- Chapter 11 -

"Hey loser, wake up!" Miya called from across the dormitory, throwing a pillow at her sleeping friend.

"Go away!" Paige grumbled, pulling her quilt up over her head. "I want to stay in bed."

"You can't! We're going to Hogsmeade today!" Miya said.

"I don't care." Paige mumbled.

"Oh, that's fine then. At least I'll have Nancy to talk to." Miya said sighing.

Paige sat up quickly.

"Why is she coming?" she snapped.

"Look Paige, I've been thinking about what happened yesterday and I've decided to give this Nancy a chance." Miya said looking down.

"Why on earth would you do that?" Paige said, shocked.

"Because really, she didn't actually do anything did she?" Miya said, sweeping her hair off her face.

"Yes she did!"

"No Paige.. She didn't. All she did was talk to Ron, and we can't judge her over that can we? If it comes down to it I will take your side, but I think that we will just be making things difficult by being mean to her."

Paige frowned at her friend and crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll be nice to her. But I'm not going be her friend. It's just not gonna happen."

"That's fine" Miya said grinning, and clambered out of bed.

"So why have we agreed to go Hogsmeade again?" Paige asked kicking her covers off herself.

"Because I promised Oliver I would to cheer him up." Miya replied pulling on some clothes.

"Oh.. I'm sorry let me rephrase that. Why have I agreed to go to Hogsmeade again?"

"Because I'm your best friend that's why! And I refuse to stand in Quality Quidditch supplies alone."

"Urgh. Fine. But you owe me one!" Paige grumbled looking for something to wear.

….

Twenty minutes later, the two girls made their way down the marble staircases to the Entrance Hall where Oliver, Ron and Nancy were all waiting.

"Hey guys!" Miya said as they reached them.

"Hi." they chorused back, as she went over to Oliver to kiss him softly.

"How are you feeling today?" she smiled taking his hand.

"A bit better thanks." he said looking down at her.

"Oh, by the way Miya, I'm Nancy." Nancy grinned holding a hand out for her to shake.

"Hi Nancy." Miya replied, taking her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, and you!" Nancy said smiling broadly. Miya glanced at Paige who rolled her eyes.

"Great, now the introductions are over, can we go!" Ron said, walking toward the door.

"Oh yeah, lets!" Nancy said and went to link Ron causing Miya to glance nervously at Paige who scowled at her.

"I'll race you!" Miya said suddenly, and began running, full belt down to the school grounds.

Paige, catching on fast, giggled and chased after her. "Come on you lot! Or do you want to be beaten by girls?" she called back.

"I will not be beaten!" Ron laughed and pulled away from the grip of Nancy to run after them, Oliver following his lead, grinning.

"Oh hey! Wait up!" Nancy called, trying to catch up.

"You snooze you lose!" Paige called back as she reached Miya who was slowing slightly.

…..

Out of breath, but laughing, the group finally made it to Hogsmeade.

"I'm in so much pain!" Paige gasped clutching her sides.

"I think my legs are going to drop off!" Miya said.

"Then you'd be even shorter!" Paige replied grinning.

"Oi!" Miya said shoving her in the shoulder.

"Hey, where's Nancy?" Ron said looking around.

"I don't know, she was behind us." Oliver said.

"Oh there she is!" Ron said smiling as in the distance the outline jogging toward them.

"Oh, I told you to wait!" Nancy said when she reached them, gasping for air.

"Sorry, we just couldn't help ourselves!" Oliver laughed, but Nancy just frowned.

"Anyway…" Miya said, "Where do you want to go?"

"Quality Quidditch Supplies!" Ron said quickly making Paige jump.

Paige sighed and rolled her eyes. "There's a surprise!"

"Always the tone of enthusiasm with you Paige." Ron said.

"Oh, I can't wait to go in! I want to look for some new gloves!" Nancy said grinning and bounded off in the direction of the shops..

"Merlin's Beard." Paige said glaring after her.

"Paige… you promised you'd be nice to her!" Miya said raising her eyebrows.

"I am being nice to her face! You said nothing about being nice when she's not around."

"Urgh, fine." Miya sighed and walked off to go and find Oliver.

…

"Oh, I love this shop so much!" Nancy squealed.

