AN:Fun chapter, yay! :D So this fic is going to have 24 chapters and an epilogue, its all planned out and stuff so yay :D

Special thanks to my lovely reviewers! You keep me wanting to write :D Extra special thanks to ChaserMidnight for reviewing every chapter and to the guest ThisIsAwesome, your review made my day ;)

Aware but uncaring of the fact that she was missing breakfast; Sarah remained crumpled on the floor, trying desperately to not give into the need to cry.

She stayed that way until she heard footsteps coming her way.

Ruthlessly shoving her feelings of hopelessness and despair away into the depths of her mind, she forced strength into her body and shakily stood up.

Sarah then scrubbed at her face and tried harder to pull herself out of her daze of pain.

She needed to focus, she needed to be strong.

Taking solace in the fact that today, being a Thursday, she would only have double Transfiguration that day; Sarah began to head back to the common room.

Unwillingly, her thoughts turned to that awful conversation she had overheard.

I wonder what they'll do now, seeing as Mason couldn't deliver that 'gift' to me at breakfast…

"Hey, Sarah!" someone called out from behind her.

Startled, she spun around.

Her heart sunk as she watched David stride closer to her, his long legs making quick work of the distance.

Unease coated her; he was the only one who knew that someone had been sending her things in the mail.

Maybe he won't bring it up…

"You weren't at breakfast," he stated as he stopped beside her.

Surprise and a tiny bit of hope sparked, someone had noticed she wasn't around?

Any positive emotions were quickly stamped out as she recalled exactly why she hadn't made it to the Great Hall.

David was looking at her expectantly, clearly wanting her to explain herself.

She sighed and then said, "I just wasn't very hungry, that's all."

He tilted his head of curly reddish brown hair, watching her concernedly, "Are you feeling alright?"

Biting her tongue so she would not be sarcastic, Sarah shrugged.

Wanting to lighten the mood, David smiled at her and tried to joke, "I would have thought you'd be at breakfast no matter what, you wouldn't want to miss out on something from your Secret Admirer, right?"

Sarah winced as pain stabbed at her.

So much for him not bringing it up…

David stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder, "What's the matter, Sarah? What happened?"

Oh no, don't be nice to me! She thought desperately, knowing that kindness would bring back tears.

Wanting to get away from him, she snapped, "It's nothing, David. Leave me alone."

She jerked out from under his hand and tried to march away.

He grabbed her arm, causing a flood of painful memories for Sarah.

She screamed and thrashed to get out of his grip as in her mind, he quickly became the leader of those Ravenclaw boys from weeks ago.

"Sarah! Sarah, calm down!"

Tears streamed down her face, she was sobbing then and still fighting him, though her efforts were much weaker now.

Arms were wrapped around her and she stopped struggling completely, just burying her face into David's chest.

He was stroking her back, offering silent comfort.

It made her cry even more as she realised this was the first time since that time with Teddy weeks ago, that someone was holding her as she cried.

I'm so pathetic; I need to stop crying all over people.

Shame burned through her, it was nearly as crushing as the self-loathing and was ultimately the reason she pushed herself out of David's embrace.

Staring at her shoes so she would not be able to see the look of pity that was likely on his face, Sarah sniffed loudly and dashed away her tears.

"I-I'm s-sorry," she hiccupped.

"It's fine, Sarah," David said quietly, "Though I am curious about why that happened…"

She could tell by his gentle but firm tone that he would one day demand an explanation.

Why does he even care?

He only took a moment to realise she wasn't going to say anything.

Sighing, he took a small step back.

"You can talk to me, you know," he said softly.

Sarah couldn't help but look up at him, "Why?" she whispered, "Why are you always so nice to me?"

A tiny smile tugged at his lips, "Because, we're friends, aren't we?"

Her mind blanked.

"F-Friends?" she asked, hesitantly.

His smile grew, "Aren't we?"

Fresh tears welled up, forcing Sarah to wipe them away quickly.

"I…I haven't had the best luck with friends lately," she said quietly.

David frowned, "Yeah, what happened between you and that guy…Cooper, right?"

Sarah took a steadying breath before answering, "He wasn't who I thought he was."

"That's too bad," muttered David, "It was nice to see you happy."

He brightened then, "Oh well, he obviously wasn't good enough to be your friend."

Winking, he added, "But I will be."

Warmth enveloped her even as she struggled with the idea he presented.

Cooper wasn't good enough to be my friend?

She shook her head in wonder.

"What?" questioned David in a teasing tone, "You don't want to be my friend?"

"No!" she squeaked.

He raised an eyebrow, acting all offended.

"Agh!" she complained, "You know what I mean!"

He laughed then, "No, I'm afraid I don't."

"Davey…" she moaned.

He grinned at her and it was then that she realised he was doing it on purpose.

