Chapter 5

When things don't go the way you plan

When I got down stairs I greeted Lupin and Tonks briefly before taking a seat at the table between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. I didn't even look up when Ron and the twins entered the room. They were still arguing between themselves.

Mrs. Weasley shushed them and told them to sit down. They did as they were told. Mrs. Weasley served dinner and everyone began to eat.

I made sure I focused on my food and only made conversation with Ginny and Harry. I left no room for either of the twins or Ron to bring up what had happened earlier in the hallway. Its not that I hadn't enjoyed the kiss, it just felt wrong knowing Ron still had a girlfriend.

Ginny kept giving concerned glances; I knew that she was aware that something was up with me. She always knew when something wasn't right. I felt her nudge me in the side and I looked up. Everyone at the table was looking at me strangely.

"Tonk's just asked you something" Ginny whispered.

"Sorry I was off in my own little world, what did you say?" I asked tonks.

"Oh, I was just wondering how your family is" she repeated.

"Oh of course, they are good" I told her, "still clueless about all the you know who stuff and that's the way I want to keep it".

"I can understand that" she replied.

"It is safer for them not to know" Lupin agreed.

"How about we talk about happier, after all it is Christmas" Mrs. Weasley cut in.

We all dropped the conversation after that and listened as the others talked about other things. Of course with the boys around the conversation always ended up on quidditch.

After dinner we moved into the lounge room. Harry told Lupin, Tonks and Mr. Weasley about his theory that Malfoy was working on something for you know who, but Lupin shut him down.

The conversation ended and the adults left leaving me and Harry sitting in our thoughts. Ginny walked in with a big plate with dessert pies. She offered me one, but I declined I was still full from dinner.

She at down next to Harry and picked up a pie and offered it to him. She lifted the pie up to his mouth.

"Open wide" she giggled.

He looked at her curiously. It was no secret to me that Harry and Ginny had a crush on each other.

"I won't bite" she smiled.

He took a bite from the pie and smiled. It was a really cute moment between them. I hoped that they would realize how each other felt. I was glad Ginny was opening up about it though.

Ron walked in causing Ginny and Harry to separate from each other. Ron sat in between Harry and Ginny and picked up a pie for himself. I stood up and went to walk away, I didn't want Ron to bring up the nights earlier incident, but before I could take a step there was a loud bang.

The others jumped to their feet and we all ran for the door to see what was happening. There was a great ring of fire circling the house. Before we could see anyone, we heard her evil laugh. It only took one sentence to send Harry running off after Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I killed Sirius Black!"She cackled loudly.

We could see Bellatrix and Fenrir Greyback standing in the reeds over towards the pond on the Weasley's property. Harry took off through the flames and into the reeds after her and before we could stop her Ginny ran off after him.

"Ginny!" Cried Mrs. Weasley.

I went to chase after my best friend, but Ron grabbed my arm and held me back. Mr. Weasley, tonks and Lupin took off after them. We could hear curses being thrown all over the place.

"Ron let me go, I have to help!" I squirmed to get out of his grip.

"I can't" he sighed, "you could get hurt".

I stood there helplessly only hearing the commotion that was happening. The twins hugged their worrying mother. We heard screaming; I automatically thought the worst and hugged Ron tightly around the waist.

There was a second scream and two black figures shot into the air and disappeared. An eerie silence fell over the Burrow as the flames died away. We waited for anything, just so we could know that they were alright.

There was a rustling sound and then one by one they emerged from the reeds. I let go of Ron and ran over hugging both Ginny and Harry tightly.

"What were you thinking?" I said punching Harry in the arm.

He just shrugged; he sure knew how to make you worry. Mrs. Weasley scaled the both of them for their carelessness. Tonks and Lupin decided they would stay until we went back to school incase anything like this happened again. Neither of Ron and Ginny's parents disagreed.

We were ushered up stairs and got ready for bed. None of us was going to find sleep easy.

After we had changed into our pajamas, Ginny and I sat on her bed and talked for a little while. I told her about the mistletoe kiss from earlier.

"Gin I've liked him for so long and my chance finally comes and He has a girlfriend", I sighed.

"I know the feeling" she agreed, "my brother isn't the brightest, but I think he really likes you"

Her words made me feel a little better, but deep down inside I just wasn't sure what that kiss meant.

"What if he just did it because that's what you do with mistletoe?" I suggested.

"No Ron's never been one to do things like that" she shook her head.

I lay back down on the bed and pulled a pillow over my face.

"I just don't know what to do" I groaned.

She could help me; she didn't know what I should do either. We sat silently listening as the others slowly went to bed. I wanted to talk to Harry about it, I though maybe Ron might have said something to him about the whole thing and maybe he could give me some advice on what to do about it.

