"Chuck!", Briana yelled after him as she ascended the stairs to the boys' dorm.

He had already made it to their room and was telling Blaise about the dance when she threw the door open. The boys looked up quickly as she shut the door quickly behind her.

"What?!", Chuck tried to look innocent as he sat on his bed.

"Don't 'what' me, you know exactly what this is about!", Briana exclaimed as she sat on Blaise's bed across from Chuck.

He crossed his arms, "I don't know what this is about, actually."

"Why won't you ask Kaylee to be your date to the dance?!"

"Why should I?"

"You're already shagging her left and right! Why shouldn't you?!"

"Asking her to be my date would insinuate that I fancy her."

She looked flabbergasted at him, "Excuse me?! So you don't fancy her at all? You're just sleeping with her because you can?!"

Chuck shrugged indifferently, "That's basically right."

Briana narrowed her eyes at him, "You're lying. LIAR!"

"What are you talking about?", he looked a bit uneasy.

"You DO fancy her!", she pointed a finger at him. "You just don't want to admit it!"

"That could not be any farther from the truth, my dear."

"Then why do I see fear in your eyes?", she stared him in the eyes until he finally met her gaze.

Chuck sighed as he gave in, plunging deep into a spiel about what he was feeling, "I can't fancy her, I can't fancy anyone! That's why I just sleep with people, I try to distant myself so I don't catch feelings for anyone. Like when I first met you, I didn't want to date you, I didn't even think about just being friends! Honestly, at first, I just wanted to get you in bed! No offense, that was way back when... At any rate, I can't ask her to be my date, because that would just.. just defeat the purpose of constantly sleeping with her! Do you not understand the purpose of a barrier, Briana? I can't get close to people, I forbid myself! That's why it has taken me years to finally accept the fact that I'm close to Draco, Alex and Blaise, and that's been hard enough as it is! I'm still telling myself not to get attached to you, but that's-"

"Charles Kaelan Solomon!", Briana yelled. She felt proud that she had remembered Chuck's full name,after he'd told her what it was a couple weeks ago.

Blaise continuously looked back and forth between the two of them, the incredulous look never leaving his face. This was the most action he'd seen all day, being sick and all.

"Why is it so difficult for you to get close to people?!", she asked him.

He didn't say anything, so Blaise spoke instead. "Three people," he said simply.

Briana turned to Blaise, "What?"

"He puts up a wall because of three people; Ethan, Olivia, and Sean," Blaise spoke quietly, stealing a glance at Chuck who sat with his head in his hands, looking down at the ground.

She glanced at him for a second too before turning back to Blaise, "And what's the story behind them?"

"Well, they've all betrayed his trust," Blaise began. When Chuck didn't interject or tell him to stop, Blaise delved into the intense elaborations on each of their stories. "Ethan Bentley, yes the one you know, was Chuck's best friend from the time they were nine until they were twelve. Their friendship ended when Chuck found out that Ethan had only been his friend all those years because Ethan had a bet with his father to see how long he could, and I quote, 'stand him'. Then after that's pretty much when Chuck became the best of friends with us. We knew him beforehand of course, but that was the moment we grew such strong bonds. That's why Chuck hates Ethan so much, yeah?"

Briana nodded a bit sadly and waited for Blaise to continue.

"Olivia Reyes. Her story..." Blaise shook his head somberly at the recollection of the girl. "This pretty girl used to go to Hogwarts named Olivia and ever since his first year, Chuck fancied her sooo much. So, it was like his dream come true when they started dating in third year. In the middle of fourth year though, Olivia transferred to Durmstrang,but they continued to date. It was a really nice, chill relationship, and they dated until a bit after the beginning of fifth year. They broke up because Chuck had found out that Olivia had been cheating on him for an entire year with not one, but two other guys. But the worst part is, Olivia had claimed that she had started dating one of the two other guys before she started dating Chuck, so she basically slapped him in the face again by stating that Chuck was technically 'the other guy'."