She smacked his arm, puffed out a breath and then stared up at him.

There was a soft look in his eyes, as well as something that told her he was proud of distracting her and making her happy.

And just like that, she felt weighted down, her sadness returning.

"I don't deserve a friend like you," she mumbled.

David gave her a disapproving frown, "Says who?"

"Me," she said softy, eyes trained on the floor now.

He snorted, causing her to quickly glance back to him.

"Too bad," he laughed.

Sarah's brow furrowed, "What?"

He gave her a 'Do I really need to explain it?' look and then sighed, still smiling.

"It's a good thing that it's in the job description of 'friend' that we don't always have to agree on things," David spoke in mock seriousness.

Huh?

"So…what?" she questioned, "You're going to be my friend whether I like it or not?"

He grinned triumphantly and folded his arms across his chest, "Exactly!"

He paused, thinking, "But…don't say it like that…it sounds creepy."

Sarah couldn't help it, she laughed and shook her head at him, "If you say so…friend."

David was delighted and showed it by clapping his hands together and jumping on the spot.

She pointed a warning finger at him, "But if you do that when we're in public, I think I might have to disown you."

He subsided immediately and gasped, clutching his heart, "You wouldn't!"

She smirked, "Do you want to test me?"

Pulling a face, David vigorously tossed his head side to side, "Nope!"

A group of students suddenly emerged from a side corridor and soon the area was flooding with people.

Sarah and David shuffled over to the wall.

"David!" a girl called.

They both turned about to find the voice and then watched as Hannah Farley pushed her way through the river of bodies and towards them.

"I've been looking for you!" she smiled as she scolded him, reaching to two of them.

Shifting guiltily, David apologised and greeted Hannah with a quick kiss.

Sarah averted her eyes, feeling awkwardness paint her cheeks red.

"Sarah."

She looked over at the other girl, surprised that she was being addressed.

"Um," she started, "Hi?"

"You look so different," the red haired prefect said, looking at Sarah speculatively.

"Thanks?" she winced.

Time to flee the scene…

"Well," Sarah began, backing away slowly, "I'll see you later then, in Transfiguration?"

She didn't wait to see either of them answer, instead she turned away and disappeared as quickly as she could without it looking as if she were running away.

Which she was.


A few hours later, Sarah plonked herself down in her seat in class.

She had taken to sitting in the back next to the empty desk that, for some reason, no-one wanted to sit at.

So today has been eventful…I've overheard a horrible plot, I've spazzed out in front on Davey…David I mean, and I somehow ended up with him as my friend…what next?

Slowly, the seats filled up and it wasn't long until Professor Rhodenson marched into the Transfiguration classroom.

He stood at the front and started rambling on about some project they were going to do on Human Transfiguration.

"Alright then," the Professor clapped his hands together, "I'll put you into pairs now."

Dread filled Sarah, making her stomach drop.

Oh, I hate when they do this…

Students got up and moved about the room to where they were directed, and most of them were rather happy, or at least secretly happy, with who they were partnered with.

That was until…

"Mr Winchcomb," called Professor Rhodenson, "You are paired with Miss Montague so head on over to the seat at the back."

A voice whined, "But Professor! I don't want to sit at that desk!"

The teacher frowned and rubbed his brow like he had a headache.

"Fine," he sighed, "You can move next to Miss Ogden…Stop pouting over there Mr Isaacs, I'm sure Mr Winchcomb won't steal your girlfriend away from you."

The class laughed and Toby blushed.

I guess I'll be on my own for this then…

"Does anyone feel brave enough to sit at the back with Miss Montague?" questioned the professor tiredly.

"I volunteer!" David chirped, his hand flying up in the air, "I volunteer as tribute!"

Those in the room that understood what he was referencing, laughed as David jumped up and hastily picked up his bag.

"How very noble of you," drawled Professor Rhodenson.

David strode fairly confidently towards Sarah, who was still processing his outburst.

However, as he came to a stop beside the desk that was now his, he eyed it warily, causing Sarah to wonder if he was second guessing his decision.

What is with people and this desk?

Gingerly, David slid into his seat and then waited, clearly expecting something momentous to happen.

Nothing did.

Sighing in relief, he grinned at her.

After that, for some reason, Sarah had a hard time concentrating on what the professor was talking about.

She berated herself, it's hard enough to pass this class without you spacing out all the time, focus already.

"So where should we start?" David asked, gesturing to a piece of parchment on his desk.

Sarah blinked, "What?"

Shaking his head and chuckling at her, David then explained, "The project, remember? We have to make a list of how and why Human Transfiguration would be useful and dangerous."

At her blank look, David just smiled and kept going, "Then we each have to write an essay on historical uses of it and…?"

He waited for her, wanting to see if she had been listening to anything the teacher had said.

