See, spacegirl? I don't completely hate cheese fries.

Meet Scat, my writing inspiration and best friend.

(o o) | ~~~

Lost in Darkness

Chap. 2: The Halloween Ball

Neville Longbottom was running down a corridor of Hogwarts, trying to escape Dudley Durseley, his girlfriend Erin O'Connell, and henchmen Crabbe and Goyle. They had decided to pick on him a bit, and it had gone into fists. Neville had run.

Not that it helped him much. O'Connell was an intelligent red-haired girl who was excellent at casting curses. And she was a very good athlete.

Neville reached the bathrooms. He slowed. The girls' bathroom! He'd get in trouble if anyone saw him there, for sure, but he'd only get detention. That was sure better than what the Slytherin King and Queen and their bodyguards would do to him if they caught him. He ducked inside.

No one followed. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then stopped. Was that someone crying?

He listened carefully. It was. A girl's soft sobs were coming from behind the door of a toilet marked Out of Order. Neville pushed the door open.

He saw a tall brunette girl sitting on the toilet with her head in her hands. She looked up at Neville, revealing her Slytherin badge. Neville stepped back before noticing her red eyes and the tearstains on her cheeks.

She seemed as afraid of him as he was of her. She scrambled up onto the seat and clung to the wall.

"Who are you?" she asked fearfully.

"Neville Longbottom."

"This is a girls' toilet. Get out."

"I can't."

Despite her fear, she seemed curious. "Why?"

"The King and Queen of Slytherin were chasing me with their bodyguards in tow."

She sat back down on the toilet. "What did you do to them?"

"Nothing. They just hate me because I'm terrible at almost all my classes."

She stopped looking frightened. "They were after me because I'm horrible at Potions. They say no Slytherin is true unless they are good at Potions."

"I'm horrible at Potions, too. I'm horrible at everything, really. Except Herbology."

"I'm terrible at Herbology." She started to stammer. "D-do y-y-y-you th- think y-you couldhelpme?" She finished the sentence in a rush.

Neville was surprised. No one had ever wanted his help before, at anything. He made an executive decision.

"If you help me in my other classes, I'll help you in Herbology."

"Deal."

They shook hands.

"What's your name?" Neville asked.

"Jay."

"Jay?"

"It's short for Jessica. Jessica Katherine Rawson."

It was Neville's turn to scramble onto the seat. "You're the Durmstrang transfer!"

"I transferred because I hated it there!"

"Oh." He climbed down. "So, how about tonight at seven?"

"Sure. But let's keep this a secret, okay? I'd be dead if King Dudley, Queen Erin and army found out I was helping a Gryffindor."

"I'd be dead if King Harry, Queen Ginny and friends found out I was helping a Slytherin. Deal."

They parted.

*~*~*

Harry kept thinking about what Alex had said all through his other classes. He couldn't concentrate. His teachers commented on it and his friends did, too. He kept thinking about Rose lying in a hospital bed, slowly dying and no one knew what was wrong with her, let alone the cure. He couldn't bear to lose her. He had known her only a few years, but he felt as if he had lost a part of himself.

And in truth, he had. For as Rose was part of the Gold connection, they were technically a part of each other. Her and Harry's connection was especially close, as they were brother and sister and their parents had used a rare and difficult spell to bind the two especially close.

Harry tried once again to talk to his sister's dream state of mind. It didn't work, of course. He just felt a sort of.void, as if her soul was gone. He sighed.

"Harry?"

He snapped back to attention. Ginny was shaking his shoulder.

"Harry, the bell rang two minutes ago."

"Okay. I'll meet you at dinner."

Ginny nodded and ran to catch up with Hermione, her back slung over her shoulder. Harry gathered his bags and ran to his room. He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and slipped it on. He was going for a visit with Bill.

*~*~*

Bill and Sirius were feeding the twins while they were bickering about who was the best Quidditch team in England when Harry took off his cloak in the middle of the kitchen.

"Harry, you could get in so much trouble if you get caught," Sirius said.

Harry rolled his eyes. This coming from a Marauder?

