Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and am making no money from this.

Ginny

Ron's been waiting for a chance to talk to Hermione all day, and now that classes are over his chance is here. He really didn't like Hermione and Parkinson sitting at the Ravenclaw table for lunch. Personally, I'm not surprised they did it though. I mean, Hermione's made no secret of the fact that she's not happy with how Ron's been lately. That and I guess me.

After Hermione made me agree to drop all the stuff with Cho, I've done my best to let it go. Hermione's my friend, and she was really upset, so yeah, I'm doing my best here. After all, it really wasn't that huge a deal, was it? Dangerous magic? That's sort of normal for us; if I didn't want to be around that sort of stuff I'd have never gone to the Ministry at the end of last year. So maybe I did kind of take things too far. And even if I didn't, one of my best friends thinks I did, so I'll let things go for her, if nothing else.

Ron sort of let things go after Hermione's rant too, at least he tried to, but this sitting at Ravenclaw thing has him riled up again. Looking at how he's acting today is sort of eye opening, really, and not in a good way.

He doesn't do anything half way; none of us Weasleys do. Seeing this though, it makes me wonder, just what have I been like? Was I that bad too? I know how upset Hermione has been about this (a lot more than she looked when she made Ron and I back off). I'm wondering now, did we really deserve it? I'm kind of worried the answer is yes.

"So are you going to sit at the Ravenclaw table again for dinner?" Ron asks Hermione when she and Parkinson come into the common room after classes.

"That's right," Parkinson confirms.

"I didn't ask you."

"Ron, be nice," Hermione scolds Ron. "And I think it's likely we will eat at Ravenclaw's table. It's only fair, after all. Pansy has eaten at Gryffindor all year; normal couples would split their time between each member's choice of table."

"But Slytherin are lousy gits; no one would want to eat with them."

"True. So all this time Pansy has foregone a choice. Now she wants to eat with Cho and Fleur, so it's only fair that she should get to choose after simply going with my choice by default for over half a year."

"But what about us?" Ron actually sounds a bit hurt here. Weird, I thought he was just being a jerk with all this.

"We're still friends, Ron. But Pansy is my girlfriend, and this sort of thing is how couples are. Besides, Cho and Fleur are our friends too. But please understand, this isn't anything personal, and I'm not choosing Cho and Fleur over you and Harry. This is just being fair to Pansy."

I'm sure Hermione means it when she says she isn't choosing Cho and Fleur over Harry and Ron. Parkinson though, I think picking Cho and Fleur over Harry and Ron is exactly what she's doing. After all, she never much liked Harry and she hates my brother. I don't think it's just for show either, she really does hate Ron. But Cho and Fleur? She likes them just fine. Granted part of it is that Parkinson is the sort who seems to like being around attractive people, and those two qualify.

"So you're not going to sit with us for the rest of the year?" Ron asks.

"I don't know, Ron. To be honest, I'm not planning that far ahead at the moment. I'm sure we will all sit together again. It's just that for now with Harry and Cho upset at each other and not sitting together, it has things all a mess. I'm sure things will work out; just be patient."

So basically Hermione's saying if Ron hadn't been such a jerk lately then this split meal arrangement would never have happened. Maybe it's my fault a little bit too. Just a little bit.

Harry

I've been called to the Headmaster's office. I don't know why; I haven't done anything. The only reasons I get called here are either because I did something, or after some big battle with Voldermort, and neither's happened, so I really have no idea what's going on. Once I enter the office though, it's obvious what's going on: Dumbledore is sitting at his desk, and next to him is my godfather, Sirius Black.

"Sirius, what are you doing here?" That's the best greeting I can come up with.

"I'm free, Harry," Sirius replies.

"Free?"

"He is indeed free," Dumbledore confirms. "Wormtail has been extensively interrogated, and given what has been learned from him, the Ministry is convinced that Sirius is innocent. The paperwork has all been filed; Sirius is a free man."

"For real? Like you can just walk around and no Aurors will be after you?"

