When he woke up this time, to his relief, there was sunlight in the windows, not darkness. It seemed to be early morning, there was dew still clinging to the big windows and the light was more pinkish. The birds were chirping loudly outside, which was always a welcoming sound, it reminded John of Hogwarts, were there were always birds outside the windows. He didn’t know whether he should get up or wait for Madam Pomfrey since he didn’t know if his leg was good to walk on yet. He looked around the hospital wing, looking for any obvious signs of Sherlock’s visit, but there wasn’t anything different, no footprints on the floor, the door wasn’t open, you’d never know. He reached on the table for a drink, his throat felt like sandpaper, but before he could get the glass he noticed a single red rose lying on the table. He stared at it, then looked at the door, as if Sherlock were hiding somewhere, waiting to jump out and scream surprise! A red rose, why did he deserve a flower so beautiful? And wasn’t it the symbol of like, love and all of that crap? Sherlock probably didn’t understand, and why would he; he’s never had a girlfriend in his life. John picked it up, being careful to avoid any thorns on it, and examining it. Maybe there was a secret message written on it or something. John doubted it, and he was right, there was nothing there but a rose.
“What’s that dear?” Madam Pomfrey asked. John almost jumped out of bed with shock, he had been so lost in his thoughts that Madam Pomfrey had appeared beside him.
“Oh, I don’t know, it was there when I woke up.” John said simply.
“Oh, someone’s got a secret admirer then.” Madam Pomfrey said with a smile. John stared at her with confusion. Secret admirer? That was definitely not Sherlock, so who?
“Oh.” John said simply, still wracking his brain. Maybe it was Mary, she seemed to like him a little bit when he was in the common room, maybe she had heard about the incident. John really hoped that was true.
“Well honey, you’re all good to go, your robes are washed and in the drawer there, make sure to take good care of it, and don’t do anything too stupid.” Madam Pomfrey said, but this time her face was free of any amusement. John nodded, waiting until she left to pull the curtains around the bed, changing from the white and blue striped pajamas that had somehow gotten on him and into his fresh robes, which smelled like detergent. He grabbed his wand from the table, and then, with some hesitation, stuffed the rose in his pocket. He felt the thorns poke through the thick material in his robes, scraping against his skin, but he didn’t really care. He walked out of the hospital wing, not even noticing that his leg had just been broken and full of horrible pain, he didn’t even feel a tingle. That horrible potion had done its job, mended his leg to satisfactory. He walked down to the Great Hall, which, as he guessed, was the main attraction at this time of the morning. He walked over to where he saw Greg’s head, eating in the middle of the Gryffindor table alone.
“John, you’re back!” he said excitedly.
“Greg, you’re here!” John said sarcastically, sitting down and yelping in sudden pain.
“And back you go!” Greg exclaimed.
“No, it’s not my leg.” John said, digging the rose out of his pocket. It was slightly crumpled up and some pedals were missing, but it was still recognizable.
“What is that?”
“What does it look like you idiot? Someone left it on my bedside table in the middle of the night, I have no idea who.” John explained. That was a huge lie, it was pretty obvious Sherlock had left it, the real question was why. 
“Oh, looks like you have a secret admirer!” Greg said with a high pitched, gossip girl kind of voice.
“Madam Pomfrey said the same thing, but that’s stupid, who would like me?” John asked.
“Maybe it’s Mary?” Greg guessed.
“Well, she did let me in the Ravenclaw common room when I brought Sherlock his food, she seemed pretty happy that I was looking out for him, maybe she heard that I broke my leg because I saved him!” John said excitedly.
“You never told me she let you in!” Greg said in amazement.
“Well she did!” John said. He had a small hope that this could be true, that it had been Mary, not Sherlock.
“Ask her to the Halloween dance!” Greg said excitedly.
“The what?” John asked. Hogwarts never had dances, it was the only thing a public school had over it.
