Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. Harry Potter™ is the sole intellectual property of JK Rowling, Warner Bros. and various others who all aren't connected to me in any way. No money is being made with this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.


§ º § Chapter Six: What Friends Are For § º §

Harry stared after KayKay in confusion, then shook his head. "Women."

"Don't even try to understand her, Harry." Madison said, making Harry jump. "I'm a girl and her cousin, and I still don't know what makes her tick."

"I forgot that you were here," he admitted, going into the room and sitting down on the bed next to Madison.

"How long were you outside the door for?"

"Only long enough to hear her shout about how we don't like each other." Harry said.

"Aaand . . .?" she prompted. Harry looked over at her, surprised at the expression she displayed—she acted as if she knew a hidden fact, a daring secret.

"And what?" he shrugged. "Then she opened the door right when I was about to—"

"You know what I mean" she said, laying out on her stomach and studying Harry. "And what was your reaction to what she shouted?"

"What was there to react to?" he asked honestly. "She's right. I don't like her and she doesn't like me—at least, not that way."

"Ah . . ." Madison nodded slowly with a false expression of enlightenment, then stopped and smirked at him, "Liar."

This left him even more confused then KayKay's rapid disappearance. "Huh?"

"You're lying," she said, as simply as if they were her own feelings. "You still dig her."

" 'Dig her'?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. Madison rolled onto her back, rested her head on Harry's lap, and stretched. (This understandably made Harry a bit uncomfortable.)

"Yup," she said simply. "You dig her. Are crushing on her. You like her!"

"Yes, as a friend," he insisted—for as far as he knew, it was the truth. And certainly, he'd know better than Madison.

She looked up at him face and must have noticed how he felt about her talking to him with her head in his lap.

"Hey, we're cool, right Harry? I mean, I'm not making you super-uncomfortable right now, right? You understand that the whole familiarity thing is just in the way of friends . . ."

"Oh, yeah" he said quickly. "I mean, there was that thing at the beginning of the year when you almost stalked me . . . then later when you destroyed my ego by slapping me while we were in a crowd of people just because I asked what was up . . . but in the end, we took on multitudes of Death Eaters standing back-to-back and narrowly escaped with our lives along with Megan and KayKay, so . . . yeah, I guess we're 'cool' "

"Good. Then you'll tell me the truth about how you feel about KayKay" she said simply, a smile spreading across her face.

"But—I already have!" he protested.

"Oh, right. And that why you almost kissed her." She rolled her eyes.

"I what?! When was this, exactly?" he demanded, utterly puzzled.

"Well, back when you guys were downstairs—wait, I just remembered! When you knocked her over at my house, you almost did too . . . so that's twice!"

She's having WAY too much fun throwing around accusations. Harry thought.

"Okay, you lost me. Which is a bit hard if it's my actions we're talking about here!" he pointed out. Madison sighed as if she was trying to explain to a three-year old that one plus one always equaled two.

"You had one of those looks in your eyes when you looked at her . . ."

"You mean the 'I-hope-I-didn't-break-your-ribs' look, or the 'stop-worrying-because-it-won't-help-anything' look? Because those are the only 'looks' I've given her all day."

"Ha ha, you're positively hilarious" Madison deadpanned.

"I try," he grinned.

"You're just like KayKay. So I'll tell you, like I told her, you gave her one of those looks were you fall into the shimmering pool of her eyes and see right down to her very soul and feel nothing but a longing to make her happy for the rest of her life."

Harry looked down at Madison suspiciously. "Where did you come up with that?"

"I read it in a book once." Madison grinned impishly and readjusted her position to get more comfortable.

"I see. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but there was no optic-swimming, soul spying, or pleasure plans. I just noticed her crying and was going to wipe a tear away."

"HA!" she said triumphantly, making Harry jump.

"What? There's nothing wrong with trying to console someone who's crying—"

"HA!" she shouted again.

"What? It's only human to care—"

"HA!"

"Will you stop saying that?!" Harry exclaimed angrily. "I said, it's only human to care about a friend!"

"Ha! She's your—" Madison stopped, and the finger she'd been pointing up at Harry's face dropped back down to her side. "—friend" she finished lamely.

"And Madison is our Grand Prize winner!" Harry said in a cheesy announcer voice. "Congratulations! You've won "—he looked down at her and dropped the fake voice—"a reality check."

The door opened and the smell of fresh cookies wafted in. Harry and Madison looked over and saw KayKay standing there with a plate, looking between the two of them with a large grin.

"Oooh, I always hoped the two of you would hook up!" she exclaimed happily. Madison shot up like a bullet.

"We don't like each other!" she insisted, as if she'd been the one under attack the whole time.

"Uh-huh, yeah, suuure," KayKay said sarcastically with a smile. "Nice try, Madison, but it's obvious that he likes you . . ."

"Hey, wait a second—" Harry began, but Madison replied to KayKay as if he hadn't said a word.

"No fair! You can't take my words and use them against me!"