Briana shook her head at Blaise, her eyes wide and her mouth agape while Blaise nodded sadly and sent Chuck a look of pity. Chuck was still in the exact same position; he hadn't moved a muscle.

"So lastly, and what I believe is the worst of all, is Sean. Sean Solomon," Blaise continued on. "Obviously this is Chuck's father, perhaps you've head him mention his name before. Well... Sean has a massive addiction problem. An addiction to both drugs and alcohol. According to Chuck, he's had this addiction for as long as he can remember. Chuck once told Draco, Alex and I that Sean got so incredibly drunk and high that he... used the Cruciautus Curse on Chuck's little sister Andrea. She was left in such critical condition that she was taken away to live with their Aunt and Uncle. You know that everyone places massive amounts of trust in their parents, that's just automatic, you know? So after this particular incident, Chuck practically ordered his father to quit and he promised he would go to rehab until his habit was gone. So Sean left the house for, I want to say, five months? And he told them that this whole time he was at rehab. Well... A couple weeks after Sean returned, Chuck found out that he had really just gone to Vegas and practically partied, drunk and smoked the entire time... So if Chuck ever talks about his father, which he almost never does, it's always something negative. He honestly hates his father more than anyone else in the world."

Briana had a hand to her mouth and her eyebrows were pressed together in concern so hard that she almost gained a headache. Blaise had the absolute most guilty look on his face which confused Briana to the utmost, but she paid little attention to it because her only concern at the moment was Chuck. She looked at him and found he was still in the exact same position, only at this point in time, he was letting silent tears fall onto the floor below him. Frankly, the sight of his tears scared her, for she was so used to hearing laughter escape from the boy. Briana slowly got up and sat next to Chuck on his bed.

"Hey," she said quietly as she took his hand in hers. "I apologize for snapping at you earlier, I had... I had no idea..."

He didn't speak at all, and Briana took this as her opportunity to give a bit of a spiel.

She sighed, then began, "Look, Chuck... After hearing all that you've gone through.. and I still remember that thing you told me about at the park... I can clearly understand why you have such trust issues. But let me tell you a few things. For one, I want you to know right now that I will never ever ever do you any intentional harm in anyway, unless of course, it proves necessary. I am your friend for now and for always because I see the good in you and know how brilliant of a person you are, and I will never give you a reason not to trust me. I am willing to make that unbreakable vow right now, that is how serious I am. And I don't want to speak for them, but you have the boys too. You said so yourself that you've admitted how much they mean to you, you know that they will always be here for you as well. And secondly... I know that you probably don't want to hear this, but I am going to tell you anyways because it's the truth."

He still didn't speak, yet he was listening to her words with rapt attention. Briana continued. "You must acknowledge the trust and love that you've lost for people, but that doesn't mean you have to forgive them, and that certainly doesn't mean you ought to forget. But it does mean that you move forward. If you live your life thinking that everyone in the world is the same, and that absolutely no good people exist... If you believe that nobody is trustworthy or worth your love, then you are wasting your life. You trust the boys, and hopefully this all means that you trust me. And you've only known me for a few months, yeah? What if you had completely cut me off, then I would not be here right now to tell you all this. You're stuck thinking of all the negative things that can happen from you opening yourself up again, but you need to think of the wonders that can result from opening up. By letting me into your world, you've now got me as your best female friend, yeah? And if you open your feelings up to Kaylee, instead of thinking she'll end up like Olivia, think that you and her could have something that nobody has experienced before. You need to stop being negative and think of the positives, Chuck! Take a chance!"

Blaise and Chuck both stared at Briana in the deepest admiration. She had taught both of them an extremely valuable lesson, even if it wasn't exactly intended for Blaise too. Chuck gave Briana a big hug and she almost couldn't breathe.

"Briana, I love you so... freakin much," he told her seriously. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

She smiled at him, "You're welcome, my dear."

