The Slytherin ventured into the dorm and Harry closed the door behind her and kicked a box of Exploding Snaps out of the way so Thalia wouldn't trip. Since none of the boys were expecting company, the dorm was as messy as ever.
The only thing that looked remotely neat was Neville's nicely made bed, with the blankets tucked in and the pillows fluffed and propped up nicely. "That one's my bed," Harry announced, pointing towards the bed next to Neville's.
It was cleaner than the others and Harry had made some horrible attempt to make his bed so the crumpled sheets were spread out a bit and the pillows were stacked on top of each other.
Thalia made her way over to Harry's bed and laid down in the center while Harry just sat on the edge, not wanting to overstep his boundaries. "Er, happy birthday," Harry said.
"Thanks," Thalia said. She sat upwards and scooted towards Harry, causing her skirt to fold a bit. Thalia gently cupped the side of Harry's face and kissed him.
Harry immediately responded by kissing back and he shifted in his position so his body was completely facing her. He tried to refrain from touching her too much without her permission so he just pushed her with his lips.
Thalia fell back onto the bed and Harry hovered over her, leaning his right side on the bed so he didn't have to plank or put his full body weight on her. Thalia pulled away and her eyes pierced Harry's.
"Harry, you can touch me, y'know," Thalia stated, as if she was reading his mind.
"Oh, I- I didn't know," Harry mumbled. He blushed and Thalia reached out and grabbed his hand. She put it on her bare thigh and Harry's face went from pink to scarlet.
"Don't be embarrassed, Harry," the brunette cooed. She softly combed her hands through Harry's hair until his face turned back to it's normal color.
Thalia's hands stopped raking his hair and one of her hands went back to his hand that rested on her thigh. She guided it higher, to where the hem of her skirt was, and Harry blushed a bit again.
"Don't you think we're moving a bit fast, love?" Harry asked. They'd been snogging for a little more than a month and now they were moving onto this. Harry wasn't sure what would happen after that. He would happily shag Thalia but maybe in a year or so, not now.
"We're not shagging," Thalia clarified. "You still need to get used to snogging me and making physical contact with me."
Thalia kissed him again and Harry pushed back harshly this time, the rims of his glasses touching her a bit. The Slytherin bunched up her skirt even more and led Harry's hand higher.
His hand was burning hot from nervousness and it felt nice on Thalia's leg. Thalia kept bringing his hand closer to her heat and Harry sprang away completely when his thumb brushed against a thinner cloth.
"Um, I got you a birthday present," Harry said, trying to steer away from the topic of touching or snogging. "Just wanted to give it, in case I forget later."
"Oh, I don't need a gift," Thalia insisted as she propped herself upright. "Just spending the day with you is enough."
"As much as I love to hear that," Harry responded, making his way over to his drawers, "I still got you a gift." He grabbed a wrapped gift and held it up for her to see, then set it down in front of her.
"I'm serious. I don't need a gift," the brunette repeated more urgently this time.
"Come on, do you doubt my gift giving skills or something? It's not a horrible gift, I swear," Harry promised with a smile. Thalia smiled back politely but didn't make any movement or any motivation to grab the brown package.
"I don't need a gift, Harry. It was really nice of you to think about getting me a gift, but I really don't need one."
"Well I thought you'd like it. So please open it," Harry shot back. The desperation could be heard in his voice. He pushed the gift towards her but Thalia only pushed it back. "Love, just take the gift."
"I can't."
The air suddenly shifted in the dorm and it became colder, despite the bright sun's rays beaming onto the window, shining through the room.
"Why not?" he frowned. He'd put a lot of thought into the gift and Thalia was just rejecting it before she even knew what it was and Harry couldn't even put a word on how it made him feel. It made him feel ignored and unimportant and sad and disappointed all mixed in one.
"I don't want to hurt your feelings, Harry, but people only give gifts to their friends or people they're close to," Thalia said quietly, "and I don't want you thinking that we're that close. Close enough to give each other gifts."
"I think we were pretty close a few seconds ago," Harry awkwardly laughed. Thalia just pursed her lips together and pushed the gift closer to him. "Come on, Thalia. Don't be like that."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I can't accept this."
