Chapter 18:

Normal Pov

It had been a few days after Katie Bells accident. The day after her attack, she had been taken off to St. Mungo's. Juliunna had repeatedly asked Draco if he knew anything about it, and he had replied with the same answer each time. "What?!" He would snap, as if he was insulted. Harry had put her up to it, and didn't believe that Draco was telling her the truth.

Harry had Herbology first thing the following morning. He had been unable to tell Ron, Juliunna, and Hermione about his lesson with Dumbledore over breakfast for fear of being over-heard, but he filled them in as they walked across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses. The weekend's brutal wind had died out at last; the weird mist had returned and it took them a little longer than usual to find the correct greenhouse.

"Wow, scary thought, the boy You-Know-Who," Ron said quietly, as they took their places around one of the gnarled Snargaluff stumps that formed this terms project, and began pulling on their protective gloves. "But I still don't get why Dumbledore's showing you all this. I mean, it's really interesting and everything, but what's the point?"

"Dunno," said Harry, inserting a gum shield. "But he says its all important and it'll help me survive."

"I think it's fascinating," said Hermione earnestly. "It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?"

"I think its more then that." Juliunna said. "Your finding out how to take out his strengths." Juliunna said, rubbing her own forehead.

"So how was Slughorn's latest party?" Harry asked her thickly through the gum shield.

"Oh, it was quite fun, really," said Hermione, now putting on protective goggles. "I mean, he drones on about famous exploits a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he's so well connected, Juliunna because soon, she'll be as famous as you, once word gets out of the school, but he gave us some really nice food and he introduced us to Gwenog Jones."

"Gwenog Jones?" said Ron, his eyes widening under his own goggles. "The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?"

"That's right," said Hermione. "Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself, but —"

"Quite enough chat over here!" said Professor Sprout briskly, bustling over and looking stern. "You're lagging behind, everybody else has started, and Neville's already got his first pod!"

They looked around; sure enough, there sat Neville with a bloody lip and several nasty scratches along the side of his face, but clutching an unpleasantly pulsating green object about the size of a grapefruit.

"Okay, Professor, we're starting now!" said Ron, adding quietly, when she had turned away again, "should've used Muffliato, Harry."

"No, we shouldn't!" said Hermione at once, looking, as she always did, intensely cross at the thought of the Half-Blood Prince and his spells. "Well, come on ... we'd better get going. ..."

She gave the other three an apprehensive look; they all took deep breaths and then dived at the gnarled stump between them.

It sprang to life at once; long, prickly, bramble like vines flew out of the top and whipped through the air. One tangled itself in Hermione's hair, and another trapped Juliunna six feet in the air, hanging upside down. With her wand and gritting her teeth, she cut off the branch holding her. She fell to the floor and bounced off her head and back to her feet.

Harry succeeded in trapping a couple of vines and knotting them together; a hole opened in the middle of all the tentacle like branches; Hermione plunged her arm bravely into this hole, which closed like a trap around her elbow; Harry and Ron tugged and wrenched at the vines, forcing the hole to open again, and Hermione snatched her arm free, clutching in her fingers a pod just like Neville's. At once, the prickly vines shot back inside, and the gnarled stump sat there looking like an innocently dead lump of wood.

"You know, I don't think I'll be having any of these in my garden when I've got my own place," said Ron, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead and wiping sweat from his face.

"Pass me a bowl," said Hermione, holding the pulsating pod at arm's length; Harry handed one over and she dropped the pod into it with a look of disgust on her face.

"Don't be squeamish, squeeze it out, they're best when they're fresh!" called Professor Sprout.

"Anyway," said Hermione, continuing their interrupted conversation as though a lump of wood had not just attacked them, "Slughorn's going to have a Christmas party, Harry, and there's no way you'll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you can come."

Harry groaned. Meanwhile, Ron, who was attempting to burst the pod in the bowl by putting both hands on it, standing up, and squashing it as hard as he could, said angrily, "And this is another party just for Slughorn's favorites, is it?"

"Just for the Slug Club, yes," said Hermione.

