"If I Could Melt Your Heart" by Redcandle17

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and elements from the Harry Potter series belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

It was surprisingly easy to avoid Warrington over the next few days. With their final exams over, the teachers didn't mind if the students didn't go to class. Except for meals, where she was surrounded by her entire House, Alicia stayed in Gryffindor Tower.

Cassius sent her notes every morning, and Alicia had to explain the sudden flurry of visits from owls to her friends. They now believed she had quite a few senile great-aunts and uncles who mistakenly believed she was leaving school this year and had written to congratulate her and offer her advice. Fred had offered his condolences on having relatives too cheap to send graduation money.

Avoiding Cassius on the Hogwarts Express was a bit more difficult. Luckily he was so tall that Alicia spotted him before he could get too close and managed to squirrel away. She spent most of the journey listening to Lee try to get Angelina to go out with him. Angelina kept pretending she didn't know Lee wasn't joking. It would have been entertaining if Alicia didn't have to keep looking out into the hallway to make sure Cassius wasn't waiting to ambush her.

Both of her parents met her at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Alicia accidentally pushed several younger students out of her way in her rush to reach her parents. She hastily hugged them then insinuated herself between them, confident Cassius wouldn't create a scene in front of her parents.

She was right. When he got near enough to speak to her, he merely said he hoped to see her some time this summer. Alicia pretended not to hear him.

"An admirer, dear?" her mother asked.

"No, that's a Slytherin. One of their Quidditch players. I've told you about him and his friends before."

"He's cute, though," her mother commented.

Her father ruffled her hair. "Our Ally would never consort with the enemy, right, sweetie?"

Alicia smiled weakly and let herself stare at Cassius while her parents bantered about the force of attraction versus the power of rivalry. It used to be exciting to watch him during classes or just in the hallways and know that he was hers. Now, as much as it pained her to admit it, it was sad to think that they'd never spend hours snogging in some dark corner of Hogwarts castle again. But, she told herself sternly, she'd stop wanting him soon enough. By the time school re-opened, she wouldn't even remember his name.

By her third day home, Alicia had to send her owl on a very long trip to deliver a birthday card to a cousin she didn't like in order to not write Cassius and offer to take him back. She didn't miss Cassius Warrington himself; she was just horny, or so she kept reminding herself. She scoured through her room until she found a journal she'd stopped writing in when she was fourteen and scribbled out a rambling three page essay on why Cassius was a terrible person whom she no longer loved or wanted in the least.

When they'd gotten in enough family quality time – read, gotten sick of being home – Katie and Angelina started floo-ing her about getting together and doing something. They visited other friends, visited Stonehenge, and mostly sat in the ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley.

"This is our last summer free – well, not yours, Katie. We have to do something memorable," Angelina declared.

"We can't just sit here eating ice cream for two months; we'll get fat," Katie said, although she had long finished her sundae and kept stealing spoonfuls of Angelina's when she thought Angelina wasn't looking.

"We could visit Oliver," Alicia suggested.

Angelina groaned. "Apparently I'm to be the new Gryffindor Captain. Oliver recommended me to McGonagall. He sent me a ten page letter full of advice and plays to try out. The really funny thing is, I can't even understand his handwriting."

"Besides, do you remember Oliver at all, Alicia?" Katie asked. "Why would you voluntarily subject yourself to his company?"

Alicia noticed Katie eying the last of her whipped cream, and scooped it into her mouth quickly. "Yes, but he could introduce us to professional Quidditch players."

Angelina leaned back in her chair, pushed her sundae over to Katie, and sighed. "Professional players lost their appeal once Oliver became one. What if they're all like him?"

"Bet Flint isn't like him," Katie said.

Alicia groaned. "God, Katie, you still have that perverse crush?"

Katie glared at her. "Yes. If you hadn't gotten tired of Warrington so soon, maybe he could have introduced us to Flint."

Alicia hadn't told them about the extent of her feelings for Cassius and what had led to the termination of their relationship. She'd only said that it was over, and she didn't intend to ever give them the details. It was embarrassing now to think she'd fancied herself into love with the cold-hearted Slytherin bastard. "But you already know Flint," she pointed out.

"Not really," Katie said.
Angelina poked Katie in the shoulder. "Worry about the Slytherins who'll try to maim us this year, not the ones long gone from Hogwarts."

Katie smirked at Angelina. "What about you? You still want Montague?"

"That was a joke," Angelina replied casually.

Alicia might not be able to tell when Angelina was blushing, but over the years she had noticed Angelina's habit of looking down briefly when she was embarrassed or uncomfortable. "Well, if Cas…Warrington's anything to go by, Slytherins are pretty good at snogging. Just don't get entangled with them."

