As soon as I am out on the Grounds, I want to cry, and that is the most un-Death Eater-ish thing anyone can do. I fight the tears back though, and I can’t believe how away from my work I’ve become. I let a girl impair my jobs. It couldn’t happen again.

But I want it to, so badly. I already miss her.

....

Later that night, we’re sitting in the Common Room and I tell Draco. “I ended it with her.”

His eyes light up with surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs. “I didn’t really expect you to. Good thing she didn’t have to be taken care of ... another way.”

He snorts, but I don’t find it all that amusing.

....

Two days after the breakup, I pass Janie in the hall. She is looking down, and I want to talk to her so badly. I debate with myself, knowing it will be more than trouble if I do, but finally I give in.

I sneak past her side and casually whisper as I walk by. “Room of Requirement - regular time.”

She continues to walk, and I can only hope that she heard me.

....

I sit in the Room, waiting for Janie to arrive. If she had heard me, then she’d show up - that’s what I wish for, anyway. I am really afraid that she’ll be too mad and not come.

But she does. At six o’clock, she steps into the room, closing and locking the door behind her.

Her normally gentle blue eyes have turned cold, and as she glares at me shivers go up my spine.

“What do you want?” she asks, not softening her stare.

My tongue is dry, and it sticks uncomfortably to the roof of my mouth. She is making this so much harder than I had expected.

“I ... I want to talk to you,” I manage to spit out. “About why I broke up with you ... and why I want you back.”

Her jaw drops open and flops around of a couple of seconds until she firmly closes it. She moves away from the door and sits on the opposite side of the room, back against the wall.

“You have three minutes,” she says. “Talk.”

“I’m sorry,” are the first words to escape. “I ... I let Draco get to me. He basically threatened that if I did not end things with you, he’d hurt you ... therefore hurting me.”

I technically wasn’t lying yet, so I decide to continue.

“I was afraid that if I told you, you’d tell me that you can just take care of yourself.”

“I can!” she interrupts, then remembers that she’s supposed to be listening to me.

I take a deep breath and finish my thoughts. “I want you back. You’re beautiful, smart, and funny. You see me when no one else does. Janie, I shouldn’t say this. I shouldn’t mean this ... but I love you. I know it may seem like I’m rushing things, but these past three months I’ve known you, and the two we’ve been dating have just made everything get stronger.”

While I am talking, her eyes have found a part on the floor that she doesn’t look up from. Finally, when I’m done, she does. “You love me?”

I nod, and she walks to my side.

“I swear,” she says. “If you ever hurt me like that again I’m taking a knife to your -”

“Woah,” I interrupt, smiling. “Let’s keep my anatomy out of this.”

She sits down next to me and hugs me. “We can’t tell anyone, can we?”

“No,” I exhale. “It’ll only turn worse for you.”

She nods, and we just sit there, hugging and not thinking about anything else except each other.