Always

Chapter 20

The next week passed in an exceptionally happy blur. Harry and I were inseparable. Every time I saw him, my stomach would explode in a fluttering sensation, breath catching in my throat, heart beat speeding up instantly. The affect he had on me was unreal. He was still desperately shy around me, despite all we had been through now, especially when we were in public.

The first time I walked down the hallway at school with him, I was sure he didn't hear a word I said as he constantly scanned the crowd, nervous for someone to see us together and shoot us a snide remark. If any came, I didn't notice. After a few trips down the hall, he seemed to be a little less skittish, but not by much. At least now he would actually answer me when I asked him things, or would add to something I had said.

The first time I tried to hold his hand in the hallway, it was like I had taken a chainsaw to his skin. At the contact, his hand had jerked away so fast, I skipped right over being insulted to instant laughter. His cheeks had burned red as I choked out my giggles before I could reassure him that I thought his bashful behavior was extremely endearing. It was Friday before he returned any kind of affection I tried, even though it was just the slightest bit of contact- my hand brushing against his as we stood at his locker, his briefly grasping mine in return.

I had been smiling up at him, excited that he had invited me to eat lunch with him in his secret nook that day. While I had wanted to lean up and press my lips to his, I had settled for the quickest of hand holds, elated that I had been rewarded with a returned gesture.

When lunch rolled around, I couldn't stop the smile from plastering itself on my face. After quickly grabbing my lunch from the cafeteria, I practically sprinted up to the second floor of the library, happy to get away from my usual lunch table where I hadn't said a word all week. I was impressed with myself when I found his cave on the first shot, weaving through the correct pattern of shelves for the first time.

He grinned from his seat on the small couch when I walked up, looking relaxed at school for the first time all week. Here, hidden among the books, we were free from prying eyes that always made him so uncomfortable. While it really didn't bother me who saw one way or another, Harry was much more private, much more cautious about everything we did. Everything was still so new to him that I doubted he could have handled this any other way.

As far as I was concerned, he had nothing to worry about. I had no plans to go anywhere and other peoples' opinions would have absolutely no effect on how I felt about him. And while I hoped he felt the same way about me, I doubt he believed that that was truly how I felt. I just wanted him to feel comfortable, which was much easier said than done.

"Hi," I said, cheesy grin still plastered on my face as I sat down next to him, setting my lunch on the small table in front of us. He had brought his lunch, as usual.

"Hello," he replied, face mirroring my happy expression. He had his father's glasses on again, his hair styled into the sleek quiff in the front, his attempts to remember his father and not look like him contradicting each other. I wondered if that had ever occurred to him. Glancing at his face, I couldn't stop myself from leaning forward quickly and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. He accepted it now that we were alone.

"How's your day?" I asked.

"Good, glad we finally got that project handed in and done with," he said. The relief had been evident on his face when we turned in our project in biology that morning. Ever the good student, he hated waiting until the last day to hand things in. That was probably my fault that it had taken so long, because every time we got together this week to work on it, I ended up distracting him for most of the time. It wasn't my fault he was so adorable; I couldn't help myself.