I know it's been far, far, far too long, hasn't it? I don't know when I'll be able to get a new chapter up but I'll try my best, alright loves? Yes, I changed the rings yet again but I promise this is the last time. I tend to change my ideas a lot. Sorry :). So, I think you will all like this chapter, I made it extra long.

Enjoy!

That day went extremely fast, but then again, so did the next week. Maybe it was because I was so excited for Quidditch tryouts on Friday or maybe it was the fact that Bill and Flash were staying the entire week so I got to be with them again. But, I think it was something else. As the week progressed, I found a trend happening in my so called "love life". If it wasn't Draco, it was George. I mean that by saying if Draco wasn't making my stomach flutter, my heart surge, my spine shiver, then it was George doing all of those things to me. Most of the day, I was speechless and breathless and those butterflies seemed to find a home in my stomach. Don't get me wrong, George and Angelina were still being all mushy disgusting, but when George and I were alone (we were actually alone together more and more often. It was a little suspicious…) he'd find someway to make my heart skip and my skin prickle. A single look from him could send me floating, and a touch could melt my heart. I didn't want to admit it but I couldn't avoid it.

I was in love with George Weasley.

I learned more in that week than I could have ever learned at Hogwarts. I learned how being in love – truly in love – with two insanely flirtatious and good-looking boys spelt nothing but trouble. I was constantly thinking about one or the other during classes, which caused me to receive weekend detention from Umbridge (at least Harry had gotten weekend detention from her too for talking about Voldemort), and I was dreaming about them too. My dream journal was full of fake fantasies that were becoming slightly less believable, I had to keep my guard up on my mind so Jere couldn't see anything, I avoided Angelina because talking to her made me feel guilty and whenever Hermione decided to bring my new infatuation with George up, I was forced to change the subject on her (usually something about Ron). I really learned what self control meant. Wanting somebody so badly that it hurt, but having to hold yourself back from them. Having to filter out the looks you gave, the things you said so no one would ever become suspicious. That right there - self control? - was going to be a very crucial skill to me later on in life (you'll see what I mean later). The point is, I knew how to handle my feelings for Draco. I had been doing so for my entire life and, though he did make my stomach fuzzy every once and a while, I was fairly able to control my feelings for him. But when it came to George… not so much. He drove me crazy, I mean it. There was something about him, I don't know what, that made me just want to stare and stare and stare… I was usually able to catch myself if my looking and thinking got too out of hand, but it was hard. Really hard. So, now that I've told you all about my IMENSE struggles to not jump onto George and kiss the *er herm* shit out of him, I think we should return back to what was actually happening. If it's alright, I think we should skip to the Friday of my Quidditch tryouts, in the Great Hall, eating dinner, being completely nervous for the tryouts happening in ONE HOUR. Alright, here we go;

My legs were shaking underneath the table as I attempted to put a spoonful of corn into my mouth. I made a rather frustrated noise and threw the spoon down, corn falling aimlessly into the bowel below and onto the surrounding table top. Harry looked to me from across the table, quite amused at my utter nervousness. "Would you like me to help you?" He asked, coolly. Why hadn't I been born laid-back like Harry? Why? I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yea… no." I answered, dryly. His face softened from the smirk it had been imposing and he reached across the table to grab my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"Katie, you're going to do brilliant! You're the best chaser at Hogwarts, even better than Angelina. You'll do-" Harry's uplifting speech was interrupted by a familiar "Oh-ho"ing sound. Really? Now?

"You two are just the best couple! I'm sure she's fun in bed, aye Potter?" Draco teased, his hands falling onto my shoulders. I rolled my eyes for a second time and sighed. Draco had been making fun of Harry a lot more lately (Harry was returning the favor) and he particularly liked to poke fun at Harry and I's friendship. My head tiled upwards so I was seeing Draco upside-down. In doing this, he had a clear view down my shirt. I was hoping that he wouldn't notice.

