Chapter
-11-

Games People Play

Kasia dragged her weary body back to the Gryffindor tower after the first full moon of the school year. She didn't so much mind missing half her classes the day after; it was only single periods of everything, and so the professors usually just went over theory. She could catch up on that later. Not to mention she could avoid David for another day.

She went straight to her dormitory—past where she and Teddy used to talk on full moons—and allowed herself to sleep until after noon. James always used to talk about finding the Marauder's Map, especially for access to the kitchens, where house elves allegedly showered you with food, but he had yet to succeed. It would be so much easier to catch up on meals once she could get into the kitchens. Instead, Kasia wandered down to the Great Hall to see if there was any leftover food from lunch. According to her watch, she could make it to History of Magic if she hurried.

Kasia took her time to eat her sandwiches; Professor Binns was as dry and boring as the blackboard behind him, and so often she and Demi would talk to Roy and David during class. Astronomy, the last class of the day, was safe, as they had it with Ravenclaws.

She made her way to the Astronomy tower and met up with her friends outside.

"She rises," Fred announced. "Did you have a good sleep?"

Kasia couldn't be bothered glaring at him. "I did. Oh, what a shame to miss History of Magic, though."

"I wouldn't have bothered coming to Astronomy either, if I were you," James said with a laugh.

"As reassuring as ever, Mister Potter," Professor Sinistra said flippantly on her way into the classroom.

James' sheepish expression made Kasia laugh. "Hey, where's Demi?"

As she asked, she spotted her friend talking with Yasmine again. What was going on? They filed into class, and Kasia sat next to Demi.

"What's going on? I feel like I haven't spoken to you properly in ages."

"Astronomy isn't the best place to speak properly," Demi said with a chuckle.

Kasia maintained a deadpan expression. "You're right, that would be History of Magic. But Astronomy is a close second, I'm sure." Demi laughed again.

"So what's up with you and Yasmine lately?"

Demi shrugged. "Just talking about boys. I know you don't like to talk extensively about them. Speaking of which, though…what in the name of Merlin's sweaty garters are you doing to David? You haven't spoken with him yet?"

Kasia grimaced. "Don't remind me."

Demi's reminder strengthened Kasia's resolve. It was difficult to follow through with plans on the day after a full moon, but she was determined to talk to David that night.

oOo

David took it surprisingly well, although Kasia suspected it hurt him more than he let on.

"Hey, like you said, we've only been on one date," he shrugged. "You don't want a boyfriend; that's fair enough."

"I'm really sorry," Kasia said again. "If things were different…you'd be my first choice." She pushed the werewolf comments he'd made away; he didn't know she was a werewolf, and it was natural to be scared of them.

"Well, we had fun, didn't we?"

Kasia nodded. "Definitely. I'm really—"

"Stop apologising," David said with an awkward laugh. "Please."

"Okay. Sorry. I'll see you in Herbology?"

"You betcha."

Kasia returned to the Gryffindor table and slumped down. She sighed. "Well, that's dealt with."

James laughed. "Are you relieved or sad? I can't tell."

She shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Did you rip it off like a bandit?" James asked with a grin.

Kasia laughed. "I told you, it's Band-Aid, you half-blood!"

"Yeah, yeah."

The next day in Potions, Slughorn announced they would be learning about antidotes, and Kasia sat up even straighter in her chair. It was the first potion that was close to what she wanted to do, so she wrote down everything he said about curing diseases and ailments.

"You're even more focused than normal," Trey remarked.

"Antidotes are way more interesting than Giggling or Boil Potions."

"Fair point. Do you want to become a Healer or something?"

Kasia paused her quill's scurry across the page. "Or something. Maybe discover new potions, new antidotes."

Trey smiled. "That's really cool. Well, hey, you've yet to blow up a cauldron this year, so you're well on your way."

Kasia looked at him wryly. "We haven't made any Potions yet."

"I'm trying to compliment you," Trey whispered loudly. "Aren't Gryffindors meant to thrive on compliments?"

"If we're talking houses, I thought Slytherins never gave compliments," Kasia retorted with a grin. Her ear perked up at Slughorn saying something about the classic properties which set apart antidotes from other potions, and she went back to her notes, scribbling away.

oOo

It was halfway through September, just when the leaves on the trees grew orange, when Anelia raced up to Kasia during a Friday breakfast. Demi, James, and Fred were all at an early morning Quidditch practice, so Anelia sat down next to Kasia.

