Confessions of teenage maniacs

The dance and the party afterward were everything that Ron had imagined. Dancing, laughter, and normal teenage antics for one evening were just what he had been craving. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stop him from waking early the next morning and dragging Harry with him to work out.

"Merlin Harry are you just going to give up?" Ron leaned over Harry as he struggled to push the bar up from his chest.

"How in the hell are you going to save the bloody world if you can't lift a little weight?" Ron encouraged watching Harry strain under the weight..

Harry snarled and grunting with exertion, lifted the bar one more time. Ron grabbed the bar and pulled it back into the bench arms as Harry slowly sat up.

Ron slapped Harry on the back. "Good lift mate, that's your best yet."

Harry was still sitting on the bench leaning over a bit. He had his hands on his arms rubbing his biceps. "It had damn well better be, my arms feel like they are on fire."

"Well that's how you know it's been a good day," Ron laughed slugging him on the shoulder and flopped down on the bench next to him.

Harry frowned and grimaced trying to loosen his tight muscles, "Are we sure this is all worth it?"

"Well if you mean winning at Quidditch, beating Voldemort and driving the girls wild, then yes I believe it is." Ron smirked.

"Well, when you put it that way," Harry laughed. "Though, if I were you, I would not let Hermione hear about those wild women of yours."

"I assure you Potter, I have only one wild woman and, yes, I do like to drive her wild."

Harry grimaced, "Ok, that was too far Weasley. Besides, I can't imagine that Hermione notices if you workout or not."

Ron gave Harry a smug little grin, "Oh, but you are quite mistaken there Harry. She might go on and on about 'Quidditch Neanderthals' in the Great Hall but she does notice."

"Oh really, and what makes you say that? Maybe you're just kidding yourself." Harry returned.

Ron seemed nonplussed considering for a moment and shook his head in denial, "Well, I guess that's possible, but the next time she hugs me, look where her hands end up. When we first started dating, she would hug me with her hands around my waist. Now, she always reaches up to grab my shoulders even though it's harder for her. She notices."

Harry snorted, "Sure Ron, and next you'll be telling me she gets all girly when you are alone."

"I wouldn't say girly, but she is quite feminine to be sure," Ron answered sharply getting to his feet..

Harry shook his head disbelievingly, "What ever you say Ron."

"Ok, Potter, let's get these changed out so we can finish. I still have to do that Charms essay and we have to go to Dumbledore's office before I can do that."

Harry watched Ron closely as he added more weight for the large red-head, "You want to tell me why we have to go to this sodding meeting on a Sunday?"

"I think Dumbledore will do a much better job of that than I can," Ron answered remembering his meeting with Bellatrix. "I don't think it's going to be good though."

"Is it ever good news?" Harry scowled, slamming the weight onto the bar.

Ron just shrugged and moved over to the dumbell rack carrying more weights over to the bench.

Ron lay down on the bench and did his first repetition. Harry wracked the bar between his sets and looked down his face serious.

"Ron, do you ever think about giving up?" Harry asked quietly almost as if he was afraid to voice the doubt.

Ron didn't answer and growled his way through his second set before dropping his dumbells with a loud thunk, "What do you mean? Give up?"

Harry stared at the ground, "You know, stop fighting Voldemort."

Ron wiped the sweat from his face sitting up, "That's not even an option Harry. Voldemort isn't going to go away."

Harry sighed looking up at the ceiling before meeting Ron's gaze again, "Maybe not, but if you stayed away from me, he probably wouldn't come after you."

"Harry I have always said that Hermione was mental, but you are starting to remind me of her. My parents and brothers are in the Order so even if I didn't know you I'd still be in danger and I wouldn't have the best mate in the world either," Ron shook his head. Harry's guilt would always kick in at the oddest moments.

Harry smiled through it as Ron laid back on the bench for his final repetition, "One more question Ron, do you ever feel like hunting the Death Eaters down and killing them all?" Harry asked quietly.

Ron picked up the bar, grunting with the effort, "Only all the time Harry. Sometimes, I can't sleep at night thinking about it."

Ron worked through his last set with a vengeance, finally slamming the bar back. Harry snorted, "Then why don't we?"

Ron looked back at his best mate thinking of the Death Eaters he had killed remorse touching him for a moment, "Because, as much as they deserve it, we don't kill if we don't have to. Now if it comes down to having to kill some of them to save innocent people, then I'll do it in a heartbeat." Ron rose to his feet and paced around the bench, "I've got to tell you the truth though Harry, if I don't kill anybody else I'll be ok with that." Then he paused for just a moment, "But, I think I'm going to end up killing Malfoy."

