Better Than The Hospital Wing

Bri could see how it made sense, though she had no idea what was stressing him out or making him nervous, unless he was stressed about the fact that he'd nearly died, but he seemed to be pretty well past that now. "Which is it this time?" she asked, gently pushing the fringe back once more.

"Don't worry, it's easier to go down stairs than up stairs, plus I'll be there to help you. I promise I won't let you fall," she smiled back at him.

Andy closed his eyes briefly, internally kicking himself for not seeing the blatant hole he dug himself. Why, he basically said, 'Let's voluntarily jump off this cliff! Sound good?' Andy could have said he was stressed, but he wasn't, and openly lying to Bri wasn't something he was comfortable with, so he merely mumbled, "Nervous," and hoped that she wasn't paying full attention to what he was saying.

He turned his head and upon seeing her smile, he found it's effect quite contagious and smiled himself. "Thanks. I don't think my body could take a tumble down the stairs as well."

Bri took her hand away from his hair and settled it back in her lap as he turned his head back to her once more.

"Nervous."

She could hardly believe his answer. She'd thought he was probably stressed about his parents coming or about possibly getting into trouble for being outside the hospital wing when he hadn't been cleared to leave yet. "What are you nervous about?" she asked, genuinely confused, although she knew what she was secretly hoping he was nervous about.

Andy groaned. He should have gone with the lie. Bugger.

"Erm..." He was at a crossroads. He could make up an excuse, like, he hadn't been to Potions in five days and Hamilton was sure to kill him, or he could tell her the truth, that he was nervous about the reason why he was staring at her so intently before. He couldn't possibly tell her that though, surely. He'd feel one hundred times worse about the whole thing if she laughed at him, which was a possible reaction for her to have. He sighed. What to do, what to do? Andy found some courage that he didn't even know he had and told her the truth.

"That you'd think I was some kind of freak for staring at you," he replied, being somewhat honest about the whole thing. If she laughed, he'd brush it off and probably laugh too. It was better than the repercussions of lying to her.

"That you'd think I was some kind of freak for staring at you."

It certainly wasn't the answer that Bri expected, nor what it what she had been silently hoping to hear, but she supposed it was natural enough to be nervous about something like that. "Don't be silly, I don't think you're a freak," she replied honestly. He was about as far from freak-like as possible, in her eyes. He was the exact opposite of freak; he was... a non-freak.

"I mean, if that was the case then I'd have to assume that you think I'm also a freak for staying with you for three whole days," she pointed out.

Andy turned to her and took in her reaction. She seemed to take it well, which didn't surprise him, per say, as Bri rarely said or did anything that hurt another person, but he was still relieved. Andy thought about her statement and shook his head.

"No. I think you staying with me was over and above the call of friendship, even if you thought it was your fault. I mean, James didn't exactly stay for long periods of time, did he?" Andy didn't actually know if James had, but Bri surely would have mentioned if he did come and see him apart from that one time in which the Gryffindor was rude to her.

Andy narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking over what he said. "Is that the only reason why you stayed with me? Because you thought it was your fault?" He glanced down at her. Andy found himself half hoping she had another reason for staying, but squashed that thought, not wanting to get his hopes up.

Bri shrugged at the mention of James. She'd thought he was a perfectly nice person until that moment, though she could see why he had been angry with her. Still, he could have approached her in a kinder way than that.

She didn't even have to think about the answer to his question before she replied. "I would have stayed regardless," her cheeks went warm and she avoided his gaze. It was somewhat embarrassing to be so truthful to him, but it hadn't even occurred to her to lie to him. "The only thing that would make me leave would be if you truly didn't want me there," she added.

"I would have stayed regardless,"

Andy turned his head to gaze at her. Was it possible that she felt the same about him as he did her? Andy wasn't much of a risk taker, but something about this moment, here in the Room of Requirement, was just so... right.

"That would never happen," he said quietly, placing his fingers gently under her jawline to tilt her head towards him. He leaned down and closed the gap between them, placing his lips gently against hers. He didn't know exactly what possessed him to kiss her, but he didn't regret it one bit. He just hoped that she wouldn't slap him or run screaming from the room.

Andy's words and his hand on her face caused Bri's heart rate to accelerate and then, before she even realized what was happening, his lips were on hers and her whole world was turned upside down.