"Yeah me too. It's like a little ball of sunlight that brightens up my day." Paige said, her voice thick with sarcasm. "OW!" she gasped as Miya kicked her in the leg.

"Can't I even make a joke anymore?" she said hopping up and down. Nancy and Ron turned around to look at her.

"Oh, What's wrong with your foot Paige?" she asked looking concerned.

"Nothing… she just has cramp." Miya said quickly.

"Oh I know what that's like! It can come on so fast can't it? Like out of nowhere!"

"Yeah it can!" Miya smiled.

"Oh, I forgot! I needed to find the Beater's section for my gloves!" she said, and smiled broadly.

"I'll come with you. I need to look at the Chasers bit as well." Ron said.

"Oh right okay, I think it's over by the broom stands." she said and departed quickly.

"There's another pain that came out of nowhere in my life recently too." Paige grumbled. "I like to call it Nancy."

"Was that an invitation for me to kick you again Paige?" Miya asked.

"No! You didn't have to do it so hard you know!"

"Yes I did. I needed to get my point across." Miya grinned. "Where's Oliver anyway?"

"I have no idea. Probably drooling over some new broomstick…. Oh no, there he is!" she said pointing to the far corner of the shop where all the Quidditch books were kept.

"The only time you will ever see that boy reading, is in this shop. Let's take a moment to admire it shall we?" Miya laughed crossing her arms, her eyebrows raised.

"Looks like we aren't the only one's admiring him.." Paige said as a group of students shifted to reveal the figure of Nancy, standing very close to Oliver, trying to read the book he was holding. Miya stopped breathing momentarily and clenched her jaw.

"Look's like Nancy is interested in whatever it is too!" she said, pasting a smile on her face. "Well we best go see what all the fuss is about!" she announced and marched quickly over to where the couple were standing. Paige followed quickly.

"I was wondering where you had gotten to!" Miya said as she reached them, turning Oliver round and grabbing hold of his hand.

"Oh, we were just looking at this book about injuries that have happened during matches!" Nancy said excitedly.

"No Kidding." Miya said, smiling at her, slightly more forcibly that before.

"Oh yes! Oliver was just telling me how in 1954 a match had been played in a thunderstorm and a bolt of lighting had hit one of the seekers, just as he caught the snitch! They wouldn't let him have the points though because no one actually saw him touch it and the snitch was burnt to a crisp!" she said.

"Well my Oliver does know all about these things!" Miya laughed. "I love him telling me little Quidditch facts like that!"

At her words, Oliver looked down at Miya, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Miya - " he began, but Paige butted in quickly.

"I can't believe that he never got the points! After being hit with lightening! I bet that left him sore in the morning."

"Yeah, I'm sure it would have put the cramp in your leg to shame!" Ron said from behind them.

"Ha bloody har," Paige replied. "I'm glad your sympathy is running deep Ron."

"Oh Ron, Paige is right! You don't understand how bad cramp can be!" Nancy said. "I mean I get it all the time in my knees. I got it earlier when I was running, but that's probably because I'm so short!" she laughed.

"Aww that is true!" Oliver said, "I'd say you're even shorter than Miya!" he grinned at his girlfriend who had gone slightly red.

"Oh I don't know about that!" Nancy said, putting her hand on her head as if measuring herself.

"I think you are! Looks like you'll be the new leprechaun among us Nancy!" he replied. "Sorry Miya, your short legs are no longer worthy of the title!"

Miya, who was staring at Nancy with an odd expression in her eyes, realised that she was being spoken too and laughed loudly.

Oliver jumped and frowned at her delayed reaction and began scanning her face with his eyes.

"I can't do this anymore!" Paige called suddenly, sensing Miyas situation. "I need to leave this shop and get some air." she grabbed Miya by the arm and pulled her quickly out of the shop, leaving the confused trio behind her.

…...

As they left the shop Paige stopped and turned to look at Miya.

"You ok?" she said cautiously.

Miya, who was still red, squeezed her eyes tight and took a deep breath.

"I am the better person, I am the better person…" she began to whisper.

"Have you gone nuts?" Paige murmured tilting her head to the side.

