After a while, I did grow used to the workload. My days would be spent staying up late, and then I started to get up early. I refused to get anymore failing grades in any of my classes. I wanted to at least average between A's and E's instead of A's and D's. I figured it was a long shot to aim for O's right away. I figured I could get to that level slowly, though at times I thought Tasha, Nick, and Ben were right about Divination. The subject was still enjoyable, especially with Firenze as a teacher but did I really need it?

It wasn't just the workload stressing me out, or even prefect duties, but what was going on outside of Hogwarts. Every day we were hearing stories about people being killed, attacked, or even being kissed by Dementors. It made me scared for Ben the most. Dad's protective spells worked well, but I didn't think they worked against Dementors. What if he was out playing, and one came for him? He wouldn't know what to do! He'd be so terrified, and then he wouldn't be him anymore. I hated thinking about it.

"Your mum doesn't let him out on his own anymore," Nick reminded me one morning after we read about another dementor attack. "I worry too though. Mum and dad are thinking more and more of going into hiding. The only reason they haven't is that it's OWL year. They think next year we might if it gets worse."

"I'm scared too," Tasha said. "In our last class, Snape said that muggles couldn't even see them. That means that they won't even know what is happening."

"My parents have been checking up on them secretly almost daily," I told her. "They don't apparate in the shed, but some kind of wood near your place. They wear disillusionment charms at night to do it."

"I know, your mum told me they would, but Dementors are attacking both muggles and wizards," Tasha said. "I wish that muggles could see them. They'd know it was something bad and they could run."

"You can't run from a Dementor," Nick told her. "They should be teaching every kid, even first years, how to fight them though. Harry Potter learned how to do it his third year. I'm sure all of could learn as well. At least we'd be able to help ourselves or others."

"Well, we are doing a unit on then now," I said. "So maybe he will."

"There have to be spells that keep them from certain areas though," Tasha said. "They can't get at Hogwarts. I'm going to start going to the library in my free time to see if I can find something. There has to be something."

I figured she must have been right, but it was likely very advanced. Chances are only wizards such as Dumbledore could do that. I refrained from asking her about what she meant by free time. We never had free time between school work and our prefect duties. How did people have extracurricular activities? I knew Ginny had just made the Quidditch team again.

Slughorn also invited me to go to a dinner, but I had too much going on to go. I would like to have gone but then I would get behind on Transfiguration, and it was one of the classes that I'd just brought up from a P to an A. I couldn't sacrifice even one essay. Snape's class was the only one I was still getting failing grades in, but thankfully it had moved up to a P. I still often wondered if he was doing it on purpose. If I didn't bring up all my marks, I could lose my badge. He knew that, so perhaps he wanted to sabotage me.

"I think you're getting way too paranoid mate," Nick said when I brought this up. "He's a git for sure, but he can't sabotage students he doesn't like. You've never really effort on essays in his classes because you hate him. It's the only reason why Harper was so close to beating you in Potions. All of your Potions grades have gone, even the essays. It's not because of the teacher."

I couldn't argue with him about that. He was right. It wasn't that I didn't try on his essays, but I didn't put in as much effort in it as I could have. So for the next essay, we were assigned, I decided to treat it as if it were McGonagall or Slughorn marking it. They were the two teachers I had the most respect for. I stayed up past midnight working on it and then got up early to check it over. I told myself I would sleep when I was dead.

When he handed it back during the next class, I checked it to see that he'd finally given me an A. I sighed with relief. I'd finally pulled all of my grades to Acceptable, so now I had to maintain it and then improve. Some classes I'd even managed to get E's. If I could get E's in most of them, I would be satisfied.

One afternoon, at the end of September, Slughorn kept me after class, and I wondered what this was about. Was he hoping that I would go to one of his parties after all? Nick and Tasha shrugged at me before departing. Neither of them was particularly fond of him lately. He often got their last names wrong. He seemed to only remember specific students names.

"Don't look so nervous Mr. Hoofer," he told me with a grin. "You're not in trouble. I can't imagine that you've ever been in detention."

"Well, I have," I said looking away.

"I know it's your OWL year, but you are one of the best in the fifth year," he continued. "I'd ask Harry Potter, but he seems to be as busy as you. I can never get him to any of my dinners either. No, your father used to tutor students when he was here, as you know. There is a charming young lady in the fourth year who has asked for my help in this class. I instantly thought of you and Mr. Potter. I find that other students often help more than teachers at times, and I believe it's because you can relate better."

