A/N: Sorry that I'm a day late! There's only 2 more chapters plus the epilogue after this so please enjoy!

-Casper

Henry and I were the most talked about couple at school. Despite his popularity, Henry was a nice guy who was serious about school. We were still getting to know each other and I enjoyed the entire process. We were currently in Hogsmeade and when we passed Spintwitches I turned to Henry.

"Oh let's head in their for a moment."

He looked at the store and then back at me quizzically.

"But that's a sporting goods store. Why would you want to go in there?"

I answered with just one word "Quidditch."

"Oh I didn't realize that you were into that."

"Into that? Did you not know that I'm the Slytherin Quidditch Captain?"

He looked honestly surprised at my statement.

"Oh I never realized, I don't go to the games. I've seen you around in classes, the library and in prefect meetings so I assumed that you didn't play."

"You don't go to the games?"

"No. I've never really been a fan of the sport to be honest."

I just stared at him. He finally cracked a smile at me.

"But I suppose if you want to go in I could manage a little bit in the shop."

I smiled widely at him, kissed him on the cheek and drug him into the shop.

I was sitting at the Slytherin table with Dom when Sam walked up and sat down.

"Girl's night tonight yeah?"

I looked at Dom, who nodded, before replying "Sure. It's our turn this time right?"

"Yep, see you down there later. Iz still knows the password?"

"Yeah. We'll head down to the kitchens after dinner for snacks."

"Don't forget the fun stuff."

"I already have some in my room don't worry."

Sam grinned before walking over to the Gryffindor table, presumably to talk to Iz and Rose.

Me and Dom had commandeered the chairs and sofas in front of the fireplace and were setting up a bunch of food when the rest of our group walked into the common room.

Iz saw the food, raced over, grabbed a brownie and threw herself on the sofa beside me.

"Mmmmm, brownies. Chocolatey goodness."

Once everybody had settled I pulled out my wand.

"Muffliato. We're good to talk guys."

Sam grinned "Perfect. So Iz, we haven't had a girls night since you and Fred started dating. Spill."

Iz's eyes got really big and she shoved the rest of her brownie in her mouth.

"Mrumm Mrumm Mrumm."

We all just stared at her. Rose rolled her eyes before telling Iz "Do you really think that's going to stop us for interrogating you?"

Iz swallowed and then sighed.

"It was worth a shot. There's not much to tell to be honest. We fight sometimes but we always talk it out. We don't really let anything simmer. It's good. I'm happy."

I let out a short laugh.

"Well that was boring."

Dom nodded her head.

"Exactly. What we all want to know is, is he a good kisser? How far have you guys gone?!"

Iz sputtered and turned bright red at the last comment. Rose then waved her hand at Iz.

"You'd better just tell us." She demanded.

Iz turned to Rose.

"Traitor. You didn't want to talk about anything when you and Scorpius got together!"

"But I had too, so now you have to as well."

Iz looked at our faces and, apparently not seeing any sign of us relenting, gave in.

"Well, not that I have a ton of experience, but he's by far the best kisser I've ever had. And before you all get too excited that's all we've done. Some minor snogging, that's it. He's been a perfect gentleman about the whole thing which is great."

Dom snorted.

"Ha. Perfect gentleman. But at least you know he really does care. If he didn't he might be more pushy."

I then chimed in.

"And Dom would know all about that wouldn't she."

She then chucked a pillow at my head and I quickly dodged it, smirking while she pouted in her chair. She then quickly sat up.

"Hey we haven't asked Kat about Henry. So, same questions."

Unlike Iz, I had almost no modesty so I answered the questions easily.

"Starting with the good stuff, he's a great kisser. I've kissed my share of guys but never had any desire to go past that."

Sam butted in.

"And do you now?"

"Sort of, I like him more than any of the other guys I've ever gone on a date with."

"Well I'd hope so seeing as you never actually dated any of them." Rose shot out sarcastically.

Dom impatiently waved her hand.

"And how far have you gone?"

"Nowhere near your level Dom, don't get so excited. Just some heavy snogging and some minor groping. Nothing too major. The big issue is, well I discovered today that he doesn't like Quidditch."

"WHAT?!" The entire group managed to say at once. Someone, I'm not sure who really, sputtered out.

"Is that even possible?!"

Iz nodded her head in agreement.

"I mean really what's not to love about it?!"

