When I enter the Great Hall the next morning, it's practically empty. A few groups of students her and there, eating breakfast were present. The only other people at the Gryffindor table were three fourth-years I didn't know the names of. They started openly at me, but didn't say anything. They must have seen my little episode last night. I spread butter onto my toast and pour myself a glass of pumpkin juice. As I'm setting down the pitcher, Penelope and Stacey sit down across from me.

"Morning" I say.

"Good morning" Penelope replies, in a somewhat tentative voice.

"Cut to the chase. What happened last night?" Stacey demands.

"Good morning to you too" I reply sarcastically.

"Don't bullshit me Irene. Penelope told me you were crying." She says in a business like tone.

I glare t Penelope for a moment. She has the decency to keep her eyes on her plate.

"Where were you last night anyways?" I counter, still avoiding the question.

"If you must know, I was spending time with Arnold" she says, while turning slightly pink.

"Aah," I say, "And by spending time with, you mean snogging senseless" I smirk knowingly.

"Oh shut up. What happened? Out with it"

I think for a moment. I could keep avoiding the question, drag this interrogation out as long as possible. But suddenly I feel so emotionally exhausted that I decide to just tell my friends what happened and get it over with.

"Jacob cheated on me".

Silence.

"WHAT?" Stacey practically yells. A few heads turn out way.

"When?" Penelope adds.

"With who?"

I sigh. "Hestia Jones, it's been going on since the beginning of term. I found them draped across each other in the Ravenclaw common room yesterday".

"I'll kill them both. What a bitch. And him, he's an ungrateful piece of shite" Stacey fumes.

"Are you ok?" Penelope asks.

"I'm fine. Can we please stop talking about this? He's not even worth it. I just want to forget about it and move on." I plead.

"Sure hun. You're right; neither of them is worth it. Everyone knows Hestia's one of the biggest sluts in the castle." Stacey replies.

I look up then, and because I have the greatest luck in the world, Jacob and Hestia walk into the Hall at the exact moment. They're holding hands. Jacob's eyes meet mine for a split second before he hastily looks away. I feel my eyes begin to tear up; this is so humiliating. I look down to my plate and try to regain control. Mercifully, Stacey and Penelope both pretend nothing's happening. When I look up again, my friends are staring at their plates determinedly, while almost everyone else in the Hall is staring at me or at Jacob and Hestia. Nosy gits.

By lunch time, the rumor had reached pretty much the entire student body; from the Gryffindor tower to the darkest slimiest corner of the Slytherin dungeons. Everyone knows. All day, I receive sympathetic looks form friends, acquaintances or just random people who feel sorry for me. I also get some dirty looks from Hestia's friends. I wish I could hide out in my room for the entire week; maybe by then the school population will have some new rumor and poor sap to gossip about.

I swear the clock in the Defense against the Dark Arts room is slower than normal. It's been 5 minutes until the end of class for the past half hour. I put my head down on my desk and utter a string of profanities under my breath. Finally, the bell rings, and I head off to my dormitory.

I consider asking Aaron to patrol alone tonight. I could make up some lame excuse like being ill or something. The problem with that plan, however, is that I would actually have to talk to him, which I'd rather not do. So at 8 pm I drag myself down the stairs and meet Aaron in the common room. We patrol in silence for the first ten or so minutes. Then the prat had to ruin our unwritten silence agreement by uttering one of the stupidest, most insensitive comments I've ever been on the receiving end of.

"I told you he didn't love you" he says quietly. He's walking in the middle of the hallway, and I'm practically walking on the wall trying to be as far away from him as possible. I stop walking and stare indignantly at him. "Sorry, that was a stupid thing to say," he adds.

I roll my eyes, I'm truly not in the mood nor do I have the energy to argue with him. I let out a long annoyed sigh.

He says nothing for a few minutes, and stretch of uncomfortable silence goes by. Well, more uncomfortable than usual.

"Are you…erm…ok?" He asks awkwardly.

"Fan-bloody-tastic, thanks" my tone oozes sarcasm, but I can't help myself. Besides, it's not like I have an obligation to be nice to Everard.

"I'm just trying to be nice" he snaps.

I scoff "well don't".

"Urghhh, you're impossible!"

"Yeah, well so are you!" I snap back.

"Ok, let's just split up and patrol, you're driving me crazy!"

"Fine! I'll meet you back here in twenty minutes."

Finally! Alone for the first time all bloody day. I patrol in silence, enjoying the solitude. I go up to the Astronomy tower and look out. It's a cloudy night, and neither the stars nor the moon are visible. I inhale deeply the chilly breeze, letting it wash over me. Feeling refreshed I stroll back to the meeting spot. Aaron isn't there yet. I sit down with my back against the wall and wait.

A few minutes go by, and still he doesn't show. By now my mind has started thinking about Jacob. For the first time since last night, I recall the memories he and I shared. I wish I didn't care, I wish Jacob mean nothing to me. The tears stream steadily down my face and the solitude I longed for now feels like a crushing loneliness. By now it's been more than ten minutes, and I assume that Aaron, the git that he is, just went back up to the tower, not bothering to meet back up with me. I mull over the thought of getting up, going to my warm soft bed. But my legs feel like lead, and my brain hurts, and the mere thought of getting up exhausts me.

Suddenly I hear footsteps. Warily I look in the direction the sound is coming from and grab my wand tightly inside my robe pocket. The person gets closer until finally, Aaron stops right in front of me. Honestly I think I'd rather deal with a Slytherin bully than him right now. He notices my wet face and red eyes.

"Get lost" I mutter, and put my head on my knees, which are drawn up to my chest. He sits down on the floor beside me. This bloke really doesn't know how to take a hint. We sit in silence for a few moments.

"He really isn't worth it you know" he says quietly.

I nod. "I know" I whisper through the still flowing tears.

"But it still hurts" he says, almost questioningly.

"Yeah" I whisper.

I don't know how long we sit there for. Sometimes I can feel his eyes on me, but I never lift my head from my knees. I cry for a while, but finally fall silent, too exhausted to continue. Eventually, I look up and over at him. He's staring intently at the opposite wall, his arms crossed over his chest. I get up and brush the dust off my backside. He gets up as well. We walk in silence back to the common room. As soon as we enter through the portrait hole, he immediately starts toward the boy's dormitory staircase.

I'm standing in the middle of the common room, watching is retreating back. He's got his hand on the wall and one foot on the first step when I call out.

"Good night"

Without turning around he responds "Good night"

"And erm…" now he turns around and cocks his head to the side "thanks for, you know, waiting for me" I add awkwardly.

He nods his head "you're welcome". I really wish I could read the emotions on his face, or in his flat blue eyes. He turns around and climbs the stairs to his dormitory.

I turn around, climb my own stairs, and at long last fall, drained, into my bed.

Author's Note

Review...pretty please, with cherries and ice cream and chocolate icing on top. :D