She caught sight of the boy she'd been avoiding as he chatted amongst a large group of students at the bottom of the stairs in the Divination tower. Pursing her lips, she wondered whether she should pull her hood up and run past them in the hopes he wouldn't notice... Or perhaps it was easier to just abandon the lesson altogether to avoid any unwanted confrontation.

Sitting just outside of the room, Dirk Cresswell had begun working his way through the mountain of books he had challenged himself to read before the end of the year. He did think perhaps it would be best to prioritise studying for the OWL exams, but he told himself it was never a bad idea to get a head-start on the NEWT studies.

Settling in for another chilly study session by himself, Dirk nearly let out a shrill shriek when the door next to him slammed open and a whirl of dark robes and blonde hair flashed past him.

"I think I just lost ten years of my life." Dirk clutched his chest as he composed himself and his breathing slowed. Looking towards the person who had caused the commotion, he was not at all surprised to see Piper Horix straightening out her robes and flattening down her hair as she turned to him with a sheepish grin.

Leaning forward on his knees to frown at the girl, he inquired, "I thought you had a lesson now?"

"Oh, yes... I do-did. It's cancelled." She shrugged, sliding the pile of books along the bench away from Dirk, so she could sit beside him.

Biting down on his lip in an attempt to calm himself, Dirk felt a pit of guilt growing in his stomach. Secretly, he had been avoiding the girl. Despite preferring to work outdoors, he would study in the dormitory when Piper wasn't in lessons in a feeble attempt to get some peace and quiet. He did like the girl and truthfully he thought she was quite lovely. However, he was growing uncomfortable with her lack of personal space and he was quite afraid he might accidentally snap at her. Dirk never wanted to upset anyone, so he didn't dare express his true concerns - instead he feebly avoided any risk of confrontation on the matter.

"Well... I actually promised I'd study Herbology with a classmate back in the dormitory, so I should head off." Dirk slid a bookmark between the pages of his book and gently closed it.

"Dirk, wait." Piper placed a hand on his arm, "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. It's bad enough Esmeralda and Regulus have been distant the past week, but you can't disappear now too."

"I'm sure Avery and Black aren't avoiding you." He shrugged, not paying attention to what he was saying.

Piper frowned, "Avoiding me? Why would they do that?"

"What? No!" Dirk exclaimed, "No..." He lowered his voice and slowed down, "They're definitely not avoiding you. So, nothing to worry about."

Her eyebrows remained thoroughly knitted together as she watched the boy pile up his stack of books. "You three are like my only proper friends, really. It sucks you guys aren't around anymore."

"Next time I see Esmerelda, I'll see if she fancies going into Hogsmeade at the weekend. We could all go as a group and catch up. I-I really do need to go though; I have a mountain of work to get through." It wasn't just that Dirk wished to get away from Piper's apparent infatuation with him, he was also growing increasingly stressed about the amount of work he had to cover in preparation for the exams. He was academically brilliant, but that status was only earned from the copious amount of hours of work he put in - building up a sometimes overwhelming feeling of stress.

Piper sighed, "Dirk, please just stay for a minute. You don't have to talk, you can study, I just really need to be with you for a bit."

"Piper, listen, I don't want to say this but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed because you-"

"Dirk," The blonde stood up suddenly and placed her hands on his shoulders, "Give me a second to explain-"

"No! I-I really don't think this can wait a second longer. Piper I can't be-"

Dirk clamped his jaw shut quickly, stopping the words tumbling out of his mouth as the door slammed open yet again. This time there was laughter coming from inside the building, as a shaggy haired boy stumbled out onto the grass.

Darien Fawley.

"Piper!" The Hufflepuff exclaimed with a mixture of surprise and glee.

"Gee, Darien... I didn't expect to see you here." Piper awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Neither. If I remember correctly, we're supposed to be in a Divination lesson." Darien grinned cheekily at her as Piper stepped closer to Dirk.

"Yes..." She hummed, "Why aren't you?"

