Disaster Date (Tess and Humphrey)

[Humphrey Williams]

When he walked into Hogsmeade, there was a huge smile on his face. He found a booth for two, and ordered two butterbeers. Also, he ordered a plate of french fries, and some fish for him. While he was waiting for Tess to arrive, he made an origami flower, and colored it red and green with his charcoal sticks. He put his case of charcoal away, and twirled it as he waited for her. It was just a couple minutes before the agreed upon time.

The food arrived, and it smelled delicious. Before he started eating though, Tess had to arrive. It was impolite to start eating without her. Plus, it was a date, and she might want to order something other than fish. Though he was willing to share his fish with her.

[Tess McCartney]

Tess was glad to be out of uniform, it allowed her to show a bit of her personality. Seeing that it was an outing she dressed herself for it. As she saw the Three Broomsticks, she smiled softly and opened the door.

Looking around, she saw Humphrey and let out a grin walking his way. Sitting down, she ignored the smell of fish and looked at his hands.

"Hello, what have you got there?" she asked.

[Humphrey Williams]

It was great to see Tess' dressing style. Normally he saw her in the plain black school robes with just the green crest and tie. She was much prettier when she was able to dress stylishly. "First, before I show you I have to say you look even more beautiful than usual tonight. Seeing as you are always so pretty, that is quite an accomplishment. So if I am distracted by your stunningly gorgeous outfit and body, I apologize in advance for that." he told her, complimenting her pretty clothes. Her hair was done up nice too, a little product in it maybe.

He wiped his hands on his napkin to get the grease off. Presenting the rose to her with a flourish, he placed it in her hand. Letting his fingers brush against hers as he did so. Again, he marveled at the softness of her hands. "This is for you my dear lady. It pales in comparison to your beauty, but I was bored waiting for you." It was just a paper origami colored a red rose with a green stem. Nothing special, but it did look nice with her clothes. "Now, order anything you like Tess, my treat." Humphrey told her.

Then he reached across the table and grabbed her left hand with his right. Pushing fingers through hers so they interlocked, he caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. Looking deep into her eyes, he noticed how her outfit complimented her gorgeous eyes. It was sucking him in, and he shook his head slightly to find coherent thoughts. "So, beautiful, smart, funny lady, who for some reason decided to go on a date with a bum like me. What do you want to talk about?" he asked her.

[Tess McCartney]

Tess covered her mouth with her free hand as he complimented her. Honestly his compliments made her amused by how he worded it; it was uniquely him. But she was glad she looked presentable, considering she was never expecting him to dress up for it.

"Thank you" she whispered softly as she looked at the rose.

It was beautifully folded and she kissed it softly before placing it on the table with a soft smile on her face. She let him take her hand, he apparently like hand holding, probably a Muggle thing she decided and smiled softly.

"I'll just have some chips, I'm allergic to fish" she commented as she flipped her hair back.

She lifted her gaze from the menu and noticed how intently he was staring at her. She tilted her head and her eyes crinkled with joy. His gaze was intent, but she then blinked and looked down at their hands. He was being a perfect gentleman, and she bit her bottom lip holding in her amusement at his description of himself.

"Well you sure clean up, if you're a bum as you say" she giggled. "Anything you want, isn't a gentleman supposed to lead the conversation?"
"

[Humphrey Williams]

Tess was so much more feminine than most of the girls. When she put her hand in front of her face, it was just so much more girlish than Keiba or Charlotte were. They were great, just more of the tomboy personality. He liked a balance between them. It was nice to see her out of Hogwarts robes. They covered up her petite, slightly curved, feminine charms.

"Your welcome, Tess. I'm sure all the boys in here are jealous that you are sitting with me and not them." Humphrey smiled as she kissed the rose and put it in her pocket. When she smiled at his holding her hand he let it grow wider. This was the happiest he had been, well to be honest, ever. She was beautiful, nerdy, smart, and very funny in a playful way.