"Do you need something or are you just going to stand there like the nit you are and talk about how great I am in bed, because, you would definitely know." I shot back at him, sarcasm escalading more towards the end of the sentence. He smirked down at me, but it wasn't just any smirk, it was one of his smirks that melted my heart… well, actually it was the smirk that melted my heart the most. He moved his thumbs in circular motions, massaging my shoulders in a way where, if anybody was looking, they would have never been able to tell he was doing it. I held back a noise that would have been classified in the moaning category and tilted my head back to it's normal position. If Harry hadn't been there, maybe I would have done a little more or said something but he was there and he was still thinking that I liked Draco and I didn't want anyone to know so I couldn't do anything to provoke that belief. Harry and Draco just glared at each other for the moment, Draco continuing to massage my shoulders.

"Well…" he started slowly. "I better go. Wouldn't want to be seen talking to Gryffindor scum too long." He finished, kiddingly. I made a face at Harry, mouthing the words "Stretched Rat" (yea, I had told him what Madam Pomfrey had said) and a smile broke onto Harry's lips. He let out a chuckle and I felt Draco lean down, his lips too close to my ear. Not in a bad way, but in a dangerously curious way that could completely blow my cover. "Sharing secrets with Potter now, are we? Better be careful. You fall in love fast." I stiffened. Oh shut up, Draco, just shut up! Don't you know anything? I love you! I. Love. You!

"As do you never at all." I mumbled, Harry peering at me with a face of content. Not for what he may or may not have heard nor for what he was or wasn't thinking. Just for the fact that I would stand up to Draco. I think I was the only one that ever, consistently, would. Draco slid his hands down my back in an, attempted, discreet way but I was sure Harry saw. I was sure he knew. There was no doubt in my mind that he knew I loved Draco and that he knew I would be confirming it as soon as Draco left.

"Sure. But I have a lot of fun doing it." I bit my lip hard, resisting the urge to moan or sob or cry or say something witty back or even think.

"Go on Draco." I cleared my throat, forcing my voice to raise to a normal tone. "I have to talk to Harry because I'm utterly nervous for tryouts and he, somehow, knows how to calm me down a bit. So, go." I instructed. Draco removed his hands from my back and simply left. Then a thought came into my head. "You're not going to my tryouts, are you Draco?" I asked, practically shouting at him. He didn't turn around or respond so I yelled again. "Draco? Please tell me you're not!" No reply, he just continued to walk to the Slytherin table. "Draco!" Finally he looked back, just a glance, and flicked his eyebrows, smirking the rest of his trip. I groaned in a worried and annoyed way, dragging my eyes to Harry who was smirking as well. A softer smirk, but a smirk, none the less.

"Okay, so I'm going to ask you again and this time you're not allowed to lie to me." I gave Harry a confused look, though I knew what was coming.

"And that is…?"

"Do you like Malfoy as MORE than just a friend?" He whispered, thank Merlin for that. Harry was so courteous. I bit my lip and nodded slowly.

"Y-yes."

"Do you love him?" He lowered his voice further. I nodded again, but didn't answer. "I asked, do you love him?" Harry was persistent and wanted a set-in-stone answer. I sighed.

"Yes." I muttered, quiet as ever. Harry half smiled but half frowned.

"Why didn't you tell me the first time I asked you?" He leaned in so he could speak lower.

"Because Ron and Hermione were there and I just didn't want anyone knowing… but I could tell you figured it out and I didn't want to lie to you about it anymore." I confessed. He nodded, his brow furrowed deep. "Harry? You're not mad with me, are you?" He shook his head quickly.

"No, no. I can't say I'm surprised but… I want to protect you, okay? Because you may know the nice side of Malfoy but I know the other side. He'll brake your heart, Katie. Jere even said so…" Harry looked a little pained talking like this. I smiled.

"I know he did and I have no doubt that Draco probably will break my heart but, like you said, now I've got you. I won't brake because now I have you and Hermione, Ron and Fred, George and Jere. I'm going to be okay." It sounded like I was trying to convince myself that I was going to be fine.

