Mad about Bill

I found Alanna crouching on her bed the next evening. I could tell from her red swollen eyes that she had been crying. She had stopped moping around in the dormitory days ago for the sake of her argument with Alec and she had only ever cried on the night the argument started, so it came as a bit of a shock to find her so upset. Her swollen eyes remained focused on the wall as I entered.

"Alanna, what's wrong?" As I spoke it, I realised just how stupid a question it was. She hadn't spoken to one of her best friends for about two weeks now and I was asking what was wrong. She didn't seem to mind the question though.

"Niamh, I'm so sorry I was horrible to you because you were being Alec's friend. I just want this all to be over."

"It will be," I said in an attempt to be soothing. I've always been terrible at comforting people, but I tried my hardest.

"But this will never end; how can it?"

"Have you spoken to Alec?"

"How can I? The stubborn git! He won't accept that it's partly his fault. I'm willing to accept that I had something to do with all this, but I mean the diary was four years ago! People change their opinions, and people change too. Alec is different now. Well at least I thought he was."

"You really should talk to Alec about this. He doesn't like this argument any more than you do." There was a long pause in which Alanna seemed to be thinking deeply.

"Shall I go and talk to him now?" she asked looking at me for the first time.

"Now?" I admit I was a bit taken aback. These things shouldn't be rushed and need a lot of consideration. "Have you thought about it? About what your going to say and stuff?"

"I've been thinking it for days, I just never had the nerve to actually talk to him. But I guess now is the time."

"If you're sure about it." I didn't doubt she could make it all better again with her skill at talking to people, but I knew full well that her stubbornness and her temper could easily ruin things. Luckily though she seemed to be in one of her less angry moods.

"I'm sure about it." She drew a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck." I hugged her and watched as she walked half determinedly, half feebly to the door. I had never seen such a strange side to Alanna, I thought, as she smiled uncertainly at me and descended down the stairs. I hoped against hope that everything would sort itself out. It was such a silly argument really, but it had been allowed to blossom into something huge. I waited for a few minutes to see if Alanna returned to the dormitory but when she didn't emerge I went down to the common room.

"They've gone for a walk!" said Poppy excitedly as she saw me. She and Ollie were sitting in our usual armchairs, both wearing matching grins and both crossing their fingers.

"Alec agreed to go? This is brilliant! But we shouldn't get our hopes up," I said, though I couldn't help grinning too and crossing my fingers.

"No, we shouldn't get our hopes up or we'll jinx it," said Ollie suddenly solemn again as he had been for days.

"I'll jinx you if you carry on looking so miserable!" said Poppy to Ollie, still smiling eagerly. He smiled once more but after that we all sat there in total silence and as still as statues. I suppose we were all thinking about what might be happening and how good it would be if things could go back to how they were. However I was also thinking about what might happen if either of their tempers flared up. That would only get the other heated up to. I watched as the hands of the clock ticked passed slowly and warily. Half an hour passed. Then an hour. Darkness was all around outside. Surely they must have finished their walk. Just as I was about to break the silence, the portrait hole opened and Alanna and Alec appeared talking jovially.

"Argument over!" announced Alec heartily. Poppy, Ollie and I erupted into cheers. This was brilliant! Finally we were all friends again! I jumped up in ecstasy and hugged Alanna and Alec in turn. Poppy couldn't keep still with happiness. We were practically dancing with joy and couldn't stop hugging each other. The rest of the evening was spent just talking like the old friends we were and it was such a good sight to see Alec hug Alanna as we went up to bed.

"We can never let anything like this happen again," I said.

"Nope. It was stupid and now it's over. It will never happen again," said Alanna. I really hope she's right.

* * *

Several days later and the list came round for people to sign up to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas. Alanna and I had made a pact way back in our second year that if one of us had to stay here over a holiday, then so did the other one. However, neither of us had to stay this Christmas. I watched from my armchair by the fire as a little first year girl added her name to the list and handed it back to Mia who was a prefect. Alanna was the only one absent as she was off somewhere with Tobias Spence. Ollie and Alec were busy playing chess and Poppy and I were idly watching them as Mia walked over to us with the list.

"Oh God, it's Mia," said Alec under his breath as he saw her approaching. He had never got over his humiliation at being rejected by her to go to the ball with him. His cheeks went slightly red and he stared hard at the chessboard pretending not to notice Mia.

