A/n: Ok, here's the next bit. Enjoy! Sorry about the formatting in the last chap, there was some stuff that was supposed to show up and didn't that would have made it much easier to read. Hope I did better this time! Oh and I REALLY need help doing italics, so if anyone can help please, PLEASE tell me. I don't absolutely have to have them right now but I know I will at some point. Also, I'm only doing parts of songs now. Today's is Hole in Head by the Sugababes. I'm not sure the song makes much sense but it sounds kinda cool so oh well. And just so you know, the first person who talks right after the song is Tonks present day (at party thing) and then it goes back to flashbacks.

Disclaimer: Do I look like J.K. Rowling to you? Okay so you can't see me but I don't so I'm not, so I don't own Harry Potter, etc. (Did that make any sense to anyone but me?). I also don't own lyrics. They belong to the Sugababes or someone who wrote the words or someone like that, anyhow, not to me.

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Hole in Head by Sugababes

Ooh, won't you miss me like a hole in the head

Because I do boy,

And it's cool boy

And ooh, bet you never thought I'd get out of bed

Because of you boy,

Such a fool boy

Eleven hours on a brand new day

I'm getting ready to go out and play

It's late at night, I'm caught in a groove

I'd kiss my ass before I'm feeling blue

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"Well, I guess I should jump ahead to my sixth year. Charlie, Millie, Rusty, and I were best friends by then. I had this boyfriend, Feo Rodrigez; he was from Spain or Argentina I think. Anyway, Feo and I had been going out for a while and I was crazy about him. There was a dance on the last Friday of term, just before the holidays. Feo and I were going together and..."

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Dora sat alone. She had been alone for exactly forty-seven minutes. Where the hell was Feo? He had said he was going to get drinks. She looked around for her friends. Millie was dancing with her off-and-on boyfriend, Justin. 'He's bad news,' Dora thought. Millie said Dora was just paranoid because Justin was a Slytherin and Dora's third cousin once removed. Dora knew that wasn't true, at least not completely. She realized she was overly suspicious when it came to Slytherins. 'Millie would be too if she was me,' she thought ruefully. But her hunch about Justin was based on pure fact. He had already dumped Millie twice for other people. Millie kept saying he had good reasons and that it wasn't his fault. 'Yeah right.' Dora smiled slightly; she knew that some night Millie would wake her up asking what she ever saw in that loser. 'She may be completely nuts but she always comes around in the end.'

Rusty was sitting in a far corner scowling. His girlfriend, Betty, had just dumped him. 'Poor Rusty, he's crazy about her. He deserves better. Maybe I'll hook him up with Millie... No, that would never work. It'd be weird too. Like me going out with Charlie. I'll go talk to Rusty later.'

She looked around for Charlie but couldn't find him anywhere. He was probably at Hagrid's looking at some new animal, or else fine tuning his Quidditch skills. Charlie was a sweetie but he was completely obsessive when it came to Quidditch. Everyone had been stunned when he decided he would rather chase dragons than play pro-Quidditch after Hogwarts. Especially the Quidditch League, they had thought he was a given.

Tired of waiting, Dora decided to go look for her date. Feo was an intelligent, popular, absolutely gorgeous Ravenclaw seventh year, but he wasn't the most reliable guy Dora had ever dated. She checked the other tables and the dance floor, and then headed outside. 'He must be in the gardens,' she thought. 'Merlin knows why.'

Walking through the vegetation, Dora listened to small snippets of random conversations.

"Awww Freddy that's so sweet."

"Ya know I didn't think this is working. You stink, but don't take it personally."

"All I want is a good snog session."

"Can we go inside, it's cold."

"I thought you were rich."

"Feo what are you doing here, and with her, I thought..." Dora stopped. That voice was familiar.

So was the one that answered, "Charlie, hey buddy, see Lindsey and I...we were...see we just...listen man could we just keep this between the three of us. I mean Dora doesn't need to know."

"No, she doesn't need to know."

"Thanks, dude, you're a lifesaver, I—"

"She doesn't need to know but she will."

"What'd'ya mean?" Gods! For someone so bloody smart he sure could be slow.

"What I mean," Charlie replied coolly, "is that I'm going to tell her."

"But you just said--"

"Feo, she's my best friend, do you honestly think I wouldn't tell her?"

Dora didn't want to hear Feo beg Charlie to keep his mouth shut. She didn't want to leave either. So she went with a third option: she stepped up right behind Feo and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped about fifty feet.

"Dora! Hey, I was just gonna come back and... ya see Lindsey and I...I mean Charlie...that is to say—"

"That is to say that Charlie just found you and Lindsey...talking," Dora finished for him. Her sweet smile seemed to relieve Feo; apparently he thought he might just get away with this one. Charlie knew her much better. He saw the smile, but unlike Feo, he focused on her eyes, and the merciless sarcasm reflected in them. 'Oh yeah,' he thought, 'she's mad.' He decided to keep quiet for the time being. This should be interesting.

"Yeah," Feo was saying, "Lindsey and I were talking because she was upset and then Charlie here came and said you were waiting and I was about to--"

"I'm sure you were darling," the mockery in Dora's voice should have been obvious, especially to someone intelligent enough to be a Ravenclaw. Feo's popularity had gotten to his head, however, and his ego was incredibly inflated. His confidence in his "charm" made him oblivious to her misleading banter.

Dora was still talking, "I mean, I know you would never do anything... untrustworthy."

"Of...of course not..." stammered Feo.

She ignored him, "You would never, oh I don't know..." her voice hardened suddenly, "desert me in the middle of a date to go make out with some random chick you managed to get you grimy hands on," she rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself Feo."

