Disclaimer: J. K. owns the characters, the setting, and everything except our OCs and possibly the plot.

A/N: Please review.


FFF

12 – The Plot Thickens

Winter came early that year.

When they woke up on the morning of November the first, the ground outside was powdered with snow and it was freezing cold.

"This is going to mess up our Quidditch practice," said Ron.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll work out fine," said Ginny, looking out of the window. "There's Luna, in the air."

"What is she doing, flying on her own?"

"I don't know," said Ginny.

Then she suddenly gasped and stood up.


"It's rare for a broom to just spin out of control like that," said Ron. "Might have been the weather."

"She didn't seem to have any trouble," said Ginny. "Until she fell off…"

They were in the hospital wing, standing around Luna's bed. She was unconscious and had broken a few bones, but Madam Pomfrey had said that she could fix her up alright.

"She was so high up," said Ginny in a small voice. Kya laid her arm around the younger girl's shoulders. Ron flinched. It was all he could do to keep himself from glaring murderously at the two of them.

"Well," said Kya, "I'm glad they at least cancelled Quidditch practice for today."

"Yeah," said Harry, moodily.

"It was a miracle that she survived at all, wasn't it?" said Hermione.

"Indeed," said Kya. "I think she fell into a shrubbery."

She leant over Luna and patted her hand.

"Oh Luna," she sighed. "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you. I wish you all the best in recovery."

They were silent for a few moments. After a while, Hermione checked her watch and said she had to get her homework for tomorrow done. Luna lay still in her bed, looking more dead than asleep. There wasn't much left for anyone to say and soon they all started to find excuses to leave. Finally only Ron and Neville remained sitting by the bed.

"So," said Neville. "Why was she flying in that weather?"

"I don't know. She does these sort of things sometimes, doesn't she?" said Ron, shrugging.

"I'm not sure though," said Neville. "I know she's eccentric, but it's really cold outside."

"Perhaps she was practicing for something," Ron suggested.

"Yeah," said Neville. "I don't know. I haven't really talked to her much, since we were at the Department of Mysteries."

"Neither have I," said Ron.

"How are you doing anyway?" said Neville. "How's Harry? How are the others?"

"They're fine," Ron lied.

"Oh." said Neville. "That's great." He looked thoughtful.

"You know, I haven't really talked to any of you either, since last term," he said.

Ron considered this for a moment.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "I hadn't thought about it."

"Not since the Golden Trio became the Kya Quartet anyway," said Neville. Then he coughed, looking embarrassed at his own nerve.

At first, Ron couldn't get a word out. Neville was avoiding his eyes. Ron stared at him in confusion. "You mean you don't - you don't like her?"

"Well, of course I do," said Neville quickly. "I mean, everyone likes Kya…"

Ron's heart sank. Neville frowned.

"Why?" he asked. "Don't you?"

Ron narrowed his eyes. He could have sworn Neville had looked hopeful for just a second. Maybe he and Snape weren't alone after all.

"Well," he said, tentatively. "Thing is…"


Dumbledore paced back and forth. The portraits on the walls of his office looked at him interestedly, but none of them spoke to him.

He was beginning to get frustrated. Sometimes it was as if the walls were closing in on him. He always seemed to have paperwork to do. What he couldn't figure out was how he could have received so much of it, as no-one ever seemed to visit him in his office anymore. He rarely left the room himself. Sometimes he told himself that he ought to go out and stretch his legs, but then he would realize that either he was too tired, or he had too much work to do.

So much work. He hardly knew what he had just written about in that report he had just sent off with that owl… How had the owl got in? He was always too distracted to bother with opening the windows. As he thought of this, he noticed that the air was quite stifling. Where was the oxygen coming from anyway?

Suddenly he stopped in the middle of the room. He needed to get out. He stared determinedly at the door.

He was going to go for a walk. To get some exercise, he told himself. Clear his head. Everyone needed to clear their heads now and then.

Of course, he could always use his pensive for that. He'd been putting memories into that pensive for weeks now and he would always feel light-headed and happy afterwards.

Still, he needed the exercise. He could go for a walk after he'd finished the reports that were piling on his desk.

Although, when he thought about it, he really was very tired, and hardly felt in the mood for a walk at all. Was it because he was getting old? He probably shouldn't exert himselfso much. He needed to be careful after all, and conserve his energy. What if he was ill? He should see Madam Pomfrey, right after he had written those reports. Or maybe tomorrow. Yes, it would definitely have to be tomorrow. At the moment, he just didn't have time...


Later that afternoon, in the common room, Hermione was studying while Harry, Ginny and Ron were haphazardly playing Exploding Snap, and talking together about random things. After Hermione had let herself get distracted by them for too long, she went back to her books, and the others inevitably began discussing Quidditch.

Quidditch wasn't all they ever talked about. In fact, they hadn't had the chance to talk about it properly for a long time, since Hermione always made a huffy noise when they neared the subject. They felt like they had to talk about it now, though, because they had won so spectacularly against Ravenclaw in the first match of the season. This was partly because the opposing team had been too busy staring at Kya to be able to stay in formation, let alone pay attention to the bludgers.

As soon as Harry and Ginny started singing Kya's praises, Ron hurriedly began talking about how great they both had been as well, what a nice looking couple they'd been at the ball, how good Ginny was getting at Defence Against the Dark Arts and how she should show that to Harry; anything to steer talk away from the lilac-eyed demon. If he could make them become embarrassed, quiet and confused, that would be a fun bonus.

However, Harry and Ginny paid no attention to what he said. Soon he realized that diverting their interest was pointless. He might as well concentrate on finding a way to turn the topic of discussion to his advantage.

"Hrm," he said, when Ginny drew breath.

He forced his expression into a look of sincere regret.

"About that, there's something I really need to say," he said.

"You're not quitting the team, are you?" said Ginny. "Because I can understand if you would, but…"

"No, I'm not quitting the team," said Ron. "And what's that supposed to mean? Oh, forget it," he hurried on, before his friends could reply. "I meant Kya, obviously."

"Why?" said Ginny.

"What about her?" said Harry.

Both of them sounded suspicious.

"I need to apologise for some things I said at the ball," Ron said. "You didn't tell her about it, did you?"

"Well, no, but we considered it," said Ginny.

"Are you doing this to humour us? Because you don't need to, you know," said Harry. "You're entitled to your own opinion."

"No, I mean it," said Ron. "I've been doing some thinking today, and I've realized you were right. I must have been… jealous, of her.. flying abilities."

He had to make an effort to get these last words out. However, Harry and Ginny seemed to believe him.

"Oh Ron," said Ginny. "It's really nice of you to say so. Because she's so great, and it was she who thought of having the ball in the first place, you know…"

Harry twitched a little.

"And she counts you as a good friend," Ginny went on, obliviously. "I'm jealous too, you know, but I won't let that get in the way of our friendship."

Ron lost badly at the game of Exploding Snap, since his mind was occupied. Harry and Ginny hadn't told Kya about his little outburst at the ball, but they had considered doing it. He couldn't make a slip like that again. So far, Kya had largely ignored him in favour of the others, but things like that could bring him to her attention. If she knew he suspected her, she wouldn't talk about things in front of him, and he would be useless as a spy. He would have to be on constant guard now, or else Snape wouldn't trust him anymore.

He wasn't used to doing these things.