Harry's heart felt like it was shattering and he just blinked a few times, then picked up the gift and put it back into his drawer. The curly-haired boy sat on the edge of the bed once again while Thalia fixed her skirt and flattened it out with her hands. "So, you're having a party later?" Harry asked.
"Um, yeah. Draco and Theo wanted to get drunk," Thalia replied. She didn't dare invite him though, knowing that everyone would just treat him like shit there. She felt horrible for not accepting the gift but Harry needed to know that they weren't that close.
They both looked down instead of at each other and Thalia moved over so she was sitting next to Harry on the edge of his bed. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything," Thalia said comfortingly. "I'm sure that your gift was very thoughtful-"
"Nah," Harry bluffed, "it's not a big deal. I just got something last minute and it's not even important. You probably wouldn't have even liked it."
When he picked it out in Hogsmeade, he thought she would've loved it and she would've flung her arms around him and brought him into a nice hug instead of going in for another snog.
"Harry-"
"It's fine. Let's just not talk about it," he offered. His heart had been broken and now Thalia was still sitting there, her presence reminding him that they would never be anything more than snogging partners.
Her being there hurt him but he couldn't tell her because he didn't want to see her crestfallen reaction. He liked her being there, even though he hated it at the same time.
"Okay," Thalia agreed slowly. She kissed Harry again but it felt different. His lips were stiff, like they were frozen in place, and Harry was holding back tears but it was so hard to when she was right there in front of him.
He could smell her peppermint scent and he felt her warm lips and he felt her cold hands running through his hair but instead of wanting to celebrate and perform pathetic cartwheels, Harry just wanted to throw up.
The raven-haired boy parted his lips from hers once again and Thalia gazed at him sadly. She hated seeing him like this but she wanted to believe that she didn't fancy Harry, and she only needed his body. Thalia was only lying to herself.
"Okay," Thalia repeated with a sigh. "Give me the gift."
"What?"
"The gift. I'll take it," she clarified. "I know you clearly put some kind of thought into it and you seem very sad that I didn't take it so I'll take it." She never had any intention to unwrap the gift but she wanted to give him some kind of hope. She didn't want Harry to be sad but she wouldn't be the person to promise anything.
Harry was a bit happier but it wasn't all about the gift. It was about why she didn't want to take it in the first place. She'd implied that they would never be anything but snogging partners and her taking the gift would not change anything.
Yet, even though he knew this, Harry found himself making his way back over to his drawer filled with dress shirts and he picked up the brown package. He handed her the package and Thalia held it with both of her hands.
"Are you going to open it or are you just going to look at it?" Harry asked.
"I'll open it later," Thalia said quickly. And that's when Harry knew that she would never open it.
"I think you should go," he decided aloud. Thalia's head shot up and she frowned.
"But I wanted to spend the day with you," she said.
"You should've given me a heads-up then," Harry huffed. He didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day but he knew he didn't want to spend it around a liar, even if it was Thalia. "I've got plans for the day."
"Oh, sorry," Thalia apologized. "I- I didn't know."
"S'fine," Harry said.
"I'll go then," the brunette announced. Harry didn't even bother to walk Thalia to the door as the girl left and walked down the stairs.
Seamus, Dean, Ron, and Neville were all waiting in the common room and they were about to taunt Thalia with wolf whistles but then Ron saw the wrapped gift in Thalia's hands. He was with Harry when he bought the gift and he knew that Harry wanted Thalia to open it in person for a reaction.
"Thought you were with Harry for the next few hours," Ron called towards her.
"Yeah, turns out he's got plans," Thalia shrugged. She pretended not to care as she looked down at her wrapped gift and Seamus let out a hearty laugh.
"No, he doesn't!" Seamus exclaimed. "Poor guy knew it was your birthday and cleared his entire schedule to- oof!" Seamus grabbed his stomach after being harshly elbowed and Thalia made her way over to the group.
Her demeanor instantly changed and her green eyes hardened, piercing the boys one by one in a scary way. "If any of you tells anyone that I was here," Thalia said with a cold, hard voice, "I will send my father's men after you and you will all be dead within a week. Is that understood?"
The four boys weakly nodded and Neville gazed sadly at the girl who was so nice to him less than a quarter of an hour ago. It was strange how someone could change so quickly. Thalia left the common room and made her way back to her dorm.