"Are any of you staying here over Christmas?" asked Mia as she set down the list next to the chess table and got a quill out.

"No."

"Nope."

"No."

"No."

Alec had kept his eyes on the chessboard while he spoke, but mine wandered over to the list. I froze as reached the second name. Bill Weasley.

"Actually, I don't know yet," I said suddenly. There were about six names on the list. Spending the whole of the Christmas holiday in such a small group with Bill Weasley would be a wonderful opportunity to talk to him. It was a chance I couldn't miss!

"What do you mean you don't know yet?" asked Mia.

"I mean...I'm not sure if I'm staying or not."

"I thought you were definitely going home," said Ollie confused.

"I'm not really sure if I am yet or not. It's complicated." Ollie seemed to accept my answer.

"Well find out soon and tell me then," Mia said and walked off. Just then Alanna burst into the room and practically ran over to where we were.

"Niamh! I have the hugest favour to ask you, and you know I wouldn't ask you except you're my best friend in the whole world and I would do anything for you!"

I braced myself for the worst.

"Well you know I'm going out with Tobias..."

"Yes..." I said uncertain as to where this was going.

"Well, I mean, I suppose I should just say it outright..."

"Go on."

"You see, he's staying over the Christmas holidays and if I stayed we could spend so much time together which we can't normally do because we're in different houses and this way it would be so good so I want to stay over the holidays and I'd really like you to stay too because I don't want to be on my own here in Gryffindor and -"

"Stop Alanna," I said. She had spoken so fast and in one breath that I was afraid that she might explode.

"But we could have so much fun and I -"

"Come with me," I said, leading her over to the portrait hole and out into the corridor. As soon as we were out in the corridor I squealed with happiness and hugged her.

"Have I missed something?" she asked bemused.

"This is so brilliant! This way everything works!"

"I don't understand."

"Bill's staying too!" A look of comprehension dawned on Alanna's face.

"Oh my God! That's fantastic! This is your chance!" she hugged me enthusiastically and we squealed a bit more. Never had I seen Alanna more happy or excited before. "So you'll stay over the holidays!"

"Of course I will!"

"But why did you have to drag me out here?"

"I didn't want anyone of Bill's friends to hear, and there were a lot of them in there."

"OK, whatever! We are going to have so much fun this Christmas!"

* * *

Our happiness and excitement did not stop there. It was sad to see Alec, Ollie and Poppy leave for the holidays, but as the number of people left in Gryffindor Tower dropped and the Christmas decorations appeared, everyone became full of permanent high spirits. Eventually there were only nine of us left in Gryffindor Tower. Nine! I didn't normally stay over Christmas, but I'm sure this must have been one of the lowest numbers of students staying over a holiday. The nine of us had the full run of Gryffindor Tower, and what fun it was!

Of those remaining, there was one first year - Athena Lyons, though commonly known as Thia. She was a sweet little girl with long brown pigtails, but as we all got to know each other, she became more outgoing and playful. Alanna and I grew quite attached to little Thia and over the holiday she generally hung around us.

There were no second years and Kenny Graham was the only third year. He always looked like he'd just got out of bed with his dark messy hair. He was a quidditch fanatic though he was no good at it himself. He would constantly be buried in a book about quidditch or would be talking earnestly about the sport with Charlie Weasley, the only fifth year left. Those two could often be found talking about Quidditch in the common room, though Charlie hung around his brother a lot.

Sarah and Adam Woodstock were twins in the fourth year. They were bubbly, happy people and were both chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. So all in all there were quite a few quidditch fanatics in the nine.

Alanna and I were the only sixth years and Bill and Reuben were the only seventh years. I was glad of that because there were no other girls to distract Bill in Gryffindor. Everything to me was perfect. Well I thought it was to begin with, but if I expected immediate success, I was disappointed. Bill hardly spoke a word to me till Christmas Eve; he was always talking to Reuben or Charlie or wasn't anywhere to be seen. However Christmas Eve changed that.

* * *

BANG!

"I win!" shrieked Thia delightedly. We all cheered and clapped except for Adam who threw his cards onto the table in anger, but was soon smiling too.

