A/n: We're a little over a year in and here we all still are.

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Glee.

Neville:

Neville had been confused for a moment as to whether their little clique was coming apart at the seams, no one had directly declared against another but there had been a definite tension and a time when they were divided; though the division had passed the tension was very much in their midst. He had assumed that it had something to do with Malfoy's less than flattering paraphrase of something he alleged Kurt had said; Neville, having first-hand experience of how wicked Malfoy could be, knew better than to believe it but he knew it wasn't his place to say something because Kurt must have had a reason for his silence. As Neville had suspected after the incidences surrounding the weekend of the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor quidditch match, things were back to normal; almost as if nothing had happened, Kurt and Ron were back to arguing about everything and anything.

Everything appeared to have levelled out until breakfast, when Harry had showed them The Marauder's Map that he had received from Fred and George, and shared with their clique his intentions of using the map and his invisibility cloak to sneak out of the castle to Hogsmead on the last out-weekend before Christmas;

"That might be the worst idea I've ever heard," Kurt gaped at Harry, "tell me you're joking."

"I'm not," Harry swallowed a lump in his throat and Neville felt himself doing the same, "I'm tired of missing out, this is my plan to change that."

"I think that's a big risk you're taking," Hermione added, she held Harry's hand and gave him a good long stare, "But I can't fault you out right."

"I'm not asking for permission or criticism," Harry's words were bold, "I've made up my mind, I'm doing this."

"What do you mean you mean you're 'doing this'?" Kurt gaped, "Do you realise how dangerous this could be?"

Ron gave Kurt a condescending pat on the shoulder, "you worry too much."

"I feel like maybe you don't think about the risks hard enough," Kurt's eyes looked about to pop out of his skull from how tightly he had his teeth gritted, Neville couldn't help but let out a small whimper at his intimidating state, "these unsanctioned tunnels out of the school probably aren't structurally sound and might collapse on him or worse he gets hurt outside and nobody knows he's out there, he could end up lying dead in a ditch with snow piling up over you for months before being found."

"That's a little melodramatic," Ron quirked a brow as he scoffed down his bacon sandwich, "don't you think?"

Kurt simply gawked at Ron, then at Hermione, then his gaze landed on Neville and he didn't know what to do other than squirm, and finally it fell on Harry, "As a matter of fact I think I might be the only one thinking."

"That's not fair," Hermione looked up from her reading with a wag of her finger, "Harry won't listen, talking to him about it is pointless because he has his mind made up."

"Besides," Ron shrugged, "Harry's made of the right stuff, look at him, you wouldn't tell he broke more bones at once than most people break in their whole lives."

"Speaking of," Kurt turned to address, "I've been meaning to talk to you about quidditch."

Harry was shocked, "you want to talk to me about quidditch, what about it?"

"It's a barbaric sport," Kurt announced, crossing his long slender arms elegantly over his chest and pursing his lips for a moment, "I'm not trying to be a bitch but quidditch has to go."

"Quidditch is a time honoured tradition here at Hogwarts," Ron argued back waving his arms around with his eyes on the verge of falling out of his skull, "It's also the greatest sport ever invented, we can't simply 'do away with it'."

"Hockey is the greatest sport," Finn, Hermione and Kurt chorused, each raising an interjectory finger in perfect sync, what made it more frightening was that Finn wasn't even part of the conversation of within ear shot.

"Which one's hockey?" Ron scratched the crown of his head as he thought.

"It's the one where Kurt elbowed Cedric in the face even though they were on the same team," Neville answered with a small chuckle; he recalled Kurt's uncharacteristic aggression and the unprovoked violence he was willing to dish out to both team member and opponents alike in the name of Hockey, "it was frightening."

"Cedric was marking me, and from the wrong side to make matters worse," Kurt huffed with a slight twitch of his brow, "He's lucky I like his face and let him off that lightly."

"And you think Quidditch is barbaric?" Ron had a smirk of self-proclaimed victory on his face.

"That's not the same thing," Kurt argued, he stopped and placed a finger on his temple, "Hermione please explain it to him because I'm tired of repeating myself, maybe he'll listen if it's coming from you."

"There's not a chance in hell of me letting you drag me into this mess," Hermione snorted with shake of her head, "you two finish your stupidity yourselves, I'm not nearly sufficiently prepared for the upcoming potions test on friday."

