The next week passed in an exceptionally happy blur. Harry and I were inseparable. Every time I saw him, my stomach would explode in a fluttering sensation, breath catching in my throat, heart beat speeding up instantly. The affect he had on me was unreal. He was still desperately shy around me, despite all we had been through now, especially when we were in public.

The first time I walked down the hallway at school with him, I was sure he didn't hear a word I said as he constantly scanned the crowd, nervous for someone to see us together and shoot us a snide remark. If any came, I didn't notice. After a few trips down the hall, he seemed to be a little less skittish, but not by much. At least now he would actually answer me when I asked him things, or would add to something I had said.

The first time I tried to hold his hand in the hallway, it was like I had taken a chainsaw to his skin. At the contact, his hand had jerked away so fast, I skipped right over being insulted to instant laughter. His cheeks had burned red as I choked out my giggles before I could reassure him that I thought his bashful behavior was extremely endearing. It was Friday before he returned any kind of affection I tried, even though it was just the slightest bit of contact- my hand brushing against his as we stood at his locker, his briefly grasping mine in return.

I had been smiling up at him, excited that he had invited me to eat lunch with him in his secret nook that day. While I had wanted to lean up and press my lips to his, I had settled for the quickest of hand holds, elated that I had been rewarded with a returned gesture.

When lunch rolled around, I couldn't stop the smile from plastering itself on my face. After quickly grabbing my lunch from the cafeteria, I practically sprinted up to the second floor of the library, happy to get away from my usual lunch table where I hadn't said a word all week. I was impressed with myself when I found his cave on the first shot, weaving through the correct pattern of shelves for the first time.

He grinned from his seat on the small couch when I walked up, looking relaxed at school for the first time all week. Here, hidden among the books, we were free from prying eyes that always made him so uncomfortable. While it really didn't bother me who saw one way or another, Harry was much more private, much more cautious about everything we did. Everything was still so new to him that I doubted he could have handled this any other way.

As far as I was concerned, he had nothing to worry about. I had no plans to go anywhere and other peoples' opinions would have absolutely no effect on how I felt about him. And while I hoped he felt the same way about me, I doubt he believed that that was truly how I felt. I just wanted him to feel comfortable, which was much easier said than done.

"Hi," I said, cheesy grin still plastered on my face as I sat down next to him, setting my lunch on the small table in front of us. He had brought his lunch, as usual.

"Hello," he replied, face mirroring my happy expression. He had his father's glasses on again, his hair styled into the sleek quiff in the front, his attempts to remember his father and not look like him contradicting each other. I wondered if that had ever occurred to him. Glancing at his face, I couldn't stop myself from leaning forward quickly and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. He accepted it now that we were alone.

"How's your day?" I asked.

"Good, glad we finally got that project handed in and done with," he said. The relief had been evident on his face when we turned in our project in biology that morning. Ever the good student, he hated waiting until the last day to hand things in. That was probably my fault that it had taken so long, because every time we got together this week to work on it, I ended up distracting him for most of the time. It wasn't my fault he was so adorable; I couldn't help myself.

I grinned at him. "You're such a dork," I teased, nudging my shoulder against his.

"Hey, hey, you like it," he replied. He rarely said things like that- borderline on cocky but with a self-deprecating tone.

"I love it," I admitted, giggling a little before taking a bite of my lunch. "I can't believe it took you this long to invite me to your cave," I said, feigning insult.

"My cave?" he asked, eyebrows raised in amusement.

"That's what I call this," I said matter-of-factually, gesturing around us. "It's a book cave."

"Who am I, batman?"

"Bookman," I corrected, winking at him.

"Saving the world one book at a time," he said, trying out a catch phrase.

"That doesn't even really make sense," I said after pondering what he said for a few seconds, giggling again.

"You're the one who made me a superhero," he chided, taking a bite of his own lunch.

"You can be my superhero, Bookman," I grinned, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek as he chewed.

"M'lady," he said teasingly, having swallowed his bite. Once we had both finished our lunches, we leaned back on the couch, fingers tangled together and sliding back and forth across each other's skin. One of my legs was crossed over my knee, my other knee resting on Harry's thigh.

