Hermione woke up and found herself cuddled on Spikes chest, feeling his fingers running through her hair „'Morning, Spike..."

"Morning, pet..."

She sat up and looked over to Ricks bed "Where's he?"

Spike shrugged "One never knows..."

They sat there in silence for a while, Hermione in Spikes Arms, his nose in her hair. She smelled like strawberries and vanilla...

"Spike?"

"Hm?" He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply...

"You said... Last night you told me Rick went to sleep somewhere else before... but not because you slept with other girls, so... why?"

"Because I sometimes locked the door"

"Why?"

"You want a coffee, Mya?"

"Tell me why you locked yourself up"

"Because I didn't want to see anybody"

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want to tell them anything, but I expected them to notice if something was wrong"

"They didn't?"

"They did. But I didn't notice they did. I was selfpitying, alright?"

"You locked yourself up because you were selfpitying?"

"Yeah"

Hermione thought for a moment "But later you noticed why you locked yourself up?"

"Yeah"

"And it stopped?"

"Yeah"

"That's... good, really.... Let's get the coffee"

They stood up, dressed themselves and went to get the coffee. Hermione saw Tricias Black hair first, then they both heard her voice "We can't... What if somebody..."

"Hey! Trish! Everything alright?"

She finished her sentence disappointed "...sees us" Then she turned "Hey Spike... Oh... Hey Mya, I..."

Spike and Hermione went round the corner and saw with whom she was speaking: Rick

Spike looked the both of them down "Rick... You got a hard-on, did you notice? Think you should go somewhere where nobody sees it, right? Oh and, Trish... Maybe you should follow and help him get it away..." He laughed "You don't mean that was your 'dark secret' do you? Bloody hell, where's the problem? I tell you: There is no problem."

Hermione giggled "Oh, there is a problem... What if we and the both of them want to have some privacy in our room at the same time?"

Spike laughed even harder and Tricia smiled, but still didn't look into their eyes.

"Oh Trish, if you're feeling uncomfortable right now, then go. It's ok, ya know?"

"Please... don't tell Syd, she..."

Hermione looked to the left "Speaking of the devil..."

Sydney and Ginny came down the corridor, chatting and laughing. When they saw them they waved "Hey guys! Thought we came round, fetching the coffee... But obviously you had the same idea..." Ginny said, smiling

Sydney saw there faces and stopped. Everybody was obviously staring at her...

"What?"

They all looked away "Nothing..."

"What's the matter? Tell me right now!"

"It's nothing, Syd"

"Won't you make a fool of me McCarthy!"

"It's nothing, Syd"

"If it was 'nothing', you could just tell me why you all are so uncomfortable"

"It's nothing, Syd"

"AND WILL YOU PLEASE STOP TELLING ME IT WAS NOTHING!!!!"

Tricia took Spikes arm "You see?" she whispered "She will just be so mad at me because I didn't tell her..."

Sydney ran her fingers through her hair "Trish... You know you can't hide anything for long... just let me know..."

Tricia sighed, then locked her eyes with Sydneys and Sydneys suddenly filled with understanding "Oh... Trish... Why didn't you just... Why did you lock it from my mind?"

Tricia shrugged "Dunno..."

Spike sighed "Sydney, you're acting like you knew everything... Besides, Why do you think you know now what Tricia did or heard or felt or said?"

Sydney moved closer to him "Because I know..." and then she whispered, so that nobody but Spike could hear it "...Draco"

Spikes eyes widened in fear "How do... You can't... I never told... What...? Hermione?"

In less then two seconds, Hermione was right next to him and held his hand , still not understanding anything.

Sydney smiled weakly "Can you imagine how difficult it is to be the only one knowing your secrets while you're not allowed to tell anybody?"

Tricia looked to the ground "You didn't know my secret..."

"Because you know mine. And I guess Rick knows mine. And if you know it, you are able to block stuff from my mind. But you know perfectly well that I'm not allowed to tell anybody..."

"You are"

"But I can't Trish. You saw what happened when I did..."

Ginny looked uncomfortable but took all her courage to stop this upsetting conversation "Anybody want a coffee?"

They drank their coffees in an uncomfortable silence and were all happy when lessons began.

Hermione sat next to Trish in the fourth and, luckily, last lesson of the day and when the bell rang, she hurriedly pack her things and walked to their practising room with Sydney. The others were waiting for them, again in this uncomfortable silence...

"Hey Guys, uhm... What... should we practice?" Hermione looked at each of them "Guys?"

Nobody answered.

Sydney let herself fall onto a chair and stared a hole into the air.

Hermione sat down next to Spike on the floor and they all stared at each other for about 15 minutes.

Sydney stared at Tricia "Why?"

She became no answer because they all stared at Hermione who jumped to her feet "Hey, don't you learn anything from the songs you play? ANYTHING? Just think about it"

She began to sing "I'm tired of being what you want me to be..."

She stopped and stared, no reaction "What about 'Don't know what you're expecting from me'"

She looked around and the other five stared to the ground.

Hermione shook her head, walked over to the keyboard and stared at Spike "Spike... listen to me. Just listen"

And then she sang 'Easier to run' and Spike stared at her "Mya, you don't understand... It's not like Sydney could run away and..."
"You mean Tricia"
"No. I've got no problem with Trishs secret. It's alright. But I have one with Syds..."
"You know Syds secret?"
"You would, too, if you had heard what she called me..."
Sydney laughed a little "Spike, my secret is not that I'm curious"
"I didn't think it was"
Her eyes widened "then... what d'you think is my secret?"
Tricia rolled her eyes "Syd... I know, Rick knows and Spike really seems to know, too. Guys, Sydney's a seer"
Hermione stared "A real seer?"
She was the only one who was shocked, Ginny looked not very interested...
"Yeah... Not like those Divination teachers in school. And it's not like I made prophecies. I just... know things. And thanks for telling Trish"
"You'll get over it. Hey, we were at songs from LP, right? Here's another one and it's for you, Syd...


I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored

Sydney smiled "It's not like it... kinda fits"
"It does"
"I know"
Everybody just stared confused, except Ginny "Guys, what about... revealing our secrets now?"
Spike stood up "no!!!"
Ginny just rolled with her eyes "I'll tell you mine. I'm a fucking slut. I got into the pants of nearly every boy and about half of the girls in my classes. It made me forget about... Harry and Ron..."
Hermione and Spike stared at each other, Spike grinning.

"The little Weasel goes my way!"

Hermione grinned but than took a deep breath "Alright..." Spike shook his head in her direction, but it was too late "Speaking of Ron and Harry... I saw the both of them die, okay? I saw Harry Potter die, he looked into my eyes and I didn't make a sound"
Ginny stared "You killed Harry?"
"No. I just didn't stop others from doing it"
Ginny jumped to her feet "You know, me and Harry, we planned to marry! And you 'just did not stop people' from killing him! It's your fault!"
Hermione took a few steps back "No... Ginny..."
Tricia stared "Ginny... I'm sure she... just wasn't able to..."
"She was the fucking smartest witch ever, she WAS able to save him!"
Hermione went down onto her knees, placing the hand in front of her mouth, tears streaming down her face "No..."
Ginny stared at her angrily and took a few steps in her direction, but Syd stopped her "She had no chance, babe. It is not her fault..."
"It is, Syd, without her..."
"Without her, the only difference would be that Harry had been alone when he died"
Spike took Hermione into his arms "Yeah Gin, shut up, really. We're leaving. We have to discuss this shit tomorrow, if it's okay to you. Rick, sleep... wherever, at Trish's or something... See ya tomorrow, guys"