Hogwarts High II
By Siriusly Amused

Author's Note: This chapter is really kind of depressing. But I promise it's needed. Happier times are on the way.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else that's vaguely familiar to you.

Chapter Fourteen
Dumb Mistakes

--- Hermione ---

"BILLY BEERBOMB STILL EXISTS?" I stared at Ginny incredulously, shifting myself on her bed so that I was slightly more comfortable. Mrs. Weasley didn't like the idea of me spending the whole of winter break in a dorm by myself, so I had been crashing in Ginny's room for the past week, creating all sorts of tensions in the house seeing as Ron and Fred were both sleeping within close proximity to me. Ginny turned away from rummaging through her closet to grin at me.

"I KNOW! I WAS SHOCKED TOO!" she exclaimed, turning back to her closet and pulling out a collection of homemade dresses. "But he's apparently alive and well and SOBER! He's taking some classes at the community college and has been helping the police put his old dealers behind bars."

"HE'S CLEAN?!?"

"DID I STUTTER?"

"SHUT UP! FOR THE LOVE OF…"

Ginny and I immediately turned to see Ron shuffling in through the doors that separated their rooms. Clad in pajamas with messy hair and sleep-filled eyes, he looked as though he had just gotten out of bed despite it being close to noon. He came over to Ginny's bed and swatted my thigh, signaling that I should make room. I moved over and he joined me, leaning back against Ginny's pillows, one of his hands finding its way into my hair, a finger twirling around my curls.

"Ugh, you two are too cute," Ginny complained, scrunching her face in disgust and turning back to her wardrobe. "Don't let Noelle see you like that; she's already nervous about losing Ron."

Ron's face suddenly hardened. "She thinks that I'd just leave her?"

Ginny shrugged, and Ron groaned, bringing the hand that wasn't in my hair to rub his eyes.

"She doesn't know me at all," he muttered.

'And yet you two slept together,' I thought sardonically to myself, a pang of pain stabbing through my chest. Ron seemed to have noticed my shift in mood, his hand pausing in my hair.

"I FOUND IT!" Ginny suddenly shrieked happily, pulling out a bright red, spaghetti strapped dress. The cut would enhance her petite frame perfectly, but the color clashed with her hair horribly. I was just about to be a good friend and tell her so when she handed the dress to me. "Here you go, Hermione, you'll look gorgeous in it."

"What?" Ron and I both asked, our voices cracking with shock. Ginny was smiling slyly at us.

"Bill Beerbomb is throwing the biggest New Years party of the century!" she explained, turning her back to us and picking up discarded items of clothing to put them away. "Do you honestly think I'd let you go in your usual jeans and t-shirt, Hermione?"

"Well what are you wearing then?" Ron asked defensively.

"The gold dress that you guys bought me for the winter formal," Ginny answered, swatting Ron upside the head with a shirt. "It's too nice to be worn only once."

Ron blushed slightly, his eyes finding the red dress in my hands once again. "You should try it on," he told me softly.

"What an excellent idea, Ron!" Ginny exclaimed loudly, grabbing her brother's arm and hauling him out of the bed. "Let's go get you some breakfast while she changes."

"I can get my own breakfast," Ron complained as Ginny held onto his hand and led him out of the room.

I stared at the dress for a few moments, running my hand over the fabric. I already knew that it would fit me perfectly, and I suspected that Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had made it with me in mind. I would look great in it, but for who?

The noise from the kitchen brought me out of my thoughts, and I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. I shrugged out of my jeans and t-shirt and pulled the dress on. I was right; it was perfect. I sighed, trying to control myself to look indifferent as I left Ginny's room and walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

Bill was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. He glanced up when I entered, his eyes crinkling with a smile as he whistled. Ron and Ginny immediately turned away from the stove, Ginny rushing over to me excitedly and Ron staring. He smiled slightly, our eyes connecting for a moment before he turned back to his food. He wasn't going to prove Noelle right.

--- Jaclyn ---

I gripped the steering wheel tightly as I pulled into Larry and Susan's driveway. I felt slightly hollow and deflated as I sat in my car. For the past week I found myself plagued with strange dreams. In the dreams life went on like normal: I went to school, the mall and hung out with Harry and Draco; but, the scary part of the dreams, was that I could never clearly see either Harry or Draco. They were always blurred. Fading away. Leaving me.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I got out of my car and entered the house, climbing the stairs to the second landing. I had to see them to ascertain that they were still here and still solid.