"I want you to know you're the worst," Kurt rolled his eyes, "The difference is that Cedric was breaking the rules which put him in danger, Harry follows every rule in quidditch yet it still tries to kill him at least once a year."

"It doesn't try to kill him," Ron pouted for a moment, "people try to kill him; first year it Quirreldemort, last year it was Dobby and this year it was Black."

"Black?" Neville raised a brow, Neville remember the matter slightly differently and couldn't equate Harry's attack and him falling off his broom to the actions of one man but again chose to say nothing.

"I don't think you can blame Sirius Black for the dementor attack at last week's quidditch," Harry scoffed.

"Not directly," Ron admitted but with a smile on his face, "unless there's some Slytherin dark magic for controlling dementors."

"And when would we learn this?" Kurt raised a brow, "We're in all the same lessons as you."

"I don't know," Ron shrugged, "bed time stories."

"As fun as that theory is, Sirius Black was in Gryffindor," Hermione said without looking up from her book.

"Gryffindor?" Neville felt his mouth gaping, "I thought Kurt said he was in Slytherin."

"I'd deduced as much based on the words of the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black until Peeves said that my 'father'," Kurt put air quotes around the word father, "would be disappointed I was just like the rest of his family which made me suspect that something about me was what had distinguished Sirius Black from the rest of the Black Family, I broke into the hall of records again and I found out he was in Gryffindor. That's not the point of this conversation, I wasn't going down this road."

"Oh yes," Ron sneered, "you were going down the 'quidditch is evil' road."

"Dangerous," Kurt corrected with a crick of his neck and a twitch of his left eye, "I just think to ignore this warning would be as reckless as thinking you can sneak away to Hogsmead with that map and your cloak."

"I said this before," Harry took a deep breath, "but I wasn't asking."

"I strongly advise you thinking this over carefully before you act because there are a multitude of potential outcomes that you haven't considered and most of them are disastrous," Kurt gave them a stony glare before getting up to leave.

"What's wrong with him?" Ron chortled.

"He's worried about you guys behaving like idiots, being murdered by the at large mass murderer and having it made to look like a quidditch accident or you never being heard from or seen again," Neville heard himself saying, "And you guys are busy treating him like he's the bad guy."

"We're not treating him like the bad guy," Harry countered with a weak laugh, doubt weaved deeply into his tone.

"We're all guilty of neglecting and mistreating Kurt but it goes unnoticed because he's strong and he brushes it off or fights his own battles," Neville continued, his voice sounded more sure on his ears, "but when it comes to his friends you can see that it hurts him but he never complains and it's time somebody came to his defence."

Neville didn't wait for a reply or defence, he was on his feet and following Kurt before he was aware of what he was doing; it was odd the way his instincts worked at great speed at sometimes and at others they didn't come to the party till after the music had died, he guessed this was what Kurt meant by anger and adrenaline. Kurt though seemingly erratic in his behaviour, was fond of patterns and familiarity which meant that Neville knew exactly where to look first. Making great speed to the third floor girls bathroom he was almost thrown off by the dead silence that greeted him as he entered Moaning Mertyl's bathroom, but the silence had also been a tell that Kurt was present as Mertyl was never this quiet.

"Kurt?" Neville called out cautiously in a delicate voice, not wanting Kurt's sorrows to turn to anger, "Kurt, are you here?"

"Just a moment," Neville stalked cautiously around the circular arrangement of basins to where Kurt stood blotting his eyes, "You really shouldn't be here, now you have to see me like this." Neville was astonished by what he saw, Kurt had red rings around his eyes and there were visible tear marks on his contorted face, "I'm just being silly and look what I've done."

"You're not being silly," Neville laid a comforting hand on the taller boy's shoulder, Kurt shrugged him off, "hey, you can cry and it doesn't make any less of you, those guys were real jerks to you while Hermione and I just watched; I wouldn't be surprised if you were angry at us too."

"It's not that," Kurt sobbed for a moment before switching to what vaguely resembled a cackle of madness, "I… I'm crying because I realised Czechoslovakia is closed."

Neville was taken aback by what he was hearing for a moment, "I don't think countries close."

"They don't, it split into Slovakia and Czech Republic," Kurt gave a more stable and sane sounding laugh, "I thought for some reason that this meant I'd never get to go to Prague but I can because it's still a place but like I said, I was being silly."

"I won't even begin to try and understand your reasoning," Neville smiled.

Kurt chuckled, "it's kind of like getting the Dolce without the Gabbana, is it still the same?"