"I sort of feel invincible now, thanks to you. I think I ought to go find Kaylee right now and tell her... everything," he smiled and a minute later he was up and at the door. "By the way," he added. "Draco doesn't need to be mad about me telling you that I love you. I only meant it as my sister."

"Note taken, dear brother," she smiled extremely widely as she watched him leave the room.

Briana then turned to Blaise, and said, "Do I need to give you a pep talk as well? I need to see you and Letha official already..."

He chuckled, "We're taking things slow, we don't want to rush anything. Since she's never dated anyone before, you know."

"Right," she nodded understandably. She met Blaise's eyes, and he was smirking immensely at her with an eyebrow raised. She chuckled at his facial expression, "What's that look for?"

"You are the only person in the world who has become best friends with everyone in this group, by sleeping with one of them and yelling at another, and then made another one of them your boyfriend."

Briana tried to be angry and glare intensely at him, but she couldn't contain herself as they laughed together for a while until Blaise suddenly had a coughing fit, which only caused Briana to laugh even harder.

Later that night, Kaylee and Briana were up talking in their dormitory. Letha had spent the entire day tending to Blaise, so they didn't really have time to tell her the news, but they figured the boys would fill her in.

"Briana, you are literally the best friend I have ever had," Kaylee gave her probably the fortieth hug since that afternoon. Promptly after Briana had given Chuck that pep talk, he had marched Kaylee to a secluded corridor where they spent two hours talking to one another, and eventually became a couple.

"I know, I know, you love me," Briana smiled at her. "Amazing how a little speech can really turn a guy around though. Before, he was freaking out to even admit his feelings to ME about you, and minutes later he's confessing his feelings right to your face."

"Ugh, I cannot believe it, it's like... a dream come true," Kaylee smiled to herself. "I just hope we last."

"So does he. You guys both have trust issues, but I can tell that deep down you guys are like, the perfect couple. You're just afraid to admit that you are a couple because of what may happen."

"It's just that neither of us can screw up in anyway, we'd freak out too much."

"You guys will be fine, I know it," Briana patted her head reassuringly.

She smiled back and then thought for a second, "Why are you and Draco so perf, though?"

"But we aren't," Briana sighed, thinking about Draco, and how he was secretly a Death Eater, and how he was secretly plotting his own headmaster's death, and how Briana was keeping her own secrets from Draco and how she felt so guilty about it that she wanted to die.

"Well whatever troubles the two of you are hiding," Kaylee said as she walked to her own bed and got underneath the covers. "You are insanely brilliant at hiding them."

"Good to know, Mrs. Solomon," she replied slyly as she got under her covers as well, and they turned out the lights.

Briana wasn't able to fall asleep, though. Her conversation with Kaylee had just made her realize how incredibly guilty she felt that she was keeping this secret of hers from Draco, her best friend, her boyfriend. She knew everything about him, no reservations, yet here she was keeping quite a big secret from him. But inside, she knew why she wasn't telling him. She didn't want Draco to worry, get mad and have more things to think about than he needed. Briana had every intention of telling him at some point, but she knew that now was probably the worst possible time to drop that bomb on him. Some day, though.

The next morning, Briana woke up later than she usually did, due to her lack of sleep. As you may know by now, Briana is an early riser, so her waking up later than usual was when everyone else usually awoke. She got out of bed to find the other girls all getting dressed already, so she then quickly got ready for the day along with them. Her hair was still straight from yesterday and she was too lazy to do anything fancy with it so she simply gathered her shiny dark hair into a high ponytail before running down the stars with her school bag over her shoulder.

When she got to the common room, Chuck, Alex and Draco were all waiting patiently on a couch. This was something different because Briana was usually the first one up and therefore, she was always waiting for them. Briana smiled at the boys as she approached them and they promptly stood up.

"Morning, lovely," Briana smiled at Draco as he grabbed one of her hands and gave her a kiss.

"Morning, beautiful," he replied. "Someone slept a bit extra this morning."