"I won't tell anyone. I'm good at keeping secrets. Now, come on. We have to go so we can get changed and warm up before Tryouts." I nodded and we both stood up, grabbing our Quidditch bags, and Harry grabbed his Firebolt (my broom was already in the changing rooms). We sprinted out of the Great Hall and down to the Quidditch pitch and my stomach fluttered as I stepped out onto the green, lined grass. I inhaled deeply and smiled rather stupidly as I looked out over the field. I hadn't been flying – truly flying – in ages, I was actually excited. But also scared and nervous. Harry put a hand on my shoulder and turned towards me. "You. Will. Do. Brilliant. I want you to stop being so nervous, for me, alright? We have plenty of time before Tryouts begin. Just breath and calm yourself down." Harry instructed. I smiled lightly and starting to take a few deep breaths. I was going to do fine, I was. I was a fair chaser and even if I didn't make it, that didn't mean the end of the world. This would be the first year that, if I didn't make it, I could sit along side Hermione and cheer on Harry, Ron and the twins. Then, of course, I'd have to cheer for Slytherin since I tended to cheer on all teams (rather they were playing each other or not) but if I didn't make it, it wouldn't be then end of the world. I let out a satisfied sigh as the butterflies in my stomach flew off and my mind calmed down to a slow and laid back pace. An easy-going smile stretched out over my pink lips and I walked into Harry, hugging him happily.

"Thank you." I whispered. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I honestly don't know how you survived without me." He joked. I giggled.

"That makes two of us, I suppose. But don't be getting too full of yourself now." We looked at each other knowingly and began to walk off to either of our locker rooms. The souls of my trainers made a slight clicking noise against the blue-flecked tiles floors as I made my way over to the changing portion of the locker rooms. I pulled my clothes off one by one, replacing each garment with it's identical Quidditch-playing one. I shoved my previous outfit into a locker and walked over to the bathroom portion, pulling my hair up into a thick, curly and high ponytail. I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment, surveying myself. I suppose I could be considered unattainable to some, but just as well, some could be considered unattainable to me – like George. Looking this hard at myself, I couldn't find anything particularly alluring. I had a normal complexion, rather bland brown eyes (actually, they were quite sparkly and I grew to love them but at the moment I didn't like them at all), a normal – maybe even slightly curvy – body structure, normal height, normal legs, normal features. All so normal. My chest wasn't mockingly large like some of the 5th year girls (Pansy, Lavender, Jessica…) and my skin was nothing to be proud of. I would have given anything for freckles, but I hadn't been blessed with them. I wasn't beautifully pale like Fleur and Draco nor seductively dark like Blaise and Jessica, actually, my pores were quite large around my nose which I despised. I sighed unreasonably and tugged on the only slightly prettier feature of my body, my hair. Curly and thick, it was everything to me. Something my mother had passed down, I really adored it. I sighed and decided to stop criticizing myself, strapping up my shin guards and walking back out of the locker room, my boots, arm guards and gloves out with me. Quidditch required a lot of equipment and some of it became rather annoying. The girls who were planning on trying out had just arrived, all waving to me and greeting me as they passed, Angelina included. It seemed many of the boys had already changed (how that was possible, I do not know) and I saw a group of Slytherins walking across the pitch. Oh, joy. I sprinted over to the group of Gryffindor boys accumulating and tugged on Seamus's hair, smiling at him weakly. He turned around, grinning, but the grin faded.

"You really ought to stop." He informed. I gave him a curious look.

"What on Earth do you mean, Seamus?"

"You've been judging yourself again, I can see it in your NOT bland, sparkly and beautiful eyes." I sighed. Seamus honestly knew me way too well. He grabbed my hand and it reminded me of when we'd been dating. Seamus always had a soft, gentle touch. I'd loved him for that.

