When I got to the Common Room, I found Parkinson playing with my stuff. Actually, playing wasn't the right word. Purposely breaking was more accurate. I grabbed what was still intact and left.

I walked down to the kitchen, and saw the house-elves eye me wearily. I smiled at them, then I noticed Kreacher.

"Kreacher, dear!" I called kindly, "Come here, would you?"

"Yes, Miss Black." Kreacher said.

I laughed. He always called me Black, since I was of the house of Black, despite my last name. "What are you doing here?"

"Master Potter told Kreacher to come here. Kreacher doesn't like it here; too many Mudbloods allowed into this school now-and-days, too many Mudbloods.."

"Kreacher," I scolded, "I don't like you saying that word, all right?"

"Kreacher doesn't like being here," he went on, "Can Kreacher leave, Mistress Black?"'

"I'm not your mistress, sweetness," I sighed. Yes, Kreacher was a mean little house-elf, but you had to be kind with them.

With a sigh, Kreacher said, "At least Kreacher tried..." and went back to do his job. I sat down and opened the journal.

There were dividers inside the journal to separate each year she spent at Hogwarts. Tabs on the dividers made browsing it so much easier. Mum was so.. organized. I could hardly believe this was the woman who had been my mother's journal. She was sloppy, and random, but this was neat. Maybe she was trying to make it easier for me. I turned to the first page.

My name is Sara Black. I am eleven years old. I am going to Hogwarts. I am a witch. As I speak, (or more accurately, write,) a train is taking me to Hogwarts. I was sitting next to my cousin, Sirius. He let me sit with him and his friends James, Peter, Jacob, and Remus. James is annoying, and I don't like him. Jacob is wonderful. Remus is cute. Peter is fat.

Across the compartment sat a girl named with red hair and green eyes. James fancies her, Sirius told me. She was sitting by a boy with greasy hair. I didn't know his real name, but Sirius calls him Snivelly. He looked like a git.

In the row behind them sat my sister Narcissa. She was scared and nervous. She wanted to be in Slytherin. Our older sisters Bella and Dromeda were Slytherins. I'm not allowed to talk to Dromeda anymore. She married a muggle. I do anyway. Dromeda has a daughter named Nymphadora. I call her Dora. She's only one right now, but she doesn't seem to like her name; she fusses when you say it. Her last name, Tonks, calms her down, though.

Sirius nudged me. I think he read the above part about Jacob and Remus. James laughed at me because Sirius whispered to him what I wrote. I laughed. I was embarassed. I never blush, but I laugh. A lot.

I heard the girl talking to Snivelly. She maked a joke. Something about being muggleborn. Daddy says I shouldn't talk to muggleborns. Well, he says I shouldn't talk to Mudbloods, but I don't like that word. Daddy uses it, though. Mummy uses it, too. Bella uses it. Cissy uses it sometimes when she wants to look grown-up.

Dromeda doesn't use it.

I looked at Remus. He has scars across his face. I think he'd be cuter if he didn't have them. He's really smart. I look at Jake. He's kind. American, but kind. His sister was walking around somewhere. She was a prefect. She was in Ravenclaw.

Jake got up and walked over to sit with Lily and the greasy boy. He sayed they're his friends, too, so he should sit with them. I went with him; I wanted to know the boys real name.

"Is your name Lily?" I asked the red-haired girl beside the greasy boy.

"Yes, I'm Lily Evans," she smiled. Her green eyes were very pretty.

I looked at the boy. "Is your name Snivelly?" I asked sincerely.

Sirius and James laughed.

The boy went read in the face. "No it is not!"

"His name is Severus!" Lily sayed protectively. "He's my best friend, so don't call him that! It's just what they call him because they're gits." She pointed to James and Sirius. I laughed because I already knew that.

"Want to be my friend, Lily?" I asked.

"No!" Cissy hissed behind us.

"Hush up, Cissy!" I bossed her around. I am older than her, after all. Seven minutes, and that makes a day. I was born at 11:56 P.M., she was 12:03 A.M.

"Daddy won't like it!" she whined.

