Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 36

Once George and I finished up our date at the Three Broomsticks, we decided that we would go over to the candy shop to buy something for Fred since we knew that he wasn't going to be doing anything special for Valentine's Day.

"It's a shame really," George said. "He's a great guy - I would know. He just never asks anyone out."

"Do you know if he's interested in anyone?" I asked as I began to place some color-changing jelly beans into a bag.

"He hasn't actually said anything," he said. "But I'm pretty sure that he fancies Angelina."

"Why won't he ask her out on a date then?" I asked. "I'm sure that she wouldn't say no to him."

"Who knows," George shrugged. "Maybe if someone else would talk to him about it…"

He gave me a sideways look and I let out a sigh - I knew where this was going. Now I was going to have to play match-maker so that Fred could be happy. This wasn't going to be exactly an easy task to accomplish considering that Fred probably wouldn't listen to me if he didn't listen to George to begin with.

"Would you please talk to him?" he asked gently.

When George put on his puppy dog face, I knew that there was no way that I could ever tell him no. He's a manipulative little git…but I still loved him regardless.

"Fine," I sighed. "I guess that I could try…"

"Thanks babe," he smiled and kissed me. "Have I told you that you're the most wonderful person that I've ever met?"

"No, but it wouldn't hurt to say it more often," I smirked.

Once we finished picking out some more candy for Fred, we decided that we would walk back to the castle. On our way back, I convinced George to go by and see if Harry was doing all right on his date with Cho, but he made me promise that we wouldn't get involved at all.

"Do you know where they went off to?" I asked him.

"No idea," he shrugged. "Probably somewhere awful knowing Cho's taste."

I gave a quick glance around the area and spotted the place that I knew they would be in. It was a small teashop located near the Three Broomsticks. The shop was overly decorated for Valentine's Day and the mere sight of it made me sick with how much pink was around it. If I ever had to imagine what Umbridge's house would look like, this would be an exact match to it.

"We aren't going in there," George said eyeing the place as if it was some sort of horrible disease.

"Trust me, I don't want to," I said. "Maybe we could just pass by and see if they're there through the window."

We nodded in agreement and walked past it and I noticed them sitting next to the window for a split second before they were out of sight again. I couldn't see exactly what had been going on, but I couldn't imagine that Harry would be enjoying himself in a place like this. Who knows though, people can change if they really want to be around someone else.

"The poor bloke," George said. "Being dragged into a place like that must be dreadful."

"What if I asked you to go in there?" I asked.

"I would question your sanity," he answered honestly.

I laughed and we continued to head on towards the castle. He held onto my hand and we followed behind some of the other couples that were headed the same way. Not even a minute later, I heard someone walking quickly behind us and they sounded like they were crying heavily. Both George and I looked at each other questioningly before we glanced back to see Cho stomping her way through everyone with tears streaming down her face.

"Oh here we go," George muttered.

"Cho!" I called to her as she tried to pass us.

She attempted to wipe the tears from her face when she turned to me and she looked incredibly nervous and surprised to see me there.

"Oh - hi E-Emily," she said while some more tears escaped from her eyes.

"What happened?" I asked. "Did Harry say something bad to you?"

"No - I just need to go," she said quickly and began to speed up her pace.

Before I knew it, she was lost in the crowd of people walking back leaving both George and me confused about what had just happened.

"What was that about?" George asked.

"Who knows," I said. "It's hard to tell if Harry said anything to her - Cho cries at the drop of a hat these days. I guess I can't blame her, but the girl needs to calm herself down.

It wasn't long before we made it back to the castle where we found Fred and Lee talking to a group of third years in the Gryffindor common room. I had a sickening feeling that he was doing something that Hermione would be seriously angry about, but who was I to say anything to him?

"Oh, look who showed back up early?" Fred said as he walked over to us. "How was Hogsmeade - filled with the corny, snogging couples that are there every Valentine's Day?"

"Of course," I said.

"That's why I don't do those sort of things," he said as he handed a box to a third-year boy that was standing next to him. "Now take this carefully - we aren't sure of the side-effects yet."