There was no way I was going to be able to sleep with all of this on my mind. I lay on my bed and listened to Ginny sleeping. When I could take just lying there anymore I got up and walked over to Ron's room. I quietly opened the door and stuck my head in. I could hear Ron snoring so I knew he was asleep.

"Harry?" I whispered, hoping he was still awake.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

I was thankful that he was still awake. I really wanted to talk to him even if it scared me just a little.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked.

I heard him get up and walk over to the door. We walked silently down stairs making very sure we didn't step on any squeaky floor boards on the way down. We sat down in the living room and listened for any movement before we talked.

"Ok I'm sure Ron has talked to you about what happened between us earlier tonight".

Harry shook his head and gave me a confused look. Maybe I was wrong about Ron telling him.

"He hasn't mentioned anything about the mistletoe?" I asked.

"No" he replied, "wait did he kiss you?"

I nodded and Harry's face lit up. Mine didn't though and so he looked at me confused again.

"Harry, he still has a girlfriend remember" I reminded him.

I explained to him what happened and that I thought Ron would have talked to him about it. He told me that Ron hadn't mentioned anything about it.

He told me what Ron had told him about Lavender and not liking her all that much any more, but that didn't make me feel better. Now if they broke up I'd feel like it was my fault.

This was turning out to be more confusing than helpful. When the talking was over, Harry yawned and excused himself so he could go back to bed. I stayed on the couch, just thinking about everything.

I sat there watching the clock tick away. At 2:15am I heard a creak coming from somewhere up stairs. I watched as a figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs and it was the one person I didn't want to be alone with. Ron rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked over at me.

"I couldn't sleep", I explained.

"Why what's up?" he asked between yawns.

"A lot on my mind I guess".

He sat down next to me and asked if I wanted to talk about it, which I swiftly replied no to.

"Wait does this have something to do with what happened before?" he asked, his ears turning as red as his hair.

"Ron, I just don't know how I am supposed to take it" I explained.

"It was a kiss, which would usually mean that I cared for you" he tried explaining but only making him blush further.

"Ok, but what about Lavender?" I asked.

"What about her?" he replied bluntly.

"Well she is your girlfriend", I said a little harshly.

He just shrugged it off. Harry was right; he really didn't seem to care too much for her anymore.

"Well don't you think it might hurt her a little knowing you kissed someone else?" I pressed on.

"It was just a kiss" he said.

That hurt a little bit. He went from saying that a kiss meant he cared to saying it was just a kiss and it didn't matter. I stood up angrily and went to walk upstairs, but not before turning around to him.

"Well it wasn't just a kiss to me" I snapped at him.

I didn't wait of a reply; I just stormed up the stairs and closed the door behind me when I got to Ginny's room. She sat up on her bed when she heard me come in.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Your brother is an insensitive git!" I told her angrily.

"What did he do now?"

I told her about the conversation and his exact words about Lavender and about the kiss. Even she wasn't pleased with what he had said.

"He is so thick sometimes", she groaned.

We sat quietly, both of us too annoyed to sleep. We heard a knock on the door, but stayed quiet hoping they would go away.

"Kim, can we talk please?" Ron asked from behind the door.

"Just sod off Ron", Ginny said angrily.

He stood there for a moment, before we heard his footsteps going back to him room. It was going to be very awkward when everyone got up in the morning.

When morning did come, Ginny and I got up and helped Mrs Weasley with breakfast. When Harry and Ron came down, I made any excuse to talk to someone else about anything. I wasn't going to get caught alone with Ron again, but he didn't give up.

He waited for me to be alone, but I never was I made sure of it. If I wasn't with Ginny I made sure I was with Harry or one of the twins.

We spent the rest of the holidays like this, him trying to talk to me and me avoiding him at every turn. Even on the train ride back to school, we may have been in the same compartment, but I would rather talk to Hermione over Ron.

Hermione thanked me for the Christmas gift I had bought her; she hadn't expected it now that we were older. Luna joined us while when we were about half way there. She told us about how she helped her father with his Quibbler issues.

Lavender also gave our compartment a visit. She pulled Ron out into the corridor and gave him his Christmas present. We all watched him open the present. Lavender jumped up and down excitedly.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

He opened up the box and pulled out a silver necklace. On the bottom of the necklace were the words 'won won'. She put it around his neck and giggled.

"Its great" he forced out a smile.

That was all it too and the compartment filled with uncontrollable laughter. Even Hermione was holding her sides. Ron glared angrily at all of us, but it only made us laugh harder.

Ron stormed off down the corridor with Lavender following closely behind. We didn't see him again until we arrived at the station at Hogsmeade. By then our fits of laughter had finished. We got into a carriage all together. I noticed Ron had since removed the necklace that Lavender had given him. It was probably tucked away deep into his pocket.

When we got back to the castle, we lugged our stuff back up to our dormitories. I placed my trunk back at the end of my bed and started to unpack my school things.