"It's not that I don't want to tutor, I just don't know if I have time," I told him. "With prefect duties and homework, I've barely talked to my sisters."

"Ah yes, Brianne and Beatrice," Slughorn said.

I wondered how Brenda felt knowing that Slughorn didn't even know her name. I looked away to hide my smirk. It had to have been driving her mad, but the two of us had barely spoken since we'd arrived. Brianne came over to talk to us during the weekends, but we rarely talked on weekdays. She too was good in Potions, so I wasn't surprised that Slughorn knew her, but didn't know Brenda. She was average in the class.

"Yes," I said with an acknowledging nod.

"Well, how about just a couple of hours on Sundays," Slughorn said. "Surely you can spare a couple of hours on your weekends. If it becomes too much, you can always stop."

"Is she Ravenclaw?" I asked figuring that it might be easier that way. Brenda would know her too.

"Gryffindor," Slughorn said. "Her name is Rhonda Wane... er- that may be wrong."

He moved over to his desk and began shifting some parchment around while muttering to himself.

"Ah here it is," he said picking up a small ripped piece of parchment. "Romilda Vane. Hm, where did I get Rhonda from? Ah, well- when you have many students to teach, you don't often get all their names right."

"I can try starting this Sunday," I told Slughorn. "But if it gets to be too much, I can't continue."

"Understandable, understandable," he said. "I'm sure you two will get along brilliantly. Your father could never turn down tutoring either. Perhaps you can help out with my younger classes as well."

"Erm maybe," I said though I had absolutely no desire to do that.

It was one thing to help someone one on one, but I didn't want to help out in classes, and I likely wouldn't have time anyway. Did he expect me to skip class just to help him in his classes? How did dad do it? I'd help my sisters in the past though, so I figured helping Romilda wouldn't be any different.

"Let her know I'll meet her in the library after lunch on Sunday," I told him.

"Excellent," Slughorn said. "And if you do find the time, I'd be delighted for you to come to the next party. I've invited Brianne as well. It's a bit early still, I know but I will be having a Christmas party, I just have to invite everyone, you are the first to know. I would like you to come to that one for sure. You can bring the lovely Tanya with you."

"Tasha," I corrected. "And the Christmas party shouldn't be a problem. It's just the weekday parties. I'll try to go to your Christmas party."

"Well, then good day to you Barry. I'll see you in the next class."

I left the class wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

Sunday after lunch, I waited in the library impatiently for this Romilda girl to come. I had an Herbology assignment I needed to do, so I hoped she wouldn't take forever. I sat with my notes from last year out while waiting. I tapped my spell checker quill against my Potions textbook impatiently. Finally, a stunning girl with long black hair and dark eyes joined me at my table. She kind of reminded me of Tasha in a way though they had different chins and mouths. Tasha was also a lot prettier.

"Well, you're no Harry Potter, but you'll do," she said as she sat beside me. "You're not bad looking either. I mean, Harry will always be better looking but- well, yes, I can work with you."

"Erm... okay," I said.

I didn't think I'd ever been compared to Harry Potter, so it was a bit odd that this girl was doing so. She grinned at me showing perfectly white teeth.

"And your names rhyme, so I guess that's a bonus," she continued.

"Right, well, tell me what your strengths and weakness are," I said not knowing what else to say.

Back in first year, the boys had joked a couple of times that my name rhymed with Harry's, but I hadn't heard anything about it since. I wasn't sure where this girl was going with any of this. I just wanted us to get to the point though. I'd said I would help her for two hours, and I didn't want to go longer than that. Not if I wanted to get good marks on my Herbology essay.

"Well, I understand the essays just fine," she told me. "I understand what we're doing with basic antidotes to poisons, but it's actually making the potions. My last potion gave off a smell of rotten eggs, but my essay was marked ninety-five percent."

"Well then you're likely impatient," I told her. "With potions you need patience, and you need to pay attention. It's very important to put the potions in as the textbook instructs you too."

"Perhaps Snape never taught me properly then," Romilda and she leaned over close to me. She smelled really good. She placed a hand on my arm. "So why don't you teach me properly."