"No, shush. I am the better person…" She continued to whisper. "I am the better person… I will not rise to this…. I am over reacting….. It's annoyed me… I'm feeling annoyed… I am the better person… than that…. STUPID BLOODY BANSHEE!" She shouted suddenly balling her hands into fists.

"Wow…." Paige said. "And I though I was the crazy one…"

"Did you see the way she was going on about Quidditch!" Miya screeched. "Like she was the bloody queen of all knowledge! Sucking up to Oliver and trying to impress him with her interest in those books! Well if she likes the book so much she can ram it up her bloody -"

"Woah Miya, she might hear you!" Paige said beginning to laugh.

"I'm sorry… am I supposed to care! Little miss 'I'm so short just look at me because its cute!' Did no one tell her that I am the short one? She cant just barge in and take my place!" she carried on, breathing heavily.

"So…. I'm taking it you don't like her then?" Paige asked wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Where did you get that idea?" Miya said glaring.

"Hey, calm yourself down a minute and we'll think of a plan of action." Paige said, raising her hands.

"What do you mean?" Miya frowned.

"I mean….. now we both don't like her, it is acceptable to do everything in out power to get rid of her! Am I right?" Paige asked smiling.

"Yeah…" Miya said looking up with a glint in her eye. "Yeah you are…. But what on earth are we going to do? The boys love her.."

"I don't know… we need something that will keep us in the clear. Because we don't want the boys to blame us. We have to be subtle."

"Subtle…. Are you kidding?" Miya said sighing. "We are doomed. We are the most unsubtle people on the planet!"

"I know that…. So maybe we could get someone else to do the dirty work?"

"Oh yeah okay." Miya said sarcastically. "Lets just contact our Hogwarts hit men to do the job! Why didn't I think of that!"

"Urgh, just give me a minute okay… there must be someone that we can involve." Paige paused for a minute and bit her lip, thinking.

….

"Excuse me." a voice sounded, interrupting her thoughts. Paige looked up to find a young boy from their year staring back at her. And it wasn't the prettiest of sights…

The boys greasy hair was smeared down to his forehead, covering a spotty completion and what appeared to be a type of rash forming on his skin. His name was Edgar Willis. The only Ravenclaw that the girls new of that had absolutely no friends. He was quiet, intelligent and arrogant…..

A light bulb went off in Paige's mind.

"Oh hi Edgar!" she called remembering his name. He looked slightly taken aback by her contact with him.

"Hel-Hello." he stammered raising his eyebrows.

"I've been meaning to talk to you for a while!" she said smiling at him sweetly. Miya turned to look at Paige her mouth hanging open, obviously confused.

"You have?" he asked slowly.

"Yes I have!"

"Is it about the Charms homework? Because I've told you before I'm not doing it for you." he said sighing.

"No, don't be silly! I wouldn't use you like that!" she replied giggling, causing Edgar to frown in suspicion. "I just wanted to tell you something… Well technically it's not about me it's a favour for a friend!" she said looking very meaningfully at Miya, who still seemed bewildered.

"A friend?" Edgar asked curiously.

"Yes Edgar, a friend. You see one of my .. Erm…. friends… has been having difficultly controlling some …. Feelings… that she has been having for you for some time."

"What kind of feelings would these be?" he asked her folding his arms.

"Erm…. Romantic feelings." she replied holding her breath. Miya gasped beside her as she realised what Paige was trying to do.

"That isn't funny Paige." Edgar said looking highly embarrassed.

"I'm not joking! Am I Miya?" she said looking at her friend.

"Erm.. No! She's not, this girl.. Our friend has been feeling this way for some time!" she said smiling. "She asked us to pass on the message to avoid embarrassment."

Edgar frowned and began wringing his fingers together.

"Well… If I were to believe you, which I don't!" he said "Why did this girl want you to tell me?"

"What do you mean?" Paige frowned

"Why did she want you to tell me if she's embarrassed?" he said looking at the floor.

"Oh she's not embarrassed to like you!" Miya said. "She's embarrassed that you won't feel the same way!"

Edgar looked up, his eyes wide.

"You mean…this girl actually likes me? Legitimately?"

"Of course!" Paige said smiling.

"Well…. Who is she? What - erm - what's her name?" he asked breathing deeply.

Miya and Paige exchanged glances and grinned.

"She's called Nancy." Miya said. "Nancy Bennet.."