"No problem, you can have some of mine, and I will order another plate of them. Would you like a hamburger, or sausage or something like that instead of fish? Anything at all you want to eat, I will get for you." he said. It felt good to be able to treat a gorgeous girl to dinner. He just had to try not to get too distracted by her looks, and make sure to talk enough to keep things interesting for her. Which he had zero problem doing, being an extremely talkative person.

Tess had a smile, and her eyes crinkled in a cute, happy way. Then she bit her lip, what with girls and doing that??? Char bit her lip ring stud, Tess bites her lip, Keiba bites her lip, is that ingrained into women's DNA or something? "My mom told me to always ask questions about the girl on a date. To show I am interested in her, not just an arrogant prick, ya know. I guess I'm a stylish bum, then." he said, teasing her. He felt the blood rush to his face at the compliment.

"Umm, we could talk about...sorry, you are just too cute for me to think properly. Let's see...did you get started on The Odyssey, how do you like it so far?" Humphrey asked.

[Tess McCartney]

Tess laughed softly at his cheeks reddening. Merlin, he gave her so much crud about her being too shy, when he was the one blushing. She merely raised her brow and smiled deciding to ignore his blushing for his own sake and play it as cool as she could possibly be.

"A hamburger would be nice, I'm allergic to fish" she said smiling. "And thank you, what a gentleman. I might treat you to some sweets later I suppose"

She found it adorable that he was talking about dates with his mom. It was nerdy and adorable, and well she laughed softly once more and shrugged.

"Your mother taught you well" she said smiling. "I began reading it, it's an epic no? Very old, but good writing"

[Humphrey Williams]

He knew Tess was letting him off the hook when he was blushing madly. That is what he loved about her, she didn't care about him being embarrassed and awkward. "What shade of red am I? Tomato, or more beet red?" he asked her to lighten the slight awkwardness.

"Tess, it is my treasure to treat somebody as awesome as you to dinner. Don't worry about it, and maybe another time, but this night is on me. You can get the next one if you want to, but this is my treat. A thank you for putting up with me, I know I have a lot of issues you have to deal with by being my friend." he said, looking at her. She knew, she knew how much he thought about her. At least he hoped she did.

"She did, I miss her so much. It hurts every single day, I can't wait until I can join them up there. Not that I would end my life, well...I tried, but Charlotte saved me. I wish she would have just let me go meet my parents sometimes, and my uncle now too. Finally meet all the dead relatives who were killed before I was born." he said, thinking about the family he never had much of.

"Enough of that, too depressing. Yes, it is an epic, in typical ballad style. Iambic pentameter, and all that great stuff that gives it rhythm. You have to let me read it when you finish it, you miss the feel of it if you don't read it aloud. Maybe you can read me your favorite sections of Dante's Inferno. Let me know where they are, and I can read my book I recommended, and you can do the same for the book you picked for me. If you want to., that is." Humphrey said.

"Dante's Inferno is fantastic so far. Right up my alley, excellent call." he said, letting a wide grin split his face.

[Tess McCartney]

Tess giggled and winked at him.

"It's a nice shade of red, matches beautifully to you" she teased. "And next time we're on break I'll treat you back so I take that offer."

She appreciated how highly he thought of her, perhaps she should make Victoria compliment her this way, she giggled at the thought of Victoria's face at her comment. She'd probably get hexed for teasing her.

But the mention of his mother made her smile dim a bit. She personally was very attached to her mother, more so than her father because her mother always let her have everything she needed. It must have been hard.

"Maybe I can" she said smiling.

It was funny to her that even here, they were talking about books. Either way she didn't mind it.

[Humphrey Williams]

She giggled, and winked at him. Suddenly, his heart just completely stopped beating. Did she have any idea, the effect she had when she did that. Tess must, because every guy in the entire school he was sure thought she was pretty, but still. It was an unfair advantage to be able to do that to a guy. Finally, after about thirty seconds without air, his body forced his mouth open and he began to breathe, and his heart started pumping the blood through his veins again.