I felt butterflies as she did this. She smiled up at me, and I couldn't appreciate her beauty. Part of me wanted to lean over and kiss her. I took in a deep breath and counted to ten. I couldn't think like this at the moment.

"What was the last potion you made?" I asked trying to ignore her rubbing my arm. "We'll start from there."

"Don't hold your breath mate," Nick told me later on.

I'd just finished telling him everything. The study period had ended up going longer than the two hours, but I was quite okay with that. I believed I had her understanding me at any rate, but I thought I felt something between us too. Though I was supposed to be patrolling, I'd raced straight to the common room to talk to Nick. Tasha could handle one patrol on her own, and I would make it up to her later.

"No, something was there," I insisted.

"Barry, she's obsessed with Harry Potter," Nick told me. "She's been trying to get with him since the start of the year. Normally I'd say you can pull a girl like that, I mean you managed to get with a hot fifth year in third year! I'm just saying you're wrong about Romilda Vane. She's just a major flirt, and you're falling for it."

"Well, we'll just have to see where it goes," I responded.

Nick sighed and shook his head.

"Aren't you supposed to be patrolling with Tasha right now?" He asked. "You should get going, and forget about Romilda. She just needs your help in Potions, and that's it."

But it wasn't that easy. From that day forward, Romilda was on my mind, and I was relieved by this. I was tired of having thoughts about Tasha all the time. It was nice to think about someone else for a change. No girl had been on my mind this much since Glenda back in third year. I did my best not to let it distract me from school work, however. I couldn't let my grades slip now, no matter how much I thought about her. Tasha and Nick both kept telling me that she wasn't interested, but I didn't listen. I began to look forward Sundays after lunch. I was even considering asking Slughorn if we could brew a potion in his classroom so I could help her understand better.

Our study sessions expanded to snogging sessions. So I didn't understand where Nick and Tasha were coming from. If she weren't interested, she wouldn't be snogging me. I knew where some of the best places to go were because of patrols. There certain areas that prefects rarely checked since not too many people knew about them.

It wasn't just about moving on from Tasha, but it relieved the stress I felt about OWLs, prefect duties, and worrying about the war. When I was with her, I didn't have to think about any of that.

I did have to try harder when it came to patrolling though. I'd missed two so far, and I was late to two. I didn't want to lose my badge, and fortunately, Tasha covered me and so did Lance once, and the Rosita for the last one. I couldn't keep it up though. It wasn't like me to be so irresponsible. So I vowed after Rosita covered for me that I would never miss another again. I'd worked hard for that badge, and I wasn't about to lose it for a girl I fancied.

"Maybe I can ask her to Hogsmeade," I said one evening into October. "The Hogsmeade trip is coming up, or maybe we can stay here and study."

"Mate, you're wasting your time with her," Nick told me. "I overheard her telling her friends that she wants to go with Harry Potter."

"She might be changing her mind," I responded. "Why else does she snog me all the time?"

"Let's just go for patrol duty," Tasha said looking annoyed. "You can't be late for this one Barry. I've had to cover for you twice now."

"I know," I said, and I got up quickly. "I won't be any more," I promised as I joined her side.

She didn't say anything. We hadn't been talking as much lately. She was often annoyed when I brought Romilda up, and I was trying to avoid one on one sessions with Tasha so I wouldn't fancy her anymore. I felt that by keeping a distance from each other, it would make things easier for me. Not that I avoided her of course. We still hung out, but often I kept to myself and only really talked to her about our duties together or else school work.

We walked through the common room together and out the door. She kept ahead as we went down the spiral staircase. In fact, she kept a few paces ahead of me until I sped up so we could walk together.

"Look, I'm sorry about neglecting our duties," I told her. "It was very irresponsible, and I only have you and Lance to thank for not reporting me."

"And our last prefect meeting," she stated. "If I hadn't taken notes for you, then you wouldn't know what you're supposed to be doing! When we first came here, you wanted to help the first years out. You've been ignoring them ever since! You barely talk to your sisters-"

"Because of homework," I said. "And Brianne talks to us all the time. If Brenda wants to talk to me so much then maybe she should talk to me. We usually avoid each other. And the first years know they can come to me at any time!"