The pod flew out from under Ron's fingers and hit the green house glass, rebounding onto the back of Professor Sprout's head and knocking off her old, patched hat. Juliunna went to retrieve the pod; when she got back, Hermione was saying, "Look, I didn't make up the name 'Slug Club' —"

"'Slug Club,'" Repeated Ron with a sneer worthy of Malfoy. "It's pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your party. Why don't you try hooking up with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug —"

"We're allowed to bring guests," said Hermione, who for some reason had turned a bright, boiling scarlet, "and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"

Harry suddenly wished the pod had flown a little farther, so that he need not have been sitting here with the pair of them. Juliunna had about to puncture the pod with a knitting needle. "No Juliunna. Let me check the book first." Hermione said with a sigh.

Unnoticed by either, he seized the bowl that contained the pod and began to try and open it by the noisiest and most energetic means he could think of; unfortunately, he could still hear every word of their conversation.

"You were going to ask me?" asked Ron, in a completely different voice.

"Yes," said Hermione angrily. "But obviously if you'd rather I hooked up with McLaggen, then ..."

There was a pause while Harry continued to pound the resilient pod with a trowel.

"No, I wouldn't," said Ron, in a very quiet voice.

Harry missed the pod, hit the bowl, and shattered it.

'"Repairo,"' he said hastily, poking the pieces with his wand, and the bowl sprang back together again. The crash, however, appeared to have awoken Ron and Hermione to Harry's presence. Hermione looked flustered and immediately started fussing about for her copy of "Flesh-Eating Trees of the World" to find out the correct way to juice Snargaluff pods; Juliunna was wincing awkwardly, edging away from both Ron and Hermione. Ron, on the other hand, looked sheepish but also rather pleased with himself.

"Oops, sorry Juliunna." Said Hermione hurriedly. "It says we are supposed to puncture them with something sharp. . . ."

Without further ado, Juliunna took the pod from Harry and punctured it.

"So, how's your Quidditch Team?" Harry asked Juliunna. "Oh, pretty good. Slytherin House is full of Wizarding born families, and all the applicants have been on brooms since they could walk-!"

Juliunna had just turned around, about to pick up another pod. Ron's face was inches from hers. Ron had his elbows placed on the table, his chin on his hands as he listened to her with a smug look.

"Anything you'd like to add Ron?" She said darkly.

"Nope." He chuckled. She turned back to Harry. "It took till afternoon. It wasn't as bad as you'd think. All the fliers are excellent. I only had seven spots up, and a whole house."

"Seven? What are you then?" Ron asked. Harry was curious too. There were seven positions on the Quidditch Field. Two Beaters, three Chasers, one keeper and one seeker.

"I'm the Captain. The Manager. Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Juliunna laughed.

She turned back to Harry. "Good luck at the Quidditch Game, Potter." She sneered in a very Malfoy –wayish voice.

"Even if it is against Slytherin." She smirked. Seconds later the three of them burst into loud laughter.

"Hey! Aren't we supposed to be working?" Hermione said, resurfacing from the plant with another pod clutched in her hand.

…

November 21

Tensions were high between Ron and Hermione. During an argument, Ginny had let it slip to Ron that when Hermione and Krum were together, they had snogged. Hermione was confused by Ron's rotten attitude.

To Harry's dismay, Ron's new aggression did not wear off over the next few days. Worse still, it coincided with an even deeper dip in his Keeping skills, which made him still more aggressive, so that during the final Quidditch practice before Saturdays match, he failed to save every single goal the Chasers aimed at him, but bellowed at everybody so much that he reduced Demelza Robins to tears.

"You shut up and leave her alone!" shouted Peakes, who was about two-thirds Ron's height, though admittedly carrying a heavy bat.

"ENOUGH!" bellowed Harry, who had seen Ginny glowering in Ron's direction and, remembering her reputation as an accomplished caster of the Bat-Bogey Hex, soared over to intervene be-fore things got out of hand. "Peakes, go and pack up the Bludgers. Demelza, pull yourself together, you played really well today, Ron . . ." he waited until the rest of the team were out of earshot before saying it, "you're my best mate, but carry on treating the rest of them like this and I'm going to kick you off the team."

He really thought for a moment that Ron might hit him, but then something much worse happened: Ron seemed to sag on his broom. all the fight went out of him and he said, "I resign. I'm pathetic."