"I have no idea what that is," Neville slung his arm over Kurt's shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug, his grandmother didn't approve of hugging due to the gross invasion of personal space but he decided to ignore her wisdom for a moment and offer Kurt a reminder that people were still there for him, "Germany opened the other year, go there instead."

Kurt took a deep breath and nodded on Neville's shoulder, "I do already speak German and I do struggle with Slavic languages, I just can't get the accent right."

Neville held Kurt by the shoulders at arm's length, "Now that we've dealt with that, why don't you put on your face and we can go to class. Don't give those buffoons we call friends a moment's thought."

"You go ahead," Kurt smiled, "this face takes forever to put on right, plus I want to go by the owlery on my way."

Harry:

"Mr Harry Potter," Professor Snape appeared with a displeased sneer, "I've been bestowed with the great joy of playing messenger; I deliver summons to Professor McGonagall's office, immediately,"

"Yes, Professor Snape," as Harry spoke His gaze swept about the great hall, searching for Kurt who was nowhere to be found. As he made quick work of navigating his way to Professor McGonagall's office he couldn't help his thoughts from wandering at a mile a minute, had Kurt betrayed him and told McGonagall that he was planning on sneaking out of the castle using the Marauder's Map? Could Harry find it in himself to forgive this great betrayal if that was the case? Kurt hadn't been the same since their argument over the map a few weeks ago, the boy had been cold and distant, was this what it had been culminating to? Had Kurt been slowly severing ties in preparation for this betrayal?

Harry knocked on the door, all his questions would likely be answered on the other side, "Come in." Professor McGonagall's office was large and covered in art, he recalled Kurt telling him that she had a Monnet in there; he had nodded, not knowing what a Monnet was. Professor McGonagall's wrinkled face was visibly riddled with concern, "Please, takes a seat Potter."

The door shut behind Harry and he swore under his breath, "How can I help you Professor?"

The elderly woman seemed to look him over for a moment as he twitched guiltily in his seat, "I received an owl from your aunt."

"My aunt?" Harry's eyes grew wide, his surprise evident; that was twist he hadn't been expecting.

"Yes," Professor McGonagall held up an envelope that was unmistakably Aunt Petunia's stationary, "it seems that she has signed and mailed your Hogsmead permission slip."

"She did what?" Harry was confused, the permission slip had been unsigned in his trunk and he didn't understand how it ended up signed on McGonagall's desk, "Professor-"

"You can imagine my surprise when it arrived, considering that you had previously asked me to sign it for you," Professor McGonagall's voice was slowly rising, "but I assure you I had it checked many times for forgery but it appears to be legitimate, I therefore cannot deny you the privilege of a Hogsmead visit."

"Why does this sound like it disappoints you?" Harry was taken aback her tone.

"I have to admit that I liked the idea of you being safely tucked away in the castle instead of out there where Sirius Black can easily get to you," Professor McGonagall admitted with guilt replacing anger.

"I'll be with Hermione, Neville and Ron," Harry felt guilty for excluding Kurt but he knew Kurt would likely be with Cedric, "I'll be fine."

"Do not underestimate the threat of Sirius Black," Professor McGonagall scolded, Harry quivered where he sat as he voice reverberated through him without having been raised.

"I don't even understand why he'd be after me anyway," Harry shrugged.

"You wouldn't," Professor McGonagall sighed, this echoed through his body just as violently, "You may go on this afternoon's Hogsmead visit but I don't think you should go, that is up to you to decide but I urge you to be careful."

Harry got up to leave with some of his questions left unanswered and even more questions buzzing through his head; he pulled out the plain parchment from his robe pocket and tapped it with his wand, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The Hogwarts floor plan exploded onto the parchment in black archaic print, Harry quickly scanned the map for the pair of feet marked 'Kurt Hummel', he found them quickly in a classroom that wasn't too far from where his own foot prints were but then he spotted a second pair in the great hall; when Harry had left the great hall Kurt hadn't been there so he simply dismissed that pair as a mistake. He made the quick trek to where the map said Kurt was, it was an unused classroom with a large mirror instead of a chalk board and a large piano in one corner.

"Obrigescunt in infinitum," Harry saw Kurt standing in the centre of the room chanting calmly whilst doing complicated wand movements, there was a pale blue flash and a small bird that was hovering in front of Kurt was frozen in mid wing stroke and fell to the ground. Kurt smiled and leaned forward, "reversi sunt ut northmanni." The bird started flapping its wings again and began to hover, Kurt's smile grew as he turned to record something in a notebook and with a flick of his wand over his shoulder the bird disappeared.

