All was well enough for several weeks. Hermione's disappearance had been brought to the entire school's attention long ago, announcing that if anyone had any information, they should report it at once. So far there had been nothing, though Harry was certain he saw Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and a kid he thought was called Nott smirk at this news.

This news was especially relative to the D.A., bringing on a new urge to learn spells faster. If he could take Hermione Granger from their midst at Hogsmeade, Voldemort could certainly take any one of them. The members worked harder than Harry could ever remember seeing them push themselves, soaring to new heights so that rarely did he need to spend more than one lesson on a particular spell.

Voldemort didn't seem to feel the need for anymore adventures at the present. As far as Harry knew, he'd left Kelly alone, for which Harry was thankful. The two of them would go and sit by the lake sometimes, when homework was scarce, and just talk about things--their adventure in the lake, where Hermione might be (though nothing extraordinary came to mind), homework, Ginny's new boyfriend (she seemed to change each month), and occasionally Kelly's secret would come along, though the subject was quickly dismissed. It was quite clear that Harry wasn't going to be told until it was the right time. He'd once asked Kelly when that time would be, but all she said was, "Harry! Stop trying to spoil all my fun! You'll know when it's the right time." She had leaned in and whispered, "But until then, I'm going to hold it against you!"

This particular trip under the tree, they were talking about Quidditch.

"…so the Holyhead Harpies have to win!" Kelly exclaimed, having just pointed out the thirty-seven reasons why the Holyhead Harpies would beat the Tutshill Tornadoes.

"I know, but the Tornadoes have been in the lead since December, and last time the two went against each other, the Harpies were crushed!" said Harry.

"But they've gotten better! I was reading Quidditch Queries, and they said that the Harpies had a practice round on the Wasps, and they whooped them!"

"Yeah, well the Wasps are hardly better than the Cannons, but don't tell Ron I said that."

Kelly grinned. "Never. But they really did, and I heard that Gwenog Jones, ya know, the Captain and Beater, disappeared over the summer, and then came back and was superb! I s'pose we'll have to wait 'till the game to find out… you going to see it?"

"Doubt it. The Weasley's really aren't that… well, ya know…" Harry muttered.

Kelly looked at him in thought. "Well… you don't have to go back to them, do you?"

"What?" Harry asked. Where else would he go? The Dursley's? She'd have to be out of her mind to be thinking that.

"You don't have to go back to the Weasley's. I mean, I'm sure you'd want to and all, they're fantastic people, but you could go elsewhere…."

Harry didn't ask how she knew the Weasley's as well as she spoke. "Where would I go?"

Kelly didn't answer him, but sat in thought. "Just… somewhere…."

"Really, Dumbledore! We can't just pronounce that fact! What if the Angels heard? You know them, they'd take to the challenge instantly! They'd go after her, they'd find her, and they would try and kill him! They'd die, Dumbledore, you can't tell them!"

"Get up the tree, Harry," Kelly ordered quietly, yet more commanding than Harry had ever heard her before.

Harry complied and she quickly climbed up after him.

"My dear Professor, I do believe I know them a bit better than you do. They did come to us, did they not?" Dumbledore asked.

McGonagall looked at him sternly as she approached the tree Harry and Kelly were hiding in. The two tried to move inconspicuously to a spot they wouldn't be seen.

"Dumbledore, you may know them better than Fudge himself, but I know this about them: they will go to any lengths if they know it is within their power and it is right."

Dumbledore pulled at his beard. "Maybe, but if they did, they would at least know where to draw the line."

"Of course they know where to draw it, they've already drawn it! It's a matter of them going over it!" McGonagall snapped.

"Minerva, what makes you so sure that they would cross this line?"

There was a pause.

"Because, Albus," McGonagall said quietly, "it would make Potter happy."

Kelly and Harry exchanged glances.

Dumbledore nodded at this. "The Angels would if it made Harry happy, under Katie's lead, of course."

"Exactly. If you tell them, they'll go after her and they won't stop until she's back, even if it costs their lives. They're that dedicated, and you know it."

"Yes, they are, which makes them so special," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "Aside from another oblivious fact…."

"Oh, please, Albus, keep it to a minimum," McGonagall begged. "I don't want another speech on that."