"You're not pathetic and you're not resigning!" said Harry fiercely, seizing Ron by the front of his robes. "You can save any-thing when you're on form, it's a mental problem you've got!"

"You calling me mental?"

"Yeah, maybe I am!"

They glared at each other for a moment, then Ron shook his head wearily. "I know you haven't got any time to find another Keeper, so I'll play tomorrow, but if we lose, and we will, I'm taking myself off the team."

Nothing Harry said made any difference. He tried boosting Ron's confidence all through dinner, but Ron was too busy being grumpy and surly with Hermione to notice. Harry persisted in the common room that evening, but his assertion that the whole team would be devastated if Ron left was somewhat undermined by the fact that the rest of the team was sitting in a huddle in a distant corner, clearly muttering about Ron and casting him nasty looks. Finally Harry tried getting angry again in the hope of provoking Ron into a defiant, and hopefully goal-saving, attitude, but this strategy did not appear to work any better than encouragement; Ron went to bed as dejected and hopeless as ever.

Harry lay awake for a very long time in the darkness. He did not want to lose the upcoming match; not only was it his first as Captain, but he was determined to beat Draco Malfoy at Quidditch even if he could not yet prove his suspicions about him. And Juliunna was irking him lately. Everyday she came in from practice, always talking about how well things were going. All he could think about was how she was going to trump his team in the game.

Harry scowled deeply at the thought of how she had passed out specially made cupcakes to the Slytherin Team for being good Quidditch players yesterday, during Dinner. He so badly wanted to beat them.

Yet if Ron played as he had done in the last few practices, their chances of winning were very slim. . . .

If only there was something he could do to make Ron pull himself together . . . make him play at the top of his form . . . something that would ensure that Ron had a really good day. . . .

And the answer came to Harry in one, sudden, glorious stroke of inspiration.

…

Breakfast was the usual excitable affair next morning; the Slytherins hissed and booed loudly as every member of the Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall. Harry glanced at the ceiling and saw a clear, pale blue sky: a good omen.

The Gryffindor table, a solid mass of red and gold, cheered as Harry and Ron approached. Harry grinned and waved; Ron grimaced weakly and shook his head.

"Cheer up, Ron!" called Lavender. "I know you'll be brilliant!" Ron ignored her.

"Tea?" Harry asked him. "Coffee? Pumpkin juice?"

"Anything," said Ron glumly, taking a moody bite of toast.

A few minutes later Hermione, who had become so tired of Ron's recent unpleasant behavior that she had not come down to breakfast with them, paused on her way up the table.

"How are you both feeling?" she asked tentatively, her eyes on the back of Ron's head.

"Fine," said Harry, who was concentrating on handing Ron a glass of pumpkin juice. "There you go, Ron. Drink up."

Ron had just raised the glass to his lips when Hermione spoke sharply.

"Don't drink that, Ron!"

Both Harry and Ron looked up at her.

"Why not?" said Ron.

Hermione was now staring at Harry as though she could not believe her eyes.

"You just put something in that drink."

"Excuse me?" said Harry.

"You heard me. I saw you. You just tipped something into Ron's drink. You've got the bottle in your hand right now!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Harry, stowing the little bottle hastily in his pocket.

"Ron, I warn you, don't drink it!" Hermione said again, alarmed, but Ron picked up the glass, drained it in one gulp, and said, "Stop bossing me around, Hermione."

She looked scandalized. Bending low so that only Harry could hear her, she hissed, "You should be expelled for that. I'd never have believed it of you, Harry!"

"Look who's talking," he whispered back. "Confunded anyone lately?"

She stormed up the table away from them. Harry watched her go without regret. Hermione had never really understood what a serious business Quidditch was. He then looked around at Ron, who was smacking his lips.

"Nearly time." Said Harry blithely.

The frosty grass crunched underfoot as they strode down to the stadium.

"Pretty lucky the weathers this good, eh?" Harry asked Ron.

"Yeah," said Ron, who was pale and sick-looking.

Ginny and Demelza were already wearing their Quidditch robes and waiting in the changing room.