"Which one?" Harry asked laughing thinking he was making a joke.

"All of them," Ron growled. "They are too arrogant to know when to stop Harry. They are going to try and hurt Hermione, and I'm going to make them pay."

Silence descended on the room until the door to the Room of Requirement swung open, followed by a winded Susan and Neville.

"Next time, one of you goes with her on her 10k run. After last night with Luna and this morning with this slave driver, I can barely move," Neville huffed sitting on the floor gasping, his face bright red from exertion.

Susan laughed pulling off her gloves and ear warmers, "A little run is good for you Neville. Just think about Luna and how much she appreciates the new trim you."

Neville groaned and pointed to Ron and Harry, "I can't keep up with her. Harry, it's your turn to go with her tomorrow. You may want to take your broom."

Ron laughed hoisting Neville to his feet, "At least we can all out lift her."

"Did we interrupt something?" Susan asked suddenly noticing the odd tension between the two Gryffindors.

"No," Ron and Harry answered too quickly. Susan and Neville looked to each other and then back to Ron and Harry.

"Sure," she replied with a quirked eyebrow. She hadn't been fooled. "Come on Neville, now you can impress me with how much iron you can lift."

Ron and Harry left the room to Neville's grumbling and Harry couldn't help but add, "If we are lifting to impress the girls, why is Susan in there?"

"Trying to impress Terry?" Ron asked in mock seriousness.

"I really don't think he is the type that would care," Harry answered before both mates laughed as they headed back to the Gryffindor Tower to start their day.

A short time later, Harry, Ron and Hermione came to a stop in front of the stone gargoyles that hid the door to Professor's Dumbledore's office.

"Anybody know what the password is right now?" Harry asked.

Ron just shrugged and Hermione shook her head.

"Pepper Imps, Cockroach Clusters, Fizzing Whizbys, Acid Pops, Canary Cremes…" As the last words left Harry's mouth the door swung open and Harry turned to Ron with a grin, "Dumbledore really does like your brothers doesn't he?"

Ron scowled, "Yes, well, he never had his teddy bear turned into a giant spider by those monsters now did he?"

Both Harry and Hermione both laughed out loud before a hurt look fixed itself on Ron's face.

Hermione shook her head and smiled sweetly nudging Ron, "Surely my great big boyfriend isn't still mad about a little joke that happened years ago."

Ron's annoyance disappeared as quickly as it had started, his mental girlfriend really could make sense at times, "Well, I guess it was a long time ago."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Can we go in now? The Professor is waiting on us."

Ron made a face back at Harry and then walked through the door pulling Hermione behind him.

"You wanted to see us Professor?" Ron's voiced trailed off as he noticed the figure standing off to the side of Professor Dumbledore's desk. "Talon, what are you doing here?" Ron said his voice cracking slightly.

Hermione shot a questioning look at Harry taking in the large man attired in a full suit of armor with an elaborate mask and sword, before speaking up, "Professor Dumbledore, you wanted to speak with us?"

Professor Dumbledore nodded to the girl, "Yes I did Miss Granger, however Mr. Weasley needs to speak with his friend for a moment. Why don't you and Harry have a seat?" Dumbledore waved his hands and two chairs appeared for Harry and Hermione. "You may use the conference room through there," gesturing to one of the large portraits that lined the walls of his office and it swung open as if on a hinge.

"Thank you," Talon nodded to Dumbledore before gesturing for Ron to precede him through the portrait hole. Ron walked through the opening noticing four chairs grouped around a small round table.

He waited until the door closed behind Talon before asking his questions, "Talon, what are you doing here?" he asked again

The older knight chuckled, "Albus has asked for the Order's help, and I am going to oblige. You are going to be helping some students here find this Cauldron they are looking for."

"What about Val, Talon?" Ron asked confused.

Talon chuckled for a moment, "Val will be joining us in just a moment. Professor Dumbledore will be making preparations to allow Val access to the school whenever she needs it. You should know that I've already informed Val of what's going on and she got quite angry when she thought you were going to be working by yourself. You are fortunate to have the loyalty of such a good friend."

"I know Talon, trust me I know," Ron replied.

Talon's tone changed abruptly becoming more serious, "You need to cast the Armoring Charm. When we rejoin the others, you will be Fury of the Order of the Coeur de Lion, and as such you must be armored and masked."

