Love at First Sight (Harry Potter)

The Forbidden Forest

|ALEXANDRIA WEASLEY'S P.O.V|

Things could not have been worse, or that was what my naive eleven-year-old self believed to be true at the time.

Filch took Harry Potter and I down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where we had to sit and wait in silence — not that I minded the quiet, for I found my accompany's voice to be very annoying.

I was caught between fear and anger; fear fueled by the trouble we would most definitely get into, and anger toward myself for forgetting about the Invisibility Cloak — I suppose that was my fault entirely, as I allowed myself to be distracted and therefore unaware of my situation.

I swore mentally to myself, my blue gaze shifting to the raven-haired wizard slumped down into the plush seat beside mine, that I would never again let my guard down around him. For, I assumed that this moment was a glimpse of the universal mess I would find myself in if I ever decided to befriend the likes of the troublesome 'Boy Who Lived'.

When Professor McGonagall finally appeared, she was leading Neville Longbottom and a trembling Hermione behind her.

"Harry!" Neville burst out upon entrance. "We were trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag—"

Harry and I shook our heads violently in a futile attempt to quiet our fellow Gryffindor, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than the Norwegian Ridgeback that we had just ridden the castle of, as she towered over the four of us with a radiating anger.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the Astronomy Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."

I glanced at Hermione, praying that she had a plan of some sort. She stayed silent, however — her terror-filled brown eyes focused on her slippers, while she stood still as a statue. I then looked between Ron's dorm-mates, but they too were unusually quiet.

"Uhm," I returned my attention to the Transfiguration teacher in front of us, swallowing the forming lump in my throat as I cringed at the mere idea of the words balancing on my tongue. "Harry and I — we were — on a date."

"Excuse me, Miss Weasley?"

I could feel the boy in question's gaze, burning a hole into the side of my head. I ignored it, tucking a fallen lock of ginger hair behind my ear as I cleared my throat.

"Y-yes," I spoke, once I had regained the confidence to do so. "But please — don't tell my family — especially my brother, Harry is his best mate. That's why we chose to have it so late at night — we didn't want to upset Ron. . . ."

The older woman rose an eyebrow, her suspicious glare moving between Harry and I. She removed the spectacles from their place resting on her nose for a moment, as if that would help to see through us.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," She said. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom and Granger here heard the story and believed it, too?"

"No — no," Harry tried to assure Neville that this wasn't true, for the plump boy seemed both stunned and hurt.

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall, as she put back on her spectacles. "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger and Miss Weasley, I thought you two had more sense. Even if your story is true, Miss Weasley, that doesn't give you reason to be wandering the castle at this hour. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All four of you will receive detentions — yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around the school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous — and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."