"Who will dare to face Thia, the exploding snap champion? Speak now!" shouted Reuben as he opened another bottle of butterbeer. Quite where he'd got so many bottles from I didn't know, but I didn't really care either. Alanna was the only one of the nine of us who was missing, as, surprise surprise, she was with Tobias doing God knows what. So far this evening I had mainly been talking to Charlie Weasley. Wrong brother, I though sadly as I looked over to where Bill was sitting. He was smiling merrily and taking regular sips from a bottle of butterbeer.

"I'll play Thia!" shouted Charlie from beside me. There was another roar from us all as Charlie took a seat opposite Thia and waited for the cards to stop shuffling themselves. The atmosphere among us all was a very cheerful one. I was sure I wouldn't have had as much fun at home, but after I thought that thought, I quickly kicked myself for being so evil. It's true that I missed my parents and I knew they missed me, but sometimes it was boring at home as the only young person. Sean was in Ireland so I wouldn't have seen him anyway.

The games of exploding snap went on for ages until everyone became quite tired. However, no one was going to bed just yet. Several games of chess were started. Sarah and Thia were playing a heated game of chess against Adam and Reuben. Even before the game had really got going it was obvious that Sarah and Thia were going to emerge the victors.

To my great joy I realised that it was only Bill, Charlie, Kenny and I left. We were all sitting by the fire. All of a sudden I felt very shy again and left the boys to do all the talking. They were talking about Quidditch mainly - a sport I didn't really have much to say about.

"But Scotland's prospects for this season aren't very good. Their star chaser Lee got injured last season," said Kenny knowledgably.

"I know, but both McLeod and Taransay are good enough chasers to keep the team going. It wouldn't be that different without Lee," said Charlie. "Who do they play next anyway?"

"Umm...Norway, I think."

"Yes, I think you're right."

I noticed that Bill wasn't really saying much. Perhaps he wasn't as in to Quidditch as I had thought he was. I turned to look at him and saw he was looking at me. He smiled.

"Are you at all interested in what these two are saying?" he asked. I was caught off my mark. Would he like me better if I said I was, or should I just say the truth?

"Not really," I said.

"D'you want to play that game of chess with me? The one you said you'd beat me in?" He grinned at this. It was an offer too good to refuse. Once again I felt the familiar butterflies in my stomach that I always got when I was around Bill.

"OK."

The actual chess match was, thankfully, a lot longer than the one I'd played with him at the tournament. I tried not to get distracted by the fact that sitting opposite me was my ultimate crush, the most good looking guy ever and the funniest and kindest too, but it was a lot easier said than done.

"Checkmate," Bill said finally. He smiled at me. "You didn't quite beat me, but you played better than before."

I laughed. "Before I was just...distracted." That was the truth. Bill chuckled too.

"Do you play much chess?"

"I play with Alec and Ollie, they're -"

"Yeah I know who they are."

"Well I play with them and my brother sometimes."

"You've got a brother?"

"Yeah, just one, but he's a lot older than me and spends most of his time working with my uncle in Ireland. How about you; do you have any sibling except for Charlie?"

"I have one brother, Percy, who'll come here next year, two twin brothers, Fred and George - they're right pests, a six year old brother, Ron, and a five year old sister, Ginny."

"Wow, that's quite a big family then!"

"I suppose you could say that," he said smiling.

We carried on talking. I had never been able to talk to someone so easily. It was a dream come true for me. I had really broken the barrier between person-you-just-say-hi-to-occasionally and good-friend, although I wanted to be more than that. Everything was ideal. This was the perfect Christmas present for me. I learnt so much about Bill that night, and I'm sure he must have learnt a lot about me, though I'm sure he didn't treasure it as much as I treasured the information about him. One by one the other Gryffindors retreated upstairs to bed until it was just Bill and I left in the common room. And still we talked. Luckily Reuben had gone to bed instead of joining us.

Eventually Alanna entered the common room. She had a misty expression of happiness as she walked across the room and didn't notice us until I had said 'hi'. At that she jumped a little and came back to reality.

"Oh, hello. I didn't see you there." She took one look at Bill and grinned to me. "Don't mind me, I'll just be off to bed." She took one last look at us before turning towards the girls' dormitories.

"I should probably go to bed too," I said reluctantly. It had been so wonderful talking to Bill, but if I stretched it out too long I knew I would spoil it.

