'Oh my god.' Charlie rolled over, turning his back on the shafts of light that had dared to disrupt his sleep. He felt like someone had banged his head repeatedly against a wall. With the notion of going back to sleep for at least a couple more hours, Charlie lay face down in his pillow and pulled the quilt over his head.

However, obviously the Powers That Be decided that Charlie wasn't going to get his much desired peace anytime soon, for just then the door of the dormitory could be heard opening, and the overly zealous voices of Damon and Shaun ripped through the silence. Hoping they would leave after a few moments, Charlie ignored them and returned to attempting to sleep. Unfortunately for him, they didn't. Finally admitting defeat, Charlie let out a raspy groan and rolled over the edge of his bead, landing on his knees. He remained in this position, allowing his vision to clear.

'Look, it's alive!' Damon's laughter pounded inside his head and he scowled. Slowly, he stood up, swaying slightly as he gained his balance.

'Nice of you to join us,' Shaun smirked.

'Could you be a little quieter please?' Charlie rasped, his throat felling like some one had ground sandpaper against it. 'What time is it?'

'It is –' Shaun brought his arm in front of his face and pulled back his sleeve to reveal his watch. '– half past two.'

'Why didn't you wake me up?'

'Because we value our lives?' Damon offered, resulting in a dirty look from Charlie.

'So, what happened last night?' Charlie asked, sinking back onto his bed.

'That's what we want to know,' the look on Damon's face suggested he already knew something though. 'Last we saw of you, you went to get some more fire whiskey – which we're still waiting for by the way.'

Charlie frowned, apparently he drank a lot last night, because he couldn't remember a thing, but he was beginning to get a very bad feeling in his stomach.

'I need a shower,' somehow, he managed to push himself off his bed and walked slowly towards the bathroom.

In the space of a few minutes he was in the shower, the warm water beating over his body. His mind felt less groggy, but he was still having trouble remembering anything past leaving the dorm last night. By the time he had finished washing, he still didn't have a clue what he'd done. He turned the water to cold and began to rinse the soap off his body. Tilting his head upwards, he let the water stream into his face, running a hand through his auburn hair. His hand stopped half-way through his hair, freezing along with the rest of him.

'Shit.'

Twenty minutes later, Charlie descended into the common room, feeling clean and refreshed, but by no means happy. He had been hesitant to enter the common room, dreading who might be sat in there, but to his surprise only Damon, Shaun and a few second years resided there.

'Where is everyone?' he asked, throwing himself into a large squashy armchair by the roaring fire.

'Well, Lori and Caitlyn got permission to do last minute shopping in Hogsmeade, we don't where Jason and Gemma are but we have a pretty good idea of what they're up to, and we haven't seen Harmony.' Charlie nodded, realizing he never actually cared in the first place, he was just glad none of them were here.

'So, ginge – you remembered anything yet?' Damon might as well have just burst out laughing, because he lacked any skill when it came to concealing his emotions.

'Ha, ha.' Charlie answered sardonically. 'I can't believe I did it.'

'So it's true then?' Shaun asked, a huge grin plastered on his face. 'Now, correct me if I'm wrong – but I definitely remember you saying, "never again" after the last time this happened.'

'I lied – sue me.' Charlie closed his eyes and let his head fall against the back of the chair. 'What should I do?'

'Well, that depends. You can either take advantage of the fact you've got a gorgeous girl throwing herself at your feet, or you can tell her to piss off and leave you alone – at least until the next time you're drunk.' The last comment earned Damon a cushion in the face.

'Well, thanks for the great advice, Damon,' Charlie stared up at the ceiling, watching the tiny fairy lights, which Fred and George had let loose yesterday, flutter around the chandelier hanging in the centre of the room, apparently trying to see how close they could get to the candle flames before they got burnt.

'I'm off to the kitchens – anyone coming?' Charlie stood up and stretched, the pounding in his head intensifying from the movement.

'No thanks, not hungry,' Shaun said, sprawling out across the couch he had occupied for majority of the morning.

'Same here,' Damon added, so Charlie left the common room alone, intent on finding some coffee.

Harmony stood staring out at the frozen lake, no longer really seeing the picturesque scene before her. The trees surrounding the lake moved slightly in the icy breeze which was also blowing harmony's already bushy hair around her face, partly obscuring her vision. A layer of frost coated the grass banks of the lake, giving the impression that the lake was lined with crystals as it reflected the sun.

But, Harmony had been out here since about eight this morning and any beauty the scene held was long since lost on her. Tiredness was slowly starting to creep up on her now, yet she had no desire to return to the common room, or, more to the point, to see Charlie. Or Lori. Especially Lori.

After thinking about it ever since she woke up that morning, Harmony had come to terms with the fact that she liked Charlie. A lot. But, of course, it was pointless since Charlie apparently liked Lori more than her.

Finally turning away from the lake and staring up at Hogwarts castle instead, Harmony frowned and let out a long sigh. Finally realising how cold she was, Harmony pulled her coat tightly around her and reluctantly decided it was time to go back inside. She set off across the grounds, the grass crunching underfoot. Once inside the castle, instead of heading to the common room, she made for what was slowly becoming her sanctuary – although she doubted the library had any books that could help her at the moment.

She was halfway down the second floor corridor when she spotted the last person she wanted to see descending the opposite staircase. It appeared as though Charlie had not seen her yet, and Harmony wondered if it was possible for it to stay that way, if she kept her head down and said nothing.

Unfortunately, this hope was dashed when Charlie raised his head and caught sight of her down the hallway. Harmony felt her stomach turn slightly as she watched him saunter towards her, brushing his auburn hair out of his eyes. Unusually, he didn't smile at her or call out to her, instead sending a sort of awkward grimace her way.

Harmony looked left and right, searching for a way of escape; she had decided to avoid Charlie as much as possible and it seemed Charlie had the same idea. Alas, all the classroom doors were locked and Harmony didn't know of any hidden passages nearby. Harmony took a deep breath, preparing for the awkward conversation of the year.

'Uh, hi,' Harmony started lamely. Well, don't you sound sophisticated? Came a small voice from inside her head.

'Hi,' he replied, sounding perfectly calm compared to how high pitched Harmony's voice had been. 'So you didn't go with Lori and Caitlyn to Hogsmeade then?'

Yeah, 'cause there's nothing I'd rather do than spend time with your girlfriend, Harmony thought sarcastically, but all she was capable of actually saying was;

'Um, no, well, I've got all my stuff already, so, I er, decided to stay here.' Then she mentally kicked herself.

'Right, I'll see you later then.' Charlie nodded, and Harmony stood to the side to let him pass, watching him walk away, wishing she could say something (preferably something intelligent) to stop him walking away. He was now descending the steps at the bottom of the corridor and Harmony was still watching him, her stomach beginning to flutter once again.

Yes, avoiding Charlie was definitely her best plan.

A/N -hides behind chair is it ok to come out? -i'm sooooooo sorry for the long wait, i didn't mean for it to take so long. but thank you for being patient with me and not issuing death threats ; ) i'll try and be quicker next time but it usually takes me about a week to write a chapter (a week and a half at most), then i have to wait for a week for my beta to get back to me, so please bear with me :D

as usual, review are appreciatedALOT, even if itsonly a few words :D