"ONE IS THE LONELIEST, NUMBER ONE IS THE LONELIEST!"

I paused outside of Draco's room and peered in. He was lying on his bed, one arm thrown over his face dramatically as he sung.

"Are you drunk again, Draco?" I asked him, standing in his doorway.

"No," Draco answered back, not moving his arm away from his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, wishing there was someway I could bring back the smiling, narcissistic bastard we all knew and loved.

"Everything," he replied, slightly dramatically.

I paused, biting my lip nervously. "Where's Harry?" I asked at last.

As if on cue the shower sounded, and Draco moved his arm from his face to indicate the bathroom. There was another awkward pause.

"I'm going to go join him," I announced.

Draco's familiar smirk crossed his features briefly as he looked at me. "Have fun," he told me before relapsing into another rendition ofOne is the Loneliest Number.

They kept the key to the bathroom at the top of the doorframe, and I opened the door and entered as quietly as I could. He was surprised to see me enter the shower with him, fully clothed. He self-consciously tried to cover himself, but I pulled the bottle of shampoo away and kissed him.

At first he was stiff, awkward, refusing to touch me; but then he relaxed, melting against me as his hands traced the contours of my body through my wet clothes.

"You…you don't have to," he choked as I trailed kisses down his neck and chest. I paused, smiling up at him, and he didn't speak again until it was over.

Draco was standing in his doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, when we left the bathroom. The blonde eyed my wet clothes, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"You know, most people take their clothes off," he commented dryly.

"Fuck off, Draco," Harry said as we passed.

We descended the stairs and left out of the front door; Harry saw me to my car and signaled for me to roll down my window.

"What are we doing tonight?" he asked, a hint of excitement in his voice. My chest tightened.

"I'm hanging out with Jessie," I replied. His face contorted into disappointment.

"Jessie? Come on, you don't have to hang out with her!"

"It was her idea, actually," I explained. "She thinks we need to bond if we're dating brothers."

"Draco's not my brother," Harry said quickly.

I smiled at him. "Yes he is, Harry. You should hang out with him tonight; I think he's feeling lonely."

Harry groaned. "Is he still singing that damn song?"

I laughed slightly, reaching out of the window to take his hand.

"Promise me you'll hang out with him tonight," I told him.

He nodded, kissing my palm, his eyes staring at me as though he had something that he wanted to tell me. He opened his mouth, but his lips couldn't form the worlds.

"I'll see you later, Harry," I told him, withdrawing my hand and rolling up the window. He stood on the driveway until I had disappeared around the corner. I drove home, went up to my room and started crying.

They were going to leave me. Now that they knew what Larry was, they were going to take their money and run. And the worst part was that I wanted them to. They deserved so much more than a life of cons and lies.

I cried for hours, then stood and dried my eyes. Harry may not have loved me, I loved him, so I was going to help him.

--- Fred ---

"Ron, what the hell, you don't work today," I said as my brother strolled into the stock room, wearing his red Weasels shirt and a look of determination.

"Are you going to Billy Beerbomb's party tonight?" he asked urgently, resting his hand on the box of supplies that I was unpacking.

"Yeah, do you need a ride or something?" I asked nonchalantly, keeping my eyes on the box; for whatever reason, I couldn't look him in the eye anymore.

"No, but I do need a favor from you."

"Which is?"

"Keep an eye on Hermione while you're there."

I looked up, catching his gaze for the first time in a week. "Why don't you keep an eye on her?"

Ron looked at me as though he thought I was stupid.

"She gives me space whenever I'm with Noelle," he explained at last.

I didn't say anything; I merely continued to stock the shelves.

"Why are you fighting this, Fred?" Ron asked at last.

"Why are you so okay with it?" I rounded on him angrily. He may have been with Noelle, but I saw how he still looked at Hermione; I knew he was pushing us together in an effort to relieve his own feelings of frustration.

It was Ron's turn to gaze down at the floor somberly. "She likes you," he said softly. "And I want her to be happy."

"I can't make her happy," I replied, turning away from my brother and staring at the joke item in my hand.

"You can for a little while," Ron announced.

I turned back around to retaliate, but Ron was gone.

I sighed, leaning back against the shelf and sinking down to the floor. I don't know how long I sat there, but it was starting to get dark when George found me.

"This is getting pathetic, you know that?" he asked, helping me to my feet.

"I need to find Hermione," I told him urgently. He nodded.