"OK then. It's been good talking to you." I hugged myself inside. Bill actually appreciated me talking to him!

"Yeah. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I left him sitting in the armchair. He seemed to be in deep thought as I looked back from the stairs. I smiled with elation and carried on up to the dormitory.

* * *

"Wake up! It's Christmas!" I opened my bleary eyes to see Thia bouncing around the room.

"It's fucking six in the morning!" came Alanna's voice from under her duvet.

"Merry Christmas to you too!" Thia said happily. "Chocolate?" she asked thrusting a tin in Alanna's face.

"Not now!" Alanna replied tiredly though I saw her sitting up in her bed and eying the pile of presents sitting at the bottom of her bed.

"How about you Niamh?" Thia asked as she stuck a tin of chocolates under my nose.

"Not this early."

"Whatever you say," she said stuffing one in her own mouth. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and set about opening the presents I had received.

My parents had sent me a beautiful silver necklace with a jade stone pendant. I was sure aunt Fiona had probably chosen it, as my parents would never have been able to pick out something so beautiful as this, but it was the thought that counts and I wished my parents could have been there for me to thank them. I put the necklace round my neck and carried on with the other presents.

Sean had given me a book about magical creatures - he knew it was my absolute favourite subject and that I wanted to be a carer of magical creatures; aunt Fiona and uncle Ben had given me a box of make up and beauty potions ("cool," said Alanna when she saw, "I'll be wanting to borrow some of those!"); my grandparents had given me the usual - a huge tub of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans; Alanna had given me a massive bottle of balloon bubble bath - it made multicoloured bubbles the size of a quaffle; from Alec I got a tiny broomstick which zoomed uncontrollably around the room until it crashed and broke; Poppy gave me a large poster of the Bones Rockers - our favourite band and Ollie gave me a wonderful set of quills all different colours and sizes.

We didn't do much until lunch - everyone just ate chocolate and my Bertie Bott's every flavour beans for breakfast. The Christmas feast was a delicious affair. Gryffindor was by far the house with the least people, but to us that made things all the better.

"What are you all doing after lunch?" asked Charlie as we ate our food.

"Sarah and I are going to test out our Nimbus ninety-nines," said Adam. There was a loud splutter as Charlie choked on a piece of turkey.

"You have Nimbus ninety-nines? Both of you? How rich are your parents? No, never mind that, can I have a go on one?"

"Adam promised to let me have a go on his," said Kenny lightly.

"Can I have a go to?" asked Reuben.

"And me too, please?" said Bill eagerly.

"How about after lunch we all go and use the brooms," Sarah proposed. Her suggestion was greeted with much approval, and so after lunch was over we got our coats, hats and scarves and made our way to the quidditch pitch while Sarah and Adam went to get their brooms.

The grounds were covered with a thick layer of unspoiled snow. It was wonderful to be out in the crisp winter air after having been cooped up in the castle for so long. Charlie had already taken a broom from the school's broom cupboard, as had Bill, Reuben and Kenny. By the time Sarah and Adam finally came with their sleek new brooms, the boys were already flying around on the comparatively rubbish school brooms. Upon seeing the Nimbus ninety-nines, they all swooped down and observed them.

"So smooth."

"So flawless."

"You two are so lucky."

The maiden voyages of the brooms brought gasps of wonder from the boys as they glided effortlessly around the quidditch pitch. Soon everyone was having a go on the brooms except for Alanna, Thia and I who hadn't a clue when it came to brooms. When they weren't having a go on the brooms, they were circling them using the school's brooms.

"What do you think about the brooms?" asked Sarah as landed on one of the school ones.

"Well I don't know much about stuff like this, but I reckon we'll beat Slytherin this year with them!" said Alanna positively.

"Who's on your broom now?" I asked.

"Kenny." We watched as Kenny swooped around the quidditch hoops. Even though he was a quidditch fanatic, he wasn't that good with actual brooms, but even he managed to look graceful on the Nimbus ninety-nine. "In fact, it's time he gave it back." She cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled, "Kenny!"

"Just one more minute," came his distant voice. She let him have a little longer before hollering again.

"One moment!"

"No, now!" Sarah shouted back.

"Wait for a tiny bit more."