"How's it going?" Kasia asked cheerfully. It was the furthest she could get from full moon day that morning.

Anelia didn't seem to share her good mood. Her face was pale and frightened. "Have you seen this?" She set a newspaper down on the table.

Another picture of Silverback, but a different article.

"It's the same wolf," Anelia said, her usually steady voice quivering. "I remember."

Kasia glanced around—nobody seemed to be listening—and lowered her voice anyway. "I know. There was an article earlier in the month about him."

"Have you read this one yet?" Anelia asked frantically. "Look: A ten year old child was discovered at the entrance to St Mungo's Hospital. He was under the influence of the Imperius Curse, and had horrific werewolf-inflicted injuries. The boy reported that Silverback intended to find all werewolves among society and have them join him. He stated that this boy was not the first or last of children to be targeted by him, and that there were plenty more children of those who fought against Greyback in the Wizarding War who have been killed or transformed. The boy then collapsed, and was unable to be resuscitated." Anelia looked up at Kasia with wide eyes. "Don't you see? You—I mean, we were targeted because of…dad." The word was still unnatural on her tongue. "He fought in the War."

"And now he means to find me," Kasia said quietly. "And the others. The records…"

"What?"

"Katie Wood works at St Mungo's, and she said that some records were stolen months ago. I didn't ask if mine were among them, but…" Kasia trailed off. "I'm going to write to her, and dad too. Do you want to come?"

Anelia nodded and the two of them headed to the owlery.

"Kasia, when you transform away from Hogwarts, where do you go?"

Kasia laughed once. "I go into the forests. But I won't be going far at all anymore, I can assure you." She grimaced. "I feel like I'm overreacting, but…I just can't risk him finding me. What if you're nearby? Or the Woods?"

"Not to mention self-preservation," Anelia prodded. "We all care if he finds you alone. He'd probably kill you unless you joined him."

Perhaps it was because she was not used to the threat of death from afar, but the impact of what Anelia said flew right past Kasia.

They made it to the owlery—Anelia out of breath from the climb—and Kasia wrote two letters.

Dear Katie,

A month or so ago you mentioned that there were records stolen from St Mungo's. I don't know if you've seen the news about Silverback, but there's a werewolf—the same one that attacked me—trying to find all other werewolves, especially those he created. I was wondering if my files were among those to be stolen. I think I'll have to be a lot more careful about where I transform out of Hogwarts. Having a good year so far; Demi's hard at work at Quidditch practice, and the amount the three of them go on about strategy, they'd better win this year.

Lots of love,

Kasia

The letter to her father described what was going on, and asked him if he knew anything about this werewolf or Greyback's work. She updated him on her classes and studies, and asked him when he was next coming home from his trip. Anelia added to the end with her own updates.

They watched the owls fly through the slight rain, and Anelia checked her watch.

"Merlin, class is starting in half an hour! I need to get my books!"

She dashed down the stairs, with Kasia close behind.

When she met her friends for Potions, Fred and Demi were bickering again.

"If you had just avoided the Bludger, it wouldn't be so bad."

"Avoided it? I was a bit too busy keeping the Quaffle out of the hoops."

"Yeah, but there's no need to get all angry about a little bruise."

"Little? You nearly gave me a concussion!" Demi exclaimed, holding her head dramatically.

Fred rolled his eyes. "You need to be used to Bludgers flying around."

"You need to aim away from your teammates!"

"Oh, quit being so dramatic! It was a graze. James was hit a lot harder."

Demi spun around to James, who didn't look like he'd been paying attention.

"What?" James said absently.

"I was hit harder than you!"

James chuckled. "It's not a competition, Demi. But if it were…I mean, I was actually knocked out for a minute there."

Demi stomped her foot, and Fred burst out laughing.

"Did you just stomp your foot? That's hilarious!"

"Shut up, Fred. You still hit me, hard."

"Can't you just drop it?"

"I'll drop you!"

"What does that even mean? Honestly, how you manage to keep arguing with such poor retorts is beyond me!"

Kasia and James shared an exasperated look.

oOo

"How cute are they?" Yasmine exclaimed randomly to Kasia.

"Who are?" She asked, distracted. How people could talk and read something different at the same time was beyond her. The Transfiguration homework about cross-species transformation they learnt in the beginning of October was difficult enough to grasp without distractions. Not to mention full moon was the night before, and she'd struggled to get back to sleep once she returned to her dormitory.

"Fred and Demi, of course! Don't you know they're going out? I would've thought you'd know of all people."