"Like you never snuck out of school grounds? I wanted to look through something in the library."

"Why do you need to? There's an exact copy in your common room."

"Not exact. The Potter/Evans Family Tree isn't in my library."

He descended the stairs into the private library. He knew exactly where the book his mother wrote was. He had memorized the spot long ago.

Harry grabbed the book out of the shelf and flipped to the page on his sister.

"Rosemary "Rose Lily" Lillian Potter. Also known as Ailes. Rose is the daughter of James Potter sr. and Lillian Potter sr. She is married to William Weasly and has two children, twins, a boy and a girl, named after her parents. She has vivid green eyes that flash violet when she is angry. She has wavy auburn hair like her mother. Her closest relations other than her daughter and son are her brother, Harry Potter, and her cousin, Hermione Granger. She is most afraid of losing one close to her. Unfortunately, Harry and Hermione are in serious danger of losing Rose. She is in St. Mungo's, comatose, without sure diagnosis."

Harry slammed the book shut. Completely useless. Time for plan B. When in doubt, always go for the bookworms.

*~*~*

Hermione and Ginny were doing their Arithmancy homework together.

"What's this?" Ginny asked, pointing to a symbol on the page.

"Look on page 216," Hermione said absently.

Hermione turned back to her homework, but there was a hand on the page. She looked up angrily.

"Harry!"

"I need you to help me with something."

"What?"

"Is there a potion that can cure comas?"

"Yes but the ingredients are rather hard to acquire."

"What's it called?"

"The Darneywort Drink. It's in Most Potente Potions, volume three. But."

Harry was already on his way to the library.

*~*~*

"Let's see.volume one.volume two.volume.four!"

Volume three was missing. Harry turned back and looked through again. It still wasn't there.

"Crap!"

"Looking for something?"

Harry whirled.

Erin O'Connell was holding volume three of Most Potente Potions in the air, smirking.

"Give it here, O'Connell," Harry said angrily.

She shook her finger at him. "Patience is a virtue."

"One which you do not possess," someone said from the door.

Hermione and Ginny had their wands out and were pointing them at O'Connell's chest. O'Connell scowled and threw the book at Harry. He caught it neatly in the air, being a Seeker. Her scowl deepened and she pushed the girls out of the way and flounced up to Dudley's room.

Harry opened the book to the index in the back. Hermione and Ginny leaned over his shoulder.

"There it is!" Ginny said, pointing at a page number.

Harry used a little magic to find the page extra fast. Hermione apparently noticed as she poked him in the shoulder.

"Evil rather than good."

Harry remembered Rose saying that, years and years ago. He ignored her and kept flipping.

He looked through the ingredients. The list was rather short, but.interesting.

"See what I said about being hard to acquire?" Hermione said desperately.

She was right. Although there were only five ingredients, the first was feather of phoenix, the second was wing clipping of a Unisus, the third was a memory of the sick person from when they were young, the fourth was the blood of a healer, and the fifth was the flesh of a relative, brother, sister or parent preferred.

"Ugh," Harry said.

"They're all really hard to get," Ginny moaned, biting her lip. "Phoenixes don't take too kindly to having a feather plucked. Unisi are rare enough as is, and they don't particularly like having their wings clipped. I don't know many people who have a memory of Rose from when she was young that they want to give up."

"I only know one healer," Hermione said, shuddering. "It has to be a full healer, one with only the healing powers. And I also know only one brother, sister or parent of Rose."

They looked at Harry.

"I'd give up my head if it would help her," he said determinedly.

Ginny had a thought that she accidentally let slip. Harry smiled at it.

*Oh that is so sweet!*

Hermione obviously heard it too, judging from the look on her face.

"When can we start working on it?" Ginny said.

"Anytime. Just let's stay away from Moaning Myrtle this time," Harry said.

"Sure. Harry, where's your map? There's sure to be someplace on there we can brew it."

"Rose replaced it for my birthday since Crouch took it."

He pulled out a "new and improved" Marauder's Map created by Moony, Lupin, Padfoot and Ailes.

