Chapter Nine, In Which I Must Think Quickly And The Plot Thickens

I stood at the bottom of the staircase, gaping. A huge tangle of writhing vines held several people captive on the other side of the common room. I got the feeling that I shouldn't move much, especially since vines were already twining my way.

"What happened?" I asked conversationally.

"Neville had an…accident," Hermione said. "A pot of Nathaira Vine had come under his possession, and he dropped it." Neville whimpered. A shiny-skinned vine was coiling around his chest, moving toward his neck. "It's a distant relative of Devil's Snare, and when its roots are contained, it is docile. As you can see, though, the pot has been shattered, and-"

"I think she can tell Hermione," Ron said from between gritted teeth. He too was entangled in the plant. "Any ideas pertaining to stopping this thing from killing us all?"

"Well, erm, no," Hermione said, biting her lip. "But it wouldn't help, would it? I mean, my wand hand is stuck in this thing. Ow!" The plant had wrapped itself more tightly around her wrist when she shook it.

Well, I thought, Better to try something than stand like a lump. I raised my wand. "Crocatius!" I exclaimed, flicking my wand in the direction of the plant's roots. A large flower pot now contained the plant, complete with a lattice to support the now still greenery. The captives shoved the vines off of them selves and stepped back, looking in amazement at the sea of plant covering the rugs.

"Thanks, Erin," Hermione said. "I should have thought of that." Keana, Amanda, Eunice, Ron, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, Dean, Harry, and a few younger students all echoed their agreement.

"Hey, Neville," Lavender Brown called, smiling. "You better give Professor Sprout a call. Maybe she could use a cutting of this stuff…or knows how to prune it!" The collected students laughed. Neville managed a wavery smile and headed up the boys' staircase to his dormitory. I turned and returned upstairs, sinking onto my bed with a sigh. I gazed across the room and out of the window, watching wispy clouds drift across the moon now visible over the spindly treetops.

I began to lie down, but I stopped when my head encountered something unexpected on the pillow. I rolled over to find a small, silver bracelet on the red pillowcase. I picked it up gently. The bracelet was almost fluid on my wrist as I fastened it smoothly and examined the delicate piece of jewelry. Looking closely, I saw that what at first sight looked only like simple chain was in fact a dainty interweaving of several strands of silver. Inside each hole formed by the weaving pattern was a tiny, glimmering star that caught every bit of light it could reach and sent it scattering in a million different directions. I was still staring at the beautiful bracelet when Amanda and Eunice burst into the room.

"What's that?" Eunice asked curiously.

"I found it on my pillow when I got up here," I explained, holding my wrist out so that she and Amanda could see.

"Wow!" Amanda exclaimed. "It looks to be Goblin-wrought. I wonder…" she looked at me bemusedly. "No note or anything?" I shook my head. "And you birthday isn't for weeks! Well….it looks as though you've got yourself a secret admirer!"

"Ooh!" squealed Eunice. "That's so exciting! Do you know who it is?" I thought fast. Should I tell them about Blaise? Was the bracelet from him in the first place?

"I have a pretty good idea, but I don't want to say anything yet. That could jinx it, you know," I answered. I yawned hugely. "I think I ought to go to bed," I told my friends. "It's pretty late!" All three of us crawled wearily into bed. My thoughts grew slower and slower until finally, they stopped and sleep gained control of my mind.

Sunshine was pouring through the window when I opened my eyes the next morning. Through the golden stream I could see blue sky and wispy clouds. I slid out of bed and dressed with a flick of my wand. At the last minute, I decided to slip the bracelet on. I traipsed down the stairs and found Dennis conversing with Colin by the fireplace, which lacked a fire. I waved hello, and Dennis excused himself from his brother and came over to me.

"Hey Erin!" he said, remarkably chirpy tone for this early. My watch read eight-thirty; I don't know about his. "I've been waiting for you! Let's go down to breakfast now, whadd'ya say?"

"Sounds good. But Dennis, why are you so cheerful?" I asked.

"I let one of the third year girls practice her cheering charm on me," Dennis said somewhat sheepishly. "She's been wanting to practice, but she has tendency to overdo them so no one lets her near them if she's got a wand!"