"Shut up. I'm still going to kick your arse at tryouts today. Flattery will get you absolutely nowhere." A few of the guys chuckled, Dean being one of them. He hummed thoughtfully before pulling me along, causing my boots, gloves and arm guards to fall out of my hand. He dragged me along until we got an arm distance away from the group, picking me up from behind and spinning me around mercilessly. I shrieked playfully and in a very girly way, laughing despite myself. "Seamus! Seamus! STOP! STOP IT!" I screamed, flyways from my ponytail swirling every-which-way. He laughed and sat me down, leaning up on my back and whispering into my ear;

"Alright. But first I want to hear you say it." I couldn't help but laugh back. You see, it had taken me quite a long time to fist tell Seamus I loved him and I actually first told him because I had asked him to be my date to the Yule Ball. He said he would, but first he had to hear me say it and by it he meant my saying I loved him. I'd finally told him then (don't worry, I had wanted to all along, I just hadn't known how) and that had become our little inside joke.

"I grà tŭ." I whispered, placing my hands on his. I could feel his breath hitch. I had told him I loved him, but in Irish. Real, true Irish. He hadn't known I'd learned Irish, but I had. I had learned it for him, quite a long time ago. He spun me around and looked deep into my eyes, pursing his lips in the cutest way. I blushed madly, letting air slowly escape my nose in a deep exhale. I smiled faintly, the heartbreak I had still been feeling slipping away, if only for a moment. He pulled back, quickly, releasing my arms and taking a step back, his eyes wide as saucers.

"I-I didn't know you knew Old Irish!" He exclaimed, finally. I laughed quietly at his bewildered expression and shifted in place.

"Learned it just for you, Seamus." I replied nonchalantly, like it was no big deal. He smiled brightly just as Draco and his lovely little gang approached us. "Hey Blaise." I greeted, since he was the first one to us. He smiled and rubbed his hair.

"Wow, I didn't really think you were going to continue this whole friendship thing!" He gestured towards Draco to show he was talking about Mine and Draco's "deal".

"Of course I'm going to continue! How mean would it be if I just blew you off? Jeez, I'm not that cruel!"

"Actually, you're not cruel at all." Blaise got this sly look on his face and started moving closer to me, his arms outstretched. I wagged my eyebrows and laughed.

"Ah, ah, ah! Remember what we talked about now, Blaise!"

"Oh yea. Jesus, this is going to be hard." He replied. I rolled my eyes but gave him a reassuring look.

"You'll get through, I've got complete faith in you."

"Well, thank you. So, are you excited that we're here to watch you?" Blaise was obviously kidding by the slightly evil grin he wore.

"Honestly? No. I swear on my Aussie Rose bikini, you two better keep your wands to yourself, both of them." I added at the end. How stupid was it that I actually had to add that? "And that goes for you too, Theo!" I shouted to the pretty looking, dirty blond boy walking over to us. He smirked in remission to my comment and flashed an impressively white smile at me.

"You've got a dirty mind, you know that Kat-Bell? Like we'd do that in public. Have you forgotten that we're purebloods too, gentlemen even?" He teased, ringing my ponytail with his hands and then pulling on it.

"No Theo, I haven't forgotten. Don't you remember? I'm the most mannerful lady in the pureblood society at the moment." I replied, curtsying and bating my eyelashes.

"Ah yes, my mum wants my little sister to be just like you. Of course, my little sister wants to be just like you so it's really a win-win…"

"Stella? Oh, I really do miss her. She's so adorable!" I swooned. Stella was only 6 years old and the cutest little girl you will ever meet.

"Oh yea, she get's it from her big brother of course." He commented, pushing his hands into his pockets.

"Sure, Nott, you just keep thinking that. And while you're at it, you might as well figure out a way to be a little more subtle with your flirting tactics." Blaise added, leaning up on Theo's shoulder.

"He's right, T. I can usually tell when someone's flirting with the disaster over there but I think EVERYBODY can tell you're flirting with her." Draco stepped over, tugging on my ponytail just as Theo had and then socking him in the arm. I shook my head.

"I think I've had enough Slytherin for the day so I'm just going to go over to the sane Gryffindors over there…" I started stepping backwards but hit something hard.

