Boo, now their fun time was over and everything was serious. Why did everything have to be so serious? Why couldn't feelings be allowed to develop naturally without all the worries society put on women—fears about class, ages, jobs, and everything in between? Blood was also an issue for Bella, but luckily Gemma didn't have that issue. What she would trade to be a halfblood (or even a muggleborn, really, since she imagined it couldn't do further damage to her prospects).

"If you handle your feelings like that, you'll never find love, Gemma," she sighed, realizing that she was giving Gemma the advice she refused to follow herself. "You're such a happy person, and you deserve more happiness! As long as you don't rush into anything too hastily—" Once again, the pot calling the kettle black. "—I can't imagine how it would ruin anything."