"That's right," Sirius grins.

"So does that mean I can spend the summer with you?"

"I am afraid not," Dumbledore puts an end to that. "You will still need to remain with the Dursleys. Though it should be possible to arrange for you to spend some time with Sirius at the end of the summer."

It's not what I want to hear, but I guess it isn't terrible; at least I'll get to see Sirius, maybe actually be able to go out and do something with him like real family. Still, I wonder why. "Professor Dumbledore, why is it I have to stay with the Dursleys if I have somewhere else to go?"

"They are your family, Harry, your blood relatives. It is important you spend time with them while you can in the summer." It's basically the same answer as I always get, and it's as unsatisfying as ever. Who cares if they're blood relatives? I certainly don't.

"It's not so bad, Harry," Sirius cuts off the rant that was just starting in my head. "The way things are going there may not be many Death Eaters left by summer."

"Not many Death Eaters left? Where will they go?"

"To Azkaban," Sirius answers, then quietly adds "That or hell."

"What? How?"

"Surely you have read the Prophet, Harry? The now almost regular articles of Death eaters being defeated by a masked vigilante, left for capture by the Aurors?" Dumbledore asks me.

"Yeah, but I mean, it's the Prophet so I don't exactly believe a lot of it," I answer.

"Quite wise, though in this case it seems the reporting is accurate."

"Really? So just what is going on out there?" Maybe for once Dumbledore will tell me what's actually going on.

"They're being taken apart, that's what," Sirius replies. "Death Eaters left and right are being tossed in prison. There can't be many of them left; pretty soon we'll be seeing the major ones captured the way it's going. Hell, You-Know-Who might even get nabbed. The way things are going the whole war could be practically wrapped up by summer."

"I think perhaps you are being slightly premature, Sirius," Dumbledore interrupts. "It is true that the Death Eaters are being captured en masse, but to expect an end to the war so soon strikes me as overly optimistic."

"Maybe, but you can't deny it's looking bad for them, Albus."

"Quite so, but there is no evidence that this vigilante can defeat Tom. Or for that matter that he will continue to restrict himself to Death Eaters. Our own organization has been exposed publicly."

"I thought you said that was fake?" Sirius asks.

"Indeed, I am quite confident that the Order's involvement in public battles was fabricated. Regardless, the Ministry knows of us and views us as no different from the Death Eaters. It is very possible that the Death Eaters could simply cease their attacks and bide their time while this vigilante and the Aurors direct their attention to us."

"Maybe. But all we have to do is lay low ourselves. After all, they can't catch us doing anything illegal if we just skip the illegal activities, right?"

I'm not sure if I'm meant to hear this conversation or if Dumbledore just forgot I was in the room. Either way, this is the most I've heard of how things are going in the war all year. It's good news too; Death Eaters on the run, maybe even Voldermort himself. Ok, maybe that's overly optimistic, like Dumbledore said, but if most of the death Eaters are caught and Voldermort's in hiding that's really good time. After all the arguing with Cho lately I'm glad to have things looking up.

Pansy

Classes are done for the day, and I'm just sitting around the Gryffindor common room with Hermione. It's actually pretty empty, lot of people off at Quidditch practice or clubs or things like that. Hermione's doing homework (she has to now, since later on the idiot weasel will beg her to do his and for god knows what reason, Hermione usually does.) I have my books open, but mostly I'm playing with my kitty Madison. She's cute; it's a far better use of my time than boring ass homework.

I'm so busy playing with Madison that I miss whatever Hermione says to me the first time. "Huh? You say something?" I ask her.

"I said I've been thinking about the future," She answers.

"Hmm? Thought you dropped Divination class."

"Yes, I did. I actually wasn't so much doing homework as letting my mind wander."

"Oh, well that's good. Most of that crap is annoying and pointless anyway."

"Um yes. So, as I was saying," Hermione totally blows off what I said. "I was thinking about the future. Our future to be specific."

