She dreamed badly that night, but in the morning all Tia could remember was inconsistent grayness and a tree made out of orange jelly. She rolled over and pushed Ember off the bed, where she'd been curled up against her side. To her surprise, the cat jumped right back up and buried her head against Tia's arm, purring loudly.

"Eh? What's this?" She scratched her cat behind the ears. "Did I disturb you? Sheesh, you glare at me seven ways if I don't fix your food right, but you're all sweetness over a nightmare I can't even remember." Ember blinked her eyes and continued to purr. "Bah. I don't understand cats." Dressing, Tia headed for breakfast, the red-orange feline perched on her shoulder. Halfway there, Ember detached herself and disappeared down a corridor.

"Hey! Emmie! Come back." The cat stopped and looked back, twitching her tail, then ran off around a corner. "Well fine. No table scraps for you then." Tia shook her head and continued on. Entering the somewhat empty Saturday dining hall she looked around, hoping to see Kerry. He would get a kick out of last night's Gryffindor, she was sure. Failing to find him, however, Tia settled for an empty area by the door where she could see if he came in. She figured their little argument had gone on long enough and it was time to get back to normal. After all, what good was a joke against Gryffindor if you couldn't share it with anyone?

Still eyeing the door, she opened and closed one of the serving dishes a couple of times until it produced something she liked. She wondered at the empty hall until she remembered there was a Quidditch game today. Most of the students were probably outside already, trying to save the best seats. Tia loved flying, but she'd never bothered to follow Quidditch. It was a little one-sided for her taste, and she was sick of listening to her dorm-mates coo over their favorite Seekers. After half an hour spent picking at her food and thinking up improbable ways to sabotage the game she was about to leave, when Kerry came in through one of the side doors.

"Kerry!" she called, waving to him. "You've got to hear this!" He turned towards her, and then waited as the messenger Hufflepuff from the previous evening joined him. Turning back he waved at Tia and then followed the other girl to a table across the hall. Tia stared after them for a moment in disbelief. Slamming her plate down suddenly she stalked out of the hall, only to be enveloped by a cloud of red and gold robes. The Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Hey, watch it!" One of them snapped as she pushed through. Tia turned to yell at him and stopped. It was the boy from last night, of all the stupid coincidences. He was fully dressed for Quidditch and carrying a beater's club.

"This is an exit, you know," Tia said, recovering her voice. "You should be watching for people coming out of it, yes?"

"What about people coming in?" muttered one of the other players.

"What about them?" Tia snapped back.

The Gryffindor rolled her eyes and continued into the dining hall, followed by the rest of the team, except Tia's new acquaintance. He just stood there. "About last night…" he started.

"Forget it! Okay? No one cares, least of all me. Just drop it already!" Tia didn't feel like going over this again.

"I was just wondering if you…"

"Hey! Grant! You planning on eating before the game?" The captain had stuck her head back out in the hall and was beckoning to her teammate. "You know you'll get sick if you don't!"

Grant looked annoyed. He glanced at the captain and back at Tia, who smirked.

"Better listen to mommy," she suggested. He glared at her and stalked off. Tia giggled, but it didn't last. She had more important things to think about, like Kerry and that Hufflepuff girl.

Of course she didn't care if Kerry had gone and gotten himself a girlfriend. Why should she? They were just friends after all…they'd only grown up together, shared all their toys, read the same books, laughed at the same jokes, gone to the same schools…no that couldn't be it. What really bothered her was that stupid Hufflepuff obviously thought herself too good to sit with Tia. It wouldn't have been Kerry's idea. He never held grudges like that, he would have sat with her anyway, girlfriend or not. It was all that girl's fault. Right.

Tia finally managed to corner Kerry the next day after lunch. His new friend had run off just before, to meet a friend for a study session. It was about time. Not that she'd been stalking them or anything.

"Why are you following me around?" Kerry asked bluntly, when Tia stopped him in the hallway. "It's starting to get annoying."

Tia grimaced. Okay, so her stealth skills weren't the best in the world. "Annoying? You hang out with that squeaky-voiced hamster-girl nonstop for almost two full days and I'm annoying? I'd think you'd welcome the respite."

Kerry stared at her. "What was that for? If you're just going to be rude, I'm leaving."

