The quaffle went through another hoop and I dove down to retreive it. When I came back up, I said, "What gives, Ron? You were improving so much."
He looked at the handle of his broom. "It doesn't matter, I won't make it," he mummbled.
"Don't say that," I protested. "That negative attitude will get you no where. Come on, let's just play. Forget about try outs. Have somme fun, loosen up." I threw it towards him. It hit his chest and he caught it as it bounced off.
He smiled and started racing off to the opposite hoops. I laughed and chased after him. Not too long later, we were laughing up to the castle. Once he had loosened up, he was a pretty good player. I walked with him to the Gryffindor tower, not in any hurry to get back to my own common room. However, I quickly wished I had just gone to my dorm. Ron stopped and pushed me behind a statue and hid in front of me. I was abuot to ask what was up when I heard Harry Potter ask Ron, "What are you doing?"
I tried to blend into the wall. Ron stepped towards where Harry was and said, "Er- nothing. What are you doing?" I rolled my eyes at him, though he didn't see. I listened to him stammer lame excuses to Harry and wanted to either slap the back of his head or burst out laughing. Lying was not a strong point of his. Finally he admitted, "I- I thought I'd try out for Gryffindor Keeper now that I've got a decent broom. There. Go on. Laugh."
"I'm not laughing. It's a brilliant idea! It'd be really cool if you got on the team! I've never seen you play Keeper, are you good?"
I think I saw Ron look back at me out of the corner of his eye and I nodded, smiling. He shrugged. "I'm not bad."
"So, you've been practicing tonight?"
"Every night since Tuesday...but not by myself." He looked nervous and anxious, gripping his broom rather tightly.
Harry asked, "Who's been helping you? Seamus? Katie Bell?"
"Promise you won't go completely bonkers when I tell you," warned Ron. "It's the new Slytherin girl, Kaylee Riddle.
I came out from behind the statue and half way hid behind Ron, just in case. I smiled politely and said, "Hello Harry."
Harry's expression turned very angry. "Her?" he said, as though we were joking. When it was obvious we weren't, he nearly shouted, "She's Slytherin!"
"Harry, listen. She's not like the others," said Ron.
"She's a Riddle!" he said, ignoring Ron. I think his hand twitched to his wand.
I came out from behind Ron and stood between them. I said, getting a little pissed myself, "Okay, look. I've tried to be patient with you, really, I have but I'm done trying to be understanding. Yeah, my father is Tom RIddle but have I given you any reason to think I was like him? I stood up for you against Snape, I've helped Ron with Quidditch, I've never spoken a single bad word against you, your friends, or Gryffindor, I don't prance around bragging about my family, and I don't give a rat's ass about Malfoy and his gang of wanna be Death Eaters." Okay, so that was a tiny bit of a lie. "Everyone else is getting along with me just fine, I don't understand why you can't." I turned to Ron. "Good luck tomorrow." I marched away to the Slythering common room.

I sat by the Black Lake on Friday with my notebook, sketching. Behind me, I heard footsteps, then Hermione Granger sat down next to me. I smiled at her and returned to my sketch. She said, "Ron told me what... what happened last night."
"Great. So, you're here to scold me?" I almost mocked.
"Well, not exactly," she said. I looked up at her, not believing her. "I think you have every right to be..." she searched for the right word.
"Annoyed? Pissed off?" I helped.
"Upset. Upset with Harry, but I don't think you should've yelled at him. He's going through a really tough time right now," she said.
"I don't care. That doesn't give him a reason to treat me- or anyone else for that matter- like crap." I snapped my book closed and stood up, gathering my things. "Look, Hermione, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you can't keep making excuses for him." I started to walk away.
She followed, much to my annoyance. She said, "I'm not making excuses for him. I just think you should be more patient. He'll come around."
"I have been! But I will not be yelled at because of the stupid Gryffindor Slytherin rivalry and he thinks I'm like my father." I stopped and looked at her. "I fact, you can tell him that Tom Riddle doesn't even know I exist." And I left her standing there, shocked.
Back in the common room, Josh was sitting by the fire with Daisy and some guy. I sat on the couch next to Josh and dropped my things none too kindly on the floor. Daisy said, "Ah Kaylee! Perfect timing! Whhich do you like better, a costume party or just a regular party?"
My face must have been a giant question mark because Josh explained, "Every year after the school feast, Slythering has their own Halloween party in here." He gestured to the dude and Daisy. "Daisy and Cameron are part of the 'planning commitee'."
The boy, Cameron, was looking at me with obvious interest. I surpressed a groan. Not another guy to worry about! He said, "Daisy thinks we should do a costume party, so we're asking everyone else."
"I think a costume party is a good idea," I said, shrugging.
Daisy cheered. "I told you it was a good idea!" she said to Cameron.
He said quickly, "I never said it wasn't a good idea! I actually thought it was a brilliant idea."
Daisy and I rolled our eyes while Josh chuckled. Daisy said, "She's not interested, bub. Let's go talk to everyone else before you drool on yourself." She dragged him away.
Josh shook his head while I got my things out. "You're a little heartbreaker, aren't you?" he joked. "How many guys fancy you now?"
"Let's see," I said, counting them on my fingers. "Malfoy, that Cameron idiot-"
"And don't forget Ron Weasley," he interrupted with a grin.
I looked at him weird. "Ron doesn't, as you British people say, fancy me."
"I've seen him staring at you during meals and classes with him. He definitely fancies you," he said.
I shook my head. "You've lost it. "
Later that night, I kept hitting his arm when he brought it up. He just chuckled.