"I've told you what our future will be. You were listening, weren't you?"

"Of course I was. I always listen to what you have to say." I can't help but grin at that. "But what I was refering to was you and I, specifically."

"You and me?"

"Yes. Our relationship. What it would be, what all this is leading to."

Is Hermione heading where I think she is? "Wait, are you talking like, marriage or something?" I ask.

"Yes," she answers simply.

"Um, you know that's not really a thing, right? I mean for wizards; we're both girls. I saw on the Internet that muggles let chicks marry, but that just doesn't fly in the wizarding world."

"I rather suspected that was the case. But I don't see the major obstacle there. I'm Muggle born, a mud blood, and you're a blood traitor. I don't think so called respectable pure blood families will care to have anything to do with us regardless."

"Ok, you've got a point there."

"So the issues of social stigma or disapproval from wizards aren't really a factor."

"Um, I guess." Hermione's sort of missing the point here I think. Seems to happen to her a lot when her dreams of the future are too idealistic. "You know we're both still kids, right? Sixteen? I mean, legally kids. Ok, there was an exception, so I could get the Parkinson assets, but you aren't of age, won't be for another year. And from what I saw, Muggles want you to be even older than wizards for this sort of thing."

"I know that, Pansy. Relax, I'm not proposing here, I'm simply talking in hypotheticals. As in, is this what we want one day, when we're both older?"

"I don't know; I hadn't really thought about it. I mean sure, I guess so. Why not."

"Pansy, I'm being serious here," Hermione insists.

"Look, I never thought about it. Once I hooked up with you, I figured all that was out the window. Hell, I figured all the Parkinson shit was gone too. Just was how it was going to be being with you."

"Yes, but the Parkinson assets are yours now. You don't need to write off every aspect of life just because you're with me."

"I guess. I just never really thought about it. Marriage for love I mean; it never was an option for me."

"I know, arranged marriage and all that. But now you're free to choose."

"Is that big a deal? Being married I mean. If we're together we're together, that's what counts, right?"

"It matters," Hermione insists.

"Why?"

"Because two people together are just a couple, which is great, but it's, hmm, how to explain this…. There are couples everywhere. We're a couple, yes, but so are Harry and Cho, who are barely together, along with countless other examples. It simply isn't something special. Marriage is a commitment, a statement that two people intend to be together for life, to share everything for as long as they both live."

"If you let us use those youth potions, we have locked in Gringotts that can be a very long time you know," I point out.

"That makes the commitment all the more serious."

Hermione's sidestepping the issue of those potions. Though it is the first time that I've brought them up and she didn't outright demand we pour them down the drain. So sidestepping is progress, I guess.

"All right, fine, we can get married sometime, I guess. After we leave school and stuff." Why the fuck not; it's a big deal to Hermione obviously.

"Pansy, I'm being serious here."

"Yeah, I know; so am I. Yes, after we leave school and are older, actual grown adults, then we can get married, sure."

I know Hermione's totally serious here, way more than me. To me it's no big thing; I mean, we're together, that's enough. But she really wants this. Me, I'll deal with it seriously when we're older and Hermione's off at a jewelry store looking at rings. But Hermione loves my answer just the same; she's all over me, hugging and kissing me.

Cho

Quidditch practice is done for the day. The team's in good shape, both our starting lineup and people being groomed for starting positions next year after many of us graduate. My future as a player is already secured, of course. That being said, there are players who are not yet so lucky but hold out hope to be. Also, I do wish to go out on top, hoisting the cup one more time. But that is for another day.

For today practice is over; I've had my hot shower (an indulgence I've come to love luxuriating in), redressed in my normal clothes and am going to head back to Ravenclaw Tower, but just outside the Ravenclaw locker room I find Ginny Weasley waiting for me.

"Ah, hi Cho," she greets me. "I was hoping to run into you." Yes, waiting outside my team's locker will rather guarantee that.

"What's on your mind?" I ask in a neutral tone.

