beautiful - harry potter

chapter 16

Harry was sad. His roommates could tell and they all knew why but they didn't pry when he said it was personal. Thalia had avoided him for many weeks and it was now the end of April. He missed her, but he wanted more.

Before, he was okay with her presence and her lips but now, he'd experienced so much more and he wasn't okay with just that anymore. He wanted her to feel the same way but it was clear that all Thalia wanted was a snogging partner. Why she chose him of all people, Harry would never know.

"You've been moping around for weeks," Dean finally said. His roommates all gave him a look but the boy ignored them and he looked over at Harry. 

He was right. Harry's hair was messier than usual and it was in desperate need of a cut or a trim. There were deep eye bags under his once soft brown eyes and his lips were cracked because he hadn't put lip balm on them if there was no possibility of even snogging Thalia. 

He wore the same uniform for the past week, meaning that he hadn't showered for the past week either. He ate, slept, and went to class in that single uniform. 

"The famous Harry Potter being brought down by a girl?" Dean scoffed. "Come on, Harry, you're better than that! You should not be brought down by one girl!"

"I loved her," Harry whispered sadly.

"Mate, you snogged her for a month! That's not love!" Dean shouted. "You barely knew her! What's her favorite color?"

"I don't know," he mumbled.

"Favorite sweet?"

"I don't know," Harry repeated, more aggravated than sad.

"Her father's name?"

"I don't know."

"What does she want to be after she leaves Hogwarts?"

"I don't know."

"The name of her owl?"

"I don't know."

"Favorite class?"

"I don't know."

"Harry, this is just a simple break up," Dean said while shaking his friend's shoulders. "We are going to help you get back on your feet and you are going to go to Hogsmeade with someone that isn't Thalia! And you're going to have much more fun with her than you've ever had with Thalia!"

"I can't," Harry echoed Thalia's words from over a month ago. "I truly loved her. I don't think I have to know any of her favorite things to love her, but I just know that I did love her. And I don't think I'll feel that way about anyone else ever again."

"Bit dramatic, mate," Seamus chipped in. "Harry, you're bloody fourteen. You don't need to be feeling that way about one girl right now."

"Is it bad that I don't regret it?" Harry asked. He just stared at the ceiling instead of his friends, still picturing Thalia's angelic face. "I would've gladly gotten my heart broken again if I could repeat that entire month of February and half of March over again."

"Snap out of it," Ron commanded. He walked over to his best friend and slapped him hard against the face, trying to bring him back to reality. Instead, Harry grabbed the side of his face sadly.

"Thalia slaps me there too," Harry cried out. 

"She slapped you?" Dean asked. "Mate, that's assault."

"Was it bad that I liked her slapping me?" Harry moped. "She slapped me maybe 10 times! I just want her to slap me again! God, she looked so fucking hot when she slapped me. What did I do? What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," Dean huffed. "You're just a bit out of it. Here's what we need to do. We're going to set you up with a girl who will mend your heart together and you'll be as good as new, yeah?"

"God, I told her to slow down!" Harry screeched. He covered his face with his pillow and let out an annoyed scream. "We were snogging and she was implying something and I told her to slow down! And now it's all I think about!"

"You're fourteen," Ron reminded. "You don't need to be shagging girls at 14. Don't give into peer pressure."

"She didn't say she wanted to shag!" Harry protested. He removed the pillow from his face and looked at Ron with doe eyes. "You know that stage in between snogging and shagging, when it's not necessarily-"

"OH MERLIN!" Neville shouted. He plugged his ears while getting ready for classes. "Don't say it, Harry! We know what you're saying!"

"Harry, we'll set you up with an amazing girl and you can do... those things with her when you're ready," Dean offered. "Let's get you to breakfast, yeah?"

"Okay," Harry mumbled. He stumbled to his feet and Dean patted his messy hair down a bit as he grabbed Harry's bag for him. 

They all walked to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Dean pulled out a parchment, a quill, and ink and looked at Harry. "Alright, mate. We'll make a list of what you look for in a girl and we'll get you a girl based off of your preferences," Dean suggested. "Hair color?"

"Brown. A light brown that can almost be mistaken for ash brown but ash is not natural, whereas hers must be naturally good. And healthy, not a lot of split ends."

"Eye color?"

"Any color, but I prefer green. Emerald green, actually," Harry corrected while looking over at the Slytherin table. "The type of green that'll pierce my eyes."

"Okay," Dean said while scribbling down the words. "Quidditch player?"

"No, too dainty and too fragile to be a Quidditch player."

"Popular?"

"Yes, very. She can't be a bimbo though. She's gotta be smart and popular," Harry droned on. "She's gotta be the prettiest girl in all of Hogwarts."

"Right. I'll put the age range for 3rd years to 5th years, yeah?"

"No, just 4th years." Dean let out another sigh and glanced up to see Harry looking at Thalia Forthing with longing, lustful eyes. He whacked Harry in the back of his head.

"Mate, I can't write this thing when one girl fits the description. You're being a little too specific here," Dean stated.

"Fine. Get me someone that looks like Thalia Forthing," Harry demanded. "Don't care about the popularity status or if she's smart or not or if she's a Quidditch player. Just someone that looks like Thalia Forthing."

From across the hall, Thalia was talking to Theo. She was doing much better than Harry even though she'd ignored him for weeks. She still hadn't opened the gift but she didn't think she had to when she found a new snogging partner.

The brunette looked over at Daphne, who was sitting across the table a few seats away from her, and the girl smiled. Daphne was a pretty blonde with soft brown eyes that almost looked like Harry's. She was the same year as Thalia and had turned 15 in January.

Although they were both girls, Daphne and Thalia together would be more accepted than Thalia and Harry because Daphne came from a respectable family in the wizarding world.

Thalia nodded towards the open door at the end of the Great Hall and Daphne smiled even wider as she excused herself from the conversation she was in. Thalia excused herself as well and made her way out of the Great Hall, not talking to Daphne until they reached the girls bathroom.

Thalia pushed Daphne up against the white tiles of the bathroom wall and Daphne giggled as Thalia pressed her lips onto Daphne's plump ones. They felt different from Harry's. They felt nicer but they didn't move the same way that Harry's did.

The brunette felt horrible for imaging herself kissing Harry when she kissed Daphne, but she couldn't help herself. Thalia turned her head to the other side and she interlocked both of her hands with both of Daphne's.

Daphne removed one of her hands from Thalia's, her hand traveling to the small of Thalia's back. Thalia inhaled the scent of sweet roses, but she couldn't help herself as she wished that it was the scent of broomstick polish.