I woke up cold and I pulled my blanket around me. I looked across the room and Alicia was gone. There was a note on the door for me. I groaned and forced myself to get up, taking my quilt with me. I slowly made my way to the door to read the note.

Being so early in the morning, I couldn't read that well and the only way I could read was with my face a good inch away from the paper.

"Katie,

Went down to breakfast, don't forget, we have the magical donuts!

Alicia."

Informative. I sighed, still staring at the note, my eyes scrunched up. Suddenly, the door opened. The wood smashed against my face. I pushed away from the door, landing on my butt on the floor. I glared up angrily. George…no….Fred…no, George stared at me.

He blushed. "Oh-OH! I'm sorry! Here, let me help you!"

He pulled me to my feet. "Gosh, are you okay?"

I nodded. "Sure, I'm alright."

George looked around the room. "Alicia's down at breakfast?"

I nodded, saying she was. George stared at me before leaving. Just as he walked through the doorway, he turned around; I was already closing the door.

"You know, Katie," he said, I stopped, "I don't think I've ever seen Wood this happy before."

I smiled. "Thanks, George."

He left and I changed clothes. I had a donut and sat on my bed. I had dreamed something that night, but I hadn't been able to remember it. It had involved Flint and Oliver and Cedric. I hadn't remembered how they were connected.

Then I remembered Flint, and about what he had done yesterday, at the match, when he helped me. I knew I had to talk to him, but I didn't really want to.

I got up and left my room, not sure what I was going to do. A few minutes later, I found myself near the Slytherin Dormitory.

Damn! Maybe if I run away and try not to make any sudden movements, they WON'T see me!

I turned around.

"Bell! What are you doing here?" a voice sneered from behind me.

Damn! I've been spotted!

I turned around. Malfoy and his usual groupies.

"Is Flint around?" I asked assertively. Malfoy nodded, his eyes slitting.

"Does someone have a date with the Slytherin Quidditch captain! You know Wood won't like that any…"

I opened my mouth. "Malfoy, leave," a voice that was not mine said.

I saw someone in the shadows just inside the door of the Slytherin house door. Malfoy gulped, as did his groupies.

Draco Malfoy, a typical Slytherin, intimidated by Flint, 'slithered' back into his house dormitory. The door closed behind him and the other boys.

Flint stepped forward, his hands clasped behind his back. Flint looked plain that day, wearing jeans and a tight black tee shirt, looking semi-normal.

He stepped towards me, his face emotionless. "Hello," he said, his voice flat. " I see you found me"

"You're an easy person to find, Flint."

He began to walk past me, looking back at me, making me follow him down the steps.

I bit my lip and followed him. I wasn't sure where he was making me follow him to.

"I assume this is all about the other day? At the match?" he asked, not turning around.

I nodded but I realized that he couldn't see me. "Yes," I added.

"And you're wondering, what, exactly?" he asked me, turning around slightly. I had to think about this.

"Why you had Montague stay away from the Chasers. And why you helped me."

He nodded. "Well," he said, running a hand through his hair, "I knew that, because that was the last match, that everyone would step it up- I even told them to- but I knew that Montague would take it too far and do something stupid.

"I told him and everyone else to play as they normally would, but to be cautious. I saw the way Wood looked at me after I challenged you and I didn't want to see that face again. I knew that if I let my team to anything to the Chasers, especially you, I'd be getting it from Wood. I had to tell them to stay away from BOTH Chasers instead of you. If I said Chasers in general, they would never suspect I was looking out for you."

I stared at him. I blinked. "Looking out for me?"

He averted his eyes. He sighed. "I guess I'd better let you in on one of the Quidditch secrets…. The thing is, at the beginning of the year, when Captains are chosen, if there are new ones, we all meet and agree on certain things. One of the main rules is that if one of the players, most specifically the Captains, have a girlfriend on their team, the opposing team had better not mess with them just to screw up the Captain."

I stared. "I don't get it."

"Well," Flint said, "Basically everyone knows that you and Wood are dating. If I told my team to go after you to screw up Wood and get him distracted, that's violating of the rules. Sometimes they ignore my commands, so I told them to just be careful about the Chasers…"

"So, all this was about not wanting to get on Wood's bad side?"

Flint stopped and took a breath. "Not exactly. It wasn't all about Wood. I knew that you'd been having a rough time, with your dad and all, and I knew that if I had been in that situation, I wouldn't have wanted to deal with me. But, on the topic of Wood, he really does take being your boyfriend very seriously. At your practices and at the matches, I've noticed that no matter what he's doing, he's always keeping an eye on you, making sure you're okay."