Sarah bent down and scooped up a handful of snow. She moulded it into a snowball and chucked it at Kenny, who was circling around us. It missed by a mile and hit Reuben squarely on the shoulder.

"How dare you!" he cried in mock insult before swooping down beside us and before you could say 'quidditch' he had scooped up a snowball and chucked it at Sarah. We all laughed as Sarah brushed the snow off only to be pelted by more snowballs, but this time by Kenny who had landed behind us. As one, Alanna and I ducked down to make snowballs and were throwing them at Reuben and Kenny. Soon Bill, Charlie, Adam and Thia had all joined in in what had evolved to become a boys versus girls snowball fight.

Unfortunately I have really bad aim when it comes to throwing things. A thud on my back told me someone had hit me. I turned round to find Reuben standing barely feet away.

"Couldn't resist!" he said grinning. I threw the snowball I had in my hand at his retreating back only to get hit in the arm by Adam. This wasn't fair - we were outnumbered! I quickly ducked down to make another snowball by which time Adam was far away. However I knew who I really wanted to become locked in battle with.

To ensure I didn't miss, I tiptoed right up to Bill so that I was only a few feet away from him. I threw my snowball at his back and laughed as he looked round in disbelief. He then turned right round to reveal a whopping great big snowball the size of a bludger cradled in his arms. He smiled gleefully at me and before I could even think of running, he was coming towards me with his snowball and whack! Someone had banged into my back sending me flying into Bill. He had dropped his snowball in surprise. It all happened in slow motion. I was knocked right into Bill who had tried to stop me from falling, but as I banged into him, the force of the hit had knocked him off his feet backwards into the snow. I ended up falling right on top of him to my embarrassment and quickly rolled off onto the snow beside him.

"Sorry!" said Alanna, the one who had accidentally banged into me, "I wasn't watching where I went!" She grinned at me. Only then did I realise there was no accident about the situation. It had all been done on purpose. I smiled back at her as she ran off. We both laughed about the whole thing

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"You're always sorry for things you haven't done," said Bill smiling. "My poor snowball was destroyed!"

"Just as well," I sniggered.

"Oi! Watch it!" He got up and offered me a gloved hand, which I took. My stomach was doing somersaults at this point.

"Anyway, where were we?" he said with a sly smile as he showed me a snowball in his other hand. I immediately ran away, laughing.

Only when it got too dark to see did we retreat back to the common room. Unfortunately the rest of the holiday was Bill-free as everyone was to busy doing their heaps of homework, especially Bill with his NEWTs this year. However, I never once regretted staying the Christmas at Hogwarts.

* * *

It was wonderful to see Poppy, Alec and Ollie again. We talked long and hard about what we had done all Christmas. I carefully left out the parts about Bill, as I didn't want them to know just yet. Alanna didn't seem to care about those bits anyway. Ollie had gone skiing in Switzerland, Poppy had gone to Croatia and Alec had just stayed at home. All the snow had disappeared and it was now raining miserably.

"So what's the new password?" Poppy asked as we got up from the dinner table.

"Dragon's blood," said Ollie. "One of the prefects told me."

Everyone was leaving to go to their common rooms. My heart skipped as I saw Bill still sitting at the table.

"Hi Niamh!" he shouted over the noise made by everyone. I was so happy! Never would he have shouted hello to me when I was half way across the hall from him before. He actually singled me out as one of his friends now!

"Hi!" I shouted back. I could feel my face going bright red and a smile was forming uncontrollably on my face. Next to me I saw Alanna stuff her fist into her mouth to stop an outburst of giggles.

"What?" I asked when we were safely out of earshot of Bill.

"You! You've gone as red as a tomato!"

"Have I missed something?" asked Poppy confusedly.

"Don't you know? Niamh is infatuated with Bill Weasley!"

"You like Bill?" exclaimed Poppy loudly. Probably a bit to loudly.

"Shut up!" I hissed. Too late. Harriet and her gang of Slytherins sidled past. Harriet was wearing a sly smirk on her face. "Shit, she heard! You idiot Poppy!"

"I'm sorry," said Poppy sheepishly.

"It doesn't matter," I said seeing Poppy's forlorn face. "But God knows shat she'll do now!"

"Just calm down Niamh. She probably won't do anything," said Alanna. But she was wrong.

