Faith .|. H. J. POTTER ✔

Chapter ninety-six

"Harry and I kissed,"

"Finally!"

"At Slughorn's Christmas party,"

"What? That was like two weeks ago!"

"I know,"

"And you haven't spoken to him since then?"

"No,"

Alex gave Faith a look which Faith knew meant something along the lines of 'How stupid are you?'. They were outside, walking through the thick layer of snow that had covered the Hogwarts grounds. It had been two weeks since Harry and Faith kissed at Slughorn's Christmas party and the reason they hadn't talked about it, or hadn't talked at all since that night, was because they went separate ways back home for Christmas. 

When they kissed, they were interrupted by a gatecrashing Draco Malfoy, catching everyone's attention at the party. Harry then decided to follow him when Snape went to have a little talk with Malfoy. The next day they barely had time to say goodbye. Harry and Ron left to spend Christmas at the Burrow, Faith left to go on a vacation with her parents and Hermione stayed behind in the castle. 

Faith was quite nervous to spend her first Christmas with her parents without Cedric but it went OK. They had fun and didn't talk much about Cedric. It was cheerful and cosy. 

Once she returned to Hogwarts through the Floo Network, just a couple of hours before Harry and Ron did, she met up with Alex, feeling like she could talk to him about it. He knew her well enough to give her good advice. 

"Well, you should talk to him about it when he gets back," Alex said firmly. "If you don't it could ruin your entire friendship with him. You need to know if he's on the same page,"

"Easier said than done," Faith mumbled. 

"Oh, come on," Alex sighed. "You're the girl who asked me if I liked you, not many girls do that you know,"

"That's because I'm weird," Faith rolled her eyes. 

"No, it's because you're wonderful," Alex corrected her. "And if people can't see that, they're just stupid,"

Faith smiled up at him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He was a really good friend and Faith was glad that their dating in the past didn't make it awkward for them now. They watched as Hagrid fed Buckbeak - Witherwings - some dead ferrets in the distance. Faith knew Alex was right, she'd have to talk to Harry about it. Faith couldn't even handle the thought of being awkward around Harry if they didn't. 

"It's getting late already," Faith mumbled. "I reckon Harry and Ron will be back then,"

"You go talk to him, I need to help clean the pub anyway," Alex said and they started to walk towards the gates. 

"How's it going there? Are you having fun at your job?" Faith asked him. 

"Yeah, it's fun," Alex nodded. "And I get a lot of days off so I've been hiking a lot. Madam Rosmerta is being a little weird lately, though, but maybe it's the stress from managing a pub in these dark times,"

"Ron's had a little crush on her," Faith giggled. "He always stares at her when we go there,"

"I thought he was going out with Lavender Brown - is that her name?" Alex said. Faith had told him all about the latest gossips at Hogwarts and he liked hearing them, not having a lot of friends around to talk to. 

"Yes, but I think he's just going out with her to get back at Ginny and Hermione," Faith said. "He was really upset when Ginny called him out for never having snogged anyone and he somehow got angry with Hermione for snogging your brother at the Yule Ball,"