Harry stared into the amber flames of the dying fire. "How could we be so stupid?" He asked no one in particular. The common room was empty; the others had long since gone to bed.

"Harry, maybe we'll be lucky, and I won't…" Ginny couldn't bring her self to finish the sentence. She, too, looked into the dying fire for answers.

"How long until we know for sure?" Harry asked her hesitantly.

"I don't know, and I don't want to think about it."

''

Hermione found Draco sitting at the top of the tower overlooking the lake. He was staring out upon the grounds, his eyes roaming carelessly. In the faint moonlight the tears rolling down his face looked like sparkling diamonds.

"Draco," Hermione whispered, walking over and standing beside him. "What's wrong?"

Draco turned and looked up at her, then blinked slowly before handing her a small piece of parchment.

'We have your mother. Tell us where your father is or we'll kill her.' Was written in someone's small untidy scrawl.

"I tried writing her," He said around shaky, uneven breaths, "She hasn't written back."

"Maybe she's just busy, and hasn't had a chance to write you back," Hermione tried to reassure him, but all Draco would do was shake his head.

''

"George, what did you put in there to make it swell like that?" Fred asked him staring at the huge red mass in front of him.

"Well, the recipe said one pound of yeast!" George yelled, handing Fred the small piece of parchment.

"You idiot! One PINCH, not one POUND!"

"How was I supposed to know it'd do that?" George asked him incredulously; then as an after thought asked, "How much do you think we could get for giant cookies?"

"I don't know, but how are we going t cook them. If I'm thinking of the same size as you are they won't fit in an oven."

"Fred, my brother, we shall find a way."

''

Ron stood at the edge of the lake, throwing stones onto it's surface, and watching as disappeared into it's depths. Every now and then he'd swear under his breath.

"You know, you can stand here all day long, but that lake won't give you any answers." Said a voice behind him.

"What do you want?" He asked venomously.

"I want to help." Sirius said calmly, walking up beside him, and grabbing his hand as he moved to throw another rock. "This is not the way to solve problems." He then released Ron's hand and turned and walked away from the lake, toward the Quidditch pitch. Rolling his eyes, Ron followed him staring glumly ahead, refusing to look at Sirius.

"You know, when we were kids, about your age, we used to think we had all the answers."

"Spare me the lecture!" He spat sarcastically, making Sirius bust out laughing. "What?"

"I just never thought any one would ever say that to me!" He said between sort bursts of giggling. "Anyway, my point was, is that when you think your lost in life, the best person to ask for advice is often the last you'd expect. Does that help you any?"

"Why don't you just tell me your great advice and let me go back to being mad."

Sirius shrugged and continued walking. They walked in silence for several minutes before Ron finally asked, "What do you think I should do?"

"That depends on the predicament your in."

"I like Hermione, but she likes Malfoy, and then Harry has Ginny."

"And you feel left out," Sirius finished for him. "If she doesn't like you, move on. Maybe one day she'll turn around and if not, you can always be her friend, but for now, find someone who makes you happy, and don't dwell on it."

"But…"

"Ron, the longer you wait on her, the more it will hurt when you realize she really doesn't like you."

"You know this from experience, don't you?"

"No, this is the same thing I told James when he got upset over Lily. Except that lecture usually included the fact that he needed to learn to be himself and find someone who could love him for who he was." Sirius told him, shaking his head.

"He didn't listen to you." Ron said simply.

"He never really did, in less it had to do with pranks, that is." They both laughed.

(So, it's considerably shorter than they have been, mine that is, but I haven't been feeling too well lately. So review and make me happy, and I'll pester Tailor to hurry up with the next chapter. And before you ask, Ron doesn't go out with Hermione; she loves Draco.)