"Maybe you have, love, but us Slytherins haven't had enough of you." Flash caught me up and twirled me around.

"Hey Flash. Hey Bill. Hey Jere." I greeted, slipping out of Flash's hold and walking over to strap my arm-guards on and pull my boots and gloves on. The girls were now filtering out of the locker room, obviously hyped-up by some new rumor being spread, most likely about Harry or maybe Angelina. I straightened out my Jersey – number 7 – and tightened my gloves, forcing the butterflies to stay out of my stomach.

"Alright, anyone not trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team off the field and, yes, that means you Flash!" Angelina giggled as Flash fake pouted. It sickened me for some reason to see them flirting, or more like her flirting. I didn't like it one bit. This little monster of a feeling developed in my gut and my eyes narrowed as I tugged on my boots. After everyone had cleared the field, Angelina continued, George standing annoying close by her. "First, I need to see who is trying out where. Beaters, raise your hand please." George, Fred, Dean, Jonny McGieb (a 7th year) and a few other 3rd and 4th

years raised their hands. Angelina nodded and appeared to jot their names down on the clipboard she was holding. "Okay, Chasers?" I raised my hand along with Seamus, Alicia, Katie, Ginny Weasley, Brooke Brooks (a 3rd year, people made fun of her for her name which made me quite sad so I'd become friends with her. She was actually very coordinated and light on her feet. She'd be good Chaser material) and, of course, Angelia. The only two trying out for Keeper were Cormac McLaggen and Ron and the only person trying out for Seeker was Harry. The tryouts for the other positions passed quickly and I'm sorry to say that I didn't really pay much attention to them. I hovered over by the edge of the pitch on my Lightening Bolt (I had hidden the symbol so it wouldn't take away from the excitement of Ron's new Firebolt), my thoughts swarming mindlessly to George. What did Angelina have that I didn't?

"Everything" my mind answered for me. I shook my head just as I heard someone calling my name.

"Katie! Katie! You're up!" I looked over and saw Harry was the one yelling to me, his hands cupped around his mouth to enlarge the sound. I nodded and zoomed forward, angry at the fact that Angelina had George and I didn't. I had no idea where the feeling had come from but it had just erupted out of nowhere. Jealousy.

"Alright. First we'll be having a little race. Five times around the pitch should do it." Angelina informed. I braced myself on the ground, ready to let all of this stupid emotion go and just fly. That's all I wanted to do. Just fly. "On your marks!" Pause. "Get set!" Pause. "Go!" No pause. I zoomed off, faster than I had ever flown before, not caring about anything. I slid forward on the handle, my hands clenched so tight my knuckles were turning white. I could here distant cheering but I didn't pay attention. Before I knew it, I was being flagged down to stop. Pulling up, I made a rather bumpy and unfocused landing, my eyes must have looked a bit glazed over because Jere immediately jumped from the stands and came to see if I was alright. I nodded at his questions and pushed his hands away, pulling my hair roughly out of it's holder and walking over to everyone.

"I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away there, didn't I? Ugh, I feel like such a show-off." I forced a laugh as I shook my head at myself. Angelina's eyes glowed with pride.

"No, Katie! That was brilliant! You've had to of made the team. I won't have it any other way! You cut, what? Almost 25 seconds off last year's flying time. With you as out Chaser, we could beat anyone!" She beamed and hugged me. I forced myself to hug her back even though I really didn't want to.

