Part 4

"Do you really have to go to class today?" Merula asks you quietly, breaking the long silence between the two of you. Never in your wildest dreams could you have imagined this. Just an hour prior you were chasing after the young witch after yet another not-so-private argument with the girl you've been dating. You thought to yourself that, perhaps this time would be different. You hoped that this time would be different. It was far from the first time the two of you had made amends following a confrontation, each time promising that it would be the last time. At this point, every student in Hogwarts could attest to the longevity of such promises. No, this time was different indeed. Never before had you seen the girl so open and honest about her insecurities, that alone was enough to give you hope this peace between you would last.

"You know I have to unfortunately," you answered Merula. Any concept of time was lost when you entered your own little world with Merula in an obscured corner of the lower floor. The young witch still firmly holding onto your arm, resting her head on your shoulder, her disheveled hair brushing up against your cheek. A small smile formed on your face as you ran your free hand across her multicolored hair. Her loving, affectionate embrace a vast contrast to the hot-headed, unkind personality she was known for to every other student and professor in Hogwarts.

"But it's just Herbology! It's all useless guff anyway," Merula replies back, sounding more like a young child trying to convince their parent to buy them some sweets.

"Well I can't argue with that, but I'll only be gone for a short while," you reassured her. As much as you wanted to skip class this afternoon you knew the real reason why you could not. You knew that you had to face Penny for the first time since you gave into your temptations with her at Hogsmeade. Deep down, you knew you would never be at peace with yourself if you didn't address what happened that afternoon. That one foolish moment you forgot about what mattered most of all to you. Perhaps, somehow, your friendship with Penny was still salvageable you thought to yourself.

"Well alright..." Merula answered dejectedly, still clutching onto your arm. "Say do you want to go down to Hogsmeade together tonight? Maybe we could start doing this relationship thing right," she asks you.

"Of course I do," you respond biting your lip, repressing memories of the afternoon before. "We could head down there after I get done with class."

"Well I would hope you wanted to. After all you are going with the strongest witch in all of Hogwarts," she responds playfully. You were thankful, albeit shocked by the transformation of her personality since her confession. In a way, you were thankful for the last fight you had with Merula. Airing out your grievances with one another just may have saved your relationship.

You looked down at the girl with her head on your shoulder and gave her a peck on the forehead with your lips. "I should get going to class," you tell Merula.

"I'll be waiting for you," she replies, giving you one last hug as she finally stood up from the stone bench. You watch her trail out of your sight as she made her way back towards the Common Room, leaving you to your thoughts before class.

"Goddamnit," you exclaim, slamming your fist down onto the cold stone. A stable relationship with Merula was all that you ever wanted, but the thought of Penny kept you from savoring the moment. A stinging pain shook your stomach as the thought she had spoken about what happened at Hogsmeade with someone else arose. "No, Penny wouldn't do something like that," you muttered to yourself.

As you made your way to Herbology class, you mentally prepared yourself to face the blonde girl. Recalling the look on her face when you met eyes with her at Flying Class, you knew instantly it was the look of remorse. While she may have been able to avoid you earlier, there was no way you would allow for that to happen again. Now was your chance to speak with her without upsetting Merula. After all, one little misstep could snap Merula back into her uncontrollable rage, ruining this newfound understanding between you two. Taking a deep breath you pushed the glass door and stepped inside of the greenhouse.

Surveying the room, you realize that once again Penny arrived to class before you. The typically preppy witch looking far from her usual demeanor with her head down focused on a textbook. As you slowly made your way toward her you tried to mask any look of emotion on your face, feeling your heart begin to race.

"Hey Penny," you greet the girl, your voice just loud enough to get her attention.

A frown formed on the girl's face hearing the sound of your voice as she sets her book down onto the table. "Oh hey," she responds, her voice barely above a whisper, looking away to avoid looking you into the eyes.

"You know we need to talk," you respond, realizing there was no sense in beating around the bush in avoiding whats on both of your minds.

"I figured we would have to eventually," Penny replies back, still refusing to meet your eyes.

"Look, theres no sense in doing this right before class," you tell the girl. "I'll stick around for a bit once it's over, I think that would be best."

"Okay." she whispers in agreement. Whatever what was on her mind you could find relief in knowing it wasn't a feeling of resentment at the very least. Realizing it would be best to give Penny some space for the time being you head to a corner of the humid greenhouse and began to unpack your things for class, completely unaware of what material was on the docket for today's lesson.

As the rest of your classmates filed into the greenhouse, the last thing on your mind was Herbology. Taking a quick glance across the room, you noticed Penny keeping her eyes squarely on Professor Sprout. She always was the studious type, but today you knew her focus was more of an attempt to block you out of her mind. Tuning out the professor's lecture on dried nettles you quickly realized it was far more interesting using the material in crafting potions rather than learning how to proper technique in which to grow them. Wiping the sweat off your brow, you began to sketch in the tattered book which housed all of your notes.

