Author's Note: Finally, this stupid problem with logins is over. Yay. Anyway, I've FINALLY figured out how to get bold and so on writing, without anyone coming to my rescue. You just save it as a html document! Thank-you everyone for reviewing – don't stop.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the two new characters and the plot. Ok, on with the show!

centerbRainbow Beetles – And the one that got away/b/center

            Harry didn't like it. He seemed to have half of the Great Hall subtly watching him eat. And though he was wedged tightly between Ron and Fred Weasley, he felt like a caged bird on display. The moment the three had set foot into the room, Harry had felt subconscious, and judging by their lateness, he figured he wasn't the only one.

            Harry looked across at Hermione, busily slicing her chicken into dainty pieces before placing it into her mouth. Lavendar was trying to whisper something in her ear, but Hermione was obviously not interested. Harry turned to Ron, who at that very moment turned to Harry, and gave him a big grin. Then he stuffed another loaded forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. Ron looked as relaxed as could be.

            Obviously, Harry WAS the only one…

            He, Ron and Hermione had missed out on Dumbledore's speech and announcements, so Harry had decided to catch up from Fred, who was sitting beside him. The reason Fred was sitting beside him instead of celebrating his graduation in the Bahamas or some other snazzy place was because of the twins' beloved joke shop. They had become so dedicated to the idea that that last year's final exams just passed them by, and they both failed miserably. Rather than have her sons graduate with low degrees, Mrs. Weasley had forced Fred and George to repeat their final year, and even threatened to keep them in Hogwarts until they actually passed all exams. So the two faithful beaters were back to beat out another year.

            Of course, with Oliver Wood gone, Harry was now Quidditch captain – and everyone would agree a darn good one at that. They had won every game but one since – a tough Slytherin match. It didn't really count in Harry's records, as one of the Slytherin beaters were chasing around after Harry (instead of the bludger) with a bat the entire game.

            As well as being Quidditch captain, Harry had been given the added responsibility of a sixth-year Prefect alongside Hermione. Unfortunately Draco Malfoy had also been made a Prefect.

            Harry looked past Fred to the teachers' table to see if Professor Snape had become the least bit considerate, and taken to washing his hair. No such luck. However, the young wizard did notice an unfamiliar witch sitting in the place of last year's Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. She was middle-aged and fairly solid. Her short and curly strawberry-blonde hair was matted down under her pointy hat. She was seated next to Professor Snape, who seemed slightly uncomfortable with her.

            "Hey, what happened to Professor Kloogs?" Harry whispered to Fred, referring to last year's Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, a very fragile old man who had a strange obsession with daisies.

            "Oh that's right, you missed the announcement!" Fred said, briefly smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Well, basically he…died. Yep, apparently just of old age. Let's hope they buried him in a meadow!" Fred chuckled, and Harry joined in. Then the younger of them stifled his laughter, remembering the death of a flower fanatic wizard was a serious affair.

            "Harry, do you know who the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher is?" Hermione asked, having heard their conversation and already finding out, herself.

            Harry shook his head, and before Fred could jump in with the answer, Hermione said, "Her name's Madame Heinzel. Apparently she's a transferred teacher from Durmstrang."

            "Oh great. She'll get to play postie and messenger for you and Viktor," Harry replied blankly.

            "Not a bad idea, Harry," Hermione said playfully. She then nudged Lavendar beside her. "Hey, aren't you going to introduce Jill and Harry?"

            "Introduce Jill…and Harry," Lavendar repeated, glancing at him. "Oh yes, now that he's free. Harry, this is my Irish cousin, Jill. Lucky she was put in Gryffindor; she doesn't know many people yet, but she's awfully smart. A bit of competition for you, Herm." Jill and Harry exchanged friendly smiles. "Jill, this is the one and only, Harry Potter, Hogwarts' very own champion!" Lavendar declared proudly, embarrassing Harry.

            "Aw, look Lav, you've embarrassed 'im!" Patti Patel said, causing everyone to laugh.

****Meanwhile, at the Ravenclaw table****

"Gee, he's awfully cute, Cho," Lisa remarked, eyeing Harry through the heads of fellow Ravenclaws.

            "Yeah, he's grown up to be a real dish," added Victoria. "Hey Cho, I reckon he'd be well worth trying for now."

            Cho Chang took another sip of her goblet and settled her dark eyes on Harry Potter, laughing along with his Gryffindor friends at some joke. He was a very adorable laugher. "Mmm, and imagine dating The Boy Who Lived himself. I mean, now that he's got attention for something other than defeating You-Know-Who."

            "Yeah, and it's your last year, so just kick back and enjoy it," Victoria advised.

            "You think I should go…say hello?" Cho asked cheekily.

            "You bet ya should. We all know he'd do anything for you, Cho. Let's just hope he hasn't changed intellectually as much as he has physically."