Once he caught his breath he said. "Tess, be careful with me here. Next time you giggle, and wink in a flirting way, be a little more careful. You literally just stopped my heart, and I forgot how to breathe for a while there. Come on, we both know you have deadly good looks, don't kill me with them please?" he asked her in a completely serious voice.

Then he just couldn't help laughing at the situation. "I mean sure, a hex I can take, but that smile is more deadly than any hex I've ever seen. I'm not kidding either, you could use that in a battle, smile and wink at any guy you are fighting and he is complete putty to do with as you please. I'm just glad that you don't normally abuse your attractive, well...everything, to your advantage. Sometimes though, I think if you told me to do something, I couldn't say no even if I tried. You, Tess, are dangerously beautiful, this is what authors mean when they say deadly good looks, you." Humphrey said.

He leaned in a little closer to her. "I would prefer it if I lived long enough to get to know you even better." Humphrey whispered in her ear. Then he pulled back, and winked, flashing his own smile at the same time. Maybe it worked both ways, but he wasn't half as attractive as her. "Too bad I don't have the same advantage you do." Hopefully, she would prove him wrong, it would be nice to make her mind turn to mush for once, instead of his.

"I think that we would have fun with it. I can do all my crazy character voices. Even go into falsetto for the girls' voices, that, is always good for a laugh. Now, enough about books, I want you to sit there. I want to do something while we wait for them to come by again to take your order." He pulled out his pocket sketchbook. "Stay as still as you can, I am going to sketch you. With a couple extra things thrown in there. You are the best muse I can find willing to pose for me. Which I hope you are?" Humphrey asked at the end.

[Tess McCartney]

Humphrey's expression was not something Tess was expecting. He looked like he'd been struck by lightning and she blinked a few times. After all, she wasn't doing anything. A simple wink really? She bit her bottom lip to stop smiling and rolled her eyes at him. He was such a tease honestly, a teasing flirt ,the worst combination.

As her personal space was invaded, she was surprised. Her body tensed a bit, but it was natural, the only boy near her was..well her boyfriend! Even then she found herself to be a bit nervous around Xander because of his outgoing nature compared to her. She flushed and as he pulled back let out a breath she wasn't expecting.

"Come on now..stop teasing" she said lightly patting his arm.

She nodded at the mention of playing out books, it was cute, and she went along with it...because that's what friends did, even if they found it a bit loony. At the mention of him sketching her, she smiled softly and shrugged.

"Why not" she grinned.

She placed her hand on the table and placed her hand on her cheek lightly smiling at the paper rose.

[Humphrey Williams]

He was hurt when she rolled her eyes at him. She really didn't get it, did she? How could he make this any clearer?, he thought to himself. And, that was when the portrait idea had struck. "Who said I was teasing Tess?" he asked her the question with a dead serious expression, and then turned back to his sketchpad. He mixed the tan charcoal stick, withe a pink until it was the right shade, just darker, and then he added the white until it was the right shade as well as color.

Looking at her face, and trying to think clearly, was a difficult task for him to accomplish. "Alright, I need to move over here, and he moved across the seat, until he had a better angle of light. There we go!" Humphrey said excitedly. Then he began to do the shading with the gray, from the light coming from behind her. He then darkened the parts of her face that were cast in partial shadows, with the skin tone she had. Next, he located a chocolate brown charcoal stick.

Slowly, he worked on her hair, it was the difficult part, because it was long, wavy, and absolutely gorgeous. To capture it took about four, five minutes. Next, he used the same charcoal to shade her eyes, and then put the black pupils in the center. It was tricky, but he got it after two minutes. Then, he quickly added her bone structure, which he knew very well. Since he had spent a lot of time studying her very beautiful face. The nose was completed, then the eyebrows, then the cheeks, and finally the mouth. He added the ruby red lips, and softened it to a natural pink that was her normal look. She didn't need make up to be breathtaking.