"And yet I am finding time to still interact with them," Tasha said. "We both promised we'd look out for little Sasha and yet you forgot all about her. She has friends now, in case you're wondering. You've forgotten all about everyone ever since you met Romilda. It's one thing when it's your school work, but it's another when it comes to some girl! And Romilda does not like you! She is using you! I imagine she even knows you've started to fancy her, so she'll take advantage as much as she can! You've never been this dumb about a girl before! I don't get it."

"You just don't like when someone else pays attention to me!" I accused. "You're right that I need to be more responsible, and I'll start from this day forward. Every time I like a girl though, you get like this! You just don't want me to have a girlfriend!"

Later I would realize I was a complete git, but at the time, I felt I was entirely justified. I was tired of Tasha always getting on her high horse and acting like Miss Perfect. Every single time someone did something or said something she disagreed with, she would nag at them. She'd act like she was some flawless person who had never said or done anything stupid and it was so aggravating lately. I deserved a lecture about missing my prefect duties, but I didn't need her to get on my case about Romilda. I also didn't need her to get on my case about my sisters who knew that they could talk to me whenever they wanted. Neither appeared to have any grievances with me anyway.

"What about Ben then?" Tasha snapped as she stopped. "Is Romilda so important to you that you've forgotten all about him? You told him the day before we came back that you would write him as much as you could! You have written him once, and you missed his birthday for the second year in a row!"

"I bought gifts before we left," I said weakly stopping as well, but I knew she was right even as I said it.

"But you said you'd write to him!" Tasha responded. "And don't blame it on the owls being intercepted either," she added as I opened my mouth to say that very thing. "Because we both know it's not true. You just plain forgot! You've never been this dumb about a girl! Why now? What is so great about her?"

I looked away. I couldn't tell her the truth. I couldn't tell her that Romilda reminded me of her so much that I'd started to fancy her instead. It was working, but I knew all of it was wrong, especially when it came to my brother who was probably wondering why he hadn't gotten a letter from his big brother for a long time. Neither Nick or Tasha understood though. I didn't think anyone could because I didn't get it myself. All I knew was that a different girl was on my mind for once, and I didn't want to let that go. Romilda flirted with me every time we studied together, and we'd been heavily snogging a lot lately. It was usually her who started it all. So how could she say that Romilda didn't like me?

"I can't explain it," I finally said.

"Well, I hope you think of something to tell Ben at Christmas then!" She told me. "You know he'll be asking. He won't want to know that his big brother cares more about a girl than him. You're such a selfish, spoiled, egotistical brat! You don't care about anyone else but yourself. Why else are you so stupid about Romilda? You think you're entitled to every girl who looks at you just because you're handsome. Guess what? You're not entitled to girls, so maybe get that through your head instead of treating people who care about you like crap! I guess that's what happens when you grow up with a silver spoon in your mouth."

"Why don't you just mind your own business for once?" I asked her feeling angry now. I felt she'd crossed the line with every insulting thing she'd just said. "You're always getting in everyone else's business, but you never do anything about yourself. You're constantly telling everyone what to do, or you get upset with them for breaking a rule, or you get self-righteous when someone says something you don't like. You're not as perfect as you think you are. You're just as flawed as the rest of us."

Tasha just stared at me with her eyes shining. I'd never talked to her like this before, and momentarily, I wanted to hug her and apologize.

"Then continue to be delusional then," she finally said. "You've always hidden behind some kind of fantasy life! You've grown up spoiled, and you've never had to work hard. You never have to with that trust fund waiting for you. Must be nice to have everything handed to you. You always go for the wrong girl, and it always ends badly! Look at Olivia, and then Glenda! You ignore all the signs just because you want some hot girl!"

"And you've always just liked blokes because they are famous or even handsome," I responded back.

"I guess maybe that's why I liked you," Tasha said coldly. "You're nothing but a handsome face! Now leave me alone! Patrol on your own."

And she turned on her heel and walked off angrily. I stood staring after her. Had we just ended our friendship? I wasn't sure what to feel at the moment. I was extremely angry, but I was also feeling sad. We couldn't really be ending a four-year friendship just like that? I let out a deep breath and began to patrol on my own.

Tasha didn't speak to me after that. Instead of hanging out with Nick and me, she started to either hang out with Luna, the other girls, or sometimes even the first years. I knew she still talked to Nick, but for whatever reason, he stayed by my side even though he felt our fight was my fault. He wouldn't talk about it either. After we talked about it the first time, he remained tight-lipped if I brought Tasha up.