"What, but you said...you just...sugar couldn't we..."

Dora put on a phony, monotone voice, saying, "Hello, this is Dora Tonks from 'Break Ups for Dummies.' Consider yourself single." Without another word she turned and headed back to the castle.

Charlie ran to catch up with her, "Why didn't you curse him?" he asked bluntly.

She just grinned, "Wait and see."

Charlie shrugged and walked quietly beside her as she proceeded toward the castle. Just outside the doors leading to the Great Hall, he stopped her. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

Dora looked up at him, cocking her head to the side. She smiled slightly, "I'm fine." He looked skeptical. "Really, he's not worth be upset over," she said calmly, adding with more contempt, "filthy little bastard. I mean who does that? Couldn't he pick a better time? You'd think he'd have more sense than to go snog someone when I was waiting for him," she was good and mad by now, babbling furiously. "MERLIN WHAT AN ASS! YOU KNOW HE ALWAYS WAS SLIMY. SLIMY AND CONCIETED AND EVIL AND how did I fall for another one, Charlie? Why does it always happen like this?"

"C'mon, don't act all injured, you dumped at least half of them, although it is good to see you back to normal again. You were so cool and collected there for a minute, I was getting worried."

She grinned at him, "I'm all right now. Anyways, he's got it comin'"

"I'll bet he does. What's the plan?"

Dora shrugged. "C'mon, let's get back to the ball."

They entered the Great Hall in the middle of a song. Millie was still dancing with Justin. 'I think Millie is just in love with being in love,' Dora thought. Millie was so shy; she seemed to need the confidence that came with having the guy she liked like her back. 'Oh well, at least she's happy.'

Across the room, Rusty was still sitting moodily in his corner. Dora grabbed Charlie's hand, "C'mon," she said, "we should go try and talk to Rusty.'

Charlie groaned and Dora gave him a sympathetic yet firm look. Rusty was very hard to deal with when he was sulking.

"I say I grab us three ice cream sundaes, make the job a bit smoother," said Charlie.

Dora considered this for a moment. "Naw make it one really big one," she decided, "and get four spoons, I'll grab Millie, you know how she is, she'll want to talk to him."

When they were all gathered around the table eating their sundae and had made several poorly received attempts at consoling Rusty ("You're only sixteen, you'll find someone else." "No! I will never love again." "Stop being so bloody melodramatic."), Dora raised her ice cream and hot fudge covered spoon.

"I propose a toast," she announced, "to old friends, the best of friends!"

"Hear, hear!" laughed Charlie.

Millie grinned and Rusty's scowl turned into a hesitant smile. They all raised their spoons in salute to the toast. The four friends sat for a while in silence, until the final song of the night was announced. Millie jumped up to find Justin. Dora also stood up and went to Rusty. "C'mon, one dance for your old friend," she said, extending her hands toward her unhappy classmate. He grinned and followed her out to the dance floor where he was distracted from his misery as Dora repeatedly treaded on his feet. Half-way through the song, Rusty's tendency to over-dramatize situations took over his common sense and he shook his head and started back to his corner where Charlie was finishing the sundae. Dora sighed and followed him. "Okay Charlie," she said with a grin, "your turn."

Charlie shook his head and Dora's smile widened, she knew he hated dancing. "C'mon, humor me. I have to finish out the last dance."

Charlie let out a groan of protest and let her lead him out to the middle of the hall.

"Merlin Charlie," Dora said after a few seconds, "you're not half as bad as you keep saying. Or was that just an excuse? Well now I've figured you out and you owe me a dance at every ball we've got left."

Charlie smiled, then winced as she stepped on his foot. "So what's your brilliant plan for getting even with Feo and how much trouble are you gonna get in this time."

"What brilliant plan?" asked Dora innocently. "Charlie, love, I have no idea what you are babbling about." Charlie raised an eyebrow. Dora wrinkled her nose, "Fine, there is a brilliant plan but you are going to have you wait, just like everyone else. Oh, and I won't be getting in any trouble." He looked at her skeptically. "I swear, this one's foolproof. Completely untraceable."

Charlie let it go. "Think Rusty'll ever get over Betty?" he asked.

"Of course he will. And Mill will get over Justin. They're smart, down-to- earth, and they have us to whack them upside the heads if they go too crazy. Don't worry about it, they'll be fine."

The dance ended before Charlie could answer. They collected Rusty and left, Millie was nowhere to be seen at the moment. She showed up in the common room about ten minutes after the others, with a whimsical expression on her round face. Her friends didn't ask. Instead they all said good night and went up to their dormitories. Putting on her pajamas and listening to Millie whistle, Dora considered her night. 'It wasn't all bad,' she thought optimistically. 'So finding out what an arse Feo is wasn't fun, but at least I'm not with him anymore. Besides, the rest was pretty good.'

She climbed into bed. In the morning, they would all be going home for the holidays. She couldn't say she was looking forward to it. Dora wondered if her mother had found another job. Andromeda always had a different occupation. Ted said it was because of her 'unstable' childhood. Dora said it was because she was nuts. Dora shook her head. She'd worry about tomorrow tomorrow, now she just wanted to go to sleep.

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A/n: Thanks so much to Nooldlejelly, :), sweet775, Julia, and moonymagnificent for reviewing you guys make my day. Seriously I've been so thrilled when I get them my whole family thinks I'm completely nuts...then again, that's not overly unusual. Thanks once again to my uber-cool beta Windowseat Wonderer. I think the rest of the story until about the last couple chapters will all be in memories. Tell me what you think! Love y'all!