"Conditions look ideal," said Ginny, ignoring Ron. "And guess what? That Slytherin Chaser Vaisey, he took a Bludger in the head yesterday during their practice, and he's too sore to play! And even better than that — Malfoy's gone off sick too!"

"What?" said Harry, wheeling around to stare at her. "He's ill? What's wrong with him?"

"No idea, but it's great for us," said Ginny brightly. "They're playing Harper instead; he's in my year and he's an idiot."

Harry smiled back vaguely, but as he pulled on his scarlet robes his mind was far from Quidditch. Malfoy had once before claimed he could not play due to injury, but on that occasion he had made sure the whole match was rescheduled for a time that suited the Slytherins better. Why was he now happy to let a substitute go on? Was he really ill, or was he faking?

"Fishy, isn't it?" he said in an undertone to Ron. "Malfoy not playing?"

"Lucky, I call it," said Ron, looking slightly more animated. "And Vaisey off too, he's their best goal scorer, apparently, I didn't fancy — hey!" he said suddenly, freezing halfway through pulling on his Keepers gloves and staring at Harry.

"What?"

"I... you . . ." Ron had dropped his voice, he looked both scared and excited. "My drink ... my pumpkin juice ... you didn't...?"

Harry raised his eyebrows, but said nothing except, "We'll be starting in about five minutes, you'd better get your boots on."

They walked out onto the pitch to tumultuous roars and boos. One end of the stadium was solid red and gold; the other, a sea of green and silver. Many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had taken sides too.

Amidst all the yelling and clapping Harry could distinctly hear the roar of Luna Lovegood's famous lion-topped hat.

Harry stepped up to Madam Hooch, the referee, who was standing ready to release the balls from the crate. Juliunna was standing in her green Quidditch Robes, looking around boringly. She looked like a proper Slytherin now. "Captains shake hands," Madame Hooch said, and Harry shook Juliunna's quickly. She didn't look at him, she was instead studying the broom she held in her hand. "Nimbus two thousand and one?" Harry smirked. "Using Malfoy's? I thought you took no part in this?"

"Professor Snape stepped in." She whispered. "Told me I had to play. He also threatened to letter my dad that I was making out with Malfoy and McLadden."

"You did?!" Harry said.

"Of course not. But who's the Dark Lord going believe?" Juliunna sighed. They let go of each other and turned to Madame Hooch.

"Mount your brooms." She said, and Juliunna threw a leg over her broom. "Wait," Harry said. "There's still seven people right behind you." He said.

"You'll see." She smirked.

"On the whistle . . . three . . . two . . . one . . ."

The whistle sounded, Harry and the others kicked off hard from the frozen ground, and they were away.

…

Ten Minutes Later

Juliunna landed on the ground, clutching the snitch in her hand. Her team swooped her upward as the Gryffindor Team hit the floor.

"Slytherin Wins!" Zacharias Smith yelled.

The sea of silver and green erupted into a screaming chorus of cheers as the Gryffindor Team erupted into shouts of swears.

"Why Ginny?!" Harry shouted at Ginny, who landed on the floor with a grimace. "What did I do?" She scowled. Smirking, the Slytherin team put Juliunna down and turned to face the Gryffindors.

"I thought you said that Harper was the Seeker? I was concentrating on him and the whole time I should have been looking at her!" Harry snapped.

"But that's what I heard!" Ginny said, as confused as Harry was angry.

"Harry," Juliunna smiled, enjoying herself at his anger. "It was really me. We Slytherins are known for our cunningness." She smirked. "And I knew your style. I spread the word this morning in the loo that since Draco couldn't play, Harper would be replacing him as Seeker. I knew what I was doing Harry, so don't be mad at her." Juliunna said. The teenagers on either side of her smirked and laughed.

"You planned this?" Harry asked. Ron abandoned his goal post and flew over to where Harry was standing. Harry, expecting to see Ron angry and cheated, was shocked to see him smirking.

"Well, I guess Felix can't change anything that's already in the course of action, I suppose." Ron said with a shrug. "But did you see me Harry? I saved everything! Everything! Not one mess up!"

The screaming of the Slytherins continued and the Slytherin Team lifted Juliunna up.

"See you later Scar face!" One of them shouted loudly.