"I know. He didn't even realize that I like it. He said that he saw me in prefect meetings and in the library and in my classes so he assumed that I didn't like it. When I told him that I was the Slytherin captain he looked so shocked. He still went into Spintwitches with me anyway."

"Well, I suppose he could be taught to like it…" Sam said trying to sound hopeful.

"It's okay. Enough about me, Sam anyone we should know about?"

At her negative shake of the head I continued.

"Dom, Rose. What's going on with you and your boys."

Rose gestured at Dom to go first.

"Yeah, that's over. I've got my sights set on this 6th year Ravenclaw though."

We all just shook our heads and then looked at Rose. She took a deep breath.

"Well, over Christmas Holidays I spent some time at Malfoy Manor with Scorpius and his family and well, I slept with him."

We all just stared at her before I decided to try and break the awkward silence.

"Well it was about time."
"KAT" my sister practically screeched at me. But then we all burst out laughing. I looked back at Rose.

"You don't regret it?"

She had a soft smile on her face as she replied.

"Not one bit, I love him. I know he loves me. I didn't go there with that intention, but it felt right."

Even Dom got slightly misty eyed at that statement. So I changed the subject and we spent the rest of the night eating, gossiping, eating junk food and drinking the firewhiskey that my dear friend Scorpius bought for us.

I woke up one morning in the hospital wing confused as to how I had gotten there. After a few minutes everything came back to me. The night before the Potters, Woods, Weasleys, and Herondales had all gotten together for a friendly game of Quidditch. I remember that Iz and I's team, along with James Potter and Fred Weasley, destroyed the other team. Then I remember hearing James shout my name and blackness.

I heard a commotion coming from outside the hospital wing and yelled as loud as I could.

"Oi shut it will you, my head feels like it's going to explode already without you lot gabbing about."

At my voice a huge group stormed into the hospital wing, Iz of course was leading the charge.

"So somebody want to tell me what happened?"

"Well you were hit by a bludger" James helpfully said.

"Really?! I thought I had been hit by the bloody golden snitch. Of course I was hit by a bludger!"
"Kat, calm down. Nobody hit it, it was just flying all over the place." Iz calmly explained.

I exhaled. "Sorry, my head just feels like the whomping willow attacked it."

"You see this is why I've been trying to tell you to stop playing Quidditch."

I heard a voice say from my other side. The entire room went silent, an impressive feat considering who was in there. I sighed, recently my relationship with Henry had been going downhill fast. He always complained about my time at Quidditch practice. The rest of the time we spent together he used trying to convince me to stop playing. He even bought me a book "The Dangers of Playing Quidditch and its Adverse Effects." I had been debating breaking up with him for a few weeks now but with that last comment I decided I was done putting up with his shit. I turned to him, my voice icy.

"Is that so. Is there anything else that you'd like to add to this conversation?"

Either he was completely oblivious or he didn't care about my tone because he kept digging his hole.

"Well yes, do you know what could happen if you were hit a couple more times? Your brain could suffer permanent damage. You'll need your brain for your job. Are you really going to play professional Quidditch? The odds of that are very slim Kat."

By this point I was seeing red. His dismissive attitude towards the sport I could mostly handle, I could even handle him talking about the possible brain damage. What I could not handle was his attack to my playing ability. My pride would not allow it.

"Alright. Listen well. Yes the odds of playing professionally are slim. I may or may not make it as a professional player. But you do not get to comment on it, you've never once watched me play. You have no idea that I might be the best chaser in the school. You know nothing about it so why don't you stop making yourself look like a right idiot?"

I saw the shock on his face but I was on a roll and couldn't find it in myself to stop.

"On top of that, Quidditch is something that I love. We've spent most of our time together with you trying to get me to stop doing something that I love. Who does that? Furthermore, who do you think you are trying to tell me what I can or can't do?! You are not my keeper. Go find someone who will let you do that."

He looked at me for a moment before standing up. He then looked me straight in the eye and calmly stated.

"You know, most people thought that I was insane for dating you. I ignored what everyone said because I thought that they were wrong. But I was the wrong one. Thanks for showing me your true nature. You really are the Slytherin Ice Queen."

With that last statement he walked out of the hospital wing. Not wanting to see the looks of disgust on everybody's face, I turned my back to the group and said aloud.

"Please just go, I'm tired."

I felt Iz's hand touch my shoulder briefly before I heard everybody leave.

