When Artemis returned to the dormitory, pink-cheeked and smiling, there was a wonderful surprise waiting for her.

"Rowan!" she exclaimed, running across the room to join all three of her dormmates and Fergus the cat on Rowan's bed, and throwing both arms around her best friend. "You're out of the Hospital Wing!"

"Madam Pomfrey discharged me. Professor Dumbledore said I'd been monitored for long enough," Rowan replied as she returned Artemis' tight embrace. "That does mean I'll need my wand back, though."

"Of course," Artemis nodded, and - with some effort - summoned Rowan's wand from the drawer of her bedside cabinet. "I have a new one anyway. Not that it's any good."

Rowan looked closely at Artemis' new wand over the top of her silver-rimmed glasses.

"Is that blackthorn wood?" she asked. Artemis nodded. "I thought so. It's one of the trees my parents grow. You know, the wood probably came from us!"

Artemis smiled. That was the first thing anyone had said that had actually made her feel better about her new wand. Grateful, she hugged Rowan again.

"You're very happy this evening, Artemis," said Tonks, tilting her head and frowning.

"Of course I am, Rowan's back!"

"Nah, before you even saw Rowan you were grinning like the Cheshire Cat," Tonks started to grin herself as Artemis felt the colour rise in her face. "What have you been up to, Hexley?"

Three pairs of eyes bored into Artemis, who found herself unable to look directly at any of them. She looked up at the bat hanging from the lampshade, down at Fergus on her lap, across at Rowan's books lined up neatly on the bookshelf.

"You've been out with a boy, haven't you?" Penny gasped, looking more Penny-ish than Artemis had seen her in months. She clapped her hands together delightedly as Artemis felt her cheeks turn a brighter shade of red. "You have! You have to tell us everything!"

"Well," Artemis sighed, "I had a lesson with Professor Snape this evening, and-"

"I don't reckon I'm going to enjoy this story."

"I haven't finished, Tonks. I left his classroom and then I bumped into Barnaby in the corridors, and-"

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness," Penny said, looking as if she were about to burst from excitement. "Did you kiss?"

"Um, yeah."

Penny squealed, and fell sideways onto Rowan's bed, clutching Artemis' hands in hers. Artemis stared at her. Penny seemed more happy about her kissing Barnaby than she did. She looked at Rowan and Tonks in the hope that they would both be acting a bit more sanely, but she was disappointed. Rowan was looking at her wide-eyed and expectantly, leaning in to listen with her chin cupped by her hands, and Tonks was grinning widely with a wicked spark in her eyes.

"Did he kiss you or did you kiss him?" Rowan asked.

"Both," Artemis told her. "I kissed him, and then he kissed me, and then we both kissed each other at the same time."

"Where?"

"In the corridor."

"No," Tonks shook her head, sniggering. Next to her, Penny was barely stifling giggles. "I meant as in on the lips or-"

"Well, obviously on the lips," Artemis rolled her eyes. "Where else would you kiss a person?"

"Never mind that," Rowan said, quickly. She looked reproachfully at Tonks and Penny as they shared glances. "Are you going to see him again? As in like a boyfriend and girlfriend, not just generally."

"I don't know."

"Did he not say?" said Penny, her blue eyes wide with disbelief. Artemis shook her head. "Well, did you not ask him?"

"No," Artemis frowned. "Should I have?"

"Yes, I think it would make things a lot clearer for both of you if you know where you stand."

"Penny, they were standing in the corridor."

"Shut up, Tonks," Artemis continued to talk to Penny and Rowan as Tonks cackled to herself. "So what, do I now have to go and ask him if he wants to be my boyfriend?"

"Well, I suppose you could. Or you could wait for him to ask you if you want to be his girlfriend."

"Do you?" Rowan asked, her eyebrows furrowing behind her glasses. "Do you want to be his girlfriend?"

"I... I hadn't really thought about it," said Artemis, honestly. "I guess so. I don't really know what you have to do to be a person's girlfriend, but it can't be that difficult, can it?"

"Maybe you could start slow," Penny suggested, as Tonks opened her mouth, presumably to make yet another joke. "There's a Hogsmeade trip on Valentine's Day weekend. You could ask him to go to Madam Puddifoot's with you, it's such a wonderful place for a date. Bill and I went there once, and-"

"Can we not?" Artemis wrinkled her nose. "I'd really rather not hear about you snogging Bill."

