A/N: I've tried to keep dates relatively accurate with J.K. Rowling's world so forgive me if I've confused any years up…OH and I made Charlotte Canner up.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter…or his friends…but maybe J.K. Rowling would give them to me as a birthday gift? OK, so maybe not…but I can hope, right? Alright, never mind.
Chapter 29: Crushes and Stuff
Natalie Pickett burst out laughing. "What are you two talking about?" She continued laughing loudly. "What do you mean I'm going to fall in love with Lee?" she asked incredulously.
Fred and George Weasley looked at each other helplessly. Maybe this wasn't the best way to approach the issue. We probably should have been more discreet about this George, Fred told his brother through their unique telepathic powers.
I would agree with that Fred, George responded quietly.
They looked back up at her quite seriously.
Natalie continued to laugh for an immeasurable amount of time until their blank stares finally unsettled her nerves. "You're joshing me, right?" she finally asked. The insane laughter was gone from her gaze and in its place there was a definite worry. "You're serious, aren't you?"
The older twins continued staring at her. There looks were unchanging but to her they just became more serious.
"Oh my," she said faintly as she dropped to her seat. "You're serious," she said quietly. She looked at them. Fred. George. Then Fred again and then George. "You're not lying…"
"I-I don't understand," she continued mostly to herself. "How could you know that I'm going to fall in love with Lee?" she asked. She finally looked at them. Her eyes were desperate as she quietly asked them what was happening.
They looked at one another and then looked at her helplessly. "We can't exactly tell you. See, you know Harry Potter right? Well he and his friends have been researching the curse over you friend, our friends really, and they figured out how to help Katie and Lee."
She arched an eyebrow and looked at them skeptically. "Really?" She didn't believe them, that much was apparent. "And what's that?" She was only humoring them; she wondered how long they would take this joke.
They sighed at the same time and sent her a pointed look. "Just let us talk to you about Lee a little bit, alright? Maybe you'll like what we have to say," George told her hopefully.
Natalie seemed tired of not knowing what to say and tired of fighting with them. "Fine," she said with evident reluctance.
"Thank you," they said in unison.
She rolled her eyes. It didn't matter anyway; it wasn't like she was going to be late for class.
George grinned triumphantly and winked at Fred. "Well see it all started one rainy night, February 11, 1982, when Bradley and June Jordan brought little Lee Jordan into this world, never knowing he would be one of the finest Quidditch announcers Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has ever seen," he teased although his words were sincere.
Natalie licked her lips and decided to close her eyes. They were starting at the beginning. They were going to tell her the next seventeen years of their friend's life. Merlin how these two annoyed her!
***
Ron hadn't realized how long of a trip it was to the Ravenclaw Wing until now. It wasn't in the dungeon like the Slytherin Wing was but rather up an immense amount of stairs. If he had known what it was, Ron would have said the stairs to the Ravenclaw dormitories were the original Stair Master, there were that many.
They were panting heavily by the time they reached the Ravenclaw Common Room entrance. Even Parvati, who had been here a couple times in her five years at Hogwarts to see her sister, was breathing heavily.
Hermione slumped down on the floor against the wall. "I've got to sit down! Whoever knew stairs could be so tiring?"
All three of them fell silent then as they waited for a student to come along. They didn't have to wait long.
It was minutes only until they heard the familiar slapping of feet coming up the stairs. Soon the slapping feet had a head bobbing up and down too, matching the rhythm of the person as they ascended the long flights of stairs.
Hermione was quick to stand while Parvati leaned over the precariously balanced rail, separating her from certain…death. Ron made a grab for her, catching her forearm and pulling her away.
"Who do you think you are? Some sort of a super woman or something?" he asked sarcastically.
Parvati sighed. "I wasn't going to fall," she replied calmly but snidely. "I was just seeing who it is!"
"Well? Who is it?" he asked.
"I don't know Ron! I never saw the person!"
"Hello?" a timid, curious girl's voice drifted upward.
