A/N: so, I'm not sure how much y'all are going to like this chapter; just remember tis a stepping stone to better bits of the story. However, Athena's inability to control herself does have backlash and let's be honest, the Gryffindors tend to be fair-weather friends at best…year four and five, anybody?

Also…don't own Harry Potter

Chapter Fourteen: Consequences and Legends….

The next morning after Mrs. Norris's attack found me in Dumbledore's office. I was actually worried this time because Gran and Aunt Andy were in attendance. Gran had come to fetch me from the common room this morning before breakfast, she'd caught me as we were headed down to the Great Hall. There'd been nothing about her demeanor that'd been happy as she pinched my ear and pulled me along.

"Gran!" I tried slapping at her hand "that hurts!"

She snorted as she pulled me along "it's not supposed ta tickle, lassie," there was a cold feeling in my stomach, her accent was thick "ye've made a fine mess for yer-self, lassie," she said calmly with a hint of bitterness "been in'a meetin' all morn'in with Dumbledore and yer guardians, after Lockhart came complainin' late last night," that cold feeling was getting colder as worry started to creep in "thought ya'd learned ya lesson 'bout keepin' yer smart remarks to yer-self and repectin' authority."

Oh…I was remembering that lesson right this moment. I kept quiet but didn't look away from her as she marched me along. Her face was stern and her eyes were flashing dangerously, her whole body was ridged and tense. Gran was livid and I had something to do with it.

There was a small bench outside of Dumbledore's office door at the top of the gargoyle stairs. Gran sat me down there when we heard shouting raised voices from the other side of the door. It sound like Uncle Ted, I grabbed for Gran's hand to keep her with me when she tried to go in there. I shook my head at her, Uncle Ted never raised his voice…ever. Gran smiled, then, at me before she gently caressed my face and kissed my forehead.

"…progress we made with her is gone!" Uncle Ted snapped, his voice coming in clear when Gran opened the door "…ball' did more damage to her than just her hand! I don't care what your experts said, Dumbledore, I know my niece!" I was crouched with my ear to the door so I could hear "she's still suffering from the effects of that damn ball! Athena has always had a problem with authority when she believes that someone is abusing that power, her attitude has always been one of reaction. If you'd get past who her mother is then maybe you'd recognize that about the girl."

Dumbledore's voice came calmly back "this punishment comes because this is not the first time that Athena has disrespected authority. She had this problem all last year and this time she did it to not one but five different authority figures, regardless of the circumstances," he never raised his voice, it was an even tone "Athena grossly overstepped and did it in front of other students. She has been talked with about this and the way she treats Professor Lockhart."

"Albus," Gran cut in "taking three hundred points for this isn't going to be teaching her a lesson, it will turn Gryffindor against her!" Gran argued, that cold feeling had settled in my stomach and was now an ice burg "that is making this a house punishment, not just a personal punishment with personal responsibilities and burden for what she's done!"

"Athena has no care for points," Aunt Andy chimed in "she's learned that they are easy come, easy go. She needs to learn that she can't just run her mouth and expect things to go her way just because she says so and leading others into it!"

"SHE'S NOT HER MOTHER!" Uncle Ted roared and made me jump "Athena is nothing like Bellatrix, Andromeda, and she will never be Bellatrix!" he snapped angrily "does Athena have a temper? Merlin, YES! Can she cut you to pieces with words? Yes, she can but what you seem to forget is how devastated she was afterwards," his tone softened "that girl cried herself to sleep, I know because I saw it when I went to check up on her and found the tear stains on her cheeks. I saw how withdrawn she became. If you don't believe me, ask Harry. He saw it too. He was scared that we'd lose her to this; that she'd never be the same Athena she'd been. The girl who came running to his defense more than once even after he'd lie to her, who saved Neville without a thought to her own safety!"

I pulled away from the door then and stopped listening. The thought that all Aunt Andy saw now was my mum when she looked at me being confirmed hurt worse than I thought it would. My head lulled back against the wall once I'd sat back down on the bench, the furthest away from the door that I could get. I didn't it was possible to feel defeated and rebellious at the same time.

….

When the finally opened and Gran ushered me in to the room, the rebellious feeling had turned to anger. A part of me was seething but I needed to keep it under wraps. I needed to keep calm because things could get worse. That's what my mantra was, running through my head, over and over again as I sat down in the empty chair between Aunt Andy and Gran.

"Miss Black, do you know why we're here this morning?" Dumbledore asked smoothly, leaning back in his chair.