Finally, he added the neck, shoulders, and just the top of her chest, not going down too far. This was a portrait focusing on the face, not her curves, though those were hard to avoid looking at. She did have very feminine curves...shaking his head, he refocused. Finally, he added the shirt she was wearing, and that was easy for him. He was always good with clothes, and he had considered fashion at one point in time as a career choice. Humphrey did like beautiful women in pretty dresses. Adding a light red to her cheeks, that was what she looked like when she blushed, he handed it to her.

"I know, it doesn't do you justice, but it would take hours to do a proper painting, this is a very rough sketch. You are much prettier than I could ever capture with water colors, ink paint, acrylic paint, charcoal, or even a sculpture. Simply too beautiful to ever portray unless they saw you. Honestly, this is how I see you Tess. An amazing, funny, smart, nerdy, athletic, stunningly beautiful girl. I am so lucky to have you as a friend. I don't deserve to have any friends. Oh wait, just a sec." Humphrey said, and he signed the bottom right hand corner with his quick, artist's signature. "There, now everybody knows I had the privilege of having you as my muse." Humphrey said, blushing.

"Thanks for this Tess, for coming here, for letting me sketch you. For just being a fantastic friend, and for giving me the chance to take a pretty girl out to dinner, not just pretty, breathtakingly beautiful girl. You literally did stop my heart, I wasn't kidding. You heard me gasping for breath, that wasn't acting. You have no idea the effect you have when you flirt Tess. It is...scary how you affect me when you do that. Good scary, but still..." Humphrey said, blushing even more and smiling at her.

[Tess McCartney]

Tess tilted her head and looked at him bemused at his serious expression. She let out a soft smile and moved as he asked her. Staying still was a bit hard, but she simply did as he asked until it was over.

During his drawing, she allowed herself to let her thoughts disperse. Humphrey was flirting with her more than usual, and while she didn't want to be arrogant and jump to conclusion, she figured it was because he was a bit hurt at Keiba's rejection. It was understandable, and while she never had to experience it, she felt for him.

As he gave her the drawing she was surprised at how he drew her. This was her? She felt herself touch it as if it was made of glass and looked at up. Smiling brightly, cheeks pink she kissed his cheek.

"This is the best present I've ever been given thank you" she murmured and hugged the picture close.

[Humphrey Williams]

Tess had been a better muse than he could have ever dreamed of. "A good subject helps make for good art, Tess. You are, well a pretty awesome person to sketch. Beautiful, great smile lines and everything to work off of." Now he was blushing a brilliant shade of beet red.

"Uh...uh-mummy this is embarrassing, no problem Tess." Humphrey somehow managed to stutter past the lump in his throat. "Y-your welcome, no biggie. I've always wanted to paint you, ya know. This is going to be so much better when I make it an ink painting. Capture the light of your eyes, and reflective qualities, and shading better."

"Glad you like the rough sketch though, you can keep it. I know your face well enough I don't need you with me to do a good representation of it. I'm glad you like it so much, but it isn't that big of a deal. You are beautiful, I like art. This makes sense, and I am lucky to have you pose for me." he said, trying to downplay the gift a bit. He was the lucky one here.

[Tess McCartney]

Tess smiled and shrugged as he called her a good muse. She'd done nothing after all but sit there. Still he was being sweet and she appreciated the compliments, what girl wouldn't.

"Thank you, I love this" she said pointing towards the drawing.

She knew he might want to be an Auror, but an artist seemed like it'd be in the cards.

[Humphrey Williams]

All she did was smile at him, and he was so...awkward is the word. He got the warm fuzzies, the butterflies in his stomach, the tension that only was between two people who truly cared about each other.

"Well, it is no big deal..." Humphrey said, shrugging. "Tess, do you mind if I try something a little bit...well, different?" he asked her. Then he began to blush, because he wanted to kiss her, on the lips. He was not confident in his kissing ability, he just wanted to give her a soft peck, and watch her reaction. His face turned such a deep shade of red, it looked like a noose was around his neck.