Parvati immediately recognized the voice. It belonged to fellow fifth year Charlotte Canner. "Charlotte it's me: Parvati. I'm with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."
Charlotte finally appeared at the landing in front of her common room door. She smiled easily. "Hey Parvati…I'm sorry about Padma."
Parvati waved her hand in the air. "It's alright and thank you. But I've got a question for you Charlotte: do you know where I can find Mitch Reed? He's in Ravenclaw right?"
Charlotte nodded. "It's nearly three, right? Well Mitch has muggle studies until two forty-five and so he should be coming up soon. Why?"
"We just…need to talk to him for a minute, OK?" Parvati explained…sort of. It wasn't much of an explanation but it was something. She didn't feel like going into detail with Charlotte, who was nearly as much of a gossip as she herself was.
"Oh well, OK. Actually there's Mitch now," Charlotte told them while pointing toward a bobbing spiky brown-haired head.
Parvati turned to say thank you but Charlotte was already gone. She shrugged and again the three of them waited quietly.
It was a good five to ten minutes before Mitch appeared in front of him. Unlike his three counterparts he didn't seem out of breath at all when he reached the top of the staircase. He looked at each of them for a while before talking.
"You're Padma's sister, aren't you?" he asked.
Parvati nodded. "Sure am," she replied.
"Is there something I can do for you?" he asked.
Hermione took the diary out of Parvati's clutch and thrust it toward the Ravenclaw in front of her. "Here. Don't ask questions, just read it," she told him briefly.
He looked at the bushy-haired witch curiously. "It looks like a diary or something—
"Exactly mate," Ron interrupted while clapping him on the back. "That's what it is and just do like Hermione says and read it. Trust us; you'll enjoy it," he promised.
"OK," Mitch drawled out. He was looking at the book skeptically but he seemed to take their word for it. "You want me to read this?" he reiterated.
"Yes, please," Parvati answered rather desperately. She was sick of battling with people to get them to do what she wanted. Why didn't anyone just do something?
Mitch looked to the desperate Parvati and grinned. "And so, if I do, what do I get from you?" he asked, pointing a long index finger in Parvati's direction.
Parvati rolled her eyes. "You know Harry Potter right?"
"Well that wasn't something I expected! If you think I'm going to go on a date with a…a…him you're completely wrong!" he stammered.
It was too much for Ron, who snorted and turned away from the hyper Ravenclaw. Hermione hid a smile quite successfully and Parvati rolled her eyes again and then looked directly into his eyes. "Not you, you prat. I'm dating Harry Potter…but trust me, when you're done reading that," she said motioning to the book in his hands, "you won't want to date me."
The look of relief spreading across his face was priceless.
"Just relax and read it, OK mate?" Ron asked. "But we got to get going…we'll talk to you later!" he said. Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and Parvati quickly bound in front of them and the threesome had a sort of race to see who could descend down the stairs quickest.
Alone at the top of the landing a confused Mitch Reed looked down at the leather bound book in his hands and gingerly opened the cover to reveal a page of fine parchment with letters written in the purest of gold. Katie Bell.
He shut the book, surprised by the name that was written on the page. Katie? The same Katie who he'd had a crush on all through his Hogwarts years? Excluding this year, that is. Why did they want him to read her diary? What kind of a joke was this?
He looked over the ledge to see if he could see the three Gryffindors but they were already out of sight. Mitch sighed and said the password, then disappeared through the wall into the common room.
Sorry it took so long to get the last two chapters posted. Damn ff.net wouldn't let me upload them! Grrr… I hope you enjoyed these last couple of chapters and it would be so grand if you reviewed. Thank you for reading.
*** As a side note, please pray/light a candle/meditate/whatever-it-is-you-do for the Allied forces in light of the war…and not only for the Allied soldiers but also the innocent Iraqi lives that will be lost. Remember, it is not Iraq we are against, but Saddam Hussein. I apologize if this request has offended you.
Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.
~ Baltasar Gracian