"Bye Harry. Bye Ron. By everyone else!" Juliunna said as she was swept into the wave of Slytherins now swooping her away towards the castle.

…

Snow was swirling against the icy windows once more; Christmas was approaching fast. Hagrid had already single handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees to the Great Hall; garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs; everlasting candles glowed from inside the helmets of suits of armor and great bunches of mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors. Large groups of girls tended to converge underneath the mistletoe bunches every time Harry went past, which caused blockages in the corridors; fortunately, however, Harry's frequent nighttime wanderings had given him an unusually good knowledge of the castle's secret passageways, so that he was often, without too much difficulty, to navigate mistletoe-free routes between classes.

Ron, who might once have found the necessity of these detours excuse for jealousy rather than hilarity, simply roared with laughter about it all. Although Harry much preferred this new laughing, joking Ron to the moody, aggressive model he had been enduring for the last few weeks, the improved Ron came at a heavy price. Firstly, Harry had to put up with the frequent presence of Lavender Brown, who seemed to regard any moment that she was not kissing Ron as a moment wasted; and secondly, both Julunna and Harry found themselfs once more the best friend of two people who seemed unlikely ever to speak to each other again.

Ron was taking a defensive and resentful tone.

"She can't complain," he told Harry and Juliunna . "She snogged Krum. So she's found out someone wants to snog me too. Well, it's a free country. I haven't done anything wrong."

Harry did not answer, but pretended to be absorbed in the book they were supposed to have read before Charms next morning (Quintessence: A Quest). Determined as he was to remain friends with both Ron and Hermione, he was spending a lot of time with his mouth shut tight.

"I never promised Hermione anything. " Ron mumbled. "I mean, all right, I was going to go to Slughorn's Christmas party with her, but she never said... just as friends... I'm a free agent..."

Harry turned a page of Quintessence, aware that Ron was watching him. Ron's voice trailed away in mutters, barely audible over the loud crackling of the fire, though Harry thought he caught the words "Krum" and "Can't complain" again.

"What do you think Juliunna?" Ron asked her, and Harry knew there was a carefully laced dark smile under his kind one, as if he was wishing for the chance to turn on her.

"I think your being an idiot about it." She told him one day. "That was in fourth year. You were never with her, and your ego is so super maxed that you can't see that she's upset because she doesn't know what she did to offend you. If you like her, just pluck up the courage and ask her already and stop going out with that bimbo you call a girl." Juliunna said, her eyes flickering over Lavender Brown. Ron's eyes had narrowed into near slits.

The next time Harry saw Juliunna, she was in the library with Hermione, both avoiding Ron because of his constant teasing and insults.

Hermione's schedule was so full that Harry could only talk to her properly in the evenings, when Ron was, in any case, so tightly wrapped around Lavender that he did not notice what Harry was doing. Hermione refused to sit in the common room while Ron was there, So Harry generally joined her and Juliunna in the library, which meant that their conversations were held in whispers.

"He's at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he likes," said Hermione, while the librarian , Madam Pince, prowled the shelves behind them. "I really couldn't care less."

"He and that bimbo called me names till everyone in the room was staring!" Juliunna snarled to Harry. She grabbed a nearby text book and slammed it open. "He told me I was a good for nothing traitor for siding with Hermione. And he and Lavender keep going around telling people I'm insane." Juliunna scowled. Harry frowned.

"Why would he do that? I mean, there's no reason for you to be insane. You and Hermione are the most intelligent students here." Harry said. Juliunna and Hermione shared gloomy looks.

"What?" Harry asked when they didn't say anything.

"I left my diary on the library table two days ago. I went to see Hermione because she had an extra ink bottle. And when I came back…" Juliunna drifted off.

"He had it?" Harry asked softly.

"No. Lavenders friend, Padma Patil did. She and that bimbo were reading it, I must have been gone for a minute. And its filled with a lot of private stuff. My hopes and dreams. Depressed feelings. Nothing they'd understand. And some poetry I wrote… Thing is, I only write in that diary when I'm angry. And so its filled with dark stuff. And when I threatened to jinx them, they threw it down and ran from the room."