I nodded, remembering all the times I thought about that. "He does tend to be a little over protective."

"Exactly, so if he saw that we were messing with you, even if not on purpose, he'd say that we were violating the rules…"

I was staring again. "Okay…all right. So, even when you guys cheat, that's not against the rules?"

He looked at me. "It's somewhat required of Slytherin…tradition, I guess. It's all in a different category than the rules we devise. Does that make any sense?"

I shrugged. "Sure, I guess…"

"You know, Katie, just because I'm in Slytherin doesn't mean that I'm a bad guy. The sorting hat did that and I just went along with it, just like everyone else. Just because I'm in a certain House doesn't mean that I act a certain way."

I was still staring. "Right."

Flint sighed. "So, that's it? No more questions?"

I nodded. "I don't think so…."

"All right. I'll be seeing you around then."

"Okay…"

And with that, he was gone. Okay…that solved a lot. I felt a little strange, knowing the rules and why Flint helped me. He wasn't a bad guy, really, just misguided….

I stood there, looking around silently.

I went back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

At The Common Room:

I was outside the door, when I heard two people talking: Oliver and Fred.

I stepped closer to listen without going in.

"You know, eavesdropping is illegal in some countries…" the Fat lady said to me.

I glared at her. "You know, harassing someone is illegal in ALL countries!" I shot back at her. Then she was silent.

I went back to listening to Fred and Oliver.

"Do you think I should ask her out?" one said.

"Of course! What have you got to lose!" said the other.

"But what about Katie?"

"What about her?"

"How will she feel about this?"

"Oh, she'll be fine with it! Or, she'd better be! She SHOULD be happy for you!"

"I guess you're right…..but….shouldn't I check and make sure that she's okay with it?"

"No! This is your life and she doesn't control it. Just ask the girl out!"

"But….I don't know…."

"Just do it!"

I whispered the password to the Fat Lady and the portrait swung open. Fred and Oliver sat on different couches, with their backs to me. Oliver glanced over his shoulder, smiling nervously.

"Hi, you," he said, trying to avoid the fact of what he and Fred were talking about.

Fred hung his head, looking at the ground. Oliver stood up, his eyes still on me. He walked around the couch and over to me, still smiling.

When he reached me, he slid one hand on my waist and kissed me. I kissed him back lightly, but I was still wondering about his and Fred's conversation. They both looked so guilty.

"Katie, don't you think that if Fred liked someone, that he should ask her out?"

OH! Okay, good! For some reason I had been thinking that FRED was persuading OLIVER to ask someone out…..I guess not…

"Yes, of course…Fred? Who is she?"

Oliver grinned and Fred looked up. "You'd have no problem with it?"

"No, of course not! Why would I?"

He shrugged, smiling slightly. "You know her…."

"Do I?"

He nodded, grinning.

"Who is it!"

He was silent for a second. "Guess."

My smile fell and I stuck out my bottom lip. "Fred, you know that I have guessing games!"

"Just guess!"

"Fine, I don't know, um, Parvati?"

He shook his head. "Angelina…."

My eyes widened. I looked to Oliver for confirmation. He nodded. I looked back at Fred. "YES! FINALLY FRED!"

He grinned. "What?"

"I'm so happy that you're finally going to have a girlfriend! And I'm glad you caught onto the ABSURDLY subtle hints that Angie was throwing at you!"

He looked up. "What?"

"Okay, I guess not…Well, Angie's had a crush on you for about a year…!"

Fred looked at me, hopeful. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yes. And she's coming back tonight. Are you going to ask her then?"

He nodded at me. I smiled largely. Oliver slid his arm around my shoulders. Fred stood up. "Well, I'm off to figure out how I'm going to ask her out…."

And then he left the Common Room.

I turned to Oliver, shaking his arm off my shoulders. I stepped away from him. "Oliver, why didn't you ever tell me about 'the rules' "

He frowned. "What rules?"

I sighed; he was playing 'ignorant'. "The rules that you and Flint and the other Houses devise every year…"

"What are you talking about? There are no 'rules'…"

I stared at him. "C'mon, Oliver, I know about the rules."

"I don't know who you've been talking to, but….I've never heard of any 'rules'…."

I stared. Oliver didn't know about the rules? Then what was Flint talking about! Wait…. Flint had made those rules himself and made his team abide by them…

"Who've you been talking to, Katie?"

I shook my head. "No one. Forget I said anything….Never mind…." Maybe Flint wasn't as bad a guy as I made him out to be.