Our first lesson the next day was Transfiguration with the Slytherins. As I went in Harriet gave me a smug smile. Unfortunately the only two seats left where in front of her. The lesson was torture. All the way through I could hear her giggling with her friends and more than once did I hear the name Bill Weasley mentioned. As soon as Professor McGonagall had pronounced the lesson over and exited the classroom, I quickly stuffed my parchment and quill into my bag.

"Bill Weasley, Bill Weasley," came Harriet's taunting voice. I spun round to face her.

"What do you want?" I asked, shaking with anger.

"I want you to do my Transfiguration homework," said Harriet blankly.

"Get lost," I spat back at her.

"Then I'd best tell little Billy all about your affections for him."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." I glared at her with repulsion. I couldn't think of anything to say. "So will you do my homework?" she asked waving a piece of parchment in the air. I snatched it from her and stormed out of the room to where Alanna was waiting. I could hear laughing from behind me, but I didn't turn round.

I was up till past midnight that night completing the two essays trying to make them as different to each other as possible. I was so mad and it was tempting to rush Harriet's essay, but I knew if she got bad marks she'd only carry out her threat.

But it didn't stop there. Next it was a Potions homework, then a Herbology one, then another Transfiguration homework and a Charms homework as well. Words cannot describe my hatred for Harriet. I wanted to strangle her, I wanted to hurt her, I wanted to make her regret everything she had done to me so far this year. Just seeing her sneering smarmy face made me clench my fists in anger. I began to struggle with the homeworks - I couldn't do them. I'd tried telling Harriet this but all I got in return was:

"Oh well it doesn't matter. But I'm sure little Billy might like to know."

It was when she'd given me the Transfiguration homework and the Charms homework at the same time that I failed. The time ticked slowly by well passed midnight but I still laboured on forcing myself to keep my eyes open until I fell asleep in the armchair.

Harriet wasn't too pleased about that when she got a detention from McGonagall. Not too pleased at all. One cold glare from her told me I'd had it. That was it. Dream over. Now Bill would find out and any friendship I'd managed to get over the holidays would be stained. My chance was over. I cried myself silently to sleep that night wondering when Bill would know, wondering what he would say. My life ended here.

* * *

"And Gryffindor are in possession! Alec Brown has the quaffle and is tearing up the left wing. Intercepted by Shah of Ravenclaw. Shah is really on form today. He passes the quaffle to Rachel Lambeth who shoots...AND SHE SCORES!"

"Dammit," Alanna said as the Ravenclaws burst into cheers and applause. Ravenclaw were winning sixty - thirty. I could see Bill only two rows in front of us slamming his fist onto his knees in anger. I wondered if Harriet had told him yet.

"Sarah Woodstock is in possession of the quaffle. She passes to Brown who passes back and...ooh is that the snitch?" Charlie Weasley and the Ravenclaw seeker were both diving towards the ground but soon both pulled out of the dive and it became obvious that the snitch had gone.

"We really need to win this game," said Ollie.

"Mmm," I said not really listening. I had been distracted by the figures of Harriet and the rest of her little Slytherin gang as they walked along the row just below Bill's row. Please God don't let her do it. She was getting closer. She had started up a conversation. I could hear her easily, so I knew Bill definitely would have heard.

"Anastasia, have you heard."

"Heard what?" Anastasia asked woodenly. This was clearly a rehearsed speech.

"About Niamh Connolly."

"What about her."

"Apparently she's madly in love with Bill Weasley."

Shit.

This was the ultimate humiliation. My heart had stopped. Everyone turned to look at me. I tried to make myself as small as possible but unsuccessfully. This was the end. I saw Bill turn around in his seat. I met his eyes for a second. It was the worst second in my life. There was no playfulness in his eyes. No smile he usually had. He was deadly serious. That look felt like an eternity to me. I had to get away from here, but if I left now, everyone would notice me. Everyone would see the one who is madly in love with Bill Weasley. Suddenly the quidditch match didn't matter anymore. Alanna, for once in her life, looked uncertain as to what to say. Ollie and Poppy looked equally speechless.

As soon as the match had ended (we'd lost anyway) I ran as fast as I could out of the stadium dragging Alanna behind me.

"What the fuck should I do?" I asked her desperately.

