"So, Blount." I look up from my plate and see Weasley eyeing me curiously. "How did you manage to knock down the bloke with the biggest head in all of Hogwarts?" Weasley's question brings Thomas's and Finnigan's attention to me.

I glance over at Potter (well… James) to my right. He's rolling his eyes while still stuffing crisps into his mouth. I'm sitting next to James and Weasley is sitting across from me with Julia to his right and Finnigan and Thomas to his left.

I've been sitting in an awkward silence since we arrived. I don't really mind James being around, but I don't know Weasley, Finnigan, or Thomas at all and that is bringing me back to my awkwardly quiet self. I am relieved someone said something, but I wish that it hadn't been directed at me.

I look back to Weasley who is smirking at James and say the first thing that comes to mind. "That big head just makes him off-balance. It was pretty easy, to be honest."

I feel a slight blush start crawling up my neck as the three boys across the table stare at me, mouths slightly agape. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I probably should have just shrugged. I tuck my head, embarrassed. The silence from the group I'm eating with is stressing me out.

I chance a peek up after a moment and a wall of sound hits me as all three of the boys across the table stand and shout, "Oooooooh!"

James has his arms crossed and is obviously not amused as his friend's laughter fills the Hall and causes more people to stare at our group. Weasley, Finnigan, and Thomas are leaning on each other for support as they laugh even harder. Weasley manages to reach over the table to offer me a high-five. I cautiously meet his hand with my own, slightly startled by their reaction to my words.

"Excuse my mates," James says, annoyed. "They're all idiots."

Thomas flicks a bit of bread from his sandwich at James's head and says, "What are you talking about? You're the idiot who got detention this morning."

"Yeah!" Finnigan chimes in. "And can't we just have a laugh. This is the first girl I've ever heard insult you, and it's quite refreshing."

"Having every female in Hogwarts falling over themselves to be with you is getting quite old, James," Weasley says, sitting back down next to Julia. Weasley hasn't so much as looked at her since we sat down for lunch and I can tell she's not happy about it.

Not that it's hard to tell. She's glaring at him so hard, I'm surprised her eyes haven't popped out of her head.

Julia grabs her boyfriend's arm while his back is to her and he immediately closes his eyes and purses his lips. He wasn't ignoring her on accident it would seem.

Taking a breath, Weasley turns to her with a forced smile and asks, "What's up, Jules?"

"Can we go, Freddie?" she asks batting her eyelashes.

"Why don't you go ahead?" he suggests, a hint of hopefulness in his voice. "I'll catch up later."

"No, Freddie," Julia says, standing and forcing Weasley to his feet by his arm. "Let's go, now."

"Sure, Jules," Weasley says, giving in. "We'll go now." He throws James, Finnigan, and Thomas a two-finger salute as he departs and adds, "Glad we could join you today, Blount," while he is practically dragged out of the Hall by Julia.

The four of us watch Weasley and Julia's forms disappear out the door. "Why doesn't he just ditch her?" Finnigan asks.

"She's awful!" Thomas complains placing his forehead on the table.

"She's not that bad, guys," James says, brushing some crumbs off his robes. Finnigan and Thomas give each other a look and Thomas places his forehead back on the table with a louder *thud*. Suddenly, James's head shoots up and turns towards the door. In walks the dream of Hufflepuff House herself, Yvette Montclair, high heels clicking loudly and blonde curls bouncing. "I'll be right back."

James stands up, climbs over the bench, and walks towards the entrance with his typical annoyingly arrogant aura. I watch his progress and roll my eyes as he greets Yvette with a winning smile.

"So it begins, again," Thomas moans. He has turned so his temple is resting on the table in front of him allowing him to watch James talk up Yvette.

Finnigan and I continue to watch as James and Yvette flirt shamelessly on their way to the Hufflepuff table. "Wanker," Finnigan says under his breath. "He's actually going to sit with her right now?"

"He said he'd be right back," I try, hoping that it was true.