She pulled a face, "And then that's it?"

David slapped a palm to his face, "You didn't pay attention at all, did you? You were meant to say 'and then next week we'll have a test on everything'."

Sheepishly, Sarah shrugged, "Sorry…Transfiguration is not a strength of mine."

Nothing is actually…

"Well then," he said, grinning, "It's a good thing that I happen to be rather good at it."

"Really?" Sarah asked, hope in her voice.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you doubting me, Miss Montague? I might have to disown you…"

Sarah surprised herself by rolling her eyes and elbowing him lightly.

"Ha ha," she said, "Very funny."

Suddenly Professor Rhodenson called out, "You two in the back! Are you working? Because it doesn't look like you are."

"Sorry Professor!" David responded with an apologetic smile.

Sarah tried to conceal her blush by busying herself with pulling out her textbook and more parchment.

"Well," drawled David, "Seeing as I was the only one paying attention, you are going to be the scribe and do the writing for our list."

Seeing his smug expression, Sarah wanted to protest but instead she let out a loud sigh picked up her quill.

Stupid Davey, being all reasonable…

"What was that?" he asked, smirking.

Argh.

"Nothing," she said hurriedly, hating herself for speaking without realising it.

"Huh," David mused, leaning back in his chair and tapping a finger to his lips for a second, "Cause it sounded an awful lot like 'Stupid Davey, being all reasonable…'"

Even while embarrassment tried to take hold of her, Sarah glared at the boy beside her and announced, "I don't want to be your friend anymore."

He pouted in pretend sadness, "That's not very nice."

"You're not very nice," she countered, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

"You wound me with your cruel, cruel words," he wiped away an imaginary tear.

David then noticed the professor heading their way and nudged Sarah.

"Guess we actually have to start working now," she muttered unhappily.

Once they started however, Sarah and David actually worked very well together and managed to get quite a substantial number of items on their list by the time the class was nearly finished.

Sarah handed the parchment over to him so he could go over what they already had.

"You have very nice handwriting," he commented.

Sarah frowned, a little affronted, "You sound surprised."

"Uh," he fumbled, "I'm not, I'm just…"

"Surprised?" she supplied

"Yeah!" he agreed immediately.

"Ha!" Sarah jabbed a finger at his arm.

He screwed up his features before trying to dig himself out of the hole he made.

"I mean…I am a bit surprised that, uh, someone can have such nice handwriting?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow and tried not to smile, "Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Telling?" his expression hilariously unsure.

She laughed softly and surprised herself yet again, this time by reaching over and ruffling his curly hair.

Why is it so easy to be around this guy?

The bell rang then, causing her thoughts to veer away from that topic.

Sarah packed away her belongings and then stood, noticing David also standing.

"If we're going to do well on this Human Transfiguration stuff," he said, "then we should probably have a couple of study sessions together, what do you think?"

As she nodded in answer, David's girlfriend appeared at his side and wrapped her arms around him.

Wanting to leave, Sarah edged around her desk.

"Sarah, wait," Hannah started, catching her attention.

She looked over at the other girl, who had then let go of David's torso.

"Yeah?" she asked quietly.

"Look," said Hannah not unkindly, "I'm sorry if I was a bit weird before, it's just…"

Sarah waved the red haired girls concerns away, "It doesn't matter."

She tried to leave again, putting her head down and manoeuvring awkwardly around desks and chairs.

"David," she heard Hannah address quietly, "Why is it that I keep finding you and Sarah together? And why," she lowered her voice, "do you act so…different around her?"

Curious and trying not to blush, Sarah peeked at David as she 'dropped' her bag and stooped to pick it up.

Unlike her, David wasn't blushing or seeming to be at all uncomfortable. He was frowning in thought, his eyebrows furrowed.

Then he simply shrugged, his expression abruptly changing to one of unconcern.

"Not sure," he said lightly, "She's my friend now though and we have to do this project together so I guess we'll be studying together."

Sarah was almost at the door when she heard David tease, "You're not jealous are you Hannah?"

The girl made a sound of derision, "Of her? No, don't be silly."

Ouch.

As occupied as Sarah was trying to not be affected by that remark, she failed to hear the hint of untruth in Hannah's statement.


Many hours later, Sarah was drifting around the sixth floor, slowly making her way to the seventh.

It was as she was wondering if that Mason guy would try to deliver the necklace to her tomorrow, that she bumped into someone.

Well, someone bumped into her.

Sarah stumbled back a few steps and then reached out to steady the other person.

"Mackenzie?" she asked, "Are you alright?"

The dark haired girl smiled apologetically at her, "Hi, Sarah, sorry for running into you, I wasn't looking where I was going."

Uh…what now? Merlin, I should leave…

"It's fine," she told the other girl, "But I should probably go now…"

"Yes, you probably should," Mackenzie agreed.

