An epilogue as promised to tie up loose strings,

And discover the answers to unanswered things,

To solve all your riddles and calm all your nerves,

That is the purpose this epilogue serves.

So who is the culprit that possessed the required stealth,

Don't look at me, read for yourself.

Epilogue

Crystal had returned to check on the pair's progress every twenty minutes while they were locked in that room, and although it had been her idea to lock them in the room together in the first place, she was still surprised to return and find them cuddled together against the wall, Katie laughing at a joke she'd just been told and Fred's fingers carding through her hair, an affectionate smile on his lips. Needless to say she had quickly unlocked the door and dashed in to congratulate the new couple and share some very girly squeals with Katie, Fred refused to join in.

But now the trio were sitting in a slowly filling up Great Hall waiting eagerly for food. It turns out pouring your heart out really makes you hungry. Fred and Katie were on one side of the table and Crystal was sitting opposite them. She couldn't actually see, but Crystal was fairly positive that the couple were holding hands under the table. She could definitely see the way that Katie was leaning in towards Fred, almost subconsciously, and the way Fred kept glancing at her and smiling in a sort of bemused way, as if he was convinced that this wasn't completely real. It was adorable.

'What is going on here?'

Turning around Katie could see that they were no longer alone. Angelina, Alicia, Charlie, George, Lee, Gwen and Helena May were stood behind them. It was hard to tell who had spoken, one of the girls almost certainly, but all seven onlookers had confusion all over their faces.

'Why is she sitting with you? Is she bothering you Fred? Katie, just save whatever dignity you have left and leave, don't make this harder than it has to be.'

Ah, so it had been Gwen who had spoken, a look of concern twisted with anger on her face. She moved her arm out in an attempt to pull Katie to her feet but was intercepted by Fred who had grasped her wrist in mid-air. Curiously she looked at him, then at Katie, and finally she looked at Fred again.

There was hostility in his eyes but it was a shock that it was no longer pointed at Katie. With more force than was strictly necessary Fred pushed the hand away.

'Fred, what's going on?' This time it was George.

'Turns out we've all been tricked. The recording wasn't quite as black and white as it was made out to seem. It was missing something, oh what's it called?... Oh yeah, context! The context that would have proved that Katie is actually innocent.' By the end the words were being hissed out, Fred's voice low and dangerous. The daggers were aimed at Gwen, she was sensible enough to shrink back slightly. His tense posture sagged after a minute of intense staring.

'Why did you do it Gwen? Honestly I don't understand.' And you could hear it in his voice that he really didn't understand, and he desperately wanted to.

'Do what? What did I do?' She squeaked as he stood, his height giving him an intimidation factor. He sneered.

'Don't play dumb Gwen, you tricked me with that voice recorder, you knew it wasn't what it seemed and yet you offered no explanation. And now you have the gall to play innocent, well it's not working, you can fuck off because…'

'Wait!'

Fred turned to Katie, surprised at her outburst just as he was getting into the main part of his rant. From where he was standing he could practically see the cogs turning in his girlfriend's head. God that felt good to think, girlfriend, finally. He snapped back to reality as Katie started talking.

'I've shared a dorm with Gwen for five years, I have a lot of the same classes as her, I know her pretty well. It couldn't have been her. That tape recorder was of muggle origin, it had batteries for god's sake, and I took muggle studies for three years with Gwen, she can barely work out a compass let alone a tape recorder.'

'But I told you, Gwen was the one who gave me the tape recorder, it's not like she's walking around with an evil… twin.'

All eyes fell on Helena May. Sweet, shy, innocent, Helena May, who turned out to be not-so sweet, not so shy and nowhere near as innocent as they had all thought. The girl in question looked thoroughly shocked at how quickly the blame had fallen on her. He mouth opened, closed, opened and then she drew her bottom lip into her mouth to bite it in frustration. Fred sighed.

'Alright Helena, I can't be arsed to do the entire angry speech again so how about I just ask why did you do it?'

'I'm an angry person.' She confessed after a brief pause, her shoulders shrugging lazily to support her answer.

Then she leaned in as if divulging some big secret and whispered '…and it was fun.' Taking in the shocked faces of her ex-friends, Helena May laughed a laugh which made her sound just as demented as she obviously was, then, lurching forward she pressed her lips to Fred's for a second before pulling away and stalking off up the aisle between tables. She left behind her 9 very disturbed people, one of whom looked as though he might faint or throw up. There was silence, well relatively as they were still in the packed Great Hall.

'What. A. Bitch.' Charlie broke the silence, his head shaking from side to side in disbelief. That broke the tension and launched them into a discussion about the past month. Katie insisted that apologies weren't necessary, she was just happy to have her friends back, but they kept getting thrown at her anyway. Gwen had been oddly quiet.

'I always knew my sister was psycho, but I'm just surprised that you would think I would do that. I know I'm a bitch, and Katie I'm not your biggest fan, but I don't make a habit of ruining people's lives.' The table turned to look at Gwen, laughter at a joke Lee had told, dying on their tongues.

'I'm really sorry Gwen. We… I shouldn't have accused you.' The sincerity was tangible. After a few seconds of intense staring at the ginger now seated next to her, she broke into a surprisingly genuine smile.

'Hey, that's alright. Oh and by the way, congrats on the relationship you two, I'm glad you won't be moping round our dorm anymore.' Katie smiled at that, everyone else looked on in shock not having noticed the hands clenched together under the table, but certainly noticing the blush on the couple's cheeks. They were suddenly bombarded with questions.

'Thanks a lot!' Katie mouthed angrily at Gwen, only the small smile that followed showing the falseness of the scornful words. Gwen looked back surprised at the friendly-ish banter. Finally she mouthed back, a smile on her face as well.

'You're welcome. Pay back's a bitch.'

It's finished, it's over, and it's come to an end,

With our heroine making an unlikely friend.

That was a twist even I didn't expect,

That she'd form a bond with the prime suspect.

But the trouble had ended and the story is through,

So I suppose all that's left is for you to review