She raised her quill and dotted an 'I' so ferociously that she punctured a hole in her parchment. "When Ron heard, he came straight to me and said, that if I said that I was sorry and that Hermione was the one who was wrong, he wouldn't spread the gossip to a lot of people. Obviously I said no. I'm surprised you didn't hear."

Harry said nothing. He thought his voice might soon vanish from the lack of use. He bent a little lower over Advanced Potion-Making and continued to make notes on Everlasting Elixirs, occasionally pausing to decipher the prince's useful additions to Libatius B orage's text.

"He's such a prat. And incidentally," said Hermione, after a few moments, "you need to be careful."

"For the last time," said Harry, speaking in a slightly hoarse tone after three-quarters of an hour of silence, "I am not giving back this book . I've learned more from the Half blood prince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in-"

"I'm not talking about your stupid so-called prince," said Hermione, giving his book a nasty look as though it had been rude to her. "I'm talking about earlier. I went into the girl's bathroom just before I came in here and there were about a dozen girls in there, including that Ramilda Vane, trying to decide how to slip you a love potion. They're all hoping they're going to get you to take them to Slughorn's party, and they all seem to have bought Fred and George's love potions, which I'm afraid to say probably work -"

"Why didn't you confiscate them then?" demanded Harry, it seemed extraordinary that Hermione's mania for upholding the rules could have abandoned her at this crucial juncture. Juliunna snickered softly.

"They didn't have the potions with them in the bathroom," said Hermione scornfully, "They were just discussing tactics. As I doubt the Half-blood prince" she gave the book another scornful look "could dream up an antidote for a dozen different love potions at once, I'd just invite someone to go with you, that'll stop all the others thinking they've still got a chance. It's tomorrow night, they're getting desperate."

"There isn't anyone I want to invite," mumbled Harry, who was still not trying to think about Ginny any more than he could help, despite the fact the fact that she kept cropping up in his dreams in ways that made him devoutly thankful that Ron could not perform Legilimency.

"Well, just be careful what you drink, because Ramilda Vane looked like she meant business." said Juliunna grimly.

She hitched up the long roll of parchment on which she was writing her Arithmacy essay and continued to scratch away with her quill. Harry watched her with his mind a long way away.

"Hang on a moment," he said slowly. "I thought Filch had banned anything bought at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

"And when has anyone ever paid attention to what Filch has banned?" asked Hermione, still concentrating on her essay. Juliunna nodded, looking between her book and her piece of parchment.

"But I thought all the owls were being searched. So how come these girls are able to bring love potions into the school?"

"Fred and George send them disguised as perfumes and cough potions," said Hermione. "It's part of their Owl order service."

"You know a lot about it."

Hermione gave him the kind of nasty look she had just given his copy of Advanced Potion-Making.

"It was all on the back of the bottles they showed Ginny and me in the summer," she said coldly, "I don't go around putting potions in people's drinks... or pretending too either, which is just as bad..."

"Yeah, well, never mind that," said Harry quickly. "The point is, Filch is being fooled isn't he? These girls are getting stuff into the school disguised as something else! So why couldn't Malfoy have brought the necklace into the school-?"

"Oh, Harry... not that again..."

"Come on, why not?" demanded Harry.

"Look , " Juliunna sighed without looking up at him. "Secrecy Sensors detect jinxes, curses, and concealment charms, don't they? They're used to find dark magic and dark objects. They'd have picked up a powerful curse , like the one in the necklace, within seconds. But something that's just been put in the wrong bottle wouldn't register-! Anyway Love potions aren't dark or dangerous."

"Easy for you to say," muttered Harry, thinking of Ramilda Vane.

"So it would be down to Filch to realize it wasn't a cough potion, and he's not a very good wizard, I doubt he can tell one potion from -"

Hermione stopped dead; Harry had heard it too. Juliunna looked too. Somebody had moved close behind them among the dark bookshelves. They waited, and a moment later the vulture like countenance of Madam Pince appeared around the corner, her sunken cheeks, her skin like parchment, and her long hooked nose illuminated unflatteringly by the lamp she was carrying.

"The library is now closed," she said, "Mind you return anything you have borrowed to the correct-! What have you been doing to that book, you depraved boy?"