He was surprised about how special she thought it was. I mean yea, she had always appreciated his art, but still. It made him grin, in a mischievous way, because of what he was thinking about. Kissing her, it was just such a pleasant thought.

[Tess McCartney]

A bit different? she thought confused.

She put the drawing down and wondered if something was wrong. But as she saw his flush she wondered if he was going to ask something personal, but what was so personal that he'd be blushing.

"A bit different?" she asked curiously.

She wondered if it was a prank, or some joke he was going to pull on her especially with the redness of his face that kept spreading.

"You alright there?" she added.

[Humphrey Williams]

It was now or never. Come on you idiot, just go for it!, he yelled at himself. She had said a bit different with a curious tone to it. Humphrey would never find out if they could be more, unless he just went for it. If he had learned anything about Tess, it was that she would let him down nicely, even if this kiss went horribly wrong.

He just nodded, "Just a bit. Hope you don't mind too much Tesla Coil." Humphrey said. Then he just went for it, he leaned in and kissed her once softly on the lips. Pulling back, a huge grin split his cheeks, but he realized something. He wasn't sure what her reaction was yet, his mind had gone off into a daydream of kissing Tess.

"Now I'm alright, better than alright. Just fantastic, Tess. No worries." Humphrey said, blushing the darkest shade of red he ever had in his life.

[Tess McCartney]

Hearing his word for her she laughed softly remembering when he came up with it, but her laughter died as she felt his lips on her. Her whole body tensed up, and she pulled back as he did.

Her whole face was red and her eyes were wide with surprise. She placed her hand lightly on her lips and looked at him with surprise, but inside began to feel everything being pieced together. He asked for a date he meant a real one, never seeking friendship but rather a lot more. She then knew that while she was trying to strengthen his vulnerable state back to his old self, he was taking it as something more.

"Oh" was all that came out of her mouth.

Anger coursed through her, at herself for being so damn stupid. She not only was leading him on by accident, but he kissed her! The only person that had kissed her was her, her boyfriend Xander. At least he hadn't taken her first kiss, that would have shattered her.

Knowing that she was being stared at intently, she tried to compose herself. She took a deep breath and felt the awkwardness surround her.

[Humphrey Williams]

Tess laughed softly after she heard his nickname. Which was good, she had a great laugh. But when he'd learned into kiss her she had tensed up. Her body felt more like marble then the soft warmth he had been expecting to feel. He knew he'd messed up, she hadn't actually liked him. It just reinforced the fact to him that nobody ever would.

She then put her hand to her lips, and Tess turned a bright red. Now, he could tell she finally figured it out. How in the world had she not gotten it until now?, was all he could think. Feeling his eyes tear up, he turned away. Oh, wasn't what he had been expecting at all.

Even though it hurt, he forced himself to look at her. Instantly, he knew what Tess was going to do. Blame herself, like the both of them always did when something went wrong. She was ticked off, but at herself. "I'm the one you should be mad at Tess. None of this is your fault, none of it." Humphrey said, barely managing to look her in the eyes as he did so. "You are just too innocent to notice me, you know, being serious. That was one of the reasons why I...you know, liked you. I should have known you didn't like me in that way, nobody ever does..." he said, his tears spilling over his cheeks.

"I-I'll j-j-just go." Humphrey told her, and began to get up out of his seat. "See you in class, Tess."

[Tess McCartney]

"Merlin" she murmured.

Tess was distracted in her own thoughts, but hearing his last words, she lifted her head immediately and her heart broke at his reaction. Immediately she got up and grabbed his hand.

"No wait!" she said.

Noticing people were looking their way, and seeing her flushed state and his tears, it was not a good sign. She refused to let go of his hand trying to comfort him as best as she could. She ignored the feeling at the pit of her stomach as her guilt was rising, she'd been kissed by someone other than Xander. Merlin what would he think?! She ignored her selfish thoughts and squeezed his hands.