"I um, I was thinking that we should talk. This whole thing between us, the stuff since that DA fight, I was hoping we could get past it."

"Oh?" I make no effort to hide my surprise. "What brought this on, if I may ask?"

"Well Ron's been upset about Hermione and Parkinson sitting with you at the Ravenclaw table. Actually, he's kind of made a big thing of it. Hermione wasn't having it though; she wasn't angry really, more like she was calm and just explaining things to him. I don't know, just watching it, seeing my brother, it's like, ok, yeah, Weasleys can do anger and grudges and stuff; it's a family thing I guess.

"Anyway, just seeing Ron like that, it wasn't nice, and it occurred to me, I probably wasn't that far off from that all this time. Yeah, I was mad and that whole thing at the DA was messed up, but no way it should have gone on as long as it did."

"You're apologizing?"

"I thought I just did? Fine, I'm sorry I shot you in the back and held a grudge about the whole almost burning me alive thing."

I try my hardest not to laugh, I really do. It's a struggle, but somehow I manage. "I'm sorry as well, for the almost burning you alive thing, as you put it."

"So we're good then?"

"Yes, we're good," I confirm.

"Ok." Ginny pauses, obviously not sure what to say next. "So um, what have you been up to? Quidditch practice I guess?"

"That's right." I just came out of the locker room; it seems painfully obvious to me.

"So I guess you have a good shot at the cup again? Since Hufflepuff is kind of a joke and Gryffindor is um… yeah…."

"That's right. With the Slytherin team having been suspended for half the year. we're essentially guaranteed to play for the cup, likely against Slytherin, despite their half year's poor showing. It's still possible Gryffindor or even Hufflepuff could make it to play for the cup instead of Slytherin, but I expect them to make up for their deficit in time. Your team would need quite some measure of luck to play against us at the end of the year."

"We never figured on getting far this year; Harry has this two-year plan, and I guess next year is supposed to be our year."

"Yes, rebuilding a team can take time," I agree.

"I guess it's good if you're really looking to get a pro scout's attention though; big win in the finals and all that."

"Yes, a heroic finish does get attention, though in terms of my future career prospects it's hardly necessary."

"Huh?" Apparently I lost Ginny.

"I already have a contract. It's signed and official."

"Really? It's pretty early for a contract, isn't it?"

"I was offered a contract in the first batch of offers to go out. Several offers in fact."

"Several? Wow. So you got to pick and choose, pick the best team and the most money?"

"The Appleby Arrows, and four hundred thousand galleons a year for three years, with two hundred as a signing bonus."

Ginny just stares at me for a bit. "Merlin, that's more than my dad will make in a lifetime. The signing bonus alone might be more than he's made in his life so far."

"It was a competitive offer," I reply and give a small shrug.

"Wow. So you're rich."

"I suppose so. I haven't really thought of it like that. There's a vault in Gringotts in my name now, the gold's sitting there. Honestly, I don't feel rich; it's all just numbers on paper at the moment. Maybe if I were to see the gold in person it would feel real. Or when I go to spend it."

"You certainly can spend a lot; ton of those Muggle shoes you always wear and stuff."

"Yes, I can buy high heels and whatnot," I agree. "Still, the money might not go as far as you think. I need things like a place to live, furniture, all those sorts of things. I can see the expenses adding up quickly."

"A place to live? You live too far from the team facility and practice field and stuff?"

"It's not that. Actually, it isn't particularly close to my house, but it's more, I anticipate needing a home of my own."

"Why's that? What's wrong with your parents' house, too small or something?"

"No, the size is fine. It's more that my parents don't approve of my playing Quidditch even as a hobby at school. When I tell them I'm playing professionally it will be a serious altercation, the sort that will not be settled in a day. So I don't care to remain there, particularly when I have the means to have a place of my own," I explain.

"Oh, that sucks. Wait, when you tell them? You mean you haven't yet?"