"Let's go," he said, throwing his arm around my shoulders and leading me out of the store.

--- Harry ---

"NO, I DON'T WANT TO GO; YOU CAN'T MAKE ME GO!" Draco shouted for the umpteenth time as I pulled up to the Beerbomb manner.

I rolled my eyes and got out of the car, walking around the front and coming to the passenger side, opening Draco's door and cutting through the duct tape. I had to duct tape him to the seat so that he wouldn't throw himself bodily from the car while we were driving. For whatever reason, he was really reluctant to return to Hogwarts Hills.

"I thought this would cheer you up!" I told him, releasing him from the tape and forcing him to get out of the car. He turned towards me with panic in his eyes.

"You don't understand, Harry! There are feisty red heads here who will probably slap me silly!"

"Huh?"

Draco dropped his voice to a quiet whisper. "I haven't spoken to Noelle since we left!" he explained.

"Oh," I replied, placing my hands on his back and pushing him forward through the front door of the house. "She'll probably forgive you. And if she is mad, Ron will hold her back."

"He's another red head I'm afraid of," Draco mumbled quickly as we stood in the foyer. "I'm sorry, Potter, but I must hide. Find me when you're ready to leave!"

And with that he took off, entering what looked like a dark dining room. I was about to follow him and to ask him why he was acting weirder than normal when I heard someone say my name. I turned, my eyes widening when I recognized Hermione, looking beautiful in a red dress, standing right in front of me.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" we both yelled at each other happily, our shock melting from our faces, replaced by smiles.

"Didn't anyone tell you?" she asked as she engulfed me in a hug. "I ran away!"

"You ran away?" I asked, incredulous.

She pulled away, smiling proudly. "Yeah. What are you doing here, though?"

"I'm trying to cheer up Draco," I explained.

Her eyes narrowed and she turned her head from side to side. "Where is Draco?" she asked.

"Probably hiding in a cupboard," I replied, waving her off.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Never mind," I replied hastily. "I can't believe you ran away!"

She grinned again and took my hand, leading me to the living room. "Yeah, well, you're not going to believe a lot of things tonight, Harry," she warned as we entered the cramped room. We weaved our way through the crowd until we arrived at a couch. Ron took one look at me and jumped up, practically tackling me to the floor in his enthusiasm. I grinned and hugged him back; I was home.

--- Ginny ---

I heard a loud uproar coming from the living room as I left the bathroom. Figuring that it was just a drinking contest, I shrugged and entered the kitchen with the intent of stealing some more appetizers. I had just taken a bite of a cracker when Draco Malfoy, of all people, ran into the kitchen. He paused, stared at me in horror, screamed, then ran away.

"Draco, what the hell?" I shouted, chasing after him. We ran through the dining room and into a deserted sitting room, where I tackled him to the floor, sitting on his chest and holding his hands down to the floor. "What are you doing here?" I hissed angrily.

"Potter made me come," he replied, his eyes wide.

"Harry's here?" I asked softly, my grip on his wrists lessening as I sat up and looked over my shoulder at the direction of the living room.

Draco eased himself up onto his elbows, one of his fingers lightly running over the palm of my hand. I glanced down at him and felt the tears sting at my eyes.

"I haven't heard from you for so long," I said softly. "The only e-mail I got from you was the one you sent to everybody, telling us that you were blonde again." I ran my fingers through his completely blonde hair; not even his roots were black.

"Ginny, I…"

"I thought perhaps I was a bad kisser and had scared you away," I admitted, blushing slightly. He smiled up at me, bringing a hand to my cheek.

"Believe me, that's not the reason why I stayed away," he assured.

"Really?" I asked, smiling through my tears.

He sat up straighter, his hand running through my hair. "Really," he echoed, leaning forward to kiss me lightly. I sighed, leaning into his embrace.

"Sothisis Cho."

Draco pulled away from me quickly, his eyes going to the door where Harry, Ron, Hermione and Noelle were standing. Harry had his arms crossed and was staring down at us angrily. Draco squirmed out from under me.

"Harry, I can explain," he said calmly, but Harry wasn't listening. He strode forward and immediately punched Draco.

"How dare you lie to me about sneaking around with my girlfriend behind my back!" he shouted, pointing at me as Draco brought a hand to the cheek that Harry had hit.

"Your girlfriend!?" Draco spat back angrily, narrowing his eyes. "Your girlfriend? Do you even remember who your girlfriend is, Potter? Let me give you a hint: She gave you head this morning!"