I shrugged "because you still owe me sour candy?" I asked deflecting and delaying the inevitable.

The headmaster smiled "nope, I already delivered that to your Grandmother. She assured me she'd put it in a candy bag for you with a note."

"Oh, I didn't go through it yesterday," I admitted "did you get the good…"

Aunt Andy reached over and slapped me upside the head "what were you thinking disrespecting your professors? Insulting one of them continuously? One of them wanted to have you booted out of here, expelled with your wand snapped!"

"Lockhart's an arse," I muttered rubbing at my head then said louder "what you on me for then? I'm not the only one who's disrespectful!"

"Miss Black, this is about you and you are the one constantly reprimanded for it," Dumbledore said evenly, as if it was an easy fact "this is about your actions and how disrespectable you are to Professor Lockhart."

"How can I respect a fraudulent, egotistical pen jockey?" I demanded "the man is worthless in that classroom!"

Uncle Ted stepped in "Athena, this is what we're talking about!"

"I wasn't being disrespectful," I pointed out "if I was I would have called him a fucking liar whose only ever gotten anywhere because of his fucking looks," I cried "the man is a gods-be-damned FRAUD who is fucking worthless. In all my time with Fraser, in all the time we spent amongst the monster hunters and their community, never once did I hear his name be spoken," I scoffed angrily "if he did everything he claimed too, then he'd be the go to man that everyone would have called; his name would have fucking been the fuck out there! There'd have been stories about the bloody man!"

Dumbledore blinked at me "Miss Black, that language is not needed here and Professor Lockhart's credentials are not in question…"

"THEY SHOULD BE!" I bellowed incredulously "maybe this wouldn't be a problem if he was a competent teacher! Maybe there wouldn't be a problem if this school wasn't a joke! You claim to be one of the best but you have a skeleton staff for over a thousand children. One teacher for each subject when you should have at least three!" I couldn't stop myself "there are no support staff, no counselors! You've one Head of House to watch out for an average of two hundred and fifty students per house!" I made a sound of disgust as I stood, that seething rage was loose "you're failing these children and you want to talk to me about disrespect?"

"How I run my school is not up for debate, Miss Black, nor does it change your punishment," Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow, that was it "you, as a student, do not have the right to disrespect any member of my staff. They were hired to fulfill a purpose and they do not have to take such flagrant disobedience," I gritted my teeth as Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair "as punishment for this you will lose 200 points…"

"WHAT!" I cried, my eyes wide and bugging out, Uncle Ted and Gran made noises of protest "you're going to get me murdered! Hexed most certainly!"

"Would you like to lose all of them, lass?" Gran asked darkly "say another word and I'll take them myself. Get yourself under control, lass, before you make this worse for yourself."

"…and you'll have detention for the rest of term before the Christmas holidays, and you'll be under strict curfew rules. You are prohibited from the library, if you need a book you must send a request through Jubilee to Madam Pince, you are prohibited from leaving the castle expect to attend Herbology and you will in your dorm by eight unless accompanied by a professor," Dumbledore continued as if he hadn't been interrupted "and you'll be spending your DADA class time with me."

I couldn't breathe as I collapsed back in my chair "but…but…but…they're going to kill me," I was staring at the front of Dumbledore's desk, my mind reeling. I didn't care at the moment about the restrictions it was the points because "my house is gonna turn on me for this. I didn't do anything that should account for this!"

Aunt Andy growled softly "you have continued to disrespect your teacher, Athena," she said pointedly "in front of other students as well. You need to learn to control your mouth, little girl, it could have been worse."

"He's not a proper Professor!" I growl looking up at my aunt with angry tears "he's a bloody fucking fraud! He don't know shite! It's a bloody disgrace that he's allowed to be called an educator in the first place!"

Aunt Andy pointed a finger at me "watch it, Athena, I won't be talked that way to."

I was shaking with rage, my fist clenched on the arm of the chair "will there be anything else for this inquisition? Hmm…is there an iron maiden waiting for me? It'd be kinder than what the Gryffindors are going to do to me considering they were planning to do last year."

"I will have a talk with the Gryffindors," Gran assured me, she didn't look happy about this either "there will be no retribution for this if I canna help it because I know what you're capable of, Athena, and I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Oh, I'm the dangerous one, am I?" I demanded, her words hitting me wrong

"That's not what I meant, lassie," Gran evenly, trying to hold her tone.

I just growled looking away from the Scottish woman "am I free to leave no or will there be more of this?"

"No, you're dismissed," Dumbledore shrugged and the door to his office "see you tomorrow, Miss Black, don't be late."

