Disclaimer: I only own the plot. The rest is J.K. Rowling's

Thanks so much again for reviewing, I'll keep in mind all you said. Sorry it's taken a while to get Chapter 5 up, school's starting again & I've been busy with ASB, swim team, living up the rest of summer...you know. smiles

I was lying on my bed at 11:30 again, only this time it was p.m. Angelina and Katie were outside the curtains of my bed giggling and painting each other's toenails Christmas colors. They'd asked me to join them of course, but I'd told them to go one without me. I just wasn't in the mood, even for Christmas.

No matter how much Katie swore George had deserved that slap from me, or how many times Angeling assured me it probably didn't hurt too much, I still couldn't shake that feeling of guilt I got every time I remembered that awful look on George's face in the hospital wing, or that bright red handprint on his right cheek. It just wasn't fair. It was Christmas Eve and I was miserable. Katie was outside having the time of her life, not even caring that she'd beat up an innocent little girl (she was innocent, no matter how much I hated her), and I was inside my bed sulking because I'd slapped a very deserving boy a full foot taller than I was. I didn't understand it. Merlin, I hate consciences.

Dinner had been an ugly affair. Instead of yelling at me, George just whispered to me quietly that he'd offered to do my detentions for me and not to worry about Madame Pomfrey. Madame Pomfrey, I thought to myself. Madame. What was it I had said? "Take all the points you want, Pomfrey?" I was an idiot. A total idiot. What a way to make a fool of myself in front of the school nurse. I can't wait to see what happens to me next time I walk in there with some nasty headache. Probably come back out with a nice set of boils. How great. Anyway, then George had just sat there glumly and ate his dinner, only speaking one word answers when spoken to. I felt hot shame course through my body as the few remaining students stopped to stare at the bright red handprint on his face (Angelina had told me that when a witch slaps a wizard, in a case where it's warranted, the handprint doesn't fade until the witch forgives the wizard. Poor George) Left out of the loop, the twins' little brother Ron had asked excitedly whether George and Katie had gotten into a fistfight, for Katie's black eye had not quite healed yet.

No one except the teachers and a couple first years joined Dumbledore in singing Christmas carols, and the astonished headmaster had sent us off to bed early. Now I was here, sighing, wishing I had the heart to join my two friends and help them in guessing what their boyfriends had gotten them for Christmas.

I decided to take a walk to clear my head. The cold, I decided, might snap me out of this rut I was in and the snow might put me more into the Christmas spirit. I threw my overcoat on over my pajamas, slipped on boots, and, looking very odd indeed, told the other two where I was going and that I'd be back in a bit.

The Hogwarts grounds were peaceful and calm. Not a soul was out but me, and I sent my thoughts out into the cascades of serenity. The snow was falling gently, covering the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lake, which had frozen over. I paused for a moment and brushed snow off a nearby bench so I could sit down. I had no sooner done so than a voice startled me out of my thoughts.

"I thought I'd find you out here."

I whirled around to find none other than George Weasley, standing in the snowbanks less than ten feet away. My first instinct was to fling myself into his arms, and cry that I was so, so sorry, but the image of him and Lisa together kept floating before my vision. I stared back at him stonily, determined to keep my resolve and not fly into one of my "flights of fancy" as Angelina sometimes called them.

"What is it?" I asked.

He sighted as he walked slowly over and sat next to me.

"We need to talk."