Part of me wished that I'd never talked about getting my revenge on Evans. Sure, she deserved it but part of me almost felt sorry for her. It was like she'd been knocked off her pedestal as she and her boyfriend lost most of their friends. Sure, it was their own damn fault but I still pitied them. How could two people be so incredibly stupid that they were willing to give up their own friends just because they refused to admit that they were wrong?

On the outside, both of them seemed to be fine. Evans still acted like a bossy Head Girl and Potter still acted like an arrogant git. On the inside, though, I knew that they were lonely. I'd planned a hilarious, publicly humiliating act of revenge for them but the closer I got to it, the less I wanted to do it. I was just tired of fighting them. This wasn't going to solve anything, it might just spark them to retaliate and I didn't have the energy for a full-out war, especially with one looming outside.

There had to have been a way to not completely lose face but not start a war either. There had to be a solution that didn't make me look like a push-over but it didn't cause anymore problems. I think that Remus and Sirius wanted this whole thing to blow over more than they were letting on. It's was complicated, though, because how willing can you be forgive and forget without risking it from happening again? How do you start over without acting like like you're letting them walk all over you?

I had a vague plan for what I had to do to make this somewhat go away. It was a shaky plan and it was just about as likely to blow up in my face as it was to work. If I knew Evans as much as I thought I did, though, then it was going to work. I just hoped that our years of fighting and annoying each other had given me a good enough understanding of her to pull this off.

The largest part was waiting. I had to wait until the timing was absolutely perfect. Evans and Potter had to be at their loneliest and particularly vulnerable. If they were lonely and vulnerable then they were more likely to take the bait. I just had to be patient until then, which wasn't exactly my strong suit. It was a very delicate operation, though, and it needed my utmost care.

I bade my time, watching for any sign that my opportunity was coming. It was a more tedious task than most of my other revenge attempts but it was also likely to be more long-lasting. This was going to stick with them longer than if I'd hung them up by their toes in the middle of the Great Hall or if I gave them a set of horns. That would only make them angry and I wanted to go beyond that. I was going to force them to be grateful towards me.

Revenge by gratitude was a risky business. There was no saying that it'd work. If I was right about it, though, then she was going to hate every minute of it. She loved hating me and being angry at me and acting like I ruined her life. It would have drove her crazy that I actually did something that she had to be appreciative for. If she wasn't mental from her owing me then the question of why I was being nice to her would definitely send her over the edge into the abyss of insanity. Unless I was wrong, which was a possibility. If I was wrong then my patience was wasted on this whole gamble. If I was right, though, then it could potentially drive her crazy for a very long time. It was worth the risk, however big.

My opportunity finally arose one afternoon when I was innocently strolling the dungeons. I wasn't even on the prowl for them. I was looking for Sirius, wondering if maybe he'd gotten sidetracked by a loudmouthed Slytherin that happened to rub him the wrong way. I hadn't expected to find them in a huddled mass on the dungeon floor, Evans looking like she'd just cried enough tears to fill the Amazon River. That was purely coincidental. Apparently losing one of her best mates to her enemy and having the other one hide from her was just taking its toll on her.

"What do you want?" she croaked, still managing to glare at me through her tear-stained eyes. "Come to gloat?"

I shook my head, not being able to think of a better opportunity than this, "No. Get up. We're going back to the Tower."

"What? No, why?" she shook her head in confusion.

"Because this has gone on long enough," I answered simply. "Let's go."

Potter and Evans looked at each other before looking back at me. I could practically hear their thoughts they were so obvious. They didn't know if they should trust me. They apparently thought that I was up to some sort of devious plot. They questioned my motives. They were actually all beautiful things. The more they didn't trust me, the more my revenge was going to be likely to be successful.

Slowly they managed to untangle themselves from each other, getting cautiously to their feet. I turned abruptly on my heels, setting off for Gryffindor Tower. This had been easier than I expected. I'd expected that they'd have protested following me, demanding to know what I had up my sleeves. Maybe they felt like they didn't have anything left to lose.

We trudged silently to the Tower, only speaking to say the password. I marched up to Ali, Remus and Sirius, who'd apparently showed up while I was searching for them. They were lounging on a sofa while Sirius and Remus played a game of chess. All three of them looked up at me in surprise as I approached with Evans and Potter behind me.

"Cher, babe, what are you doing?" Sirius questioned with a hint of alarm in his voice.

"Forgive them." I couldn't believe what I was saying but I manage to say it with relative believability.

"Pardon?" Ali practically choked on her own saliva. "Have you started drinking again?"

