The rest of the week I spent sulking around, diving deep into quidditch practices, and trying my hardest to avoid Flint in the halls, because he made it a point to wink at me or try and talk every time I saw him. My whole team felt bad for me and were nice enough to make distractions for me to get away whenever Marcus approached.

"If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought you're avoiding me," Flint said after cornering me in the library Wednesday after school.

"Why would I be doing that?" I chuckled nervously.

"That's what I thought," Marcus said, giving a satisfied nod. "We're still on for Sunday right?"

"Actually-"

"Perfect." He smirked, "Well I've got to go, but I'll talk to you later."

I watched him disappear, letting out a sigh of relief that he didn't choose to stick around for longer.

"Excited for your date?" I heard a Scottish voice behind me.

"Yes, very." I snapped, turning around to find myself face to face with Oliver.

"Seems like it." He chuckled softly. "Why don't you just tell him no?"

"Why would I do that?" I asked, putting my hand on my hip.

"Because you don't want to go with him?" Oliver said incredulously.

"And what if I do?" I said hastily, not wanting to admit Oliver's rightness to him.

"But you don't." He cocked his head to the side, watching me with curiosity.

"But I do," I said defiantly. "I think Marcus has a charming personality."

"Really?" Oliver tittered, "I guess your expression of adoration is very similar to the expression of disgust."

"Jealous Wood?" I said, playfully pouting.

"Of what? A date with an ogre?" He sneered, with what seemed to be genuine disgust.

"Better than a date with you." I retorted.

"Whatever floats your boat Stone." He gave me a short smile before turning on his heel and walking off.

I watched him leave the library and felt pure anger at the fact that he was right.

~~~~

"You could still say no to the date," Oliver said nonchalantly while jotting down something from our textbook.

"I want to go," I said, staring at my own barely started notes.

"Oh please, who do you think you're fooling?" Oliver snickered, "You hate the bloke more than you hate me."

"Well not anymore." I huffed, cringing at the very words.

"So you're telling me you like him now?" I could hear the smile seeping through Oliver's voice.

"Well, that's why I'm going on a date with him." I sneered. "To find out."

"I just don't see a pretty girl like you going with a lad like Flint." Oliver continued to snicker.

"Oh, well, unlike someone, I judge people based on personality." I shot Wood a death glare, only to be met with his usual smirk.

"Well, first of all, Flint has the personality of a mountain troll, and you know this as well as anyone else." He grinned harder, much to my annoyance, "But also, are you insinuating that I'm shallow?"

"So what if I am?" I snarled, "You've dated like 3 girls within the last year, and none of them seemed to last you even a week."

Oliver's grin faltered only for a moment, "Well if you would like to know, they were the ones to ask me out, and I dumped them only after finding out that they didn't actually know anything about me, or cared about any of my interests."

"Oh..."

"They only dated me for the reputation of the quidditch captain's girlfriend." He started to grin again, "I was too stupid to say no to them, but I don't see how you can be making the same mistake, especially when it's not some hot guy asking you, but Marcus Flint."

"I'm not making a mistake," I said rolling my eyes and turning back to my paper.

"Whatever you say, love."

~~~~

It was the morning of the date. I chose not to get dressed up, and rather put on an oversized sweater with a pair of old jeans. I have been on dates before, and if it were any other date I would pretty up, but this was a date with Marcus Flint. To be fair, even if I went in my pyjamas with my hair not brushed or styled, I would still look like a princess in comparison to that oaf.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" June asked, more worried than amused at that point.

"No, but I have no other choice." I groaned.

"What about saying you don't like him like that?" She looked at me, clearly confused as to why I didn't do something so simple.

"I can't, I told Wood I wanted to go," I said, bracing myself for June's reaction.

"You what now!?" She yelled. "Why in the ever-loving flying fuck would you tell him that? And why does it matter what he thinks?!"

"He was mocking me-"

"How the fuck was he mocking you!?"