Oliver stared at me weirdly, like he was expecting me to say something. "Okay…."

I walked over to the couch. "Do you think Fred is really going to ask Angelina out today?"

He looked thoughtful. "Maybe, but he might hold back, seeing as it IS her first day back from vacation."

I nodded. "Understood."

The rest of the day proceeded onward blandly. Fred told Ange about my dad and, to her credit, she didn't say anything to me, she just looked at me knowingly.

I didn't see George and Alicia all day; I assumed they had run off somewhere. After dinner, Fred and Angie went back to Fred's room and I could hear them laughing as they went up the stairs.

I left dinner alone, Oliver had been talking to Cedric about the match that he missed while he was on vacation. On route to my room, I was distracted when I looked out one of the windows.

It was dark by then and the moonlight spilled silver glow over the grounds, the trees ominous. I stood just looking there, almost expecting to see something. I didn't.

A few Gryffindors lounged in the Common Room and no one noticed me as I passed. No one but Harry. He caught my eye as the portrait swung closed behind me. He stared at me and smiled warmly. It was a smile that had no pity in it about my dad or anything else in the world. I guess he of all people knew that I didn't want pity or sorrow.

When he smiled at me, he seemed to say that he understood and that he liked the shirt I was wearing. I climbed the stairs to the Girls' Dormitory, knowing that both Alicia and Angie would not be there.

I touched my hand to the doorknob and a slight shiver passed through my shoulders. I opened the door.

It was dark and I could not see a thing. I closed the door behind me. Lips touched mine. Hands, which connected to a body that I could not see, touched my waist, reassuring. I knew those lips. Something about the darkness made me feel safer. Lips left mine and touched my neck. I closed my eyes and sighed, my head tilting down. As my head tilted down slightly, I was surprised when my forehead came in contact with his shoulder.

He stepped closer to me and his strong arms were around my waist and back, my fingertips touching his shoulders. He held me tightly against him, his fingertips brushing over my back, comforting.

My chest tightened and I let out a long, shaky breath. His hands rubbed my back, one hand slipping under my shirt. His warm hand caressed the skin of my lower back. He touched my waist and back over and over again.

His touch was comforting to me, more comforting than any words or gestures. And he knew it. As he touched me, hand roaming over my back, I pressed my body against him and he leaned in, kissing my neck.

What made everything so much better was the fact that he loved me. He honestly did, or so I liked to think. Both his hands found mine and laced with my fingers. He touched the ring that Fred gave me, I still wore it, and one if his hands wandered up to my neck, passing over my shoulders.

His fingers touched the necklace he had given me himself, and I could feel him smile. He liked to know that I remembered him and still loved him.

I thought backwards a few days and I was starting to think it odd that I hadn't received anything from Mum about…well…anything. It was getting weird.

The illusion that Dad was dead was starting to fade. Now I was thinking that he was away on official business or something. It was better to think that than face the truth that he was really dead.

What scared me the most was that it was all starting to seem like a dream. Most frequently, you forget your dreams when you wake up. Now, I was beginning to fear waking up. Just a few days prior, I wanted so badly to wake up and get on with life. Now I was terrified to forget. I knew I wouldn't forget, but I felt like I was. If I didn't keep thinking about Dad, I'd forget him.

Maybe I'd make up some rules of my own about forgetting, like Flint's rules about Captains and their girlfriends….

Hey guys, I hope this chappie wasnt TOO tasteless!

Lia06: evil face towards Ben what's this guy's problem! I think Ben is PSYCHO! o0 NEVER go to psycho's houses! Bad things happen there…Thank you and stay safe from Ben, Senor Psychopath!

mello80: yeah, I haven't been updating as quickly as I would like, but, hey, what are you gonna do? Thanks!

Ihopeforanarchy: thank you TONS! Hey, lol, you stole that quote from Sex and The City, oh well. Lol. I thought it was rather boring, this chapter…

AllysonKat : I wonder what Flint's up to, too…..hmmm…Don't worry, nothings gonna happen.

IndependentLioness: Thank you very much!

Doodleflip: I know……it's a little confusing…

Kathy: I'm not really sure what is up with Flint, I just needed another character lol.

TooSweetWords: HA! That's exactly what I was wanting! MWHAHHA

Pokethepenguin01: HA! laughs at your blushing hehe warm feeling. I know, I wish Oliver was mine, too! Oh well, this is how I can express it all. Nothing is going on with Flint….don't worry, I just needed another character.

Gallon of Firewhiskey: Ha, the stress is okay, it pushes me to write more….