Kayla: the American Witch

by torifire126

complete! Kayla is a normal teenager who worries about normal teenage things, until she finds out that her parents aren't her real parents and her real father wants to kill her, and she finds out that she has these powers that seem like magic.

13. Train Ride

Chapter 13

Soon, Remus returned to the 3 girl musketeers' room. The adults started to talk about what they were going to do with the 18 children since they only in effect had 2 adult supervisors since Sirius couldn't be seen as anything but a dog. They wanted to divide into groups so that they could give the students a tour of Diagon alley. The problem was that Hope didn't know her way any better than the American students.

Suddenly, Kayla had a brilliant idea. "Mother," she said. Lately she had gotten into the habit of calling Hope 'mother.' "Why don't you teach Sirius to talk telepathically? That way he can act as guide and still be in his dog form."

"That is a great idea, Kayleen," Hope exclaimed. "You are a genius!"

Soon they had a plan. The next day, Remus would take all 18 kids into muggle London and take them shopping. This would probably take a couple of hours, which should be enough time for Hope to teach Sirius what he would need to know.

The next day, everyone, especially the 9 girls, were excited to discover that they would be spending the day in London. They ate their breakfast as quickly as possible, and many of the girls went upstairs to change into more flattering clothes. Hope felt vaguely sorry for Remus. He had no idea how much teenage American girls liked to shop. She hoped that she would see him alive again.

4 hours, 20 miles, and over 50 stores later, Remus was certainly regretting volunteering to take the students shopping. The 9 girls had been happily trying on clothes in every store and they showed no sign on planning to stop soon. For the most part, the guys were getting tired. They had been content to shop for about an hour, and then they began to get bored. He sure hoped that bored American teenage males didn't do things that he would have to cover up for. Remus didn't know that American males were used to being dragged shopping by their female counter-parts.

The only boys not thoroughly bored to tears were the musketeer guys. Kayla, Tori, and Keri were trying on clothes and asking their opinions. And then, the girls would force them into trying on clothes. But, they did it good-naturedly. They got a kick out of trying to wear the goofiest clothes possible. It was kinda funny.

All of the other guys just stood and leaned up against the wall. Fortunately, they had been through this before so they knew how to stay out of trouble. They didn't have magical candy or wands that British wizards might have had. Instead, they had a packet of normal cards that they pulled out and started to play a game.

"Are we done yet?" whined Jake in the general direction of the girls.

"Yeah, you can go hang out with the other guys while we pay for this stuff," Kayla shouted back at them. Jason, James, and Jake looked at each other and grinned broadly. They went and joined in on the card game. The girls changed into their clothes and grabbed the items they were going to buy and went to stand on line.

As they were waiting, three, gorgeous British teenage boys walked up to the girls. "Can we help you?" one asked Kayla.

Kayla quickly looked at her boyfriend to make sure he hadn't seen. Jason tended to be over-protective. "Um…no. That is okay. We can manage just fine by ourselves," Kayla told the boy.

He stepped towards her as his cronies stepped in also, so that they surrounded the three girls. "Are you sure? Cause there is something that you can help me with." He smiled menacingly in a way that should have scared the girls. But they had a way out. They weren't trapped.

Jason, Kayla began, three guys are over here trying to intimidate us into stuff. D'you think you can come and act really over-protective and angry. It would help if Jake and James would pretend to be the twins' boyfriends.

Jason relayed her message to the others and they quickly stood up and made their way to the 'trapped' girls. Jason tapped the obvious leader of the small gang and said as quietly and menacingly as possible, "What exactly do you think you are doing to our girlfriends?" The boy turned around and blanched when he saw. Jason really looked deadly and James and Jake who looked equally lethal flanked him.

"Um…nothing man. Nothing. We were just leaving," he said as he started to back away. As soon as he was out of sight, the 6 musketeers collapsed laughing so hard. They paid quickly and left to wait for the other girls. Once they had all finished in that store, Remus declared that he hoped that Hope had had enough time to teach Sirius since he was tired and planned on taking them all back to the Leaky Cauldron.