"What are you doing?" Harry couldn't help asking.

"I'm preparing," Kurt smiled at him, "how can I help you?"

Harry eyed Kurt suspiciously, "What are you preparing for?"

"You really shouldn't answer a question with a question," Kurt laughed, shutting his notebook as Harry stepped closer, "in some cultures that's considered rude."

"Oh, I'll be sure to be more careful in future," Harry grinned, "I came to tell you that my aunt signed my Hogsmead permission slip, I guess that means I won't be sneaking out."

"That's lovely," Kurt gave him a cold smile.

"Funny thing is that I had my permission in my chest here at Hogwarts," Harry smiled broadly, he wanted Kurt to know he knew what he did.

"As much as I'd love to take credit for this, I can't, this isn't my doing," Kurt shrugged and packed his notebook away, "You told me to mind my own business and that's what I've been doing."

"Is that what you think I meant?" Harry felt something drop, "that's not what I meant, comeback. I didn't want you to go away, we miss you."

Kurt gave a tight lipped smile, "That's not it, I-" Kurt took a deep breath, "I'm tired, I don't want to have to force a certain kind of behaviour because it's less 'evil'; I'm tired of having to try and the constant judgement but mostly I'm tired of being made into the bad guy."

Harry felt a tightness in his chest, "Does this mean we can't be friends anymore?"

"It means we can't still be a clique like we were," Kurt sighed and laid a hand on Harry's shoulder, an attempt at comforting him that wasn't working, "at least I can't."

Harry wasn't sure if that was the brush off after a break up or hope, "Can I ask you what you're preparing for?"

"You can but may you?"

"What are you preparing for?" Harry asked, he didn't get the point of that answer and took it as an invitation.

"It's for Professor Lupin, an extra credit project of sorts for Defence Against the Dark Arts," Kurt frowned, "it's a preliminary effort considering the fact that we've had next to no assignments and we haven't had a test yet this year, I'd hate for my final result to be dampened by an exam related mishap."

"I don't even know what an exam related mishap might be," Harry chuckled.

"Don't laugh," Kurt was short with him and his laughter died in his throat, "I have zero prior experience with Professor Lupin's style of examining, who knows what the exam could turn out like and that could lead to me not doing as well as I'd like to."

"I don't even know what that means," Harry shrugged, earning himself a look ire from Kurt, "Are you heading into the village with Cedric today?"

"No," Kurt shook his head, "I have an errand to run then I have to start getting ready for all the tests I have the first week back."

"Oh, I was hoping you'd come with the rest of us to Honeydukes and the three broomsticks," Harry admitted with a defeated sigh, "You could have bought Cedric if you liked."

"I really appreciate the invitation but I already have plans," Kurt rubbed his arm for a minute, "Rain check?"

"Rain check."

~0~

As exciting as Honeydukes was, Harry had to admit that it was rather underwhelming after Ron's hyperbole of a description ; it was still just a sweet shop, Harry supposed that if he love food as much as Ron his enjoyment of the experience might have increased tenfold. Harry, Ron and Hermione had moved right on from there with haste, much to Ron's displeasure, on to the Three Broomsticks in; they found a booth in the back of the pub, on their way Hermione pointed out the table where Cedric and Kurt had their first date. It was odd to talk about Kurt in the past tense but it wouldn't have made sense to do it any other way in the context, but it made Harry feel like they'd truly lost him.

"We haven't lost him," He mumbled under his breath.

Hermione furrowed her brow, "What was that Harry?"

"Nothing," Harry looked about the pub but couldn't see much from his seat other than the main entrance, but that had been all he'd needed because as he was sinking into his seat Cornelius Fudge walked in, "Isn't that the Minister for Magic?"

"He had a meeting with Professor Dumbledore about banishing the dementors from the school grounds," Hermione nodded and took a sip of her butter beer, Harry gaped at how much she knew, "Kurt and Professor Dumbledore discussed the meeting earlier in the week, Kurt's been pushing for it since the incident on the train but it was the quidditch match that tipped the scales for Professor Dumbledore."

Harry followed the man in the lime green bowler hat till he had to crane his neck to watch him slide into the booth behind him, "Minister," the voice that spoke was unmistakable, it was Hagrid.

