I turn toward Cassandra and see that her jaw is on the floor. I am not ashamed of my relationship with Arnold, so I do not step away from him. I think that I see tears filling Cassandra's wide eyes.

"Minerva, wha- why?" Cassandra stuttered.

"He's not as much of a jerk as you think he is." I reply.

"Gee, thanks for that Minnie." Arnold whispers in my ear. His warm breath sends shivers down my spine.

"No, I don't care who you choose kiss in a closet. I'm just upset that you haven't told me. I thought that I was your best friend. I thought that best friends told each other things like who they are dating. So, how long has this been going on?" She blinks away the tears before they get a chance to run down her cheeks. Her nose is turning pink and her hands are shaking at her sides.

"Not long. Well, I suppose that depends on your definition of long. Since… since the beginning of term." I cringe on the inside when I realize that that was a fairly long time. Especially to Cassandra, who thought that the great hall should serve meals between breakfast, lunch, and dinner because she didn't want to wait that long to eat. I feel like an absolute emotionless idiot. How could I not have known how sensitive Cassandra is? How could I not have known that she would be hurt by my not telling her about my first boyfriend? Wow, I'm in trouble.

Arnold lifted me off of his lap like I weighed no more than a hippogriff feather. Once on my feet I helped him up and went to take Cassandra's hand. I held hers in both of mine and squeeze it gently. I stare deep into her eyes, looking for her soul. Maybe if I stare long enough I can burn away her sadness. If only I could be like the superheroes in muggle comic books. I can't though. I can't erase my best friend's pain, no matter how much I want to.

"Cassandra, dear, you must believe that I was going to tell you, I ju-" I stammer out. Cassandra cuts me off.

"When, after we graduated? After you two ran away together and forgot about me?" Cassandra is on the verge of hysterics. The tears are back and openly flowing.

I can't help but wipe away Cassandra's tears and gather her into my arms. "I just didn't want to… I don't know what I was waiting for. I suppose I didn't want to be affiliated with the person that you think Arnold is. I wanted to change your impression of him before you knew about… about us. Please, Cassie you have to forgive me."

She pulled back from my hug and pushed my hair out of my face. In my peripheral vision I see Arnold back up a few steps and turn away. He can respect this best-friend moment. Cassie and I have been through so much together. We have been nearly inseparable since we met on the train on our first day at Hogwarts. I know that something like this won't ruin our friendship, but I also know that things will never be the same. At the most she won't sit next to me at dinner for the next week or so, and she won't share her chocolate frogs with me for at least another month. I can handle that though, because she will forgive me eventually.

"I forgive you Minerva." She whispers and turns away from me. Her back straightens and she marches to her dormitory.

I stumble to Arnold and into his arms. He half-carries me to the door of my dormitory. I hope that we were slow enough for Cassandra to be asleep. I turn to go in, but Arnold catches my arm. He puts his face very close to mine. Out lips are millimeters apart. He purses his lips so that they are barely touching mine. He whispers so softly that if I moved an inch I could not hear him, "Sweet dreams."

He turns away before I can reply and disappears into his dormitory.

Sorry for the fluffiness of this chapter, but... not sorry. I am sick and kind of bored. This chapter may have been fluffy and a little boring and soap-opera-ish. I assure you dear readers that this fanfic, like any great story, has to have some fluff to make the action seem more exciting. I won't be going to school tomorrow either, so maybe I will write another chapter. The thing is, I don't know what I will write about next. If you have any suggestions please leave them in a review and I will consider them. Seriously, I want to know what you think of my story. Have a lovely day and I hope you aren't as sick as me!

~Lucy Pensee