“Oh ya, when you were in the Hospital Wing they announced it, on Halloween there will be a dance, everyone can come and you are encouraged to bring dates.” Greg said.
“But she doesn’t even like me!” John pointed out.
“Obviously she might.” Greg said. John sighed, scanning the table to find her. Once he caught sight of her, his heart sped up and he really, really wanted to ask her. But of course she’d say no, he was a year younger than her and probably a hundred guys had already asked her. Even if she was available he was nothing special, just John.
“Maybe later.” John decided, even though he knew ‘later’ could very well be never. As much as he like Mary, the very idea of asking her out made his stomach twist with nerves.
“How are you feeling?” Sherlock’s voice nearly made John jump out of his chair with surprise.
“God! Sherlock, yes, good, I’m fine.” John said, all very quickly.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Sherlock said immediately.
“It’s fine, I’m just a little bit jumpy that’s all.” John explained. Sherlock smiled, looking down on John with a sort of warmth that John had never seen in his eyes before.
“Well, it’s good to see you’re okay.” Sherlock said.
“That torturous potion was worth it I guess.” John shrugged.
“Apparently.” Sherlock said with a small smile.
“So what’s our schedule for today?” John asked Greg, who was scanning the parchment. For some reason he always seemed to have a schedule on him.
“Ugh, Umbridge, then Snape, then Binns, then Sprout.” Greg said. John’s heart sank, the Monday back and they get all the worst teachers. Sprout was acceptable, but John still wished it was Saturday.
“I guess we have the first class together then.” Sherlock decided.
“Still doesn’t make Umbridge’s class bearable.” John groaned. Sherlock looked like that had been a personal insult, his smile fading slightly.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s not nice to be with you, but the most dangerous thing we face in there is a broken quill. That demon in pink wouldn’t know Defense if it slapped her in the face.” John said with a frown. He was dreading the day; he couldn’t wait to just get it over with.
“I’m going to go see Mycroft; I’ll catch up to you two in class.” Greg decided, walking to the Ravenclaw table. John noticed his breakfast was left unfinished on his plate. John however, was eating as much as he could, even though Sherlock was talking to him. He was famished, he hadn’t had a proper meal since breakfast on Sunday, and that had been a while back. Sherlock sat in Greg’s empty space, claiming that he didn’t want to go back over to the Ravenclaw table because he didn’t want to hear Greg and Mycroft go on and on about how much they loved each other. John seriously doubted that would ever happen, but he just nodded and ate more of his pancakes.
“Have you had anything to eat?” he asked when his mouth was empty. Sherlock shook his head.
“Then you should eat.” He said obviously.
“No, I’m not hungry.” Sherlock said obviously.
“Eat one piece of toast, that’s all I’m asking, I risked my life for you and I’m not going to watch you die of malnutrition.” John decided, taking a piece of toast from the stack and holding it front of Sherlock’s face. Sherlock took it with annoyance, eating as slowly as possible, as if eating hurt him or something. John finished his pancakes and wouldn’t leave for class until Sherlock finished one half of the toast, and when that was finally done, after a lot of protesting, they left the Great Hall for Umbridge’s classroom. Sherlock walked beside John even though he had a much longer stride, but he was going slower than usual, so John didn’t have to speed walk to keep up.
“What do you have after this?” John asked Sherlock.
“Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid.” Sherlock said simply.
“Lucky.” John groaned.
“Hey, look on the bright side, it’ll be done soon!” Sherlock assured.
“That’s not very bright.”
“Well, the Halloween dance is coming up, what, this Saturday?” Sherlock asked.
“Oh, that, ya, I guess that’s a positive. Are you going to dance?” John asked.
“It depends.” Sherlock shrugged.
“On what?”
“If I have a partner.” Sherlock said with a sad tone to his voice.
“You will, don’t worry.” John assured, which only made Sherlock smile sadly.
“Are you going to dance?” Sherlock added.