"Hagrid old friend," the man sounded more cheery than Harry had heard him before, "it's good to see you on more amicable terms again."

"What does amicable mean?" Ron said rather loudly, earning him a smack on the back of the head from Hermione, "What?"

"I want to hear how the meeting went," Hermione hissed a scold.

"There's Madam Rosmerta," Ron blushed as he waved at a provocatively dressed woman who was nearing middle aged, in her hands she held two large pitchers of mead, "She's coming here."

"Minister," the woman spoke in a low sultry voice but with a thick highlands accent.

"Rosie," the man chuckled, "how's business?"

"It'd be better if you weren't sending dementors into my pub every night and scaring off my customers," she half scolded and half laughed, punctuating the sentence with a loud yelp.

Harry saw Hermione scowl opposite from him, he shrugged, "I can't believe she just let the minister touch her rump and she's continuing to flirt. She's denigrating herself and all woman in the service industry by behaving inappropriately."

"You don't think she'd let me t-" Hermione shot Ron that silenced Ron before he could finish that though, "never mind."

"What would Sirius Black want in Hogsmead?" she chortled.

The minister for magic was silent for a moment, "Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter?" the question in Madam Rosmerta's voice was evident.

"He'd be wanting to finish the job," Hagrid's voice was shaky.

"I'm confused," the female voice said, "What job?"

"Now she's dumbing herself down," Hermione hissed rolling her eyes as she strained to hear from father than Harry who, to his great pleasure, was in the prime spot for eavesdropping.

"Well," it was Minister Fudge who was speaking now, "before going on to kill those twelve muggles, Sirius Black had told He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named where the Potters had gone into hiding, they trusted him as their secret keeper and he sold them into death. Only a monster would do such a thing to a child."

"My poor Harry," Hagrid bellowed angrily, as if to make sure that Harry knew that he had heard correctly and Sirius Black was truly after him, "If Sirius comes near him I'll kill him myself, I won't leave him to the dementors." There was the sound of pained swallowing, "you know, since it's my fault he's around and all, I was the last person to see him between his crimes but I didn't know what he'd done otherwise I wouldn't have let him go."

"None of us knew," Minister spoke more loudly as well now, "Nobody was the wiser."

"You saw him before he killed those twelve muggles?" Madam Rosmerta sounded curious.

There was a short silence before Hagrid spoke, "He came to the house when I went to get Harry, I thought he was their friend and there out of concern, he even lent me his flying motorcycle and all."

"He'd come see if his master had truly fallen and on his way to avenge You-Know-Who when he was confronted by Peter Pettigrew," The minister added.

"Peter Pettigrew?" Madam Rosmerta asked, "Who is that? Remind me."

"The little lump of a boy that was friends with James," Hagrid said with aloud belch, "you'd never see James without him."

"Can't say I remember," Madam Rosmerta spoke dismissively.

"Sirius Black was the Potter's Secret Keeper and betrayed them to You-Know-Who," the Minister of Magic, "The muggles who witnessed it say that Black destroyed Pettigrew for confronting him about the betrayal, left nothing but a finger when he blew up that side walk, Killed twelve muggles in the process." The minister was quiet for a moment, "when we found Black he had spiralled into madness and was jabbering nonsensically."

Harry had definitely heard enough now, he had heard enough a while back but it had taken him a moment to get his legs to obey him; quietly he got to his feet and made his way toward the door with more decorum than he'd mustered his whole life, keeping face. As soon as he was outside and out of the line of vision of the people whose conversation he'd been eavesdropping on; Harry broke into a sprint without caring much for where he was going, with only the intention of getting away from his thoughts and leaving his mind. He ignored Hermione calling after him, he just kept pushing the world from under him and leaving The Three Broomsticks Inn as far behind him as he could.

Harry felt himself losing breath and with is speed, he doubled over and the contents of his stomach emptied on to the freshly fallen snow and the sight of it caused Harry to retch again. Before Harry could straighten up Hermione's hands were there on his shoulders; she didn't speak, just rubbing gentle circles in his back.

Harry was glad to have her there despite his efforts to escape reality, they moved away from the mess and he squatted on a rock, "Where's Ron?"

"He'll be here soon enough," Hermione's tone was dismissive, as if she dare not speak of anything but the matter at hand.

Harry gave a small smile, "How did you catch up so quickly?"

"My legs are longer than yours," she gave a small forced laugh, "and I'm in better shape than Ron."