"Oh my, that's my cue to leave," Hermione said suddenly, her face going red. "Come on, Ron," she added, tugging on Ron's arm. My brother turned to follow her then paused. He looked over his shoulder and held out his hand.

"Come on, Ginny," he said, his eyes looking right at me.

I was about to tell Ron to piss off, that I wanted to stay to make sure Harry and Draco didn't kill one another, but as soon as I opened my mouth, Noelle slapped it. I stared at her, shocked.

"You bitch!" she exclaimed angrily, her yells distracting Harry and Draco enough to stop staring at each other heatedly.

"Noelle, what the…?" Draco asked, but Noelle didn't seem to hear him; she kept her eyes firmly on me.

"The least you could have done was tell me that you were seeing him!" she exclaimed, tears staining her cheeks as she glared at me.

Suddenly, Hermione was at my side, taking my hand into her own. She gazed at Noelle evenly. "Like how you told me about you and Ron?" she asked. Noelle looked as though she had been slapped. She opened and closed her mouth furiously before turning on her heel and storming out of the room. Hermione looked at Ron. "You better follow her," she told him quietly.

He glanced between me and Hermione and Draco and Harry, his face torn over what he should do. Finally he nodded and, most surprisingly, brought his hand to rest comfortingly on my arm for a moment before he stalked out of the room in search of Noelle.

"Harry…"

Hermione and I turned to see Draco reaching out a hand to place on Harry's shoulder. Harry swatted it away angrily.

"I don't want to hear it," Harry spat out, turning his back on Draco and heading towards the door. Draco followed him urgently.

"Harry, if you'd just listen, I want to," he reached out to stop Harry, and Harry threw him off, turning on his heel his fists clenched.

Draco glanced down at Harry's hands then back up to his face.

"Go ahead," he said at last. "Hit me if you want to."

And Harry did. Repeatedly, over and over again as though he were letting all of his past frustrations out on Draco. And after a few moments, Draco retaliated, hitting Harry back.

Hermione left my side and fluttered around them nervously, begging them to stop. She began to pull at Harry's arm. "Ginny, help me!" she called over her shoulder, but I couldn't move, only stare at the scene before me, completely frozen.

In the end, it was Fred and Billy Beerbomb who helped Hermione pull the two apart. Billy looked healthier than I had ever seen him, and he was, for reasons unknown, wearing a pink apron. Under different circumstances, it would have been funny.

Fred looked directly at Hermione. "What's going on?" he asked her.

Hermione just shook her head. She looked right at me. "Go back to the party, Ginny," she ordered. "We'll take care of these two."

I didn't want to leave, but knew I couldn't stay. Harry and Draco would just continue to fight over me if I stayed. So I nodded and turned away.

--- Ron ---

After searching Billy's house and yard for over an hour, I realized that Noelle must have gone home. I caught up with Neville and asked him to take Ginny home when she was ready to leave. He said he would, and I left the party, speeding through the streets of Hogwarts Hills in Old Betsy before pulling onto her street. I parked several houses down so that her parents wouldn't see me and grow suspicious. Their house was dark, as was her bedroom window. It opened easily and I slipped in, whispering her name, hoping to God that she was there.

At first I didn't notice anything different about her room, but as I continued to look around, I saw that things were missing: her hair brush, her pillow, her favorite books and movies. I walked over to her closet and opened it. Her clothes were gone.

"She went to go live with our aunt and uncle."

I jumped at the voice, swearing slightly when I saw Noelle's younger brother, Mark, standing behind me. He was in the throes of puberty, poor kid.

"I'm surprised she stayed here for as long as she did," Mark went on. "She let herself get close to you people, and she never does that. She's always afraid that the people she loves will leave her, reject her…" Mark paused and laughed bitterly. "But she's always the one that leaves."

"She can't leave!" I exclaimed. "We don't want her to! Where do your aunt and uncle live? I'll go and bring her back."

Mark shook his head. "It's too late, man."

I swore under my breath and had to use all of my self control to keep from punching a hole in the wall. "How could she just uproot her life so quickly?" I asked.

Mark shrugged. "She's done it before. This isn't the first time she's run away to stay with a relative. She was living with our grandmother before we moved here."

I leaned back against the wall, gazing up at the ceiling so that the tears wouldn't spill over my eyes.

"Like I said, I'm surprised she stayed here as long as she did. It's a compliment to your and your friends that she stayed so long, let herself get so attached."

