missed lunch and now she was annoyed.

She was late for last lesson, which was Defence, but she didn't like her teacher so couldn't be bothered to hurry for it.

Maybe if she dawdled enough she could miss the whole hour long lesson.

She was good at DADA anyway. The best in her year, so it wasn't important that she go. Even if her mother would be annoyed at her.

"You are such an attention seeker." A voice drawled.

Two years ago and Hyacinth would have bristled, but she knew the speaker, and although from first to fourth year he might have been the most spoilt, ego-centric prick she had ever met, he'd gotten less annoying in fifth year and since then he had become a point of interest for her.

She couldn't figure out how the change had come about and it had been something she'd been itching to know for the whole of their sixth year.

He still poked barbs at her, but they were subtle and joking, especially in comparison to the insults from their younger years.

She could finally understand why the boy was sorted into Slytherin. He didn't have a subtle bone in his body when they were younger, but now that had changed dramatically.

And he had been the one to catch her when everyone else had been in shock.

"Malfoy. A pleasure speaking to you as always." Hermione insisted that Hyacinth preened whenever she spoke to Malfoy. Hyacinth insisted she did not.

Malfoy smirked at her, but it was a small smirk.

"You don't deny it then?"

"I was doing an experiment I will have you know."

"So you weren't trying to catch attention by jumping off the seventh floor stairway when practically the whole school population was on it?"

"I did that because I knew that if all else failed then there would definitely be someone there to catch me."

"One person. What if I hadn't been there? What if I'd had Care of Magical Creatures?"

"You don't take that class."

"But if I did, or I wasn't on that staircase. What then?"

"Then I had my Firebolt."

"And if your charm hadn't worked? Or your Firebolt had gotten stuck or crashed into something? What then?"

Hyacinth averted her eyes from his. They were much too intense.

"Well I suppose we should be glad that didn't happen. Besides, I'm sure someone else would have caught me."

"Potter, I saw that whole thing, every other damn person in this school is too stupid to do what I did. You could have died." Malfoy's eyes burned and he sounded furious.

"But I didn't." She emphasised the 'didn't'.

"You are so reckless. You don't think." Malfoy sounded angry with her and it made something flare up inside her.

"Why do you even care Malfoy? We're not even friends."

That statement lay between them and the look on Malfoy's face made Hyacinth wish she could take it back.

After a moment of silence Malfoy spoke.

And his voice was hoarse with emotion.

"You might not give a damn about me but I care if you decide to throw yourself into danger. I can't always be there to make sure you survive."

"I don't need you to." Hyacinth knew it was a spiteful thing to say but she hated that out of everyone she had spoken to he was the one that made her feel guilty.

Malfoy laughed but it wasn't humorous.

"Right. Of course you don't. Because you're Hyacinth Potter and you are so much better than everyone else."

Hyacinth flinched.

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?"

Hyacinth didn't know what to say so she just stared at the window about four metres from them.

When Draco realised she wasn't going to answer him he shook his head, frustration rolling through him before going to walk away.

"Fine. Don't answer me. Do what you want and don't care about how other people are affected by it. Especially not me."

Hyacinth felt her eyes well up and hated that he could make her cry. She didn't normally cry, but just all the emotion she had rolled up from what Malfoy had said, and the fact that she had to force herself to call him Malfoy, because he was so much more familiar to her than that, and Hermione didn't realise how much her teasing hurt because they were true and Hermione didn't realise that.

She just hoped he would walk away before her tears fell, and that she could leave without him noticing.

When she heard his sharp inhale as warm tears trickled down her cheeks she realised that wasn't going to happen.

Noticing that he had stopped walking, Hyacinth made to walk away, she didn't get far before she heard footsteps coming after her, and then she broke into a run, but although she was fast, Draco's legs were longer and he was just as fast as her.

She made to escape through a hidden passageway to her right, but just as she adjusted her footing strong arms caught her and she was pulled against a hard chest.

She didn't bother to struggle, and she mentally reprimanded herself for the fact that she didn't particularly want to.

She was just trying hard not to break into actual sobs. Not trusting herself to speak.

Draco had been upset and that had turned into anger when she'd acted as though it didn't matter.

Hyacinth had been an object of interest to Draco since first year, and he'd conveyed that through insults and rivalry, but in fifth year he had realised quite how out of depth he was. Because it was more than just interest he felt toward her.

So he'd stopped insulting her, realising it wasn't going to get him anywhere. The natural fact that it was the age most of the guys in his year (or at least the Slytherins) had started growing up helped.

