Ok sorry this chapter took a few extra days to post, it's been half term and I become less constant in half term when I'm not at school I forget! Sorry!
Princess Plankton: I dunno why you're complaining, I already told you I was stealing you name for Kieran. Will you stop telling people stuff about Kieran! That' the last time I ever tell you what's gonna happen in my fics! No-ones being shan on Hermione! She's the bitch, not Cho. You're top of my review list this time. Partly cos you were my first reviewer, that's the only way you get to be top. I don't owe you cookies! You lied! Liar!
Miss-Aurelia: Everyone reviews my fic, cos everyone gets cookies! Yay! I can't tell you what's going on! Well I could, but then it would be boring! Heh, heh. Kieran's just an add-in to take Ron's place for a while…….or maybe there's more to him………I think he's cool……at the moment…….haha! Ok I'm being weird again, a bit like you, I really didn't get that. *strokes beard* lol. Oh well, I'll shut up and let you read my chappie, which hopefully makes a lot more sense than me or you. Lol.
Rin: Yup, I like those sweet, fluffy scenes with Harry and Cho. Don't think too much about the note at the beginning of chapter 21, it just means they won't hate each other forever. I'm feeling nice so I'm gonna tell you they don't back together. Bet you're relieved. Of course Ron will be back, he is a key character in this fic, even if you don't see much of him until later. I know it's wrong without Ron, but it's supposed to be like this, it's all going to plan. *grins evilly* lol. Sorry I'll shut up and let you read chapter 22.
Indigal: Kieran is…….I can't tell you, he has a purpose, but you'll just have to wait and find out about him. O'Reilly is my mates name. I just stole it off her cos I'm unoriginal, I didn't now about December O'Riley, cos I don't read that fic. You're not supposed to understand about Ron, it's supposed to be keeping you in suspense. Mwahaha! Sorry if the break-up didn't seem final to you, it will be officially over in a couple of chapters. I think that's everything. except, hoe you like the chapter and I didn't keep you suspense too long did I?
Cap'n Sebz Sparrow: Ok, ok I'm thanking you twice. *sighs* You're annoying, you know that. Kieran isn't Irish, but if it helps you sleep at night his dad was Irish and his moms American. Lol. Discovering the world! What the fuck does KIU mean? *shrugs* Leave Erika alone, she's one of my best reviewers, unlike SOME people. Yes you are a simpleton Suzy, face it! Lol. *runs away*
JkReviewer: Yes it was a break-up! Oh fine! In one of the coming chapters they will actually say the words and finalise that they are not a couple! Happy! I don't remember promising you a cat-fight between Hermione and Cho but I'll put one in, sounds like fun! Kieran is not necessarily there to steal Cho……but he might be! Oh well I'm glad you like it even though not everything you wanted has happened…….yet. Oh, and I'm telling you anything else, heh, heh, heh!
Ghetx2o: Yeh, I seems you've noticed I always update on Saturday and you get to read on Sunday. I know they didn't actually say those words, but the break-up will be finalised in later chapters. Then everybody's happy! Kieran O'Reilly is….obviously……..therefore a reason. But I'm not telling you why. He will play an important part but I'm, evil so I'm giving anything away! I'll definitely keep it up, especially for great reviewers like you! :P
h-potter2003: Yup! It's finally over, geeze, it was really slow. I'm glad you're interested to know about Kieran, hopefully he'll be a very interesting character in the rest of this fic. Anyway, glad you like it! Hope you keep reviewing!
Erika: Yeh, well, I like to be different, sorry if I disappointed you! You're not stupid! I thought it might be obvious, but no-ones got it yet, so I guess it's not that easy! Yes Ron will definitely play a very big part in this fic nearer the head, although you won't get a POV from him again, sorry, it just wouldn't work.
Wingsofsilver: I'm glad you liked my chapter even though I was mean to Hermione, actually it wasn't me, it was Harry, it's just the way it had to be. Lol, well not really, but it was the best I could come up with! I hope I didn't disappoint you.
Aer_Terra: Ok, ok, so it wasn't totally a break-up but hey, it will be finalised in up-coming chapters, geeze! You reviewers! Never happy. Lol. I'm not saying anything about him. Heh, heh, heh. I know I'm evil. Oh well, keep guessing, cos I love knowing what you thinks gonna happen. Thanks for saying you'll try and find out cos I can't find it anywhere in the books.
Pippi: S'ok, I know how you feel. I know Ron would never do that stuff to Harry, but that's the point, there's something wrong about him. Haha. I'm not telling ya! You're gonna have to wait quite a few chapters to find out who Kieran REALLY is. Haha. Yet again, I'm evil and will NEVER tell you! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, it means a lot that you really I'm a good writer. *gives you cookies*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry looked at Kieran with interest. He wondered why the hairs at the back of his neck were prickling uneasily. Kieran looked so familiar, yet Harry couldn't think where he could possibly have seen him before.