Kasia didn't register what she said straight away. After all, Yasmine often rambled about things being cute.

"Yeah, okay. Wait—what!"

Yasmine grinned. "I know, how sweet right? Because they've been friends for ages...and they fight all the time, it's so adorable! Like a love-hate relationship!"

"What?" Kasia spluttered. "Since when?"

"Since this morning!" Yasmine said as if it were obvious. "She asked him out after breakfast. Where were you?"

"Library," Kasia said in a daze. "You're honestly not making this up?"

"Definitely not." Yasmine turned to Katriel, who was lounging across her bed. "You saw it, didn't you?"

"Can confirm, Demi and Fred are going out at the next Hogsmeade trip," Katriel said lazily. "It's on the 14th of October, so next weekend."

Kasia couldn't fathom what Demi was thinking. Yasmine—and Katriel—must both be mistaken. Demi hadn't said a word about fancying Fred…she still went on about Roy during just about every class.

At that moment, Demi walked into the dormitory.

"I need to talk to you," Kasia growled, pulling her into the bathroom and sound-proofing the door.

"When did you learn how to do that?" Demi asked interestedly, staring at the blue glow around the door.

"I thought you fancied Roy Jordan."

Demi smiled. "I did. Well, I do."

"You still fancy him?"

Demi nodded.

"Do you fancy Fred as well?"

"No!" Demi shuddered. "Can you imagine how dysfunctional that would be?"

Kasia stared at her. Couldn't she see the problem with this situation?

"Why in the name of Merlin's nose hair would you go out with Fred, then?!"

Kasia prayed silently that Demi would look horrified at the rumour and tell her it wasn't true. But she looked a little uneasy. "You...er...heard, then?"

Kasia just waited.

"You see, Yasmine let it slip that Roy's the jealous type," Demi explained tentatively, "and so I thought I would make him jealous."

Kasia gaped.

"Why Fred?"

"He's not that bad," Demi snorted. Kasia couldn't believe her ears.

"That's not what I meant. Fred's a great guy," she said slowly, "so why would you choose him, of all people, to make Roy jealous? You shouldn't use people like that in the first place, let alone one of your best friends!"

"Fred will be fine."

"Fine?" Kasia repeated. "Demi, why do you think he always messes with you? Why do you think he said yes to go out with you?" Kasia gasped suddenly. "He knows you're using him, right? You made that clear...didn't you?"

Demi looked away, and Kasia snarled.

"You've got to end it now."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"When you're doing something as cruel as this, then I should tell you what to do!" Kasia exclaimed. "What part of you thinks this is okay? How can you possibly justify this?"

"Calm down, Kasia," Demi rolled her eyes, "we're only fifteen."

"That makes it all okay," Kasia said sarcastically, and looked at her watch. "Look, we'll talk about this later, I told Trey I'd meet him in the library at seven to help with Charms."

"Help with Charms, eh?" Demi winked at her.

Kasia scoffed. "You're unbelievable. You know the two of us are just friends. And you do not want to keep messing with me the day after full moon. I will bite your head off if you don't come to your senses. Just give me twenty-nine days."

She stormed down to the library, her growl ready at her throat for anyone who got in her way. What a despicable thing for Demi to do. And she didn't even realise it was wrong! Kasia felt like screaming.

She slammed her books down on the table, shocking a startled Trey.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"My best friend is an idiot," Kasia spat.

Trey laughed uneasily. "We're not best friends, right?"

Kasia looked at him sarcastically. "No. Demi. But I don't want to go into it. I'd rather just…focus on this for now. So, Wit-Enhancing Potion?"

oOo

The next Hogsmeade trip was Demi and Fred's date, and to Kasia's dismay, Fred looked genuinely excited.

Demi was still getting ready, but James, Kasia, and Fred waited downstairs.

"I didn't even know she fancied me," Fred said rapidly. "Did she say anything to you, Kasia? Not that you need to tell me. But I dunno, I've always kind of thought, someday, maybe…and when she asked me I was pretty surprised. Pretty annoyed I wasn't the one to ask, to be honest. Tell me, do my robes look alright? These are the ones I exploded my mum's roast on last Christmas. Oh, here she comes…"

Fred left them to take Demi's hand at the foot of the stairs, and led her through the portrait hole. Kasia and James followed ten feet behind. She might have felt awkward about this seeming like a double date with James if she wasn't so furious at what Demi was doing. The girl had lost all sense of reason, and wouldn't listen to Kasia even after a week of trying to convince her not to go through with it.

