It was hard, his old feelings resurfacing.

He had always liked Melisandre. He just didn't understand why she despised him so much, and sometimes she could be so nice to him too.

It was hard to argue back, stare at her, or even stand next to her without his heart pounding way too fast.

It was hard to watch her with Brandon.
It was so obvious she was in love with him.

She always chose to sit between James and Brandon during dining times, ignoring James's protests.

He sighed, head on the table of the library.

"What's wrong, Baby Potter?" There she was again, appearing out of nowhere.

"Everything." He looked up to glare at her and immediately regretted it when he saw her smiling at him, chin on her hands.

He blushed and quickly hid his face back in his books. He was pathetic, so pathetic. He didn't understand why just a few words from Neira could trigger his old feelings to resurface so easily.

"Everything as in?"

"You."

"Good to know that I'm your everything, Baby Potter." She smirked, Al immediately blushing again.

"If only you knew." He whispered.

"Did you say something?"

"No, just wished you would leave Brandon alone. Who knows, he might be super annoyed by you now." Al regretted his words immediately. Melisandre's whole body stopped moving.

"He told me we were no more than friends this morning, and that we would never be more than that." She whispered.

"Meli-"

"I'm okay, Al. It's not like you cared anyways." She smiled sadly at him, chuckling, trying to hide her sobs.

"Don't say that. Just because we argue doesn't mean I don't care. You may think I hate you, but I don't, Meli. And I hope you realize that." He held her hand, squeezing it.

She looked up at him and laughed.

"You're horrible, Al. Do you even know why I despise you so much?" She was shaking, holding back tears. Al widened his eyes, but didn't let go of her hands.

"Why?" He whispered.

"You were my first love, Al. But you liked Neira and rejected me so harshly when we were younger."

"Melisandre, I'm so-"

"You can't feel sorry if you don't even remember, Al." She pulled her hands back.

"But I still hope we can start over as friends." She smiled sadly at him.

"Thanks for your pep talk, I'm leaving." She pushed the chair back and started walking to the exit.

"Melisandre! For your information, I used to like you back too, I was just too shy!" He quickly shouted, his heart taking over his mouth.

She turned around to roll her eyes at him and laugh.