The boy nodded enthusiastically and then ran off to join some of his other friends that were holding similar looking boxes in hand. The only thing I could do was feel pity for Madam Pomprey because I knew that it was going to be her that was going to have to deal with the after effects of all of this.

When I looked back at George, he was giving me a look and pointing at Fred who was now packing some things away in a larger box nearby. I shook my head rapidly, but he starting nodding his head and smiling. Why would he want me to talk to Fred now of all times?

"Well, I'm going to be right back," George said while looking at me intently. "I need to get something from my room."

"Okay," Fred said. "Hurry back though - we need to see how these new products react on these kids."

He nodded and then walked over to the stairs. Just before he was out of sight he mouthed "just do it" and then walked away. I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Fred who had now just plopped onto the couch and was looking over at the third-years like he had just won the grand prize.

"You aren't going to tell Hermione about this, right?" he asked suddenly.

"Have I ever told Hermione about the things that you two do?" I asked as I sat next to him.

"No," he smiled. "So did you have a good Valentine's Day?"

"Sure," I said. "We went to the Three Broomsticks."

"I would have thought the two of you would have gone to Madam Putifoot's Teashop," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah right," I said with a look of disgust. "But Harry went in there."

"Really?" he said in surprise. "Who did he go with?"

"Cho Chang," I said.

"It's about time that he said something to her," he said. "He's always looks like he's lost his marbles when she's around."

"I've noticed," I laughed.

We watched as the third years happily ingested the candies that Fred gave them and I shook my head. There wasn't an immediate reaction, but I knew that the end result would be awful knowing the normal things that the twins came up with.

"So why didn't you go out with anyone today?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "It's not really my thing…"

"Oh come on," I said with a small smile. "It's a lovely holiday."

"Not really," he said. "I've always viewed it as a holiday that reminds all of the single people out there how single they really are."

"Well that's miserable," I said with a grimace. "But maybe you could change that."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Why don't you ask someone out?" I asked. "I know that you've been eyeing Angelina."

"What - no," he said as his face began to grow red. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb," I laughed. "But seriously, you should just ask her out on a date. I'm sure that she would love it."

"Eh, I don't know," he said while scratching his head nervously. "I don't think that she looks at me like that."

"Sure she does," I said. "I know that she misses being around you."

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"She's always saying how she misses you being on the team," I told him. "You always made her laugh."

"George and I both did that," he shrugged.

"But she didn't say anything about George," I said.

"That's only because she was talking to you," he said. "She probably figured that you would knock her upside the head with a bat if she mentioned missing your boyfriend."

"No I wouldn't," I laughed. "Besides, you went out with her to the Yule Ball last year and I know that she had a great time."

"Yeah, but it was different then," he said.

"No it wasn't," I said. "Just take a chance, I'm sure that you won't regret it."

Just as he went to say something else, one of the third-year girls screamed as she began to sprout extra eyes all over her face and arms. The boy next to her began to grow ears all over his arms and the pair looked like a pretty frightening sight.

"Is that supposed to happen?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly," he grimaced.

A moment later, I heard footsteps coming down from the dormitories and George suddenly appeared. He gave me a look that clearly said 'did you talk to him?' and I gave him a small smile in return. When he caught sight of the third years, he raised an eyebrow and looked at them.

"I think that one needs some work," he said.

"I have to agree with that mate," Fred said. "We better make sure that Granger doesn't see this one - we'll be in detention for ages."

"I'll go see if I can keep her distracted," I said. "I'm sure that she's back by now - it's nearly time for dinner anyway."

"Thanks babe," George said.

I gave them all a wave and then quickly walked out of the common room to leave them to their mess that they had created with the other students. When I made it down towards the Great Hall I spotted Hermione sitting with Harry at the Gryffindor table. It's a good thing that they hadn't gone directly up to the tower when they got back.

"Hey," I said as I sat down next to them. "How are things?"

"Just great," Harry muttered sarcastically.

"Oh yeah," I said. "I meant to ask - what was wrong with Cho? I saw her running off on my way back up here."

"A long story short," he said. "She started talking about all of her past boyfriends and then she wanted to start talking about Cedric. I really wasn't in the mood to discuss it or see her crying anymore, so I told her no and she ran out of the teashop we were in."