Thomas starts hitting his head against the table lightly. "He always says that," Finnigan explains, facing me. "He just gets so caught up with the girl he decides he's going to go for, he completely ignores us for about a week."

Thomas stops his head-to-table routine long enough to say, "I thought he said he wasn't going to ditch us in the middle of a meal anymore."

"I know," Finnigan agrees. "I thought, because he wanted to sit with you, Blount, that he would actually stick around."

My heart sinks, slightly. Was James just trying to tease me? Was this all some sort of prank he was pulling on me? "Why would he stick around just because I'm here? He doesn't even know me."

Finnigan and Thomas glance at each other and back to me. "Well," Thomas starts slowly. "You're the first girl he's ever asked to sit with at lunch with us around. He usually gets up and leaves us behind."

"I guess I just assumed that…" Finnigan trails off and rubs the back of his head awkwardly. "James, he… he likes to go for the pretty girls with no brains, but I was hoping that him taking in interest in you was a sign that he'd changed. I mean, he's never gone for a girl with intelligence and…" He trails off again watching my face.

I've done the best I could to keep myself together while the two of them were talking. Renewed anger with James bubbles within me mixed with hurt from… well, I'm not sure why I feel hurt. I guess I just feel used. He used me for a little entertainment before something more interesting came along. I take a shuddering breath, stand up, and climb over the bench without a word.

"Blount, wait!" Thomas stands up makes to walk after me.

"No, Thomas," I say, turning halfway back to him and Finnigan as I sling my school bag over my shoulder. "I'm fine. Thanks for sitting with me. Maybe I'll talk to you later." And with that, I leave the two boys sitting at the table and exit the Great Hall alone focusing on the floor.

A strange feeling washes over me as I walk past my lunching peers. I'm very used to being ignored or only partially acknowledged, but I suddenly feel as if half the school is staring at me. As I reach the door to leave, I look up and notice many sets of eyes quickly divert away from me. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion and turn my back to the Hall and walk out into the corridor.

That was odd.

I hear a pattering of footsteps behind me as someone runs out of the Hall. The steps pause briefly then resume as the person starts jogging down the corridor after me. I instinctively move to the left to walk along the wall, making room for the person behind me so we don't collide.

"Meredith!" I stop walking and turn around, surprised. James slows down as he catches up and stops himself next to me. I look around him and see papers which escaped his bag as he ran slowly settling onto the stone floor of the corridor. I lift an eyebrow at him and he turns himself, sees the literal paper trail behind him, and laughs. "Oops. Accio homework."

The papers fly towards him and form a messy pile in his hand. James proceeds to unceremoniously stuff the loose parchment into his bag.

"What?" I ask as he tries to close his school bag completely.

James looks up as he fumbles with the clasp on his bag. "What do you mean 'what'?" he asks before focusing his attention back on his stubborn bag clasp. "I thought we could walk back to the Common Room together."

"And why would you want that?" I ask harshly. "There seems to be so many other things that you would rather focus your attention on than your mates."

James finally manages to clasp his bag shut and adjusts it on his shoulder. It looks like he's thinking hard to try to figure out what I'm talking about.

I roll my eyes at him and start walking away, heading towards the Common Room once more. "Wait! Meredith!" he jogs a few steps to catch up with me and falls into pace beside me. "I really don't know what you're talking about. I honestly like spending time with my friends."

"Is that really true, Potter?" I spit out his surname and I see him flinch slightly. "I don't really believe you think of me as a friend."

"But-"

"I don't know what you want from me, but I don't want to play this game," I say, cutting him off. "I'm not going to let you mess with me."

"Meredith-"

"If this is just supposed to be a laugh for you-"

"That's not it at all," he says, frustrated. His voice has become more serious and I look to him skeptically. "I might not know you very well, but I want to, okay? I want to be your friend."

"Maybe I don't want to be yours!" I yell, stopping. James stops along with me with a truly alarmed look.