"Daddy won't find out, because you won't tell him!" I commanded. She shut up.

"Why wouldn't your dad like it?" Lily asked.

"My daddy's not nice," I shrugged.

"She's a Black," Severus said, "Like Potter's friend. They come from a real pureblood family."

"Oh," was all Lily said. I looked at Jake. He was quiet; he was reading.

"But who cares, really?" I said. She smiled. She told me I'm her friend. I smiled. I told her that I hope I would be in her house. She said she was in Gryffindor.

Weird. I knew Lily and Severus were friends, but he never told me James and Sirius called him Snivelly. And Mum thought Remus was cute? Ew. And why did the stuff she said about Remus sound better than the stuff about Dad? Did she fancy him back then? I shook the thought from my mind; absolutely not! There was no possible way. Maybe if I skipped to a farther year I could find out more. Dad said they started going out in his fifth, her second year. Young as that sounded for her to date someone like that, he was fifteen, a young one of his year, and she turned thirteen shortly after starting second-year, so two years wasn't bad. I flipped through the pages and found a page I thought would answer my questions. The first line said, "Jake's going to be so mad." I started reading.

Jake's going to be so mad. I shouldn't have done it! After all, Remus was his best friend! Jake was the jealous type, so he'll be madder at me than Remus.

Even though it's all my fault.

It was after the Quidditch match yesterday afternoon. Ravenclaw had just lost to Gryffindor; stupid James had to go and catch the snitch! I let nothing by me! It was 150-70! Darn.

Anyway, it just ended. I saw Remus behind the field, and of course I had to run over to him. "Remus"! I called while doing so.

He turned around and smiled slightly. "Hey Sar-.. What happened?"

"Oh, these?" I pointed to the scars that ran down the left side of my face all the way to my shoulder.

"D-..did I do that?" he asked, appauled by the thought it could've been his fault. He must've felt horrible. After all, I hadn't seen him for four days. The last time I got to see him was during full moon. I'd convinced him and the others to let me come. After all, the lynx I turned into was very helpful. I kept him so busy all night by letting him chase me, and James, the stag, Sirius, the black dog, Peter Petti-screw-up, the rat, and Jake, the bear, just had to sit there.

"Technically yes," I said honestly, "But it was completely my fault. I was letting you chase me and I kept slowing down, letting you almost catch up, then bolting. It was a real thrill, actually. I was careless."

"Sara, I knew we shouldn-..." he started, but I cut him off.

"Remus, don't say any of that," I said, holding one finger to his lips to shush him. "You talk too much. Honestly, let me take the blame. I'm completely fine."

"What will your family say when you come home scarred?" Remus blurted.

"I'll tell them I was in the Forest," I shrugged, "And got attacked. In fact, we can tell them it didn't get to bite me because the heroic Remus Lupin showed up and saved me."

"Sara, they aren't going to believe it," he said pessistically, "No one would picture me that heroic. After all, everyone says the Sorting Hat screwed up and placed me wrong. I should be in Ravenclaw."

"With me?" I suggested, winking. He blushed and looked away. I smiled. "Remus, come on. Honestly."

"I'm being dead-honest, Sara," Remus said seriously. "We shouldn't have let you come."

"You had to, remember?" I reminded him, "After all, I'm black-mailing you all. I could still tell my family that Sirius plans on running away this summer." I wiggled an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't!" he said, horrified.

"Of course I wouldn't!" I laughed, "I wouldn't have told even if you didn't let me come with you those nights ago."

"You're terrible," Remus said.

"Yes, I know," I said. "But I came to talk to you about the night."

"What could you possibly want to say about it?" Remus ventured, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks," I replied plainly, "For letting my come and everything. Sure, I hurt myself a little, but it was fun. It was so worth it."

"Sara!" Cissy called from a ways away. I could see her well enough to tell she was waving, but that was it.

"I better go.." I said, "But before I do, I've got to thank you properly."

"What do you me-.." he started, but I interupted him. With my lips. It was slow and long, and I would swear up and down to the Minister of Magic himself that I felt Remus kiss me back. It took me a minute to really realize what I, what he, was doing. Shocked and somewhat terrified, I pulled back.