"Well, glad to see you all fucking care about my welfare," I muttered getting up "families are nothing but traitors it seems. Thanks for that lesson."

"ATHENA BLACK!" Gran and Aunt Andy called at the same time but I didn't turn, just kept walking.

….

I had no idea where to go at first, that'd be safe. While my brain was trying to puzzle this out, my feet carried me to the Great Hall. It was the shock of cold liquid hitting me that drew me from my daze, and it didn't stop. I was being pelted with pumpkin juice, syrup, oatmeal and runny eggs; I threw up my arms to protect myself as I stumbled backwards.

George and Fred pulled me back to safety, throwing up a shield charm to stop the food and the one jinx sent my way. I could hear Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Malcom and Isobel's screaming voices through the din, then there was the professors' ringing over the Holmes twins. Fred was using a napkin to wipe my face clean as we walked.

"What did you do, Athena?" George asked softly "Lockhart's been bragging how nobody gets on his bad side and doesn't suffer. Then we lose 200 points! What happened?"

"Apparently calling Lock-fart an idiot and pointing out why is frowned upon in this establishment," I had never felt so defeated in my whole time at Hogwarts "I told them this would happen," I shook my head, still staring at the floor as they led me back to the dorms "this is punishment for me having a big mouth. They took the points, put me under a strict curfew, gave me two months detention and pulled me from his class. "

"I think they went overboard," Fred said in disbelief "what in Merlin's name were they thinking?!"

I just shrugged as George gave the Fat Lady the password. Jubilee hissed when she seen the state of me, she'd heard what happened even way down in the kitchens. She sent me to the shower and brought me clothes. I scowled when I noticed that my bandages had gotten filthy when I'd thrown up my hands. This meant a trip to the infirmary.

…

I felt like crying as I snuck out of the Gryffindor Tower. Fred and George had left saying they needed to find a certain poltergeist and Jubilee had stationed herself at my bed to protect my things; she promised that an elf would always be on duty. That was nice, but who was going to protect me?

That question was answered in the most unlikely of ways imaginable. I'd been about to leave the corridor to the tower when I ran headlong into wall of yellow. No, really, I ran smack into someone and it knocked me backwards. I landed on my bad hand, squealed very loudly at that, and was crying when strong hands pulled me up to sitting.

"Are you okay?" asked Susan Bones kneeling next to me on the stone floor, Annie and a brown headed boy who played seeker was kneeling were on either side of her. It looked like the rest of their house was behind them.

I gulped as I looked down at my hand, it really hurt "I really hope that's ketchup," I looked at my reddened palm and whimpered pitifully "I'm really starting to hate this place."

"Hey, there," the boy said softly and wiped my tears away "you'll be just fine, we Hufflepuffs will see to it, especially after Fred and George started passing around why you got in trouble."

I blinked at him, Annie and Susan "I don't understand, what?"

"I'm Cedric Diggory," the boy held out his hand for me to shake "and we don't think it's fair what happened." I shook his hand

"That makes a group of us then," I smirked darkly as Cedric helps me to stand and wince as my hand throbbed, it makes my whole arm tingle "ouch! I think I tore the skin."

Susan frowned and slid an arm around my shoulders "best get you to Madam Pompfrey then, Miss Black."

The most of the puffs are sent off to do their own thing as a core group surrounds me, mainly made up of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team (which Megan Jones made it on to), Annie and Susan. Cedric took the lead, keeping his hand on my shoulder and started towards the infirmary.

Madam Pompfrey was not happy to see what I'd done to my hand, nor was she happy with the fact that Susan and Annie refused to leave when they were told to. The rest of the puffs found themselves nice seats outside the infirmary and waited. The matron finally gave in because she still needed to treat my hand that was starting to sting.

"Two weeks of healing wasted," the healer growled upon seeing my hand, my palm all torn up and bleeding, she glared at me "all that newer skin will have to be removed and we'll have to start again!"

"Don't bloody glare at me, woman," I gritted out, Susan patted me comfortingly on the shoulder "sorry, but it's not like I wanted this to happen. You think I enjoy having my hand like this, hmmm? Because that answer is a very big NO!"

"Well, I have to contact Healer Strout," Pompfrey huffed "don't move!"

I huffed back at her and looked to Susan "thanks for what you're doing, Suzie, both of you," Annie was sitting on the end of my bed "you didn't have to."

Susan just smiled and shrugged "we know, but we wanted to."