Sadly, the girls were too giggly to listen to Artemis' protests. They continued to talk about dates, Valentine's Day, and kissing, until the early hours of the morning, at which point they climbed off Rowan's bed and each climbed into their own. The lights turned off, and Artemis fell asleep to the sound of Fergus' purrs and Rowan's snores, a small smile playing on her recently kissed lips.

Hogwarts being the small world it was, it wasn't long before Artemis saw Barnaby again. As the Hufflepuff girls made their way to the Great Hall for lunch at the end of the following morning's classes, they bumped into him in the entrance hall. Artemis shot her three friends a warning look as they started to smirk.

"I'll catch you up in a bit," she said, waving them ahead. She didn't want them all giggling while she tried to talk to Barnaby.

Thankfully, Rowan, Penny, and Tonks all obliged, and the three walked away, whispering and casting glances over their shoulders as they did so.

"Good morning," said Barnaby, and he frowned at the others, dawdling at the doors of the Great Hall. Seeing that he was looking, they quickly ran inside and out of sight. Artemis rolled her eyes. "Are you not going for lunch?"

"Yeah, I just thought I'd stop and speak to you, first," replied Artemis. She paused, not actually knowing what to say next. "So-"

"How are... Sorry," Barnaby said, accidentally interrupting Artemis. "I thought you had finished."

"No, that's fine. You carry on."

"Oh. Okay. How are you this morning?"

"I'm good," Artemis nodded. There was another pause, more awkward this time. "Um, Barnaby, thank you for listening to me when I was ranting last night. And for being nice to me."

"Oh, I don't mind. I'm just happy I helped," Barnaby smiled guilelessly, then frowned. "I did help, didn't I?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Good. That's good."

"Yeah."

Neither of them spoke for a few moments. When they did, they spoke at the exact same time.

"Um, about last night-"

"Would you like to go for lunch with me next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"- I was..." Artemis halted her previous sentence, and answered Barnaby's question instead. "Oh. Um, yeah. Yes please."

"It's Valentine's Day," Barnaby informed her.

"I know."

"So, it would be a date. As in a Valentine's date, not a fruit date."

"That's I what I thought," Artemis said, and Barnaby nodded sagely. "Um, Madam Puddifoot's? Apparently that's a good place to go, I don't know. I've never been on a date before, so..."

"Me neither," said Barnaby. Another pause. "It's exciting, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Artemis smiled and bit her lip. She didn't really know what she was meant to do now. Should she kiss him again? Or wait for him to kiss her? Or not kiss at all? In the end, she settled for kissing him on the cheek, before leaving him to go for lunch with the girls.

When she arrived at the Hufflepuff table, she found that the girls were not the only ones there. She wasn't overly surprised: since Bill had started going out with Penny, the two of them often sat at each other's tables to have lunch together. This morning, however, Bill had brought Charlie along with him, probably because this was the first time he'd sat with the Hufflepuffs since Artemis shouted at him in the library.

As she sat down and started helping herself to bread, Bill met her eye, and mouthed at her, "Are we okay?"

Artemis nodded, still smiling to herself. She no time to say anything before Penny slammed her palms down on the table.

"Well?" she demanded. "Did you talk to him? What did you say? What did he say? Are you two going out? Are you-"

"Penny, stop. Breathe," Artemis said, with a small shake of her head. Penny took a deep breath, and pressed her palms together.

"Okay. I'm calm. So?"

"So, we are going to Madam Puddifoot's at the weekend," Artemis told Penny, who was now leaning towards her with her elbows on the table and her chin resting on her fingers. "It's a date."

Bill blinked. "It's a what?"

"A date, Bill. Oh, I am ever so excited you, Artemis."

"I heard, it's... Wait, you have a date? You. On a date."

"Yeah," Artemis frowned. "Do I not seem like a person who could have a date?"

"That's not what I mean," Bill said, rolling his sleeves up his arms. "It's just that I had no idea about this. I didn't that you... I don't even know who this boy is that you're going on a date with. It is a boy, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's a boy. And you do know him, actually. It's Barnaby Lee."

"Barnaby Lee?"

"Yes, Bill. Barnaby Lee," Artemis folded her arms in front of her chest as Bill's eyebrows furrowed. "Is there a problem?"

