All in all, Clementine thought as she went to her next lesson, Defence Against the Dark Arts, the so-called 'date' could have ended better. She'd choked on the cake that she'd stuffed into her mouth, spraying crumbs everywhere (including on George) in her attempt to free her windpipe. Then she'd had half a dozen tiny hands pounding on her back which hadn't helped in the slightest, before George remembered the spell to stop choking. Clementine couldn't remember ever being so embarrassed in her life. George luckily didn't laugh that much at her, but her face was still red by the time she reached the DADA classroom.

Skylar was already in the classroom, and just as Clementine was about to tell her to shut up, Professor Lupin walked in. He was quite shabbily dressed (immaculate Skylar raised an eyebrow) but had a kind face. Telling them they only needed their wands, he led them down to the staffroom. She laughed aloud when he made the chewing gum shoot up Peeves' nose, then clapped her hands over her mouth. Luckily Lupin just laughed appreciatively at her.

In the staffroom, there was a rattling noise coming from the cupboard that the teachers hung their robes in. Clementine and Skylar eyed it apprehensively; they weren't the only ones to do so. They discovered through Hermione answering questions that it was a creature known as a Boggart which was causing the rattling. Again, Clementine found herself genuinely interested, so she listened carefully. Compared to Quirrell and Lockhart (who she was ashamed to say she had a bit of a crush on), Lupin was a great teacher. He taught them all the incantation, ignoring Draco who muttered, "This class is ridiculous," quite loudly. Clementine gave him a glare which he returned.

Neville was the first to go up. She couldn't hear exactly what Lupin was saying to him, but he was looking slightly more reassured. Clementine for one found it quite disturbing that Neville's biggest fear was Professor Snape, and felt bad for not offering her help to him. She watched with interest as the Boggart in Snape's form came striding out the cupboard. For one minute, she thought Neville would run for it.

"R-Riddikulus!" Neville squeaked.

In an instant, Snape was wearing an old ladies outfit, with a red handbag and an awful vulture hat. The Boggart Snape looked quite shocked. Everyone laughed quite loudly, but no-one was quite as loud as Clementine. She let out a scream of laughter that made those closest to her turn round in alarm, and then couldn't stop laughing. She laughed so hard that her stomach hurt and tears rolled down her face, and eventually a bemused Lupin suggested that she might want to take a few moments outside to cool off. As she left, still snorting with ill-suppressed laughter, she heard him ask the class if she'd taken a Cheering Charm before the lesson. This made her laugh harder; it took a few minutes for her to calm down completely and enter the class again.

It was interesting yet startling to see all of her classmate's worst fears. She was unperturbed by the clown, and the mummy, yet Ron's spider was extremely similar to her own fear. Watching as the spider was given rollerblades, she mentally prepared herself. Skylar clapped her on the shoulder, whispering, "You'll be fine!"

She stepped in front of the cupboard, waiting for the inevitable. At once, the rollerblading spider turned into thousands of creepy-crawlies writhing all over the floor. Several of the girls screamed.

"Riddikulus!" Clementine cried.

The bugs disappeared; they all turned into butterflies fluttering through the air. Clementine grinned appreciatively and stood aside to let Skylar go.

But Skylar was nowhere to be seen. Harry was behind her and was the last to go; he shrugged at her before stepping forwards. Clementine backed away, glancing round for Skylar, but was distracted by Harry's Dementor and Lupin's peculiar Boggart. The second Lupin dismissed the class, she chose not to join the discussions about why he was afraid of the moon, and instead ran on ahead to find her best friend.

She found her waiting outside their next lesson, Charms. Skylar was oddly pale but smiled when she saw Clementine approaching.

"Where did you go? You were right behind me and suddenly you'd disappeared. Did you see me with the Boggart?" Clementine said in a rush.

"Yeah, of course I saw you. I just wasn't feeling well, it was rather stuffy in there, didn't you think?" Skylar said. This was a blatant lie, as the staff room was freezing.

"Perhaps you should go to Madam Pomfrey then," Clementine said, folding her arms.

"No, I'm fine now," Skylar said, avoiding her gaze. "Anyway, did you see Malfoy's face when Dumbledore came striding out the closet saying 'you've failed, you've failed'?"