"This entire situation makes me sick to the stomach," Kasia muttered. James raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked, and then paused, frowning. "Do you fancy Fred, or something? Or is it being the third and fourth wheel to their date?"

Kasia chuckled, despite herself. "No, that's not it." She wasn't sure if she should tell James. "Demi asked him, didn't she?"

James nodded. "I didn't even know he fancied her. Usually he just complains about her."

"James, you didn't realise Teddy and Victoire fancied each other even after they started dating." Kasia rolled her eyes. "Of course Fred fancies her. He always makes fun of her, but sometimes he just stares at her. And there were other hints, too, but I can't remember them all."

Kasia just couldn't believe that Demi didn't see how wrong the situation was. Even now, she was leading Fred along with her smiles and shoulder-nudges. Something had to be done.

"Are you alright, Zia? You're acting very odd."

"Am I?" Kasia growled.

James furrowed his eyebrows. "You just growled to yourself."

"No, I just growled at you."

"Yeah. Why is that again?"

"Look James," Kasia said seriously, making sure that Demi and Fred weren't listening. "Demi doesn't fancy Fred."

James laughed. "That makes perfect sense."

"I'm serious," she stressed. "She likes Roy Jordan, alright? She's fancied him for more than half a year now, and now she's dating Fred to make Roy jealous."

"That's insane," James said slowly, narrowing his eyes as he considered it, "and I feel kind of mean for saying this, but I can imagine that Demi would go to those lengths."

Kasia nodded. "It's horrible. That's what I meant when I said it makes me sick."

"We've got to do something," James muttered seriously. "Fred may be really carefree and joking, but when he's serious about something..."

"Exactly!" Kasia sighed. "It's like when he found out he was nearly failing Arithmancy and he wouldn't crack a smile for days. And he wouldn't have said yes to Demi after all these years of fighting if he didn't really fancy her! I don't want to meddle, but if we don't do something, then Fred's going to end up getting hurt."

"I'll talk to Fred first," James nodded, "maybe he doesn't like her that much...hopefully. Are you sure he doesn't know? Never mind, there's no way he'd agree something like that."

"I have absolutely no idea what Demi's thinking."

oOo

Much to Kasia and James' dismay, Fred thought the date at Hogsmeade went perfectly, and Demi showed no signs of breaking it off. Kasia had hoped it was just a one-date fling, but it seemed Demi was determined to continue until she got who she wanted: Roy.

It was late October, and the two seemed to be in a relationship. James was helping Kasia Transfigure a hedgehog into a pincushion and back, but she glared over at the corner, where Fred and Demi sat close together.

"Kasia?"

She snapped back to their practice and waved her wand. The hedgehog just kept ambling around. "I feel like driving these spikes into my skull."

James followed her gaze. "Fred doesn't think anything's wrong. What will we do?"

"Surely, once Demi realises it's not working, she'll break it off?"

"But how long will that be?" James muttered. "Fred's going to be crushed. We can't just keep standing by."

"I know. But what's the best way t—oh!"

An owl flew through the open window, bringing with it a gust of cold air. Kasia took the letter from its beak, and it flew away without waiting for her. She frowned. It was from Katie.

Dear Kasia,

I'm glad classes are going well.

As far as the hospital records go, you have nothing to worry about, regardless of whether your records were stolen or not. Hogwarts is perfectly safe, and we can take extra precautions when you're home, if you want. But you won't be in any danger.

Tell Demi to focus on her studies as well as Quidditch—I know how easy it is to be obsessed with the sport. I'm sure Gryffindor will do great at the next match.

Lots of love,

Katie

Kasia sighed. "Katie didn't even say whether my records were stolen or not. Does it seem like she's dodging the question to you?" She passed the letter to James, whose eyes darted across the page.

"Yeah, a little. Makes me think maybe your records were stolen, otherwise she would have just said they weren't," James mused, and glanced back at the letter. "And an obsession with Quidditch is perfectly healthy."

"Healthy, huh?" Kasia laughed. "Doesn't seem that way when you get knocked out by a Bludger at practice."

James snorted. "Okay, that was one time, and it was only for about a minute!"

They laughed together, and James handed the letter back.

"She's right about one thing, though," he said sincerely. "You don't have anything to worry about. You're safe."

oOo

Ah double upload! Good news: I have all the chapters for fourth year planned! There is a lot to happen, that's for sure!

So what does everyone think of Fred and Demi? Poor guy.

Let me know what you think with reviews! Thanks for reading this chapter :)