"No, I just... I wouldn't have necessarily put the two of you together, that's all. I mean, you're so little and quick, and he's just so-"

"Bill, I swear to Merlin that if the next words that come out of your mouth are 'big and slow', I will hex you so you can't sit down for a week."

"I wasn't going to say that," Bill told her. Artemis could tell that he was lying. She glowered at him across the table. "I just want to make sure that you have thought this through."

"It's a date, Bill. I don't think there's that much to think about."

"Okay. Well, what are his... intentions?"

"Intentions?" Artemis wrinkled her nose. Bill gave her a curt nod, and she thought about it for a moment. "Well, we're going to a tea room. I'm guessing he probably intends to have tea."

Bill sighed, and his expression became less disapproving, although he still seemed sceptical.

"Artemis can go out with whoever she wants to, Bill," said Charlie, briefly smiling and nodding at her. Bill turned towards him and he quickly steered the conversation away from her. "So, Artemis has date, Bill and Penny will probably have a date... What's everyone else doing this weekend?"

"Nothing," Tonks said, with a yawn. "Valentine's Day is nothing but a commercial ploy. No time for it. Charlie, Ro, do you guys want to do something else instead?"

"I can't," said Rowan, staring determinedly at her tomato soup. "I'm busy."

"What are you doing?"

"Going to the library."

"Go some other time! It's Hogsmeade weekend."

"I can't, I'm behind on my revision schedule, and I missed a load of classes while I was in the Hospital Wing."

Artemis scrutinised Rowan. She was hiding something, she was sure of it. But what? She narrowed her eyes and focused, and she thought she could maybe for a minute see into Rowan's head.

"You're meeting someone, aren't you?" she asked, and Rowan shook her head, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. "You are! Who?"

"No one, it's... I'm going to the library to revise with Corey," Rowan admitted. "Don't look at me like that, Artemis! It's not a date, we're just going to be studying."

"That's a word for 'snogging' I've not heard before," Tonks sniggered. "Okay, then, Charlie boy. Looks like it's just going to be you and me. What do you want to do?"

"Oh, you should invite Chiara to come with you!" suggested Penny. She sighed. "Poor thing, I feel so bad that she's hardly ever included in things."

"Where is she today?"

"In her room. She's not feeling well."

"She gets ill a lot, doesn't she?" Charlie asked, looking thoughtful.

"Well, yes, because she has this terrible bleeding curse. She gets weak and sick from time to time."

"Yeah, I know. It's just a bit odd that she always gets sick about once a month though, isn't it?"

"That is a bit weird," Bill agreed. The four Hufflepuff girls exchanged glances, and Bill frowned. "What? What did I say?"

"I mean, it's not that weird," Tonks said, staring at the Weasley brothers in disbelief. The two boys frowned, looking thoroughly confused. Tonks smirked. "You enjoying your tomato soup there, Bill?"

Bill looked down at his bowl, and as he raised his face again, the colour drained from it. He dropped his spoon and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I've actually got some, uh, stuff to do in the... in the library," he said, rising to his feet. "Er, Charlie, did you want to-"

"Yes, please."

Charlie was on his feet faster than Artemis had ever seen him move without a broomstick. The two boys sped away from the table and out of the Great Hall, leaving the girls to watch them in a stunned silence that was broken by the sound of Rowan sighing and tutting.

"Their poor sister," she muttered under her breath.

Artemis wasn't used to feeling nervous. In fact, the feeling was so almost wholly alien to her that she didn't recognise it until Penny asked her about it as she helped her get ready for her date.

"Um, maybe," Artemis replied. Her eyes were closed, but she frowned nevertheless. "Should I be?"

"Well, it is quite normal to be a little nervous, yes. Like there's butterflies in your stomach."

"Oh, that's what that is!"

Tonks sniggered. "Did you just think you had wind or something?"

"Aren't you meant to be out for the day with Charlie? Why are you still here?"

"Don't move, Artemis! I nearly put the mascara in your eye!" Penny scolded her. Artemis pulled a face at Tonks before turning back to let Penny add the finishing touches to her makeup. "There. Done."

Penny shuffled backwards and picked a hand mirror from her bedside table to show Artemis her handiwork. Artemis tilted her head. She wasn't sure what to make of her own reflection, decorated with pink blusher, purple eyeshadow, and red lipstick. She didn't think that she had ever had so many colours on her face before.