"I don't want to hurt you...we need to talk...not here" she murmured softly.

[Humphrey Williams]

He was honestly surprised when Tess told him to wait. Maybe their friendship was strong enough to still be friends even after this. It made his lips twitch upwards for a second before falling back down. "What?" Humphrey asked her, still a pained look on his face. There was something else though, a tiny bit of hope in them. If Tess was still willing to be friends with him, that would be so amazing.

Tess continued to hold onto his hand, and he let her. Her hand was like his lifeline, anchoring him. Slowly, the tears faded to just watery eyes. Though, he knew when he went to bed tonight the tears would return full force.

"What's...I mean, what's the problem? Do you like somebody else, are you already dating somebody and not told me? I wish my uncle wouldn't have gotten cancer, I missed a year with all of you guys! Now, he's dead, and I don't know who to talk to about any of this!" he said in a harsh whisper, knowing she was uncomfortable with attention. Leading her out the door, he started walking.

"You were one of the people I missed the most. Where do you want to go? I don't really care much at this point." he shrugged, his voice sounded defeated now. Nobody would ever love him, would they. Or even just, like him as more than a friend.

[Tess McCartney]

Tess felt uncomfortable at the idea that it would have been different if he hadn't gone. She really didn't think it would, after all when she had last seen him he was infatuated with Charlotte and flirted a bit with Victoria. She on the other hand simply was on the side being his friend and she figured that would have happened either way. Xander was, Xander was important to her.

"Look I just...don't dwell on what ifs okay? I'm sorry I can't give you want you need. I would love to like you but...I'm happy as I am now. He makes me happy...he was there when I never thought I'd even be noticed" she knew it probably wasn't helping him.

Walking out she figured just outside away from people watching would be fine. There they could talk and figure all of it out. She tugged him along, deciding to take charge of the situation. She needed to take charge he was too vulnerable and she didn't want to hurt him any more than it was necessary. Seeing a clearing she tugged him down with her to sit down.

She then let go of his hand briefly allowing her to wring her fingers nervously as she thought about what to say. What could she say? Honesty...but sugarcoated here and there.
"I'm sorry I never realized how you felt okay? I-I just mean come on. You spoke about Keiba, about Charlotte about these girls and I thought I was your friend who happened to be a girl, and that's what we are. Best pals. And I wish I could give you all of what you wanted from me, but it'd be a farce and my heart wouldn't be in it."

She wrinkled her nose and took a deep breath trying to calm down her own tears of guilt. Merlin she was hurting him and she had to explain all of this to Xander her face turned paler.

"You love Keiba, what are you doing with me?" she asked honestly. "I-I am nor will ever be a replacement for anyone else. That's why I'm happy with Xander" she said obliviously to dropping his name. "He cares for me and only sees me. Doesn't talk to me about other girls, because I am his. A-and you are fooling yourself if you think that I can be Keiba. I am not a rebound, I am your friend."

She hoped she wasn't being too rude, but she was honest.

[Humphrey Williams]

Humphrey could tell that Tess was skeptical of what he said. Maybe she was right, but they had always gotten along well. Despite the fact he had liked Charlotte, in a different way, Tess had always appealed to him. But, his feelings for Charlotte had overshadowed them. He understood why she wouldn't have thought he'd ever liked her.

The tears began to return. "Listen, Tess, I try not to. Do you have any idea, how I feel though. I come back, and everybody's having their perfect lives without me. Now, well to be honest, I feel like all of you in third year have moved on. Left me behind, and there isn't anything I can do to catch up. Keiba, well there could be something there. I just...I am so confused." Humphrey said, pulling at his hair in frustration. Plopping onto the ground, he buried his head in his hands. Would anybody ever be willing to hold his hand in a romantic way? To be honest, he doubted it.

