A/N: Greetings! Sorry this took so long, I had to do a lot of editing and I cut quite a bit of the original text out. This chapter is designed to do some more introductions, but now all the key players are involved in the storyline ^_^ I really wanted to highlight Kate's relationships with both Ian and George. Also this is a setup for things to come!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; I do own Kate, Jennelyn, Ian and any other characters you do not recognize.

Chapter 2: Love and the News Dungeon

"And then, do you know that red headed git did? He switched my wand in Charms!" Angelina complained loudly to her friends. Alicia and Katie tried for sympathetic looks and words but were coming up painfully short. "So instead of doing the right motion charm I got stuck with a stuffed toucan instead!" She all but yelled in their small study room. Angrily she was tore through a thick leather-bound notebook.

Kate was trying very had to keep her focus on her Transfiguration homework. Hogwarts was just a week into class and already she was struggling with the advanced concepts in the NEWT level class. "Really Ang they do it do you because they can get a rise out of you," she explained tiredly. The girl sitting next to Kate looked up, adjusting her wire-framed glasses.

"Don't get as mad and maybe he'll stop." Jennelyn Ward offered and flicked her sheets of raven's black hair over her shoulder. The Ravenclaw had been neighbors with Kate all their lives. As a result they were best friends, even though they now resided in different houses. Her hazel eyes drifted back to Kate's notes. "No Kate it's two taps then the incantation followed immediately by the clockwise wrist movement. Honestly woman I have no idea how you passed this OWL in the first place," she lamented.

Groaning, Kate tossed her quill down and let her head fall against her open book. "I'm waiting for McGonagall to kick me out any day now. You know I wouldn't have taken this class but Elise insisted I have upper level wand work."

"Ah yes, useful for the girl who wants to be a journalist for a living." Alicia joked from her Potions notes. "At least you understand potions, I'm not sure how much longer Snape will restrain himself from chucking a cauldron at my head." Katie grinned at the brunette.

"Well as least the twins aren't in there anymore, so we're not losing points every class," she reasoned and looked over at Angelina who was still fuming. "Honestly Ang, from what I hear Flitwick thought it was funny! George told me he called the wands disruptive but very clever!" She said, recalling his words at dinner.

Scowling the chaser savagely turned another page in Oliver Wood's Holy Grail of quidditch plays. "Then why does Fred do it to me and not you?" She questioned darkly.

All the remaining girls shared an identical, exasperated expression from their spots in the room. How long had they been waiting for her to figure this one out? "Really Ang?" Kate pressured her a little.

"What?" Angelina growled and turned to face Kate, hands on her hips. "You're the expert on all things boy related, you tell me," she snapped.

Slightly affronted, Kate did not appreciate her tone. "If you can't figure this one out on your own then it's not worth me giving a dignified response, suffice to say maybe you should open your bloody eyes and see for yourself."

"Oh sod off," she growled and Kate swiveled around a grin lighting her face. Looking at Jennelyn she rolled her eyes as if to say it was completely obvious. Both girls began to scribble away at their homework while Alicia and Katie were gossiping about something or other. Curiously Kate tried to catch snippets of their conversation.

"So then I guess Marietta dumped him," her eyes opened wide. Without any hesitation she swung around and deposited herself in the empty chair next to Katie.

"Marietta Edgecomb dumped Stephen Delancourt? Is she insane?" She hissed, leaning forward to throw herself into the thick of things. Both her friends pushed aside their homework. "I mean, he's only among the top five most gorgeous things breathing in this school." It was an apt description of the Ravenclaw sixth year that strode around the school in well-fitted trousers with his tie perfectly straight beneath his stunning blue eyes.

Katie snorted unattractively. "You mean the most disgusting right? I'm surprised it took Marietta this long to get wise to his schemes. He's been taking girls to the back of the library and abandoned classrooms since fourth year," she complained and then caught the doe eyed expression on Kate's face. "What you don't actually mean that you fancy him?"