"What-"

"If you really wanted to get to know me and be my friend, why did you just walk off with no intention of returning, hmm?" James opens his mouth slightly, but no words come out. "Finnigan and Thomas may just deal with it, but I'm not going to. I may not have many friends, but I don't want them if they're just going to treat me like dung the moment something 'pretty' and 'shiny' and 'new' comes along and distracts them."

"I don't do that," James says defensively.

"Don't you?" I ask. For the second time today, my anger and frustration completely overtake me and I let them drive my words and actions. "If you're not even aware of it, that's even worse. Go ask your 'mates' about it, then tell me if you don't."

I stalk away from James and walk as fast as I can. He doesn't follow. I don't know if I'm happy about that or not.

I arrive at the Common Room about ten minutes later, having gotten delayed by a particularly stubborn door on the fifth floor. "Billywig." The Fat Lady's portrait swings open to admit me, but I am tempted to immediately turn around and shut it when my eyes meet James's across the Common Room. I force myself to climb through the hole into the room.

James pushes himself off the wall he was just leaning on and walks towards me cautiously. I get the same feeling that I felt in the Great Hall and a quick glance to my left results in more diverted eyes.

So it wasn't a fluke before. People are actually staring at me.

I shift the strap on my school bag and straighten up to my full five-foot-six height as James reaches me. He is only slightly taller than me making it easy to meet his eyes and I look into his face defiantly. I'm not going to let him walk all over me. He does that to everyone else in this bloody school and since I'm on speaking terms with him, now, I'm going to make sure he knows that.

After a moment looking at me expressionlessly, James looks at the floor and stuffs his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "I asked Phil and Roger about it." He lifts his head just enough to look up at me

I lift by brows and nod, urging him to continue.

"Well…" he shuffles his right foot, looking back at the carpet. "I was… wrong." The words are forced and seem foreign in his mouth. He's apparently even less familiar with this admission than with apologizing. "I'm sorry."

I take a breath. I wasn't expecting this from James Sirius Potter: resident egomaniac of Hogwarts.

"The two of them weren't very excited to be telling me the truth," he admits without looking at me. "I may have shouted."

"Thank you, James," I say when it's obvious he's not going to say anything else.

James looks at me fully and smiles. He has a nice smile. "What took you so long to get here?"

I look at him, confused. "What do you mean? I got here as fast as I could."

He smirks and says, "It took you fifteen minutes to get from the Great Hall to the Common Room."

I scrunch my face. "I was having a particularly nasty run-in with a door on the fifth floor," I explain moving past him and sit down on a nearby sofa.

James follows me and laughs loudly. "Why didn't you just threaten to duel it? It probably would have gotten out of the way quick."

"I did have to threaten to blast it open before it finally let me through."

James laughs again and flops down on the sofa throwing his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. "That door wouldn't know what hit it. No one wants to get in the way of Hogwarts's Number One Duelist Extraordinaire." He winks at me, playfully.

"Riiiight. And just when did I become such a well-known figure in the school?"

"Today," he states, simply. "Not just anyone could knock me out, you know."

"I don't believe you were 'Hogwarts's Number One Duelist Extraordinaire' before today."

"Maybe not," he admits without pause, "but you'll still be that after today, because I say so."

I roll my eyes and lean over to pull out my Astronomy Homework out of my bag. James is looking at me, appalled. "What?" I ask, when I see his expression. "I have to get this completed before class tonight."

His appalled look changes into panic. "Damn! Today's Wednesday?"

"All day," I say evenly. I pull out a quill and a pot of ink and frown, holding the quill in front of me and examine the dull tip. "Merlin, I hate quills."

"Here," James says handing me a new quill.

I look at him with an annoyed expression. "You had one in your bag the whole time? Why did you ask for one during Defense?" I look down as he rummages through his own bag, crumpled parchment and books threatening to spill out. "Never mind. I think I found my answer."

"Ah ha!" James sits back upright with a very crumpled piece of parchment in his hand. He smooths his star chart out on the coffee table and looks at me. "Do you mind if we work on this together?"

I give him a half smile. "Fine," I say with fake exasperation.