"Clearly, I can see that; after I've made a complete idiot of myself. Did you completely forget about first year though, yeah I liked Charlotte. But, I was one of the few people who did spend a little time with you. Try and get to know you, I regret not writing to you. We were friends though. I understand that you don't like me, th-that's alright I-I g-g-guess." Humphrey choked out as the tears began to fall to the ground past his hands. "Please don't forget that I noticed you too though Tess." he admitted to her. It was true, they had hung out a bit outside of class. Not as more than

"Tess, you don't need to apologize. All of this, every last bit, was my fault. I should have known you'd never see me that way. Well yea, I did talk about Keiba and Charlotte. You've always been special to me as well, I was just afraid to show it. These stupid feelings and emotions, they just muddy up my life. So far, nothing good has come from them." Humphrey stated, finally holding his tears in check. "If you really mean that, then let's stay best friends. You and I both know enough Shakespeare to lie about matters of the heart I suppose."

Putting on a brave face, he watched as her face suddenly turned paler. Wondering what that was about, he decided to ask her. "Whoa, Tess. Your face just turned as white as a sheet, you okay?"
Going from being the one comforted, he put her arm around her in a friendly way. "Maybe I can help you now."

"Well, what if I do?" he said, a bit angry. "She doesn't love me back, at least not yet..." Humphrey trailed off. His tears started falling again, these stupid, stupid feelings. Sometimes he wished they would just disappear. No, he didn't mean that, but it felt like it at times. "I need to be patient, wait for her to be ready to try something with me. It is just so hard."

"So, Xander, well good luck with him. Even though I never told you though, I'd always thought you were pretty special Tess. I just never, never showed it before." Humphrey said, blushing a bit. "I didn't want you to be Keiba, or a rebound. You've always been a person I can trust, depend on, and ever since I met you I thought you were brilliant. You are right though, I think I do care about Keiba a bit more. My feelings for you Are real." Humphrey said, emphasizing the word Are to drive the point home. "Maybe they just aren't as strong as my ones for her."

[Tess McCartney]

Tess shook her head and sighed. She tried to figure out exactly what to say, but his words just muddled up her brain. For one thing she was frustrated; frustrated at the fact that he insinuated that he was the first to actually pay attention to her, that wasn't true, at least not for her.

"Humphrey, I appreciate what we had, our friendship, but no you didn't really notice me. Do you know anything about me other than my love of books?" she asked softly. "Every time we talked, it was about books, books here books there, nothing about me, or us or anything to bring us closer." she said frowning.

She blindly found his hand and squeezed, it trying to comfort him despite her frustration.

"Believe it or not, I am more than books. I love having fun; laughing, running around, being sarcastic, my other friends know that. And while I appreciate you 'noticing me'...believe it or not, I was already noticed by others. I might not be...that out there, screaming at the top of my lungs, or being aggressive, but I got attention without those qualities. I-I have friends, and yes we moved on, we all had to, and I know it's hard returning to so many changes, but what did you expect?"

She squeezed his hand again trying to not be so harsh, but the words were spilling out of her before she could fathom what she was saying. Once he pulled her close, she pushed him lightly, trying to get some breathing room.

"I'm fine." she began.

After all she was the stronger one of the pair.

"We're friends. We will always be friends...just...it'll take some time for me to get over...some actions that occurred today. And Humphrey?" she murmured lightly.

Once she noticed he was looking at her, she smiled brightly and kissed her fingers and placed them on his cheek in a comforting manner.

"You love being in love, rather than actually waiting for it to come. Charlotte was puppy love, she was pretty and kind and perfect." she said smiling. "Victoria is kind and pretty too. I'm...I don't know" she said rolling her eyes. "And you never know Keiba might be more, but wait for her alright? Because I firmly believe you cannot love more than one person. One day you'll see that what you think you are feeling is nothing but a stupid situation okay?"