Silently she chewed on the end of her quill and contemplated the answer. Of course Kate was aware of Stephen's less than sterling reputation but she couldn't help herself. She had a weakness for dark hair and light eyes, and Stephen Delancourt fit the ticket perfectly. The boy was a chaser for the Ravenclaw house team and was on the executive board for Arithmancy club. In a sense Stephen was a slightly looser version of Cedric Diggory and a more sociable version of Ian Haynes. "What? He's really attractive."

Slapping her hands on the table in an exasperated motion Alicia shook her head. "You of all girls should know better than to go for Delancourt. He's been connected to at least half of the Hufflepuff upper years and the mass majority of the Slytherin girls. Honestly woman do not get yourself tangled up in him you will regret it." The Gryffindor chaser warned, her eyes dark as she regarded Kate.

"Look it's not like he's going to go for the lowly romance columnist who is already failing transfiguration. Delancourt likes his girls smart, gorgeous and not in Gryffindor," she replied and then shook her head. How long had she been harboring this stupid crush on him?

"My advice is to give it up Kate." Angelina advised from Oliver Wood's bible of all things quidditch.

* * * * *

The Hogwarts Herald was edited and printed in a room on the lowest level of the castle. Half the size of the Great Hall with a vaulted ceiling, the News Dungeon was Kate's favorite place in the entire castle. Since she joined the paper staff in her fourth year as a copy editor she had spent a large portion of her time in the room. Many late nights were spent in the company of the staff, pouring over articles and sharing butterbeers while finalizing the layout.

Ian Haynes also practically lived in the News Dungeon, the Herald being the center of his universe. Anytime Kate needed to talk to her editor and friend she always started there. In fact it was rare for her to find the Dungeon devoid of his gorgeous presence, but the second Thursday of the term it was. Five large calendars lined one wall and that was where Kate stood when Ian strode in, loosening his tie and dropping his bag on his desk. Looking up at him she nodded her head and went back to filling dates with her wand. "How are the late September and early October schedules looking?" He jumped straight into business, typical Ian.

Each calendar had a purpose: a general school schedule including staff schedules, the publishing calendar, the bi-weekly menu from the house elves, the clubs and events calendar and the social calendar. One of Kate's primary jobs was to oversee the social calendar. This included filling in planned Hogwarts socials and Hogsmeade visits but she also included unofficial parties and gatherings as well. The social calendar was in a sense her Bible; she handpicked her events and made her appearances based on the information she scribed on the giant board. All for the sake of gathering information about the romantic lives of her peers.

"It looks busy, but this time of the year always is," she mused. "Of course there's Ravenclaw Founder's Day this Saturday. Gryffindor sixth years are having the Common Room Rally this following Friday for fifth years and above. I heard a rumor that Diggory's group is going to have a kitchen party at the end of the month, in honor of his seventeenth birthday," she flicked her wand and the quill that was suspended tip against the wall started scribing more notes. "Of course Slytherin is having the annual Silver Serpent Reception, but it's by invite only, don't know if I'll get one this year. Charms club is having their fundraiser early this year, so is the HPS, because of the tournament and the other schools coming," she didn't look at him as she spoke and instead flicked dates onto the squares for the days. Green stars went next to the events she was attending for sure. With a grimace she realized that there were sparkling stars next to most of them.

"Good, good. Don't worry too much about the Silver Serpent Reception. If it's as boring this year as last I'd not bother. You'll need to put in most of the night at Founder's Day and that kitchen party." A wicked grin formed on his face. "I will be at both and I reserve the right to use you as my rescue dancer."

Kate groaned and walked away from the calendar. "No! You did this last year and I spent the whole night with you so I could save your cowardly arse from Viola. Not happening again!"

"If memory serves me right, and I know it does, you didn't seem to mind." A blush covered her cheeks. They had left Founder's Day early to snog in the very room they were now arguing in. And Ian was right, it had been fantastic.