"So are we going to Hogsmeade together or did you manage to get a date with Romilda?" Nick asked me one evening a few days before the visit.

"We can go together," I said. "But Romilda said she's hanging out with her friends. She did say maybe to the Christmas party though."

"Probably because she is hoping to go with Harry," he said.

I decided to ignore his jibe.

"You haven't seen any girls you want to take?" I asked instead.

"I see plenty, but who can I trust?" He responded. "I'm just going solo. You should take me to Sluggys party though if Romilda says no. I'd like to go to a party and forget all this," he said waving a hand at all the parchment around us. "I doubt you'll come to your senses before then, so I doubt you and Tasha will have made up."

"I'm not the only one guilty in that fight," I said. "She was out of line with a lot of things she said. She was only right about my irresponsibility."

"I don't want to fight with you mate," Nick sighed. "Let's just work on this okay?"

I wasn't used to the three of us being so divided, and I couldn't stand it. What had gone so wrong? Was it all me? Were Nick and Tasha right? I just didn't want to fancy her anymore, and why was it so wrong for me to look elsewhere outside of my friend? It was the smart thing to do. I hesitated a moment before I said all this to him. For the first time, I decided to admit my feelings for her.

"I'm going to get real with you Barry," Nick said as he set his quill down. "And I hope you'll listen to me. I agree that you shouldn't tell Tasha, but not because of the risk. I think both you and her are too immature to take that step at the moment, but especially you. You're handling this entire situation all wrong."

"How?" I asked. "She's guilty as well."

"Because you started to ignore her, and everyone else for some random girl," Nick said. "Look, I understand that you don't want to fancy your best friend. That's completely understandable, but as soon as you noticed another girl who could make you forget, you started to ignore the people you care about. And that's why you and Tasha have been fighting. You still haven't written to Ben, even though you promised him. You told us that you still slightly dislike Lance because he used Anita. That is exactly what you're doing to Romilda, and she's doing it to you. It will be a very toxic relationship if you date. It is imperative for you to understand this! She is not interested in you at all, and she never will be! She wants Harry Potter!"

"But how can you be so sure of that?" I asked.

"Because we've all heard her!" Nick said. "You're the only one who wants to ignore it. Katrina told me recently that Romilda has been talking about slipping Harry a love potion since we got back! So even if Romilda did like you, do you honestly want someone who would do that? Does it not remind you of anyone? Olivia would probably do the same! Do you really want a girlfriend like that?"

And for the first time since I'd met her, I started to really think about what everyone had been telling me. As I thought about the love potion part, I frowned at Nick.

"But she's awful at making potions," I said. "A love potion is far too advanced for her. It takes too long to make, and it needs to be brewed at a certain time. Ingredients also need to be-"

"Don't be thick," Nick interrupted as he shook his head. "She doesn't need to make it. She can order it from the Weasley's. Maybe she already has."

"But they're banned," I said. "It's one of the many things banned from this school, and rightfully so. The mail is being checked, remember?"

"The Weasley's disguise their products to be discreet," Nick answered. "It's on one of the forms I have upstairs. It's Filch who checks it, so how would he know?"

"She's seriously considering doing that?" I asked.

"Yes, I wouldn't lie to you, Barry. I just don't want to see you get hurt, and I most certainly don't want to see you get drugged," Nick replied. "I've never seen you like this before, and now it makes sense. You are a huge prat; you know that, don't you?"

"Yes," I answered without hesitation.

I leaned forward and put my face in my hands. What was the hell wrong with me? No wonder Tasha was so angry with me. She was completely right. I'd grown up sheltered and spoiled, and I had always gone for beautiful girls. I'd noticed how gorgeous Romilda was. If I had, to be honest, I believed I'd forced myself to fancy Romilda to forget Tasha. They were similar in looks, so it had been so easy to do it. I should have seen the red flags from the beginning though. The moment she'd entered the library, she'd told me that she wanted Harry instead of me. I was the second choice, and perhaps she'd have settled for me if Harry kept saying no.

I moved my hands away.

"Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

"I'm sure if you do whatever you can to make it up to her," Nick said.

"We said some really awful things to each other," I said with a sigh.