I pulled out my school robes and a piece of paper fell on the floor. It was the letter I had received just before we went on holidays. I sat down on the bed and read over it.

Maybe I would give this guy a go, now that things didn't seem like they were going to work with Ron. I pulled out some parchment and wrote down a reply.

Hey …..

How was your holiday? Did you have a good time at home?

Mine didn't go so well, I kind of had a fight with a close friend of mine.

So I was wondering if maybe you would want to meet up with me?

Look forward to hearing from you

Sincerely Kim.

I folded the letter up and put it into my pocket. I walked down to the common room to look for Ginny. I found her sitting and talking to Harry, Hermione and Ron. Ron stood up when he saw me, but I was already one step ahead of him.

"Hey Ginny come to the owlery with me" I said and she nodded.

Before Ron could even open his mouth to say anything, we were already out the portal. It hurt that I wasn't talking to him, he was one of my closest friends after all, but what he had said really hurt me.

"So do you think you'll ever talk to Ron again?" Ginny asked as we walked.

"Maybe one day" I shrugged.

When we got to the owlery I went in search of Rosey. I found her and gave her a pat on the head and an owl treat.

"You know the drill" I smiled at her and she hooted happily.

I tied the letter to her leg and watched her fly off. I thought about following her as she flew around the castle to see what common room she went to, but then I thought that would ruin the mystery. Ginny and I then slowly walked back to the common room. We weren't looking forward to going back to classes.

When we got back to the common room, Ron had gone to bed leaving Harry and Hermione alone by the fire. I said good night to them and went up to bed.

In the morning I woke up to a tapping at the window. I stood up and walked over trying not to wake anyone up.

Rosey was sitting on the window sill waiting for me to let her in. she flew in the window and dropped a letter on my bed and then proceeded to wait for her treat. I gave her the treat and opened the letter.

Dear Kim

I'm sorry to hear about your friend.

My holiday wasn't the greatest either.

I would definitely like to meet up with you, how about the astronomy tower tomorrow night around 7pm?

Signed …

I figured this was my chance so I grabbed my parchment and hurriedly wrote a reply to give to Rosey.

Dear ….

It's a date

I'll see you at 7pm

Sincerely Kim

I wrapped the note around Rosey's leg and she was off again. I got dressed and walked down to the common room.

Ron was sitting at one of the tables starring out at the lake. I tried to walk past him with out him noticing, but luck was not on my side.

"Kim, wait" he called after me.

Part of me wanted to keep walking, to run out the portal even, but I didn't I turned around and looked straight into the sadness in his eyes.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

I sighed and nodded. I didn't know why I was giving in, but there was something about him that made my anger disappear. He motioned me to sit, but I didn't move. So he continued anyway.

"Look I'm sorry about what happened at Christmas, I never meant to hurt your feelings" he ran his fingers through his hair.

I wanted to yell at him, I wanted to make him feel as bad as he made me. I couldn't though, I just couldn't do it.

"Forget about it, just forget it ever happened", I said before finding my feet and walking out the portal.

I could have sworn I heard him say 'I can't', but they might have just been wishful thinking. Things got a little better between us, but they were still awkward.

We went to classes like robots; every class seemed to just roll into one. As did the works we were doing. Snape's classes were becoming even more unbearable.

I was extremely nervous when it came time for me to go and meet my mysterious friend. I left dinner early so I could get Harry's invisibility cloak. He was letting me borrow it, but only for the night. It wasn't like he was going to need it; he was still trying to figure out a way to get closer to professor Slughorn.

When it was almost seven, I made my way up to the astronomy tower under the cloak. I walked past Ginny and Hermione who were on their way back to the common room.

When I got to the astronomy tower I sat down at one of the tables, but stayed under the invisibility cloak. I waited for the person to show himself. I waited until 10pm, but he didn't show. I wasn't waiting any longer so I headed back to the common room. I was angry not at the guy, but at myself for letting myself get tricked.

When I was getting closer to the Fat lady, I notice Harry walking just ahead of me. I ran over and grabbed his shoulders making sure I scared him just a little.

"Geez Kim, scare me why don't you", he laughed when he realized it was me.

"That was the idea" I joked.

"Yeah, how was your meeting?" he asked.

"The guy didn't show", I told him, "so I'm glad I borrowed your cloak".

"Wow that sucks, he better have a good reason" he said sounding like e new more.

"Anyway, why are you out this late?" I asked him.

"Well Ron ate some chocolates off my bed that Romilda Vane had given me for Christmas, but he didn't know they had a love potion in them", he explained.

"Sounds like Ron" I laughed.

"So I took him to Slughorn who fixed him right up, but he offered us a drink and Ron being Ron drank his down before we got a chance. The drink was poisoned and intended for Professor Dumbledore" he went on.