"As you wish, Minerva."

"Then will you not tell them?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I will not tell them for now. If I feel otherwise, I shall inform you immediately so you can begin your discouraging routine as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Albus," she said, turning away. She stopped and looked at him for a moment. "Is the meeting still on tonight?"

"The one on Miss Granger?"

McGonagall nodded.

"Eleven o'clock sharp, and if you're late, you're fired," Dumbledore said teasingly.

"If it'll get me away from you, I'll come at twelve." McGonagall gave a hint of a smirk and trotted away.

Dumbledore didn't move for a moment, but then slowly headed off toward the castle, murmuring incoherently to himself. As he entered, he looked by no means happier.

Neither Harry nor Kelly looked at each other for a moment.

"Should we tell Ron?" Harry asked quietly, though not sure why, as they jumped down from the tree.

"I… dunno…." Kelly said, still staring at the doors Dumbledore had just went through. "And frankly I don't care. You probably shouldn't. Just tell him about it tomorrow. He's getting too tall for the cloak, anyway."

They went up to the common room, not saying much. Ron was still working on his Charms by the fire. He had, by far, had the most trouble with the Scorching Charm, doing worse than even Neville. While Neville had just managed to produce little sparks, Ron had, though his wand had been pointing at the wood they were supposed to be burning, accidentally turned Professor Flitwick's beard on fire. He had, therefore, been given extra work.

"No luck, yet?" Harry asked as he sat down beside Ron.

"I think I made the fire hotter," Ron offered dully.

"What have you been trying to burn?" Kelly asked as she took a seat on the couch.

"Lavender's hair," said Ron.

"Oh." Harry took a glance at Lavender's hair. "I think it's a little red."

"I was trying to make it yellow," Ron murmured.

"Why?" Kelly asked, though sounding like she could care less.

"Because yellow's her least favorite color," Ron said dryly.

"But I thought you were trying to set her hair on fire?" said Harry.

"I was," Ron answered.

"Then wouldn't you want it red and in flames?" Harry said.

"No, then it wouldn't be yellow," said Ron.

Harry stopped bothering after this. Lack of sleep or lack of Hermione was getting to him.

"I'm going to bed," Kelly said at ten o'clock, when Ron had successfully singed Lavender's hair (she and Parvati and told everyone to leave them alone in a corner while they did some "secret" business).

"I'll walk you," Harry said to suspicious looks from Ron.

Harry walked Kelly to the foot of the stairs that lead to the girls dorms. "I'll see you here at a quarter 'till," Harry whispered softly, pretending to give her a goodnight kiss on the cheek.

"I look forward to it," Kelly said, and she really did give him a kiss on the cheek.

As Kelly walked up the stairs, Harry said that he was going to bed, too.

"Oh, fine, just leave me here, then," Ron groaned, still attempting to put Lavender's hair on fire. Harry distinctly heard him mutter, "I did Flitwicks, why can't I do hers…?"

Harry went upstairs and laid in his bed for what must have been half an hour before he heard Ron stomp in, apparently angry that Lavender had left the common room before he could successfully turn her hair on fire. Harry waited. He looked at his watch as Ron finally settled into bed, and Harry distinctly heard a zap and the sound of fire as Ron set his curtains on fire. It was ten minutes until he had to meet Kelly. Harry didn't get out of bed, letting Ron know he was still awake, but did poke his wand out and shoot a bunch of water out at Ron's bed. Thankfully, Ron had been doing the exact same, though less effective, charm at that moment and had no idea he'd had outside help as he dried his sheets and hopped into bed.

It was five minutes until he would meet Kelly when a sharp pain seared across his forehead. He felt incredibly anxious, though this wasn't because of his own anxiety at the meeting to be held in twenty minutes time, though Harry had the uneasy sensation that Voldemort's anxiety and his own were somehow connected.

One minute until he should meet Kelly he crept out of his four-poster and quietly opened his trunk. He snatched the invisibility cloak from it and shut it again with a rather unnecessary amount of noise. He sidled over to the door. It creaked, but none of the other boys moved or made a sound other than Neville's fluent snores. Harry slowly closed the door behind him and snuck down to the common room. Kelly was anxiously waiting.