Here's one of the chapters which I promised before. Hope you like it. Now you can look forward to the longest chapter that I have ever written in the next chapter that will come up. Please Read and Review.

Just Friends

As the end of term neared, a familiar sadness took over the students once again. However knowledge that they would once again return lightened the weight of the thought of separation that hung over them like a dismal overcast cloud. Furthermore many of the students were determined to enjoy the last day they had together before they all parted their own ways for the summer.

Enjoying himself, to Leo meant adventure. When he felt life lacked a bit of fun, he would close his eyes and when he opened them there would be a strange radiance in them, a mischievous twinkle that could not be dulled by the floppy hair that hung in front of them. Usually when this happened Jenny would be right by him and when she noticed that look, her face would mirror the same expression. Then he would feel this potent desire to be up to something or other.

However when it happened the last few times, only Astraia was next to him and she didn't notice the difference in his or pay any attention to his urge to be up to something. She was great to talk to and laugh with, but he came to realize that she didn't know him the way Jenny knew him and he probably didn't know her the way he knew Jenny. This caused him to yearn for Jenny more and more. Although he still saw her everyday and chattered with her constantly, they had grown more distant since he had got his girlfriend and she her boyfriend.

"What wrong, Leo?" Astraia enquired with concern, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Nothing really," Leo responded abstractedly.

"Look, I've know you for a while now and I can see something's bothering you," Astraia went on resolute to uncover what was wrong with Leo.

"It's just that I …" Leo paused unsure whether he should tell Astraia his feelings.

"You miss Jenny, don't you?" Astraia finished for him in an understanding tone.

"Yeah, it's not that I don't like you or anything but the more time I spend with just you the more I miss her," Leo explained hesitantly not wanting to hurt Astraia's feelings.

"It's okay," Astraia comforted "I can't think of you as a boyfriend anyway. I see you more as a good friend than in that way."

"Really?" Leo questioned "I thought it was just me."

"By the way, I think you should tell Jenny how you feel about her," Astraia suggested as she left smiling gently.

Leo thought about what Astraia had just said and considered telling Jenny. He thought about it for a long while wondering if thing really would be easier if he told her that he like her as more than a friend. How would she react? Would she return his feeling? What if she didn't? These questions kept plaguing him, whenever he thought about telling Jenny his feelings. He didn't want to tell Jenny that he had more than platonic feeling for her, if she didn't feel the same way about him. He was unwilling to risk the friendship he had with her for the slim chance that they could have something else between them. After all to him the friendship he had with her was probably as powerful and as enjoyable as any other sort of relationship he could have with her. With that thought he decided to say nothing about his feelings to Jenny until he was sure that him revealing them to her would not do anything severe to their friendship.

Jenny looked towards Leo as she entered the Common Room. She noticed that he and Astraia weren't sitting together as they had now become accustomed to do. She also saw that he did not look very happy either. Concerned about what may have happened between Leo and Astraia, Jenny approached Leo single-mindedly decided to question him.

"Hi Leo," she uttered in an attempt to get his attention.

"Oh, hi Jenny," he replied vaguely.

"How are you?" she question "You don't seem dreadfully cheerful today"

"It's nothing," he denied immediately, then seeing the stubborn look in her eyes he went on to say a part of what had happened "It's just that me and Astraia broke up."

"Why? What happened?" Jenny exclaimed shocked since they had seemed relatively happy the last time that she had seen them together.

"Well, we decided that we didn't see each other as more than friends and so we decided it was better if we broke up," Leo explained firm that he was not going to say anything more to Jenny.

"Well how about we take a trip to the kitchens?" Jenny proposed trying to cheer a gloomy Leo.

Hearing these words, Leo's face lightened up at the thought of finally having some kind of escapade with Jenny. They both left for the kitchen intent on having fun and maybe also getting an idea for some sort of prank.

When Jenny got back from the kitchens with Leo, she decided to go and see Kevin. She needed to talk to him.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked Kevin timidly.

"Of course," Kevin responded and then seeing her expression he continued "Is it about Leo?"

"Yeah, it's just that he's broken up with Astraia. So I think I need to be there for him and just him," Jenny defended "Is not like we were ever… you know"

"I know what you mean," Kevin agreed "We were never really more than friends were we? We don't even have that much in common with each other any way."

"Thanks for understanding. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't like you are," Jenny declared.

"At any rate, I think you should tell Leo how you feel," Kevin suggested.

"I can't. It might wreck our friendship," Jenny answered with a sad smile as she turned to leave for her dormitory.

It was not just the short lived Gryffindor couples that were breaking up in exchange for friendship. The revered Slytherin couple was also drifting apart after having been together for over a year.

"Our relationship, is just not working," Melaina announced to Alexiel after having spent so many days contemplating the matter.

"I think so too," Alexiel uttered after a long moment of silence "After all neither of us ever expected it to work did we?"

"Yeah," Melaina murmur softly before saying in a louder tone with a small smile and a tiny glimmer of hope "We'll still be friends though, won't we?"

"Friends, acquaintances, allies… they all mean the same thing. We won't murder each other and we won't ignore each other either," Alexiel whispered so silently that Melaina almost didn't hear it.

Therefore many second year students ended the year single, whether they were single at the beginning of that year or not. After all they had all the time in the world to find someone. They'd still come back to the same school, they'd only be a year older and nothing big was going to happen when they return. Was it?