"Well, thats all for today. Be sure to be properly prepared for next week as we will be working with Mandrakes!" the typically jovial professor finally exclaimed, as your classmates began filing out of the greenhouse one by one. Taking one more glance at Penny, the frown she had worn all day remained on her face as she slowly gathered her things. Picking up your notebook, you made your way towards the girl, making sure there was nobody who could alert Merula that you were speaking to Penny once again. The blonde girl froze in her tracks as she finally turned to face you for the first time all day, her eyes reddening as she choked back her forming tears.

"Penny, what we did back at Hogsmeade together, it..it wasn't right," you say to her with a sigh. "What are we going to do about all of this?"

The young witch looked petrified from your question. Her lips quivering as if they were attempting to form any sort of word. Suddenly, a voice interrupted your conversation.

"What are you two still doing in here?" Professor Sprout asks the two of you. "I know you two love Herbology, but you can't stay in the greenhouse unsupervised and I have other matters to attend to today."

"We were just having a conversation Professor," you explained. "We could take it elsewhere."

"Well please do," the elderly professor replies as she motioned the both of you towards the door. Stepping out of the greenhouse you led Penny around the corner where two of you could be hidden from passing by students.

Frustrated by the interruption, you began once more. "As I was saying, what are we going to do about what happened back in Hogsmeade?"

Tears began to run down her blue eyes. Never before had you seen the normally bright and friendly girl like this. Never before had you seen her look so vulnerable and remorseful.

"I'm sorry," she choked out. "I heard you and Merula fighting earlier after class and I'm just so sorry for everything." she managed to say as she started sobbing, burying her face into her hands.

As you began to reach out to put your hand on her shoulder to console her you stopped halfway through deciding otherwise. Taking a deep breath you began to speak.

"Look Penny, I'm just as much in the wrong here. I was angry at Merula, and I was frustrated. But it didn't give me the right to lose myself to temptation like that."

"But I'm the one who wanted to comfort you in the first place. If I hadn't done that in the first place our friendship wouldn't have been ruined," she replies back, struggling to contain herself.

Realizing quickly this would only lead to a circular argument you shifted the subject. "Why did you want to do that with me anyway?" you ask the girl.

"Why? Do you really need me to explain to you?" she retorts sounding slightly annoyed by your question.

"Well I have a pretty decent idea wh-"

"Because I like you. And I've liked you for years. And I don't understand why you chose to date the girl who, for years, made your life a living hell. And continues to do so even though the two of you are supposedly dating!" Penny cried out, a stream of tears now running down her face and dripping down onto the stone ground below.

"Because you don't know her like I do," you snapped back at her. "And I'm in love with Merula. While you've been one of my best friends here, I just never felt the same way about you."

"But you always look so miserable with her!" Penny retorted. "Weren't you happy at Hogsmeade? Wasn't that so much better than constantly fighting?"

"Look I'm not going to deny that I was happy going to Hogsmeade with you. It doesn't change the fact everything we did was wrong and it's been eating away at me ever since. And I know you don't understand, nobody else in this whole school does, but I'm happy being with Merula."

An uncomfortable silence filled the air as Penny looks into your eyes struggling to come up with a response. Finally she offered a suggestion. "I know how to make things right again."

Curiously you respond, "How are we going to make things right then?"

"Remember when you convinced me not to take the forgetfulness potion? Maybe it could have some use after all."

You shook your head in disapproval of her suggestion. "Thats your solution? Making us both forget isn't going to make things right," you countered.

"Why wouldn't it? It would be just like erasing that day from both of our minds," she states.

"Because I know whats going to happen if we do that. The same thing is going to happen again down the line I just know it. And what are you going to do Penny? Are you going to take those potions whenever something bad happens?" you explain to the girl.

"Then tell me what should we do then." she responds dejectedly.

"We both understand we made a mistake and make sure it never happens again. You're my friend Penny, and you can cheer me up whenever by being just that."

Realizing there was no better option she sighs. "I'm just so sorry I took advantage of your sadness the way I did."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't hate you for what happened. I'd like for us to go back to being friends and to move on from this," you respond, putting your hand on her shoulder to console her.

"I'd like that as well," Penny responds. A small smile forming on her face for the first time all day.

"Well look, I need to get going. Are you going to be alright?" you ask the girl as you pick up your books from the ground.

"I'll be fine, I was just so worried that you hated me after you ran away at Hogsmeade," she explains, wiping away the remaining tears from her eyes with her robe.

"I never hated you Penny. We're still friends I promise," you reassured her, smiling at the Hufflepuff.

The girl smiled back at you and gathered her belongings. "I'll see you tomorrow in class then?"

With a nod you made your way back towards the Slytherin Common Room. And while the feeling of regret may always linger in the back of your mind, you made a promise to yourself that you would never make the same mistake again. Between the newfound understand between you and Merula and finding closure with Penny you felt a smile forming on your face. As you made your way back the common room, you held the belief that, for once, everything was going to be alright. That perhaps, everything will work out in the end. Now you just had to worry about what to wear for your date with Merula that evening.