James and I sit in the common room and work on our Star Charts rather diligently. A couple of times, I see him starting to draw something on the edge of his chart, but he stops drawing when I ask him about it.

I hear something faintly through the stone walls and look towards the door wondering what I am hearing. "How do I have three instances of Ursa Major on here?" James wonders out loud, but I shush him quickly.

The sound through the wall is getting louder. Someone is practically screaming right outside the Common Room. The room is quiet as we try to make the words out, but to no avail. "What in Merlin's name is-" James holds up his hand to stop me as the higher pitch screaming transitions to a lower pitch yelling at the same volume.

"Fred." Without another word, he shoots off the couch and races to the portrait hole. I follow behind, curiosity getting the better of me.

James pushes hard on the backside of the portrait and it flies open allowing the room to hear Weasley's words clearly. "-tell you that that was out of the question? Nothing you'd be able to say would ever change that." We climb out into the corridor and see Fred and Julia standing about ten feet apart and shooting murderous glares at one another.

"Do you realize that I'm your girlfriend?" Julia's voice screeches. "If you think I'm going to let some bimbo come in and take you away-"

"Are you daft?" Weasley yells back. "It was just lunch and James invited her!"

The small crowd that formed around the couple immediately look in my direction and I shrink back against the wall. James looks around to me with an apologetic look before returning his attention to the fight in front of him.

"And who knows what it's going to be after that?"

"What are you talking about? Sharing a space at a meal with someone doesn't suggest anything."

"Oh, sure. And that's why you spent more time talking to her and your dumb arse mates than to me."

"Are we back on this, again? I told you that I am never going to leave my friends no matter how often or loud you tell me to."

"And what about Blount? She's scheming to take you away from me."

"Oh, bloody hell. I don't even know her!"

"And you shouldn't get to know her! She's just a smug bitch who thinks she's better than everyone else."

My eyes widen at her words. Where did that come from?

"Funny," Weasley spits back. "I could say the same thing about you!"

A heavy silence settles over the corridor at his words. I can practically feel shock as it hits Julia.

"What did you just say to me?" she says dangerously.

"I'm sorry," he mock-apologizes. "Did I misspeak? I'm fairly certain that I just called you a smug bitch who thinks she's better than everyone else."

All eyes are on Julia.

She smiles. "Now, Freddie. You don't mean that."

The attention of the spectating students turns in unison to Weasley. His entire face is flushed and his fists are clenched. "Julia…" he warns through gritted teeth.

"Oh, Freddie, you are just too funny, sometimes. I know you wouldn't mean anything like that." She walks seductively towards him, flipping her perfect blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Julia… stop."

Julia arrives at Weasley's side and places her left hand alluringly on his right arm. "But don't you like me Fred?" She asks rubbing his upper arm gently. "I know we have something special."

"No, Julia!" Weasley rips his arm out of Julia's grasp. "Merlin, I can't do this anymore."

Julia takes a step back as Weasley pulls his hair with both his hands in frustration. "What do you mean?"

"Damn it, Julia! I've been putting up with everything you've been doing for far too long. I don't even know why I'm still with you right now!"

"Fred…"

"I really thought there might be a shred of decency in you; that maybe you are actually a good person who lost their way, but that was a stupid thing for me to think. You're nothing but a selfish, manipulating brat and I've had enough of it."

"What are you saying, Fred?"

"I'm saying that I'm breaking up with you, Julia!"

Another silence steals over the watching crowd, punctured by the occasional whisper.

Finding her voice, Julia says, again, "You don't mean that."

Weasley yells loudly in frustration again and paces a few steps to the right and left before turning back to Julia. "I do mean it, Julia!" he shouts at her. "In fact, I mean this a million times more than anything else I have ever said to you." Taking a deep breath, Weasley crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head. "We are done. Don't try to talk to me anymore. I really don't know if I'll be able to control myself."

"This isn't over," Julia says to him, voice low and dangerous once again. "You're going to want me back before too long."

"That's another place where's you're wrong, Julia," Weasley explains without moving. "I wouldn't take you back if it was a choice between you or a Muggle wrestling match to the death with the Whomping Willow."