I didn't go to sleep, I knew that I should feel bad for how I treated Henry but I couldn't find that guilt anywhere. That made me feel guilty. Henry and I wouldn't have lasted much longer, but I should've not let my anger get the best of me. Thinking back on our relationship I realized that I spent most of the time comparing him to James. Looking back, I kept projecting my feelings for James onto Henry and just didn't realize it. Despite all of the dates that I had been on, I wasn't very experienced in the actual relationship department. I was still thinking about my miserable relationship abilities when I heard the door to the hospital wing creep open. I sat up and peered into the darkness. When I felt something touch my arm, I jumped and almost screamed when I saw James face staring at me from the side of my bed.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" I hissed at James. The git just shrugged and sat down next to me on the bed.

"I just wanted to check and see how you were doing?"

I almost gave him a noncommittal answer but then I decided that I needed to get it off my chest. I could really only tell this kind of stuff to Iz, Fred or James and James was the one here right now.

"Honestly, I've been better. I should feel guilty about how I acted earlier. But I don't, so I feel guilty about that."

"Wait, so you're telling me you feel guilty about not feeling guilty?"

I chuckled at the incredulous look on James' face.
"You're mad woman. But he deserved it. Everything you said was completely correct."

"I was a bitch."

"… Okay a little bit. But it wasn't too bad."

"You're just trying to make me feel better."

"Is it working?"

"A bit."
"Mission accomplished then."

I then looked straight at James and tried to convey as much gratitude as possible in the next two words. "Thank you."

He smiled and nodded at me. We fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments.

"So how have you been?" I asked James.

"I've been good. I've actually been talking to this girl, Hope Winters. She's in Hufflepuff, our year."

Now I wished that I had never asked him anything. Despite the fact that my heart was fiercely protesting, I managed to sound normal when I responded.

"Oh I've seen her around. She's very pretty and super nice."

We fell into silence again and when James started to nod off, I nudged him and kicked him out of the hospital wing.

True to his word, James started dating Hope less than 2 weeks later. As much as I tried to, I couldn't find much fault with her. She was pretty, relatively intelligent and super nice. Even I felt like a bitch when I tried to find something wrong with her. She also seemed to get along with everybody else and with James dating Hope, and Fred dating Iz, I felt like the 5th wheel so I threw myself into Quidditch and school work. I was flying on the Quidditch pitch one day when Iz flew up beside me.

"Hey, haven't seen you around in a while." She accused.

"Not true, I saw you at breakfast this morning."

"From across the great hall. Yes we had such a riveting conversation."

"I'm sorry, I've just been busy."

"Yes. You've been very busy ignoring James."

I turned my head so fast that I was seeing stars. "What?!"

Iz laughed at my expression. "I'm not blind Kat, I've been watching you for a while now. I had some suspicions right after you broke up with Henry but they were pretty much confirmed after James started dating Hope."

I didn't respond.

"How long have you fancied James?"

I sighed. "Honestly, since the beginning of last summer."

Iz looked shocked "Last summer? Man my twin radar is off. I didn't pick up on anything before you broke up with Henry."

"That was the point." I said with a wry grin.

"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to have to be in the middle. You're best friends with James, dating Fred. I didn't want you to have to deal with it."

"YOU'RE my best friend. Twin. My other half. The yin to my yang. We're in this whole mess called life, together."

I surprised both of us when I reached across the gap between our brooms and hugged her. "Thank you."

She grinned. "Of course. Ignoring why you let it sit for so long, why didn't you say anything after you broke up with Henry."

"They're actually the same reason. He's never shown any indication of liking me, and before you start, Fred did with you. Now he's with Hope and you all get along so well that I don't want to ruin things."

At that statement Iz started laughing so hard I was afraid she was going to fall off her broom.

"Oh Merlin. You think we actually like her!? She's nice sure, but she's duller than an afternoon spent in History of Magic. She also has zero clue about Quidditch. Like at all. She walked down with us to Quidditch practice the other day and when I pulled out the balls, she asked me what the big red ball was called…"

"No…"

"Yes, she also doesn't understand sarcasm. I tried to make a joke one time and she thought that I was serious. Now Fred and I just try and deal with her as little as possible."

"If she's so bad then why is James dating her?"

"Honestly, I don't think they'll last much longer. James told Fred that he had liked someone else before dating Hope but Hope was super nice so he decided to give it a try. Apparently he's still interested in that same girl and he's feeling bad about stringing Hope along. Maybe…."

I immediately cut her off. "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to get my hopes up. Hope breeds eternal misery."