"You did WHAT?"

"Not me!" Jessica said, "Amanda."

Harry shook his head. "I never thought she'd do something like go off on Malfoy."

Jessica smiled. "She'll surprise you, alright."

"Do you think Malfoy knows now?" Harry asked, growing tension in his voice. "I mean, do you think he knows that we know?"

Jessica shrugged. "I don't think so…but, come to think of it, he did seem a little odd."

Harry took a deep breath. "Let's just hope he doesn't suspect anything."

"So what if he does?" Jessica said, suddenly angry. "It's not like he can do anything about it!"

"You don't know Malfoy," Harry replied coolly.

"Well maybe I don't," Jessica admitted, "But I do know that I hate him, and nothing he says or does will change that."

She turned and raced into her room, slamming the door behind her, and leaving a very stunned Harry standing alone in the middle of the Common Room.



Amanda closed the door silently behind herself.

"Well?" she said the moment she entered.

"Well what?" Jessica snapped.

"Did you talk to Harry?" Amanda asked hurriedly.

"Yes, I did," Jessica replied, glaring. "And I'd like to know where you were."

Amanda suddenly turned crimson.

"Sorry," she muttered, settling down on the end of her bed. "I was talking to Ron…"

"You didn't tell him did you?" Jessica asked suspiciously.

"No!" Amanda said firmly, "No, we were talking about the Ball."

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Amanda, this is hardly the time to worry about some stupid Ball!"

"Well, I know that!" she replied defensively. "But McGonagall did tell us to start making sure we had suitable outfits ready and…"

"And that was more important than helping me?" Jessica asked angrily.

Amanda looked hurt. "What's wrong with you today? Why are you so angry?"

Jessica sighed and leaned back.

"I don't know, Amanda. I just don't know. Everything is going wrong." She paused and took a deep breath. "And what about Hermione? When's she coming back? Maybe a better question would be, is she coming back at all?" She could feel the tears start to crack her voice, so she turned her eyes away from Amanda.

"Of course she'll come back," Amanda replied softly.

"You don't know that Amanda," Jessica said quietly, letting a few tears slip by. "No one does."

Amanda stood up quite suddenly.

"Well," she said briskly, "You can sit here and mope if you like, but I'm going to stay optimistic." With that, she stalked out of the room.

Jessica closed her eyes and lay back against her pillow, thinking thoughts no one wanted to listen to.





"Ugh! I hate this! Stupid ball! Stupid dress!"

Jessica sat bolt upright on her bed, jerked unpleasantly from her daydream about being back in Poland, Ohio.

"What is it, Amanda?" she asked, groggily.

Amanda stood three feet away from the dresser, glaring venomously.

"You see what's happened! You put me in a bad mood too! And now this stupid thing won't give me a nice dress," she cried throwing her hands up.

Jessica stretched her arms above her head, swinging her legs sideways off the bed.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" she said, exhausted.

"Just look," Amanda replied somewhat hysterically.

Slowly, Jessica stood and shuffled her feet over to the dresser. The bright light was flooding out, a blue spaghetti-strap dress floating in its midst.

"It's a dress," she said flatly.

Amanda hurried over beside her. "I know!" she said, as though Jessica had realized what a massive injustice this was.

Jessica looked back down at the dress. "So…what's the problem, again?" She asked, feeling her irritation rise slightly.

Amanda reached down and pulled the dress out with a violent yank.

"Well just look at it! It's all wrong! I wanted a red one, and I don't want spaghetti straps!" she cried, shaking it furiously in Jessica's face.

Slightly alarmed, Jessica took the dress from her and calmly set it to the side. Looking at Amanda like she was crazy, she leaned over the drawer.

"Red dress, long sleeve," she whispered, terrified Amanda would crack and go insane.

Instantly, a long red dress with long sleeves appeared in the middle of the light. Amanda looked startled as she reached in and pulled it out.

"Perfect! See what can happen when you change your attitude a little bit?" she exclaimed, hugging Jessica as hard as she could.

Smiling through what she was sure was a cracked rib, Jessica nodded and picked up the blue dress off the bed.

"Hmmm…" she said, turning it over in her hands. "Well, there's no sense in letting this one go to waste," she concluded, picking her wand up off of the dresser.

"What are you going to do to it?" Amanda said, now hurrying around, trying to find an acceptable pair of shoes.

"I'm just going to make a few alterations," Jessica muttered, holding the dress up again.



"Harry!"

Harry's eyes snapped open in time to see a dark suit come down on his face.

"Are you awake or what?" Ron laughed.

Harry sighed and flung the suit to the other side of the bed.

"Yeah," he replied, "I've just been thinking."

"Bout what?" Ron asked, holding up his own suit and examining it.

"The Aurors. Hermione. Jessica. The teachers. The school. Everything," he said, staring up at the top of his hangings.

"Don't worry about those things," Ron said quickly, "I heard the teachers talking, and McGonagall said they might have a lead as to where Hermione is."

"I guess," Harry said, still uneasy.

"Look at this," Ron said in disgust.

Harry propped himself up on his elbows.

"Looks like a suit to me."

"It's so ugly!" Ron said in wonder, turning it over in his hands. "And muggles actually wear these things to formal events? All the time?!"

Harry laughed at his friend's indignation.

"Yea, and just imagine, you're only wearing it for one night," he said, feeling slightly better.

"I wonder if Mum and Dad are coming," Ron said, tossing the suit aside. "I tried to write them, but they never replied." He shrugged. "I guess they're just busy or something, besides, Pig isn't all that reliable."

Harry's stomach churned slightly. No reply from Ron's parents? That was odd. Certainly they had always answered his previous letters?

"So who are you going with?" Ron asked, bringing Harry back to his senses.

He shrugged. "I don't know yet."

Ron looked incredulous. "You only have a week, Harry. If you don't hurry, all the pretty girls will be taken."

"I know," Harry sighed. The truth was he hadn't thought about the dance much at all. Last year, he had been forced to because of the tournament, but this year was different. And although he would never have said it, he would have been more than happy to stay in his dorm during the dance, except for a small but constant feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that said that he should go. He had not yet been able to place the cause of this feeling, but it was always there, always gnawing at the back of his thoughts.

Ron thought hard for a moment. "How about Ginny? You know she likes you."

Harry looked down. "I guess I could ask her," he shrugged.

"You might as well," Ron replied, "All of the older girls probably have dates by now."

"You're right," Harry said, standing up, "I'll just go ask her now."

"Right. I mean afterall, you might have some competition with Neville," he laughed.

Harry managed a weak smile, then left the dorm room quickly and headed for the library, where he had seen Ginny studying.



(A/N) This chapter took FOREVER to be posted! LoL sorry guys! Don't hate me! It's been a rough time! But I promise to try and have the updates coming sooner! Now that I got all the stupid crap out of the way, I have a pretty clear schedule till August, so don't despair! Also, sorry if you guys don't like the idea of the Ball, I just have to start including it or this story is NEVER going to end lol, well that's all. And I absolutely am NOT digging this whole H/G thing with the Ball, but it's gotta be done. (gives a brave nod) well, that's all for now! Please review and don't be *too* critical, k? lol

Reviews make me a happy camper, but flames make me the bear that attacks and eats the campers. 0:)