"I don't know. I'm sorry Niamh." I couldn't think. All I knew was that I couldn't meet Bill. We were running now.

"OK, I'll just stay in the dormitory tonight."

"Good idea," panted Alanna.

I spent all evening moping around in the dormitory and went to bed early. The next day I woke with a start and jumped out of bed as fast as I could. I quickly put my robes on and hurried to the Transfiguration classroom without having any breakfast. At lunch I dashed down to the Hall and ate as fast as possible so I could run to my next lesson. Alanna coped with all this until I asked her to bring me something from the dinner table. Reluctantly she agreed. So far my plan had worked - I had not encountered Bill all day.

I carried on this timetable for the next few days.

"This is ridiculous Niamh," Alanna said finally.

"What's ridiculous?"

"All this snooping around and hiding. You can't hide forever."

"I can try to."

"It's stupid and it's childish and you're going to have to see Bill someday. What's so bad anyway?"

"Think of the awkwardness there would be! Nothing would be the same. I've ruined my only chance. In any case who was the one who was constantly hiding in the dormitory during a certain fight with Alec?"

"That was different," she said quietly. " Anyway, you shouldn't blame yourself, this is all Harriet's fault. If only I could felt my hands on that filthy excuse for a human being..." Alanna's hands were tightening into fists and a dark expression fell on her face. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts. "Well he knows now. You weren't obvious before. Now he knows he might realise he likes you, or he might have already liked you but not known you felt the same."

"I doubt it. That look he gave me at the quidditch match. He was surprised. And he wasn't smiling or anything either."

"Well only time will tell what happens, but you are really going to have to stop all this sneaking around."

* * *

As soon as Herbology ended I grabbed Alanna's arm and dragged her with me as I dashed for the door. She was used to this procedure by now but still frowned in an annoyed way as she brushed my forceful grip off her arm.

"This can't last," she said.

I knew she was right but I said nothing. It would have to last for as long as possible. I was struck immediately by a blast of cold air as I stepped outside the greenhouse. Alanna scowled even more as she made a vain attempt to wrap her cloak around the whole of her body. I stuffed my icy hands into my robes and picked up my pace much to Alanna's annoyance when -"

"You don't get away that easily, Niamh."

I swung round to find myself looking at the tall figure of Bill Weasley. A slight grin was playing on his lips, though he seemed to be trying to suppress it. I felt a lump slide down my throat.

"You're avoiding me," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"I'll just...um...go then," interrupted Alanna, already walking off. I felt foolish as I realised I was willing Alanna to come back. I tried to banish that thought. After all, I was in Gryffindor, I was meant to be brave.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked, smiling. No one could have resisted that smile. Despite all the awkwardness I felt, I suddenly remembered how much I liked him, and felt stupid about sneaking around to avoid him.

"Yeah, OK," I replied, in what I hoped sounded like a casual manner, though in reality my heart was fluttering. I walked silently beside him not daring to look into his eyes.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Bill asked. How was I going to answer that?

"I...um...well I think you probably know."

"So it's true then?"

"What's true?"

"A certain something I overheard a few Slytherins talking about at a quidditch match?"

I thought quickly about what to say. There was no way I could see that I could get out of this, so I decided to come clean. I summoned up all the courage I possessed as a Gryffindor and looked directly into Bill's dark eyes.

"Bill Weasley, I really, really like you and even if you don't like me, I will never be able to stop myself from being besotted with you. There. I've said it."

There was a silence between us. Both us stood still. I couldn't tell what Bill was thinking as his eyes were fixed firmly on the ground. My heart was thumping. This was so awkward. The silence seemed to go on forever. Here I was, on a walk with just Bill Weasley. This was everything I'd ever dreamed of, but it wasn't meant to be like this.

"Have I said the wrong thing?" I asked desperately and breaking the awful silence. "I'm so sorry I dragged you into this and I -"

"Ssh," said Bill putting a finger to his lips and looking at me now. "Niamh Connolly, you are always sorry for things you shouldn't be sorry for."

Slowly he leant his head towards mine. With a shock I realised what was happening. My heart stopped as our lips met and we kissed. It was short but extremely sweet.

"No more avoiding me?" Bill asked as he gently wrapped his arms around my waist.

"How could I?" I said as I put my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deeper kiss.