"Yup," Clementine said, grinning. "Stupid bastard deserves it though." They spent the next five minutes abusing him and discussing what was going to happen to Buckbeak until Flitwick let them into the classroom.

~~~(O.O)~~~

After Charms finished, it was time to go to dinner. Skylar was chattering away at top speed, and insisted on sitting near a load of First Years just so she could look at Blaise across the Hall. Clementine exchanged glum glances with some of the third year Gryffindors. She couldn't see Fred or George, which was unusual.

Once dinner was over, she got up quickly and managed to wedge herself right in the centre of the crowd, losing Skylar quite intentionally along the way. Clementine thought about going to find the twins, then remembered that they'd landed themselves detention already.

"Stupid buggers," Clementine said to herself as Skylar came up, bouncing around despite the three inch heels on her shoes. She forced a smile on her face.

"Come and help me get ready!" Skylar said, dragging her by her hand.

"Yes, alright Skye, I can walk," Clementine said, trying unsuccessfully to wriggle out of her grip. It didn't work; she was only released upon arriving in their dormitory. She sat cross-legged on her bed as Skylar pulled out hundreds of mainly black items of clothing, most of which looked very skimpy. Clementine was astounded at just how much clothing she owned.

"So I was thinking this one," Skylar said, holding up a crumpled black band t-shirt with a large rip at the bottom.

"With what?" Clementine asked, for Skylar hadn't actually grabbed any trousers or leggings.

Skylar gave her a look. "This is a dress?" Without warning, she stood up, stripped off and yanked the t-shirt dress over her head. It barely covered her long, slim thighs. She didn't look thirteen; she looked at least sixteen, if not older.

"No way are you going to get away with walking round like that!" Clementine exclaimed. Skylar found some suspenders and a pair of stockings and put them on, ignoring her best friend.

"It's fine, old McGonagall's hardly going to catch me, is she? And if I see her, I'll just run for it."

"In five inch platforms?" Clementine said incredulously. She wished that Fred and George weren't in detention; they'd side with her and Skylar would – probably – see reason. Then again, they'd likely laugh straight in her face, so it was probably best that they weren't there to see her.

Clementine alone wasn't enough of a force, so she found herself plaiting Skylar's long blonde hair in three plaits while Skylar applied heavy black eye shadow and a dusty pink lipstick. She was too focussed on making her face look perfect to notice the glares Clementine kept giving her.

"Ta da!" Skylar said dramatically, standing up. Clementine looked at her outfit as a whole. Not for the first time, she felt extremely plain in comparison. No boy ever gave her a second look if Skylar was around.

"You look great!" Clementine said with another false smile, and Skylar threw her arms around her. She tottered down the steps unsteadily and Clementine followed in her comfortable black trainers. Everyone in Gryffindor Tower turned to stare; many of the older boys' eyes looked as though they were going to pop out of their heads. Clementine couldn't bear the way they looked at her best friend; she wanted to slap the boys' faces.

"I'm meeting him in the dungeons," Skylar announced, seemingly oblivious to the attention she was receiving.

'Romantic,' Clementine thought to herself. But she smiled, gave a thumbs up and said, "Great! Have a wonderful time!"

She spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione sat doing homework and sat on the spare seat; she had History of Magic to do as well. Once she'd sat down, she gave them a frustrated look, eyes wide in annoyance.

"What- the bloody hell- is she wearing?"Ron asked in a low voice. Clementine threw her hands up.

"Don't ask, I tried to stop her wearing it, but she wouldn't listen."

Just as Skylar approached the portrait hole, Fred and George came through, discussing something earnestly. When they saw her, they did a double take. George gave her a funny look –he'd always found Skylar a bit strange – but Fred's behaviour was weirder. He stopped, struck dumb for a moment, taking in her whole sultry appearance, then laughed really loudly and really strangely. Skylar didn't appear to notice, and made it out the portrait hole without tripping. Some second years and George gave Fred a very odd look.

As much as Clementine wanted to join her best friends, she really needed to keep up with her homework that year, so she stayed with the three and compared notes. Hermione for once was willing to share and let her copy parts as she was sympathetic; she herself had suffered through Charms listening to Skylar. The other reason why Clementine was sat with them was because she hoped to get Hermione by herself so she could talk about what happened earlier with George.

She waited impatiently, tapping her foot, but eventually Ron and Harry got bored of History of Magic and went upstairs to the dormitory. Hermione pursed her lips disapprovingly, and before she could complain, Clementine told her about lunch (not including where the kitchens were, since George had sworn her to secrecy).

When she finished telling the tale, Hermione smiled slightly.

"What?" Clementine asked quietly, wondering why she was smiling. She was surprised that Hermione hadn't started a rant about stealing food from the kitchen.

"Well it's all a bit strange, isn't it? Dobby isn't in the habit of telling lies or making things up; House Elves often start beating themselves up rather than lying or betraying their master's secrets. And he probably didn't feel obliged to keep it a secret that George was taking you to the kitchens for a date."

"But how do I know if he was taking me on a date?" Clementine argued.

"I don't know. I mean, I watched you two walking out, and it looked rather casual to me. But maybe that's just George's way of doing things. I wouldn't know, I don't know him as well as you do."

There was a silence as both of them sighed deeply.

"Has Ron said anything to you about me recently?" Hermione asked abruptly.

"No, not that I can remember," Clementine said with a shrug, her mind still on George. Hermione looked a bit disappointed but didn't push it, and Clementine didn't pay too much attention.

"Well, just keep looking out for any other signs when you're with George," Hermione said glumly.