The next day, they got the grand tour of Diagon alley. As promised, they divided into two groups. The musketeers were joined by the three 3 seniors. As they walked past the Quality Quidditch, all 7 of the Bridgeton Quidditch team members ran to the window and stared gaga eyed at all the stuff in the store.

Hope looked at them and smiled. I hear it from a reliable source that there a few openings on the house teams this year. So, even though you aren't playing for Bridgeton, you still might be able to play. You can bring your own broomsticks so you can buy some here." Their eyes lit up as she finished and they ran inside. While Hogwarts would pay everything they needed for school for if they wanted to bring anything extra, they would have to buy it for themselves.

30 minutes later, they came out of the store laden down with a new broomstick each depending on their personalities and positions. Rachel and Kayla had each bought Firebolts since they could use the extra speed. The boys all came out with Nimbus 2002. These were new models in the Nimbus series that had added balance. This was especially helpful for chasers since they often removed both their hands from the handle so catch or throw the quaffle. And the twins had bought a broom designed especially for beaters that had extra stopping capabilities so that they could stop to hit the bludger. They each bought Celsius 9's.

Since they had already been to Gringotts (well, obviously), their next stop was Madame Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. They took turns stepping up onto the platforms to be fitted for school robes. Then, they had to pick out some formal robes. Kayla bought some that were black velvet with emerald green trim that matched her eyes. The twins bought matching ones of lilac and black silk. The boys all bought ones of varying shades of blue.

After they all had their robes, they went to Ollivander's to buy their wands. While they wouldn't need them once back at Bridgeton, they would keep them so that they could use both types of magic that they would know. An hour later, they all exited the shop carrying a long box each. They were all a little bit creeped out by Mr. Ollivander and were thankful to be out of his store. (In case you wanted to know, here is a list of the wands that chose them:
Tori - Unicorn hair, mahogany, 8 inches
James - Phoenix feather, redwood 9 3/4 inches
Kayla - Dragon heartstring, ash, 7 inches
Jake - Phoenix feather, maple 7 1/2 inches
Jason - Dragon heartstring, cedar, 13 inches
Keri - Unicorn hair, willow, 10 inches)

The rest of their summer went by pretty uneventfully. Their chaperones kept the American students away from the British wizards for the most part, so they were walking blindly into the lions den when it came time for them to board the Hogwarts express.

On the morning of September the first, all 18 students and 3 adults were running around trying to find everyone's last minute lost precious items. However, they managed to make it to King's cross by boarding time. Remus and Hope gave them some last minute precautionary warnings before ushering them onto the train.

On the train were 3 compartments reserved for the exchange students, so they divided by grade and claimed the compartments. The 6 musketeers leaned out the window and waved to Remus, Hope, and the dog that was Sirius. They could just barely hear Hope shout, "Don't forget to write!" as they turned back around and closed the window.

James pulled out one of the decks of cards that were always carried by the guys and he started to deal the cards for a game. Kayla, for once, didn't feel like playing though. Instead she pulled a book out from inside her bag and leaned up against Jason's shoulder and started to read. Tori pulled out one of her daggers and started to sharpen it. The twins always carried the daggers and would sharpen them when they were bored.

Soon, the train started to move. After about 10 minutes, the compartment door opened and in walked a shock beyond all shocks. In walked 2 boys and a girl. The redheaded boy was saying to the others, "Can you two believe that Fred and George bought me new dress robes? They said that they couldn't have their little brother embarrassing them by wearing ancient robes. They needed to have an agent still at Hogwarts next year and so they needed to have him look presentable." They all laughed, but stopped when they saw that the compartment was occupied.

"The raven-haired teenager asked the 6 musketeers, "Do you mind if we join this compartment. All of the others have people in them. If you would rather, though, we could go join someone else's."

The girls continued, "Yeah, Ginny wouldn't mind."

The redhead had a glint in his eyes and picked up, "Especially if Harry was with us." He started to laugh as his friend blushed.

"Sod off, you."

The six friends glanced at each other and then jumped to their feet. Remus, Sirius, and Hope had told them that they should tell Harry who Kayla was and that the only way they could would be if they told his two friends also. Would it really be this easy to find her cousin?