"Kieran is a new student here at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall continued after several seconds. Harry gave Kieran a small smile before looking away. "He has transferred from another wizarding school in America. He's been in England a few weeks and his parents heard that we may have a vacancy coming at Hogwarts, and they were very happy to find that Kieran would be able to attend this school. He will be staying in your dormitory and he will be in most of your classes. We thought you would like to show him around, help him in his few weeks."
Harry listened carefully through Professor McGonagall's speech nodding every now and again to show he understood. He thought he was a strange choice to show Kieran around especially as Kieran was taking the place of his best friend Ron. A familiar stab of pain shot through Harry thinking about Ron. The happy feeling he'd had since talking to Cho was disappearing very rapidly. There were a few moments of complete silence before Professor McGonagall spoke again.
"So, would you like to?" she asked. Harry thought momentarily about it. Oh well he didn't seem to have much choice, and what harm could it do.
"Yeh, ok." Harry said. Professor McGonagall smiled.
"Ok, Kieran, Harry will show you to your dormitory, and help you around Hogwarts until you get used to it. Could you wait outside my office for a moment, while I briefly talk to Harry." Kieran nodded and exited leaving Harry and Professor McGonagall in her office.
"What did you want?" Harry asked.
"Harry, Kieran comes from a bit of an erratic background. I'm told his father died in muggle prison when he was young and his mother's not the ideal parent either. So don't expect him to be the most….normal…..student." Harry nodded, understanding what Professor McGonagall was saying.
"Ok Professor," Harry replied. Professor McGonagall nodded him out of her office, so Harry left to find Kieran waiting outside for him. Harry smiled at him.
"Hi, my name's Harry, Harry Potter." He said holding out his hand. Kieran smiled and shock it, his eyes flickering briefly to Harry's forehead, searching for his scar.
"I'm Kieran O'Reilly as you probably figured." Kieran replied. Harry noticed immediately the strong American accent in his voice. It took him slightly by surprise, but then he remembered that Professor McGonagall had just told him the Kieran was American.
"Ok, well I'll show you where the common room and dormitories are." Harry replied nodding in to his right and starting to head in that direction.
"Cool," Kieran replied. They walked in silence for a few seconds before Harry decided to voice something he'd been wondering for a while.
"Did they sort you?" he asked. Kieran looked slightly confused for a second.
"Oh you mean, how they decided what house I was going to be in." he said, realisation dawning on him.
"Yeh sorry." Harry replied.
"I was taken to the headmasters office, Dumbledore, they put this hat on my head, and it sort of shouted Gryffindor. So that's what house they put me in." Kieran said. Harry nodded. "I'm glad to be in Gryffindor, I've heard a bit about this school, apparently Gryffindor's the best house." Harry smiled.
"Yeh, most people say that. the other's aren't as good. Especially Slytherin, you don't want to go near them, they hate Gryffindor's." Harry said.
"Thanks I'll remember that." Kieran said smiling. "You'll have to tell me who to avoid and stuff." He said.
"Yeh sure, most people in the other houses are ok, the one person you really want to stay away from is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." A look of slight recognition spread across Kieran's lightly tanned face.
"Is he, the son of Lucious Malfoy, that guy in the ministry of magic." There was a hint of distaste in Kieran's voice as he spoke.
"Yeh, you heard of him?" Harry asked.
"A bit, supposed to be a bit of a slime ball." Kieran replied frowning. Harry smiled.
"Yeh, sounds like Lucious and Draco." He said. They were nearly at the portrait hole by now. "Norwegian Ridgeback." Harry said to the fat lady, who swung open to let them inside. Kieran gave Harry a questioning look. "Password," Harry replied. "They change every week or so." Kieran nodded. "Just ignore them." Harry said to Kieran, people stared at him as they passed through the common room and up the stone staircase. Neville was still lying on his bed when Harry and Kieran entered.
"Hi Neville, this is Kieran, new student, he's here to-" but Harry stopped, he couldn't bring himself to say 'replace Ron.' Neville nodded understanding and shock Kieran's hand..
"Hi." Kieran said. Neville looked slightly shocked by Kieran's accent too.
"He's just moved here from America." Harry said. Neville nodded again.
"Hi Kieran." Then Neville left, Harry presumed, to go into the common.
"That's your bed," Harry said pointing at Ron's old bed. "This is mine, and those are for the other's in the this dormitory. Neville, Seamus and Dean." Harry counted them off and pointed out their beds. Kieran nodded.
"Cool, so who used to be here?" he asked. Harry looked at the floor, not really knowing whether he wanted to go into this with someone he'd only just met.
"um, Ron, Ron Weasley, he was ex-ex-expelled." Harry only just managed to squeeze out the words.