"Yeah. It looks nice, Penny. Thanks."

Makeup finished, Artemis got dressed. She had borrowed a dress from Tulip - the only other girl in their year who was as short as she was - that Andre had approved for the occasion. She caught sight of her reflection again in the mirror by the door. In Tulip's dress, with Penny's makeup, and her new short hairstyle, she barely recognised herself.

"I dunno about the dress," she said. "With all of it together, it's just a bit girly for me."

"Well, yes, but boys like that," Penny informed her, beaming.

"You're sure I look okay?"

"Of course! You look just lovely, Artemis!"

Artemis pursed her lips. She wasn't sure she agreed with Penny. She wished that Rowan hadn't already left for her not-a-date with Corey. Rowan would have told her the truth about how she looked.

Unfortunately, there wasn't time to get changed again, as much as she wanted to. It was time to go. She bade Penny and Tonks goodbye, and left for the Clocktower courtyard, where she had agreed to meet Barnaby ready to walk to Hogsmeade together. When she arrived, she found him standing next to the fountain, his hair spiked up and dressed in a thick woollen coat, pale blue shirt and jeans.

"Hello," he said. He paused for a second or two before leaning down to kiss Artemis on the cheek. "You look very pretty."

"Oh," replied Artemis. She should have known that Penny would be right about what boys liked. "Yeah, you look nice, too. Shall we go?"

They made quiet and stilted conversation as they walked to Hogsmeade. Madam Puddifoot's tearoom was down a lane that led off from the main street, and inside, everything was pink, from the walls to the carpet, to the frilly doilies and floral patterned chinaware. Artemis fidgeted in her seat as she drank her tea and talked to Barnaby over a plate of dainty cakes and finger sandwiches. Maybe she really wasn't the sort of person to have a date after all.

"How many cups do you think there are in that stack?" Barnaby asked, pointing to a tiered stack of cups and saucers in the centre of the room.

"I dunno, maybe fifty?"

"I'd say more. Maybe seventy."

"Might be. They're stacked very high."

"Yeah," Barnaby smiled. "Did you ever tell you about the time I stacked nineteen puffskeins on my head?"

"What?" exclaimed Artemis. "You haven't, but I think you should."

Barnaby started to recount the tale to Artemis, and as she listened and laughed, she started to feel a bit more comfortable. Barnaby was her friend, after all. She'd spoken to him loads of times before, and this was no different, really. His story was sweet, and silly, and entertaining, and Artemis was so engrossed in it that she didn't notice that two more people had entered the tearoom. At least, she didn't until one of them knocked a plate off a table, which fell to the ground and smashed loudly. Artemis and Barnaby turned at the noise, to see two people they recognised sitting at a nearby table. Artemis' face hardened.

"Oops," said Tonks, grinning across the table at Charlie, who looked even less impressed by the pink decor than Artemis was. Tonks glanced over at Artemis and Barnaby, then pretended to only just realise that they were there. "Wotcher, you two! Fancy seeing you here!"

Artemis glared at her and shook her head. She really was unbelievable. Tonks' impish smile spread further across her heart-shaped face, and as Artemis mouthed a swear word at them, Charlie looked down at the table, his freckled cheeks starting to turn the same colour as his hair.

It was harder to concentrate on Barnaby's story now that she had an audience. It was even harder to try and actually hold a conversation. Artemis found herself growing more and more frustrated, to the point that she wasn't even able to enjoy the miniature Bakewell tart she'd found amongst the assorted cakes on their shared plate.

By the time Barnaby excused himself to go to the loo, she was beyond the point of frustration. She was angry. She took Barnaby's absence as her opportunity to confront Tonks and Charlie, and marched over to their table.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" she demanded, her hands on her hips. Tonks smirked, and reached over the table to take hold of Charlie's hand.

"We're on a date."

Even if Artemis hadn't already known that Tonks was lying, the look of confused horror on Charlie's face as he stared at Tonks' hand on his own would have given it away. She rolled her eyes.

"You're bloody not," she hissed. "Bugger off!"

"Charming as always, Artemis."

Artemis opened her mouth to snap or shout at them - she hadn't decided which - but was interrupted by Barnaby returning from the bathroom.