Cue internal freak-out. Oh my God. Oh my Wizard God. What is happening? Is this really happening? This is a dream, right? This has to be a dream. There is no way that he's actually kissing me, of all people. But he is. He's kissing me. Oh Wizard God, he's kissing me; what do I do? What do I do?! Right, do something; kiss him back before he thinks he's made a mistake, got it.

She kissed him back and mirrored him slightly, placing one hand gently on his cheek. Her heart was beating so fast that she was amazed he couldn't hear it trying to escape. She had absolutely no idea if she was doing anything correctly, but it felt right to her.

She smiled when she pulled back. "Well that was... unexpected, but very nice," she couldn't think of the perfect word to describe it. "That was my first kiss," she confessed, still smiling at him; she was glad her first kiss had been with him.

Andy was pleased to feel Bri finally kissing him back. He had stilled waiting for the response from her for what felt like weeks, when in reality it was only a few seconds at the most. He smiled into the kiss, moving his arm to wrap around her back lightly.

Pulling back, he opened his eyes slowly, relieved to see her smiling back at him. He nodded, words failing in at the moment. He noticed that she still had her hand on his cheek and his arm was still around her back.

"That was my first kiss."

Andy reached his hand to his own cheek and placed it over her own. He turned his mouth and kissed her palm lightly. "Mine too."

Bri could still hardly believe that any of this was really happening; she was sure that it was some kind of dream. Things like this simply didn't happen for girls like her.

"Can I, um, can I kiss you again?" she asked. If this was a dream, she was going to enjoy it for all it was worth.

When she got his approval, she pressed her lips to his, just as gently as before. She wrapped her free arm around his neck and held him close. It was, in every sense of the word, perfect.

Andy almost laughed at her timid question. She really was adorable. "Please just kill me If I ever say no to that question," he said smiling. He nodded anyway, just incase she wanted physical proof that yes, she could indeed kiss him now and always.

He held her close and realised that he was shaking slightly. He didn't think he'd be nervous, but he was. His conscience decided to pop in then as if he was having an inner colloquy with himself. 'It's because she's something to be nervous about.'

Andy deepened the kiss slightly before pulling away for air. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" he asked, breathing deeply. "Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes? Whatcha think?'

The deepening of the kiss was enough to make Bri start to realize that everything that was happening was real; Andy was real, the kiss was real, and her heart beating like she'd never felt it beat before was real.

She bit her lip at the start of his question then broke into a full on grin when she realized it was an invitation to go on a proper date with him. She nodded in response. "That sounds wonderful," she said. She'd never been to Hogsmeade before but it was only fitting that she share the experience of her first visit with the same person with whom she'd had her first kiss.

Andy grinned and embraced the Ravenclaw. He didn't know what to expect as an answer from her, but that was the perfect response.

"Great," he said into her hair, which smelt amazing. He always wondered why girls always smelt so good. Perhaps it was there shampoo or something? he thought. Bri, though, had her own unique fragrance, and Andy liked it a great deal.

"I think there's one this weekend, but I'll have to double check the notice board," he said, pulling away but still keeping her close. "It should be good though, finally being third years and all."

He had been to the Wizarding village with his parents before he attended Hogwarts and was bummed upon learning that third years and above were only allowed. He assumed it was Bri's first time there, seeing as she was a Muggleborn.

"You've never been, correct? You'll love it, in any case."

"Nope, never been," Bri confirmed, feeling quite content to just sit there and hug him. It was also nice to know that nobody would randomly walk in on them when they were so close, as would probably happen in the common room.

She was intrigued by the village. She'd heard a lot of the older students talk about it a little bit but she didn't think she had the full scope of it. "What do they have there? Where will we go?" she asked, curious about how the day would play out.

Andy thought about it. "Well, I suggest we leave fairly early so we have time to see all the sights. You have to see the Shrieking Shack. That's pretty awesome, and Honeydukes is a must!" Andy started grinned. "Ooh! And Zonko's. Yes. We'll definitely have to go there." His grin stretched from ear to ear. "And it'll be pretty cold, so I'd say Three Broomsticks is definitely in order. How does that sound?"

He stopped talking for fear he was overloading her with information, but Hogsmeade weekend were exciting and this would be his first one, as a student. He'd spend his entire allowance, he was sure of it, but he didn't care.

"They also have places like Puddifoots, but can I beg you not to drag me there. I don't think I'd be able to wash off all that... pink."