            Cho smirked at each of her two chatty friends, then rose from her seat, and walked over to the Gryffindor table. There were a few people walking around, going to the toilet and such, so Cho didn't stand out. Harry was seated with his back to her, so it was Hermione's side of the table that saw her first.

            "Harry," Hermione whispered, and signaled to him. Harry turned around to face the girl he was head over heels for. He let out a gasp as she nudged Ron to move over, and squeezed between the two boys. She gave Harry a large smile, and he gulped. Hermione and Lavendar exchanged glances, each wondering what on earth was going on.

            "Hi, Harry," Cho said softly. "How are you going?"

            Harry was truly ecstatic, but he only said, "Fine, Cho. And you?"

            "Well, I'm coping. It's going to be a very busy year for me; a senior, a prefect, and a Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, after all." She glanced around the table, and noticing the many pairs of wide eyes watching her, she leaned over to Harry, and spoke softly, "Can I see you afterwards?"

            Harry's beautiful green eyes just stared dreamily at her. He slowly nodded his head, and with another smile from Cho, watched her rise from her seat and return to the Ravenclaw table. There she confided in giggles with her friends on either side of her.

            "Well!" Hermione huffed. "She doesn't waste any time, does she?"

            "She's just being nice," Harry defended, glancing back at Cho.

            "I'd be careful, Harry. It seems a bit fishy to me…" Hermione said thoughtfully.

            "Look, Herm, Cho's not doing you any harm, so just leave her alone." Harry replied.

            But Hermione was still suspicious. She sat there, arms crossed over her dinner, staring at a giggling, unsuspecting Cho.

            As the Hall started to empty out, and his friends left also, Harry looked around for Cho. She was still sitting at the Ravenclaw table, but now alone. Harry nervously left his seat, and walked over to her. As he approached her, she looked up and smiled at him, saying, "Thanks for staying, Harry."

            Harry seated himself beside Cho and asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

            Cho stared at her empty plate for a few seconds, then answered, "Well, the thing is I haven't been very socially active for a while now. I haven't gone out with anyone ever since……Cedric passed away. And then when I saw you walk in tonight…" Cho looked Harry eye to eye. "..I realized how much I'd been missing. So…do you want to go out some time, like Hogsmeade this weekend?"

            Harry couldn't believe his ears. Cho was asking him out! He felt himself blushing, and hoped Cho didn't notice. "O-ok," he stammered.

            "Good," Cho replied smoothly. "Well, I guess I'll see you round."

            "Yeah, ok." Harry watched Cho rise, and he rose also. They then walked together out the Great Hall, up the main staircase and all the way to the Gryffindor painting. Harry said goodnight to Cho at the Fat Lady Portrait, and then slipped through the picture frame to the common room.

            That night, Harry's dreams were filled with pleasant thoughts and images of Cho (just harmless dreams!). Meanwhile, Hermione lay awake in bed, worrying about what was in store for her famous friend.

*****************

"What's first up then, Herm?" Ron asked, walking alongside Harry and Hermione to find their first class of the year.

            "Hermione peered at her timetable and announced, "Transfiguration. Good, a lesson all together."

            They quickly and not-so-quietly made their way to the Transfiguration classroom, and luckily arrived on time. Hermione chose a row of seats up the front, Harry and Ron hesitantly following. This year the Gryffindors shared the lesson with the Hufflepuffs, who were obviously still eating breakfast.

            Hermione sat on the end of the row, followed by Harry, then Ron.  As soon as they had sat down, Lavendar's cousin, Jill, entered the classroom, and seeing the familiar faces, went over to them.

            "Can I sit here?" she asked, as Ron looked up from his timetable.

            "Sure," he replied, shifting his books taking over the spare desk. Jill plonked her school gear down on it, and took the spare seat next to Ron.

            "Is Lavendar coming?" Ron asked her timidly.

            "No, she's not doing Transfiguration this year," Jill explained.

            "Oh," Ron said, disappointed.

            "So what's this class's teacher like?"

            "Well, she's all right, I s'pose. The one you have to really look out for is Snape, the Potions teacher."

            "Why's that?" Jill asked, intrigued.

            "He hates everyone – especially Harry."

            "I don't understand; how can someone on Dumbledore's side hate the one who continually defeats You-Know-Who?

            "I dunno. What I do know is that Snape has a serious attitude problem," Ron concluded.

            Suddenly, the doors burst open, and Professor McGonagal entered, followed by a few students who were coming in late. She sat at the front desk, overlooking everyone, and declared, "Good morning, class."

            Quite mechanically, the students rose and replied, "Good morning, Professor McGonagal."

