A/N: I don't usually write these on this ff, but I realized that when I uploaded each chapter, the way I did it stripped each chapter of the type settings. For instance, what was supposed to be in Italics. In case you didn't figure it out, whenever Kayla and the Musketeers talk to each other telepathically, it is supposed to be in Italics. I will go back and fix it eventually, but not all of the chapters are saved on the computer I am on. While I am typing, I would like to thank everyone who has read this and reviewed. I really appreciate it.

That said, on with the story!

Chapter 18

The remaining people in the infirmary just stared out the door after Dumbledore. Madame Pomfrey could be heard slamming around jars in the next room. Hope looked from her daughter to the medical lab where Poppy was. She finally ended her internal struggle and went to help the irate nurse. The students all looked at each other, shrugged, and returned to their vigil of watching Kayla.

As she walked into the lab, Hope could sense that Poppy was angrier than she had ever been before. She was controlling herself when she slapped the imposter. Hope stifled a groan. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. She walked over to the nurse and put a hand on her shoulder as she whispered quietly, "Need any help?"

Poppy gave a muffled scream and dropped the test tube she was holding which then hit the floor and shattered. She turned her flashing eyes on Hope. "Don't do that," she hissed. "You nearly scared me to death." Hope looked repentant, as the nurse demanded to know, "Do you know what he gave her, Hope?"

"No," she replied. "What did he give her?"

"That little-" here the nurse broke off into words that no one even knew that she knew "-gave her a seriously addictive drug. It is used in small amounts for medicinal purposes as a narcotic, which is how I knew what it was. In a large enough amount, even one dose can addict or even kill the consumer. Well, let's just say he gave her enough of it to put a small elephant to sleep."

Hope glanced nervously back at her daughter. "Will she be all right?" she asked hesitantly.

Poppy didn't even look up as she answered. "I hope so." She continued mixing around various potions during the ensuing silence. After a few minutes, she stood up. "It is a good thing there is a magic in the world, or she would be in major trouble. I think I will be able to counter-act the effects of the drug with this," she mentioned as she held up a test tube full of a green slime-colored potion. "Better go give it to her."

The two women left the lab together to give it to the unconscious student lying in a bed surrounded by her 5 closest friends. Poppy walked over to Kayla and used her fingers to open her mouth. She poured the liquid (if it could be called a liquid) down her throat. The nurse turned to the other students in the room, "This should be able to negate any lasting effects. But it is not perfect. I cannot predict exactly what will happen, but, most likely, she will not be entirely sane for a few days. She will not be responsible for what she says and does, and she is unlikely to remember any of it. She will most likely sleep for a while, so I would advise going up to bed, now. Kayla will probably not be up for long visits, so when you do come back, try to keep it short. I will keep you notified of her progress."

The 5 Hogwarts students all stood up and with a final glance back at their friend, they filed out the door and headed back to their dormitories. The subdued trio told the fat lady the password ("Dragon's Breath") and she swung forward to reveal a very loud group of people. Even the older students had returned from their ball and the younger students finished theirs, everyone had gotten together in the common room to talk, and stuff. They looked at each other and grimaced.

Jason turned to look at them. "I am just going to bed," he said sorrowfully. "I can't deal with this right now. I will see you two tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay," they said before heading to their own staircase. "We will go see Kayla in the morning." They could just barely see him nod.

Jason walked up to his dormitory and stood in front of the window and looked out at the forest. He could just barely see a bright white unicorn with her young foal drinking from a pool of water. They looked so innocent. It was hard to remember all the bad in the world when he was looking at them. Jason was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't hear anyone walk into the room. The unknown person walked up behind him and put his hand on Jason's shoulder before Jason noticed him. Startled, Jason jumped and spun around to glare at the intruder upon his thoughts.

"Don't do that," he snapped. Both the redheaded and black haired boys looked slightly sheepish.

"Sorry," Ron mumbled. "We thought you heard us come in."