"WHAT'S THIS!?" Madam Pompfrey screamed from the door of her office

There came Harry, Neville, Ron and a few of the older Gryffindors looking like they'd just lost to Mike Tyson with Gran herding them into the infirmary. They were covered in food bits and blood, some even looked like they tangled with magic. The Hufflepuffs outside looked on with curious intrigue.

"They started a fight, Poppy, in the Great Hall after what happened did ta Miss Black," Gran growled her accent thickening. Harry and Neville chose the beds on either side of me and Ron the one across from me "I've never seen such animosity over something as childish as this! What are ye doing here?" Gran snapped when she seen me.

"She fell and tore open her hand, Professor," Susan answered for me, which was probably a good thing "the Hufflepuffs decided that we weren't going to let her be attacked in such a way so we rallied for her," Susan had the same fire in her eyes that her aunt did "we believe what was done was unfair."

"See," Gran shouted at the older kids "that's loyalty and I didn't even know they were friends! They're not even in the same house! Points can be earned back!"

"How! It took us two months to earn those!" an older boy growled stupidly "she lost them because she couldn't keep her mouth shut!"

"You're about to lose more than points because you couldn't keep yours shut, Mr. Towler," Gran snapped, she took a breath and looked to Pompfrey "I'll be back, they are not to leave until then, thank you," Madam Pompfrey nodded and then went to work as Gran looked to "you and I will be discussing what happened in the headmaster's office. I was acting in the capacity of your professor and Head of House and as your grandmother, do you understand? I was not betraying you, Athena, I was reprimanding you."

There were a few sounds of surprise from around the room from Gran's declaration "no, you were putting me in front of a firing squad for call Lockhart an idiot…"

"That's what she said!" Towler gaped as he interrupted "we lost points because she told the truth!"

"Mr. Towler," Gran hissed "be quiet!" the boy threw up his hands and laid back on the bed, Gran looked back to me as "now, lass, you will be coming to my office after dinner for detention. Understood?"

I sighed, defeated "yes, Professor McGonagall."

I heard Gran growl, she hated it now when I called her that when we weren't in class. It meant that I was mad at her or hurt by her and the woman didn't like that. She came over and kissed my forehead head, whispering that she did love me before she left.

"Your grandmother is Professor McGonagall?" Kenneth Towler asked and I nodded "that just seems like a harsh game of Russian roulette, you getting your granny today or the professor?"

I smirked darkly at the older boy "you've no idea."

…..

Gryffindor's ire about the loss of points had not gone away even with Fred and George's efforts. This was very much clear with the amount of stinging hexes and leg-lock curses that were sent my way on Monday between classes. Not all of them connected because the Hufflepuffs, Hermione and Neville were shielding me as best they could (Harry and Ron had yet to learn protego yet). Too bad for them and the stinging welts on the back my shoulder that Gryffindors could be sneaky if they wanted.

My mood wasn't helped when I learned that my detentions would be spent with Snape. It was in the interest of keeping things fair and profession but I felt like she was just handing me off. Gran tried to talk to me about it, she really did, trying to make sure that I was okay but it's hard to have a conversation with a brick wall.

Gran did make it so I'd come to her office after dinner and then she'd escort me to and from detention. It was her way of getting a chance to at least talk at me; that's what her plan was. For the rest of my detention sentence. Best thing about the situation was Snape. Instead of scrubbing cauldrons, he gave me lines on the chalk board because that only required one hand.

Hermione had been waiting up for me when I got back from my first detention. She'd told me the reason she hadn't come to see me in the infirmary because all of Gryffindor had been on lock down all of Sunday. There were Hogsmeade privileges were lost for the rest of the year for all but a few. Just another reason to hide, especially if the throbbing, achy sting in my shoulder was anything to go by. I probably should have just gone to the infirmary but I wasn't facing Pompfrey again.

Without a word, Hermione let me to the girls' bathroom and told me to take my shirt off or at least expose my shoulder. Thank the divines for training bras…why are they training bras? To they do tricks as they get older? Seriously? Anyways, I was glad for it because I did feel as naked when Hermione started rubbing an ointment into the tender skin on my back that she'd gotten from Susan. I hate puberty and different bits of my body changing without asking me first.

Athena, do you want boobs and hair in strange places? No? Well, too bloody fucking bad! Here ya go, no need to thank me, I did it for you, sweet pea! No returns and no refunds! Mother Nature is a bitch! I hope she suffered through puberty.

"You should tell McGonagall about this," Hermione said when I flinched at her cold, ointment covered fingers "this could get worse."