The boy smirked, "Well I thought I saw you come out here. I haven't seen you in ages, what are you doing?"

"I thought you said your lesson was can-" Dirk started but was quickly stopped when Piper slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"Just... Hanging out with Dirk. Kind of... Prefer to be by ourselves." She grimaced slightly.

"Wait, what-" Dirk was yet again cut off as Darien interrupted him. "What's up with you? You've been weird recently... Not hanging out with anybody from our year anymore, even going out of your way to avoid us."

"Yeah... You see, the thing is-" Piper started.

The Hufflepuff boy was growing agitated though, "I just... I'm trying to ask you out! Like, you're really making my life difficult and I'm beginning to think you're doing it on purpose. Is there something wrong with me? Is that why you're being weird? What's wrong with you?"

Piper was starting to grow nervous, her palms sweating and heartbeat racing as she tried one last tactic. "I'm going out with Dirk."

"Excuse me?" Dirk choked on the air in his throat.

Darien frowned, "What? You're joking!"

"No." Piper shook her head, "Dirk and I are going out. He gets extremely jealous and doesn't want me around you. He said if I hung around with you anymore, he would get Esmerelda Avery to mess with you. You know what she did to that Slytherin quidditch player, right?" Piper planted her hands firmly on her hips, satisfied this might finally get the boy to back off.

"Oh... I-I didn't realise. I... Erm... Should go. Quickly. Sorry, Cresswell." Darien stammered, paling at the mention of Esme and making a hasty exit as he dashed back into the castle and left Piper and Dirk alone again.

They stayed in silence for a moment, before Dirk rose from his seat and started to almost shout, "Piper, what you said was completely wrong. I really don't want to be rude but I cannot put up with-"

"I'm gay."

Dirk blinked. Hard. Repeatedly. It was kind of like someone had punched him in the throat.

"Dirk? Are... Are you alright?" Piper waved her hand in front of her face.

"Yes. I... I'm... Fine. I'm... Yeah..." Dirk frowned, not really able to string a series of words together.

She sighed sadly, "I get it if you hate me. I can completely leave you alone if you want, it's okay. Just, please don't tell anyone. No matter how much you hate me."

"Wait... What? Hate you? Have you lost your mind?" He frowned again, confused this time.

Piper frowned at him, "Excuse me?"

"I don't hate you because... Because of any choices you make about your personal life." Dirk shrugged with a laugh as though it couldn't be anymore obvious.

"Really?" She sighed with relief, an enormous smile erupting onto her face, "I can't believe it!"

"I do owe you an apology, though." He admitted.

She frowned again, the smile instantly vanishing. Piper was all too aware of how many people viewed homosexuality, and despite loving Dirk deeply as a friend, she couldn't help but fear the worst - that he might turn on her. "Whatever for?" She nervously asked.

Dirk sighed softly, "I was so... Annoyed. I was getting angry at you because I thought you were obsessing over me. I thought you were infatuated and were crossing a line with me. I'm sorry I nearly shouted at you today. It was all so self centred. I never considered for a moment that you might be acting the way you did in order to deflect the advances of other people. I shouldn't have assumed the worst of your actions. Truthfully, I should have been upfront and admitted my concerns - then perhaps I could have helped you feel safer sooner."

"Dirk..." Piper sat down slowly on the bench, Dirk sitting down beside her too, "You don't owe me any apologies. I should have been honest sooner but... I can't tell how anyone is going to react. I was only trying to get Darien Fawley to leave me alone and I feared if I came out to him, he might spread it round the school and then really bad stuff could happen."

"Piper, I would never let that happen. You don't owe me, or anyone, any sort of explanation or coming out." He offered comfortingly.

"Thanks."

"Now, Piper Horix... Will you be my fake girlfriend to deter the advances of that creepy Hufflepuff? Or, at least until you replace me with your own girlfriend." Dirk grinned warmly at his friend.

Piper couldn't hide her glee at finally being able to be completely honest with someone she trusted so much, "Dirk Cresswell, I wouldn't fake date anybody else."

-

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