"Just talk during your next patrol," Nick responded. "But for now, I think you should keep it to yourself. You two need to grow up first. You were willing to hurt her to move on, and she's willing to hurt you when you do something she disagrees with. I don't think either of you should be in any relationship until you can figure things out. Now that you've admitted that you were an idiot, I'll be honest with you. I think Tasha was completely out of line with most of what she said. However, I think she said whatever she could to hurt you. I doubt she meant any of that."

"She didn't," I responded. "But she does need to stop getting so self-righteous at times, and I think that it's something you and I need to talk to her about when we make up. Sometimes I get so tired of it. She's right some of the time, and I know she means well, but sometimes I feel like my mother is nagging me. It honestly really bothered me when she got on my case about using the tickling jinx on Philip. Harper is a git, but he's not going to rat me out over using that on someone else. He doesn't care about things like that. He'd wait for me to screw up. Actually, I'm surprised he hasn't said anything about me slacking off on duties."

"I can't see Harper doing it at all," Nick said. "I mean, he'll rat on people, but it depends on who. He'll try to catch your sisters or me at something before he'd rat you out. He'd want to do something that would get you to fight him rather than just you skiving off on your duties or jinxing someone in the corridor. And it would have to be bigger than the tickling charm. I admit I get tired of her self-righteous attitude too, but I care about her too much to call her out on it. I know you feel the same way. You make up with her, and we'll talk to her."

"My next few patrols are with other prefects," I said. "So if I can, I'll talk to her before then. I'm going to talk to Romilda during our next study session too."

"So are we going on a date to Hogsmeade then?" Nick asked.

"Might as well," I said with a shrug. "Thanks for giving me a wake-up call."

"Next time I'll use the boil curse on your arse, and you can't put me in detention over it," Nick said.

I grabbed a piece of crumpled up parchment and tossed it at him. Nick laughed and threw it back right in my face. I felt relieved to have one of my best friends back. Now I just had to get my other one back.

The Hogsmeade trip was not only depressing, but something horrible happened that day as well. Nick and I went down there early but we didn't stay out there long. It was a very stormy and cold day. We didn't even bother going to The Three Broomsticks. We just grabbed a few things from Honey Dukes and Zonkos before heading back. We both decided it was better to catch up on our school work than to walk around in the wet and cold. Brianne thought we were mad for coming back early, but I knew her attitude would change by the time she was a fifth year. Hogsmeade visits were terrific, but not when it was stormy out.

She was sitting with us, and checking over our essays when Brenda rushed over to us looking scared. We all looked up nervously, all probably wondering if there had been a Death Eater attack, or a Dementor one. My thoughts were on the Dementors considering how bad the weather was, but I wouldn't have put it past the Death Eaters to show up in Hogsmeade to try and capture Harry Potter or someone else. Likely their kids had told them when the first Hogsmeade visit was.

"What happened?" Brianne asked nervously. "Someone get attacked?"

"Yes," Brenda asked. "I don't know all the details though. Most of what I know was overheard from older kids talking about. You know that Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team? Katie Bell?"

We all nodded, and I wondered if a Dementor had gone for her in Hogsmeade.

"She got a hold of a cursed necklace somehow. I'm not sure how and she touched it, and now she's in horrible shape. That's all I know, but some evil person must have given it to her! Someone must have been waiting for an opportunity to hurt a Hogwarts student!" Brenda said fast.

"But someone had to have seen a Death Eater in Hogsmeade," I said. "I wonder how they managed to give it to her."

"Maybe it was a Death Eaters kid," Brianne said. "Maybe they gave it to one of their kids and told them to give it someone. Maybe it's a kid that no one would ever suspect. Mum and dad told me that it was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters, and not Sirius Black. Absolutely no one suspected Pettigrew, and so the same could happen now!"

"You know what? That's probably what happened," Nick said nodding. "And I bet Katie won't even remember who gave it to her if she was cursed bad!"

"I bet they cancel Hogsmeade visits now," Brenda said. "I knew things were bad of course, but knowing that they're willing to attack kids like that makes it even more real."