She grabbed Jason's hand as she stepped in front of Harry. The three British students stared at her in disbelief. She looked exactly like Harry, except a girl. They could have passed as twins. "Who are you, and why do you look like me?" Harry asked her in shock.

Tori, Keri, and Kayla looked at each other and started to laugh. The way he worded his question was so completely ironic. When they received 6 blank stares, Kayla explained the humor. "When we first got to the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius asked the same thing, except instead of looks, he wanted to know why I smelled like you."

"Sirius, as in, Sirius Black?" Harry asked.

"Yep, he said that you would believe us when we told you our story."

"And, you believe his story?"

"That he is not really a criminal? Yep. He was one of our guides and chaperones. We know his secret that he told us you also know. 2 main reasons why I believe him. One, he truly cared about you and demanded to know who I was before he would leave me alone. And the other is that Remus trusted him."

"You've seen Professor Lupin and Sirius?" Harry was overwhelmed with disbelief.

"Yep," Kayla affirmed.

"Okay, I will listen. Hermione, Ron, maybe you two should wait outside."

"But, Harry, what if it is one of you-know-who's plots to get you." Harry just rolled his eyes at Hermione's complaint.

"I knew you would. Keri, Tori, would you two make sure that no one disturbs us." They nodded and then escorted Ron and Hermione outside the compartment and sat down in the doorway. They took out their daggers and began sharpening them. Jake and James followed them out, so that Harry's friends wouldn't think that Harry was going to be mugged. They took out one of their many decks of cards and began to play.

"No one will get by us, boss," Tori mock saluted before she closed the door. Harry's two friends eyed their daggers warily. They laughed at their expressions but didn't say anything.

Kayla launched into the entire story. Starting with what Hope had originally told her, and then she moved into what she had only recently learned about her heritage: that she was Harry's cousin. "I know this sounds really unbelievable. I didn't believe it myself at first. But my mother isn't one to joke around. And even Remus and Sirius agree that it might be possible. Please believe me. I would not lie to you," she pleaded, staring into his eyes and willing him to believe her.

After a few minutes of heart-wrenching silence, Harry finally nodded. "Okay, I believe you. Why would you make something like this up? You might have to work harder to convince Ron and Hermione, though. They both tend to be very suspicious and think that I will surly die if they weren't there to make sure I didn't do anything drastic." He sighed heavily before continuing. "Well, we might as well call them back in and do our best to convince them."

Thirty minutes later, they had managed to partially convinced Ron and Hermione and nothing they said would convince them any further. Their conversation had turned to more neutral conversation. Mainly they were discussing the exchange trip. The British students, excepting Hermione, hadn't heard about it before.

"So, Harry, who do you think went to the states for the year?" Ron asked.

"Honestly, Ron, didn't you read the letter that came with the prefect's badge. Or did you just put on the shiny badge and ignore all of the responsibilities?" Amazingly, all three of them were made prefects this year, despite Harry and Ron's abysmal potion marks. "There was a list of the students selected to go. I wanted to, but Dumbledore thought it would be best if I stayed to keep you boys in line. From our year I think Parvati and Padma Patil went, Justin Finch-Fletchly, Hannah Abbott, Pansy Parkinson, and Mandy Brocklehurst. Um…you wouldn't know any of the others except Alicia Spinnet, and also Cho Chang."

At first Harry was upset, but then he decided that it would be for the best. Cho would be somewhere that didn't constantly remind her of Cedric. And although he might want to be with her, why would she want to be near him. Besides, lately, he had been having some interesting thoughts about Ron's sister, Ginny. Now, he would have time to follow up on them without worrying about his feelings for Cho getting in the way.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened and in walked two redheaded 17 year-olds. They stopped suddenly when they found themselves at dagger point. Harry started to laugh and told Keri and Tori, "It's okay, they aren't going to do anything wrong. They are Ron's brothers." Tori and Keri slowly lowered their weapons and put them back in their sheaths under their shirtsleeves.

The Weasley twins eyed the girls warily as the began to speak, "Um…Harry, someone told us you were in here. We have a slight-" George broke off as he looked around the room. "Bloody Hell, Harry! Why didn't you tell us you had a twin sister living in America?"

