The Canis Major

C h a p t e r 2 9

My lips detached from his and I smiled up at him. He brushed a curl behind my ear before palming my cheek. Toby looked down at me before brushing his fingers across my red nose.

"You feeling better?" He asked quietly, trying to avoid catching Slughorn's attention. I nodded timidly. He ran his thumb across my bottom lip before frowning at me. "What happened again?"

"I left to get away from the crowd," I started making up a story of why I left the dance so early. "After a while I wasn't feeling any better, so a friend helped me back to the dorm." He looked a bit disappointed. "We still had a great time! My little sickness at the end didn't ruin anything." He gave me a soft smile.

I don't know why I didn't just tell him the truth. One of the boys he was worried about had kissed me at the dance. That's technically two out of four, even though one didn't mean anything. Sirius had been drinking that night, so maybe that one couldn't technically mean anything either.

I wouldn't be able to find out, seeing as he was avoiding me. Even when it was clear I wanted to talk to him, he made it duty to avidly avoid me. With O.W.L's coming up, it seemed like everyone else was busy as well.

"What's on your mind?" I jumped back into reality when Toby spoke again. I flushed and shrugged.

"Nothing, just thinking about the summer." His face brightened up a bit.

"Speaking of which, my parents thought it'd be a great idea to meet you this summer." My eyes got wide with his suggestion. "It wouldn't be the entire summer of course, but I was just wondering if you'd like to visit..."

"That'd be amazing!" I replied excitedly. This would be the first summer I would ever be doing so much. He smiled at my enthusiasm. He began to start planning out loud before Slughorn overheard and hushed him.

"We'll plan it later," he whispered once Slughorn had diverted his attention elsewhere. "Now where were we before?" He smiled before returning his lips back to mine.

____________________

"What happened at the dance?" Lily asked me as we walked to lunch. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I should be asking you that," I said. I turned to look at Melanie who had stayed quiet. "Both of you."

Lily rolled her eyes while Melanie's face went red. Both of us had turned to look at her with accusing stares. Her eyes widened and she looked at both of us.

"What?" She exclaimed. "I didn't-"

"I so saw you!" Lily and I exclaimed at the same time. We shared a glance before looking back at Mel.

"What the hell are you two-"

"You and the Slytherin girl," Lily whispered. We had come to a stop right before entering the Great Hall. Melanie's face was straight, but still very red.

"Is that who you've been staring at the entire time?" I inquired. Lily smirked.

"Staring?" She teased. Melanie rolled her eyes and glared back st Lily.

"What about you? Are you Mrs. Potter now?" Lily glared at Melanie.

"As if I'd every marry that toerag," she muttered angrily.

"What did he do this time?" I sighed. She rolled her eyes and started walking in the Great Hall.

"What he always does," she grumbled. "Just being an-"

"Why don't you go sit with your girlfriend?" I cut Lily off when I see the dark-haired girl sitting at the Slytherin table. "Instead of just staring at her." Melanie ignored me and continued to walk towards the Hufflepuff table. Lily took one look at the Gryffindor table before joining us.