"Well, it sounds like it worked," I said, "and it certainly is a, er, change." Dennis shrugged jovially and led me from the room.

"Nice bracelet," Dennis said as we passed the empty Transfiguration classroom. "Where did you get it?"

"A gift," I said. I decided to spare him the details. It would make him antsy once his current charm wore off. Dennis nodded and left it at that, and settled for making small talk as we made our way to the Great Hall. As we passed the Slytherin table, I looked for Blaise, but he wasn't there. Slightly disappointed I followed Dennis to the Gryffindor table and busied myself spreading a knife-full of sticky marmalade on toast.

The morning owls swooped through the windows, circling over the tables as students peered anxiously into the air hoping for a message of their own. One particularly ratty owl sort of fell onto our table, managing to lose several feathers on its way. These feathers managed to collect on my marmalade, which I eyed with distaste and set down.

"Sorry about that," Ron said apologetically. "Errol's a bit on the barmy side…oh look! It's from mum!" He read his message and relayed it to Harry and Hermione, who laughed.

"At least she didn't send you a Howler, eh?" Harry snickered. "Do you remember-" At this point, I stopped listening and ate my breakfast in relative silence, making myself a fresh, feather-free piece of toast.

Later that day I lay napping in one of the squashy, dilapidated armchairs that occupy Gryffindor common room. My dreams were gentle and brightly coloured, taking place far away from the current place and time. I nearly fell out of my chair when Dean Thomas stormed through the portrait hole, waking me as effectively as if he'd just wholloped me upside the head with a tennis racket.

"She quit the team!" he bellowed. "She quit the bloody TEAM!" He continued to rant, swinging his arms around in fury, until Hermione flicked her wand, silencing him. Dean choked and grabbed his throat with a glare at the innocent expression on Hermione's face.

"You were interrupting my studying," she said sweetly. "Now, if you'd like to calm yourself a bit and explain to me exactly why you are roaring round here like a dragon with a head cold…" I giggled. Hermione flicked her wand once more, and Dean relaxed slightly, his hands curling in and out of fists. Once he had control of his himself. Dean proceeded to explain his fit of temper.

"Natalia Spearson quit the Quidditch team! She said it interfered with her homework or her studying or some other lame excuse." Hermione raised her eyebrows but Dean continued without noticing. "We've lost our best beater! No offense to Jake, but he truly isn't the best…Now we'll have to have tryouts and everything else. It's only two weeks till our match against Slytherin! I can't believe it…She quit the bloody team. SHE QUIT THE BLOODY TEAM!" Hermione waved her wand threateningly and Dean quieted again, looking sheepish.

"Honestly, Dean," Hermione said with a sigh. "You're worse than Wood was sometimes!" Other members of the house team stumbled through the portrait hole, congregating around their significantly disgruntled captain. Hermione looked round at me and shook her head. I smiled in return and we looked away again, Hermione to her homework, and I to the window.

The day was beautiful and bright outside. I stood up and moved over to the window seat, where I sat and observed the well kept grounds. The trees of the forest swayed gently high above vibrant green grass, and I could see people robed in canary yellow flitting around the Quidditch pitch. Down by the dark water of the lake, a lone figure in a dark green jumper sat below an aged birch tree, utterly absorbed in a thick book. I looked closer, and grinned. Blaise.

I reached out and opened the window just a fraction of a centimetre. I slid the very tip of my slender wand into the crack, and aiming at Blaise's birch tree, whispered "particos!" A jet of pink light shot through the air, and a second later, rose-coloured confetti rained down on Blaise. Blaise jumped up, looking around until his eyes alit on the tower window. My tower window. I grinned. Blaise waved at me, blew a kiss, and set to brushing himself off, confetti falling from his jeans and disappearing as it hit the ground. I turned away from the window and headed up to my room, feeling extremely pleased with myself.

* Sorry this took so long! I had some…erm…technical difficulties that involved leaving my disk at a friend's house and waiting to get it back…and it goes through a saga that I will not write here. I love you all, honestly. Have a lurvely day, dahlings!