[Humphrey Williams]

"Tess, you go too far with that. It was not always about books, okay. Our first real conversation started in the library yes, but it wasn't just about books. I learned that you were shy, and that you used to think Gryffindors and Slytherins were divided for a reason. I remember, you told me that we were probably too different to be friends, or something like that. Also, I learned that you were easily embarrassed, when I made that picturing people in their underwear comment. Not to mention that I had to drag you with me practically just to meet a couple of kids. I was trying to get you to meet Haley Smith, Leshia Prewett, and Parker Emery if I remember correctly. All that, I learned in just a short time talking to you. Don't you dare insinuate that our friendship was just focused on books. Because it wasn't! No matter what you think. I remember that it was more than that. I've learned so much more about you since then." Humphrey told her, angry and crying at the same time.

"I learned that one of the quickest ways to cheer you up was with a dumb sarcastic joke. You don't have to tell me all this about you. Believe it or not, I remember you had friends. I wasn't saying I was your only friend, just one of your first friends at Hogwarts. I knew you were noticed by others, but a minute ago you made it sound like Xander was the only one who noticed you. Or do you not remember that much? Have you really forgotten so much, Tess?" he asked her.

"Yea, I did expect you to move on. Still, I didn't think you would forget that we were more than just acquaintances who talked about books. I know all of what you just told me Tess. Somehow, you just forgot I knew it." Humphrey said, turning his head away now. She would just be hurt by the vindictive anger that was in his eyes. He was mad at her now, she'd forgotten how much he knew about her.

"I remember that you had been planning to go to Paris on the train ride home, when it was you, Victoria, and I in a compartment. You promised you would write to me, but you didn't. So, can you really blame me for not writing to you while I was gone second year. I know you were probably closer to other people, but we were friends. Don't try and make it seem like we weren't. That just hurts too much for me to deal with." he said, the tears returning and rolling down his face. He was such an idiot, she'd never thought of him as more than a person to discuss books with. Now, after he'd made a complete fool of himself, he realized that.

"Alright, I get it. Sorry, I just didn't know. If I had, I never would have done anything like this. Just, please don't think of this as me just frustrated and making a mistake. I always did like you a lot. You were always understanding when I was acting like a total tosser." he told her, looking her in the eyes, which took a pretty big effort.

When she kissed her fingers and placed them on his cheek he took her hand away. "Don't, Tess. Just...don't. I know what I felt, and yea, Charlotte was probably just puppy love. You have a good point about that. Maybe I do love Keiba, but I'm honestly not sure if it's anything more than a friend I have a strong crush on." he said, though the words hurt.

"Maybe I don't know what love is, okay,. at least I am trying to find out. Don't say that I love being in love though, I hate it. All it has ever done is cause me pain, whatever it is I have been feeling. It doesn't need a label for me to know that both my feelings for Keiba and you are real. You can love more than one person, only one in a more than friends way. But, I'll always love you like a sister Tess. Just because you can only love one person, doesn't mean you can't have feelings for two different people at the same time though. Don't try and tell me how I'm feeling right now. Why I feel the way I feel, because if you think all I am feeling is a stupid situation. Well, sorry to break it to you, but you're wrong. I used to know you pretty well, Tess, and I think I still do. You have Xander, that is great, okay, go be happy with him. To be honest, though, I don't think you know me as well as you used to Tess. I've been through a lot since I've been gone. I may not know you as well as I used to either." Humphrey told her, grudgingly.

Facing her, locking eyes with her, was something he needed to do. "I do have feelings for you Tess. If you want me to apologize for that, I can't. Because it would be wrong to apologize for caring about somebody else. Sorry I ever brought you here, ever showed my feelings. It probably would have been better if I'd just kept them secret. Maybe then I wouldn't have somebody I considered a fairly close friend say I didn't know anything about her other than books." Humphrey said, and then he got up. If she got hurt by what he said, well at this point, that was her problem. He'd said the truth as he saw it. "See you next year, Tess. I won't bother you until then." With that, he began to walk away.

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