"So what are we doing tonight?" I asked, looking at where our thighs were touching and nudging him slightly, trying to ignore the burning heat running up my leg.

"Oh are we hanging out tonight?" he grinned, smile evident in his voice.

"Well yeah," I said, as if it was obvious, grinning as I said it.

"What if I have plans?" he teased.

"Do you?" I teased back.

"Maybe."

"Hmm, okay, what might you be doing?" I asked, eyebrows raised as I tried not to giggle.

"I have a hot date... the librarian has been asking me out for weeks and I've finally said yes," he said, somehow managing to hold his innocently straight faced expression as he looked at me.

"Ah, well I'm very happy for you two," I said with mock sincerity.

"Thank you, I think we've got a real future together." His dry sense of humor was another thing I loved about him. It brought out the dry, sarcastic side in me, something I hadn't been able to use much in my old circle of friends. Sarcasm and irony were lost on them.

"Well since you're busy maybe I'll ask out the history teacher. I hear he makes a mean prune juice cocktail," I returned, tilting my chin up smugly.

"Ah, sounds delightful," he said looking at me, amusement written all over his features. "We can do whatever you want," he added, finally answering my question with a genuine smile.

"That's a lot of pressure," I said, half joking. While I loved that we could do whatever and have fun, I wanted to know what he wanted to do. Maybe after more time he would feel comfortable enough to tell me what that was. I thought for a minute about what we could possibly do. Suddenly, an idea struck me.

"Want to go to the drive in?" I asked excitedly. It was perfect- it would be our first real outing together, but would still get the chance to be basically alone. He looked nervous at my suggestion.

"The drive in?" he repeated, clearly not too sure about the idea.

"Yeah, I promise I won't jump you in the back seat of your car," I joked. I could make that promise, even if I wasn't sure if I would keep it. He grinned shyly at me.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Cheeky.

"What is it, then?" I asked, genuinely confused. I thought for sure his apprehension stemmed from his constant nerves that accompanied being alone with me. When we were just talking, like right now, he was fine. More than fine, actually; he was open, funny, kind, and always so intriguing. He had even gotten much more comfortable with holding hands and the occasional kiss, as long as we were in private. But as soon as things started to escalate, he would become extremely shy, nervous, and unsure of himself. I knew it wasn't personal; it was almost strictly due to his utter lack of experience that he held himself back.

He shot me a look, clearly saying that I should know why he would be hesitant to go to the drive in. I had an idea why, but I was surprised he seemed to care. The drive in was a very popular destination for people at our school; it was practically a weekly tradition. If we went together, the odds of us running into someone from school were very high. The idea that he didn't want to go because we might be seen together hurt my feelings.

"You don't want to be seen with me?" I asked, the words stinging as they came out.

"No, Joey, that's not it at all," he said quickly, eyes widening as he realized what I thought he had meant. "I just mean... people aren't... nice to me, so I'm afraid if you're with me..."

"People will be mean to me?" I finished for him. That had to be what he was thinking. My hurt feelings from a moment ago dissipated almost immediately; it wasn't that he didn't want to be seen with me, he didn't want me seen with him. The fact that he thought of himself as a blow to my social status made my heart ache for him. Even though he was the one people constantly put down, he was worried about me getting hurt simply by association with him. He nodded at my correct guess.

"I don't want people to say rude things about you," he said quietly, sadness suddenly taking over his face.

"Harry," I said slowly, turning to face him in the seat, grabbing one of his hands with both of mine. "You should know by now I don't care."

"But I do," he said sheepishly. I examined his face, the tense pull to his eyebrows and taut shape of his lips told me he was genuinely concerned about it. I sighed.

"Okay we can do something else," I told him. He looked relieved. "But, that doesn't mean anything is going to stop me next time."

"Fair enough," he said, just happy that I had sided with him. For now. He wore a small self-satisfied grin, having won.

"So since you vetoed my idea, it's up to you what we do now," I said, intent on making him pay for shooting me down.

"Alright that's fair," he admitted, grinning at me. I just shook my head at him, lips curling into a smile, amused at his self-satisfaction. This was yet another new side of Harry I was discovering, and it only drew me into him even more.