"Yes well, we don't do those things anymore remember?" She poked his shoulder with a shadowy grin. Going around she sat at the chair in her desk and started rifling through several parchment notes that had been sent to her. Most of them were romantic questions, which she saved until the bi-annual question-answer column.

Kate was aware that Ian was looming over her, that mysterious grin on his face. Determined to ignore him she found it difficult when he was suddenly sitting on the edge of her desk, his fingers undoing his tie far too casually for her taste. "Why is that Kate?" He questioned non-chalantly.

Sighing she pushed aside her work and stared up at him. Even though she was well aware that she as over her crush on him, it didn't stop her train of thought for slowing down, even just for a few seconds. "Because," she started drawing her words slowly. "We realized that we didn't want to be in a relationship, so we decided to keep our friendship strictly platonic."

Ian tipped his head to the side, sending a shower of dark curls across his forehead and into his green eyes. Then he lifted a hand and raked his fingers through his hair, the one thing that always unsettled Kate. "Shame," he muttered.

"No, not a shame. We both agreed that it was the best course of action given the fact that we work together." Kate added through gritted teeth and pushed her rolling chair away from him, in desperate need of the air. Moving over to her bag she opened the flap and dug around until she found a hair tie. Quickly she braided the expanse into a neat side braid that now fell just short of the inside of her elbow. "Ian if you make my job at the Herald difficult with your charm and flirting I will do nothing but write crap all year on purpose." Her threat hit the mark.

Hopping off the desk he narrowed his eyes in her direction. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," she replied flippantly and then came back to her desk to shoo him away. "I mean it Ian, you can claim me as your dance rescue at Founder's Day but I am not going to save you every time some girl makes doe eyes at you and I'm certainly not sneaking off to snog with you in the corner of the Dungeon." Satisfaction filled her voice; it was high time they laid down the ground rules for their relationship, which consisted of nothing but blurry lines.

Pretending to heave a heavy sigh he shook his head. "You take all the fun out of life Kate," he muttered.

Rolling her eyes she crumbled up a particularly useless question and hurled it at him. The ball of parchment missed his head by several inches provoking a laugh from him. "Oh shut up," she grumbled turning back to her work.

Ian sat down at his own desk to start the layout, still laughing. "Merlin's Beard it's a good thing you love writing. Clearly quidditch is completely out of the question for you," he said before she lifted her wand and with a casual flick a stream of water was showering over him.

* * * * *

Kate was curled up next to the fire, parchment stretched over her lap. Several scribbles were all crossed out and she was tugging one of her long braids thoughtfully. From where he stood on the last step from his dormitory George grinned. She looked, in a word, adorable. His plan to sneak to the kitchens derailed, who needed hot chocolate when Kate was looking vulnerable and edible herself?

"Sickle for your thoughts?" he alerted her to his presence. Kate started but recovered with one of her stunning smiles. George didn't even fight the somersault his stomach turned.

"They probably aren't worth that much," she replied warmly. "Where's Apocalypse One?" She referred to Fred by the nickname the girls had given them.

"Asleep, couldn't wake him up. Fred sleeps so hard he'd probably snore straight through the apocalypse," he tossed back at her. Her smile broadened as she set aside her parchment and stretched her legs for a moment before bringing them back in.

"So out causing trouble or would you care to sit?" Holding a hand out she gestured for him to join.

"Don't mind if I do," and he settled himself on a large floor pillow next to her. Leaning over he tugged one of her braids and settled deeper on his pillow. "Can't sleep?"

Placing her chin in her hands she nodded. "Yeah, got my idea but can't get it down," she explained and looked down at her long sleeved shirt. The green sleeves had holes at the hems and it was very faded. The fact that she wore short running shorts did not escape him either. The fire dimly lighted the expanse of her long tan legs.