"Oh sorry, were you friends?" Kieran said sensing he'd hit a soft spot. Harry nodded.
"He was my best friend." Harry replied collapsing on his bed and staring at the ceiling.
"I'm really sorry, I didn't know." Kieran said.
"It's ok, you couldn't have known." Harry replied.
"So What did that Professor want back there? if you don't mind me asking." Kieran asked, changing the subject, much to Harry's relief.
"Um, just something about……." Harry trailed off not really knowing how to tell Kieran.
"Oh, I get it, it was about my mom." Kieran replied. "They all think I should be pitied or feared, just because my mom's a drunk and my dad died in prison." Kieran said, sounding resentful. Harry felt suddenly sorry for Kieran, he knew what it was like to be taken for something you weren't just because of your background.
"I don't think that, but I do know how it feels." Harry said trying to sound consoling.
"I guess," Kieran sighed, and sat on his own bed. Harry decided it was time to change the subject again.
"So what's it like in America?" He asked, genuinely interested.
"It's ok I guess, everyone thinks it's such a great place, but there are some really rough places around. You get used to it. I'm actually really glad I've moved here to England, they say Hogwarts is a good school, so I've been looking forward to it." Harry shrugged.
"I guess it's a good school, you sort of take it for granted when you're here 24/7." Kieran smiled. They talked like this more nearly an hour. Just getting to know each other. Harry wondered why no-one ever given Kieran a chance, he seemed like an ok guy. They had quite a bit in common besides their not so great backgrounds. They both loved Quidditch and Kieran had been on his old school team and owned a Nimbus 2000. Harry promised to show him the Quidditch pitch and see if could get a trail with Angelina.
Kieran told Harry bit about where he used to live, and Harry found himself feeling sorry for Kieran again. It sounded like Kieran had, had it just as rough as he had. Harry told him about some of the stuff the Dursley's had done to him, all the punishments, the starving and verbal abuse. They seemed to understand each other quite well, and Harry began to forget about Ron.
It was early afternoon by the time they'd finished unpacking and run out of conversation.
"You wanna go to the Quidditch pitch or should I show you around the school?" Harry asked anticipating the answer.
"Lets go to the Quidditch pitch!" Kieran said. So they grabbed their brooms and headed down to the entrance hall and out into the grounds. It wasn't long before the Pitch came into view. Kieran gasped.
"Whoa, it's, like, so much bigger than our old one." Harry grinned.
"Yeh, it's pretty cool. Come on." Harry mounted his broom, kicked off from the ground, and sped into the air. The feeling of the wind rushing through his hair, biting at his cheeks, exhilarated him and he flew around the pitch once before returning to Kieran who was hovering about 10 foot in the air.
"Wow! You're are great flyer." He said, looking impressed.
"Thanks, come on, what can you do?" Harry asked taking a golf ball out of his pocket. He always kept them there as he didn't have his own snitch. He threw them for Kieran, and was reminded very vaguely of the first time Oliver Wood had thrown golf ball's for Harry when he'd only just joined the team. Harry noticed Kieran was pretty good. He managed to catch all the golf balls then they played catch, each purposefully making in hard for the other to catch the balls.
They spent the afternoon laughing and talking as they flew around the pitch. Neither realised how long they'd been out there until the sun began to sink behind the horizon and Harry checked his watch.
"Whoa it's nearly five," Harry said catching the last of Kieran's balls. "We should get back, it'll be dinner soon."
"Ok, cool." Kieran said and they both landed softly on the grass. They walked back up to the castle, talking Quidditch.
"I think we've got a practice on Tuesday, why don't you come along? I bet Angelina will let you have a tryout, you're definitely good enough." Harry said.
"Really? thanks, I love to," Kieran replied as they climbed the marble staircase.
"Of course, what position do you play?"
"Mostly Chaser, but I was once a keeper. Where do you play?"
"I'm seeker, I have been since my first year." Harry replied. Kieran's eyes widened.
"Whoa, I thought you weren't allowed to play til your second year?" he asked.
"We're not, but they let me, don't ask, it's a long story." Harry said, recalling the day Malfoy had stolen Neville's rememberal. Kieran nodded as they entered the common room and crossed to the stone steps.
Fifteen minutes later Harry and Kieran came back down the stairs, the common room was quite empty, everyone was at dinner, they exited and went down to dinner still talking happily. The Gryffindor table was pretty full but they managed to find a seat beside Dean and Seamus, Harry introduced them to Kieran and the four of them talked for most of the meal. About half way through. Kieran leaned towards Harry and said in a low voice.
"Who's that girl over there? She keeps staring at you." Kieran said in a low voice looking down the Gryffindor table. Harry followed his gaze and saw Hermione sitting alone picking at a plate of pasta.
