A/N: Like the last chapter, this is mostly just some character exposition of Avalon. I enjoyed writing it, though, so I hope its alright. Also, if you've read this far, thank you!

I didn't see her for the rest of the weekend. This was just as well, considering that I had an outrageous amount of homework, and didn't need any more distractions. I didn't have time to think about the confused jumble of emotions that I had after my encounter with Ivy on Saturday morning.

After breakfast, I made my way back up to the common room, hoping to get started on my most recent assignment for Charms. This didn't go as planned, however, when I ended up having to save my brother from Fred and George's experiments with Skeiving Snack Boxes.

"I keep telling you, he's not a guinea pig!" I shot over my shoulder to the twins as I tried to control Spencer's bloody nose.

"Oh, come on," Fred said. "You know we're not going to give him anything that would cause lasting damage."

"Have him eat this," George added, handing me a small purple candy. "It will make it stop."

I gave him a skeptical look, but he shrugged. "Would I lie to you?"

I rolled my eyes, and handed the candy to my brother. The nose bleed stopped the instant he had swallowed it, and I sighed, relieved. "Remember how I told you not to hang out with my friends?" I asked sternly. "This is what happens. They're idiots, and you'll always end up in some sort of trouble."

"But they paid me!" Spencer protested. He absolutely hated it when I interfered with anything he was doing. Even if it was for his own good. Before I could reprimand him anymore, he made his escape over to a group of friends.

I raised my eyebrows, and rounded on the twins. "You actually paid my brother? I never get paid for any of the mad things that you coerce me into!"

I acted upset, but honestly, seeing as no one was hurt, it wasn't so much of a big deal. And I wasn't actually too concerned about whatever tests they wanted to do on Spencer, as long as they asked first.

Fred grinned, sensing that I wasn't angry, and that he could get away with making a joke of the whole thing. "Do we really have to buy your friendship now, Av?" He paused, then added an afterthought. "Besides, you get to sample the fun stuff anyway."

"You think that being the taste-tester for Puking Pastilles is fun?" I let myself have a laugh. "You really are stranger than I thought."

"At least we didn't give you Fainting Fancies," George relied. "We're still trying to figure out how to fix the lingering disorientation that some our other…erm…subjects…have experienced." His eye wandered over to a group of first years across the common room.

I lightly smacked both of them. "You're still testing on first years?"

They played innocent. "Where else are we to find such a cheerful, willing control group?" Fred asked.

George continued, "And they're much more cooperative than some of the other people we've asked for help." He eyed me this time.

"Fine," I shook my head. "Fine. Just don't let me find out that you're giving them anything too dangerous."

"You sound like Hermione."

Hermione Granger, the new fifth-year prefect, had been telling the twins off on an almost nightly basis for trying to test and sell their joke shop items. The look on their faces when she threatened to write their mother had been priceless, and was one of the few things that I had to tease them about.

"Seriously, I'll tell your mum!" I imitated her, grinning, and Fred looked torn between the urge to laugh and being very offended that I had brought it up.

George changed the subject entirely. "We have Quidditch practice soon, do you want to come down with us and watch?"

I looked out the window…it was still sunny.

"Sure. Let me just grab my bag."

I spent the remainder of the morning and part of the afternoon sitting in the stands of the Quidditch pitch, trying to both do my homework and watch practice at the same time. I wasn't getting very far in my assignments, and was already dreading Sunday, when I would probably have to shut myself in the dormitory just to get enough peace to actually finish anything.

The team was flying relatively well today; although things hadn't been quite the same since Oliver Wood graduated. And the twin's brother, Ron, definitely wasn't the best Keeper in the world. Luckily, there was enough talent in the rest of the team to make up for it. Katie, Alicia, and Angelina worked together better than any other Chasers at the school. It looked more like they were dancing than playing a sport, and I wouldn't be shocked to find out that they communicated telepathically. There never seemed to be a moment when they weren't perfectly synchronized. Fred and George were, to borrow a phrase, like a pair of human Bludgers themselves. They were brilliant. And then of course, there was Harry Potter. Before anything else he had done, many Gryffindors would agree that Harry's achievements as Seeker were his finest. The victory of his first match was legendary. And thanks to him, we had won the Quidditch Cup three years in a row. It was quite an honor, and felt wonderful to have the bragging rights.

As for my own personal experiences with Quidditch, I had realized long ago that it was best if I watched the game, but didn't play. I had gone with Katie in our second year to Chaser try-outs, but I was more there to cheer her on. As expected, when it was her turn, she flew beautifully, and made the team, while I was too shy to even attempt a turn, and chickened out before Wood could call my name. I guess I regretted it sometimes, since it really did look fun…but I was also sure that Gryffindor couldn't have found better players anywhere, and I wouldn't want to replace any of them.

Practice ended at around two o'clock, and I followed as the team trooped up to the castle for a late lunch. After a quick meal of crisps and a turkey sandwich, I went back up to the common room to see if I could finish my homework.

It only took a few minutes, however, before I realized that this simply wasn't going to happen. It was complete chaos, since everyone, as per usual, had decided that it was Saturday, and they could just have fun today and do work tomorrow. I continued on a futile attempt at my essay for another five minutes, before sighing, packing my bag, and heading up to the dormitory, where I knew it would be quiet.

I spent the rest of the weekend there, as I had expected, emerging only for meals. Katie ended up joining me on Sunday, and we tackled our Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment together by reading the otherwise boring chapter in the most ridiculous voices that we could come up with. It was almost just has hard to take in the material between giggles as it was when I was bored out of my mind, but at least we both had a good time.

By the end of that night (which went on to be quite late, owing to my Transfiguration essay), I was still just as exhausted as I had been during the school week. I hadn't thought about Ivy Lewis or what had happened in the Great Hall. But just as I started to fall asleep, I smiled, remembering that I would be seeing her again the following evening. Despite how embarrassed I had been at breakfast on Saturday, and despite the fact that I couldn't really spare any time the next day with pile of homework that I still had to do, I was glad that we would be spending at least an hour together. My last thoughts as I drifted off were both confused and happy, and even though part of me wondered why I was so excited by her, there was another, deeper part that already knew…even if I wasn't ready to admit it.