Ron cast the charm and felt the almost weightless armor settle around him and cover his face. A moment later he felt the considerable weight of his chosen sword sink comfortably on his hip, "They will know who I am Talon."

"Dumbledore assured me that you would willingly trust them with your secret, but even so, no member of our Order may go about Order business unmasked," Talon warned.

"I understand," Ron replied.

"Well then young squire, let us attend to the business at hand," Talon clapped Ron on the back with a hearty thump.

The door opened and Talon left, Ron half a step behind.

Professor Dumbledore stood upon their entrance, "Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, let me introduce you to my friends, this is Sir Talon, Head of the Order of the Coeur De Lion, and his squire, Fury."

Both Talon and Fury bowed to them and Talon spoke, his voice deep and cultured, "It is a great pleasure to meet the two of you. Professor Dumbledore has told me of your extensive efforts in the battle against the Dark Lord."

Harry and Hermione rose to their feet, Ron stood before them in an elaborate suit of armor with a mask the covered most of his face. A large broadsword swung at his hip. Harry couldn't help but notice, that he seemed accustomed to the armor and the sword. Hermione answered focusing on Talon, 'Thank you, Sir Talon, if I'm not mistaken the name of your order translates to 'The Order of the Lion Heart' doesn't it?"

"As clever as you are beautiful Miss Granger. I can see why Professor Dumbledore chose you for the task at hand," Talon nodded towards the girl.

Harry shot a look over at Hermione expecting to see her rolling her eyes at Talon's compliment. He was a bit surprised to see Hermione blush a bit and smile back at the knight.

Talon's amusement grew as he sensed Fury shifting in annoyance. It confirmed his idea that this woman was Fury's love interest. Talon gestured to Fury behind him, "I would also like to introduce my sword squire, Fury."

Fury bowed to Harry and Hermione as smoothly as possible. Harry couldn't get over the change in his best friend. In other circumstances it would have been a joke to see Ron in his ancient looking armor and intricate mask. Instead, Harry sensed that Ron took a great deal of pride in his service to the Order killing the thought before it fully formed.

Hermione's eyes swept up and down taking in the sight of Fury in his armor, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword. Hermione knew that Ron stood before her and she was surprised at the mixed feelings that rushed upon her. Confusion, hurt that she had not suspected, pride and thankfulness that he had found an Order that seemed better suited to him than the Order of the Phoenix would have been.

Suppressing all of these emotions, Hermione replied, "Somehow, I believe that Fury is quite aptly named. Did he chose the name himself or did you give him that moniker, Sir Talon?"

Before Talon could reply, a sudden whoosh split the air and a small cloud of dust poured out of the fireplace and a musical, feminine voice responded, "It was I who named him Fury."

Everyone turned to the source of the voice and Harry was surprised to see a slender blond woman in gleaming armor standing there with a slight smile on her lips and a hand placed on one hip.

Talon's voice cut through the silence, "Professor Dumbledore, Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, I would like to introduce my shield squire, Val."

Val bowed to them and then moved to stand beside Fury touching his shoulder for a moment in greeting before taking her place at Talon's right.

Harry chanced another look at Hermione, and quickly hid his smile. While she hadn't reacted to Ron in his armor, she was definitely giving the newcomer her best icy glare at the familiarity between Val and Fury. Ron would have some explaining to do after all this was done.

Talon turned his attention back to Professor Dumbledore, "I understand that you believe your students can uncover the location of the Cauldron but I am still unclear as to how Fury and Val can help you. "Talon gestured towards his squires, "Both of them are quite clever, but neither of them is much in the way of a researcher I would imagine."

Professor Dumbledore smiled, "It is my opinion that the Cauldron will be protected by more than just having its location hidden. If this is indeed the case, then Mr. Potter and Miss Granger will be needing assistance and who better to help them than two of your finest squires? While both Harry and Hermione have seen their share of scrapes, it would be wise to have a good bit of experience to help them."

Talon nodded his head, "They will need some way to contact each other so they can make arrangements to work on their task."

Professor Dumbledore nodded, "Hermione has a way to contact Fury I believe. He can contact Val, while Hermione reaches Harry. Are you comfortable being Fury's contact Miss Granger?"

"Yes Professor, anything to help," Hermione replied her voice even.

"Excuse me Talon, but are you sure it's wise to have a non-Order member contact Fury at any time? It could be exploited by the enemy," Val spoke up concerned.

Before Talon could answer Professor Dumbledore spoke, "I assure you Val that no one here would deliberately place Fury in danger due to their actions."

