The Beginning of the End

Shortly after Slughorn's Christmas party, the first Quidditch match of the school year was about to take place. Of course Harry had made team Captain and Ginny made Seeker. Effie loved to go to the matches but she didn't know if she could do it this time. She was telling everyone that she was coming down with a cold but in reality she didn't want to be there because of Harry. They still weren't really speaking but she guessed in due time they would.

Effie buckled the red belt around her waist and slid on her Gryffindor robes. She spritzed perfume all over and grabbed her school bag. Hermione was in the common room waiting for her, so Effie rushed out of the dormitory and down the stairs.

"Hey, sorry it took so long." She huffed, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Oh, it's okay. I see why it took you so long." Hermione said with a laugh as her eyes scanned over Effie's outfit. Effie laughed and they started walking to their first class, D.A.D.A.

"So when are you going to tell Ron how you feel? I had to tell Harry." Effie teased, giving Hermione a light nudge. Hermione's cheeks tinged pink.

"I can-, t-that's completely different!" She stuttered, blushing harder. Effie giggled and shook her head.

"How? How is it different?!" Effie yelled, her laughter getting worse. Hermione just blushed ever harder.

"It just is! He's got the emotional range of a teaspoon AND he's really thick. It would probably take him months to figure it out!" Hermione exclaimed. Effie might as well had been rolling on the floor.

"Stop it, Effie!" Effie collected herself and cleared her throat.

"Oh, I live for embarrassing people." She sang as they walked into the D.A.D.A classroom. Hermione recovered and pushed Effie practically across the room.

"You're so cruel." She said with a chuckle. Effie shrugged and sat at her desk. She was very interested to see what lesson Snape had planned for the day. Soon after, Snape entered the room and walked to the front of the class.

"Today you will learn how to cast and block spells, without using incantations." He said, folding his arms across his chest. Pretty much the whole class groaned except for Effie. She had been wanting to learn this for so long.

"You will be put into pairs. Malfoy and Parkinson, Granger and Weasley, Reynolds and Potter..."

This time Effie groaned. It was a good thing that Hermione and Ron were being put together but Effie and Harry? That was completely different. The class stood and the desks disappeared. In order to make things easier, Effie took off her robe and tossed it into the corner with her bag. Harry looked at her and even though he didn't say anything, he was definitely thinking. The way she looked and smelled at that moment made him want to kiss her again...just like last time.

"Let's get this over with, okay?" She said quietly, pulling out her wand. Harry snapped back to reality and pulled his wand out as well.

"In order to cast or block these spells, you have to concentrate on the spell you would use and you have to channel all your energy and power into those thoughts, almost as if you are forcing the spell to come out of your wand." Snape instructed, walking around the classroom to evaluate.

"You first." Effie said raising her wand slightly. Harry sighed and raised his, thinking of a spell. It took a few minutes but then the expelliarmus spell was cast and Effie's wand went flying. Her eyes were wide. Snape handed her the wand and they tried again.

Spells were being cast left and right and it broke Effie's concentration a couple of times for the most part, she was doing spectacular. At the end of the lesson, Effie had mastered casting and blocking, much to her surprise. She thought learning how to do that kind of thing would take longer.

"Congratulations Miss Reynolds. 20 points to Gryffindor. We'll pick this back up tomorrow." Snape stated dully. Effie smiled and put her robe back on and put her bag over her shoulder.

"Hey, you know the Quidditch game is tomorrow right?" Harry asked nervously.

"Yes, I was surprised Ron made the team." She answered walking out of the classroom.

"Yeah well, I was wondering if you were coming?" He asked, hope shining through his eyes. Effie looked at him momentarily before answering.

"We'll see." That two-worded answer was enough to make Harry smile from ear to ear. He stopped walking and stared after her. He knew he had a choice to make, but he still wasn't sure. Hermione flew past Harry to catch up with Effie and practically tackled her to the ground.

"Tell. me. everything." Hermione demanded. Effie looked at her, slightly frightened and sighed.

"There's nothing to tell Hermione. We were paired up for class and he asked me if I was going to the game tomorrow. That's all." She said, slightly irritated. Hermione took the hint and dropped the subject. They walked in silence to their next class. Effie wasn't sure if she'd be able to concentrate through their Charms lesson. It was boring enough as it is.

She decided that she would go to the game tomorrow, simply because she knew that everyone wanted her to go. How difficult could it be? She wasn't even going to be talking to him. He would be flying around on a freaking broom.

Effie sighed and tried her best to pay attention to Professor Binns. This was going to be a looong hour.