"There's another passageway to Rose's room," Harry said, outlining a route with his finger. "Only, it's from our house."

"Next Hogsmeade visit is right before the Halloween Ball," Ginny said. "So we'd need to go anyways."

"It needs to brew for two months," Hermione said. "We can start it on Halloween and end it on New Year's Eve."

"Perfect."

"Now do your homework, Harry. But first, here. Ginny brought food from the house-elves for you."

He took the plate Ginny held out gratefully. But the food, however, looked a bit odd.

"What's this?"

"Ginny wanted you to try them," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Cheeseburger and cheese fries."

"Sounds good." He bit into a fry. "They are good!"

"Oh no!" Hermione said, faking horror.

"Oh, try one sometime, Mione."

"I shall consider the possibility. Um.NO."

Harry left for his room to do his homework.

*~*~*

Neville went down to the library nervously. He couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Jay was going to come in with the King and Queen and the entire Slytherin army at her back and kill him.

He shook off the feeling once he had seen Jay come in holding only some books and her wand.

"You want to start with Charms?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, shrugging.

"I got a really good wand for charms work," she said cheerfully. She was a lot happier when she was away from the Slytherins. "Willow, ten and a half inches, pliable. Veela hair."

"So it's not an Ollivander's then, is it?"

"No. My family makes wands."

"Cool!"

"I suppose. If you don't have to carry dragon heartstrings around for people. They're really slimy."

"Can you help me with this?" Neville asked, pointing to a paper he had to write on Flower Charms and how they could be useful.

"Well, think about desert regions and different places where botany has trouble. Write as many paragraphs as you can on it, then just write bull."

"Okay! I can do that! But how do you actually do a Flower Charm?"

"Watch."

She stood up and pointed her wand at a bookcase.

"Bourgeons fleurissants!"

The entire bookcase was covered in beautiful flowers of many kinds. Neville goggled.

"Just see the wrist movement, kind of like the swish and flick. Just up, down, right, left, point."

Neville tried. It looked to him like he was directing an orchestra.

"That's really good! Now try the words, but not with the wand."

"Brogans florescent."

"Bourgeons fleurissants."

"Bourgeons fleurissant."

"It's 'fleurissants.'"

"Bourgeons fleurissants."

"Good! Now try it with the wand."

Neville pointed his wand at the same bookcase and tried the wrist movement.

"Bourgeons fleurissants!"

The entire bookcase was instantly choked with weeds.

"Try again."

"Bourgeons fleurissants!"

This time, he managed to halfway cover the bookcase with roses.

"Very good! Another try and you'll have it."

Neville gathered all the magic he could find and said, "Bourgeons fleurissants!"

He covered the bookcase in multitudes of multicolored flowers.

"Wow!" Jay said, impressed. "It took me six tries just to get the roses!"

"Here, I'll help you with your Herbology."

"All right. What's a Bretatober?"

"Related to the Bubotober, but the pus isn't the valuable part. It's the leaves, which can be used to cure most comas."

"Cool. How are they different?"

"They're red and silver."

"Interesting combination."

"I know."

They talked together all night.

*~*~*

Ginny woke up late the morning of October 15. She rolled over and brushed the curtains of her four-poster aside to check her clock.

"Ten o'clock! Oh my God I'm so late for classes."

She leaped out of bed and ran for her closet.

"Forget something, Ginny?" Hermione said from the door.

"Yes! Setting my alarm!"

She was wildly pawing through clothes for her school uniform. Hermione came over and shut the door.

"It's Hogsmeade day. The new rule?"

"Oh. That's right. No classes on Hogsmeade days."

"Help me pick clothes."

Hermione held up some deep red robes. "How about this?"

"Sure."

Ginny snatched the robes and pulled them on quite fast. She was ready in half an hour, makeup, hair and all.

"We're meeting the boys at the Golden Phoenix, right?" Ginny asked, referring to the Weasly's restaurant that had a candy/prank shop in the back.

"Yes. Come on, we'll be late!"