"W-w-why did you do th-that?" Remus stuttered, apparantly horrified with himself for kissing me.

I shrugged. "If anyone asks about it, lie, ok?" I said before running off to Cissy. I put him in a horrible position; Jacob had asked me to be his girlfriend the day before.

I had said yes.

I slammed the journal down, fuming with anger. It was a good thing it was Saturday, because I grabbed my luckily intact broom and the journal, scanned my things for a coat, and threw it all on my person. The house-elves eyed me wearily, but I couldn't have cared less; I had a purpose for this. I flew off on my broom-stick and, as fast as my Nimbus-2001 could take me, zoomed to Remus' house; he had much explaining to do.

When I got there, I stormed up the drive-way, and, not even knocking, invited myself inside. How odd that he left the door unlocked. I didn't bother to think about it.

Remus poked his head into the living room where I had entered, and smiled at me. His hands were covered in flour and he has his apron on. Usually I'd have mocked him, but I was too upset.

"Sophie!" He said, smiling wide, "What are you doing here? I didn't expe-.."

"Shut the hell up, Remus!" I commanded.

"Sophia!" He scolded, "Watch your mouth!"

"Explain to me, father," I said, bitterly putting sarcasm on the word "father", "Why is there a detailed description of you kissing my mother in here?!"

"What is that?" Remus asked.

"My Mum's journal, you git!" I screamed, "She kissed you! You kissed back! Dad had already asked her out! What the hell kind of a friend are you?!"

He went pale. "I-Is it really?" I showed him the first page to confirm. "Sophia, I didn't mean to.. I just... She.. It was a mistake!"

"Oh, I bet that went over well," I snapped, "It was a mistake. No duh! She had a boyfriend, who happened to be your best friend! Did you ever tell Dad?! Why'd he still even talk to you?!"

"Sophia, I didn't know!" Remus tried to explain, "I hadn't talked to either of them since the Moon night! He came over a few minutes after it happened with his 'good news'!"

"Oh, wonderful!" I sarcastically yelled, "Great! You still knew he fancied her! Admit it!"

When he said nothing, I went on, "You great big git! How long had you been fancying my mum before that day?!"

Remus sighed, knowing lying would get him no where. "Sophia, sit down, and I'll tell you."

"I'd rather stand!" I fumed.

"Ok, stand then," He said, trying to recall all that had happened. "First off, we were young. I didn't know Jake had asked her the previous day, but I did know he fancied her. He'd fancied her since her first day. I'd decided she was his; I'd only fancied her since her second day. I felt horrible, and she probably knew I did. She told me the next day, after Jake had found out and was quite steamed with me, actually, that, yes, it meant something, but we'd have to supress it. She had to love Jake. She said she'd seen both possible outcomes; she was a seer, you know. She'd convinced herself she loved me, and looked forward. Then she convinced herself she loved him. The future was better with her as Mrs. Jamison than it did as Mrs. Lupin. I respected that. She said it was better, 'for the four of us', so I assumed I'd meet someone else... And I have.... And it's bad..."

"Tonks?" I reasoned, much less angry for some reason. "Did she mean Tonks?"

"That's what I think," Remus said, "But it won't work! She needs someone young, and whole, and with someone with at least a little money to his name... Someone who doesn't have a past with her aunt of all people!"

"So that's the real reason for this?" I worked out, "Because you lov-.. fancied my mum? She won't care, Remus!"

"I do!" he shouted to no one in particular, "I care! It's not just because of Sara! I'm old now! I-I waited too long! I'm too old to-.."

"Fall in love?" I finished for him. A lump in his throat kept him quiet, but he nodded.

"Oh, Remus!" I said, "You aren't even that old! You're only..."

"thirty-eight," he muttered.

"Not old," I said, "And as for money, no one cares. What's gonna happen? The Blacks disown her? She's already not counted as their family, so who cares? And you aren't any more dangerous than I am, and I still go for who I want!" The last part wasn't true, but I hoped he didn't know. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was reluctantly thinking of Percy.