"Thanks, Ang. I have to go though, I've got detention with Umbridge the next two nights so I want to catch up on all of my sleep and homework tonight. Good luck and I'll see you later!" She nodded and released me. I jogged to the locker room, grabbed my things and full out ran back up to Hogwarts, wishing to be invisible. I spirited up to the only place where I thought I could be alone… the Astronomy tower. Collapsing onto the floor in a sweaty, tired mess, the contents of my bags spilled outwards. I rolled, covering my eyes with my hands and hoping this was all a stupid dream. That when I woke up, I'd be lying in my soft bed at home, sipping tea and listening to my dad ramble on about work things and how many events we were to make an appearance at that day. I rolled onto my back and looked upwards at the ceiling. Just then, I noticed how nice it would be if the ceiling was enchanted like the one in the Great Hall. Then I noticed a skinny, woody-looking thing sticking out of my bag. I smiled as I grabbed it, wondering how Jere had managed to slip my new wand into my bag without my knowledge. Thinking back to previous Charms classes, I tried to remember the spell to enchant a ceiling to become transparent or at least mimic the weather beyond it, like in the Great Hall. "Mimstectum" I mumbled, pointing my wand up. A pink and purple stream of light shot out the end and enveloped the ceiling with what looked like magenta electricity streaks. There was a loud zapping noise and then the ceiling's warm, stone color evaporated revealing a fluffy, cloud-speckled sky. I marveled at my work for a moment, actually proud that I had accomplished what I had. Folding my arms behind my head I shifted to a comfortable position and eventually… fell asleep that way. Yea, I know. I was just fuming out the mouth and now I just fall asleep? I think, maybe, I was just tired from the week and that's why Angelina irritated me so much but who knows? Sometimes, I couldn't even understand my own emotions. Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, I fell asleep in the Astronomy tower.

I woke up the next morning to golden sunlight splashing my skin and my back a little achy from the hard surface I had been sleeping on. None the less, I woke up with a bright smile on my face and an optimistic outlook on life, even though my Quidditch robes somewhat… reeked. Shaking out my tangled mess of bed – or floor – head, I gathered up my things which had spilt onto the floor and stood up, stretching momentarily before leaving the Tower and walking down to the Gryffindor common room. "Password?" the Fat Lady asked, holding her nose and supporting an appalled face at my smell.

"Erm… Enchantum?" I wracked my brain for the password we had used yesterday. She sighed.

"No, Miss Lumbellus, but you absolutely smell ghastly so I shall let you in just this once. Now don't go spreading it around, alright?" I nodded and thanked her, scampering inside and up to the privet bathrooms the girls shared. It was surprisingly early and many of the girls were still asleep. I snuck into the bathrooms and peeled off my uniform, stepping into a shower stall and turning the three shower faucets on full blast. The warm water felt wonderful on my skin and I stayed in there for a good 20 minutes. Afterwards, I had to work quite trickily on untangling my hair (flying along with ripping it from it's holder caused it to already be tanglely, then running as fast as I could didn't do much help and of course, sleeping on stone wasn't a great help, either) and styling it nicely. But, once I had finished all of that, I was really proud of how nice I looked, especially the outfit I had picked out. Though I always tried to seem like I didn't care, I've always wanted to look my best because… well for my mum. Ever since she died I've wanted to try and look my best so that I could still pretend that I was something near as beautiful as her. She had always prided herself in looking nice wherever she might be, but she wasn't prejudice to people who didn't look nice on the outside. That was one of the amazing things about her, but there were so many I couldn't even begin to explain her. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. I'm doing this for her, all of it for her. The schoolwork, the learning, the strive to be acceptable – better than the others. It was all for her and I hoped that she was proud of me up there. I hoped. Shaking myself from my thoughts I walked down the stairs and out of the common room, swinging my bag over my shoulder and enjoying the slight swishing noise my skirt was making. I turned and waved to the Fat Lady before hurrying downstairs to catch breakfast. Stopping for a second, I wondered why I was always so late to eat and then I made a vow to try and be more on time for the next while. I walked into the Great Hall and over to Harry, Hermione and Ron, who were all smiling quite largely which made me smile.

"Hey mates, did I miss anything brilliant?" I asked, sliding into the seat next to Hermione. She turned and pointed over to the Slytherin table, holding back obvious fits of laughter. Looking over, I soon found myself doing the same thing. Someone had sent some spell over there and now Draco, Blaise, Theo, Jessica, Pansy and Annabelle Nott (Theo's twin sister) were covered in colorful bird feathers. I began laughing and they all looked over at me, a smile starting to form on some of their feathery faces. Draco stepped around the benches and held his hands open, taking the attack rather well.