They ran down the stairs and just managed to catch the crowd heading for Hogsmeade. Ginny and Hermione met up with Padma and Parvati in Madame Malkin's.

"The theme for the Halloween Ball is really cool, don't you think?" Parvati said, looking through a mound of robes. "The costume thing. We can dress up like absolutely anything."

"I know. Harry and I are going as Romeo and Juliet," Ginny said.

"Ron and I are going as Belle and the Beast after he turns back into a prince," Hermione said.

"Dean and I are going as an Egyptian prince and princess," Padma said.

"Seamus and I are the emperor and empress of Japan or China or one of those Oriental countries," Parvati said.

"I heard Neville's got a date," Ginny said in her gossipy voice.

"Ohmigod!" the other three girls said at the same time. "Who? What house?"

"I saw Neville asking her. She looked like a sixth year. She had her books up so I couldn't see her house badge, but I can describe her perfectly. She's got brown hair that goes just past her shoulders. It's straight but curls a little at the ends. She's got grayish-green eyes and she's really tall. She's actually quite pretty."

"Not as pretty as you are," Harry said from behind them.

"Oh, hello, Harry," Ginny said. "Come help me pick our outfits."

"Is that her?" Hermione muttered to Ginny, discreetly nodding at a girl standing with Neville.

*Yeah, it is. Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, look, Neville and his date.*

They all turned to look just as the girl turned towards them, revealing her house badge.

*OH MY LORD! HE'S DATING A SLYTHERIN!* Harry exploded in their heads.

Ginny heard Neville's and the girl's fear as they ran from the shop.

"Harry, I know you felt how afraid they were."

"I don't care," he hissed. "Traitor."

"Come on Harry, look at these," Ginny said, ignoring the incredible anger of her boyfriend.

"Whatever you say, Gin."

She picked up the medieval costumes and paid at the counter. The other girls soon followed. They ran for the Phoenix.

*~*~*

Jay peered around the corner.

"I think they're gone," she whispered to Neville.

"Good."

They crept back into Madame Malkin's and paid for their costumes.

"Do you think they'll hex you, Neville?"

"Probably not. Just stay away from that house on the edge of town. It's the King's and his cousin's."

"Okay. Neville, what is all this rivalry for?"

"Just tradition, I suppose. The rivalry between the founders has a lot to do with it."

"But you're a Gryffindor. They're supposed to be brave. They're supposed to be willing to take risks."

"I know. But apparently not everyone is able to."

"Since when are you a philosopher?"

"Since someone smart finally took an interest in me."

"That's an extreme compliment."

Jay leaned over and kissed Neville on the cheek, just a quick peck. Even so Neville felt a red flush rising up his neck. He noticed Jay was already red.

She looked at him and they both cracked up.

*~*~*

"A Slytherin!"

Harry banged his cup of butterbeer on the table at Fred and George.

"Neville's dating a Slytherin? How? They all hate him!" Fred said.

"Harry, they really liked each other," Ginny said.

"I don't care!"

"Harry!"

Ginny slammed down her butterbeer and went to join some of her Hufflepuff friends.

"Hurt her and I'll kill you and make it look like an accident," Ron, Fred and George all said at the same time.

Harry slammed down his own mug and went to join some of the Ravenclaw boys.

*~*~*

Ginny didn't talk to him at all that night. He really was sorry for what he had said, and tried to take it back, but Ginny would go back to her throng of Hufflepuff girls every time he tried to talk to her.

None of the Weasly brothers were helping, either. They all kept telling Harry to make up with her or they'd Avada him.

Hermione was furious with him for upsetting her friend, so sided with her boyfriend. And Harry knew very well that she was perfectly capable of casting an Unforgivable.

That's why he ended up in his room, doing his homework, locking charms on the door.

But he couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking about his sister. He could still remember the time he had first met her face-to-face, when he had just ran away from his uncle's house.

::Flashback::

Harry woke up.

He didn't know when he'd gone to sleep. It must have been after the voice had left.what had she called herself? Oh yeah, the Guardian.

