For a minute, I wondered what I should do. Then, an idea came to mind. Grinning, I pulled out my English-Latin dictionary and flipped through it.

"Let's see," I whispered, pulling out my wand and a small bit of parchment. "Tingo... tingo vario? No... tingo novo. Yeah, that sounds better."

I held the bit of parchment out in front of me, pointed my wand at itm and said, "Tingo novo!"

A flash of color erupted from my wand, and the parchment started to change colors. My grin widening, I stashed the parchment away and crept into Harry's dormitory. As silently as I could, I opened his hangings. I tried not to laugh as I pointed my wand at his hair.

"Tingo novo!" I whispered. Another flash of light erupted from my wand, and when it faded, I saw that my prank had worked; Harry's hair was changing colors every three seconds. Suppressing fits of giggles, I rushed out of his dorm and back into mine. I rocked on my bed for a few moments, trying to calm down so I could fall asleep again, but I realized I wasn't the least bit tired. Rummaging through my trunk once more, I pulled out an old copy of Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce and ambled back down into the common room.

I sprawled myself onto one of the armchairs so that my feet hung over one of the arms and my back rested against the other. Then I opened the book and tumbled into a world of knights, mages, strange immortal creatures, and a girl who could talk to animals.
As I read, the common room slowly turned from a dingy grey to a light pink, then from a light pink to a warm orange. I was nearing the end of the book when a few early birds came down and flopped onto chairs near the fire, talking quietly. When I finished, I placed the book on my lap and closed my eyes, waiting.

I didn't have to wait long. A yell came from the boys' dormitory, causing most, if not all the heads in the common room to turn towards the staircase. Harry came bounding down it and, ignoring the stares a suppressed giggles filling the common room, grabbed me by the shoulders, yanking me out of my seat.

"Aw, now what'd you do that for?" I whined, pouting. "I was comfortable."

"Look at my hair," he hissed. I giggled.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"What did I do?" said Harry exasperatedly. "I didn't do anything."

"Then what happened?" I said, trying to push down the fit of giggles threatening to erupt.

"You tell me," he growled. "One's hair doesn't just decide to start flashing different colors over night!"

"It wasn't me," I said, putting on my best innocent face.

"Oh?" said Harry, arching an eyebrow. He pulled out my practice parchment. "Then what was this doing in your trunk?"

"What were you doing in our dormitory?" I shot back.

"Answer my question first," retorted Harry, paper and hair flashing simultaneously.

"What question?" I asked innocently.

"Just answer it."

"Why?"

"Because it's polite."

"What's polite?"

"Answering my question."

"Which question?"
"Argh!" exclaimed Harry.

"Are you a pirate? I thought you were a wizard," I said, frowning.

"You're strange," muttered Harry, collapsing onto the armchair.

"'Course I am," I replied, sitting on his lap. "I like you, don't I?"

"You're going to regret saying that," said Harry, a mischievous spark in his eye.

"Really?" I said, examining my finger nails.

"Really really," replied Harry. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me up to the boys' dormitory.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," I said sarcastically. "The boys' dormitory."

"You're forgetting I know where you're most ticklish," Harry reminded me. "I didn't want to make a scene in the common room; everyone was watching."

"You're the one forgetting something," I said, fingering the Dream Crystal. Harry smirked and stuffed his hand into his pocket.

"Now let go before--" Harry yanked out his wand, and the next moment, a thick cord wrapped itself around my mouth. I tried to tug it off, but it didn't work. Harry put his wand away and tackled me, sending both of us sprawling onto his bed.

"You look funny cross-eyed," he told me, eyes sparkling. I glared at him, still trying to tug the cord off my mouth. Finally, I managed to pull it off enough to talk.

"Hdi--" I began, but Harry started to tickle me in the stomach. I squirmed and kicked my legs, laughing manically.

"S-s-stop!" I managed to giggle, tears running down my cheeks from laughing so hard.

"Did you make my hair change colors?" asked Harry, persisting his attack.

"If I say-- yes will you--" I gasped, laughing so hard I could barely get the words out.

"I'll stop," agreed Harry.

"O-k, o-k, I did--" I giggled. "Now s-s-stop!"

"Counter curse?"

"I d-don't kniw!" I wheezed, trying to push Harry off me. "U-u-use Finite Incan-cantatem!"

