"I got it!" was the call that rang through the Common Room. It was midnight, and the Common Room was nearly deserted except for a small group of four people. They looked up at the call.

"I told you that I would get the bloody playbook, didn't I? I told you, Mr. Jordan!" Before Lee could even move, Katie had shoved the weakly bound edition in his face and a sharp shout of laughter had been yelled into his ear.

The twins guffawed loudly, and Fred dropped an exploding snap card onto the ground. There was a puff of smoke that temporarily changed the laughing to choking, and then they were both back to their usual smirks.

"Good show, Katie," Angelina smiled and took the book into her own hands. "Where was it?" She idly flipped through it and a twin looked over her shoulder with interest.

Katie sneered and smoothed her skirt. "It was his bed. The bloody oaf is a Ravenclaw and he couldn't even find a cleverer place to put it." She flounced onto the couch. "I mean, really. Anyone could have just snuck up there and nicked it."

Angelina snorted. "Or that someone may have just been invited."

Katie's brow furrowed in thought and she nodded. "That someone may have just been invited."

Lee, fuming over the playbook incident, turned to her from his place on the ground. Nodding to her messy hair, he snarled, "Nice bed-head, kiddo."

Katie sighed and fingered the ends of her hair, finally allowing herself to run her entire hand through in order to try and straighten it. "Shows how much you know." She told him coolly. "It's only messed up in the back. It's wall-hair, actually."

Lee's jaw dropped and he searched for words. He just settled for stumbling over an explicit curse. Angelina didn't seem fazed and just shook her head with a small smile, placing the playbook aside.

Katie smiled sweetly in response and leaned her head onto the shoulder of the nearest twin. "What's the game, Fred?" she asked him, as Angelina mechanically added her to their game.

"It's George," The twin answered automatically, picking up his own cards. "And the game is regular, old, exploding snap."

Katie frowned at her hand. "I think that I may just sit this one out."

Fred pointed a finger at her, his own cards nearly falling out of his hand. "You know the rules, Bell. The ones that we formed for you specifically." Katie sighed before Fred could finish. But he went on anyway and ignored her. "Once you take the hand, you cannot flake out."

Katie sighed and looked up to Lee for help. He just frowned and sorted through his cards. "You heard the man."

George threw a seven onto the table to start the game, but before anyone could respond to his move, someone shrieked. It was so loud and so high that it didn't seem human, and it broke in the middle in an eerie sort of way.

They all sat up stock straight. "You heard that, right?" George asked, looking at the faces of those sitting around the circle.

"Of course we heard it, Forge," Fred answered, his head swiveling around the room. It was plain where it had come from.

"The hallway outside The Fat Lady." Lee said what was on all of their minds.

Katie's eyes grew wide and she circled her arms about herself. "You don't think that it's--"

Angelina shushed her and held out her hand to pull Katie to her feet. "No. Of course not. It's probably just one of the portraits gotten drunk again. You know Violet and her chocolates." She drew her wand out of her pocket. "Either way, we should probably go see what it is."

Lee sprang onto his feet. "Always the adventure seeker, aren't you, Angelina?" He met Fred's glare with his own and held up his hands. "I was just calling it like I see it."

Angelina ignored him and had ventured forward, toward the Portrait Hole. Katie was right behind her and was patting her person in search of her wand. Finally, she fumbled across the right pocket in her robe and pulled it out.

"You might want to wait for us," a twin told the girls, as the both of them and Lee caught up Katie and Angelina.

"You know. In the case that it is dangerous." The other twin finished.

Angelina rolled her eyes in her classic expression and Katie snorted, adding "I think that we could probably handle whatever it is. Slytherin or…You-Know-Who."

Before Katie had even finished her sentence, Angelina swung open the portrait hole and dropped onto the ground. Katie quickly following her, poised for a fight and looking around suspiciously.

There, against the wall to the Common Room, was a huddle of dark robes. The person gave a choking, stuttering sob every few seconds, with many snorts and sniffles in between. They all stood there with their wand arms dropped dejectedly down at their sides.

It was a moment before Lee finally said what all of them knew. "Alicia?" He asked, eyes wide and head bowed a bit.

The bundle gave a slow, heart-breaking sob. Katie and Angelina wasted no time in stowing their wands in their pockets and falling down to the ground next to Alicia. Angelina put her arms around her friend and Katie stroked her hair. Fred, George, and Lee all looked on with that pinched, overwhelmed look that men tend to get whenever girls start to cry.

"What happened, sweetie?" Katie asked, after Alicia's weeping had subsided a bit.

There was a pause and a sniffle before Alicia answered. "Ste—Ste—Stephen chu…Stephen chucked me!" When she finally managed to spit it out, her voice was shaky and uneven.

Angelina grimaced and Katie's mouth made an 'O' of surprise. It was only a second before they started immediately doting. "Oh, you poor thing." Katie told her.

"He was a jerk anyway." Angelina told her.

"I have some chocolate. C'mon. It's Honeyduke's Finest."

"You're better off without him."

"Eat some chocolate, wash your hair, snuggle into bed, and then you'll feel better."

"Bloody Stephen didn't even play quidditch, anyway."

Lee, Fred, and George, in the meanwhile, had backed up considerably. Fred's back was against The Fat Lady who woke up and loudly asked what they wanted. Lee hissed the password, and George swung the door open. It was all very practiced and precise.

On either side of Alicia, Katie and Angelina managed to more or less pick her up and steer her toward the portrait hole. It was harder to coax her into the Common Room, but once they got there, Alicia paused and blew her nose pitifully into the handkerchief that Angelina had handed her.

"What did I do wrong?" she wept into Katie's shoulder. "I was a really good girlfriend. I really was!" She froze and hazarded a glance at the twins and Lee, who had found seats on the scarlet furniture.

"Boys don't like when you forget anniversaries, do they?" Her voice was high pitched and panicked. "I bet I forgot one! I didn't get him a present, not even a chocolate bar!" Alicia curled her hands around the collar of her robe.

"Which one did I forget?" She screeched. Without warning, she began to count on her fingers. Her eyes looked pathetic and crazed, and she stood stock still.

Angelina watched her for a moment, alarmed, before finally announcing, "Okay Alicia. I think it's time for bed." With Alicia still counting on her fingers, she led her friend up the stairs with a small bit of difficulty.

Katie stayed behind and looked at the boys with solemn eyes. "I just wanted to let you know that she's not touched in the head." Nodding and blowing them a kiss, she took the steps two at a time.

As Katie fled out of sight, George exhaled heavily and Lee looked up the stairs in a horrified way. Fred looked at the both of them before clearing his throat and saying, "Mates, for what it's worth, Angelina and I don't keep track of anniversaries."