"With all due respect sir, I don't know if I can trust people I don't know to do that," Val responded her voice dripping with ice.

"Val," Ron spoke up placing a hand on her shoulder, "Remember the newspaper?" hoping that she would remember that he was friends with everyone in the room.

Val paused a moment before replying, nodding towards Harry clearly still upset, "That only addresses one of the two, Fury."

Harry stepped closer to Hermione and placed a comforting hand on his best friends shoulder. Hermione shook her head silencing Harry's protests before replying, "Then let me sooth your concern. I give you my word that I will never let my ability to contact Fury cause him any harm."

Val considered this for a moment, "You must understand, it is my duty to be aware of all things that might be a danger to my partner, just as I am sure you feel about your own," she said gesturing to Harry.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other in confusion for a moment. Did Val think they were together?

"Val," Talon interceded, "If Professor Dumbledore says that it is safe then it is safe. You can take his word, as my own."

"Yes Talon," Val said holding her head high "My apologies, I am not quick to trust others, especially when my own people may be in danger."

Talon looked over the four and back to Professor Dumbledore, "Well, if everyone is now comfortable with the idea, I will let the four of you make plans to solve this particular riddle. Professor Dumbledore, I thank you for your hospitality. Val and I will use your Floo to go back to our headquarters if you don't mind."

"By all means Talon," Dumbledore replied gesturing to his fireplace.

Val didn't move, "But Talon, what about Fury? Won't he be coming with us?"

Talon shook his head, "No, he is going to stay behind and gather what information you will need for your part in this. Fury will contact you very soon to tell you everything you need to know."

"Yes sir," Fury and Val responded to the Knight's command.

Once the two knights had left the room, all eyes turned towards Ron. "Look, can you change back to normal for a moment. We all need to talk," Harry frowned.

"You're telling me you met with Bellatrix LeBlack on the Quidditch field and didn't tell us?" Harry demanded.

"It was under terms of Parley, nothing could have happened," Ron replied.

"The Dark Queen . . .," Hermione murmured drawing looks from Harry and Ron.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Nothing, just thinking," Hermione waved it away. "We have too much to figure out. A Seer is helping Voldemort. We are going to have to be careful. I finished my report on the preliminary findings in regards to the location of the Cauldron of Medea. Professor, have you had an opportunity to peruse my findings?"

"Yes Miss Granger, but for the sake of time why don't you summarize what you have written," Dumbledore replied motioning towards a large scroll on his desk. Hermione never did anything in half measures.

"Harry and I have been through half the library it seems looking for references to the Cauldron. We found little, but what we have found indicates the Cauldron is hidden in the foundation of the school. The most logical place to access that would be from the dungeons."

"The dungeons are littered with Slytherins. How are we going to investigate without the whole school knowing what we are up to, not to mention alerting the people that would be most likely to tell Voldemort?" Harry growled.

The room fell silent for a moment until Ron spoke up, "Well, we get the Slytherins to look for us."

"You must be joking," Hermione shook her head. "We couldn't tell them anything and why would they go out of their way to help us?"

"I am sure Daphne would help," Ron added oblivious to Hermione's frown.

"Oh, I am sure she would help. I would just rather not ask her to help," Zambini's warnings from the night before were still present in Hermione's thoughts. The less she and Ron had to do with a certain blond Slytherin, the better.

"Hermione, he has a point. A Seer wouldn't be tracking Daphne and Blaise. We could look somewhere all together different to throw Voldemort off of our trail," Harry backed Ron. Hermione thought furiously for a moment, but was unable to come up with a better alternative.

Hermione surrendered for the moment, looking from Harry to Ron, "Very well, but you two are asking them. I want nothing to do with this. I will meet you both back at the Common Room. Good day Professor."

Hermione retreated to her favorite past time while she waited for Ron and Harry to return. The portrait hole had opened six times, and none had been them. The waiting was beginning to grate on Hermione's nerves making her regret sending the boys out alone to find the Slytherins. Her preoccupation with Ron distracted her from the person standing in front of her,

"Hermione?" Ginny asked. "May I join you?"

Hermione laughed, "Of course. Sorry, you caught me in the middle of a thought," She quickly cleared a spot on the couch for her second favorite red head.

"Have you given any thought to who should work with us in the Circle?" Ginny asked with a smile.

Hermione shook her head, "Not yet, I need to do that but I've been so busy, Ginny. It seems like there is so much to do and not enough time to do it in." The brown haired girl sighed and slumped further into the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees in a ball.