I shook my head, "No. Now forgive them."

"No!" Sirius scoffed. "Do you remember how they treated you? Do you remember what he called you? I'm not forgiving them."

I gave him a pointed look that loosely translated into "do what I tell you to or you're going to face my wrath". "Yes, you are. You all are. Ali, no more of this silent treatment. Remus, no more punching out Potter. Sirius, rein in the aggression, okay?"

"No!" Ali and Sirius exclaimed in unison.

"Yes," I repeated firmly.

"How can you seriously be saying this? Do you remember how they treated you? Over fifty rules! Latin-based words! All the things he called you! How can you just expect us to forgive them?" Ali demanded.

"Because I'm tired of this. Everything that's happened is over, okay? Just forget about it. We're wiping the slate clean. The rules never happened. The prejudice never happened. The mistreatment never happened. The argument never happened. Okay? Just let it all go."

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Evans managed to find her voice.

"Mercy," I answered easily.

Her eyes widened. Her pride didn't hear "mercy". Her pride heard "pity". I was pitying her and that was going to stay under her skin for a very long time.

"I'm not just going to forgive them," Sirius announced. He hadn't even been angry a week or two ago but once he decided he was mad, he didn't do it lightly.

I gave him another look that loosely translated into "would you like to be celibate for the rest of eternity?" Hopefully he was becoming more fluent in my looks since he and I started spending more time together.

"I suppose if they agree to treat you and Ali better, I'd forgive them," Remus conceded slowly.

Ali turned to him with a shocked expression, "What? How can you just forgive them after how they treated her?"

"Because it's what she wants, Ali. If that's what she thinks is best then I think we need to respect that," he replied honestly. "If she's not going to keep a grudge then neither am I and if Lily and James make an honest effort to treat the two of you better then I'm willing to forget this whole mess."

"I guess I agree," Sirius granted, deliberating the use of each word cautiously. "If they promise to respect Cherry and not try to drive her off then I might be able to overlook this whole thing."

Potter nodded almost eagerly, "We can do that." Apparently he was more concerned with getting his mates back than ruining my life, which was appreciated.

"Ali?" Evans questioned hopefully.

Ali crossed her arms in front of her, being astoundingly stubborn for a Hufflepuff, "I'm not just going to forgive you because you make false promises but –"

"They're not false promises!" Evans interjected.

"But," Ali continued, giving her a warning look for interrupting her, "I'm willing to give you a chance to work for it. If you can prove that you can treat Cherry properly like a human being then I'll forget this ever happened. If you can't, though, I'm taking this to my grave."

Evans nodded quickly, "I'll take what I can get!"

I almost smirked, feeling rather victorious and proud of myself. Evans now owed me for giving her an opportunity to reclaim her friendship with Ali and her pride was never going to swallow the fact that I, the apparent epitome of barbarianism and insensitivity, pitied her. Overall, this was a much less messy than public humiliation and I wasn't going to live the rest of my Hogwarts career in detention for it either. I think it was a general success. If I'd known that making her mind me was this easy then I never would've suffered through all her rules.

"So erm chess?" Potter oafishly spoke, testing the awkwardness of the standing tension in the room.

"Erm yeah, I was just kicking Moony's arse here," Sirius replied despite the discomfort of the situation.

"You wish," Remus scoffed with a determined look. "Your arse is totally mine."

"Did he do try that pawn trapping thing yet?" Potter questioned enthusiastically, studying the chessboard as the tension in the room began to melt.

I grinned, feeling victorious that I'd successfully achieved both of my objectives. Evans' pride was going to stay wounded for a while and all this drama was over.

Ali gave me a questioning look as Potter, Remus, and Sirius prattle on and on about chess strategies. I only shrugged innocently in reply before turning to Evans, "So how's studying for NEWTs going?"

Evans seemed relieved that gave her something to do other than stand around gawkily. "It's erm going pretty well I think," she replied quietly. "I think I'm almost ready for the Transfiguration exam but I'm nowhere near ready for the Charms one. The Potions one is supposed to be really hard too."

"You're practically a genius at Potions," Ali spoke up, finally breaking her silence. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

Evans practically lit up at the compliment, "Really? You think so? I don't know. I mean, NEWTs are supposed to be wicked hard. Do you think that –"

I stopped listening to their chat about what they expected from our upcoming NEWTs. I was too busy congratulating myself on a job well done. I'd even gotten Ali to willingly talk to Evans', a feat that'd seemed impossible before. Damn, I was good.