Kayla started to laugh and then stood up. "Hi," she said not betraying her reservations. She quickly made a decision about telling them the truth. "My name is Kayla. It is a long story, but the short of it is that I am his cousin." She quickly introduced her friends and she couldn't help but notice them stare at the Rose twins.

Ron groaned, "Oh, no. 2 sets of identical twins in one room. This could get confusing."

"What were you saying before you noticed Kayla?" Harry interrupted before a full-fledged Weasley fight broke out.

"Oh, right. Well, with Oliver out of school and Alicia off in America, we have 2 slots open on our team."

All 6 musketeers' snapped to attention when he said this. Jason was the one to get it together enough to ask the question they all wanted answered, though, "Quidditch, right?" When they nodded, he continued, "What positions?"

Fred and George looked at each other. "Well, keeper and chaser."

The twins sighed audibly. "Dammit, that means we can't play," Keri moaned. "And we just bought those new brooms!"

The Gryffindor looked at each other. "Well, it wasn't definite that you would be sorted into Gryffindor," Hermione hazarded to say.

"Well, if we did, we couldn't be on the team," Tori corrected.

"Why do you even want to be on the team?" George wanted to know. "You don't really look like the athletic types."

Ron leaned over and whispered to Hermione, "This to the twins sharpening their daggers." Hermione stifled a giggle as Tori glared at George.

"Well, excuse me," she said, drawing it out to 5 syllables. "But, for your information, I am probably in better shape than you. Besides," she added loftily, "you are looking at the international high school Quidditch champs. Well, actually, us plus Rachel Mitchells, our keeper. We left our school knowing that we wouldn't be there to defend our position this year. We had hoped to play here at least, but it seems that only one of the guys, and Rachel or possibly Kayla could even have a shot of being on the team."

Harry, fully comfortable talking about Quidditch jumped right in on the conversation, "So what positions do you all play?"

"Well, James, Jake, and Jason play chaser," Keri began, "Rachel is keeper, we are beaters, and Kayla, here, is our seeker."

"Really, Harry is, too. It must run in the family," George laughed.

"Yeah, just like being beaters is a twin-thing. Right guys?" Ron teased.

This time, Kayla intervened before the fight broke out, "How about we continue this discussion when we have discovered which houses we are in? We might be able to help you, but we wouldn't want to divulge secrets that could help our team if we aren't in Gryffindor."

At this point, the door slid open, again, and in walked three young men. The skinny blond obviously the leader. Yet again, the "guests" found themselves at dagger-point. "Dumbledore hire bodyguards to protect the precious boy-who-lived, Potter?" he sneered.

Kayla jumped up and glared at the boy, "I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you want. But, frankly, I don't care. You come barging in here and start insulting my friends."

"Maybe you should choose better friends-"

"I'm not done yet," she growled. "You don't know anything about me and my friends, and you don't know what kind of powers we have. Now, I suggest you leave before they lose their tempers."

"I bet they don't even know how to use them," he stated boldly.

"Oh, I assure you they are fully capable of using them. I, on the other hand, prefer the sword." As she said this, Kayla summoned in her sword. It had been a gift from Hope for her birthday. The hilt was made of silver and had rubies encrusted in it. The blade itself was blue-tinted, and very sharp.

Tori and Keri shifted slightly so that they were pointing their daggers towards this blond snob's friends so that Kayla could direct her attention towards the blond brat. "Now leave," Kayla snarled, her pale green eyes glinting. "Leave, and don't come back."

The three boys turned tail and fled, having never been "attacked" like that. Let alone by a girl. Let alone by a beautiful girl.

The silence that followed their departure could have been cut with a knife.  Finally, Jason broke it.  "Who were they?" he asked no one in particular.

"That was Draco Malfoy and his cronies Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle," Harry answered.  The others all sniggered at the names.  "They think they are the greatest.  But, of course, they hate me and all of my friends.  And anyone who doesn't have as much money as them.  They make my blood boil."