"Oh that's Hermione Granger," Harry said. "She used to be my other best friend with Ron," Harry said, still feeling that stab of pain whenever he thought of Ron.
"What happened?" Kieran asked, "If you don't mind, I'm just interested." He added hastily.
"We had an argument this morning, about Ron," Harry's voice was getting quieter. "It was her who got Ron expelled." Harry finished bitterly.
"Oh," Kieran said, he looked like he didn't know what to say next. So they went back to eating in silence, trying to forget that conversation. Harry knew Kieran must feel a bit awkward replacing Harry's best friend.
The rest of the meal passed without a reference to Hermione or Ron, they talked mostly to Seamus and Dean, who were keen to tell Kieran about each of the teachers at Hogwarts and what they were like. All four boys went up to their dormitory that night still talking. Seamus and Dean always had a joke to cheer people up, and they whiled away the hours laughing, joking and trying in vain to finish some last minute homework for Monday.
***********
Monday dawned with the last of the snow melted and a bright sun streaming through Harry's dormitory window. He dressed and sat on his bed to wait for Kieran. They had all their lesson together today: Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Not a bad day, Harry thought. At least Harry would get to introduce Kieran to Hagrid, even if the Slytherin's would be making snide comments only a few feet away.
It wasn't long before Kieran too was ready in his new Hogwarts robes and they went down to breakfast together. They were nearly finished eating when Harry felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. He spun around and found himself face to face with Cho. He smiled at her. She dropped something into his lap and walked away to her own house table, leaving Harry wishing he could have talked to her.
He turned back around and saw Kieran looking slightly confused.
"Who was that?" he asked. Harry was picking up the piece of paper from his lap.
"Oh…..um….Cho Chang, she's a Ravenclaw 7th year." Harry replied opening out the paper which read.
Don't forget tonight, after dinner, see you later, Love Cho.
Harry smiled broadly, it was less than a line long, but the thought of Cho just made him smile all over. Kieran was regarding him with interest.
"Is she your girlfriend?" he asked. Harry dragged his eyes away from the neatly printed black ink to look at Kieran.
"Oh…….er…..yeh." He replied. Kieran smiled as well.
"Lucky you," he said.
"Yeh, I guess so." Harry said finished off the last of his scrambled egg and he left the hall with Kieran to collect his school books and walk to Charms. Kieran questioned Harry about Cho all the way there. He asked Harry about when they met, how long they'd been going out everything he could think of. But Harry didn't mind, after all he quite liked going out with someone so popular and pretty.
But Cho's meaning went a lot deeper than looks and popularity, they were destined to defeat Voldemort together. But Harry knew even without their destiny, he'd always loved Cho deep down, and he always would, that's why he was lying to her, he loved her so much he couldn't bear to lose her, (that didn't make much sense), anyway he wasn't Hermione's girlfriend anymore, they weren't even talking so it didn't count as lying anymore.
Harry's usual seat in Charms was between Hermione and Ron, but since Ron was gone Kieran took his place and Harry spent the entire lesson talking to Kieran and ignoring Hermione's efforts to catch his eye or pass him notes. He paired up with Kieran when they were told to revise banishing charms by Professor Flitwick and when the lesson ended he wandered out of the classroom aimlessly regardless of what Hermione was doing.
The rest of the day passed easily enough. Professor McGonagall held him back after Transfiguration to ask him about Kieran. Kieran obviously had nothing against half giants, in fact he got on really well with Hagrid in Care Of Magical Creatures. Even the Slytherin's didn't seem to bother Kieran he just ignored them. It didn't seem like long until they were walking to dinner and Harry remembered once again that he was meeting and Cho and he hadn't told Kieran.
"Hey Kieran, I have to go see Cho after dinner, so can you go with Seamus and Dean until I get back?" Harry asked as dinner drew to a close
"Yeh sure, have fun." Kieran said giving Harry a wink and a smile. Harry laughed and they walked out of the hall. Kieran disappeared up the marble staircase with Seamus and Dean, and Harry set of in the opposite direction to the Room of Requirement.
Cho was already outside the room when Harry arrived and after a brief hug they went inside. The room looked the same as it always did ever since they'd started using it as a meeting place. Harry almost had De Ja Vu looking around the room remembering all the times he'd come here to talk to Cho. They'd come so far together since their first kiss at the ball.
But Cho didn't let Harry stay in his dazed state for long they sat down but the usual crackling fire and once again wondered what would have changed by the end of the evening.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes I am going to be annoying and stop there! Tee hee! I warn you, the next chapter won't actually be what they talked about. It'll be set after the room of requirement, it'll be what Harry and Cho are thinking after. Sorry if that's a disappointment. I know I centred this chapter too much on Kieran I just want you all to get a good picture of him, and please keep telling me what you think of him. Oh one more thing, Cookies for anyone who reviews!