I was feeling the same way, and I was sure Brianne and Nick were too. We all knew things were bad; we all read the Daily Prophet every day, and our parents had warned us. We'd all seen how bad it was in Diagon Alley as well. However, knowing a student had just been attacked hit home. It was supposed to be a fun day for all of us, and the Death Eaters had taken advantage of that. It showed just how sick they indeed were. I knew I needed to make up with Tasha as soon as possible. Chester and Ralph were right after all. Fighting over petty things just wasn't worth it. Getting all hung up on Romilda had been so stupid as well. A war was going on, and my main concern had been some girl who didn't even like me. I did plan to talk to her the next day during our study session, but I was glad Nick had spoken to me.

I did wonder if Romilda would deny just using me until she could get with Harry. I fully expected her to make up some lie about how she actually liked me, and that I was just crazy by assuming that. I was going to confront her about it the moment she sat down with me in the library. I'd sent her a note telling her to meet me at one of the back tables so that we wouldn't be overheard. Usually, we were in the more common part of the library, but I didn't want to be heard by any fifth year, and most were in the library these days.

I arrived right after lunch and spread my notes from fourth year out. We were going to go over the Girding Potion which she'd apparently burnt into a hard black mess. I was starting to think our tutor sessions were pointless anyway. She wasn't getting it when it came to taking her time when making potions.

"Hello handsome," Romilda said as she joined me. "Perhaps we can end our study break early today. We can study something else today," she added as she put a hand on my upper thigh.

Momentarily I was distracted, but then I thought of Tasha and snapped out of it.

"I don't think so," I said. "I wanted to talk to you about something first."

"Anything Barry," she purred, and then she began fluttering her eyelashes.

"Are you just using me until you can get with Harry Potter?" I blurted out before I could fall under her spell again.

Romilda seemed shocked. She widened her eyes and then let out a deep breath. I wondered if she was trying to think of some lie. Perhaps she was thinking-

"Of course," she said, and now my eyes widened. "I mean, you're great Barry. You are very handsome, and under normal circumstances, I would go for you. But, well, he's Harry bloody Potter! He's survived You-Know-Who how many times? You're just some handsome bloke who is fun to snog. You're not famous and you probably never will be! You'll probably never accomplish anything big! You're going to be some boring old Ministry bloke someday. Who wants that?"

"Well, that's good to know," I said as I began gathering my parchment together.

"Oh don't be like that," she said. "I did give into your pathetic male fantasies after all!"

"And now I regret that immensely. I think it's best you find someone else to tutor you from now on," I told her coldly. "I don't like being used like that. I was stupid to like a girl like you, but you're not exactly bright either. You're going after someone who doesn't even want you. You probably didn't even believe him last year when he said You-Know-Who was back. You're just jumping on the bandwagon."

"You're going to stop tutoring me just because I don't like you?" Romilda asked. "Well, I'm sorry, but that's pathetic Barry."

"Just as it's pathetic to try and drug someone with a love potion," I retorted. "And I happen to be a prefect!"

"I don't have one, and you can't prove I do," Romilda snapped. "You can't go after me for that just because I hurt your bloody ego."

"No, you're right, I can't," I responded. "But I've heard plenty of rumours about you trying to feed Harry Potter a love potion. I'm giving you a warning Romilda," I said as I began stuffing all of my stuff back in my bag. "If I hear that Harry Potter has been drugged by a love potion, I'll tell the teachers to check in with you before anyone else. That is a promise."

I got up and swung my bag over my shoulders and walked off.

"Great job at being a snitch, but you still can't prove anything Barry Hoofer!" She called after me.

I didn't turn back; I just continued on my way feeling hurt, embarrassed, and frustrated. I knew even before she'd admitted it that she'd been using me, but she wasn't even sorry about it. She'd admitted it without hesitation, and she'd shown no remorse over it. She thought she wasn't doing anything wrong because it was for Harry Potter. Tasha was right; I was so delusional. I left the library with my head down wondering why I'd never listened to dad. He'd told me never to let my hormones get the best of me, and I'd done just that.

I let out a sigh and looked up as I reached a flight of stairs. I began making my way up. At the top, I found the one person I wanted to be with, but I'd hurt and ignored. She was leaning against the stone wall and looking over a piece of parchment.

"Tasha!" I called out to her.

She glanced up, but once she saw it was me, she rolled up the parchment and then turned to walk off. I couldn't let her go. We needed to make up, and she needed to know how sorry I was.

"Tasha," I said again once I reached her.