"I can if they're true," KayKay countered. "Anyhow, the cookies are done and we're all going to hang out with Matt tomorrow and have fun."

"Says who?" Madison demanded. KayKay stuffed a cookie into the girl's mouth.

"Says me," she answered as Madison struggled with the mouthful of crumbs. "The four of us—that's right Harry, the four of us . . ." she said at Harry's surprised look, "are going to spend the day doing simple muggle stuff. Bowling, movies, video arcades . . ."

"But—" Madison began, sputtering cookie crumbs.

"What's the big deal? We all get along—for the most part—and we have to do something besides hang around the house."

"Fine, fine." Madison said, taking another cookie.

"Good" KayKay said, offering the plate to Harry. As he took the cookie, he wondered if the next day would be fun, and prayed that KayKay would be right.

§ º § º § º § º § º § º § º § º §

KayKay yawned and stretched. For the first time since Remus's death, she'd had a normal night's sleep—still, as she went downstairs to figure out what to have for breakfast, she noticed she was the first one up.

Yawning again, she opened a cupboard and pulled out a box of cereal. Not bothering to consider why Sirius ate cereal that was sugar-frosted and dipped in chocolate, she poured some into a bowl and added milk before sitting down at the counter.

I wonder how exactly Madison and Harry ended up together. It's a bit funny, since she liked him at the beginning of last year but he didn't like her, and then vice versa. Well, I guess everything has a season. It's good they did, I was getting worried after Madison was joking around about Harry liking me. Thank goodness that's all it was . . . a joke!

She dug a spoon into the cereal and took a bite before promptly spitting it back out.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, wiping her mouth with the hem of her pajama shirt and getting a glass of water to wash down the flavor.

"You tried Sirius's cereal, I see."

She looked over her shoulder where Harry was walking into the kitchen, ruffling his flyaway black hair.

Thankfully, he'd gotten dressed before coming down today.

"How can Sirius like this junk?" she said incredulously as she dumped it into the sink (the garbage disposal belched and made a sound of contentment).

"Beats me. It's really gross though, isn't it?" he asked, going to the refrigerator and pulling out a cardboard box containing half a pizza—it must have been remainders of Sirius's dinner.

"I suppose it isn't that toxic—it just has a bad aftertaste." She paused, "And before and during-taste."

Harry gave a snort of what could've been either amusement or agreement and tossed a few slices of pizza on a plate before putting it into the microwave. KayKay simply sat down and began eating a slice cold.

"How can you stand that?" Harry asked suddenly, having noticed what KayKay was eating.

"What? Cold pizza? It's one of the greater things in life!" She pulled off a piece of pepperoni and popped it into her mouth. "Mmmm."

"Barking mad," Harry muttered, pulling his plate of steaming pizza out of the microwave and sat down with it. They'd barely lapsed into hungry silence when another person walked into the kitchen.

"So, what did I miss?" Madison asked, stopping by Harry.

"Just cold pizza—"

"Correction! Cold and hot pizza." Harry interrupted.

"And the key to Sirius's crazy, energetic disposition," KayKay continued, nodding towards the box that was still sitting on the counter.

"Oh, wow!" Madison said happily, "You guys have Cowboy Crunchies? Where do you keep the bowls?"

Harry and KayKay looked at each other in shock, then both mutely pointed to one of the cupboards.

"Thanks!" she said, skipping over and pulling one out. "Man, I can't remember how long it's been since I've had these—I think maybe I was ten the last time my parents let me get near them . . ."

She poured milk on the full bowl and dug her spoon in eagerly, sighing in satisfaction.

Harry and KayKay shared another face of disgust and then went back to their pizza.

º º º º º

"KayKay! Your boyfriend is here!"

All three teenagers heard Sirius's childlike shout from where they were playing Monopoly in the living room. They'd also heard the doorbell ring a few moments prior to Sirius's call, as well as the skidding of Casey's paws as she hurried to the front door.

"I swear, he's worse than a little brother," KayKay said, rolling her eyes and sweeping all of the playing pieces off of the board and into the box.

"Oh, for the record, I won that one," Madison said, standing up and stretching.

"You wish!" Harry smirked. "You only could've won that game if you—oh, face it, you just plain couldn't have!"

"Are you two forgetting who owned the Boardwalk and Park Place?" KayKay asked smugly, leading the way out of the room. "Not to mention, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Pacific Avenue!"

"Oh please" Madison snorted. "A few great spots with double or triple rent don't guarantee a victory."

"How would you know, Madame Baltic Avenue?" Harry smirked as the trio headed towards the front door, KayKay stopping to grab her wallet off of the stairs on her way by.

"You weren't so much better off, Mister St. Charles Place!" Madison retorted, sticking her tongue out at Harry.

"It doesn't matter which of you played worse, because I won!" KayKay laughed, rolling her eyes. Before either of them could protest to her claim, she left them behind, rushing up to hug Matt.