"We just wanted to know if you were all right. You left the Great Hall awful quickly," Harry added.

"Yeah. And my brothers mentioned something about you and the others needing to go help Kayla."

Jason sighed and looked at both of them. "Kayla was attacked by someone impersonating me. She is in the hospital recovering from some drug the bastard gave her. But don't let me ruin your evening by messaged of gloom and doom." He gave a fake smile. "So, how were your dates?" He then smirked because he saw signs on both of their faces that they had done something slightly more interesting than just danced. The blushes that crept into their faces confirmed those suspicions. He didn't want to embarrass either of them by making them talk about it, so he mentally brushed up against their outermost thoughts to find out exactly what happened.

Harry and Ginny watched Jason race out the doors in confusion. They sat in silence and watched the other musketeers separate themselves from their dates and run out the doors after Jason. Harry slowly turned to Ginny, "What was that about?" he asked her.

"I have no clue," she replied. The Weasley twins sat down on the other side of the table. They heaved a collective sigh and laid their heads on their arms on the tables. Ginny looked over at them and started to giggle. When Harry looked at her questioningly she just started to laugh harder. When she finally got herself under control, she just barely managed to choke out, "They got it ba-ad!" before laughing again. This time, Harry joined in.

They laughed together for a while until George looked up and glared at them. "Would you two kindly be quiet and let us wallow?"

This just set them off again. They were laughing so hard they had to lean on each other in order to remain seated in their chairs. Fred looked up and joined his brother in glaring at them. "Better yet, just leave. Go somewhere else. Leave us alone to sulk."

Harry and Ginny stopped laughing for a moment at the serious tone of voice the twins were using. Then they looked at each other and lost it again. As the twins glared at them, they stood up and walked off to an empty table in the farthest corner of the hall. They passed Ron and Hermione, but the two of them were too absorbed in each other to notice.

They had finally stopped laughing (for good this time) by the time they sat down at their new table. Harry suddenly looked at Ginny. "I am really glad I asked you to come with me tonight, Ginny. I have had a lot of fun with you."

Ginny blushed as she smiled at Harry. "I am having a lot of fun, too. You know, it is weird. Even though you have spent practically every summer break at my house and I have lived with you since my first year, we really haven't had that much time to talk. I never realized that we were so much alike. I mean, we both hate Snape-"

"Who doesn't?" Harry muttered.

Ginny glared at him before continuing, "Trelawny predicted that both of us would come to tragic ends. And you can't forget that Voldemort tried to kill both of us."

"Not to mention that both of us say His name. But I guess that since we both have had encounters with him we are entitled to. But we have our differences, too. I mean, I am an orphan but you are overwhelmed by relatives. Not that I mind"

Ginny sighed. "Sometimes I would give to be an only child. Or at least have a sister. So many older brothers are a little daunting. Especially to my male friends. Even if they don't want anything but friendship, my brothers automatically assume that they want something more and scare them off. Highly annoying, let me tell you. I am actually surprised you asked me. I was sure I wouldn't since they can be a little overbearing at times."

Harry suddenly had an epiphany. "I am going to kill them!"

"Why? For being over protective? While I admit it is annoying, it is hardly worth killing them for."

"No, not that. They set me up with you. I had just forced the twins into asking Tori and Keri and they came over and fed me this sob story about wanting me to be with you since they wanted me to be officially in the family. I thought they meant it. And, I wanted to ask you, but I wasn't going to until they told me to. I should have known better. All this time they were planning on letting me be all night and then they were going to go all "overprotective brother" mode on me. How low do you get?"

Ginny, emboldened by the fact that she was tired therefore not thinking clearly, and the fact that she was tired of waiting for things to happen, leaned in towards Harry so she could whisper in his ear, "Why don't we give them something to really gripe about then?" Harry pulled back so he could see her clearly. Then he smiled. He stood up and held out his hand to her. Laughing, he led her out onto the dance floor where he put his arms around her waist and pulled her so close to him that their bodies touched. She put her arms around his neck as she leaned back so she could look him in the eyes, smiling. Then she laid her head on his chest and sighed in contentment. Above her head, Harry smiled to himself and wondered how it was that he had never realized Ginny was this special and wouldn't have if he had never heard her conversation with Jason. He would have to remember to thank the American later.