"Rude? Who's been avoiding me for the past week?"

"I'm not avoiding you! You were avoiding me!"

"I was not!"

"Were too! You always turn down another hall whenever I see you!"

"Oh? And who changed his spot in Herbology just so that huge spider fern is between him and me?"

"Well who moved her chair all the way across the room in Charms?"

"You changed your potions partner!"

"Only because you did first!"

Tia decided to ignore that. "What about yesterday at breakfast? You call that 'not avoiding'? You deliberately sat on the other side of the hall!"

"Cynthia wanted to sit with her friends!"

"And that's more important than sitting with your friend?"

"Only when my 'friend' can't speak two words without insulting someone!"

"Insulting someone? And what do you think this Cynthia did when she stopped you from sitting with me?"

"She didn't stop me! Why would she stop me?"

"Because she hates me! She think I'm evil because I'm in Slytherin and that I shouldn't hang out with you because you're too good for me and she's obviously a better friend because she's in Hufflepuff and you know that people of different Houses shouldn't be friends, especially with Slytherins and…and…" Tia suddenly realized how loud she was being. Several students had stopped in the hall and were staring at them. Kerry looked embarrassed and lowered his voice.

"Hey, Tia, calm down. Aren't you overreacting, just a little?" he said, carefully ignoring the fact that he had been yelling just as loud.

"You always think I'm overreacting! Just because I say what I mean!"

"Really? You meant all that?" Kerry smiled slightly.

"You still think I'm just angry, don't you! Well let me tell you…."

"Wait! Don't." Kerry looked around at the gathering crowd. "Give me a chance to talk, alright?"

Tia winced as several of the onlookers giggled, but she refused to move somewhere else. "Fine. Talk."

Kerry sighed. "I'm not hanging out with Cynthia just to get back at you for anything. We were friends before, you know. And I'm sure she doesn't hate you, she just wanted to sit with her friends, that's all. Look, we'll sit with you next time, okay?"

"You sound like you're throwing a dog a bone. Did it ever occur to you I might not want to sit with her? She came to my dormitory once, in practically the middle of the night, just to throw insults at me and tell me why I'm not worthy to hang around the exalted Hufflepuffs. Does that have anything to do with sitting anywhere? Hmmm?"

"I'm sure she was just having a bad day…"

"So she's allowed to have a bad day and insult people, but I'm not?"

"She has a point." A Ravenclaw girl broke in from the audience. Tia glared at her and she subsided.

"No, no, that's not it." Kerry edged a little further down the hallway, away from the bystanders, who were starting to take sides. "I'm sure if you and Cynthia just sit down and have a talk, we can work this out."

Tia didn't follow him. Most of the whispering people seemed to be on her side and she was kind of enjoying it, though she kept glaring at them on principle. "You always think everything can be settled by talking. Must be why you're in Hufflepuff."

"Hey! First you say people are too quick to think one way about you just because you're in a certain House, and then you go making calls on why I am where I am!"

"So I'm a hypocrite. Must be why I'm in Slytherin."

Kerry looked at her strangely. Then, abruptly, he laughed. "Okay, okay, you win. How about we, um, go somewhere else and we can talk. Without Cynthia."

Tia couldn't help laughing a little herself. "Alright, let's…"

"Kerry!" A high-pitched voice interrupted her. Tia turned to see Cynthia running down the hall towards them. "We decided to cancel the study session today, so…" she paused, noticing the crowd, and Tia. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Kerry said hurriedly. "We were just…discussing the House cup."

"Oh." Cynthia shrugged. "It think Hufflepuff might actually have a chance to win this year, since other Houses have lost so many points." Tia listened to the thinly veiled reference, and wondered if the sorting hat might have made a crucial mistake in putting the girl in Hufflepuff. She was about to retaliate when Kerry caught Cynthia by the arm and steered her away down the hall.

"If your session is canceled, how about we practice that new spell Professor McGonagall was teaching us, hmmm? I think the far south study hall is usually empty at this time of day." He turned at waved at Tia. "We'll talk later, okay?" The pair disappeared down the hall.

"Just when things were going so well, too." A Slytherin first-year said, next to Tia. She ignored him.

"I'm going to kill her." she said to the hall in general. Several of the onlookers nodded in agreement.