He sat up, expecting to feel pain shooting down various parts of him. Instead, he felt great. Better than he'd ever felt in his life. He looked at his arms and hands. There were no cuts or bruises. He felt his head. No blood, no pain. He looked at all the places where his uncle had hit him. Nothing. He didn't even have any dried blood from where the cuts had been.

Then he remembered the incantation the Guardian had said. He immediately remembered their conversation. She was friends with Sirius! That must mean she was good. Now she had said he needed to ask Sirius about something.about her! She wanted him to ask Sirius about why he was helping her! Harry stopped. He noticed he had been thinking of the Guardian as a "her." He remembered something she had said: "Focus your thoughts on me and you will find me." He had thought she was just saying that he would be able to talk to her. But now he realized that she must have meant her physical being, her name and location. When Harry thought that last word, "location," he saw something happen.

He was falling to the earth, from far above. His wings were flapping in the breeze. Then a hippogriff flew under him, with a dog on its back. The hippogriff caught him, and up righted him. He saw that he was looking at.himself! Surprised, he snapped out of the daydream. He opened his eyes and found he was looking at a silvery unicorn-Pegasus covered in cuts and bruises, with a large, black, shaggy dog on a hippogriff next to it. As he watched, the dog changed into a tall man with long, dirty black hair. "Sirius!" Harry yelled. He jumped up to hug him. When he sat back down, he noticed that the unicorn had also changed, into a tall redheaded girl. As soon as he saw the girl, he recognized her. She was the Guardian. He could feel it. But there was something else, too.

The girl smiled. *That's right,* she said.

Harry jumped. *You are the Guardian!*

She smiled again. *Yep. And not only that.*

Harry looked frustrated. *What?*

*I think you already know.*

Harry felt the girl digging through his mind, his memories being searched like a file folder. *What are you doing?* he asked, somewhat angrily.

*Shut up! I'm trying to find it for you.* She screwed her face up in concentration. *Aha! There it is!*

Harry felt a memory come to his mind. He was picturing a scene from when he was a baby. He was playing in his nursery, but there was another person there. A girl. A girl with red hair.

He snapped out of the memory. He looked at the Guardian, ready to protest her invading his thoughts. It was then when he realized that the girl in the memory looked almost exactly like the Guardian. Then he knew.

*You're my sister, aren't you?*

She mentally snorted. *Nooo. I'm your fairy godmother. Duh. Rose Lily Potter. I look like Mum, but I've got Dad's eyes. Or so I'm told. All I know is that I have Mum's hair and face, and Dad's nearsighted blue eyes.*

*You're the one who healed me.*

*Right again. You saw me black out and fall from the injuries I transferred to myself.*

*But how did you get away from.*

*Voldemort? Ask Sirius. I'm tired of explaining.*

*Would you please stop finishing my sentences?*

"I hate to break up this little family reunion," Sirius said, "but we need to go."

His voice had made both Harry and Rose jump. They had been so involved in each others' minds that they had completely shut out the outside world. "Sirius!" Harry protested. "Rose was just telling me how she got away from Voldemort!" Sirius responded, "She can finish at Hogwarts. We have to get there before your uncle finds you.with us." He looked grim. "You won't be able to withstand another beating. Your injuries were so bad the last time that Rose had barely enough power to heal them, especially after the problems she had had making contact. It would probably kill her if she healed you again, but if she broke the link, which is the only thing that lets her heal you, she would have another episode like the one in the cave. She couldn't survive another reaction like that."

Harry almost asked what the difficulties were, until he looked through Rose's mind and found the memory of them. He shuddered. "I don't know how she stands one." he muttered to Sirius. "So how are we going to get to Hogwarts? Buckbeak won't be able to carry my trunk and Hedwig's cage."

"Hedwig's cage isn't a problem," Rose responded. "Starsong can carry it." She whistled, and a phoenix grew out of a pebble on the ground. It hopped up onto her arm.

Harry stared. "Where'd you get that?"

Rose smiled. "I found her egg on the ground deserted when I was seven. I raised her, and in return she acts as my owl. Unfortunately, since she's so noticeable, she generally looks like a tawny." She winked. "The Honeydukes owners got tired of a giant phoenix showing up at their window with requests for candy."