Ginny smiled reassuringly, "Well, I have had a chance to think about it, and I have a list, if you are interested."

Hermione's eyes sparked with sudden interest and she sat up a little straighter, "I'd love to hear what you've come up with, Ginny."

"Well," the red head smiled. "We need twelve as the optimum number eight to get us a good start. Right now we have Luna, you and me. From what I've read in that book of yours, the circle can be used to cast powerful divination spells. It would make sense to get at least a couple of girls who are good at that aspect."

"That makes sense," Hermione agreed with her.

Ginny grimaced a bit, but continued, "Both Lavender and Parvati are very good at Divination and they are our friends. I think we should if they would join us."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the mention of her two roommates, "You know how much they gossip. I'd rather this not be all over the school."

"I know you think they are a bit silly, and truthfully they really are, but they do know Divination. Luna has some skill at it, but neither you nor I are any good at it at all. Besides, they did manage to keep the DA secret last year." Ginny countered.

Hermione thought for a moment, "OK we'll talk to them. That brings us up to five. Who else were you considering?"

"Padma Patil, is one of the best students in Hogwarts, and I think she would be a big help. This type of thing she would find fascinating. Plus, if we can convince Lavendar and Parvati, Padma would definitely join."

"She could be a big help, anybody else?" Hermione frowned. "That's only half of what we need."

Ginny hesitated for a moment fiddling with her hair, and then squared her shoulders, "You're going to hate this, but we should also talk to Daphne Greengrass about it."

"No," Hermione didn't even pause. "Absolutely not, you heard Zambini last night. I'd rather not share my intimate thoughts with that woman. What about Hannah Abbot?"

"Hannah Abbot? She's about the most mediocre witch in school. Daphne's a good choice. She's almost as smart as you and she's got guts." Ginny pressed.

"I don't trust her Ginny," Hermione growled her thoughts returning to Ron and Harry.

"Do you mean, you don't trust her to work with us, or is it you don't trust her with my brother?" Ginny asked looking Hermione in the eyes.

Hermione looked down for a minute and then looked back up at Ginny, "I don't like the way she looks at Ron."

Ginny sighed, "I understand what you are saying Hermione, but it's not how she looks at Ron that matters. It's how Ron looks at you that matters, and everybody, including Daphne, knows you're the only one he wants."

"I know I'm being a bit silly Ginny, it's just hard sometimes. Especially after last night," Hermione frowned again.

"I know Hermione, but we need help. Ron loves you. The entire planet knows that. Besides, maybe Daphne isn't after Ron at all. Maybe she just wants to annoy you," Ginny suggested.

"This is supposed to cheer me up?" Hermione quirked an eyebrow at the red head.

"Look, Hermione, you beat her in every class. The girl is competitive and ambitious and trust me, it gets old living in another person's shadow. Maybe she is flirting with Ron, just to get back at you a bit? If you ignore her when she does that, she'll realize it won't work anymore and she'll leave him alone," Ginny offered.

Hermione considered that thought for a moment, "All right Ginny. We do this your way. I'll ignore her flirting with Ron, but I don't have to like it. I also don't have to like including her in our Circle. That still only leaves us with seven. We need one more and we need them all to agree."

"I think we should ask Susan Bones to be the eighth. She smart and she has to be tough to work with the boys the way she does.

"Ok, now that that's all settled. Let's think about how to tell them," Ginny smiled leaning back against the cushions.

"Don't fret, Hermione. You let me worry about keeping Daphne in line, OK?" Ginny offered hoping she could live up to her end of the bargain.

Hermione nodded, "Ok Ginny, you take care of Daphne. I'll work out how to tell everyone. My first thought is that we will have to show them."

"Where in the bloody hell can those two be Harry?" Ron's frustration was mounting after an hour of wandering around the dungeons. "Oh bloody hell, why didn't I think of this earlier? Why didn't we get your map?"

Harry shook his head, "Why didn't I think of that. Let's swing by the library on our way back to the Common Room."

"We might as well mate, I can't think of anywhere else they'd be. We've been over most of the school. Hey, Harry, you remember Kirke and Sloper at last practice?" Ron tried to change the subject. Lunch was sounding really good at the moment.

They walked along the hallway towards the library, laughing about how Kirke and Sloper had almost killed each other at their last Quidditch practice, when a blur came around the corner and flattened Harry.

Harry grunted as he hit the floor, wrapping his arms around the person lying on his chest to protect them from the fall. Instinct told him the figure with the curves was a girl, a moment before his brain registered it and he felt his face heat. The sound of Ron's laughter didn't help the situation.

