BREAK FROM TORONTO, HARRY POTTER.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: "HIYA, BLAISE."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE.

The rest of the week went by quickly, probably because Aveline spent the better part of it sneaking kisses and holding hands with Harry.

Ron and Hermione had both shared their opinions on the two.

"Well I think it's lovely that you two have decided to start a relationship," Hermione had said on Friday night in the common room. The four Gryffindors had been completing their work — Aveline's legs across Harry's lap, his textbook and parchment on top of them as though they were a desk.

"We're not in a relationship," Aveline said.

"We're not?" Harry asked.

"You're not?" Ron quipped at the same time.

Fuck.

"W— well, I just— I mean, we haven't made anything official," Aveline said, trying to mend the wound she made.

Harry looked a bit hurt.

Well if he had the balls to officially ask me to be his girlfriend, we wouldn't be here!

Ain't that the truth.

"Oh, well, nevertheless," Hermione sighed, "I think... whatever you two have is great. You're both much happier."

"I think it's gross," Ron huffed, "always snogging like animals!"

"Well if you just admitted your feelings to Hermione, then this wouldn't be an issue," Aveline replied.

Hermione and Ron both turned as red as Gryffindor's house colors.

"I don't— wha— what are you on about?!" Ron asked, his voice moving up an octave or two.

"Aveline, don't be ridiculous!" Hermione scolded. "Ronald doesn't have feelings for me!"

Harry and Aveline glanced at each other.

"For someone so smart, you are fucking stupid," Aveline said to Hermione who looked positively affronted.

"I'm going to bed," Hermione said.

"It's 6 o'clock," Aveline deadpanned.

"I— I'll read then!" Hermione huffed and walked off.

"Yeah... I think I'll go off to bed as well!" Ron said and stormed off dramatically.

Harry and Aveline looked at each other again before bursting into laughter.

They cackled and snickered, smiling from ear-to-ear at the ignorance of their two friends.

It was nice. Seeing each other happy and giddy, chests racked with giggles.

Aveline had seen Harry's smile a lot more since their Hogsmeade trip. Maybe it was the prospect of rebelling against Umbridge or maybe he was just having a good week.

Or maybe he's fucking whipped.

Shhh.

Monday morning rolled around and Aveline was pissed to find her morning starting off with something pertaining to Umbridge.

As she walked into the commons in the morning she found everyone crowded around the bulletin board.

A large sign had been affixed to the Gryffindor notice board, so large that it covered everything else on there — the lists of second-hand spell books for sale, the regular reminders of school rules from Filch, the Quidditch team training schedule, the offers to barter certain Chocolate Frog cards for others, the Weasleys' new advertisement for testers, the dates of the Hogsmeade weekends, and the lost-and-found notices.