"But what do we do about my trunk?"

"Starsong."

"I don't think even a phoenix could carry that all the way to Hogwarts."

Rose grinned evilly. "Who says we'll be flying the whole way?" She then produced three large handfuls of gillyweed. "Blech," Harry said. "I'm not too fond of the stuff myself," said Sirius. "But, fortunately, dogs are good swimmers." He promptly changed back into the dog. "I'll just fly," Rose said. She changed back into the Unisus. "But what about me?" Harry asked. "Gillyweed, right?" Rose changed back. "Not necessarily." She pulled out her wand. "Are you aware that the ability to be an Animagi is an inherited trait?" She muttered something, and Harry started to grow. He dropped to his hands, which he noticed were turning into hooves,

Five minutes later, he was a stag.

"Prongs rides again," she said, sadly smiling.

::End Flashback::

*Harry,* someone was crying. *Harry, can you hear me?*

He started thinking about Rose again. That was almost exactly what she had said when he had first spoken back to her.

*Yeah, yeah, I know. It was a sweet moment but LISTEN TO ME!!!*

He jumped a foot in the air, smearing his Potions homework.

*Rose?!*

*Yes! Thank God I've finally gotten through to you!*

*What the hell are you doing here?!*

*Dream state.*

*But I couldn't-*

*I could.*

*Will the potion work?*

*Yeah, it'll work. But here's a tip: you need at least six square inches of skin for the 'flesh' part. And Hermione is still willing to help you, especially since I'm talking to her, too.*

*Then why isn't she-*

The door banged open. Hermione, Padma, Parvati, Ron, and Ginny were standing in the door.

*-here.*

*Got to go now. I'll visit you in a few dreams, how's that?*

*But-*

It was too late. She had left.

"We start the potion on Halloween, as planned," Hermione said briskly. She strode out of the room, followed by Ron and the Patils. Ginny hesitated a moment before following.

"Gin, wait."

She stopped and turned around.

"What do you want."

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I really am."

She looked him over with a critical eye. A critical brain, too.

"Really?"

"Gin, I love you. These past few hours have been, excuse the language, hell. I hated not being able to talk to you."

She relaxed. "I was hoping you'd say that. I love you too."

She ran over to him and gave him a quick kiss before swinging down the stairs.

*~*~*

The girls went crazy the night of Halloween.

"What's that makeup spell?"

"No! That polish so does not match my outfit!"

"Where's my kimono?"

"Has anyone seen my tiara?"

They were finally ready around six, when they joined the boys, who had been ready for hours.

"Ready, Mione?" Ron asked, offering his elbow, royalty style.

"Ready, Ron. Let's go!"

They proceeded down the stairs carefully, so as not to mess up their costumes.

Hermione was Belle, wearing a puffy yellow skirt that trailed along the floor. The top had no sleeves and was sort of off the shoulder. It was a little low-cut. She had put her hair in a ponytail, but with a few curls brushing her shoulders.

Ginny, as Juliet, was wearing a dark blue medieval gown with deep red and gold trim. She was wearing a small gold tiara with fake sapphires and rubies.

Padma, who was Cleopatra or somebody, had on a white sleeveless dress that reached her ankles. She had informed everyone that it was called a chiton. It had little flat, round clasps holding the straps on. She was wearing gold and turquoise earrings with a matching metal headband. Her armband was gold with turquoise on the ends, and she wore sandals. She carried a single long, white lotus and had put on Egyptian makeup.

Parvati was a Japanese empress and was wearing a red and gold kimono with a dragon design. She had those little clog-like sandals and had made up her face to make her look Japanese.

They took seats next to each other at one of the many tables spread out around the room.

"Where are Neville and his Slytherin girlfriend?" Ron hissed.

"They're not here. Try the chicken," Hermione said, arranging her skirt on the chair.

Ron grumpily looked at his plate and said, "Fried chicken."