"Had some trouble sleeping last night, nothing major."

"Where's Kaylee?", Chuck asked, looking back at the stairs every two seconds.

"Relax, your girlfriend was getting her shoes on when I left. She should be down in a moment," Briana told him.

"Meet us in the Hall when she comes down," Alex told him as he left the common room with Draco and Briana.

On the way there, Draco found an opportunity to bring up a topic to benefit Alex.

"So," Draco began, one of his arms draped around Briana's shoulders as they walked to Breakfast. "Who were you thinking about asking to the dance, Alex?"

He shrugged, "Nobody. Was planning to go solo."

"Why don't you ask Bridget to come?", he suggested meaningfully.

"Oh, that would be brilliant!", Briana exclaimed.

"I don't know..."

"What don't you know?", Draco asked him.

"Well for her to fly over here just for one dance? Seems a bit much."

"Tell her to come Thursday morning, then she can come to Chuck's birthday as well. And then she would also be here all weekend."

"Chuck's birthday?", Briana asked curiously. "When is his Birthday?"

"The twenty-ninth," Draco answered. "Of course, he's having a big party the day of, which is a Thursday."

"Oh, well then that would be perfect," she agreed. "Halloween is on the Saturday after, so she can arrive on Thursday and leave Sunday. She would only have to miss two days of school, and I really really want to meet her!"

"Not to mention, it would be the perfect time for you to make a move," Draco added.

"Alright, I'll send her an owl then," Alex gave in with a sigh, though he was smiling in spite of himself.

"So what's the low down for Chuck's party?", Briana asked them.

Draco snickered at her, "The 'low down'. Those Americans surely got to you, didn't they?"

She elbowed his ribs playfully as Alex explained, "Well you know Chuck, all sexual and whatnot..."

"Oh no...", Briana smirked, knowing that a Chuck party was bound to be anything but innocent.

"So he's decided that the theme for his party is going to be the Playboy Mansion," Alex announced, laughing slightly.

"You've got to be joking me!", Briana laughed too.

"Honestly! And so all you girls have to wear Playboy bunny costumes, though he did make a point that Kaylee ought to stand out more than the rest of you lot."

"So let me guess, he's going to be Hugh Hefner?", Briana asked, half-joking and half-serious.

"Exactly right," Alex nodded with a slight smirk on his own face.

"Oh Merlin...", Briana shook her head, yet smiled to herself.

"I don't need to hear your complaining," Draco nudged her as he looked his girlfriend up and down. "I'm personally looking very forward to seeing you in one of those outfits."

"I could stand to see you in a little less clothing as well," she smirked as she looked him over the same way.

"Ew," Alex gave them a look. "Stop undressing each other with your eyes, it's weird."

They laughed at him while he shook his head, smiling while they finally reached the hall, taking their seats at the Slytherin table. They sat down and ate their food in contempt just as Chuck and Kaylee walked into the Great Hall, hand in hand.

Draco whispered to Briana as he watched them together, "Amazing how you were able to set them up so quickly."

"I just encouraged him, that's all," she shrugged, taking a bite of toast.

"My girlfriend; the match-maker."

She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll never get tired of hearing you call me that."

Draco smiled to himself at a thought he had, and he almost said it out loud but convinced himself not to.

"Wait, so Dray," Briana asked quietly. "Are you coming to classes today, or...?"

"No, I have to go work on the cabinet. I'll be going after Breakfast. Sorry," he sent her an apologetic look.

"Don't be. If anything, I should be sorry for you," she laid her head on his shoulder, thinking sad thoughts about the subject.

"Hey," he lifted her chin up so she was looking into his blue eyes. "We'll all get through this and whatever else follows."

He put on a small, reassuring smile before giving her a long kiss on the lips. When they pulled away, she gave him a weak half-smile, but she couldn't rid of the feeling in her stomach that told her things weren't going to run as smoothly as everyone hoped.