Four dances later, they were still dancing like that when the band announced that it was the last song of the night. Harry looked down at the red hair pressed against his chest. "Ginny," he murmured. "Thank you for coming with me. I really enjoyed getting to know you better."

She looked back at him. "Me, too," she agreed. Before she could help himself, he leaned down and kissed her. "Let's hope my brothers didn't see that."

"Hey, they are the ones who told me they wanted me to be a part of the family. They get to live with the consequences."

"I like that plan," she muttered into his neck as she turned her head so that he could kiss her again.

After the song ended, they couldn't find the others so he led her up to the common room. They parted at the staircases leading to the girls' dormitory. "Good-night," he said as he kissed her again. He waited until she disappeared around the bend before walking up the stairs leading to his own dormitory. He heard someone walk up the stairs behind him to see who it was. He waited for Ron to catch up before continuing on to their room.

Jason smiled slightly because he hadn't known that Harry had heard that conversation. But he was glad. At least Ginny got what she wanted and Harry realized what he wanted. It felt good to make other people happy. Jason turned his mind to Ron's thoughts

Ron and Hermione were so wrapped up in their own little world that they didn't even notice the five students racing out of the hall. They had been with each other all night and they still weren't arguing with each other. In fact, they actually seemed happy to be with the other.

"Thanks for asking me, Ron," Hermione said.

"It was really no problem. I didn't want to go through the trouble of finding another date, and you weren't even going to come. So, are you having a good time?"

"Yes," she replied somewhat shyly. "Are you?"

"I always have fun with you. When we aren't arguing," he quickly amended as she giggled softly. This itself was weird: Hermione NEVER giggled. She was too mature to giggle.

"Yeah, me, too," she told him as she leaned on his chest. It seemed to be the night of strange talk since she soon continued by saying, "You know, I am sorry if I hurt you last year by going to the Yule Ball with Viktor. He just asked first and I didn't think anyone else would ask me, so I said yes."

"I understand. It was just thatI don't know. It was more than the fact that you were going with someone else. More than the fact that you were going with Krum. It was that I guess, I wanted to go with you." He started to blush.

"I think I was so annoyed with you because I wanted to go with you but I couldn't because I had already agreed to go with Viktor because I didn't think you would ask."

"Right, so now that we have that cleared up, I have one more confession to make. I know we are best friends and all that, but I have liked you since I met you even though I wasn't very nice. But I didn't know how to act, so I was mean. And then, when we were friends, I tried to pretend there was nothing between us but friendship, but when I saw you with Krum I just snapped. I couldn't believe that you would like someone who you barely know more than me, who you have known since our first year."

Hermione looked a little taken-aback. She slowly raised her hand and rested it on the side of his face. "I have always liked you, too. I just never knew how to tell you. That is why what you said to me first year made me so upset."

"Look at us: a pair of to love-struck fools who can't manage to tell each other that we like each other."

She looked right into his eyes. "Ron, I am very much in love with you. There is a reason why I never got too serious with Viktor. You are the reason."

"You do not know what it means to me to hear that. If it means anything to you, I am as much in love with you as you are with me. If not more." He grinned evilly at her. She tried to back away, suspicious, but he wouldn't let her move. She started to squirm as he laughed. She glared at him. He just smiled broader at her. He finally leaned down and kissed her. He then laughed at her shocked expression. "What?" he asked defensive. "We just poured our hearts out and you expected me NOT to kiss you? You should have more faith in me, woman."

Hermione laughed. "Maybe we shouldn't tell anyone about us yet."

"Why not?" Ron asked, hurt.