Wait…what?

Mackenzie's green eyes widened, "I didn't mean it like that!" she said quickly, "I just meant that it's nearly past curfew and I'm doing my rounds as prefect."

"Oh," Sarah said with a strange sense of relief.

It was then that she noticed something odd.

"Mackenzie?" she asked hesitantly, "Where's Teddy? Doesn't he usually try to go on patrol with you?"

The other girl beamed and, for a second, got a dreamy expression on her face before she shook herself slightly.

"He's with Toby up in the common room. According to Toby, I've been stealing Teddy away from him," she laughed.

Sarah couldn't stop herself from smiling and commenting, "That's cute."

Imagine what would have happened if…no! Stop it, she's fine, let it go! But-

Mackenzie interrupted Sarah's mental debate, "I should've told Toby to stop stealing Isabel from me," she joked.

"I thought you lot all hung out in one group?" Sarah enquired curiously.

"Oh, we do," Mackenzie confirmed, "Toby's just being a drama queen."

She seemed to remember something thing and laughed, grinning at the memory.

She shook her head, "That boy is ridiculous."

"I don't know him very well…" Sarah said uneasily.

Mackenzie cheeks turned faintly pink and she cleared her throat, "Right, well…you could always hang out with us one day, if you wanted to."

Sarah felt both her eyebrows rise in surprise. She only briefly entertained the idea of accepting the offer.

Loud, friendly, happy, nice people…all of whom are very close to the girl I helped attack…

Looking guiltily away, Sarah mumbled, "Thanks…"

Mackenzie fidgeted and looked down at her hands.

"Oh yeah," she said, clearly just remembering something.

Sarah watched as the other girl examined the little booklet in her hands.

Mackenzie gestured with it, "This was the reason I wasn't watching where I was going."

Forehead crinkling with puzzled interest, Sarah asked, "What is it exactly?"

"This?" Mackenzie questioned, waving it around, "It's the Distant Shopper Catalogue, surely you've heard of it?"

It sounded vaguely familiar, "Is that the thingy that advertises stuff from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley shops?"

"Exactly," Mackenzie grinned and then quoted, "'Why leave the comfort of your home? Owl us with your order today.'"

Sarah chuckled at the silly voice the girl put on and forced back the ever present guilt.

"Did you find anything you liked in there?" Sarah asked, wanting to distract herself.

Mackenzie frowned a little, "Well there was lots of nice things in there but I'm not looking for something to buy myself."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm on the lookout for a great Christmas present for Teddy," Mackenzie answered, looking a tad worried.

"It's a little bit early for Christmas shopping, isn't it?" Sarah queried.

The girl shrugged, "Not really and I want to find the best thing for him…which reminds me…"

An expression of complete nervousness settled on Mackenzie's pretty features.

"What's the matter?" Sarah quickly asked in concern.

Mackenzie bit her lip for a moment before responding, "It's just…Teddy asked me if I wanted to go to his family's for Christmas…"

Sarah squeaked happily and then slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

The green eyed girl before her burst into laughter, all earlier worry disappeared now.

"What," she gasped, clutching her stomach, "was… that, Sarah?"

Glowing bright pink, Sarah sheepishly said, "One of the most embarrassing moments of my life?"

Mackenzie actually snorted, which only got her laughing more.

When she had calmed down a bit, she eyed Sarah and grinned, "You're pretty cool, you know that, right?"

Before Sarah could even comprehend what Mackenzie had said, the girl handed her the Distant Shopper Catalogue and said, "Here, you can have this, I have it pretty much memorised. Besides, I should probably stop reading things when I'm supposed to be patrolling. See you round, Sarah!"

And with that, Mackenzie Millark skipped off down the corridor, leaving a very confused Sarah Montague behind.

Looking dumbly down at the booklet in her hand, Sarah struggled to reboot her brain.

Mackenzie thinks I'm…cool? What a weird day.

Sarah shook her head and continued on her walk, copying Mackenzie's bad example and opening up the Catalogue to read as she went.

It was the item on the third page that caught her attention.

It was a set of jewellery; a necklace, bracelet and pair of earrings.

They were silver and simple but eye-catching. Each with a tear drop shaped stone of bright amber.

Instantly, she could imagine herself wearing them and her mind immediately started plotting how she would get them.

She had no money, so she would have to steal-

No! We're good now, remember? No stealing or anything.

Nobody would buy it for her and there was no one she would ask for money, it's not like she could pay them back anyway.

Frustrated, she ripped the page out and shoved it into one of her pockets.

She sat down in a corridor on the seventh floor, not wanting to go into the common room just yet.

Her annoyance with herself, her situation and life in general quickly evaporated.

She pulled out the page and stared longingly at the jewellery.

It's good to have dreams though, isn't it?

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