Mark was a weirdly wise boy; I never knew that about him. Granted, I apparently didn't know very much about Noelle or her life.

"Will we ever get to talk to her again?" I asked hollowly.

Mark shook his head. "She'll have her e-mailed changed tonight, and will ignore her phone until she can get the number changed."

I sighed, feeling strangely hurt and relieved at the same time.

"Do me a favor?" I asked Mark as I made my way to the window.

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Let me know how she is from time to time?"

Mark smiled slightly and nodded as I climbed out of the window and slowly walked back to my car.

--- Hermione ---

Harry and Draco had obviously gone insane. One moment, they were in Billy Beerbomb's sitting room, fighting, and the next moment they were collapsed onto one another in the backseat of my car, hugging one another and calling each other 'bro'. Fred assured me that this was normal male behavior.

We took them to the Weasley's, and Fred helped them get set up in the living room with blankets and pillows.

"I'm going to change into my pajamas," I told Fred softly as he was heading into the living room to hand out pillows. He nodded, his arm brushing mine as he passed me and entered the living room. His touch sent a pleasant shiver down my arm, and I couldn't help but smile as I pulled my pajamas on in Ginny's room.

Walking back into the kitchen, I saw Fred and Ron talking softly. Ron gazed at me forlornly, his eyes large and hurt.

"Noelle left," he stated simply.

"She left?" I parroted back stupidly. Ron nodded.

"She's going to live with her aunt and uncle."

Anger welled in my chest.

"What?!" I exclaimed in a furious whisper, unsure of whether or not Harry and Draco had fallen asleep in the living room yet or not. "How could she just leave?"

Ron shrugged. "She apparently does it all the time." His voice cracked slightly, and I knew just how much he cared for her.

"Ron," I said softly, reaching out for him, but he pulled away, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"I'm just going to go to bed," he announced, sidestepping me and Fred and making his way to his room.

"Ron! I love you, bro!" Draco called out from the living room as Ron passed it. Ron graced Draco with the briefest of smiles before disappearing down the hall and into his bedroom.

I turned back to Fred; he was leaning against the counter, gazing at me curiously. "So…" he started, breaking eye contact. "Ron's single again."

I knitted my brow in confusion.

"So?" I asked.

"So where does that leave us?" he retaliated softly, keeping his eyes on the floor. I smiled. It was the first time he acknowledged that there was something going on between us. He had been avoiding me all week, putting in long hours at work, and not talking to me much when we were together.

Still smiling, I took several steps towards him, bringing my hand to rest on his chest. He glanced up from my touch, his eyes finding my face and I gasped slightly.

"What?" he asked.

"Your eyes."

"What about them?"

"They're darker than your brothers'."

Fred smiled, his shoulders relaxing as he leaned down and kissed me.

--- Harry ---

The Weasley couch was big enough for Draco and I to share, him on one side and me on the other. We were silent, listening to Fred and Hermione's whispers in the kitchen. After awhile, loud booms from the town fireworks signaled that it was midnight. The living room illuminated in pinks, yellows and blues from the fireworks; it was almost calming.

And then my cell phone vibrated in my pocket, signaling that I had gotten a text message. I shifted uncomfortably, reaching into my jeans and pulling my cell phone out. I flipped it open, glanced at the text, then immediately sat up.

"What is it?" Draco asked in confusion. He jerked suddenly as his own cell phone vibrated. He pulled it out and flipped it open – then he sat up as well, his face ash white as he stared down at the screen.

"Shit! They really are alive!"

Draco and I stared at each other over our phones, breathing hard. It was a new year, and our lives were about to change drastically once again.

-

End Author's Note: Okay, so this morning I sat down around noon, determined to write this chapter. I'm sorry it took me so long to get it out; I'm so busy with college and grad school and work, that time sometimes slips away from me. Plus this was a ridiculously difficult chapter to write. I must have written it 3 times, and this final project is a lot different than what I originally planned; for example, I wasn't going to have Noelle leave until closer to the end of HHII. I've been really hating all the OCs in this fic, and I don't know why. Noelle was never meant to become such a huge character; I created her solely to give Draco a girlfriend in HHI. I was fine with it then, but lately she's been bothering me, so I had to get rid of her. I hope this chapter makes sense. I kind of wrote it in 4 ½ hours, and now I must get ready for work. I apologize that this chapter is so different. Hopefully the chapters will be better now that this really difficult one is out of the way. :)