"I'm so glad that you're alright!" she said happily, resting her head on his shoulder for a brief moment. "I was worried . . ."

" 'Worried' is an understatement" Harry said, coming up behind them.

"Yes, try 'all-out-hysterical' " Madison suggested. KayKay noticed her looking between Harry and Matt with an expression of mild anxiety, but when KayKay looked, nothing seemed to be amiss, nor was there anything to suggest that Madison's claims of the previous night were true.

Madison seemed to share this thought, for she shrugged at KayKay (just a tiny movement, unseen if anybody wasn't looking for it), appearing to reject her premise.

"Shall we get going?" Matt asked, nodding out the still-open front door. "Our chariot awaits."

"Now, don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Sirius said as they filed out.

"Which means we can pretty much do anything, right?" Harry smirked as he and KayKay poked their heads back in.

"No! You are still not allowed to die or eat Play Dough."

"You do eat Play Dough!" they both said at the same time, laughing.

"Oh. Well, then don't die, at least."

"We'll try our best to resist," KayKay said dryly, closing the door as she and Harry left.

"Sirius. You gotta' love him." KayKay sighed, rolling her eyes but smiling all the same. "Hey!"—This was directed towards Matt—"You brought your car over!"

"Yeah, I figured that if we went muggle, it should be all the way." He said, crossing around the driver's side.

"Shotgun!" Madison and KayKay shouted at the same time. They looked at each other, then both rushed for the front seat. KayKay, being closer, won and jumped in right before Madison, smiling as she clicked the seat belt.

Madison pouted, then clambered into the backseat, followed by Harry.

"Hey, this way you can sit by your boyfriend!" KayKay smiled sweetly.

"WE AREN'T DATING!" Harry and Madison yelled, making KayKay jump about three inches off of her seat.

"Okay, okay, he's not your boyfriend" KayKay muttered, turning back around and settling in so she was more comfortable, "sheesh, lighten up."

§ º § º § º § º § º § º § º § º §

"So, what is this thing called again?" Harry asked, looking down at the platform he was standing on. Around him were other kids and teenagers playing video games at different machines.

"It's called, 'Extreme Dance Revolution' " KayKay repeated, managing to look amused and exasperated at the same time. She was on a second platform right next to his.

"But how does it work?" he asked, looking at the arrows beneath his feet.

"Well, why don't we just start so you can find out?" KayKay asked with grin that made it clear that she was up to something. She leaned over, deposited a coin in a slot between the two machines and pushed a green button marked "GO" followed by a yellow button with the number "1" on it.

The screen in front of Harry, which had been flashing random pictures of dancing cartoon characters, flickered to match the screen in front of KayKay. Immediately, a fast, upbeat song began and arrows started moving up the screen.

To his left, KayKay was staring unblinkingly at the images in front of her and stepping randomly on the different arrows on the platform.

Harry looked at his screen again, then at KayKay's moving feet, which he tried to mimic. Left, right, front, back, left, left, both sides, jump . . .

The machine KayKay was on began flashing lights and announcing, "Winner! Winner!" while Harry's screen went black with blue letters that read, "GAME OVER".

"Yes!" KayKay punched the air triumphantly.

"Oh, like it was even a challenge!" Madison scoffed, grabbing the rail and swinging herself up beside Harry. "Stand back and let a pro take on the Dancing Queen wannabe" she told him, giving him a small push with her hand so that he stepped down.

"Watch and learn, Harry," she said, looking over her shoulder before putting in more money and pressing the buttons. Words across the top said "LEVEL THREE" and a different song started up.

Harry stepped back and stood next to Matt.

"What you do is watch the arrows on the screen. When they line up with the arrow outlines at the top, you try to step on the corresponding marks on the floor," Matt explained, pointing at KayKay and Madison's feet.

"That explains a lot," Harry confessed, watching as the pair stomped and jumped. He noticed that every once and a while they'd look at each other, their desire to win evident by the looks on their faces.

Madison quite unexpectedly added a spin to her dance, causing KayKay evident surprise. Soon, they were both throwing in extra moves, and some other kids that had been simply standing around were beginning to gather so they could watch.

The music sped up, and so did Madison and KayKay as they tried to out-do each other. Harry was beginning to think that one of them would collapse before they could win, but the music suddenly ended and KayKay's machine began it's chorus of, "Winner! Winner!"

She fell against the handrail, breathing heavily but grinning, and Madison did much the same, offering her cousin a high-five. Some of the spectators clapped appreciatively.

"Okay," KayKay said between breaths, "your turn."

She was pointing to Matt and Harry.

"No way!" Matt said, holding up his hands defensively, "if you think I'm about to try that thing . . ."

"Come on, you guys did great, let's leave it at that, alright?" Harry said quickly in agreement.

"Aw, don't tell us that you're afraid to play!" Madison said, putting a hand on her hip.

"Damn," Matt muttered. "They would have to say it like that . . ."

"Looks like we don't have a choice now, eh?" Harry replied quietly. Matt sighed in resignation and led the way up to the game.