Andy's grin was positively infectious and Bri soon found that one had spread across her face as well. His enthusiasm and excitement were equally contagious. "It sounds wonderful. I was to see it all. Except maybe the pink place. Well, maybe just a glimpse of the pink place."

She didn't want to miss out on any of it, especially not since it would be her first time going. "This will be fantastic. I already feel like I have my own personal tour guide," she laughed.

Andy shuddered. He'd take Bri to Madame Puddifoots if she really truly wanted to go, but he'd be cringing the entire time. It was far too girly for him. His sister, however, loved it.

"Oh, don't think of me as such. I've only been twice before. But I'm sure we'll have a good time." He, on the other hand, relished the thought of being Bri's personal anything.

He glanced at her, and saw her smile and leaned forward and kissed her upturned lips, just because he could.

"Twice is still more than never," Bri pointed out teasingly. "Compared to me, you're practically an expert."

She blushed again slightly at the unexpected kiss, though she happily returned it. Considering that, up until about five minutes ago, she'd been sure that she'd be at least graduated from school by the time she got her first kiss, she thought she was doing quite a good job of handling the random kisses.

"Just out of curiosity, how long have you wanted to do that?" she asked him, wondering if it was as long as she had been wishing to do the same.

Andy pulled back and looked down at her. She was fairly short compared to him, but he liked that. It wasn't as though he felt the stereotypical need to be bigger and stronger than a woman, but he did like the fact that she was a perfect fit under his head when they hugged.

"A while," he said. "Before we went in the forest. Probably when I saw you for the first time this year." He gave her a glance, directing her question back to her. "And you? Did you want to, but didn't have the guts to, like me?"

Bri nodded at his question. "Except if I'd done it when I first wanted to, you probably would have ran for the hills," she replied sheepishly. If she was being completely honest, she'd wanted to kiss him probably since their first visit into the forest back in first year. It was hardly surprising though, since girls were generally more mature than boys.

"Truth be told, I didn't think you'd ever like me like that," she added. She'd been half-expecting to be single for her entire life.

Andy laughed. He probably would have, she's not wrong. He remembered his sister going on about boys this and boys that, and all he could think was, blegh, gross.

He titled his head slightly, as one would when trying to figure something out. Her statement reiterated in his mind and he shook his head slightly. He placed his hands on either side of her face gently.

"I'm about to have a serious girly moment, so please don't judge me on my pure cheese, and slash or, soppiness, okay?" Andy readied himself for the most frilly sentence he had ever voiced out loud. "I think you're beautiful. I seriously think you underestimate how amazing, smart, funny and just downright incredible you are, Brianna Carter. I'm the lucky one to have had the opportunity to be friends with you for so long and now extra lucky to be something more."

Andy breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Done. I need to punch something to regain some of my manliness. I think I lost my Y chromosome, somewhere back there."

Bri blushed deeply; she definitely wasn't used to having someone sing her praises like that. She bit her lip and smiled back at him. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me," she replied.

Something more... It definitely made everything a bit more real and she just couldn't help herself when she heard him say that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, slightly less timidly than the last time. She reveled in the thought that they were "something more" now and she could do that whenever she wanted.

"No, don't punch anything," she pouted. She quite liked the non-violent, "Y-chromosome-less" Andy, since it meant that there was little risk of him hurting himself or someone else hurting him. "I really don't think you should talk to Thomas either, I have a bad feeling about it," she said, worried.

Andy managed to say, "Well, it's the truth," before his lips were captured by hers. He liked this more confident Bri, especially when she initiated the kissing. He could definitely get used to that.

After several moments, moments that Andy didn't want to end, they came up for air. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling at her, his hands still upon her cheeks.

"I still want to talk to him," he said, but seeing the face she was pulling, he felt the need to reiterate. "I'll just have a talk with him. Promise." Andy's face did darken slightly however. He would try and hold back on doing anything other than just talking, but if the Slytherin boy provoked him.. well.. he didn't know how things would turn out. He did promise her, though.

"I don't make promises, lightly, Bri." He kissed her softly and gently again. "Don't worry."

"Okay, if you feel like you have to, then do it," Bri could see that he wasn't going to back down, so she gave in. "But if you get a black eye or something, it's on you."

It sounded worse than it was when she said it out loud, like she wouldn't care if he got hurt when it was actually quite the opposite. "I mean, I'll still take care of you and try to fix it if you do, but I would prefer that you come back injury-free," she elaborated.