The Hog's Head was normally short of customers. The last time the bar had been full was when the legendary Harry Potter had arranged a secret meeting. Apparently, other people did not have the same taste. People despised the bar for its lack of hygiene and its darkness that never cheered anyone up. However, in this particular day, things were different.

Aberforth Dumbledore was quite old now, and it has been quite a time since he had cast a enlarging charm. But today, he found himself busy making more room for the sudden outburst of customers who refused to go anywhere but the dirty bar. Most of them consisted of Hogwarts students, and he guessed from their height that they were 7th years, on their last day of school. Apparently McGonagall, for some reason, had not prevented this action.

"FINALLY, NO MORE OLD MAC!" One of the students, very drunk, hollered and everyone laughed. Frank Longbottom laughed along, though he respected Professor McGonagall greatly. He liked feeling like a part of a group, feeling belonged. He was having a wonderful time with his friends at the end of his school years, and he was thoroughly enjoying this day. He reached for a mug of butterbeer and found that the mug was soft and warm, which was odd.

Another student had grabbed the mug a moment before he had. He looked up, and his heart lurched as he saw none other than Lily Potter.

Frank had never been comfortable around girls his age. He had always been more interested in his own world inside the library. He couldn't understand girls by reading books or asking the professors, and he had actually been scared of them when he was young. Since he had always acted that way, it was hard to suddenly get acquainted with them when he was finally able to overcome that fear in his sixth year. So he rarely talked with them, and awkward situations happened when they had to work on assignments together. The funny thing was, his body seemed to move in its own accord with the strangest desire to impress them. He found himself constantly ruffling his hair so that he would look like his friend, James, or straightening his robes. Especially when he was around this particular girl, whom he was looking at right now.

Lily was the one who suggested this meeting. She had taken care of the whole process. She was the one who spread word to all the 7th years, and the one who had somehow got permission from Professor McGonagall. Not a hard mission, considering that her father was Harry Potter. But then, Frank's own father worked in the school, and still he doubted he would have been able to do the same job. Only Lily, the persuasive and well-organized one, was the one who could do it.

"Hello? Frank?" He snapped out of his thoughts as Lily waved in front of him.

"Sorry." He muttered, then realized he was still holding the cup and her hand. He jerked it away, feeling uncomfortable.

"It's fine." Lily laughed. Somehow her laugh was different from the others. It cheered him up, made him happy for no reason. "It's not like we're strangers. We've known each other for ages."

"Seven years." He corrected her automatically. "That's not ages."

Others would have contradicted him for being so accurate, almost like Professor Weasley. Lily didn't. She was right, she did know him well. She understood that he wasn't showing off, that he just liked making things clear. But still, he felt like he had messed up the whole conversation. He searched his brain for something to say.

"I heard Rose is getting engaged." She scowled at the words.

"To Malfoy. Not exactly something to celebrate."

"Well, they're happy."

"They're rushing ahead, Frank! I guarantee they will be calling the whole thing off by next month." Frank missed the rest of her 'speech'. It was hard to take her seriously when she was angry; he was just happy that they were talking freely, that he could look at her freely without his friends noticing.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense." Lily looked satisfied at the words. Then, hesitating slightly, asked a question.

"What are you going to do, once you … get out there?" The answer came immediately.

"I'm going to work at the Department of Mysteries." He spoke proudly, and saw her mouth fall open. Something that never happened.

"The…the department of Mysteries?" She stuttered, another thing that never happened.

"You mean… you'll be an Unspeakable?" Frank stared at her. She sounded odd, almost as if dreading the obvious answer. He nodded at her.

"Professor McGonagall suggested it. Apparently they need a Herbology expert. I'm already accepted. The pay's good, for someone who just graduated."

"Oh." Lily didn't continue, and he couldn't understand. Why was she upset? His friends had been surprised, but not disappointed, like she was. He tentatively broke the silence.

"Lily, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's just…unexpected." She was clearly lying, but why? What was she hiding? Frank decided not to ask. He would wait until she told him herself.

He didn't have to wait much.

"Don't you have any … specific rules? Concerning … I don't know … your social life?" He was surprised to hear this, as he hadn't even imagined that he would lose his friends by his new job. He was also surprised that this was the reason she was so upset. She had been bright and cheery, even when she failed half of her OWLs.

"I don't know, really. But don't worry. I'm sure they don't interfere in my choice of friends." His answer didn't seem to comfort her. In fact, he was sure that he had depressed her even more.

"I didn't mean…" Her words faded into silence, which bothered him greatly. He was used to the cheery side of her, the way she usually was. Also, a vague idea had started to form inside his mind. Maybe she cares so much because… because… No. Surely not. Lots of handsome boys liked her. He shook the thought away. The important thing here was to comfort her.

"Lily, if something's wrong, tell me. I won't make fun of you or anything." She bit her lip, hesitating.

"I guess I just feel helpless now that I'll be on my own, with nobody to help me." This shocked him once more. So she thought that her friends were going away from her?

"You won't be alone. You always make new friends. You have no idea of the affect you have on other people." This time, she brightened up.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you always cheer us up when we're all upset. You always manage to give us a good time. You're the best friend I've ever had." She smiled widely, like a little child who just received an A+ in her first test. He couldn't help laughing, and the next thing he knew, both of them were laughing out loud. There was no reason to laugh so much, but he was grateful to have her returned to who she was. He stopped when he realized that everyone seated at their row was staring at the two of them. He stared back.

"Oh, go on." One of Lily's friends giggled. "We didn't want to … interrupt anything." She coughed loudly, causing more giggles that immediately ceased as Lily gave them a look that said: Shut up, you're ruining everything. She looked back at him and smiled.

"Okay, where were we?"

"Umm…" Her eyes were penetrating. He couldn't hold off the feeling that she was reading his thoughts, which made him blush. He noticed for the first time how attractive she could be. Or was it the first time?

"Umm…" He looked around for help, and his friends gave him exasperated looks which undoubtedly meant: What are you waiting for? They gave him courage, while somehow reminding him the question that he had pondering so much a minute before. Could it? Could it be? The hope rose inside him as he turned towards her. When he saw her grin, he knew.

He leaned forward, and the bar erupted in cheers.