"Wow," I said. "Why was she doing all of that?"

"It's his own fault really," Hermione said with an eye roll. "He told Cho that he wanted to meet with me in the Three Broomsticks."

"Have I taught you nothing about girls Harry, honestly?" I sighed and shook my head. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I didn't see the big deal," Harry said innocently. "I was just being honest - Hermione did ask me to meet with her."

"He could have worded it differently," Hermione sighed. "He wasn't being smart."

"How many times are going to tell me that Hermione - I get it!" Harry said irritably. "I'll make a mental note to never do that again…"

"So what were you two meeting for anyway?" I asked.

"Oh, I wanted you to meet with me too," Hermione said sounding disgruntled as she lowered her voice. "I had Rita Skeeter with me."

"Rita Skeeter?" I asked in disbelief. "What for?"

"Well, I wanted her to get an interview with both of you," Hermione said. "But I couldn't find you."

"Didn't you say that you were in the Three Broomsticks?" I asked. "I was in there too."

"It was very crowded, so I must have missed you," she sighed.

"Why did you want her to interview us for?" I asked.

"Because she is the one that started this whole mess," Hermione said. "If anyone can convince the public that you all are telling the truth it's her."

"Even if she wrote an amazing piece on what really happened that night, there's no way that the Prophet would publish it - Fudge wouldn't allow it."

"We aren't sending it to the Prophet," Harry said. "We're sending it to The Quibbler."

"The Quibbler?" I asked. "Hermione - you don't even like that magazine, you said that everything in it is rubbish."

"It normally is," Hermione admitted. "But Luna and her father are huge supporters of the two of you. Besides, we don't really have a shot anywhere else."

"Why do you think that people would even read this article anyway?" I asked. "The whole world thinks that we are a couple of nutters."

"Because it is the first time that either of you have opened up about what really happened," Hermione said. "Anyone would be interested in hearing what you two have to say."

"That's not saying that they'll believe us," I said.

"That's not true," Hermione said. "Especially with Rita Skeeter writing it. Even if this piece doesn't have everyone believing you, I'm sure that you'll gain some more supporters."

The mere thought of the real story being printed anywhere was insane. Everyone in the wizarding world thought that the two of us were crazy, so I had never imagined that there would be any need for this sort of thing. To be honest, I believed that it could really go either one of two ways - it could be a complete success and people might start believing us or it would be a laughing stock that would promote more mockery.

"Which reminds me," Hermione said. "I wrote down some of the questions that Skeeter was asking Harry and I want you to send a letter to her telling her what your response is. I think that it is important to have both of you included in all of this."

"Do I have to?" I groaned. "My story isn't going to be any different than what Harry told her."

"Just do it," Hermione demanded.

"Fine," I said. "No need to be so bossy about it…"

For the next few days, I worked on answering all of the questions and managed to get the letter out in time for Rita Skeeter to write the article for the Quibbler. The only thing that I could worry about for the remainder of the week was my first game that was coming up. Judging by the practices that the team had been having, I couldn't imagine that we were going to make it out of the game with a winning score. I couldn't determine what exactly was the worse of the teams' problems - their inability to work together or the lack of skill throughout. I am never much of one to gloat, but I was saddened to realize that I was actually one of the better players on the team - which is bad if you really think about it.

When Saturday finally came around, I felt like I was going to vomit due to the stress. Angelina had taken to talking to me a lot about her stress with the team and I could now fully appreciate her pain. When we were walking out of the Great Hall that morning to head out to the field, it took every ounce of energy to not run back towards Harry and George and beg them to not let me go.

"You're going to be fine love," George told me. "Just imagine that the Bludger is Goyle's head and you should be fantastic."

When I stepped out onto the field, I noticed the concerned and unconfident look on each of our faces - we knew that we had a very slim chance of winning this game. Once we were in flight, I could practically feel the blood pounding through my body and I felt faint. The only thing that gave me hope was that this would all be over soon if Ginny or the other Seeker could find the Snitch.