"Did you know?" Harry's voice was smaller than he'd expect, "I know you and Kurt know everything years before anyone else, did you know Sirius Black was my parents friend and that he betrayed them."

"We didn't know the particulars," Hermione admitted, Harry could see that she was riddled with guilt for keeping the little she knew from him, "all we had was a couple of matching detention slips and a circumstantial weakly strung together theory."

"I know you don't want to hear this," Harry took a deep breath; "but I hope Sirius Black finds me."

"You can't mean that," Hermione gasped.

"I do," Harry nodded, "I hope he finds me so I can avenge my parents."

Hermione:

"What you doing?" Hermione had been pacing in the entrance hall for the good part of ten minutes and was glad for the whistle tone that pulled her from herself, "How long have you been pacing here?"

Hermione flung her arms around Kurt's shoulders, "probably since Christmas, how was Karlovy Vary?"

"We shredded the powder," Finn said with jovial jig before hugging Hermione tightly.

"Cocaine?" Hermione's raised a curious brow, nothing truly surprised her when it came to the Hudson-Hummel family.

"Snowboarding," Finn gave a growl of a chuckle "should have been there."

"I'm wishing I was," Hermione shrugged with a nervous giggle, she fiddled with her hair, "really just anywhere but here."

"Nobody's Home was the best theme ever for Christmas," Kurt beamed as Finn carried his suitcase down to the Slytherin Dungeon, "Even my Grandma Libby liked it and she hates everything. I take it staying here with Ron and Harry wasn't your best idea; it didn't go well, did it?"

"They aren't talking to me anymore if that answers your question," Hermione crossed her arms indignantly, "they don't realise how we act in their best interest not because we think we know better but because we know more."

"Welcome to my world friend," Kurt stopped in front of the wall that lead into the Slytherin dungeon where Finn had been waiting for them, "Vermogen." Kurt tilted his head inward as the bricks opened, "Put it next to my bed, thanks honey. You coming?"

Hermione wanted to look around for somebody else Kurt might be speaking to but knew that it was her he meant, "you want me to go in there?"

"Strictly speaking, it's not against the rules," Kurt waved it off, and dragged her in beside him, "it's not explicitly said to be against the rules just frowned upon."

"So we can do it," Hermione groaned as she stepped around the very quilted leather couch she'd sat in more than a year ago, disguised as Pansy Perkinson.

"Now tell me," Kurt stroked her hand as he led her along, "What did the mean boys do to you?"

"So many things," Hermione groaned, Kurt opened the door to his room and Hermione stopped her moaning to gasp in amazement, "your rooms are so much nicer than ours, I thought the fact that it was a dungeon meant it would be dark and dingy but this is fancy." Kurt directed her to a mahogany four poster with so many layers of sheer emerald organza draping it appeared opaque, the bed was definitely bigger, "And there are fewer of you in here, I wish I was a Slytherin boy."

"The other room has three human beings," Kurt joked as he shrugged out his coat, "unlike the cunts I share with."

"My mother might say 'God never gives you more than you can handle' but I know that life specialises in pushing my limits," Hermione grunted.

"You were telling me about your horrible vacation," Kurt hooked arms with her and led her out of the luxurious room, "I feel like we should get it out of the way before I start gloating about my vacation."

"It started on the first day Christmas break," Hermione groaned, "when Anthony dumped me."

"He did what?" Kurt seemed to lose balance when she told him this, almost falling flat on his face, "why?"

"Apparently, he feels like we can't have a healthy and functioning relationship whilst you and I are as involved in each other's lives as we are," she exclaimed, recalling all the anger that coursed through her veins when the original conversation had taken place.

"And what did you have to say to that?"

"Well," Hermione could feel a blush spreading, she fiddled with her Alice band for a moment, "I put on my resting bitch face and told him we were fourteen, not married and he needed to raise his chill."

"Ice cold," Kurt shimmied in delight for a moment before they exchanged a victorious high-five, "What else?"

Hermione couldn't supress a giggle, "I told him that I didn't even give the best of me to him, he was all like let's be friends." Hermione had progressed to a full chuckle at this point, "I told him to save the bullshit because I don't want to be his fucking friend."

Kurt gave her a pat on the back, "I'm not even sure who was breaking up with whom, you're good."

"I wish I was able to blur the lines in my mind but I got dumped by an asthmatic who can barely string together a sentence," Hermione was surprised by the guffaw that exploded from her, "but I'm okay with it."

