I'm the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend -- TBD, 6th year?

Leo and I have been best friends since the sandbox.  We both ignored the fact that our parents would love to see us get together and get married.  Well, that was what I pretended anyways.  It was hard for me to see him with other girls... and he talked to me about his crushes, too, which made it that much worse.  I could not say anything, though, because I was just his friend.  He had no idea that I felt the way that I did.  He was telling me how him and Quinn were starting to get closer and I was not even paying attention to what he was saying anymore.  It hurt to much to think about him with such a sweetheart like her.  How could I be mad that he was falling for her?  I could not.  Quinn was adorable and perfect for him... but that did not mean that I had to like it.

I looked at Sedona and realized that she was lost in her own little world again.  "Hey... Dona, everything alright?" I asked.  I had gotten really good at reading her and I could tell something was bothering her.  It was just something that I was able to do... I was so happy I could read her like I could.  She was probabyl the only woman I could tell what she was thinking one hundred percent of the time.

Oh, so he was actually paying attention.  Crap.  Sometimes he got so lost in wat he was saying that he did not realize I was not paying attention.  "Oh, sorry," I said quickly.  "Everything's fine... I just got distracted by... Snape's looming essay."  I blatantly lied but was sure that he would believe me.

I looked at her, slightly hurt by the fact that she was lying to me.  "Dona... seriously, what's up?  You know you can tell me everything," I said, wondering what was going on that shse would not confide in me.  I was her best friend.  Maybe it was because she had a crush on someone... I grinned at her.  "Oh, Dona.  Do you like someone, too?  If I can tell you about me crushing on Quinn and thinking about taking her to Hogsmeade on a date this weekend... you can tell me if you like a guy.  You shoul dknow by now that I don't mind talking about it as long as it doesn't involve me having to pretend he's cute, too," I said, teasing her a little bit.

How I really wished he would not tell me about asking Quinn on a date.  But how on earth could I tell him that?  I could not.  "I don' tknow if I want to know how you went from talking about your crush to thinking that I had a crush on someone, Leopold," I said, using his full name on accident.  I only did that when I was upset with him.  He should know that by now; but really, it seemed like lately he did not know me at all.  I started to gather my things.  "I've got a lot to work on... why don't you go back to the common room and go ask Quinn out already," I said, hating the way that I sounded.  I stood up and walked away from him, trying to get a hold of my emotions.  If I learned anything from my father it was how to contain my emotions.  After the incident that caused Stan to become blind and that made my dad go through so much... he hid the way it affected him well.  The only reason I knew anything was because I caught him having a break down.  He still had no idea that I saw it happen; Dad should be proud of himself.  The Healers said that he might never walk again... and here he was.  But I digress... Well, it did help me keep the tears about what was going on with Leo at bay.  Which was the goal I suppose.

Leopold?  What on earth did I do to constitute being called my full name?  I stood up and followed her.  I grabbed her arm and spun her around to look at me.  "Sedona... what is going on?  You may be able to hide behind that mask with some people, but not me.  I know something is bothering you... I just can't figure out what it is," I said to her softly.  I could see that she was angry and upset.  It was obvious that it was at me, but what was the cause for it?  I had no bloody clue.

He was so lucky that when he grabbed me he did not make me drop my books in my arms.  "Apparently my mask is better than you think... it's gotten me this far with you," I said, getting angry at myself for causing the pain in my best friend's eyes.  I stood there, wishing that he would figure it out.  I took a deep breath to calm myself down a little bit.  "Leo... it's just stress.  I'm sorry for snapping at you.  I'm just going to go grab things so I can enjoy a nice, relaxing, calming bubble bath," I said, sort of telling him the truth.  Obviously the reason was a lie, but the rest was true.  A bubble bath sounded brilliant at the moment.

I was extremely hurt that she was just blowing me off.  Since when could we not talk to each other about everything?  She came to me in tears when she saw the breakdown Uncle Dean had.  I was not sure if I could ever imagine seeing one of the strongest men I knew break down, but I also knew that a person could only handle so much before reaching their breaking point.  I let my hand drop off of her shoulder and let her walk away from me.  "Okay... just know that I'm here for you, Dona," I said.  I leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek and I swore I saw tears in her eyes when she turned away from me and walked away.  What was going on?  Why was Sedona in so much pain?

Of course he had to lean in and kiss me on the cheek.  I closed my eyes to fight the tears.  When he moved away, I turned and had to get out of there.  I knew that I was being just a little over dramatic about everything, but I just could not handle it today that was all.  I could not always keep it together... not when I thought he was done dating girls at the moment.  He had just told me that a month or so ago... and now he wanted to date Quinn?!  The fact that she was so sweet and they would be a cute couple, made me feel like a horrible person on top of being jealous about it.  I turned the corner and leaned against the wall to take a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

I came up behind Leo with my arms crossed.  "You do realize what the problem is, right?" I asked him, looking at him hoping that he was not nearly as dense as the other boys that I had to deal with.  I had been scoping out some options for where to hide for the next prank when I overheard Leo and Dona.  I swear they just needed to get together already.  I was pretty sure everyone else saw what they refused to see.

I had been standing there at a loss as I watched Sedona walk away from me when I heard a voice next to me, making me jump slightly.  I turned to see Serenity standing there looking at me like I was a complete moron or osmething.  "Wait... she's talked to you about what's wrong?" I asked, wanting to understand what was bothering my friend.

I wanted to smack him upside the head.  He was book smart, but clearly lacked any common sense.  I mean, I would love it if him and Quinn started dating; she was my cousin... I wanted her to be happy.  But I was pretty sure she had sights on a different guy anyways.  She just had to get past all the guys in our family who were overly protective of her.  "Leo!  Hello!  It's obvious!" I said, rolling my eyes.  If he could nto tell, then he was hopeless.  Sedona needed to find someone else... I started to walk away from him.  I had more important things to do anyways than deal with Leo being stupid.

What was it about women and walking away from me without telling me what I needed to know?  I caught up to Serenity easily.  "Ren, please, just tell me," I said, stopping in front of her and lookign at her.  I felt like an imbecile for not seeing what was apparently obvious to Serenity who was not even there for the conversation to begin with.

I crossed my arms as I looked at him.  I was not sure if I should tell him, but he looked kind of like a sad puppy.  How could I resist telling him what was going on when he looked like that?  I sighed and looked around to make sure Sedona was nowhere in sight -- though I was sure she ran for the hills to get away from him.  My gaze returned to Leo.  I kept my voice lowered as I said, "Look, Leo... Dona likes you.  And I mean she likes you.  Get it?"  I really hoped he did... I did not want to go into details.

I stared at Serenity, at first not understanding what she was telling me.  Then it all clicked.  "You're not serious... I'm the guy she has a crush on?" I asked to clarify.  That was ridiculous.  For how many years did we deny and joke around about our parents wanting us to be together?  We made fun of them constantly!