It was Valentine's Day and Hogwarts was overwhelmed with love and energy. It was impossible to go anywhere without seeing people holding hands or snogging each other's faces off. For couples, it was quite a happy day. However, people who were still single found the day slightly depressing. It wasn't exactly pleasant to be constantly reminded that they were alone.
Two of the most surprising bachelors were James Potter and Louis Weasley. Usually, they would have asked some random girl who would practically faint when invited. However, this year, they hadn't even tried to ask anyone. This caused for different rumors to go flying around the school. Some of them were as normal as the person they wanted to ask was taken to as absurd as being dared to see how long they could go without snogging someone.
Kristen and her Ravenclaw friends sat at their table, eating breakfast. None of them had a boyfriend, so they were planning on just spending the day together.
"Samantha?" a voice asked from behind Samantha.
She turned around to face Drake Smith. Her friends looked at the two of them anxiously, wondering what was about to happen.
"Hi Drake," Samantha stated, trying not to blush.
Drake muttered a strand of incoherent words, looking at the floor. He seemed quite nervous.
"What was that?" Samantha asked, "I couldn't quite hear you."
"I think it would greatly help if you spoke up," Kailey pointed out.
Drake took a deep breath. He felt extremely nervous. People all over the great hall were looking at him. He had been waiting years to have the courage to say this. If he didn't say what he wanted to now, he would never get the chance.
"Samantha, will you be my Valentine and go to Hogsmede with me today?" Drake asked, sounding a lot less timid than before.
"Yes, I will," Samantha replied, standing up as a huge smile spread across her face.
Drake's smile matched Samantha's when he heard her answer. With that, Drake grabbed her hand and they rushed out of the great hall, heading to Hogsmede.
"I was right," Kristen mumbled to herself, than exclaiming, "I was right! It might have taken 3 years of me telling her that they belong together, but she finally listened!"
"You're so going to rub this in her face, aren't you?" Kim asked.
"Of course I am! What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"
Everyone who could hear her laughed. James looked up from his food to see a good chunk of Ravenclaw's laughing along with Kristen. He wished he knew what they were talking about. Most of all, he wished that he had the courage to walk over there and tell her how he felt. Drake was a Hufflepuff and he had managed to ask Samantha on a date. James was usually quite good with girls and was a Gryffindor; he should have been brave enough to do it.
An owl came flying into the Great Hall and landed in front of Kristen. She quickly untied the note, immediately recognizing the owl. It was the same one that had brought her the first secret admirer letter. Opening up the letter, it read: "'Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the begging of love'-Mother Teresa."
"That's so adorable!" Kim exclaimed as she read the note over Kristen's shoulder.
"Whoever this guy is really cares about you," Kailey stated.
"I just really wish I knew who he was," Kristen said, "Too bad he just won't walk right over here."
There were a couple of things holding James back from walking over there. The first one was that Andrew would be extremely pissed at him if he found out James had done that. He wouldn't understand; he would just explode and go on about how he was going to hurt Kristen and when that happened, Andrew would hurt him extremely bad. The second one was the fact that he didn't know whether or not Kristen still hated him. Besides, even if she didn't hate him, there was almost no way she would like him. How could she after the way he had treated her in years past?
"You're staring at her again," Louis stated, causing James to blink and turn to his friend.
They were sitting by themselves today. Andrew and Fred were already in Hogsmede with Taylor and Jessica. They were the lucky ones. They didn't have to deal with the girl they fancied already having a boyfriend or being totally forbidden and most likely hating their guts still. No, these were hardships that Louis and James had to face.
"I can't help it," James said, "You don't understand how badly I just want to go over there and snog the daylights out of her."
"I know what you mean. If Henry wouldn't beat the shit out of me later, I would so go and snog Alyssa," Louis replied.
"By the end of the year, we're going to get together with the girls that we fancy."
"You honestly think that Henry and Alyssa will have broken up by then and that Andrew is actually going to let you get together with Kristen, James?"
"Have you seen the way Henry and Alyssa have been acting lately? I'm pretty sure they'll have broken up by next month. As for Kristen and me, I'll have to talk to Andrew and try to at least get him to the point where he'll still be my friend and not beat the shit out of me."
Louis cracked a smile.
"That seems like a good point to get to," he stated.
"So what do you think I need to do to get myself a better chance with her?" James asked.
"Well, you should probably become some sort of friends before you make your move. Ask her to help you study. Be nice, funny, and charming around her. Just don't be the total ass you've been in the past and you stand a much better chance. Also, I would work on Andrew being OK with you wanting to date her."
"That's a lot of stuff. Do you think I'm capable of doing all that?"
"Think of it as a quidditch game. In order to succeed, you have to try extremely hard and play nice. Committing fouls is not going to get you anywhere, James."