"Good idea," said Harry, grabbing his wand with one hand and tickling me with the other. "Finite Incantatem!"
His hair stopped blinking colors, and the cord around my neck vanished.

"S-stop now!" I laughed, starting to get a cramp in my stomach.

"Alright," sighed Harry, stopping. He didn't get off me, though.

"Get off," I commanded. "First you drag me up here, then you gag and tackle me; I don't know why I'm still your girlfriend. If had had any common sense--"

I stopped talking. There was an odd gleam in Harry's eyes that I'd never seen before.

"Harry?" I said, waving a hand in front of his face.

"I'll give you one reason why you're still my girlfriend." He grinned and bent down so our noses touched; I met his gaze and got lost in his eyes. Harry leaned down a bit more; our lips touched...

"It's a perfect picture opportunity!" someone exclaimed. Harry's head jerked up, and so did mine. Ron was leaning on the wall near the door, a smug expression on his face. We scrambled up off the bed, a pinkish hue blossoming on our faces.

"What're you doing up here?" asked Harry.

"I came to check on where you two had gotten to," replied Ron, smirking. "And to ask when you were planning to post the results. Obviously much later; you're busy right now."

Harry and I glanced at each other, then grabbed the nearest pillow and ran at Ron, who didn't dodge the pillows in time. We bombarded Ron until our arms went limp.

"I feel better now," I stated. "Don't you?"

"Yep," agreed Harry, tossing his pillow onto Ron's bed. I did, also.

"I don't," stated Ron, who was curled up on the floor.
"That's what you get for being a snoop," I scolded, blowing a strand of hair out of my face.

"I was just wondering when Harry was going to post the results," whined Ron, standing up. "And so was half of the common room."

"Hey, when are you going to post the results?" I asked Harry.

"As soon as we get downstairs," he said, grabbing a piece of parchment out of a drawer.

"Let's go, then," said Ron, heading down. I glanced at Harry.

"Rain check?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied. I put of hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

"There's your rain check," I said. "Now let's go down so you can post the results."

We went down after Ron and saw that the common room was packed.

"Finally!"

"We've been waiting forever!"

"Hurry up and post them!"

"Alright, alright," said Harry, walking over to the bulletin board. As soon as he pinned that little piece of parchment up, a swarm of Gryffindors pushed him away. Laughing, he made his way back over to me.

"That's scary," I said. "Really, really scary."

"Hmm," said Harry. I turned to face him.

"You might as well tell me," I told him. "I'm not about to throw myself into that death trap for Quidditch try-out results."

"I dunno," teased Harry. "Give me one good reason why I should tell you."

"'Cus you love me," I said. "And you've known me since we were babies."

"I said one good reason," Harry said, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Not two horrible reasons."

"I thought love conquered all," I said, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Not in this dimension," replied Harry.

"Fine," I said. "One good reason for you to tell me is because I kept you company at the Dursley's so you didn't have only Dudley to talk to."
"True," said Harry thoughtfully. "Alright. I'll tell you. Ron's Keeper, Terrence Walker is reserve Keeper, Andriea and Zack are reserve Beaters, Hermione, Nicole, and Scarlett are reserve Chasers, and you're reserve Seeker."

"No," I gasped. "I'm not-"

"You are," said Harry. Just then, Ron and Hermione ran over.

"This is wonderful!" squealed Hermione, giving Harry a quick hug. "We're all on the team!"

"Now I'm really glad I came up when I did!" exclaimed Ron.

"I would've posted them sooner or later," mumbled Harry.

"So when are practices starting?" asked Hermione.

"Next Friday," said Harry. "That'll leave me with enough time to come up with new moves."

"Are you taking help?" I asked.

"As much of it as I can get," he laughed.

"Then count me in," I said.

"Me too," said Hermione.

"Don't forget me," added Ron.

Time started to whiz by. One moment, I was waking up on Monday, and the next, I was heading towards the Quidditch Pitch with Ron, Harry, and Hermione on Friday after dinner. Then, before I knew it, it was Halloween, and the first Quidditch match (Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin) was the next Saturday.
The Great Hall looked spectacular. The floating candles had been replaced with jack-o-lanterns, their menacing, carved grins leering down at us. Little pieces of black and orange confetti glided and whirled around in the air, disappearing before they hit the food. Bats fluttered around everywhere, scaring a first year girl into hysterics when one swooped down at her to catch the moth nesting in her hair.