"Well, you don't have to worry about them for a while, cousin," Kayla said as she noticed him start to shake with rage.  "I think I sufficiently scared him off for a while.  You know that I wouldn't actually hurt him.  But he doesn't know that.  For now, he is afraid that I am going to skewer him on my sword.  Not that I wouldn't love to, but I have more honor than that."

Their conversation was ended abruptly by the lady with the food trolley coming by and asking if they wanted anything.  This led to a long explanation to the musketeers about wizard candy.

Soon, they all changed into their Hogwarts robes (the girls went into a different compartment), and the train stopped.  As they stepped off of the train, the 18 exchange students were amazed at the sight before them.  They couldn't see the castle from where they were, but they had never been in a city like the one this before.

A man Harry and the others addressed as "Hagrid," directed the exchange students to take a giant horseless carriage to the castle where Professor McGonogall would meet them.  Amazingly enough, all 18 of them fit inside the carriage comfortably and the shortly arrived.  An elderly woman met them on the stairs to the castle and ordered them to follow her as if she expected no less.  She stopped right outside large doors that led to what she called the Great Hall.

"Inside these doors," she explained, "is where you will be eating all of your meals.  You will sit with your houses that you shall be shortly sorted into.  You must try on a hat and it will decide which house to place you in.  You will be sorted before the new first-years.  Now follow me please."  She turned and opened the doors, walking inside as the Americans followed her.

Inside the room were four long tables that apparently seated the four houses.  Kayla spotted Harry and the others that she met on the train at one table that she assumed was Gryffindor.  They were led to the front of the room and stopped in front of the table that apparently seated the teachers.  Professor McGonogall placed an old black hat on top of a three-legged stool and everyone became quiet in anticipation of what would happen next.  None of the American students were prepared for what did happen.

The hat opened a mouth, and sang:

"I may not look like much,

But I assure you looks deceive.

I can see into your mind

And into which house you should be, perceive.

Your mind betrays all.

Your dominant characteristic I shall see.

You may have more than one,

But I will put you where you should be.

Noble Hufflepuff:

The very loyal and devout.

Those who stand up for what is right

And for those who are close to them.

Brave Gryffindor:

Those made of sterner stuff that the rest.

Those not afraid of danger and death.

Those not afraid to fight for what is right.

Crafty Slytherin:

Those with ambition are placed here.

Trying to achieve more than they are.

Those with the will to be great.

Wise Ravenclaw:

The most intelligent of all.

Those not afraid to use their mind

And learn truths untold.

So sit down on this stool

And on your head place me.

Let me have a look around

And determine where you should be.

Don't be shy,

I do not bite.

And I never tell your secrets

So come let us see

Where you shall be."

"When I call your name please come and sit on the stool so I you can be sorted," Professor McGonogal said.  "Alberts, Julia." After a few seconds, the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!"  Next, it was Jason's turn.  Soon, he was made a Gryffindor.  Next came James.  The musketeers were all shocked when he was made a Ravenclaw.  Stunned, James went to find a seat amongst the cheering table.  Before it was Kayla's turn, Tani Flyn joined James at Ravenclaw, Josh Gold became a Slytherin, Sara Jacobson was sorted into Gryffindor, James Johnson was made a Slytherin, and Rachel Mitchells went to Ravenclaw.

Trembling, Kayla approached the stool to try on the hat.  She was torn.  She desperately wanted to be in Gryffindor with Jason and Harry, but she didn't want James to be by himself.  She placed the hat on her head and suddenly heard a voice inside her head, Oh my word.  You really are related to Potter.  I understand your wishes to be with your friends and I know how torn you are.  But, I know where you will be happiest, child.  You are intelligent, loyal, and brave.  But, I must put you in…"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat to the entire hall.  Kayla went to sit next to Jason and near the people she met on the train.

Jacob was sorted into Ravenclaw, so at least she stopped worrying about James.  Mark Rogers was placed into Hufflepuff.  The twins were both put into Gryffindor, and although they tried to hide it, Kayla noticed that the Weasley twins looked very happy when this was discovered.  Soon the other five exchange students were sorted (Nina Rosen into Ravenclaw; Michael Sampson and George Wilson into Hufflepuff; Jeff Tacy and Rebecca Yuland into Slytherin) and the first years came in to be sorted.