Harry only hoped that the crowd watching would find something else to do before they began.

Matt followed the same actions that KayKay had on the first round, setting the game to level one and starting it.

"Do you have any idea how gay we must look?" Harry asked during the music intro.

"Keep in mind that I've already pretended to be gay, and this is barely tapping the surface," Matt responded out of the corner of his mouth before springing into action as the first arrows appeared on the screen.

Harry jumbled up the steps in the beginning, but by the end he was starting to get the hang of it. This being the case, he only glanced briefly when Matt won before putting another coin in and switching it to level two.

This time, Harry won. Matt pouted jokingly as some bystanders cheered.

"Team game!" a girl with dark hair yelled.

"Yeah!" agreed her friend. "Come on, dance!"

The next thing Harry knew, Madison was on the platform next to him, and KayKay was hopping up beside Matt.

"No, go Brits against Americans!" someone protested. "Blondie! Switch spots with the British girl!"

KayKay looked over in surprise. "But—I'm American, too!"

"Right, and I'm the next Prime Minister" a boy snorted.

"You have my vote" Madison laughed in response to his comment.

"But—" KayKay tried again, only to be interrupted by a man in a uniform that marked him as an employee of the arcade.

"Yes, Brits against Americans!" he agreed heartily. "I'll get some pictures of it . . . it could be good publicity!"

Looking defeated, KayKay and Madison began to switch spots, but not before the blonde hissed to Harry, "Can't you go anywhere without being publicized? Honestly, even around muggles—"

"Shhh!" KayKay scolded her quietly, looking around nervously. "Do you want them to hear you?"

"Yeah, and it isn't his fault anyway," Matt said as Madison settled into her new spot.

"So, how do we play on teams?" Harry whispered to KayKay as the employee (who guessed was actually manager) disappeared quickly to get a camera.

"The same as single play, but you have to make it more like a dance and work together. It's a bit confusing, but with me, how can we lose?" she replied, winking to show that she was kidding.

The manager returned, which caused KayKay to spring into action and deposit yet another coin and press the button for level three.

"Come on, like this!" she said, grabbing Harry's hands and making him start moving. She was right—it was confusing—but she did most of the leading, letting him know when to spin her, let go, or jump. There were also a few incidents when they both tried to step on the same arrow at the same time, resulting in some squashed toes.

Still, it wasn't too bad, and Harry actually found that he was enjoying himself as the four friends faced off against each other and the people watching clapped along (some were horribly off-beat, but they were easy enough to tune out).

The music ended surprisingly quickly, and Harry nearly jumped when he realized that it was his and KayKay's machine that was repeating the same words, "Winner! Winner!"

KayKay let go of his hands and fell back against the armrest, laughing and wiping her brow as the manager took one last picture.

"So, what are your names?" he asked, pulling a pen and piece of paper from his pocket.

"Harry Potter"

"Madison Jacobs"

"Matt Siempre"

"KayKay Determan"

A teenage girl who'd been watching squealed.

"Are you serious?" she gasped, looking at them in shock, KayKay and Matt especially.

"Why would we lie about our names?" Madison asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But—but you two! You're singers!" she said excitedly, pointing at Matt and KayKay. Other people began murmuring while the pair shared a look that clearly said, "Oh!"

"I mean—I have your—well, not your CD, but the one with you on it in the player right now!"

She pulled the headphones that were resting around her neck up and over her head, then held it out for Matt and KayKay to listen to as she fiddled with some buttons on the player and turned the volume up. The girl then rifled through her bag and found what looked like a CD jacket.

"Hey! Garth put some of the other songs on here too!" KayKay said incredulously, looking at it as she and Matt listened to the headphones.

"Wow . . . we sound good" Matt said as if he couldn't believe it. Madison pulled the jacket out of KayKay's hand and flipped through it, Harry watching over her shoulder.

"I'm really confused . . ." she said, looking over the pages. The songs and producers were listed on the first few, but the later ones had pictures of who Harry assumed was Garth Brooks, some other country lady, then Matt and KayKay.

"Wow, they look cute in together in those country outfits," Madison commented. Looking at a picture of KayKay getting a piggyback ride from Matt, Harry had to agree that they looked happy with each other.

He looked up at them. They were handing the headphones back to the girl, smiling and talking to her. He looked again to the picture, smiled to himself, then handed it back to the girl.

"But why would you have the CD of some American artist?" someone was asking her.

"My cousin sent it to me for my birthday," the girl replied, taking the jacket from Harry before turning back to KayKay and Matt. "Would you mind signing it for me?"

To say that they looked surprised was like saying the sun was slightly warm. Still, as the manager offered his pen, KayKay signed before handing it to Matt, who did the same.

"Thank you so much!" the girl exclaimed as it was handed back to her.

"Thank you" Matt said sincerely. KayKay nodded, while Harry and Madison stood to the side, uncertain as to what they should do.