"Hello," he said brightly, looking between the other three. "Are you two on a date, too? Are we all on a double date now?"

"No," said Artemis, as quickly and as loudly as she could. Unluckily for her, Tonks was also very good at speaking loudly and quickly.

"Yes, we are. Artemis was just inviting us over to sit with you two, wasn't she, Charlie?"

Charlie looked nervously at Artemis, then at Tonks, and then at Artemis again. There was a soft thump from under the table and he winced before shrugging his shoulders and turning his face down to look at the table once more. Artemis scowled at him.

"Oh. Okay. That could be fun," Barnaby nodded. "We could order more sandwiches."

"Actually, Barnaby, Tonks and Charlie are about to leave," Artemis gave Tonks a hard stare.

"Yeah, but we definitely don't mind staying, not if there are more sandwiches. Come on, Charlie, let's go and join-"

The rest of Tonks' sentence was drowned out by the sound of somewhere between fifty and seventy china cups and saucers crashing to the ground. In her hurry to get up from her and Charlie's table to join Artemis and Barnaby at theirs, Tonks had pushed her chair back into the tower of stacked cups. A plump lady in a pink frilly apron emerged from the kitchen with a face like thunder.

"OUT!" she shouted. She raised one finger to point it at Tonks, and then - to Artemis' dismay - at Artemis.

"What? But I didn't do anything!"

But the pink aproned lady didn't care. Both Artemis and Tonks were ousted from the tearoom, Tonks biting her bottom lip to prevent herself from laughing, and Artemis balling up her fists to stop herself from losing her temper completely.

She might have never been on a date before, but somehow she knew that this one had not gone well.

In the dormitory, Artemis changed back into her jeans and her favourite jumper. She scrubbed at her face and removed the brightly coloured makeup. She looked like herself again, but she still didn't feel comfortable. Her first ever date had gone terribly, what with all the awkward silences, the unwanted audience, the premature eviction, and tense walk back to the castle with not just Barnaby, but Tonks and Charlie as well. No wonder Barnaby hadn't asked her if she would like to ever go out with him again.

She picked up Fergus and rubbed his cheek as she sat down on the bed. He purred and started to knead her lap with his front paws. She smiled. Cats were much easier than boys.

The door to the dormitory opened, and she turned to glower at the newcomer. As soon as she saw who it was, though, she softened.

"I wasn't expecting you to be back this early," Rowan said, walking over to sit next to her on the bed. "Did the date not go well?"

"No."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Why not?"

Still stroking Fergus, Artemis told Rowan the whole sorry tale: the dress that didn't suit her, the makeup that made her look a bit like a clown, the frilly pink decor of the tearoom, the intruders, and the unfortunate incident with the cups and saucers.

"Ah," said Rowan, at the end of the story. "That doesn't sound like it went well at all. That was really unfair of Tonks and Charlie to ruin your date like that. You must be so upset with them."

"I'm not upset, I'm angry. Really angry," Artemis laughed in spite of everything. "But it wasn't all their fault. It wasn't going very well before they turned up either. It all just felt very wrong, like I wasn't meant to be there. I dunno, maybe I'm just not made for the whole dating and romance thing."

"It was just one bad date, Artemis," Rowan said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Artemis took one hand off of Fergus and put it around Rowan's back, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Was it that bad all the way through?"

"No, at one point Barnaby and I were just talking about puffskeins and joking around and that, and that was fine."

"Well, then. You're better at dating and romance than you think."

"Hardly, it didn't really feel like a date at that point. It was just like we were friends, like we are normally. Maybe we are just friends, after all."

"Maybe. Unless..."

"Unless?"

"Well, it could be that it wasn't that you were just friends, it could be that you were acting like your normal self," Rowan used her free hand to push her glasses up her nose. "You said yourself that you didn't feel like you in Tulip's dress and all that makeup, and that the tearoom was really not very you at all. Maybe you would have had more fun on your date if you'd done it in a way that felt right for you, not what other people said was right for you."

"Would that have been very romantic, though?"

"It might not be traditional, but what could be more romantic than someone liking you for you, and doing things that make you happy?"

"Like going to the library, you mean?" Artemis asked, raising her eyebrows at Rowan.

"It wasn't a date!"

"Right..."