"You should've seen his smirk-"

"You are ridiculous!"

~~~~

I saw Flint waiting for me out in the courtyard. His face lit up as soon as he saw me."Stone, over here!" He waved me over.

"Hello," I said without much enthusiasm, already wanting to run as far away as possible.

"I was expecting you," Marcus paused, looking over my outfit, "to wear something a bit more for me."

"For you?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, I figured you would want to impress me a bit more." He shrugged.

"Why would-" I started shaking from anger at the audacity of this boy.

"Anyways, let's go." He interrupted, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the gates, along with a large group of other students going to Hogsmeade.

We walked along the now snowy ground, as I absentmindedly stared around us, not paying attention to anything he was saying, assuring him only with the slightest of nods, as to not be forced to talk to him. His hand, which he grasped tightly around my own, was dry and calloused, unpleasant to the touch.

I saw Oliver and Percy walking up ahead, only about 30 feet separating us. I was praying that they weren't heading into the Three Broomsticks, and once again my prayers remained unanswered. I saw them enter the pub right in front of us.

Marcus opened the door and led me in, as though I was his prized trophy, rather than his date. He quickly led us to a booth that happened to be neighbouring Percy and Oliver's.

"Maybe we can sit somewhere else?" I offered hopefully."Why? This is my favourite spot here." Marcus brushed me off again.

"Alright," I said, begrudgingly sitting down.

"Two butter beers please!" He shouted to the waiter, who nodded in return.

Again I spaced out listening to Marcus ramble about some funny joke he heard from his friends which mainly consisted of pure-blood supremacy humour. The butterbeer arrived fairly quickly, and I was grateful for that because it offered the slightest distraction to Flint's droning voice. I could hear Oliver and Percy's laughter at different intervals.

"Excuse me, can I go to the bathroom for a second?" I said more as a statement than a question, pushing myself out of the booth and towards the bathroom door.I made quick eye contact with Oliver as I walked past his booth, greeted with his all too smug smile.

I stood over the sink, splashing my face. Only thirty more minutes of this hell, and I could go back to my dorm and tell Flint that I didn't feel a connection.I walked back out to find Oliver leaning on the wall in the hallway outside the bathrooms.

"Stalking me Wood?" I snarled, my mood souring even more.

"Having fun?" He chuckled.

"Loads." I groaned.

"I still don't understand why you pretend that you wanted to go on this date." He cocked his head to the side, his eyes searching mine for clues.

"I did." I lied through gritted teeth.

"Right, well if you need a quick escape, Percy and I will be in the booth over." He grinned.

"Thanks, but I'm perfectly capable of handling this on my own," I mumbled, walking past him.

"You look good by the way." I heard him yell after me.I walked back to where Flint was sitting and plopped myself in front of him.

"You know Stone, I was thinking," He said smiling, bearing his ugly yellowing teeth.

"Really?" I said, my sarcasm going unnoticed by Flint.

"You don't talk much. I like that." He said, downing the last of his butterbeer.

"Is that so?" I forced a smile.

"Yeah, you know what they say," He started, his smirk growing wider.

"No, I don't, do enlighten me."

"A good woman is a silent woman." He snickered.

"And a good man is a dead one," I mumbled.

"What did you say?" He asked, clearly too deaf to hear me the first time.

"I said I'm quiet because I'm thinking of all the ways I could slip poison to you possible," I said, tired of pretending I was enjoying his presence.

"I didn't know you could make jokes." Flint cocked his head back and laughed.

"I don't need to when you're here," I said, abruptly standing up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, looking taken aback.

"Maybe if you mull it over for a little longer you'll understand." I scowled and stormed out of the pub, leaving Flint with the bill.

I was met with the cold outside contrasting the warm musky inside of the pub. The frosty air nipped at my cheeks, and I felt angry tears stinging my eyes. I started speed walking back up to the castle.I heard someone running up behind me.

"What do you want Flint?" I yelled, not turning around, and picking up my pace.

"Alas, not Flint." I heard the Scottish voice say.Oliver Wood ran up to where I was speed walking and was now maintaining my stride.

"What an upgrade." I sighed, rolling my eyes at him.

"Well I am aren't I?" He chuckled softly."

That's not a hard thing to accomplish." I groaned.

"Flint is furious you know," Oliver said looking back as if to check he wasn't following us. "He smashed his mug after you left. Almost sounded like a wounded bear."

"Really?" I giggled at the thought of Flint raging around the Three Broomsticks.

"Yeah, you got him good." Oliver laughed.

Hating him didn't stop me from noticing how handsome he looked, his smile showing his row of perfect white teeth. My stomach felt a little flutter, I didn't know what that feeling was, but it felt weird. Probably the butterbeer.

"Are you going to tell me the real reason you went with him?" Oliver asked as we reached the castle gates.

"Because I wanted to," I responded casually.

"I'll take that as a no." He chuckled softly, and I responded with a smile.

"I'll see you around Wood." I waved and started walking to my common room.