"Erm . . . maybe we should move on before we have to duck the Paparazzi or something . . ." Madison suggested, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the door. KayKay nodded quickly, then stepped down from the dance platform.

Harry was sure he heard the manager say, "Singers! In my arcade!" as he snapped another picture. The group rushed quickly out and got into Matt's jeep, which he started immediately and pulled out into traffic before they barely had their seatbelts on.

"So . . ." he said, still looking a bit taken aback by all the commotion they'd met at the arcade, "what next?"

"Lunch," Madison said, leaving no room for argument, "Pizza, preferably."

"And somewhere very far away from the arcade" KayKay agreed.

"And then you two can tell me what all of that was about." Madison settled back into the seat next to Harry, throwing him a look that portrayed all of her confusion.

Harry, on his part, just smiled.

§ º § º § º § º § º § º § º § º §

"So," Madison said, wasting no time getting down to business, "since when are you two famous singers who sign autographs and make albums and . . . and . . . have candid photographs taken of you?"

KayKay rolled her eyes and pulled a slice of steamy pizza from the plate their waitress had just delivered. "Honestly Madison, you're making such a big deal out of this when it's really just a small thing. It surprised us as much as it did you."

She bit into the pizza, wrestling with strings of cheese that seemed to stretch no matter how far away she pulled the slice from her mouth.

"I find that hard to believe since you at least know what's going on!"

KayKay looked over at Matt and Harry for assistance, but both boys had already eaten their way through one slice of pizza and were grabbing a second.

"Really," she said, before taking a swallow and continuing, "it's no big deal. Matt's dad operates a recording company. For my birthday, Matt gave me a pass to get the chance to meet Garth Brooks and then record a personal album of my favorite songs, just for my own use."

She shrugged and took a sip of her soda before she continued. "I made Matt sing a few duets with me, Garth and his dad were impressed, they asked us to sing the same duet that Garth and another artist already had on their album. They gave us the option of putting it on the same CD as the original."

"So wait, you got a record deal?" Madison squeaked. KayKay, who'd just taken another bite of pizza, had to work hard to hold back a laugh.

"Hardly," she replied once she'd finally swallowed. "Just a chance to have a song on a real CD. For all I know, they passed it off as a mentoring program or something. No money, no fame—"

"No fame? Then what do you call that girl at the arcade?" Madison still hadn't touched her pizza.

"I call that a girl happy to meet someone who was mentioned in music, and I call you crazy. It's not like we have groupies running all over. It's not like she sought us out. If she hadn't read the jacket of that CD, she wouldn't have even recognized our names. It was just a freak coincidence. Now eat your pizza."

"But—"

"Really, Madison, that's all there is to it," Matt said, taking an unexpected break from inhaling his pizza. "We're barely even mentioned, and besides, what does it matter? We're not about to run off and become country singers. I have law school and KayKay has Hogwarts and Aur—"

"Matt!" KayKay hissed, "we're in a muggle place!"

"Sorry," Matt winced, "like I was saying, KayKay has Hogwarts and Auror training" he continued at a whisper.

Madison for some reason still looked confused. "But—" This time, Harry interrupted.

"Madison, the only evidence that KayKay even made a personal CD or anything like that was how she wouldn't shut up about it for weeks and weeks after it happened."

KayKay looked quickly at him, habitually expecting him to be making fun of her, but his eyes were glittering in the way that let her know it was just friendly joking. She was still having trouble getting used to getting along after they'd been at each other's throats for so long.

"So, Madison, what are you planning on doing after . . . er . . . school?" KayKay asked carefully, finishing off her first slice of pizza and reaching for a second at the same time that Matt reached for his third . . . or was it his fourth?

"Honestly? I'm sort of looking in to teaching . . . Transfiguration"—she lowered her voice to a whisper—"particularly, but I suppose Charms"—she lowered her voice again—"wouldn't be too bad either."

This surprised KayKay. She'd always pictured her cousin aiming for a position of power . . . Minister of Magic, President of the United States, head of a large department in the Ministry—

" . . . Of course, being Headmistress is my main goal," she continued, in a normal tone now.

There. That sounded more like the Madison KayKay knew.

"I wonder what the Aurors would do if Voldemort and the Death Eaters weren't around . . ." Harry said quietly.

KayKay blinked in shock—the thought had never occurred to her.

"I—don't know," she stammered. "If he's out of the way by the time I'm an Auror . . . well . . . I'm not so sure I'd want to be one . . ." she said slowly.

This made everyone look at her in surprise, except or Harry, who was nodding.

"I know what you mean . . . if Voldemort and his lot are gone . . ."

"Well, what would you do instead?" Madison asked curiously.

"I—I'm not sure. Maybe I would look into music . . . or teaching. Don't worry, Madison, I'm not looking to be Headmistress . . . I actually prefer Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Madison smirked playfully at KayKay before looking at Harry who answered promptly, "Quidditch."