"Sophia, it's dif-.." he started.

"Different?" I said, cutting him off like Mum did, "Remus stop telling yourself these things!" I unintentionally added, "You talk too much."

For once in a long time, he smiled a little. Not a large smile, but enough to make me smile in response.

"Go back to school, Sophie," he said, the smile fading. "You'll get in trouble."

"All right," I said, grabbing my things and walking back to the door. Without thinking, I added, "Bye, Dad," as I flew off.

I thought I heard him begin to reply, but then change his statement to, "...Dad?!" in suprise. Then it became softer, pleased. "Dad..."

More time passed. November was over now, and the snow tumbled down in what seemed like bucket-fulls. Slughorn had announced he was having a Christmas party for those in his club. Among those invited was the newest club member who Slughorn had just recently collected, and for good reason; Chris Volven, my cousin, the American President of Magic's son. The worst part was that we were supposed to bring dates.

By now, I had noticed a change in the only friends I had left. Hermione and Ron weren't speaking for reasons unknown to me. Something about Ron and snogging, I had over-heard, but the thought of Ron snogging any kind of girl was too humorous, so I had excused it as a rumor. Neville, as I had expected on the train, wasn't speaking to me. Not suprising, as my aunt caused the damage done to his parents. I would have wagered my entire inheritance that he believed Harry's thoughts about me. Luna acted odd, or odder than usual, because she kept disappearing. I didn't know where she went, but the little wave she kept giving Chris hinted that he had something to do with it. Jaymes, poor Jaymes, had to run all over chaos. With Ron and Hermione not talking, Harry and I fueding, and Neville rejecting my existance all together, she hardly had time to speak to anyone before she had to run to meet someone else. Who would've thought Sirius Black's daughter would end up the peace-keeper?

But none of this mattered. I had no one to take to the Christmas party; I considered not going. Though, I supposed anyone I could convince to take me would be better than Hermione's date. Honestly, I had no idea what she was thinking bringing Cormac MgLaggen. Yes, it annoyed Ron, but would it be worth it? We'd find out. I considered all the boys I knew: Smith, ew, Crabbe or Goyle, double ew, Ron, triple ew and he had a girlfriend now!

I sighed to myself, thinking of how horrible it would be to show up without a date. It seemed even more horrible to go with a date, because the only one I wanted wasn't at school... By now, I'd given up on fighting myself about Percy; I knew I fancied him, if not loved.

I sighed again. Love... At least I wasn't Harry; the girl he fancied was Ginny. Why did everyone have to fancy Ron's siblings? Julie fancied George, though she'd never say anything. Lola fancied Charlie, who fancied her right back. Jaymes fancied Fred, who also fancied her back, though they hadn't ever really talked about that kind of thing. Bill was unavailable for fancying, as he was engaged. And who fancied Ron? Apparantly his girlfriend, who I hadn't been introduced to. From Hermione's bitter description, she sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't pin a face to a name. Not that I'd been told the name, of course.

As for my date dilema, I determined I would ask whoever walked passed me first at breakfast this morning. Of course first was Zachariah Smith, so I said, "Hey, Zach! Zach-Attack! Zach-Man! You're ex-Zach-ly the man I wanted to see!"

"What is it, Lupin?" He growled impatiently.

"Wanna be my date to Slughorn's party?" I asked.

"...No." he said, then walked away.

Pansy Parkinson stared at me, and I burst into laughter. I was much sadder on the inside; getting a date would be harder than I thought.

Next by was Seamus Finnigan. "Seamus!" I said, getting a bit more excited; He was still talking to me. At least I hoped he was.

"Yeah, Sophie?" Seamus said, "What do you need? I'm gettin' pretty hungry."

"Would you go with me to Slughorn's Christmas party thing?" I asked. I brought out my secret weapon: the pout. "Please?"