"What else did you do?" Kurt smiled, "other than renew your membership to the spinster's club?"

"On Christmas eve we went to see Hagrid and he told us that Buckbeak got a trial in front of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures," she continued.

"Buckbeak?" Kurt looked to be shocked, "the hippogriff?"

"What?" Hermione wasn't sure if Kurt's lack of compassion for Buckbeak should shock or appal her, "Not big on animal rights?"

"I love animals; some make great friends, others are delicious and the rest are fabulous to wear," Kurt smiled in a way that left unsure as to whether he was joking, "I just didn't think the medieval wizarding world had a PETA equivalent."

"Behind on something, ahead on others," Hermione shrugged, "well, anyway, we all agreed to help Hagrid with the trial."

"Oh you poor naïve little girl," Kurt giggled and she felt small.

"They came to the library once," Hermione admitted, "not once more."

"I think their apathetic attitude towards reading is truly concerning," Kurt mused.

"I'm beyond caring," Hermione announced, wringing her hands of the pair but she was suddenly wrapped in guilt.

"No, you're not," Kurt quirked a quizzical brow.

"No," Hermione sighed, "I'm really not."

"Me neither," Kurt smiled at her, "if anything I'm more worried now than ever."

As if from nowhere Fred and George appeared, both boys hugging Kurt at once, "We missed you."

"Never leave us again," Fred proclaimed.

"We're beginning suspect some things," George accused.

"Like you don't love us like you used to," they chorused.

Kurt turned his head from where they had him suspended an inch off the ground, "What about me invites people to touch me?"

"It's your soft citrus scented skin," George announced.

"No, it's the berry smell of his hair," Fred argued.

The pair seemed to drop Kurt to argue with each other, "It's the skin, everybody loves oranges."

"Not as much as they love the summery scent of berries," Fred quipped, flicking his brother's ear in the process.

Hermione rolled her eyes while she helped Kurt straighten the creases from his blouse before they had to go back to change, "it could be the cold way he ignores any physical contact."

"You're not helping," Kurt scolded her but all Hermione could do was laugh in reply.

"I'm just giving them more choices," Hermione shrugged, giving Kurt a good-natured shove, "it's not like they're listening to us, they're too busy arguing to care what we have to say."

"Not that I'm complaining," Kurt spoke whilst straightening his hair, "but why can't I hold their attention for more than a few seconds."

"Come on boys," Hermione chuckled, "Kurt needs to be worshipped."

"Not while he's wearing that scary eye," Fred held his hands up in surrender.

George mirrored the movement, "I heard it was made from the skull off a child Kurt Killed."

"With his bare hands," they yelped in unison.

"It's not human bone," Kurt mused, shaking his head in astonishment, "at least I don't think it is."

"Beside, Look at Kurt's little girl hands," Hermione chuckled, "I don't think they're a lethal weapon."

"We're not taking our chances," they chorused before high-tailing it down the corridor.

"They are so strange," Kurt shook his head in clear disbelief.

"We're strange," Hermione quipped.

"Yes," Kurt gave a lilted laugh, "but we're pretty."

Hermione had to stop herself from doubling over, "No arguing with that logic."

"Tell me more about this horrible Christmas you had," Kurt goaded her on.

"At Christmas dinner Professor Trelawney announced that the first to rise when thirteen dine together would be the first to perish," Hermione said this with sly smile, "there were fourteen people present."

"Seems legit," Kurt gave a curt nod.

"Harry got a Firebolt for Christmas," Kurt met her with a blank stare.

"Is that a deadly disease?"

"It's a very expensive racing broomstick," Hermione corrected.

"Who was it from?" Kurt furrowed his brow, "Very expensive but it wasn't from me because I wouldn't spend a lot of money on someone else, I got my dad a macaroni necklace this year."

"It didn't have a card," Hermione explained, "I suggested turning it over to Professor McGonagall for hex testing."

Kurt nodded, "makes sense, the last broom Harry was gifted with tried to kill him the first time he tried to ride it."

"That's what I said," Hermione never seized to be surprised by how simpatico she and Kurt were, "but they weren't having it, so I told McGonagall anyway."

"Good girl," Kurt gave her a big smile, "it's the responsible thing to do."

"Ron and Harry don't seem to think so," Hermione felt her shoulder slump over in exhaustion.

"Let bygones be," Kurt waved a dismissive hand, "if we listened to everything they said we'd have been expelled or dead ages ago."

Hope you like it!