"Oh my gosh! Is Ron ok?" I was shocked.

As much as Ron had hurt me over the break, no one deserved to be hurt like this. No one deserved to be poisoned.

"He's in the hospital wing; they want to keep him there over night".

I wrapped my arms around my body and hugged myself tightly. Harry places a hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

"When can we go see him?" I asked.

"Madam Pomfrey doesn't want anyone there tonight, but we can go before class tomorrow if you like" he suggested.

I nodded my head, I felt horrible for Ron. As much as he had hurt me with what he said, I still cared about him so much.

Harry and I walked back to the common room together. Hermione and Ginny were waiting for us and when they didn't see Ron they both got worried looks on their faces.

Harry told them the same thing he told me about what happened. Ginny agreed with me about eating the chocolates that weren't his definitely something that Ron would do. We all agreed that we would go and visit him in the morning after breakfast.

Just as we were about to go to bed, something occurred to me. Lavender had no idea what had happened to Ron and she was bound to notice his absence.

"I got dibbs on not telling Lavender about this" I said to the others.

"I second that" Ginny jumped in after me.

Harry looked at Hermione before sighing loudly and volunteered to tell her. He didn't look like he was going to enjoy it, but he knew Hermione would talk to Lavender.

Hermione and I walked up to our dormitory together. We said good night and made our way to our own beds. I lay down on mine and began writing a very hurt letter to the boy that stood me up.

You insensitive pig

I knew this was too good to be true

Thank you very much for standing me up tonight, I hope it made you very happy.

I don't know what kind of game you are playing, but I have had enough.

Do Not message me again!

I placed the letter in the pocket of my school robes, I was going to send that before breakfast and before going to see Ron.

I could sleep as tired as I was. All I could think about was how terrible my luck was going when it came to boys. First Ron over the break and now this poor excuse for a student, things were just not going my way.

When I woke the next morning I found Harry writing a letter at one of the tables. i walked over and sat down with him.

"what ya writing?" I asked him curiously.

"well since I'm the one that has to tell Lavender about Ron I figured I'd mail her since I really don't want all her questions" he explained.

It made sense; Lavender was a bit of a fruit loop which was why Ginny and I wanted nothing to do with her.

"I'm headed up to the owlery now if you wanna walk with me?" I suggested.

He nodded and the two of us walked their together. I found Rosey while Harry searched for Hedwig. When our letters had been sent, we walked back down to breakfast.

Ginny and Hermione met us there. We ate our food and as soon as we saw the mail arrived we left and hurried up to the hospital wing. When we got there Professor Dumbledore was already waiting for us. He wished to speak with Harry in private about the events of the night before.

I knew Harry was going to tell Dumbledore about his theory about Draco, but I wasn't sure how seriously Dumbledore was going to take it.

Ginny, Hermione and I sat down beside Ron's bed. He was asleep snoring slightly, but he was alive and that's all that mattered at the moment.

We sat with Ron for a while before class. Our silence made it easy to hear the running footsteps we knew we would be hearing soon.

"where is he? Where is my Won Won?" Lavender cried dramatically as she ran through the doors.

Ginny and I stood up and moved to the end of the bed where Madam Pomfrey was standing. Lavender shot Hermione an evil glare.

"what's she doing here?" she demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing" Hermione snapped.

"I happen to be his girlfriend" Lavender shot in her matter of fact voice.

"well I happen to be his friend" Hermione defended.

"don't make me laugh, you haven't spoken to him in weeks" she noted.

Ginny and I just sat back and watched. Harry joined us rolling his eyes when he saw Lavender had arrived. He waited for her to go off at him for not telling her in person, but Ron began to stir.

"see he sense my presence" she said rushing to his side, "I'm here Won Won".

Ginny made a slight choking noise and it made me giggle a little. Ron tossed a little.

"her…ermi…..nie" he mumbled in his sleep.

Lavender looked hurt before slowly backing away and leaving the hospital wing. I guessed I was right all along about Ron having a crush on Hermione. That was until his mumbling continued.

"Hermione… tell her…. I'm sor…..sorry" he managed before his snoring began again.

I wondered who he was sorry to; I looked at Hermione who was as confused as the rest of us.

Professor Dumbledore excused us from our first class giving us all letters to be excused, but Madam Pomfrey insisted that Ron needed his rest and we weren't allowed back until that evening. She ushered us out of the hospital wing and sent us on our way.

W walked slowly back to the common room together. I was happy that we had been excused from Potions; I didn't think I would be able to concentrate and that could be costly.

"so what did Dumbledore ask?" Hermione asked Harry.

"just wanted to know what exactly happened and if I had gotten anywhere with Slughorn" he explained.

"looks like its going to be harder to get him to talk now" I said and they both nodded.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen now, things were getting way out of hand and none of us knew when that was going to stop.