He hadn't been able to stop himself from teasing her though. He loved her reactions and sometimes, especially as they went into sixth year, it was as though she was just as eager to interact with him as he was with her.

He had expected that to fade as she got tired with him, but it hadn't and she'd even become friendly toward him.

He'd been so hurt when she'd told him they weren't friends, which was made worse by the fact that they weren't even though he sorely wished they could be, that they could be more than that, that he had blown up. He hadn't thought and he'd just let the first words that came to his mind out in reaction to the hurt he felt.

He hadn't thought about how it would affect Hyacinth. He had thought she'd throw some insult back at him. Some blasé thing that would probably make the situation worse, because that was what he had come to expect from her and her Gryffindor friends over the years.

When she'd stayed silent he'd assumed she was doing so out of spite.

His words were biting, but he hadn't thought they'd cause that type of reaction.

In his anger he had been set to just walk away. He hadn't wanted to look back, and he couldn't say why he had, but when he'd seen the tears he'd realised she hadn't stayed silent out of spite.

She was upset. He had upset her to the point she was crying. And he knew she wouldn't let herself cry unless she physically couldn't hold back the tears. He had never seen her cry before and the fact that he was the one to cause her tears froze him.

He could do nothing but stare.

When she'd started to walk away from him he had realised he had to stop her before she got away from him or everything would be ruined.

Now he was holding her against his chest and she was completely still. As though she were afraid to move. For what reason Draco didn't know. He could only hope it wasn't because of him.

"I'm sorry."

It wasn't something that Draco said often. When he was younger it had been because he was too proud. Then as he got older he began to understand the weight of his words. It wouldn't mean anything if he just threw the word around whenever he wanted to get someone off his back like most people did. So Draco only apologised when he really, truly meant it.

When Hyacinth relaxed slightly Draco calmed down. She wasn't going to run away. But he didn't let go yet.

"I didn't mean to upset you. I would never mean to hurt you like that."

It was a lot easier saying these things when he didn't have her bright green eyes drilling into him, even though he knew her attention was fixed on him, he couldn't visually see her face, meaning it was easier to say what he wanted to say. What he needed to say.

"I was just scared. You scared me Hyacinth." He whispered it so quietly and so softly he was almost mumbling, but he wouldn't let himself. He made sure his voice was clear.

He felt as well as heard her inhale. It was the first time either of them had ever used first names.

But Draco couldn't stand it anymore. They'd been trading glances and poking at each other verbally for the past two years. Surely she felt something for him too. She had to.

Draco hoped he was right and that she wouldn't reject him.

"Draco."

His hands tightened slightly on her arms before loosening as he leant his head on hers, letting out a breath, his lips ghosting over her hair, the dark strands contrasting against his pale skin.

He felt as she turned in his arms, but not stepping away.

Then they were face to face, and despite the fact that he was still scared – scared of her not returning his feelings. Of this ruining everything that had been developing silently between them – he tilted his head until he was looking her right in the eyes, her gaze fluttering slightly as tears weighed down her eyelashes.

Using his thumbs he cupped her cheeks and wiped the tears away gently.

She kept on looking at him even after the tears were gone.

They were so close. Almost flush against the other, only centimetres between them. All Draco would have to do was lean down slightly and kiss her. It would be that easy.

But he didn't know whether he should. He wanted to. But could he?

In the end he didn't have to decide because Hyacinth made the decision for him.

Fingers clenched into his shirt, and Draco felt her pull him to her as Hyacinth stood on tiptoes so they were almost at equal height, but she was just small enough that she couldn't quite reach his lips, so he ducked his head, lifting a hand to her head to tilt it slightly as their lips sealed over one another.

It was a gentle kiss. Neither of them had ever kissed anyone before so they were both cautious, but they both wanted it enough that the kiss lingered, neither wanting to pull away.

When they did finally pull away they were both smiling.

Hyacinth glanced shyly up at him, and she saw his smile grow slightly larger and guessed what he was about to say.

"If you make a comment on my height I swear to Merlin Draco…" She trailed off threateningly but Draco just grinned at her.

"You had to stand on tiptoe to kiss me and you still weren't tall enough." He chuckled, his eyes sparkling.

Hyacinth gave him a look.

"Well maybe I won't kiss you at all then."

Draco's smile dropped so quickly Hyacinth had to pull him down to kiss him again.

"I'm joking Draco." She breathed against his lips.

He just kissed her then.

"You better be."

She just grinned at him.

"Are you still mad I jumped of the seventh floor stairs?" She tilted her head teasingly.

Draco just leant his forehead on hers and groaned in exasperation.