Once the Quaffle was in the air and the Bludgers were flying all around the stadium, the game had begun. For the most part, I seemed to be sticking close to Andrew who was flying after the Bludgers. It didn't take an expert to know that Andrew wasn't a very good flier and I was honestly waiting for the moment when he would fall off of his broom, but luckily that didn't happen. Halfway through the game, we all had to have a temporary stop when he managed to swing the bat and miss the Bludger completely and hit himself in the face instead.

"We're hopeless," Angelina said with her eye closed.

"I really need to find this Snitch," Ginny murmured next to me.

"Please do," I said. "We're already losing by a long shot."

When we were in the air again, I tried to keep my focus on the Bludger and the members of the other team. When one of the Hufflepuff Chaser grabbed a hold of the Quaffle, I immediately flew towards the Bludger and whacked the ball right towards the Chaser. Suprisingly enough, it flew right into the Quaffle and it knocked it out of his hands.

"Wow, look at that shot!" Lee Jordan announced. "Seems like at least one of the new players knows what she's doing."

To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing - I wasn't even aiming for the Quaffle. My original plan was to have the Bludger go in front of him to knock him off of his path, but this seemed to work out nicely since it fell right into Angelina's hands where she made the first goal for Gryffindor.

Unfortunately, that was the one and only goal that Gryffindor made before Ginny caught the Snitch later on in the game. Unfortunately for us, we still managed to lose by ten points because of how many goals Hufflepuff had made against us before the Snitch was caught.

"You did a good job," Harry said as we walked back towards the castle.

"No I didn't," I laughed. "I was awful."

"Trust me, you were a lot better than the other players," he said.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't much of a compliment because of how awful everyone else had done, so I just took it for what it was worth. Ginny had actually done really well as a Seeker, but it was obvious to everyone - including her - that Harry was a better player. I knew that he would have given anything to have played the game himself today, but the life-time ban forbid him to do anything of the sort.

"Ron's tried to resign again," Ginny said when she caught up to us.

"Again?" Harry asked.

"He does that a lot," I sighed. "Just about once per practice actually."

"He knows that he doesn't do well," Ginny said miserably. "But Angelina won't let him leave."

"Ron can be really good if he wants to," I said. "I'm just going to hope that it's his nerves getting the best of him."

"I think that is what Angelina is telling herself too," Ginny said. "And I hope for everyone's sake that the two of you are right."

With all of the disappointment in the game, I found it very difficult to make myself go to sleep that night. When I laid down in my bed, I could only think that this was going to be the beginning of an awful season of Quidditch.

"Emily, you really should stop worrying about it," Hermione said as she went to turn the light off. "It's only a game."

"Sure it is," I said. "But that's not how everyone else looks at it. Quidditch means a lot to the people that are on it and especially to the ones that aren't even allowed to be on it. I just feel like we're letting a lot of people down."

"You have other things that you should be worried about," Hermione said. "For example - don't you have one of your lessons with Snape coming up?"

My eyes flickered over to Pavarti who was pulling down her sheets and I knew that we weren't exactly free to discuss these lessons with her around.

"Yes I do," I said. "What's your point?"

"Shouldn't you be preparing for those lessons?" she asked slowly.

"I'm working on it Hermione," I sighed.

"Just concentrate," she said. "I know that you're going to be able to do it if you really put your mind to it."

"Thanks," I murmured.

When she shut the lights off, I let out a short sigh before laying my head back and closing my eyes. I tried to empty my mind of all thought and emotion and I found it easier than I thought it would be now that everything around me was quiet. For a moment, I finally thought I grasped it until I suddenly remembered the article that was due to come out in the Quibbler and everything began to flood my mind again just before I fell into a much needed sleep.

Thanks for reading, I hope that you liked it! I would like to apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but I assure you that I actually did have it ready on Friday like I said, but I had the issue of not having Internet on the computer that I typed the chapter up on. I just got a computer in my room, but it took a little while to get all of the cords together to give the computer access to the Internet. Things like this shouldn't be happening very often from now on and I assure you, for some of you that were wondering, everything is okay and I am alive and well! The next chapter should be up and ready by Tuesday/Wednesday!

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