Once that was done, Professor Dumbledore stood up to give his customary beginning of term speech.  "I would like everyone to note that the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden to all students.  Mr. Filch has once again added to the list of dangerous objects and if you wish to see the entire list, it is in his office.  In light of the events at the end of last year, I will not ask you not to speak of them, I will merely ask you not to ask the persons involved questions that they do not wish to answer.  Hopefully this year will be a little less exciting. 

"I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of the exchange students.  And, I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Hope Forest."  As soon as he said this, Kayla fainted and if it weren't for Jason's arm holding her up, she would have fallen on the floor.  The entire student body turned as Hope walked through the entrance to the Great Hall and took the empty seat at the teachers' table.  "Although she is not a permanent teacher, but rather an exchange teacher, per say, I expect you to treat her with as much respect as you give to the rest of us."  The 18 students who had spent the summer with Hope (minus Kayla who was still unconscious) started to clap wildly.  "That being said, tuck in."

As the food appeared, Kayla managed to come around and glare at her mother while she talked to her new friends.  "So, can we continue that discussion now?" asked George who sat across from Kayla.

"Yeah.  Okay, here is the thing.  While I am a seeker, I can also play keeper because we trained together.  So that will help for this year.  Then Jason here can fill in for chaser.  That would serve for this year.  But then next year comes, and Harry is left all alone to try and bring together a winning team.  So here is what I propose.  First of all, make him captain this year.  He would obviously be it next year, and he can probably use the experience.  And that way, he can also consult you for everything that way although he is in charge, he has you as back up in case something goes wrong."

Harry blanched at the thought but the rest of the team was nodding, "Yeah, that makes sense," Fred admitted.  "But what about players."

"That is where me and Jason and the twins really come into play.  We will help you guys train people to play next year.  The twins can train the beaters, I will train the keeper, and Jason will train the chasers.  We could always use your help since you know the opposition, though.  Next year's players can also play as this year's reserves.  You never know if someone will get hurt.  I can always act as reserve seeker if I am needed, too.  Choose younger students though, that way they won't leave soon.  And before you leave, Harry, you should train a replacement seeker."

The entire team looked at her weirdly before a chorus of "You're a genius," "How did you think of that?," "I love you cousin," and statements along the same lines met her suggestions.  Apparently her reasoning made sense to these people.

"You should hold tryouts for the reserve positions but me and Jason should actually play."

"Why?"

"Well, for one, we have experience that no one else will have.  And you can't just appoint them to positions.  You wouldn't know if they were the best for the job.  Though, the reserve beaters won't even get a chance to play, since if anything happens to you two, Tori and Keri will play."

The conversation drifted to other topics, and soon the feast was over.  The prefects stood up to lead the first-years and exchange students to their dorms, but Kayla, Jason, Tori, and Keri wanted to go speak to a few people first.  They dragged Harry with them since he was a prefect and could keep them from getting lost.  First they went to talk to James and Jake.

"I can't believe you guys are in a different house," Kayla exclaimed.

"Kayla, breathe," Jake commanded.  "It really is okay.  We will still be in some classes together.  At least we aren't in Slytherin."  He pushed her in the opposite direction.  "Now I know you are dying to give Hope an earful, so go ahead and do it."

The 5 Gryffindors finally found Hope just as she was about to leave the Great Hall. "Professor Forest," Kayla shouted to be heard over the ruckus to get her mother's attention. She didn't want everyone there knowing their relationship. But, silently she added, Mother, you've got a lot of explaining to do. You had better wait for us, or we will have to resort to doing something drastic.

As commanded, she waited for them to catch up. "Yes," she said.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were going to be teaching here?" Kayla snarled immediately.

"Why else would I have come to London with the rest of you?" she answered mildly.

"We thought that you wanted to make sure I was okay until we got here," Kayla mumbled.

"Well, you have got part of that correct. I wanted to be able to protect you. So I asked principle Rosenthal if there was I way I could come, too. She said that Professor Dumbledore was still looking for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and had asked her if she knew of anybody willing to do it. He decided that since the students were having an exchange program, he didn't see any reason why a teacher couldn't do the same thing. So here I am. I would have thought you would be happier to see me."