"It already is, Myne!" I cried looking over my shoulder at her "if I say anything it will get worse! All that could come of it is them re-sorting me! I'd prefer not to go through that, would you?"

"No!" she cried "I just don't like seeing you get hurt! It needs to stop!"

I pulled my shirt back on and buttoned it up before turning to face the weepy girl "I agree but right now the best I can do is to keep my head down."

Hermione surged forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, crying into my shoulder before asking "did you bring your copy of Hogwarts: A History to school?"

I burst out laughing, I couldn't help it "no, sorry," I shook my head "Nym switched it out for my record player."

"Good switch but damn…" Hermione wiped at her eyes as she let me go "I was distracting myself and hoping you had it because it calls about the Chamber of Secrets, I think."

I nodded and suggested "why not ask Kaylee tomorrow, we have her tomorrow? Right? Just ask her because she actually knows a lot about Hogwarts…and Ilvermorny and Beauxbatons and Drumstrang and almost everything major magicks school there is."

Hermione nodded and led me from the bathroom. Jubilee was waiting on my bed and looking at one of my comic books that I thought lost. I was surprise to realize that the little elf was actually reading it…she was reading! She looked up startled when Hermione and I got close and she noticed us. All the other girls had gone to bed.

"Thank you, Jubilee," I whispered as I hugged her "thank you for everything. I'm sorry that I haven't said that enough or at all. Thank you for making me laugh at Halloween. I really liked you costume."

Jubilee blushed and her long ears quivered happily. She hugged me back, gave me my nightly potion and then left. As I crawled into bed I wondered if I should put a shield charm on my curtains just to be safe.

…

Hermione did as I suggested, the next day in Kaylee's class. We'd been talking about Egypt and their unusual relationship with magic; least that's what we were supposed to be talking about. Near the beginning of class, Hermione had raised her hand and Kaylee sighed.

"Will you be asking about the Chamber of Secrets, Miss Granger?" Kaylee asked leaning back against her desk

Hermione blushed "yes, Professor Parmenter."

Kaylee nodded "well, you're not the first one to ask today, Miss Granger, or even this week, so I shall indulge your curiosity," she was getting eager looks from the rest of the class "so we all know that Hogwarts was founded by Rowena, Helga, Godric and Salazar. We have our houses named after them, correct?" she asked and most of the class nodded "well, if you remember from last year that near the end of what we call the Roman Empire in 476 A.D., there was a rift between the magical and muggle worlds. This is attributed to the rise and spread of Christianity. Muggles feared wizarding kind, which lead to witch trials. There is a reason that professors go personally to the homes of muggle-borns to explain about the magical world."

Seamus raised his hand "what does this have to do with the Chamber, ma'am?"

Kaylee just smiled at him "well, Salazar believed that Hogwarts should be more picky about who they let in, he believed that magic should be kept in all magical families. He honestly believed that muggle-borns who were strictly taught to believe in God were untrustworthy," she explained "through journal accounts and letters we know that there were several students who had crisis of faith vs. magic and some had gotten rather violent. I'm not saying that muggle-borns are evil…I'm muggle-born myself. However, history must be seen as it is, something that's already happened and can't be changed but it can be learned from so we don't repeat the same mistakes."

I raised my hand and Kaylee nodded to me "so was Salazar raging against religion or actual muggle-borns themselves?" I asked

"Very good question, Miss Black," Kaylee beams "and the answer is, we don't know. Not enough of the founder's writing still exist to fully answer that. Sure we have the text books they wrote but really nothing of their personal writings," she shrugged "we do know that this issue led to a big argument and a falling out the founders and Slytherin. However, a legend or story, started amongst the students that Salazar left behind," Kaylee smiled because almost everyone had leaned forward in their seats "they believed that Salazar had built a chamber somewhere in the school, like his own personal workshop. That when he left, he sealed the chamber so no one but an heir to his bloodline could open it again," Kaylee sighed and stood "story goes that Salazar left something behind down there, whether it was just mean to guard the chamber, the school or purge the school of those unworthy to learn it's hard to say. Could all be hogwash too, who can say? Something to just to scare little Slytherins in their beds back in the day…"

….

Neville and I followed behind Hermione, Ron and Harry as we fought out way through the crowd to get back to the common room so we could deposit our book bags. Ron was complaining about Slytherin and how there wasn't enough gold in the world to convince him to be part of that house. I think Ron was missing the fact that there was more than pure-blood mania to Slytherin's problem with muggle-borns.