"As I said, it will be an argument. At first, I wanted to wait until the contract was signed, everything official and irrevocable. Now I suppose I simply am not looking forward to the fight so want to put it off as long as possible."

"That makes sense I guess. How come I'm only hearing about it now though? If it was me I'd be bragging all over the castle. I mean, why not say something at least to us when you got offered the contract. Or at least tell Harry. You'd think he'd have been happy for you and told people in Gryffindor about it."

"The day it happened I was preempted by your brother's news about Wormtail. I'm sure you recall how that conversation deteriorated into an argument."

"Yeah, I remember. So ok, you didn't tell all of us, but not even Harry?"

I'm not sure why she'd ask that. Her interest in Harry is no secret; surely she'd kept tabs on my relationship with him. "It didn't come up in conversation." She and the entire castle heard that argument we had outside and then in the Great Hall at breakfast.

"Oh," she answers. "So, um, I guess it sort of wound up a big secret by accident?"

"Not particularly secret; I told the Ravenclaw team. I imagine everyone in my house who cares in the slightest has heard. I mentioned it to Fleur as well. Beyond that I have no idea who knows or does not."

"So what's up with you and Fleur? You two together or have a thing for each other or what?" From inquiring about Harry now to Fleur. A rather obvious pattern is emerging here.

"We're friends. Beyond that I'm not sure."

"Huh? Not sure? What's that mean?" Gunny presses the issue.

I'm not entirely sure how to answer; rather I'm not sure if I care to answer. Ginny and I are hardly good friends, and while we are talking again, this is not necessarily an appropriate topic.

"I know she has romantic interest in me, though besides that one very public loss of control she hasn't acted on it. Before that moment I though the Yule Ball and various flirting within was simply a game." I answer regardless of doubts. After all, what's the worst that could happen?

"A game?"

"She's a Veela; they're sexual creatures. Flirting is what they do. And the fact I have a boyfriend is hardly a secret, so I simply assumed it was a game. She knew I was off limits, so I took it as nothing more than teasing between friends. Only after she kissed me did it occur to me that she might be serious."

"So she's got a thing for you. What about you, you into her?"

"I'm not sure. That isn't so easy a question, you see. I never previously considered any sort of romantic affiliation with another girl. Certainly the prospect isn't repulsive, and of course being the target of a Veela's affections is ego affirming."

"Ego affirming eh. Yeah that and the fact you actually have a boyfriend already."

"Quite true; I am with Harry. So questions of my sexuality and potential relationships with Fleur are rather moot."

"You should tell people that."

"The rumors? I had no part in starting them, and I think you know how hard rumors are to stop once they've gotten going. And in point of fact I neither started nor sought out any sort of potential relationship with Fleur."

"But if you and Harry break up you'd go for Fleur?" Ginny isn't letting go of this.

"I have no idea. As I said, it is moot; Harry and I are together and I am not looking to change that."

"Sorry, sorry. Just curious."

"Curious and perhaps a bit more?"

"What's that mean?"

"Your interest in Harry is no secret. My choosing Fleur over him would be a very convenient way of furthering that interest."

"What's so bad about that? If he wasn't in a relationship he'd be fair game."

"And I suspect you'd have far less trouble with me if that were to come to pass."

"What, you think I don't like you because you're with Harry?"

"I think that's certainly a factor, yes," I reply.

"I don't know. Maybe." She doesn't sound particularly convinced. though I don't think she's ever seriously considered the possibility either.

"No, I'm quite certain you'd simply write me off as that friend who wears too little or however you'd put it in your head."

"You don't want to know how I put it in my head," Ginny mutters.

I suspect that's true. It might be interesting to see how creative Ginny got, in a detached sort of academic way, but I think some mysteries may be better left unsolved and unpondered.

"Looking good is part of my job now," I point out.

"What job? You're a student; you don't have a job."

"I will after the term ends."

"Oh yeah, endorsements and posters and stuff." I think she's going to let it drop, but after a short pause she decides otherwise. "So is the whole new look part of that? To get noticed by a team and get a contract and stuff?"