"Why am I not surprised?" KayKay snorted, looking down to grab another piece of pizza and realizing there was none left. Before she could comment, the waitress came back and set down another tray of it.

"I can't believe it's going to be our last year in school . . ." Harry said. KayKay paused with a slice of pizza halfway to her mouth and set it back down on her plate, staring at it sadly.

"But I'm not ready to graduate. I'm not ready to have to go out there and be grown up, responsible, and reliable . . ." she trailed off.

Madison smiled at her. "KayKay, you already are responsible and reliable!"

"But," Harry added, laughing, "you will never, ever be grown up."

§ º § º § º § º § º § º § º § º §

The rest of the day passed pleasurably and fan-free for Harry, Matt, KayKay, and Madison. After lunch they'd gone bowling—quite an interesting activity for Harry, who'd never tried the game before.

"Hey, I got it! I got all of the pins down!"

"Nice job, Harry!" Madison said sincerely, "Except, you're supposed to be aiming for the pins on our lane." She pointed the lane directly in front of their seats.

"Still, good shot!" Matt agreed, grabbing a bowling ball and going up to take his own turn.

It went straight into the gutter.

Matt looked back at the group, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning sheepishly. "Oops?"

Madison said nothing, just smiled and picked up her own bowling ball. With what looked like no effort at all, she sent the ball speeding straight towards the pins. They all fell in a clatter, and Madison punched the air triumphantly.

"How do you like me now?" she asked smugly, rubbing her nails on her shirt and sitting back down.

"Eh, about the same" Harry said, shrugging.

"Honestly, any of us could do that if we had a bowling alley on the fourth floor of our mansion" KayKay said, rolling her eyes but looking miffed all the same.

"Actually, the bowling alley is on the third floor" Madison corrected.

"Whatever," KayKay muttered, taking her turn.

After quite a few games, Madison came in first each time, followed by either KayKay or Matt, and always ending with Harry.

By the time everyone had tired of this, it was beginning to get dark outside. After asking the rather unfriendly employee behind the shoe counter what there was to do nearby and having no success, Matt went into the pub (since he was the only one of the group that was eighteen) and asked a motherly looking waitress.

"She says that there are a few teen clubs nearby, but since I doubt that Harry would be very fond of dancing"—Harry snorted his agreement—"although, he did a spectacular job today"—Harry shook his head again—"there are a few other choices. There are some diners nearby, a couple of your basic movie theatres . . ."

"Well . . ." KayKay said slowly, and Harry saw her exchange a look with Madison, "a movie could be fun, I suppose . . ."

"But, she mentioned one other thing," Matt continued. "Apparently, there's a drive-in movie theatre nearby—it was closed for a long time, but now it's re-opened and shows classic movies . . . tonight they're showing old Disney cartoons and The Wizard of Oz."

"Hey, that sounds like fun!" Madison said excitedly.

"Yeah . . . I remember growing up on some of those old cartoons!" KayKay agreed.

"What do you say, Harry? Should we go for childhood nostalgia?" Matt asked, and all three of them turned to look at Harry, who shrugged.

"I haven't seen any of them, so why not?"

Madison gaped at him. "You haven't seen The Wizard of Oz?!"

"Or old Disney Cartoons?!" KayKay gasped. He shook his head.

"That's it! We're going to the drive-in!" Madison announced, grabbing Harry by the wrist and quite unexpectedly yanking him towards the door. Looking over his shoulder, he saw KayKay and Matt follow, joining hands as they made their way out to the car.

º º º º º

An hour and a half later, all four teenagers were watching The Wizard of Oz from the jeep. The summer breeze was warm and fresh, and they seemed to be the only ones at the drive-in.

They'd already passed the song in which Dorothy sang about rainbows—of course, the other three had joined in and sung along with that one—and they had also passed the song all of the short munchkins sang in their tiny voices. The other three had sung along with that one, too.

Now, a song with a scarecrow was starting up, and beside him, Madison was smiling and singing happily.

"Oh I could tell you why
The ocean's near the shore.
I could think of things I'd never thunk before,
And then I'd sit and think some more!
"

KayKay turned and looked back at Madison, joining in.

"I would not be just a nothin'
My head all full of stuffing,
My heart all full of pain.
I would dance and be merry,
Life would be a ding-a-derry—"

"If I only had a brain!" they all finished together.

"Yes, if only you did" Harry agreed, laughing.

"Well, now that my favorite part is done, I'll be back in a moment, before the Cowardly Lion shows up!" KayKay said quickly, hopping out of the jeep and going towards the merchandise building.

Madison watched her go for a moment, then looked back at the screen where the Scarecrow and Dorothy were skipping down the road singing a reprise.

"Hey, pass the popcorn back here, will you?" Harry asked Matt.

"Good luck with it," Matt commented, handing him the empty bag. Harry sighed and opened the door, stepping out onto the crunchy gravel.

"Where are you going?" Madison asked, tearing her gaze away from the large screen.