We were almost to the tower when I felt the familiar sting and pinching pain of a stinging hex. It hit me across the small of my back and felt like I'd been whipped with razor wire. I yelped at the same time a boy behind us cried out in pain. Neville kept me on my feet.

Turning, we found that Kenneth Towler was laying on the floor with George and Fred standing over him. The twins were telling him something and the boy was nodding slowly. They grinned and before walking away they both hit him with an orange colored spell that turned Towler into a duck.

"Sorry we couldn't stop him in time, Whiskers," George apologized "he was already casting the spell when we came around the corner."

"He'll not to it again, promise you that," Fred joined in "are you okay, it looked like he got up pretty good."

"I'm fine," I lied, they seen through it because my face was pale and I was clammy "thanks for trying, though."

The boys just frowned but let it go. It's not like there was anything they could do to get me to admit it, or anybody else for that matter. They let us go but with a promise from me that I'd let Madam Pompfrey look at my back; that wasn't happening but I still promised.

My stomach was growling as we headed down stairs, I was gritting my teeth and trying not to let the hurt show. Ron did make me smile, though, when he shoved the duck out the window and told it to fly. He seemed quite pleased with himself when the duck crash landed into the lake.

We were almost to the Great Hall, Hermione had a firm grip on my arm when we happened to turn down the corridor that still happened to have the message written in red on it that Filch couldn't get rid of. There was an empty chair under the torch bracket that'd held Mrs. Norris.

"Looks like Filch is keeping a lookout," Neville shook his head "I feel sorry for him, no one should lose a pet like that."

We all nodded before Harry dropped down to the floor "why not look for clues?"

Ron and Harry were scouring the floor, Neville was inspecting the message and I was tugging on Hermione's sleeve. When I got her attention I pointed up towards the tops of the windows where a shit-ton of spiders were fleeing out the windows. They were like little acrobats swinging on silvery thread and running the hell away.

"That's weird," Hermione muttered after pointing this out to the boys "never seen spiders do that."

"Spiders don't have to have a reason," Ron gulped "their foul, vile, little creatures that your bothers turn your teddy bear into while you're holding it."

Hermione giggled "that sounds like firsthand experience, Ronald," she giggled again when he glared at her "hey, wasn't there water on the floor last time?"

"Yea," Neville nodded "and it was coming from there, I remember thinking that a burst pipe included into what happened would be shitty luck."

We went to the door just a few paces from Filch's chair, Ron stopped as he reached for the tarnished brass knob "can't go in here," he pulled his hand away "that's the girls' loo."

Hermione scoffed "no one's going to be in there," she was right "its Myrtle's bathroom," Hermione pulled me in with her as ignored the 'out of order' sign.

The bathroom was damp, dank and in very much in disrepair. Sinks and windows were both chipped and dirty. There were a few candles that'd been charmed to stay was they were, almost burned down and giving off half-light. Even the stalls hadn't been spared the wrath of time and neglect.

"Boys aren't allowed!" a high pitched and whiny voice screeched "why'd you bring them in here?"

"Hullo, Myrtle, how've you been?" I grinned at the ghostly girl

Myrtle gave me the once over "same as ever, though I do say that you've seen better days. Don't know why you make the others uncomfortable, maybe it's your hair," she growled then and zoomed closer "what are you whispering?" she demanded of Harry.

"Nothing," Harry sputtered with the bluish-white girl only inches from his nose "we just wanted to ask…"

"Who's been talking about me again?" Myrtle demanded, her fists clenched "I don't like it when people talk behind my back!"

"Myrtle, love," I said calmly "Harry wasn't talking bad about you, I promise. He's just a boy who hasn't yet learned to talk to girls…"

"IS THAT RIGHT!" Myrtle screamed in my face and demand with a snarl "and what was it that he wanted to ask?"

This conversation was doomed from the beginning. Myrtle hadn't seen anything and promptly chewed us out before dive head first into a toilet. Hermione glared at me and told me that it was probably better if I didn't talk to Myrtle again. Certainly would save me the headache.

Then we ran into Percy as we were coming out of the bathroom. He didn't buy the story about us hiding from the older students and accused us of snooping. Then the redheaded perfect went on a long rambled about Ginny being worried about us getting expelled and Mrs. Norris and then he went on about House pride. Ron gladly lost the five points jut to make his brother shut up.

We got to dinner halfway through and sat all by our lonesome at the very end of the table. It hurt that Angie refused to talk to me but whatever, worse things have happened in the world. When dinner was over, my friends escorted me to McGonagall's office and bid me goodnight.