Pretending to stroke his chin a moment he let out a few dramatic sighs. "Tell me the topic and we'll see if I can't help," he offered.

"The art of hallway flirting, you know standing outside classrooms. Passing notes while walking, accidentally brushing against each other. Basic kid stuff, Ian is worried about going too strong on the fourth years." She told him. As usual her hands were in rapid motion, Kate had a severely ingrained habit of talking with her hands.

"Sinking in the vanishing step causing your very dishy friend to fall on top of you?" He offered, Kate laughed and gently bumped her shoulder against his. "What? That's what you were doing right?" He teased.

"Was it that obvious?" Kate sighed and pretended to swoon. George steadied her and did not remove his arm from around her shoulder.

"Okay so you're encouraging hallway molestation I can definitely get behind that." She laughed again, resting her head on his shoulder.

"No George its more than that it's," but she broke off. As she turned her face to the fire he saw the faint traces of a blush on her cheeks. Something was slightly embarrassing her.

Nudging her he felt his usual grin turn to a curious smile. "What is it? You can tell me. I swear not to laugh," but he faltered and Kate shot a playful glare at him. "A lot."

Her resigned sigh sounded his victory. "There are roughly six billion people on the planet, wizard and muggle alike right? And we're all looking for someone to be with, someone to love. The chances of finding the right one by pure coincidence or love at first sight are non-existent. We all need a bit of help, and I figure if quick tips help you get that girl you noticed in class to notice you back, well then I'm equal to the task." Kate's voice filed with hope and passion. Silently he admired her steely eyes as they lit up during her speech. George had completely missed her expression shift to suspicious. "Okay, it must be really stupid if you aren't even laughing."

Immediately he snapped back to reality. "Well, it wasn't funny was it? People's passions shouldn't be laughing matters," he replied firmly. Kate arched an amused brow, laughter colored her features. "Okay so some passions are funny, I'd like to think mine is."

"Hmm the results of your interests are funny, but not the actual passion." Kate corrected.

"What about people who are passionate about feet? Or what about garden gnomes? Of the muggle or magical variety." She lost her straight face.

"Introduce me to one and I swear I will keep a straight face." But she was laughing.

Chuckling he hugged her in a little closer, a smile found his face as her hand reached over and rested lightly on his knee. George knew it was just for the sake of making their current position comfortable, but he didn't care. Contact with Kate was still contact and although he didn't quite have a solid explanation for it, he got a rush out of being near her. "I'll get on that," he joked.

For another moment they were silent and then she sighed. "Joking about that stuff is fun but unfortunately it doesn't write my article" she lamented and stared moodily at her blank parchment.

"Mmm I remember the first girl I passed notes with in the halls." George suddenly said. "You know Allison Trebolt, she's in Hufflepuff," he commented.

"Of course, everyone knows her, she's the best chaser on the team." Kate remarked of the pert blonde who had springy curls and overwhelming talent on the pitch.

Nodding George grinned as he thought about his first attempts at romancing a girl. "It was the end of second year. Right after Fred and I turned thirteen girls was suddenly, well, girls and she was one of the first ones I noticed. So I started making up excuses to run into her or positioning myself so we got partnered up in classes we had together. Got to be friends, so I started slipping notes straight into her bag when we passed each other in the hallways or when we stood outside our classrooms. Most of the time they were just funny jokes or comments about other students or teachers." There was a pause as Kate shifted against him and moved so her head was once again resting on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her smiling a little as she listened to him.

"What happens after that?" She asked him.

Swallowing he diverted his attention from how close she was back to his story. Now his little tale about Allison not only seemed unimportant but monumentally embarrassing as well. George however, was never one to let anything embarrass him, so he plowed on. "Right before the start of end of year exams I wrote a note asking her to be my girlfriend. She read it in potions and I didn't hear from her for the rest of the day. Then the next morning she caught me in the hall and told me that if I really wanted to date her then I should do two things: wait till I was in fourth year and have the backbone to ask her in person."