"That had nothing to do with it." I'm a bit insulted at the suggestion, and uncomfortably reminded of a similar question from Harry earlier in the year. What if I got a contract partly because of my looks, would I accept it? I said I would take it regardless, and that answer still stands, though that answer is very much a hypothetical. "I was offered a contract because of my play, period."

"All right, all right," Ginny puts her hands up in surrender.

We walk side by side in silence for a bit. I'm going in the general direction of Ravenclaw Tower, but I'm in no particular hurry, in case this little reconciliation isn't over yet. As it turns out it isn't.

"So I guess things aren't going so good between you and Harry?" Ginny asks.

"Of all the things to ask about, you choose that now?" I thought we covered this already. How does she see this as appropriate, to say nothing of redundant?

"Yeah, yeah, conflict of interest, all that stuff," Ginny dismisses my reaction. "But it's more than my wanting to date Harry. It's pretty obvious things between you and Harry aren't great. I mean, you're off eating at Ravenclaw's table, and Harry isn't. Now Parkinson's got Hermione eating there with you and Fleur. Of course my brother's with Harry and sort of freaking about the whole thing. It actually got to the point where Hermione got fed up about it and all so yeah. It's affecting everybody."

There is a certain logic to that, and I do respect the fact that Ginny is trying to use that logic to appeal to me. For not the first time I wish I had an impartial friend to talk to about such things, someone whose only interest was my own best interest. Instead I've talked to Fleur, whose conflict of interest is as obvious as Ginny's. I suppose that makes it a line I crossed long ago then.

"If you must know, then no, things are not going so good between Harry and I, as you put it."

"Yeah, not even sitting together to eat? I'd say that's pretty bad."

"If it was so obvious then why ask?" I inquire.

"I was hoping for some details." I suddenly realize what an awful gossip Ginny must be.

"You haven't already interrogated Harry to get details?"

"Nah, not really."

"Why not?" I inquire. "Wouldn't that have been easier than coming to me and apologizing for things before asking?"

"I guess," Ginny concedes. "I guess I was more interested in other things." Such as trying to keep an old grudge alive, no doubt. "So going to share?"

"Fine," I roll my eyes. "So as I said, things have been better, thanks in large part to your brother, in point of fact."

"I think Fleur had more to do with it."

"Actually, that is not the case. Ron's efforts included being a third wheel at the Yule Ball, quite successfully so. Fleur stopped by our table and offered a lifeline of sorts, which I gladly accepted. It was a miserable night before that and I wanted to be quit of it.

"And then there was that kiss."

"Yes, and then there was that kiss. Which for my part was completely unexpected. Fleur has since apologized, claims she did not mean to cause trouble and I believe her. But of course the damage was done."

"What, and things just got worse from there? You two didn't talk or anything?"

"Communication has never been the strong point of our relationship."

"So you two aren't talking, you're not sitting together, half the castle thinks you're with Fleur anyway, sounds like things are basically over between you and Harry."

"Things are not over between us," I state, trying to put an end to this line of discussion..

"They sound over to me. But hey, you two don't sound happy, so how about this: I ask Harry out, you ask Fleur out and we see if everyone's in a better mood afterward."

"What? No, you cannot ask Harry out."

"Why not? You two aren't talking, you aren't sitting together, everyone's fighting, what's the worst that can happen?"

"It will not happen, Ginny."

"So call it taking a break, couples do that. Or just call it a break from being exclusive."

"I don't think Harry has any concept of a couple not being exclusive. To him you simply date one person, no more."

"So teach him; Ravenclaw love showing off stuff they know that other people don't." Nothing rapacious in that suggestion I'm sure.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the very, very long gap between chapters. No excuse.

Now that there is a new chapter, I'd love to hear what people think, either in a review or a PM. Especially if anyone has thoughts on Ginny's suggestion and how Cho might react to it.

Also, as always thanks to that-fan for his help with editing. I couldn't do this without him.