Disclaimer: I do not own anything, apart from the plot, and a part-share in the OCs.

Chapter 13! Wow. It seems like I wrote this ages ago already.

The rumour about Peter and Suzie died down quickly once Lily and Sarah started telling people it was not true. There was doubt for a while, but once Caroline started threatening people, it died away almost immediately. Peter, who had been getting wolf-whistles and sniggers from people in the corridors, was thankful. It was hard enough to deal with his so-called friends acting silly without having to glower at people he barely even knew.

Suzie, on the other hand, was confused that the rumours had died down. She didn't know why, only that Peter had spoken to Lily and Sarah, and they'd refused to tell her what about. This meant it was to do with her, and since then she'd fruitlessly attempted to weasel it out of them, much to her friends' consternation.

Ever since that conversation, she'd noticed Peter gazing at her more often, in fact, whenever they were both in a room together. He always sat far away from her, but his eyes followed her about. It was slightly disconcerting, but she knew that if she was really bothered by it, she could just look back at him, and he'd look away, usually with red cheeks.

One evening, the girls were sitting in the common room, in their favourite place, by the fire. Lily had finished all her homework, and was waiting to correct the others' essays. Sarah and Suzie were both putting the finishing touches on their Herbology essays, and Caroline was knitting.

'Caroline,' commented Sarah, passing Lily her essay, 'what are you doing?'

'Knitting.'

'Knitting what?'

'A giant scarf.'

'Why?'

'Inspiration struck me the other day, and I was bored, so I decided to start.'

'If you're bored, you could do your homework,' said Lily dryly.

'Nah, that would make me even more bored, wouldn't it?'

Lily looked disapproving, but said nothing more. Instead, she continued looking through Sarah's essay, and Caroline continued knitting.

'Lily?' Suzie said after a while. Lily looked up from correcting Sarah's Herbology essay and nodded.

'Hmm? You ready for me to mark yours?'

'No, not yet,' said Suzie, who had been thinking too much to be able to finish yet, 'but what were you talking about with Pettigrew?'

'Um…'

Lily was all of a sudden absorbed in the essay again, acting like she had whenever Suzie had asked her at other points during the week. Suzie rolled her eyes.

'Sarah?'

Sarah's eyes flickered up for a moment, and then stared determinedly down at her textbook.

'Caroline?'

'Sorry, Suze,' said Caroline, looking up from her knitting and shrugging, 'I can't divulge the information exchanged in that conversation.'

'What? And why not?'

'I wasn't part of it!'

'Oh, ha ha, Caroline,' said Suzie irritably, 'Why won't anyone tell me?'

'If I told you, I'd have to kill you,' said Caroline. Suzie glared at her. Lily sighed, and put down the essay.

'Suzie, we're not trying to leave you out, but we genuinely can't tell you. I really don't like leaving you out like this, but I have to respect his privacy.'

'How come Caroline knows?'

'Because I am omniscient,' said Caroline.

'Why are you being particularly annoying this evening?'

'Meh. I feel like it.'

Suzie sighed, and then said quietly, 'Can you just tell me one thing?'

'Depends what it is,' replied Lily, just as quietly.

'Was it about me?'

Lily, Sarah and Caroline glanced at each other, and Suzie took their silence to mean a yes.

'Was it about the fact he has a crush on me?'

Sarah, Lily and Caroline all looked at her. Sarah and Lily were visibly shocked, while Caroline just looked thoughtful.

'You heard that rumour then?'

'I heard it from you, Caroline, when you were talking to Sarah a couple weeks ago.'

Lily froze then turned to glare at Caroline.

'How did you let that happen?' she hissed.

'Accident,' said Caroline, at a normal volume, shrugging, 'and I'm glad she heard it from us, not from Black or someone that would embarrass her about it. We probably should have just told her the truth from the beginning.'

'Probably? Not probably, Caroline, definitely,' Suzie huffed, feeling annoyed that her friends had kept something so important from her, particularly as it was so personal.

'Why didn't you tell us you knew?' asked Sarah.

'Didn't want to make you feel guilty because of accidentally letting it slip,' said Suzie. 'But now can you tell me about your conversation?'

Sarah and Lily glanced at each other, but Caroline jumped straight in.

'He's in denial, Suzie. Won't admit he likes you. He told them he didn't, but I don't believe him.'