"To get more popcorn," Harry replied holding up the empty bag. Madison nodded and looked back at the movie as trees started tossing apples at the two travelers.

Harry shook his head, then started off across the vast, empty lot. He reached the building where they'd gotten the popcorn. A teenager was leaning the counter, chewing her gum noisily and looking as if she would've preferred to be anywhere but there.

"What can I do you for?" she asked, straightening a bit and moving over so she was behind the register.

"Er . . . two large popcorns, please."

The girl pushed a few buttons on the machine, then turned to get some popcorn. Harry pulled some money out of his wallet, counted out what he owed, and was just shoving the wallet back into his pocket when he heard a door slam.

He looked up and saw KayKay coming from the direction of the bathrooms.

"Oh, hi Harry" she said, looking surprised when she saw him. "What are you doing?"

"Getting more popcorn," he replied as the girl set the bags down on the counter and he handed her the money.

"Here, I'll give you a hand with that," KayKay said, taking one of the bags. "So, what part was the movie at when you left?"

"I think that the Scarecrow and Dorothy were arguing with some trees" Harry laughed. "Does that sound about right?"

KayKay nodded. "Yes. I hope I don't miss the Cowardly Lion—he's the funniest one."

It was dark and shadowy between the merchandise building and the place where the car was parked, and shrubbery grew right up to the edge of the parking lot. Harry was just about to comment on how the company should put in some streetlights when he heard an ominous click and KayKay gave a small cry of surprise.

Harry turned quickly to see a dark figure clutching KayKay tightly by the arm and holding a gun.

"Just do what I tell you and the girl won't get hurt."

The man's voice was deep and gruff, and his face was mostly concealed by shadow. KayKay looked nothing short of petrified as her eyes darted between the hand holding her captive and Harry's face.

He wondered why she wasn't defending herself and getting free the way they'd both been taught earlier in the summer, but the gun moved a bit, inching closer to KayKay's head, and he saw why.

The thug's finger was poised on the trigger—even the slightest wrong move and the gun would go off, whether the man wanted it to or not.

It was also for this reason that Harry didn't try anything rash—even though he thought he could get the gun away, he didn't dare take any chances.

"Don't hurt her," he said immediately.

"What's she worth to you?"

The man was studying Harry, looking ready to act at the first sign of resistance.

"What do you want?" Harry asked carefully, reaching slowly into his back pocket and pulling his wallet out. "Here—this isn't a lot but it's all the money I've got—or here's a watch I got from my Godfather . . ."

The wallet was snatched away greedily, and Harry, glancing carefully at KayKay, began to take his watch off.

"Open it," the man growled, thrusting the wallet at KayKay. He apparently didn't want to lower the gun, and Harry watched as KayKay took it with trembling hands and showed her captor what it contained.

Appearing satisfied, he took the wallet again, shoving it hastily into his jacket pocket, followed by the watch Harry had offered.

"Is that it?" He pushed the gun closer to KayKay so the sinister metal was rested right against her temple. She closed her eyes fearfully and seemed to be taking quick, shallow breaths.

"I . . ." Harry checked his pockets again, and as he did so, his hand brushed his wand, a few galleons—he certainly couldn't hand over those, unless things got really bad—then a few handfuls of loose change in the small bag he normally kept wizard money in.

"Here—take whatever you want," he said quickly, turning the bag over and emptying it into the man's hand. At the last moment before the money was stashed in the thug's pocket, Harry saw a glimmer of something in with it that shouldn't have been there.

"Please—don't hurt her," he repeated, "just let her go."

The man looked KayKay up and down, pushed the gun into her temple once more, and then shoved her away, making her stumble on the gravel. Harry caught her just before she fell and hugged her close as they both tried to calm down.

The man had turned and was heading swiftly away. The sound of his footsteps snapped Harry to attention, and he whipped out his wand and shouted, "Stupefy!"

The large man fell, and Harry went slowly to his side. Moving quickly to the pocket where his things had been placed, Harry sifted through them, pulling out his identification card and the item that he'd thought he'd seen in with the money. He wondered briefly how it got there, then he shoved both items into his pocket and stood again, putting an arm around KayKay's shoulders.

"Come on," he said gently, "let's go."

"But—but your things—your money, that watch from Sirius—"

"Leave them. He'll wake up soon enough as it is, I don't want him coming back after us. This way he'll probably just think he tripped or something."

The popcorn they'd both dropped was scattered on the pavement—they made their way around the mess, KayKay never lifting her eyes from the ground.

"You could've used your wand in the first place . . ." she said suddenly.

"No, I couldn't have. He might've thought I was grabbing a weapon or something and the gun might've gone off either way."

"Oh." She stopped, and looked back at the mess of popcorn and, further on, the shadowy mass that had threatened her. After a long silence she asked in a shaking voice, "Why—why did you do that for me? I mean, you could've done something besides hand over everything you had."

"I didn't want to risk it," Harry answered quietly. KayKay looked back at him gratefully, unshed tears glimmering in her eyes, and she hugged him again.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Harry smiled reassuringly, even though she couldn't see.