"It wasn't!" Rowan said, but she giggled. Artemis turned to look at her, and grinned. She didn't need Legilimency to know that Rowan was lying. "Well, okay, he did kiss me goodbye."

"I knew it!"

"Only on the cheek, it doesn't count. Not really, anyway. But perhaps next time you go on a date with Barnaby, you should do something that you both actually like."

"I don't think there's going to be a next time, Ro."

"There won't be if you don't ask," Rowan took her arm back from Artemis' shoulders and moved Fergus onto her lap. She nodded her head at the door. "Go and ask him now. I dare you."

Artemis grinned. She never backed down from a dare. She gave Rowan a hug, and walked through the dungeons to the Slytherin dormitories, where she knocked hard on the door to their common room, hoping that someone was in there to hear her. As luck would have it, someone did hear. It was just unlucky for her that the person who heard her was Ismelda Murk.

"What do you want, Hexley? Come to tamper with someone else's love potions, have you?" Ismelda said, looking at Artemis like she was a particularly unpleasant bug that she wished to squash.

"Actually, Ismelda, I was looking for Barnaby."

"Of course you were. Merula was right about you in third year. You only ever pretend to be nice so you can get things from people. Take things from them."

"That's not true, Ismelda."

"Whatever," Ismelda blew a strand of her lank hair off her face. "Luckily for you I'm over my pathetic crush on Lee. I could never go out with anyone so idiotic and lovey-dovey. You're welcome to him."

"Um, great. Thanks," Artemis blinked. "Will you go and get him for me?"

"Nah, he's not here."

"Right. Where is he?"

"Probably out by the Care of Magical Creatures paddocks. He goes there most evenings at five and stays there for an hour or so, then goes to the boys' toilets on the second floor to wash his hands before dinner."

Artemis decided not to ask Ismelda how she knew quite so much about Barnaby's daily routine. She thanked her again, and went straight to the paddocks, where she found Barnaby watching the Hippogriffs. He'd also changed clothes, and was now sporting a cosy looking sweatshirt and old leather jacket.

"Hi," she said, approaching him from behind and stopping a few paces away from him. He turned around and smiled at her. "Do you mind if I come and sit with you?"

"I wouldn't mind," replied Barnaby, smiling at her. "In fact, I'd like that very much."

The two of them sat side-by-side, the Hippogriffs watching them with their beady eagle eyes.

"I didn't realise you liked Hippogriffs," said Artemis. "I thought you just liked small fluffy things, like puffskeins and Nifflers."

"I like small fluffy things best, but really I like all creatures. They're much easier to understand than people."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, people say one thing when they really mean another, and they lie, and let you down and hurt you, even if they love you. Creatures don't do that."

Barnaby's words might have sounded almost profound if anyone else had said them, but he smiled and spoke so matter-of-factly that they didn't seem to carry any weight at all.

"I guess so."

"It's true. That's why I want to be a Magizoologist when I leave school, so I can spend all my time with creatures and not have to be confused by people anymore," Barnaby nodded. "It must be a lot easier to understand people if you can read minds."

"I dunno, Barnaby. I only learnt about Legilimency last month, and I don't really understand it. Snape says I need to practice on people."

"You can practice on me, if you like."

"Really?" Artemis tilted her head to one side and stared at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't mind you knowing my secrets. And maybe if you get good you'll be able to teach me how to do it, and then I'll be able to understand people better."

"Okay. Yeah. We can do that sometime."

"We can do it now, if you like?"

Artemis shook her head.

"Right now, I'd rather just talk," she said, and Barnaby nodded in agreement.

And so they just talked. They talked about creatures, and Artemis' uncle's house by the beach, and how he was now travelling in South America and she hadn't seen him for months, and how Barnaby's dad wasn't around much either, and how he wasn't particularly nice to Barnaby when he was around, anyway. They talked about their mutual friends, and funny things that had happened in their lessons and around the school.

They carried on talking as they walked back to the castle, Artemis wearing Barnaby's jacket to stay warm, and as they walked through the dungeons hand-in-hand towards their respective common rooms. When they got to the barrels that formed the entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories, she gave him back his jacket, and kissed her goodnight, at first on the cheek, and then again on the lips. And then again. And again.

Well, Artemis thought, as she walked across the Hufflepuff common room, readying herself for the interrogation that awaited her in the dormitory. Maybe she wasn't so bad at romance after all.