If the decorations were amazing, they were nothing compared to the food. Bowls of candy were placed along the table at intervals of three feet. In between these were all sorts of food; rotisserie chicken wings, honey roasted ham, steamed green beans, carrots, peas, baked and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, garlic bread, and an assortment of other things.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I took out seats and loaded our plates.

"Reading about Halloween here is one thing," I sighed happily. "Living it is another."

"So who do you think will win on Saturday?" Ron asked Harry.

"I hope Ravenclaw," said Harry. "I heard Malfoy's captain of the Slytherin team. It would really wipe that nasty smirk off his face if his team got flattened."

"Boys," muttered Hermione. I grinned, nudging her.

"You don't seem to mind," I joked. "Especially not about a certain red-head-"

"Shut up!" Hermione said, blushing.

"You better get together soon," I said. Hermione, still flushed, kept quiet.
Time started to behave strangely again. It seemed like only a second before everyone was filtering out onto the Quidditch field for the match.

Lee Jordan was commentating, watched closely by Professor McGonagal.

"Teams get into position; Chang and Malfoy shake hands- kick his pale ass, Cho! Hehe, only joking, Professor, only joking. The Quaffle is released, and the game begins! It's Smith from Ravenclaw- Travis- back to Smith- no, Smith drops it as Slytherin Beater Hunter pelts a bludger her way. Travis- Zabini- Travis again- he speeds towards the Ravenclaw goal posts- block him, come on- shoots, and misses! Excellent block by Ravenclaw Keeper Ruben. Quaffle in possession of Hunter- Smith- back to Hunter- he throws it to Velarine- she's speeding towards the Slytherin goal posts- come on, make it! Dodges a bludger, shoots, and she scores!" There was a thunderous round of applause from 3/4 of the stands which drowned out the Slytherin's boos. "Ten zero for Ravenclaw!"
The match dragged on like this for a while; neither Seeker had spotted the Snitch. Before long, the score was 90 to 70 for Slytherin, and the roars of disapproval from most of the stands nearly shook the trees of the Forbidden Forest out of their roots. Travis scored again, making the score 100 to 70, when suddenly, Cho dived, Malfoy hot on her tail.

"She'll never catch it, his broom's too fast!" yelled Ron, jumping up. The two Seekers were about four yards above the ground when Cho swerved to the right. Malfoy kept diving even though the Snitch wasn't where he thought it was; it was clasped tightly in Cho's raised hand.

"Chang catches the Snitch!!" yelled Lee. "220 to 100 for Ravenclaw!!*

Everyone from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff clapped until their hands were numb, yelled until their throats were hoarse, and stomped their feet till their legs were sore. Malfoy looked as though he'd just swallowed a rotten egg.

"That look is priceless!" yelled Ron.

"I hope she doesn't use that move when we're playing them," remarked Harry, starring at Cho.

"She might," I said. "We should have a counter to it, just in case."

"Yeah," he mumbled. "We'll have plenty of time for that; the next match isn't for a while."

"Yep," I agreed.
Monday morning held a nasty shock for the wizarding world. Several gasps and cries of shock echoed through the Great Hall after the mail was delivered during breakfast.

"Oh my God," gasped Hermione, choking on a small bit of toast.

"What-?" asked Ron.

"Look," she hissed, thrusting the Daily Prophet under his nose. His eyes widened, and he passed the Daily Prophet to Harry. I read it over his shoulder.

You-Know-Who Back?

Daily Prophet reporters find reason to think so. There have been several brutal attacks throughout the country, the victims being well-known or powerful wizarding families. Every time, the Dark Marks hovers above. WE also have had interviews with witches and wizads who claim to have witnessed one or more of these attacks.

"It was horrible," stated one witness. "I walked past and heard screaming and crashing... I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

"It was You-Know-Who!" exclaimed another. "I saw the Dark Mark, and Death Eaters were swarming around the place."

Despite all these overwhelming facts, our own Minister of Magic, Cornelious Fudge, refuses to believe that You-Know-Who has returned.

"Just like him," I hissed.

"Yeah," Harry agreed.

"It's probably just one of his servants trying to make us believe he's back," is his excuse.

This is all the information we have on the matter for now. In the meantime, we must wonder if Mr. Fudge's explanation for these terrible attacks will prove to be true, or if You-Know-Who has indeed returned.