*~*~*

"Are you ready?" Jay nervously asked Neville.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

They had decided to copy the King and Queen of Gryffindor and go as Romeo and Juliet, that practically being what they were.

Jay was wearing a dress identical to Ginny Weasly's except it was forest green with silver trim. She had on a tight silver circlet on her head that peaked at the forehead and had a single emerald at the peak. She was wearing a matching necklace.

Neville was wearing a scarlet jacket and pants with gold trim. They somehow matched perfectly.

"Come on," he said, offering her his arm.

She nervously took it and followed him into the Great Hall.

The entire school noticed. They turned around in their seats and began to point and whisper. Some of the Slytherins even called rather unkind remarks at them.

"Where can we sit?" Jay asked nervously.

Neville noticed she was twisting her skirt between her fingers.

"Only free seats are near the Princess Hermione and Prince Ron."

"Not good. Well, it's better than King Dudley, Queen Erin and army."

They tentatively sat down in the seats next to Hermione and Ron. Ron looked disgusted, but Hermione looked interested.

"Hello," she said kindly to Jay. "Are you the new girl? What's your name again?"

"Jessica Katherine Rawson," she squeaked. "But I like Jay better."

"Jay," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Cool name. Certainly better than Ginny."

"You have a nice name," Jay said. She seemed to be becoming more comfortable. "My parents named me for a Muggle author."

"Really?" Hermione seemed really interested. "Are you Muggle-born?"

"Yes," she said easily. She wasn't squeaking anymore. "My uncle was a wizard, though. But he died when I was seven."

"I'm Muggle-born," Hermione said. "The magic in me comes from my aunt, Lily Potter sr."

"So you're Harry's cousin?"

"Yes."

"Cool!"

"What subjects are you good at?" Ginny asked.

"All but Herbology and Potions. That's sort of how I met Neville."

"How did you meet him?"

"I was running from the King, Queen and bodyguards," she said, jerking her thumb towards Goyle, Crabbe, Durseley and O'Connell. "Neville happened to be, too and we hid in the same place. We introduced ourselves and started talking about what we were good at and what we were horrible at. We've been tutoring each other since the beginning of the year."

"You're the transfer from Durmstrang, aren't you?" Padma said curiously.

"Yes, I am. And before you say anything, I transferred because I got tired of this one Hogwarts transfer and his bodyguards threatening my constantly. You might know him Draco Malfoy."

"Yes, we know him," Padma said with disgust. "Death Eater, Malfoy, Heir to Voldemort, a whole lot of money, Slytherin, and Erin O'Connell."

"He really is evil."

"Tell me about it."

The boys still hadn't said anything to her. She figured they still weren't pleased with the Slytherin/Gryffindor pairing.

Suddenly, to her surprise, Dean spoke to her.

"Then you don't like Slytherin?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I hate it. The people suck. I almost went into one of the other houses. But the hat said Slytherin would help me on the way to greatness."

This seemed to catch Harry's attention. But Seamus had something else to say.

"Which house?"

"All. It said that as I only had one fear, I could go in Gryffindor. Then it noticed that I had nightmares about being put under Imperius and being forced to betray someone, so it said I would make a good Hufflepuff. Then it saw my grades and suggested Ravenclaw. Finally, it noticed how badly I wanted people to recognize my name and appreciate it, and how badly I wanted to be liked by everyone, and how terribly I wanted someone's love. And it said Slytherin would help me if I wanted power. So I went for Slytherin."

She noticed everyone at the table was hanging onto her every word. Even the King and Prince. Then Harry spoke to her. King Harry actually said words to her.

"It said Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness?"

"Yes." She was amazed at how clear her voice was. "And I got snared. Little did I know what I was getting myself into."

"They make fun of you?" Ron said.

"That's an understatement. They ridicule me endlessly. Just watch me in Potions or Herbology."

"Uh oh," Neville muttered.

Jay turned to look at him. He nodded at the Slytherin Court, who was not looking too happy with her. In fact, they were looking murderous.

Jay started to panic.

"Um, I suppose some people might be mad if I stayed in the Gryffindor commons," she said.