Kate started shaking in silent laughter. "Oh George," she started but he shook his head and poked her shoulder.

"It's okay you can laugh, it's funny now." Besides he was enjoying her laughing against him. It felt nice. "So tell me about yours?" He teased her and she sighed before shaking her head no.

"No it's so awful!" She moaned. "Besides how will I know that you aren't going to run off and tell your darling brother who will then tell the entire school?" George grinned, if there was a singular huge difference between his brother and himself it was the fact that George could keep a secret. Fred would hold something in for about twenty minutes before opening his big mouth and telling the entire school.

"I swear to you Kate I won't tell Fred. You've told me things before and they've never surfaced." It was the truth. This wasn't the first time the pair had ended up sitting in the common room together after hours. Some of George's best memories of Kate were of the two of them sprawled out by the fire, talking about anything that came to mind.

Holding up her hands to relent she sighed. "Okay, okay I was a fourth year, and I was about to turn fifteen that November. I fancied the pants clean off Cedric at the time. I mean literally followed him around the school halls wherever he went."

Suddenly George laughed, the memory of watching her preen her hair and stare over her shoulder at the Hufflepuff table was clear. He and Fred had given her relentless trouble about the handsome boy. "I remember quite vividly," he told her.

A pained expression crossed her face and she fought a sardonic smile. "So clearly he had no idea I existed. But I kept trying to work up the courage to ask him out to the village, I figured he wouldn't say no if I went out of my way to do it. I would purposely put myself in his path so we would brush shoulders or bump into each other and I'd drop my books and he'd have to help me. For a few weeks I totally thought it was working."

"And you were wrong." George now remembered where this was going. Kate had burst into the common room in absolute hysterics.

"So the last Friday before the first visit of the term I tried that maneuver. His things went everywhere and I started helping him pick them up. Cedric was totally mortified because he asked me why I kept turning up everywhere he went. And it wasn't in a cute flirtatious way. I managed to blurt out that I liked him and although he was quite nice about it he let me down, in front of all his friends." Kate grumbled and stared moodily into the fire. To this day that memory still hurt her and it served as her provocation to warn all of her friends about stupid romantic moves before they made them.

The fire was dying low by now and George drew her close while she contemplated silently. "Well start your column off with that," he offered. Kate pulled back sharply, a horrified expression on her face.

"Excuse me?" She questioned, thoroughly shocked.

Grinning he leaned closer and tweaked her nose before gesturing to her parchment. "It's a great way to open a column and it's also an excellent way to get back at Diggory, embarrass him a little for his own social feaux paus. Without mentioning names of course." For a tense moment he waited while she mulled the notion over in her mind, clearly examining it from all angles.

Slowly her features lit up and her mouth arched into a devious smile. "That's actually an excellent idea George. I mean I don't like the notion of sacrificing myself on the literary altar but really I've got no better way to introduce the correct ways to make a pass at someone in the hallway."

Throwing his arms behind his head he stretched out and settled his face for arrogance. "Well what can I say? I am a genius."

Snorting she reached out for her parchment and quill again. "I doubt I'd go that far." A pause fell between them as they stared at each other, eyes locked. "But thank you, I've been going in circles trying to get this started." George got to his feet and yawned widely. With a tired shrug of his shoulders he looked back down at Kate who was still watching him, her iron eyes curious.

"You're welcome Kate, night," and then he retreated from his spot and back up the stairs to bed. As he lay down he heard a shifting in his brother's bed.

"You're hopeless." Fred muttered and then George could only assume he'd rolled over back into his sleep as he heard his twin snoring once more.

So there you have it! Next chapter finds our characters at Founder's Day, in compromising positions and giving Kate a good run with her quill. I really hope you enjoyed this installment; things get better and more tangled from here on out!

Remember..reviews are love. I'd appreciate anything you have to say! Much love—Brose.