"I would have been happier if you had told me. I don't need a babysitter," Kayla grumbled.

Harry started to laugh. When Kayla glared at him, he explained, "You do not know how much I understand how you feel. Even my best friends act like babysitters half of the time." Kayla, too, saw the irony of their situations and started to laugh.

Hope narrowed her eyes and looked at them. "I take it that you are Harry Potter?"

"Yes ma'am," he said.

"Maybe sometime you would like to come by my room and visit with my dog. I hear that you like large, black ones." Harry's face lit up incredibly as she said this.

"Would this dog's name be Snuffles, by chance?" he asked amusedly.

"Well, as a matter of fact, it is," Hope told him.

"I'll make sure I come by tomorrow then. Are you guys ready to go up yet?" he asked, looking at his new watch, a birthday gift from Hermione. "I bet we would be just in time to keep Ron and Hermione from attacking each other."

The other four looked at him, shocked. "I thought they were friends?" Tori stammered.

"Oh, they are. But they can't help but drive each other insane. And, they both have crushes on the other but won't admit it. If you see the fight you will know what I mean." He grabbed Kayla and Tori's robes and started to pull them to the stairs, "Good-night, Professor Forest. C'mon you guys."

Harry let go of them and started to climb the stairs, pointing things out on the way like the trick stair. Keri almost stepped on it, before he warned her, "Don't step on that stair! It is trick. You have to jump it or you will be stuck."

The others just looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Tori asked.

"Why don't you try it and see what happens," he suggested. She did so. She stepped on it and immediately she fell through it. "Now, try to get out. It is impossible unless you have help…" he trailed off as Tori teleported quickly out of the stair so that she was standing next to the others. "How did you do that?"

"It is part of what we learn at our school. Here is another part," Tori said as she used her powers to imagine the stair as usable. It would only work for her, but she wouldn't fall. Concentrating, she put her wait on the step and walked to the other side. The others followed Tori's example, except for Harry. He still had to jump over the stair.

Soon they reached a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress. "This is the portrait hole," Harry explained. "The password is 'Silver Rose.'" As he said this, the picture swung forward, and they could hear two voices yelling at each other. "What did I tell you?" Harry said resignedly. "They are arguing. Well, we might as well go in and try and stop them…"

"Who do you think your are, asking me what I did with Viktor over the summer?" Hermione screamed at Ron.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I was just asking if you had fun. Isn't that what friends do?" Ron shouted back.

As the others walked in, Harry let out a deep sigh and whispered, "When they argue about Viktor Krum, things tend to get worse." Ron and Hermione were standing in the middle of the room oblivious to the fact that the entire house was watching them.

"The way you do it seems like prying! Just stay out of my life with Viktor! I am sick and tired of you being such a prat about it."

"I am not being a prat!"

"Now you're in denial also!"

Harry could tell that this row was going downhill fast. He used his excellent seeker abilities to develop a plan. He quickly stepped in between them. "Would you two just shut up?" he shouted.

"Harry, stay out of this!" they both screamed at him.

"Would you two look at yourselves? You look like first years, not fifth year prefects. You are supposed to be setting an example for the younger students, but instead you are up here, arguing over nothing." When they both stayed silent, Harry knew he needed to take things further. "If you can't act your ages, I will have to be the responsible one." The looked about ready to say something, but before they could, he bellowed, "BOTH OF YOU, GO TO YOUR ROOMS AND DON'T COME OUT UNTIL YOU CAN BE CIVIL TO EACH OTHER! AND WHEN WE GO DOWN FOR BREAKFAST, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY ARGUING!" His two best friends were both so shocked to hear Harry take charge, they actually listened to him and went upstairs.

"Hey, Harry," shouted one of the older students. "Nice job. I didn't know you had it in you." Harry just smiled weakly.

Harry turned to the American students, "Boys' dorms are on the left, girls' are on the right. I'll take you, Jason. Girls, just walk up the stairs and look for the door that says 5th years. Hermione should be in there. If not, come back down and shout up to me and I will go find her. Got it?" They all nodded and went where he directed.