“It depends if I have a partner.” John repeated, which made Sherlock look a little bit happier. When they got to the classroom John got a painful reminder that the rose was still in his pocket, pricking his leg again. That thing was pretty annoying. Greg wasn’t there yet, which made John wonder what was keeping him, it was almost time to start. If he was late to Umbridge’s class it would be a detention for sure, and Umbridge’s detentions were painful. Sherlock sat next to him, taking out his book, quills, and ink. He also put his wand on the table, as if it would change Umbridge’s mind about no magic. John glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, thinking of the rose in his pocket. Would it hurt to ask him? Not directly, just asking if he knew anything about it.
“Hey, do you know who put this on my bedside table in the hospital wing? It was there when I woke up.” John said, pulling the now very bent up rose out of his pocket and showing him. Sherlock’s eyes widened, and he looked a little bit nervous.
“No, Madam Pomfrey made me leave remember?” Sherlock said simply, sounding truthful enough.
“Well, it’s a mystery, I’m trying to figure it out but there doesn’t seem to be any logical explanation, no one likes me here right?”
“I bet a lot of people like you, what’s not to like?” Sherlock asked.
“No, like, romantically, like like.” John corrected.
“Oh, well, I can’t think of anyone, must have a secret admirer.”
“That’s what everyone says!” John said with annoyance. He could figure that out himself, he wanted to know who it was, that was the only problem.
“Any ideas?” Sherlock asked.
“None, that’s the problem.” John sighed.
“Well, maybe whoever it is will ask you to the dance.” Sherlock guessed.
“I hope so.” John said hopefully. Greg came running in, sitting down quickly and unpacking his stuff in a hurry.
“Sorry I’m late.” He said quickly, not giving an excuse. He had made it just in time too, from the door leading to her office, Umbridge emerged with the fake smile that made John cringe.
“Lovely to see so many smiling faces.” She said with a smile. John looked around the room lazily, he already knew no one was smiling, just frowning and wishing they were anywhere but here. No one dared to talk; they learned that lesson long ago. Sherlock leaned heavily on his hand, looking very bored. The class was filled with more book work and notes, the definition of hell. It was supposed to be a magic school, yet this was just the same as muggles. When the class was finally over, John said goodbye to Sherlock and he and Greg walked down to the dungeons together. John was surprised to find that he was beginning to dread Umbridge’s class more than Snape’s, which was definitely not a good thing. If something was worse than potions then it had to be bad.
“So, what kept you so long?” John asked teasingly.
“I think you can guess.” Greg said, a slight blush forming in his cheeks.
“So things are getting pretty serious then?” John asked.
“I guess you could say that.”
“Do love him?”
“I think so.” Greg said after a moment of pause. John smiled, he was happy for Greg, really happy. Their good moods were crushed like a bug when they got into the dungeons though, the shadowy classroom sucking the happiness out of anyone’s day. Snape sat at his desk, scowling at the class as they entered. Potions might have been even a tad bit better if they didn’t share it with the Slytherins, who always loved to make sure the Gryffindors felt tortured and useless. John sat at one of the tables near the back, Greg beside him and a bubbling cauldron standing up in the middle of the two.