"Sorry Sophie," he said, "But I"m goin' home the day before. Thanks for the offer though." He went to his seat at Gryffindor table. I sucked my lower-lip back in and introduced my forehead to the table. Parkinson laughed, so I pushed her head into her oatmeal. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was the day of the party. It would start in half an hour. I was sitting with Hermione, helping her tame that hair of hers. It was very difficult, and three of my favorite brushes were snapped in the process. After we got her hair done, she went to find her earrings while I quickly braided my hair. Today I was wearing it long, half way down my back, and brilliantly golden-blond, a shade not unlike Hermione's. I envied Hermione sometimes. She was so much more beautiful than I was, and she knew exactly how she looked, while I was ever-changing.

She came back in, smiled, and we left. She was meeting with MgLaggen in the hallway, and I decided to tag along. Hermione rolled her eyes at MgLaggen's Quidditch stories and mouthed at me, "Help me." I mouthed back, "Go to the restroom."

"Excuse us for just a moment," Hermione said, and we jetted to the girls room. "Brilliant plan, Soph," she added once we got there, "But what will we do all evening? Stay in here?"

"I could keep him busy," I shrugged, "I like Quidditch."

"Oh, thank you!" Hermione exclaimed., hugging me tightly.

"Hermione, I'm small," I reminded her, "And you're crushing my lungs."

"Oh, sorry!" She said, letting go.

"I'll tell him you've got some kind of stomache bug," I smiled, then went back out to MgLaggen.

I lasted about an hour until I couldn't handle him anymore. "MgLaggen, if you're so great, then why aren't you in the Quidditch team?!" I finally snapped.

He blinked, then replied hotly, "Because Weasley got lucky!"

"Yeah, whatever," I said. Anyone else would be better to talk to than this clown. Even Harry.

And speak of the devil, and he shall arrive; Harry walked by. "Excuse me," I said, then tailed after Harry.

Harry tried to ignore me, but after only five steps, me behind him was getting on his nerves. He was with Jaymes. "What do you want, Lupin?!" He screeched, spinning around quickly to face me.

"I-.. Is Jaymes your date?" I had to ask. I smuggled a laugh.

"Well yeah," he said, embarrassed, then going back to mad.

"He asked Luna first," Jaymes said happily, "But she was already going with your cousin, Chris. So I said, 'Harry James Potter, you are taking me with you to that party as friends and we will have a good time', and here we are."

Harry leaned forward, then back, then to the side, and finally to the other side. "Where's your date?" he asked.

"Don't have one," I said sadly, "C-could I tag along with you? Just for tonight?"

"Su-..." Jaymes began, but Harry cut her off.

"No, you can't."

"Harry," I said desperately. I honestly just wanted to be his friend again; not speaking was killing me. "Come on. You know I'm no Death Eater. I talk big, but I don't have the guts to hurt anyone! And if I was a Death Eater, Hermione wouldn't be my best friend. I'm not brave enough to be a Death Eater."

"Death Eaters aren't brave!" Harry spat, "They, I mean you, are low, sneaky, Slytherin gits!"

"You know, not all Slytherins are Death Eaters!" I responded. I wasn't shouting, but I was speaking loudly. "And not all Death Eaters are Slytherins! Pettigrew's a Gryffindor! And my Dad was no Death Eater, but he was Slytherin! Both of those two, I might add, were your dad's best friends!"

"Don't you talk about him!" he snapped, "I don't allow Voldemort's servants to speak of him!" I cringed when he said the Dark Lord's name, and he added, "See?! You never used to act weird when I said Voldemort!" I cringed again. "What happened to you?!"

"It's a habit," I muttered, "I have to do it when I'm in his presence. Or any Death Eaters, as a matter-of-fact. It's better for me to do it around here than to not when I'm there."

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, unconvinced. "Maybe you weren't the right person to have spying on Voldemort."

Cringe. "I am the right person, Harry!" I said, "Why can't you see that?! How can a few months of me having to pretend and lie change how you've thought of me since we were born?!"

"What do you mean 'since we were born'?" Harry asked ignorantly.

"Well, our parents were best friends, so of course they had their babies on play-dates," I reminded him.

"That doesn't count," Harry growled, "We were babies; we had no choice in the matter."

"Harry," I said, shaking my head, "I've never had to be this honest; I'm. Not. A. Real. Death. Eater. I'm risking my neck here!"