"Understatement," Seamus said.

"You can stay in my room," Ginny said.

"How far is it from the Slytherin prefects' rooms?"

"Opposite ends of the house."

"Sure."

*~*~*

Ginny had heard the panic and terror of the poor girl. She looked like she was Ginny's age.

"So, Jay," she said casually, trying to calm her down. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"So you're a sixth year?"

"Seventh. Durmstrang students start a year earlier."

"You know, I'm sixteen too."

"But you're in seventh year!"

"They skipped me because of all my O.W.L.s."

"Cool."

"It's really hard, though."

"Whatever you say."

"You two practically are Romeo and Juliet, you know that?"

"Why'd you think we picked it?"

Suddenly music started to play. Muggle music like the last two years, due to the popularity. Mostly Avril Lavigne, but with some Pink and A*Teens and S Club and Jessica Simpson.

Right now, Breathless by The Corrs was playing.

"Come on!" Hermione said, pulling Ron to his feet.

Ginny and Harry copied them, followed by Neville and Jay, Dean and Padma, and Seamus and Parvati.

Ginny smiled at Jay, who was slowly teaching Neville how to dance. She was doing well.

*She'd make a good Hogwarts teacher,* she told the others.

*Yeah. Have you noticed how much Neville's grades have gone up?*

*Yeah. I don't get turned into anything unnatural during Transfiguration anymore.*

*Ronald Weasly! That's not very nice!*

They danced for literally three hours before collapsing into four chairs. Notice four for eight people.

"I'm exhausted!" Ginny said.

She had her arm around Harry, like the other girls. Neville had actually managed to dance properly after only half an hour.

The boys went to get butterbeers, leaving the girls to chat with Jay.

"Did you know Viktor Krum?" Parvati asked.

Ginny winced at the mention of Hermione's cheating ex-boyfriend. Ron wasn't any fonder of him than Hermione was.

"Yes," she said. "He dated my friend."

"I know that friend. The one he dated while I was visiting him in Romania."

"Oh."

"Back," Dean said.

He and the other boys handed out the butterbeers and drank them thirstily. Dancing for that long was hard work.

Suddenly Eminem's Lose Yourself started playing.

"Come on," Jay said, pulling Neville to his feet.

Ginny laughed at the two dancing quite energetically.

"So, Harry, what you think of Jay now?" she said smugly. "I told you they really love each other."

"Say it: The girls were right," Hermione smirked.

"Okay! The girls were right."

"Good. Now dance with me."

"Sure, Gin."

They stood up and started dancing again. Soon the slow dances started. Everyone got up and danced, although some left for the garden.

Ginny looked up at Harry and they simultaneously got the same idea. They left for the garden.

*~*~*

Neville and Jay were slow-dancing in the middle of the room. Students were staring at them and whispering and pointing.

Someone shouted, "Hey, you Slytherin bitch, get off the Gryffindor!"

"Hey, Longbottom, why don't you dump the slut?"

Neville got angrier and angrier with every insult. The last comment was enough.

"Longbottom's got his match! Rawson's about ten times stupider than he is!"

Neville grabbed Jay's hand and switched off the music. It came to a scratching stop.

*~*~*

Out in the garden, Harry and Ginny turned to the Great Hall to listen.

*~*~*

Jay watched her boyfriend with admiration as he amplified his voice and cleared his throat. She really did love this guy. She took his hand and held it for support.

"I know you've noticed I'm with a Slytherin," Neville said. "I know none of you like it. I would just like you to know that I don't give a shit."

Everyone was dead silent now. This was a Neville they had never seen before.

"We love each other. And we're brave. We can stand your immature teasing and your hexes. We're strong. Isn't that what Gryffindor is all about? Bravery? Well, Jay's brave. She's not yellow like some of the other Slytherins. She's a wonderful person. If some of you would stop your stereotypes about other houses and actually get to know some of the people, you might find someone good for you. Just try. Be brave."

He quieted his voice and took Jay's other hand. She felt her blood start to pump harder and her cheeks flush red.

They leaned towards each other and their lips made contact.