The girls did indeed find the room, and Hermione was indeed in it. she was the only one in there, although they could tell that there was supposed to be one other girl because of the number of beds and trunks. Hermione was lying face down on her bed and from her muffled sobs, they could tell that she was crying. "Hermione, do you want to tell us what is wrong?" Kayla asked.

"Not really," she said. Well, actually it was what they thought she said, since it was mostly muffled by the pillow.

"You do know that we are going to keep bugging you until you tell us," Keri said.

"And it is not like we don't know what inconsiderable jerks guys can be. After all, we have been friends with Jason, James, and Jake for a while," Tori interjected.

Hermione lifted up her head and they could tell that she was seriously upset. Tears were running unchecked down her face, and her eyes were red and puffy. She just sat there, crying, for a while before suddenly blurting out, "He drives me absolutely insane!"

"Ron, I assume?" Kayla guessed. When Hermione nodded, she continued, "Well, it is probably that he is jealous that because of Krum, you might start ignoring him. The way guys think is that bad attention, i.e. you screaming at him, is better than no attention."

"So why doesn't Harry act this way?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Um…well…probably because he is more mature. He knows that no matter what is going on between you and Krum, you will always have time for him. He knows that he is in another category than Krum. Krum is a man one that you might be attracted to, even. Harry, on the other hand, is your best friend and therefore like a brother: untouchable. He knows this. Either Ron hasn't realized this, or he wants to be seen as something other than your best friend." Kayla couldn't help say that last bit about Ron. Harry had been right; they both really liked each other. Kayla hoped that maybe she could help them both see it.

Hermione gave one last sniff as she thought about this, and Tori judged this a good time for a change of subject. "So, who is this Krum guy?" she asked innocently.

"Here, let me get you a picture of him that I took this summer. Viktor is the seeker on the Bulgarian national Quidditch team. I met him last year since he was his school's triwizard champion. We went to the Yule ball together and I went to his house over the summer. It was so beautiful there. We decided not to officially be going out, though. We don't need the publicity, and that way we can have the freedom of dating other people."

"That was a very mature decision," Kayla said. "Sometimes I wish that I haven't known Jason since kindergarten. He knows almost everything about me. It can be kind of disconcerting. You should be lucky that you don't have a guy like that."

"Yeah," Hermione mumbled but wishing that she had someone whom knew her so well and cared about her as much as Jason obviously cared about Kayla. "Thanks guys. Goodnight. Do you want me to wake you up in time for breakfast?"

"Yeah, that would be great," they murmured as they got ready for bed.

Meanwhile, Harry led Jason up to the 5th year guys' dorm. They found Ron lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He turned his head as they walked in. "Come to yell at me some more, Harry?" he asked.

Harry blushed slightly. "No," he said, but added under his breath, "But maybe I should." Jason, hearing this comment started to chuckle softly. Both Ron and Harry glared at him. Jason held his hands out in front of him and just went to sit on the only unclaimed bed in the room.

"So, what exactly was that about this time?" Harry wanted to know.

"Well, it all started out fine," Ron grumbled. "We led the first years up and then we sat down to wait for you. Since we hadn't had a chance to talk on the train and we didn't see each other over the summer, I asked her how her summer was. She said it was great. She spent most of it with her parents, but she went to Bulgaria for a month. I just asked if she has fun and she blew up at me. I think that was probably where you came in."

Harry, having no experience with girls looked pleadingly at Jason. Jason just smiled and winked, signifying that he had it all under control. "Ron," he began. "You see, girls just don't think the same way we do. Something that seems perfectly neutral to us is offensive to them. I don't understand them, and I don't pretend to. But, after being friends with Kayla and the twins for so long, I think that I can make a few assumptions about them. My guess, though, is that she thought you were either prying into something that she didn't think was any of your business. Or she thought that you were implying something." When Ron started to protest, he held his hand up to tell him to stop and continued, "I would probably say, that maybe she is thinking things about you that she would like to ignore and the only way to do this is to be mean to you." Before Ron could figure out what Jason was trying to say, the latter was already in bed and to all appearances fell asleep.