"Harry, Soph is-.." Jaymes tried to say.

"Be quiet, Jaymes," Harry interupted, then turned back to me. "How can I be sure you're not working for Voldemort," cringe, "for real?"

"Ask Draco," I shrugged. "He knows I'm a spy." When Harry gave me an "Are you serious!?" look, I added, "I'd trust him with my life."

"Oh, right," he scoffed, "Ask Malfoy. He's a Death Eater now, isn't he?" I didn't respond, so he added, louder, "Isn't he?!"

My brain was swimming with thoughts for a moment. Do I tell him the truth and break my promise to Draco? Or do I lie, and possibly never talk to Harry again? I had to make a choice. Fast.

"No," I said quietly. "H-he's not a Death Eater. He w-will never be a D-Death Eater."

"Why are you stuttering?" Harry demanded, his fury raising back up, "Unless you're lying? He is one, isn't he?! I knew it!"

"Harry, I didn't say that!" I protested, despite knowing he was right.

"Harry, don't just assu-.." Jaymes started.

"Shut up, Jaymes," Harry snapped.

"No, Harry!" Jaymes snapped back, "You shut up for a second and let me get my damn sentence out!"

He drew back, so she went on. "Don't just assume he is because Sophie stuttered; she does that all the time when she's under pressure. I'm just as keen on pinning Malfoy as a Death Eater as you are, but what would Voldemort," cringe, "want with a sixteen-year-old?"

"I dunno!" Harry said, "He's deranged!"

"Harry," I sighed, "Can't you just trust me? Your parents wouldn't have befriended people who'd raise a traitor."

Harry thought a moment, scratching his head. He sighed and looked me in the eye. "Are you a Death Eater? A real one? Answer truthfully."

Returning the eye-contact, I said, "No. I could never join the Dar-.. V-Voldemort.. for real."

He smiled, and, knowing I was forgiven, I hugged him tightly. I let a few tears of relief slide the length of my cheek and down his back.

"Aw, so sweet," Jaymes said, "I think I just threw up a little bit."

The rest of the evening went almost as expected. Hermione was dodging MgLaggen, Luna, who never left Chris' arm the whole time, went on about nargles or whatever she calls them. Slughorn gave me a little bit of a hard time about not bringing a date. Draco busted in, which was unexpected. Severus took him out to give him a talking to. Harry followed under the cloak, so naturally I slipped under. Jaymes came, too.

"... cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled-.." was the first thing we overheard. Severus was speaking to Draco in a most un-Severus-ish manner.

"I didn't have anything to do with it, all right?" Draco interupted. Harry looked from me to Jaymes and back to my cousin and godfather in confusion. Obviously, we'd missed something.

"I hope you are telling the truth, because it was both clumsy and foolish. Already you are suspected of having a hand in it," Severus replied. I looked at Harry who mouthed, "Katie.."

"Who suspects me? For the last time, I didn't do it, ok? That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one kneows about- don't look at me like that! I know you're doing, I'm not stupid, but it won't work- I can stop you!" I didn't like the sound of this. For a moment, all was silent.

"Ah... Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occumency, I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master, Draco?" Severus asked when he finally spoke.

"I'm not trying to conceal anything from him," Draco sneered, "I just don't want you butting in!"

I lost the conversation. Harry would know I lied. The next thing I knew, which was a while later, the whole conversation was done, and we were trying to quietly get away without Draco or Severus hearing us.

This was bad. Real bad. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few days later, we were at the Burrow. Harry was mad at me, but believed me this time when I claimed ignorance. But even I couldn't deny it anymore. Draco was a Death Eater. And he had a mission.

What happened to the soft, loving cousin I knew? The kind of boy who'd sooner cry himself to sleep than flick a fly? The boy, who was now a young man, who'd never do wrong? I missed that boy.

Today was different, and I told myself I wouldn't think about these negative things in my life. Today was special. Today was Christmas Eve.