It was one of the advantages of being taller than her. I could usually reach her with no problem. I took a hold of her hand as she tried to quicken her steps. She stopped and turned to look at me. She stared up at me looking annoyed, but her annoyance quickly changed to concern. She must have seen something in my face to realize that I was upset.

"Barry, what's happened?" She asked, all annoyance gone now.

I didn't answer; I just pulled her into a hug which she eagerly returned. I wasn't sure how long we held on to each other. We just stood in the middle of the corridor with our arms each other. I wanted to kiss her so much, but all I did was lean down to press my forehead against hers. She began rubbing her hand against my right arm and then pulled away.

"What's happened?" She repeated.

"I'm just so sorry for everything," I murmured. "I was a complete git to you."

"I wasn't any better," Tasha admitted. "Everything I said to you was horrible. I knew it while I was saying all of that but I just wanted to hurt you. I was just so tired of you taking me for granted, and you just weren't getting it. I was out of line though. But what has happened? Something happened to you. I can tell! I know you way to well. It's not just because you're sorry."

I nodded and then I told her everything that had been said in the library. I fully expected an 'I told you so,' but all she did was move closer to hug me again.

"That bitch!" She said as she stared up at me.

"I deserved it," I responded.

"No, you didn't!" Tasha insisted moving away again. "Look, you were very irresponsible, and ignorant to ignore us and your little brother, but you didn't deserve all of that! You were just a stupid hormonal boy! At least you're realizing it, and you're sorry, but she took advantage of you! She knew you fancied her, and she used you until she could get with Harry. If he has any sense at all, he won't go for her. I've talked to Hermione about it, not about you of course, but Romilda's crush on Harry, and Hermione said that so far, Harry has ignored her. Hopefully, he keeps ignoring her."

"But you're right about the girls I go for," I said. "Glenda wasn't bad, but I knew the whole time that she would end up Lance. I knew there was something not right with Olivia, and yet I still went for them. I even knew deep down about Romilda, but I just wanted to believe her interest was real. It was all for a stupid reason too."

"Well, what was your reason?" Tasha asked. "I knew it wasn't like you, and so what was it about her that made you so dumb?"

I couldn't admit the truth to her. I didn't know if I ever could, so I decided to tell her my secondary reason instead.

"It's just with everything going on," I finally said. "The war and OWLs and all, I just wanted something real and to distract me."

"I guess we can all be stupid under stress," Tasha answered with a nod. "I mean, I was very stupid too. I could have just talked to you, but I got all passive aggressive with you, and I held in my anger until I exploded. We could have communicated with you a lot better."

"But I wasn't listening," I stated.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "I was out of line. I forgive you Barry, and I hope you can forgive me too."

"Already forgiven," I said quickly. "Chester and Ralph are right after all."

Tasha grinned at me and then took my hand.

"So why don't we go to the common room then?" She asked. "I'm sure Nick will be happy to see we've made up."

Things went back to normal after that though from time to time, Romilda would give me resentful glances if we passed each other in the corridors. I did my best to ignore her. When I went to Slughorn about ending our study sessions, he seemed genuinely disappointed that things hadn't gone on better for us. Of course, I didn't tell him what had actually happened. It was too embarrassing to admit it outside of my friends and sisters. I just told him that with my schedule, I couldn't fit her in anymore and that we'd never gotten on well anyway. I had to admit the last bit because apparently, she'd tried to make it seem as if it were just me who was the problem.

He didn't seem to change his mind about me, however. He still wanted me to go to one of his parties, and I was so very tempted to go when he insisted as Gwenog Jones was going to be at the next one. However, I still had three essays to finish, and I had to practice spells for Charms. So with great disappointment, I shook my head and apologized.

"Believe me, I'd really like to go," I said. "I can't get behind when I'm a prefect though. I'll be at the Christmas party for sure."

"I understand, I understand," Slughorn answered. "But you know, Miss Weasley has been to most of my parties."

"I'm sure she has," I said. "But she doesn't have as much going on as I do. Maybe after the Christmas holidays things will settle down."

"Well, I wouldn't want to see one of the best in the fifth year fail," Slughorn said. "Please tell your sister to come, and let her know about the party."

"I will," I said.

In all honesty, with everything going on, I wanted to go to a party. For one night, I just wanted to forget about the war, about OWLs and my embarrassment when it came to Romilda. I was glad that the holidays were fast approaching because I needed mum's coddling.