“Instructions on the board.” Snape hissed. John sighed, looking up to the blackboard and seeing the white chalk writing that wasn’t there a second ago. They were to make a shrinking potion this time, which was a pretty difficult potion to make. Greg and John did their best, but it was way too runny and a bit discolored. Compared to other’s potions though, it looked alright. Not many people were good at potions class, only geniuses like Sherlock and Mycroft. When that class was finally over, the eye of the storm came, lunch. John and Greg walked back up to the Great Hall, relieved that the two worst classes were out of the way. The hall was only starting to fill up; they were the closest classroom so it made the trip easier. John was still very hungry, so he immediately started loading food onto his golden plate. As the cafeteria started to fill up, his plate did the opposite, and by the time he was full the entire school was there, talking and eating, filling the hall with noise. Both John and Greg were done early, so they again decided to take a walk outside, to get some fresh air in before the snow fell. Even though it was still October, there was a chilly wind blowing over the grounds, making John and Greg pull their robes tighter around themselves, but it still beat sitting in a classroom. They walked in silence, breathing in the air and taking in the scene of the Dark Forrest’s leaves turning brown and yellow. But then Greg stepped sharply on his foot, making him yelp and glare at him for an explanation. Greg didn’t say anything, so John followed his eyes to see Mary sitting under a tree with a book. She was alone, without all those loud friends of hers. John looked at Greg for support, who was mouthing the words ‘ask her’ very aggressively. John didn’t want to, he really didn’t want to, he was scared, she’ll say no, of course she’ll say no, but this was his best chance. This would be where he got his answer once and for all. He nodded, feeling his stomach twist uncomfortably. His legs felt like lead, but he had to do this, maybe she still wasn’t going with anyone, but he doubted it. He approached the tree and she still didn’t notice him, completely entranced by whatever book she was reading. Her blonde hair was windblown, some strands stuck into the tree bark. She looked so naturally beautiful it was almost unfair.
“Um, Mary?” John asked nervously, his voice cracking. She looked up with surprise, and immediacy he felt himself blushing. He hated himself for that. “Hi, I don’t know if you remember me, but…”
“You’re John right? The Gryffindor seeker and you brought food for Sherlock.” She said. John smiled at the recognition.
“Yep, that’s me. I was uh, wondering, I don’t know, that maybe you might want to go to the Halloween dance with me?” John said, feeling as if he were practically pushing the words out of his own mouth. He braced for rejection, preparing for embarrassment, making up a line in his head to say when she said no…
“That sounds great, sure!” she said happily. John stared at her with amazement, his heart burst, and he was pretty sure he must have heard her incorrectly.
“Wait, oh, awesome!” John said with happiness, feeling his face light up.
“Good?” Mary said, also smiling with amusement. God she was beautiful. John felt like he could fly, like he could sing beautiful songs and play the ukulele in a field of wildflowers.
“Good, great, amazing, thank you!” John stammered, feeling like a complete idiot, but Mary laughed, a sound sweeter than anything John had ever heard.
“I heard that you broke your leg, how is it?” Mary asked.
“Oh, it’s fine, Madam Pomfrey, she’s really good at hospital.” John said quickly. “I mean healing.” He added, glowing red with embarrassment. It was hard to concentrate.
“From what I heard from Mycroft you were playing quidditch with Sherlock and his broom went haywire, and then you jumped off of your broom to save him, is that true?”
“Ya, uh, I couldn’t let him get hurt, it’s the last thing he needs.” John explained quickly.
“That’s really sweet of you.” She commented.
“Oh, well, ya.” John said with a shy smile.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you at the dance then, sorry, I have to go eat, I kind of lost track of the world.” Mary explained, getting to her feet.
“That’s fine, ya, I’ll see you.” John agreed. Mary gave him one last smile before turning to the castle, walking up the grounds to the great oak doors. John practically skipped back over to Greg, smiling wider than he believed possible.
“She said yes!” John exclaimed with happiness.
“I told you, you should have asked her out earlier!” Greg pointed out.
“You are not going to be turning this to an ‘I told you so’.” John demanded, but he was too relieved to be annoyed with Greg, his heart was jumping up and down, screaming with happiness.
“I am so happy!” John exclaimed, which was pretty obvious, but he said it anyway, because that was what he was, overcome with absolute joy.
“What did you two talk about?” Greg asked, prying like a teenage girl.
“Just about how I helped Sherlock and my leg and stuff, she said I was sweet.” John said, blushing and squeaking with happiness.
“That’s amazing!” Greg exclaimed.
“I’m sweet.” John muttered to himself, anything out of the mouth of Mary Morstan must be true.
“Let’s go back to the castle lover boy; it’s almost time for, everyone’s favorite, history of magic!” Greg said with false enthusiasm. He and John walked to the castle together, John with a newfound spring in his step.