"I don't suppose this is your doing?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. I shook my head as I laughed, my hair continuously falling into my eyes.

"No, no. It would be ours." I heard Fred announce, walking over and pulling me up, brushing the hair from my eyes. I looked up at him, my eyes sparkling.

"That's rather brilliant, is it not?" I smirked a smirk Draco would be proud of. Fred nodded sharply, peering down his nose at me.

"Yes, well, I suppose it is… but nothing you haven't thought of before, I suspect?"

"I'll admit something like it came to my mind but I was actually thinking of turning them into hedgehogs. They're my favorite animal, you know."

"I'll have to make a mental note of that." He tapped his forehead. "But I'm positive you won't let me forget."

"Most likely not. Fred? May I turn Jessica and Annabelle regular again?" He nodded and then glanced to George.

"Better ask him too. He's been a little touchy ever since yesterday, he even yelled at Angelina today for trying to kiss him in public. You think you could…?" He trailed off but I knew what he was trying to ask. I shrugged.

"I suppose, but I don't think I could do much." I turned to George and smiled sweetly. "George, dear?" I made the dear sound sarcastic but kind, like we were something although we were really nothing. "You think I could turn a few of them back? Just Annabelle and Jessica?" He nodded coolly, looking at me rather dryly. He responded dryly, as well.

"If I say no you will anyway so whatever." I bit my lip, wanting badly to make him feel better, whatever might be wrong with him, but I knew here wasn't a good place. People might mistake it for… flirting. I pulled my wand out of the waste band of my skirt, pointing it at Jessica and then Annabelle. "Reavienna" green and purple sparks casted very quickly out of my wand and covered Jessica and Annabelle in what looked like sparkles. The feathers melted away and they both smiled at me.

"Thank you darling. We'll need to be talking soon, I have an… issue." Jessica said properly, glancing over at Blaise and I nodded.

"Merci colombe. Mai je dire ta jupe est belle! Nous devons le thè et scones parfois. J'ai le plus intèressant histoire à vous raconter sur Thèodore!" Annabelle has recently been fascinated by the French culture and almost always spoke French instead of English. It was a good thing Dad made us literate in not only English but French, Latin and a bit of Italian. Then, of course, I knew Irish but that still didn't make for how many languages Jere and Draco could speak. Almost 63 combined!

"Annabelle, what did you just say about me?" Theo complied, shaking his fist angrily. I laughed at his overreaction and translated for him.

"Thank you, dove. May I say that your skirt is lovely! We must have tea and scones sometime, I have the most interesting story to tell you about Theodore! Chill Theo, I want to know the story." He half glared half grinned at me which made me laugh again. I liked Theo. He was very polite and gentlemen-like and stylish as well. The thing I liked best was the fact that he was sort of a loner and didn't feel the need to have a group or gang, much less Draco's. He was best friends with Blaise and Draco, though but he never participated in their rather mean tactics.

"Alright Miss Belle. Now change us back." Draco demanded. Belle means lovely in French, by the way, so you can imagine how hard I was blushing.

"Oh I don't know… I only do favors for people who are nice. Sorry." I started to turn around but heard Theo yell.

"And when have I ever been mean to you, amoureux?" He asked, making his eyes look like a puppy dog's. I smiled shyly and looked down. Flirty or not, Slytherin boys knew how to make me blush and, apparently, so did Gryffindor boys.

"Never. Reavienna." Theo's feathers retracted in and he smiled.

"Good girl." He teased, sliding back down onto the bench easily and blowing me an air kiss. I rolled my eyes and began to turn around once again but I was interrupted.

"Okay, so I don't know French but… jy is die mooiste vrou my oë nog ooit op gestel is. Jou vel skyn soos die son van die Borebore nagereg." Blaise offered, his eyes shining. I didn't know what he had said, it sounded something like his ancestor's language – Afrikaans – and I didn't speak that, but Draco did and he was going to let his opinion be heard.