I was sitting in Percy's room, at his desk, typing on my laptop. I didn't exactly fancy the big celebration thing. Sure, Remus (Dad) was down there with the Weasleys, along with Harry, but I didn't feel like sitting with them. I just wanted to be alone. Whenever I told myself that, my brain had a new habit of adding, "with Percy" at the end. I tried to shake away the thought.

My stupid mind! Or rather, I suppose, my stupid heart. Gah! I didn't like this. True, I wasn't fighting it, but I didn't enjoy spending every moment thinking about him. Well, I did enjoy it, but I didn't want to!

On my laptop (that I had earlier defended from Mr. Weasley's curiousity), I was reviewing what had happened in the muggle news; the Internet was so handy sometimes.

"Percy!" I thought I heard Mrs. Weasley cry downstairs. I figured he turned up. Whatever. I wasn't running down there: it'd be too obvious.

I was sitting there, typing in the URL for the website I wanted to go to when I felt hands on my shoulders. Usually, I'd have jumped practically through the ceiling, but I knew these big, obviously male hands wouldn't hurt me. I don't know how. I just knew. The hands didn't just sit on my shoulders, either; they massaged. A pleasured sigh escaped my lips with an, "Ahhhhh.." as I felt all my stress melting away.

The owner of the hands bent down nearer to me, so close that I could feel his breath as he whispered, "..What are you doing in my room?"

Instantly I popped to my feet and snapped around so fast I nearly gave myself whip-lash. Percy Weasley stood before me, bent down so his face was nearly level with mine. It was just high enough that my lips couldn't reach his. I wonder if he planned that.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" I managed to whisper.

"Came with the Minister," he shrugged.

"I-I'm sorry I'm in your room," I apologized, "I n-needed a room and i-it was open and your parents l-let me, an-.."

He shushed me by putting a finger to my lip. "Y'know, you're really..." he teased, "..short." He smirked, thinking he'd won. How I wanted to whip that smirk from his face.

I bit my bottom lip. "I'm tall enough," I said, then stood on my toes, which made me tall enough to crash my lips into his. His smirk was instantly erased as he thoughtlessly kissed me back. I fell off my toes but he lowered himself to my level to keep it going. Almost unconsiously, it seemed. When he realized what happened, he tried to pull back, but I wasn't letting go just yet. I grabbed hold around his neck, and, also without meaning to, his shirt. He finally built up the strength to pull out and went flying backwards, bumping into the edge of his bed. He sat down, panting.

"Wow," Percy said when he finally spoke a minute later. A smile had spread across his face. "Didn't know you felt that way."

I blushed and looked at the floor. A piece of torn cloth that looked a lot like the shirt he'd been wearing laid on the ground. I looked back at him and saw he was shirtless. Did I do that? I blushed a deeper red and looked away.

"Well," he continued, getting up and grabbing what was left of his shirt from the floor, "Now I'll have to change. Are we going to explain this to anyone?"

"Penelope won't like it," I muttered.

"Penelope?" he repeated. "Clearwater, you mean?" he laughed. "If you're referring to her not like it because she's my girlfriend, we won't have to worry about that. We split up. A while ago, actually. Four, five months ago?"

"Oh," I said. Part of me wanted to dance victoriously.

"I don't suppose you're still dating Lee Jordan then?" Percy ventured.

"Oh, of course not!" I replied quickly, "Beginning of last summer, it ended."

He walked closer to me. A lot closer. "Good," he said. "As I obviously feel the same about you as you do for me."

I blushed and giggled.

He went pale for a moment. "What are people going to think? I dare not imagine what Ron will think! After all, you're in his year!"

"Who cares?" I shrugged, "It's our lives."

"And you're sixteen!" he winced, probably disgusted with himself for kissing someone who the law deemed a child.

"Wrong. I turn of age tomorrow on Christmas Day," I winked.

"Remus will-.." he began.

"If you're so damn concerned about what everyone thinks," I asked sarcastically, "then why'd you kiss me?"

"If you'll remember," Percy corrected, "You kissed me first."

"But you kissed back," I reminded him.

"Well yes, but... I... We..." He just couldn't find the right words. I put him out of the misery of searching by kissing him. He instantly quieted down. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________