"Hey, that's what friends are for."

§ º § º § º § º § º § º § º § º §

I wake up in the morning and I see another new day
Rain or shine, well I don't mind, I'll never be alone.
I've got my friends and in the end, as long as we're together,
It's all for one and one for all as everybody knows.

When you're walking in the park, and you're lost, it's getting dark,
No one seems to be around, we're here in your heart.

We're all together, that's what friends are for,
All together, to open every door,
And we go rit, dit, dit, dit da da, rit, dit, dit, dit da da,
Just to put the sunshine in your eyes,
'Cause that's what friends are for.

Remember all the sunny days, and dancing in the moonlight,
Going to bed just tired and happy when the day is done.
A picnic's great in the summer time, we go down to the seaside,
And sharing means there'll always be enough for everyone.

When you're swimming off the beach, and the shore is out of reach,
Never fear there's someone there, to bring you safely back.

We're all together, that's what friends are for,
All together, to open every door,
And we go rit, dit, dit, dit da da, rit, dit, dit, dit da da,
Just to put the sunshine in your eyes,
'Cause that's what friends are for.

That's what friends are for,
That's what friends are for,
That's what friends are for . . .


I'm telling you, thrives on making updating difficult for me. one of the symbols I use for transitioning doesn't show up now . . . and I think the website is spying on me, because about the time I tried to type this before, my computer went wacko on me . . .

Wow, I never thought I'd see the day that a whole chapter would be devoted to one day . . . except for, of course, confrontations with Voldemort and the like.

So, storytime before I start responding to reviews: I was with my friends at the State Fair, and we stopped in the arcade and I played Extreme Dance Revolution (not sure if that's what it was actually called, though). I've played Dance Dance Revolution 2 on my friend's Playstation, and I'm pretty good, but the arcade game is just plain different . . . but I did okay, on the easiest level. Still after one and a half songs I was getting hot . . . I was in jeans and a tank top with a sweatshirt over it since it was kinda cold out . . . so midway through the second dance I just whipped the sweatshirt off (which really startled my friends and caused me to fall victim to some rather bad jokes). But yeah, after that dance I lost, so yada yada, we went away.

Way later, in the evening, we were walking buy on our way to find free stuff (YAY!!! FREE JUNK!!!) when we passed the arcade and I just stopped and stared because this guy . . . he must have been about 16, like us . . . was on "Nightmare" level and his feet were FLYING . . . he had to use both platforms, but he barely missed a step it was AMAZING . . . (my jaw must've dropped two feet, and when he finished I was the first one to clap . . .)

But yes, end of rambling storytime! Heehee!

Alrighty then! Reviewers!

xAnonymityx (aka Laura): Yes, I need to release my inner whatever every now and then. º laughs º And the attack by the Death Eaters on that group of appartments in Hogsmeade wasn't too fully explained, but it's coincidence that they struck where Matt was going to be moving to. They were doing their usual mayhem and evil deeds, killing innocent witches and wizards . . . and if you'll consider, many people who live in apartments are unmarried people, like Aurors, etc.

Malfoy or someone might've told Voldemort that he needed to get a life and do dastardly deeds while waiting for the next opportunity to strike at Potter. However, if it were me, I'd send The-Man-Who-Let-The-Boy-Live to a shrink. º nods º Yup. That's what I'd do.

LadyLex: Heehee, I'll update as fast as I can, but school starts next week º gags º So it may start taking longer . . . glad to hear that you're still reading, I'd wondered where you'd disappeared to . . .

TheSugarPlum (aka Kelli): Yes, Harry and KayKay are friends now . . . nice kid, helping KayKay calm down . . . okay, I'll admit that it'd be nice to have a guy friend who was nice like that. I mean, I have a guy friend, and he helps you calm down if you're nervous or something but he's just . . . weird . . .

ME: Well, yeah, I guess I'm a bit worried. I've never danced solo in front of anyone but my friends . . .

HIM: Oh don't worry. If the people out there start throwing stuff at you, we can just attack them with blowtorches. They're inferior little demonic neanderthals. And they're not the ones dancing. (And all this time he has a wild, evil grin on his face and he's tapping his fingers together in anticipation)

Actually, what he really said was even more evil-sounding than that . . . but you just have to read between the lines when you're talking to him.

I'm digressing again. Bad Calli!

And the Possessed Phantom Chicken . . . oy, that's a story I'll have to tell you after my next update . . . I've gotten off track too many times already tonight. Remind me to explain that one to you, m'kay? It's a funny/freaky story . . .

And yes, Madison and Sirius . . . not sure whether they're the most insane or the most wise characters in my story . . . it's sometimes hard to tell.

And yeah, that one guy died at St. Mungo's . . . I couldn't keep some of those characters straight, even after I read it a third time . . . oy . . .

Well, I have to go now, I've rambled plenty, even though I had far fewer reviews to go through! Toodles!