Both of her fellow chasers stared at her.

"Like me," Alicia hastily added. "A fool might have made it into some star-crossed romance, but not me. It was only some snogging."

"Only snogging?" Katie queried. "Angelina and I were sure you two were fucking."

"Not me! She was the one speculating," Angelina exclaimed, taking back what was left of her sundae.

"No. There was stuff, but I'm still a virgin. But that's not what I meant. I meant there were no feelings involved," Alicia said. If she said it often enough, maybe she'd start believing it.

Katie patted her hand. "There, there, dear. Angelina can lend you George for a while if you get lonely."

"What if I don't want George?"

"Then take Fred. Or Lee." Katie turned to face Angelina. "How do you manage to keep them all in your thrall?"

"Treat them like ants," Angelina answered promptly. "But you'll have to find Alicia someone else. The twins are busy with a super secret project – I fear for all of Hogwarts once school starts back – and Lee's spending the summer in Jamaica."

"Alicia doesn't want anyone, thank you very much," Alicia said. And she meant it, too. After her massive error in judgment about Cassius, she didn't intend to so much as look at another male for a very long time.

But then a group of boys she recognized from school strolled by and she couldn't help staring. They were all attractive, from over-confident but handsome Roger Davies, to her own sweet muggleborn admirer.

"Well, I feel like a hag," Katie said. "Davies slobbers over anything in a skirt, but we don't even merit a second look?"

"He's not a Ravenclaw for nothing. He knows better than to mess with the competition," said Angelina.

"Well, my honor is still insulted," Katie sniffed. "I'll have to tell Fred and George to be sure to send a few bludgers his way when we play Ravenclaw."

Maybe what Alicia needed to forget Cassius were new memories. Maybe a new boyfriend would make her stop wanting him. At the very least, it was one way to occupy her summer.

"What do you think of Matthew?" she asked.

"I don't like him," Angelina said. "He's practically a stalker. If you go out with him, you'll only encourage other stalkers."

Alicia scoffed. "You spent hours wandering around the corridor outside the Hufflepuff common room when you had a crush on that Hufflepuff prefect Second Year. Besides, Matthew's only asked me out once."

"I'm in favor," Katie said. "Let us know how Ravenclaws compare to Slytherins."

"Well, they're going into Gambol and Japes. I'm going to go 'accidentally' bump into Matthew."

"Good luck." Katie and Angelina waved at her.

It was easy to start a conversation. She only had to stand near Matthew and smile at him, and he started telling her about his summer so far. At least Cassius was never boring. She quashed that traitorous thought and brightened her smile. Matthew never even noticed when Davies and the others gave up on him and left.

"So your grandmother really makes you pray every time you go home after being the wizarding world? Even like today, after only hanging out in Diagon Alley?" Alicia thought Matthew's family sounded like a bunch of lunatics, but tried to sound interested rather than repulsed.

Matthew laughed self-consciously. "She's very religious; didn't want me to go to Hogwarts, in fact. You're a pureblood, right? I'm probably not giving you a good impression of muggles."

Alicia changed the topic to avoid embarrassing him further. "What do you think about those articles in the Daily Prophet about Dumbledore? I mean, the publishers are clearly Slytherins intent on slandering him. He's a bit odd, but he's certainly not senile."

Matthew hesitated before replying. "Roger's told him some stuff his parents told him about when You-Know-Who was around. Things today are nothing like that. I mean, here I am, a muggleborn standing in public, and no one's swooped by to lynch me."

"You think he's lying?"

"I think he may have overreacted. It's perfectly understandable, after what he lived through years ago. But Cedric's death was a fluke." Matthew was clearly uncomfortable disagreeing with her, but he did it anyway and that's what made Alicia decide to give him a chance.

If he had been some sycophant who hung on her every word and hastened to flatter her, Alicia would have grown disgusted quickly. Thankfully, despite his worshipful smiles, Matthew hadn't shut his brain off. That was very good, because Alicia didn't want to waste time looking for another worthwhile guy.

"I was going to go home and practice my flying – I'm probably rusty after not playing Quidditch all year. I have an extra broom if you'd like to come."

Of course he said yes. Alicia debated whether or not to reach for his hand as they headed to the nearest bank of public fireplaces, but decided it was a little too early. She could take her time, as long as she and Matthew were madly in love by the end of the summer break. Cassius would be furious when he saw them at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters in September. Alicia smirked a little as she envisioned the look on his face and let her breasts graze Matthew's arm as they squeezed into the same fireplace.