With an ear-splitting scream and a flurry of movement, Julia draws her wand and starts throwing curses and hexes at Weasley. Weasley pulls his own wand just in time to defend himself and Julia's barrage of spells keeps him on the defensive. One of Julia's jinxes hits his wand arm and forces him to drop his wand. The sleeve of Wesley's shirt stretches and rips open, revealed long, animal-like fur growing on his arm where the spell it.

Weasley growls and stoops to pick up his wand, charging at Julia. Fear flickers in her eyes as he approaches.

"Immobulus!"

A beam of white light flies out from the crowd behind me and hits Weasley in the back. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

"Nev… Professor!" James calls, alarmed.

Professor Longbottom bursts through the students crowding the corridor. "Fred Weasley, what is the meaning of this?" he asks furiously, lifting the Freezing Charm.

Weasley regains the ability to move and falls to the floor as he loses his balance. He flips himself into a sitting position, his hand behind him propping him up. Eyes widened, he exclaims, "Professor! I… I…"

The sound of sniffling reaches my ears and I direct my attention to Julia. She is crying, tears streaming down her face causing her mascara to run.

"Fred Weasley, I am very disappointed in you." Professor Longbottom bends down and drags a speechless Weasley up by his arm. "Dueling in the corridors? Attacking a fellow student? I didn't think you would behave like this."

Weasley is still at a loss for words as he stands next to our Head of House. The anger in his face has been completely replaced with bewilderment. Whether it is from realizing what he was just about to do or from the injustice of being completely blamed for a duel where he didn't even throw a single spell, I'm not sure.

"This is unacceptable," Professor Longbottom continues, looking around at the students surrounding him. "Mr. Weasley, you will serve a week of detention with me-"

"Professor, that's not fair!" Weasley finally interjects, but he says no more. I wouldn't either. The look on Professor Longbottom's face makes me think now is not a good time to challenge him.

"You will serve a week of detention with me starting tomorrow night." Professor Longbottom turns to Julia and pats her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Miss Carter, but I have to give you detention, too. I can't let you off since I suspect Mr. Weasley didn't cast that jinx on himself." Julia shakes her head silently. "I see. You will serve detention with Madam Pomfrey. She will send you details about it later."

Professor Longbottom pats Julia on her shoulder in comfort, turns his back on her and proceeds to address the other students in the hall. "I believe we are still in the middle of a school day. Don't you all have somewhere to be?" He walks back up to Weasley and in a low voice adds to him, "You can be sure, Fred, that your parents will hear about this. I cannot allow this kind of behavior from anyone and I know that you should know better."

Oh, yeah. Somehow I completely forgot that the Weasleys and Potters were good friends with Professor Longbottom and his wife.

Professor Longbottom's words are only loud enough for Weasley, James, and me to hear. He looks up, making eye contact with James and me in turn, warning us to not say anything. I shake my head quickly.

James doesn't react.

Professor Longbottom nods at both of us and retreats down the corridor in the direction he came.

"I'm telling you, Freddie," that familiar snooty voice says nearby. Weasley, James, and I all whip our heads towards Julia, now standing only four feet away. "This isn't over. I'm going to get you back no matter what." There is no evidence on her face or in her voice that she had just been crying.

She was faking it.

Julia steps closer to me. I would step back, myself, but my back is still against the wall. James has stepped over to Fred and is discussing something in whispered tones that I can't make out, so when Julia speaks to me, I'm the only one who can hear what she says.

"Don't get full of yourself. You may have won for now, but I don't give up until I get what I want," Julia leans in so that her mouth is only a few inches from my ear, "and I want you gone. I'm going to have to ruin you if I want to get Fred Weasley back and I won't stop until that happens." And with that, she walks away, heels clicking ominously on the stone floor.

I look at Weasley and James standing in the middle of the corridor now staring at me. Weasley looks concerned. James, confused. I turn away from him and stare down the hall Julia disappeared down.

What have I gotten myself into?