            "Right," the teacher said, when everyone was seated. "Over the first few lessons of this term, we are going to cover the topic of changing an object's colour. Now I know you touched upon this last year, so this year we are extending it to changing the colour of a living thing. Today, we will start on insects. You will spend the first twenty minutes of this lesson finding an insect, one each, then bringing it back here, where I will then teach you how to change its colour. I will accompany you outside, and no-one is allowed back in the classroom until we have assembled outside. No wands in catching your insects, please. Any questions?"

            Hermione's hand shot up, and Harry noticed she had a Hermione-ishly devilishly grin on her face.

            "Yes, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall said.

            "Professor, I have a bit of a beetle collection in my dormitory. May I go and get one to use?" Hermione asked politely.

            "Certainly, Miss Granger. Would you like another student to accompany you?"

            "Yes, please."

            "Mr. Potter, please accompany Miss Granger to her dormitory. When you return, we will be in the side courtyard."

            Ron nudged Harry and whispered, "I'll get a bug for you, Harry. You won't have time otherwise."

            Harry nodded his thanks, and left the classroom with Hermione beside him.

            "What's this about a beetle collection? You don't have a beetle collection," Harry whispered forcefully as soon as they were in the corridor.

            "Shhh. I can't say yet. You'll see," she replied with that devilish grin again. And Harry asked no more until they reached the Gryffindor common room. "Wait here," Hermione told Harry. A few minutes later, she returned with a small jar, containing a single beetle. She held it out for Harry to see. "Do you recognise it?" she asked mischievously.

            Harry gasped as he realized what…..or who….was in the jar.

            "Is that…..Rita Skeeter?" Harry asked in disbelief.

            "Yep, and she's getting coloured!" Hermione said enthusiastically.

            "But haven't you handed her into the Ministry of Magic or something yet?"

            "Well," Hermione replied timidly, "I quite like keeping her prisoner in my cupboard. It's my way of revenge. If I handed her in, that would be the end of it. Besides, once I've had some fun with the colours and I've changed her back to the original, we can do it then."

            Harry rather liked Hermione's idea too, so he let her go on with it. They returned to the courtyard, where the students were still busy catching insects. Ron jogged up to them, and was immediately told of Hermione's idea. He thought it was brilliant, and wanted to help, although Hermione refused to let him.

            "Well, here's yours, Harry," Ron said, and held up a jar with a blue fluttery butterfly inside. "I got a ladybeetle."

            As Professor McGonagall called for everyone to assemble, the three reunited with Jill, who had a Daddy-long-legs spider. Although he knew the species was harmless, Ron kept well away from it.

            Back in class, Harry and co. were waiting excitedly to change their insects into all the colours of the rainbow. Professor McGonagall stood up the front with her wand and caterpillar, and told everyone to point wands at insects and say, 'Coleurius organia to _______(colour)'.  Harry coloured his butterfly white, Ron coloured his ladybeetle aqua, which was supposed to be green, Jill coloured her spider light blue, and Rita Skeeter was covered with a lovely baby pink. Hermione had stuck her wand in the jar to avoid Rita escaping.

            "Foof! It's getting a little hot in here," mumbled Professor McGonagall, and pushed the high window out, leaving it ajar.

            "Hermione, can you help me here?" Neville's voice was heard from the second row.

            "Sure. Bring your insect over here, Neville," Hermione told him. Neville carried his millipede over to the front row, and accidentally bumped Hermione's ink bottle on the way.

            "Aagh! Be careful, Neville!" Hermione exclaimed, as she caught the bottle just in time before it spoilt her carefully written notes. Unfortunately, as she was leaning over to grab the bottle, she bumped the jar, which fell on its side, and the lid rolled off. And before Hermione had time to react, Rita Skeeter was off and away. Never had anyone seen a beetle jump so high as this one. She bounded over the desk onto the teacher's, then from there, and in one gigantic leap, she jumped up the wall and out the open window.

            "Oh, that's just great!" exclaimed an exasperated Hermione. Neville shrunk back into his seat – Hermione was scary when she was angry. "What are we going to do now?" She asked the boys on either side of her. Neither knew. "Rita Skeeter, over-the-top news reporter on the loose; we have problems."

            No-one aware of the beetle's identification knew what to do. All Hermione could think of without revealing the Rita Skeeter part was to put up a school notice. So later in the day, Hermione wrote on the noticeboards around the school:

            'If anyone has seem a runaway pink beetle around the Hogwarts grounds, please return it to Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Prefect.'

Author's Note: Wow, that was my longest chapter yet. You know what I'd love you to do by now, so pleeeeeeeeease review! What will happen between Harry and Cho? Will Hermione try to sabotage their relationship? Where will Rita Skeeter end up? And tell me what you think of me starting a 'character interview / letter answering' fanfic. And you can visit my new website too! Happy reading, Witch of the Snitch