"A hand would be nice, you prat," Harry snarled trying to lift the blond girl off of him.

Ron clapped politely for a moment and then leaned down to gather the books that had fallen from the mystery girl's haversack.

The girl moved pushing herself away from his chest and looking down at him, her hair covered her face, "I'm sorry. I didn't see you." She swung her hair out of her eyes, her face looked tear streaked, but Harry knew her.

"Susan?" Harry asked quietly.

"Harry?" Susan met his eyes and quickly scrambled to her feet.

Harry followed her, his body sore from the tumble.

"I am so sorry," she started to say again, the tears close to the surface. Harry touched her shoulder gently for a moment before Susan threw herself at Harry and hugged him tightly for a moment before releasing him and launching herself at Ron like she wanted to crack his ribs.

"Have I ever told you guys how glad I am that we are friends?" she asked her face still buried in Ron's chest. Ron stroked her hair for a moment as if she were Ginny, before she stepped away from him.

"Susan, are you ok?" Harry asked softy as he moved closer.

Susan looked up at him and offered them both a weak smile, as she swiped her hand across her eyes, "It's Terry and Hannah, he's going to drive me crazy and she's helping him do it."

Ron looked at Harry out of the corner of his eyes. Neither male knew what to do. The one nice thing about being friends with Susan as opposed to most girls, their own girlfriends included, was her equilibrium. Things didn't faze her. You never wondered if she was mental. She wasn't whiny, didn't anger very easily, and always seemed cheerful and sincere. A person always knew where they stood with her. A crying, upset, emotional Susan was a surprise to be sure.

Harry patted the girl on the shoulder for a bit, "You want to tell us what's going on Susan?"

Susan let out a loud sigh, "You probably don't know this, but Terry and I dated for about two months last fall, but it didn't really go anywhere. We were friends before we dated and stayed friends afterward, or so I thought. It just seemed natural that we would end up going to the party togetheras friends. I reminded him of that fact several times and everything seemed fine. We were both having a good time, until Blaise asked me to dance. Since Terry wasn't my date, I didn't think it was such a big deal."

Susan paused to catch her breath and then continued with her story, "Well I was in the library studying with Hannah and Terry just now when Terry made a huge scene about us being 'together' at the dance and how he was hurt and offended that I would dance with a Slytherin. Honestly why wouldn't I? I tried to explain to him that we were just friends, and that is was one dance and he wouldn't listen. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse Hannah started to agree with him."

Susan shook her head, "She said it was inappropriate. She made it sound like I shagged him in the Great Hall or something. Terry started backing her up telling me that Blaise was after something. I laughed at that point. The whole thing was utterly ridiculous, and said, 'Yeah he was after a dance.' For Merlin's sake, it was one dance and they don't know anything about Blaise anyway. I tried to tell them that he was OK, but they wouldn't even listen to me. They started spouting of some shite about how a leopard can't change its spots. They started putting down all of the Slytherins at that point. I couldn't believe it. They had no right to judge a bunch of people that has never done anything to them based on the color of their stupid neck ties. It wasn't right."

Susan blushed and laughed at that point, 'Well, you can guess I got rather upset. I asked what right they had to judge a person they had never even talked to. Then I reminded them both, that Terry and I had only gone as friends, and boy did I regret even that. Not too mention that even if we had gone together, I would dance with whomever I wanted to whenever I wanted to and if I wanted to dance naked in the Great Hall with Draco Malfoy, it was none of their business. Well needless to say, neither one of them liked that very much."

"Neither would I. You started out on the right track but why Draco? It just ruined a beautiful thought." A slow cultured drawl came from behind her.

Susan turned red and whirled around to find Blaise and Daphne standing just out of sight, "You two are really good at the silent approach, aren't you?"

"It comes in handy," Daphne smiled, with no hint of an apology.

"That's it. If you will all excuse me," Susan muttered taking her bag from Ron and walking away.

Blaise and Daphne watched the tall blond girl walk away for a moment before looking at each other; they had heard Susan's entire rant and were concerned, but hopeful. The Hufflepuff had defended them to her Housemates. Things were looking promising for their plan.

Daphne smirked at Blaise, "You probably shouldn't have said that."

Blaise shrugged and looked at Harry and Ron, "It was the truth," he said simply.

Ron and Harry after a moment of contemplation both nodded in agreement. Harry seemed to shake the thoughts of a naked Susan Bones out of his head first and remember exactly what they were supposed to be doing, "We need to talk to the two of you."