"Really, Zambini? Really? Have you no dignity. Jesus. And I didn't know that's what you thought about her! I thought it was only-"

"Draco, shut up. If your stupid enough not to see it, whatever, but you have no idea how lucky you are to have-"

"She's going to your head, isn't she? Using her Legilimency on you?"

"Hey, Ferret face? I'm still here you know?" I commented, hiding my pain. I didn't really know what they were talking about but it sounded like Blaise was thinking good of me while Draco was thinking bad of me. It hurt, to be perfectly honest. Really terribly. Like heart-shattering, lip quivering, body shaking-ly terribly. I pointed my wand at the lot of them, Pansy, Blaise and Draco and recited the counter-jinx quietly. Their feathers retracted as the others had and I sat down, picking up an apple and looking into it at my reflection. Was I really that unattractive to Draco or was it something else? My personality? Something about it? Was I too pushy? Too full of myself? Too sarcastic? Maybe it was my physical attributes? I wasn't the skinniest girl alive and my nose was rather large… a Roman nose my mum would call it. She had one too but I think she pulled her's off much better than I did. I chewed my nails which was a terrible habit and that made my fingers look somewhat stubby. As I'd said before, the pores around my nose were bigger than I'd like to think and my teeth could use some whitening…"Just this little ugly girl with nothing to say for herself but bad things. Oh, you'd make your blood-traitor mama proud. Maybe you should just go and join her?" I whipped my head around to see who had said that but no one was there. "No one is ever there for you, huh, sweetie? If they were, well, then maybe you wouldn't have been seduced by that handsome Werewolf, no? But you wanted it, didn't you? You wanted the attention, always want the attention. That's all you are, you know. A silly little girl with silly little dreams and a silly little idea that everything will turn out okay – that everyone loves you." My eyes searched to try and see who was saying this. No. No. I wasn't nothing. I had friends, people who cared about me. I had Hermione and Ron and Harry and Fred. George and Katie and Angelina and Jessica and… and… and… Draco. "Draco? Have you seen him? He's so out of your league. So out of your league. Handsome and strong. Charming and intelligent. Everyone loves Draco. He could choose from any girl, so why would he choose you?" I dipped my head, trying to hide whatever it was. Whatever I was feeling.

"N-n-no." I stuttered out to no one. "Go away. Please go away." And it did, that voice went away. I looked up and nothing had happened. Blaise and Draco were still glaring at each other, George was still looking cross, Fred was still standing before me and Hermione still sitting to my side. Harry looked to be thinking about something and Ron was talking to him. Jessica was having a conversation with Annabelle but having a hard time understanding her and Theo looked lazily every which way, taking in the scene as I was. Pansy looked flustered from the feathered attack but was whispering coolly to her drones sitting on either side of her. The rest of the Great Hall had ceased in paying attention and were talking amongst themselves, table to table. Angelina was trying to figure out what was wrong with George and Jere, Bill and Flash were just coming in, Flash and Bill carrying there knapsacks with them as today was their last day at Hogwarts. I sighed as something caught my eye, Dumbledore's, to be exact. He gave me a look which was knowing, but also sunk into my soul. Something was going on with my head and it wasn't normal.

But then again, was anything ever really "normal" when it came to me?

So, what did you think? Worth the stupid wait? I hope so. I used a lot of different languages, I know. If you're curious what Blaise said, well, why don't you go onto Google translate and copy and paste it in. Afrikaans to English. You're going to like what he said, it's a little bit of foreshadowing for Katie and Blaise's future relationship (no, they will not date. I promise) and Theo just called her sweetheart. Well, I better get to work on the next chapter. Oh, yay! Thunder! I love thunder storms and rain 3.

If you read this all, comment with your favorite part or, if you're lazy, then comment with "Katie, darling, please stop putting yourself down, down, down."

Here's even the Google translate link, so you have to see the hint. It's a good one.

.com/#af|en|

Thank you all for reading! Oh, you guys are the best readers ever! 3

Forever and Always,

Accio Smiles aka LadyLumos