"It's not that I don't want everyone to know about us, it is just I don't want to upset Harry. I don't want him to feel left out" she trailed off as she saw something over Ron's shoulder. "Never mind," she said quickly. "He would probably rather us not keep secrets from him."

"What do you see?" Ron asked. He tried to look over his shoulder, but Hermione grabbed his face and wouldn't let him look. Harry owed her for not letting Ron see him with the youngest Weasley. Especially if they were kissing. It wouldn't matter that Ron and Hermione just did the same thing. It was Harry and Ron's baby sister. Ron seemed about to ask her something when the band announced that the ball was over and that everyone was to return to his or her common rooms. When she looked again, Harry and Ginny were gone. Hermione figured that they had already went up to the tower. She dragged Ron behind her as she did the same.

When they got up to the common room, she saw Harry and Ginny kissing again so she had to drag Ron into a shadowy corner to kiss him until Harry and Ginny parted. She said goodnight to Ron and followed Ginny up the staircase. She could sense Ron standing and watching her for a moment before following Harry up to his own dormitory.

Ron met Harry on the stairs and they entered their room together.

Jason knew that Ron still didn't know what Harry did with Ginny. Jason would keep the secret, but he should let Harry know he knew. He smirked. "Your welcome, Harry."

"For what?" Harry asked. Jason just smirked. "Oh. OOOOOHHH. Right. Let's go to bed guys. See you in the morning."

They all changed into their pajamas and climbed into their beds. As soon as Jason lied down, he remembered what he had been trying to forget. Kayla was in the infirmary. He stared at the top of his four-poster bed for a long time. Long enough for the rest of the boys to return. Long enough for them to get changed and go to bed. Long enough for him to hear the snores of 5 boys fill the room. Yet, Jason still just lay there. He couldn't stand not being able to do anything to help Kayla. Every time he closed his eyes he all he could see was Kayla lying in the hospital bed. Finally, he could stand it no longer.

Jason quietly stood up and walked out of the dormitory. Outside the door, he placed a sight-shield over himself. This was as good as an invisibility cloak, but better. No one would be able to see him, and there was no chance that anything would catch on a cloak and reveal him. He quickly but quietly ran through the corridors, his bare feet making slight slapping noises as they hit the ground. He stopped before the door to the hospital wing. He hoped that Madame Pomfrey was asleep.

Jason opened the door and walked over to Kayla's bedside. He brushed her hair off of her face and grabbed her hand. "Oh, Kayla," he murmured. "What have you ever done to deserve this?"

Suddenly, Kayla's eyes flew open. She looked at Jason, her eyes looking panicked. She snatched her hand away from his. Regardless of how she was physically, she clambered out of the bed and stood braced against the bed next to hers. "Kayla, what is wrong?" Jason asked her as he walked towards her.

She scrambled farther away from him and put another bed in between them. "Stay away from me!" she almost screamed.

"Why?"

"You did this to me! I don't need you being near me if you are going to hurt me again. Just stay away from me. Please just leave me alone," she begged.

"I didn't do this to you, Kayla!"

"Yes you did. You gave me the drug. You poisoned me!"

"Is that what you think?"

"That is what I know!" she exclaimed.

Jason turned away so that she wouldn't see the hurt in his eyes. "Kayla I am sorry you feel that way, but I assure you that I love you."

"Get out now!" Footsteps sounded outside the door leading to the nurse's suite. Jason placed the sight-shield over himself again. He headed to the door and quickly opened it enough so that he could slip out. He was easing the door shut when he heard the nurse ask Kayla if everything was all right, she heard screams. Kayla replied that she was fine, must have been having a bad dream and started to walk in her sleep. That was all Jason heard. He shut the door silently and walked forlornly back to Gryffindor Tower. He let the sight-shield fall so he could get back in, but the Fat Lady was too tired to say anything. He slipped back into his room and climbed back into bed. He closed the drapes around his bed so that no one would see the tears falling down his face. He let the tears fall silently as eventually cried himself to sleep.