'I don't know what to think,' said Sarah, 'I mean, the signs all point to him liking you. But he says he didn't…'

'Sarah's in denial about it being possible to not realise you like someone,' said Caroline, 'and it doesn't only apply to Pettigrew.'

Sarah looked at her suspiciously. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing, dear, nothing,' she replied in a long-suffering tone, and she started knitting faster.

Lily and Suzie looked at each other and giggled, both at Sarah's confusion and Caroline's crazy knitting. Sarah gave them suspicious looks as well, but then sighed and said,

'What are you going to do about it, Suzie?'

Suzie bit her lip. What could she do about it? She couldn't very well go and ask him, could she? She didn't have the confidence. And if it turned out he really didn't like her, how utterly, completely awful would that be?

'She's going to go and ask him, aren't you, Suzie?' said Caroline, who obviously wasn't reading Suzie's thoughts at the time.

'You know I'm too shy,' mumbled Suzie.

'It's not that hard,' said Caroline, 'I'd do it. Just ask him how he feels. He'd tell the truth to you.'

'Not necessarily…'

'Yes, necessarily! If he didn't like you, he wouldn't tell you he that he did. And if he does like you, he wouldn't deny it to you! He wouldn't want to lose his chance.'

'Caroline –'

'So go and tell him you like him!'

'But I don't like him.'

'What?'

'Well, I don't know if I like him. I never even thought about it until I found out he liked me.'

'Well,' said Caroline slowly, although her knitting was getting even faster, 'if you don't like him now, once you've been out, he'll probably grow on you. So that's no excuse! And anyway, you're probably in denial too.'

'Caroline!' said Sarah, 'I don't disbelieve in denial about love. But not everyone does it! Do you do it?'

Caroline faltered a little, and stopped knitting, all of a sudden looking small as opposed to the commanding person she had looked moments before. 'N-no, of course not,' she said slowly, not looking too sure.

Lily looked shrewdly at Caroline, hearing her almost timid tone of voice, but said nothing. Caroline sat up a little straighter, and said, still quietly, 'As I was saying, Suzie, if you don't feel comfortable talking to him, don't. It was only an idea.'

'Caroline, are you all right?' asked Sarah.

'I'm fine!' said Caroline, picking up her knitting again and suddenly grinning brightly, 'I just think Suzie can make her own decision.'

Sarah, Lily and Suzie exchanged glances. They knew Caroline wasn't happy, but was hiding it. However, they also knew that asking her about it would be pointless, so they didn't say anything.

'So what are you going to do then, Suzie?'

Suzie bit her lip. 'Well… what else can I do other than asking him?'

Sarah, Lily and Caroline all thought for a moment, and Suzie felt her heart sinking as they all shook their heads.

'But… but…' she squeaked, 'I can't talk to him about it! I… I…'

'Are you going to do nothing then?' asked Lily.

'She can't do nothing!' said Caroline sharply, before turning to Suzie.

'What's the worst that can happen if you talk to him?'

'Him rejecting me, maybe?'

'Nonsense. He can't reject you; you're not asking him out or anything. You're inviting him to ask you out. You are giving him a rather obvious hint that you wouldn't be averse to the idea of considering thinking about pondering whether it's a good idea to maybe entertain the suggestion of going out with him some time. If he says he doesn't like you, just say you're sorry, you heard a rumour and wanted to know if it was true. He can't get mad at you or anything for that.'

'But… but…'

'But what?'

Suzie sighed. 'I don't know.'

'You can do it, Suzie. I know you have confidence hidden inside you somewhere - you are a Gryffindor,' she winked, 'Go and ask him.'

Suzie took a deep breath and nodded. Caroline grinned widely, and Suzie stood up, shaking slightly. Caroline nudged her forward.

'Go on,' she said, and Suzie started walking off. Behind her, she could hear the fading voices of her friends.

'Confidence hidden inside you?' scoffed Sarah. 'That sounds like something in a bad 'Discover the Real You' book or something.'

'It worked, didn't it?' replied Caroline.

Suzie locked her eyes on Peter, who, having been looking at her, swiftly turned his head anyway. She determinedly walked forward, and, coming up in front of him, said,

'Pettigrew. Um, can I speak with you a moment?'

Squee! Thanks for your reviews, anyone who reviewed. Woot.

Hepsa