Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination. The characters depicted here all belong to J.K. Rowling except for those that I have fabricated for the story's purpose. The song lyric belongs to Kelly Clarkson and company.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Because of you, I find it hard to trust not only me but everyone around me

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Diary,

I can't believe that she did it. What's more, I can't believe that I was so stupid about it! I didn't see the signs, and I wish I did. I hope Harry's okay...

I know why she did it, now. She told me. Well, not in so many words, but us Ravenclaws are supposed to be able to get subtle stuff when other people don't!

She came to me about three weeks ago. I was downstairs, in the common room.

"Cho," she said, "What would you do if Flitwick asked you to come to his office for special lessons every Wednesday?"

"Creeped," I responded, not looking up from my Potions text, "I love old Flitwick, but not like that."

"I'm serious, Cho. What would you do?" she insisted, sitting down in one of the hardbacked wooden chairs.

"Well," I started, looking up---but not at her---and donning a thoughful expression, "I'm pretty sure I'd take the lessons. Flitwick was a champion dueler, after all."

"But what if they were the same time as Ancient Runes?" she pressed, giving me that intent look that I'm sure she inherited from a velociraptor somewhere along the evolutionary line.

"Hmm. I think...I think I'd still take the lessons," I replied. She had a valid point; I loved Ancient Runes more than any of my other classes---mainly because I was the best in our year at it---but to pass up the chance to learn from Flitwick himself? That was folly.

"You would?" she asked, her voice shooting up nearly an octave. She's not a soprano in the school choir for nothing.

"Yeah," I said, somewhat aggravated now that I'd lost my train of thought on my work-in-progress Potions essay for the third time thanks to her, "Any other hypothetical situations you want to bug me with, Marietta? I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I'm really busy right now. Snape, you know," I apologized. She nodded, biting her lip as she rose and headed upstairs to the dorms.

I can't believe that I missed it entirely. Usually when people come to you with hypothetical situations, they're talking about themselves! It's the simplest observation in the book, and I was too focused on bloody Snape to figure it out!!

I'm more angry at myself than I am at Marietta. Her family's rooted in the Ministry; what else was she to do? I'm surprised she went on this long, really.

But, still...she betrayed us! Betray is not a word I use lightly, but she did it, and while I may understand her situation I'm certainly not going to forgive her anytime soon. She was one of my absolute best friends in the world; we've grown up together in this House, and she goes and does something like this. Something unforgivable. Something abominable. Something that makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to share my secrets with anyone else like I did with her all those late nights when we were young, staying up with Honeydukes chocolate and whispering our crushes, our fears, our lives into each other's ears...

I think it's best now for me to go to bed. I'll find Harry in the morning, if Umbridge didn't get him. I've got to explain to him why Marietta did it; I can't have him thinking that I'm anything like her, that I would do anything that would hurt him like that.

Thank you, diary, for listening. I know I can always trust you.