AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so here's another ending...are you seeing where I'm going with this? I simply couldn't just pick one pairing because there are so many. And because there are so many, there are so many different outcomes people are rooting for. I'm afraid to say that many of you will be disappointed as many of these endings are implied rather than direct. Sorry. But you see what this gives you? You can choose your own ending...within reason. Have fun and do enjoy...I hope. I dunno, it seems rather stupid, but I thought I'd give this a try...

DISCLAIMER: Not mine unless it doesn't belong to J. K. Rowling.


Hormonal Half-Wits

Chapter 18: The End, Part 2


This day cannot get any more bizarre.

I admit, I may have been up here sulking. Maybe. Point is, I came back up to my secluded room…only to find it wasn't so secluded anymore. Moody was leaning against one wall, whittling away at a little wooden flute.

I really didn't feel like going and finding a more isolated spot and I honestly didn't want to be alone…

Moody was watching me with his magical eye as I sunk down into an armchair, staring balefully down at the floor. I recall wishing it would just open up and swallow me whole. We stood there in silence for a long time. Finally, Moody broke it in that raspy, hoarse voice of his, startling me from my reverie in which his knife came flying from his hand and embedded itself in my eye for a painful final repose.

'D'you want to talk about it?' that was exactly what he said. I swore, my heart jumped out of my throat, did a couple of astounding acrobatic feats, and then jumped back down to settle uneasily in my stomach. He couldn't possibly know…and yet, my mind once more asked the question of the magical eye…just what could he see?

I looked up at him and I remember…he was giving me this look…it was so completely understanding…like his magical eye saw right through me into something not even I could see…and I knew then, that he knew…everything. And to be honest, it was rather nice to have someone to talk to…

I told him everything, which greatly surprises me. It wasn't awkward, as I might have imagined it (that's a situation I honestly have to say I've never contemplated before) because I didn't have to explain everything. We talked in half sentences with open ends…we could have been talking about Sirius' great-aunt's sponge cake for all anyone else might know.

It was relieving. Moody knew what I wanted to talk about and what I didn't. he even let me cry into his shoulder, though it was weird (that was awkward) and I had the feeling he'd never comforted anyone before. Not surprising…he certainly wouldn't be top on my list to go to if I needed someone to talk to. Lecture yes, heart-felt talk no.

Moody said Zabini was a great git (like I needed to be told) and that I was a brilliant girl. I scoffed and told him brilliance wasn't something men were looking for in a girl. He shocked me by saying I also had a first-rate pair of tits. Now that was a stunner. I looked up at him strangely, and I swore he nearly blushed.

Said he was just stating the facts and that any man would be 'insane not to fall for' me. I may be overestimating the level of his words, but the way he said it made me wonder if he was 'insane' or not. The look he was giving me…it was a little disconcerting, but still…it's so wonderful to have someone strong to lean on…I think I'm going to like that…