"It isn't the library's, it's mine!" said Harry hastily, snatching his copy of Advanced Potion-Making off the table as she lunged at it with a claw like hand.

" Spoiled!" she hissed . "Desecrated, befouled !"

"It's just a book that's been written on!" said Harry, tugging it out of her grip.

She looked as though she might have a seizure; Hermione and Juliunna, who had hastily packed their things, grabbed Harry by the arm and frog marched him away.

"She'll ban you from the library if you're not careful. Why did you have to bring that stupid book?" Hermione snapped.

"It's not my fault she's barking mad, Hermione. Or d'you think she overheard you being rude about Filch? I've always thought there might be something between them..."

"Oh, ha ha.."

Enjoying the fact that they could speak normally again, they made their way along the deserted lamp-lit corridors back to the Gryffindor common room, arguing whether or not Filch and Madam Pince were secretly in love with each other.

"Mind if I come in for a few minutes?" Juliunna asked. "Draco keeps giving me dirty looks because…" Juliunna stopped talking. Harry and Hermione turned toward her and raised an eyebrow.

"Go on." Hermione said.

"Ron was… Ron bragged to everyone about how I had kissed him. Draco didn't like it." Juliunna sighed. "But I thought you already told him-!"

"The way Ron was talking about it, you would have thought we snogged right before he walked inside the room. And Ron won't explain to Draco the truth." Juliunna said. "So yeah, Draco's angry."

"Come on in." Hermione said.

"Baubles" said Harry to the Fat Lady, this being the new password.

"Same to you," said the fat lady with a roguish grin, and she swung forward to admit them.

"Hi, Harry!" said Ramilda Vane, the moment he had climbed through the portrait hole. "Fancy a gillywater?"

Hermione gave him a "what-did-I-tell-you?" look over her shoulder.

"No thanks," said Harry quickly. "I don't like it much."

"Well, take these anyway," said Ramilda, thrusting a box into his hands. "Chocolate Cauldrons, they've got fire whiskey in them. My Gran sent them to me, but I don't like them."

"Oh- right - thanks a lot." said Harry, who could not think what else to say. "Here Harry, I'll give these to Witherwings." Juliunna said, taking the chocolates off of Ramilda's hands. Ramilda glared at her greatly. Juliunna walked over to the fireplace and without further ado, threw them in the fire.

"Ha!" Hermione laughed at the look on Ramilda face.

" Er- I ' m just going over here with ..." Harry said. He hurried off behind Hermione, his voice tailing away feebly.

"Told you," said Hermione succinctly, "Sooner you ask someone, sooner they'll all leave you alone and you can-!" Hermione looked at Ron and Lavender on the arm chair, wrapped in themselves. "Let's go upstairs." Hermione said to Juliunna. Immediately, they both ran up the stairs without saying goodbye to Harry.

…

Harry hopes were not high, and they sank still lower after enduring a Transfiguration lesson with them both next day. They had just embarked upon the immensely difficult topic of human transfiguration; working in front of mirrors they were supposed to be changing the color of their own eyebrows. Hermione laughed unkindly at Ron's disastrous first attempt, during which he somehow managed to give himself a spectacular handlebar mustache; Ron retaliated by doing a cruel but accurate impression of Hermione jumping up and down in her seat every time Professor McGonagall asked a question, which Lavender and Parvati found deeply amusing and which reduced Hermione to the verge of tears again. She raced out of the classroom on the bell, leaving half her things behind; Harry, deciding that her need was greater than Ron's just now, scooped up her remaining possessions and followed her. Juliunna looked as if she wanted to smack Ron across the face, but he grabbed her shoulder and steered her out of the room.

He finally tracked her down as she emerged from a girl's bathroom on the floor below. She was accompanied by Luna Lovegood, who was patting her vaguely on the back.

"Oh, hello, Harry, " said Luna . " Did you know one of your eyebrows is bright yellow?"

"Hi, Luna. Hermione, you left your stuff..."

He held out her books.

"Oh, yes," said Hermione in a choked voice, taking her things and turning away quickly to hide the fact she was wiping her eyes with her pencil case. "Thank you, Harry. Well, I'd better get going... Juliunna?" Hermione asked her. Without talking, Hermione and Juliunna strutted away, Harry staring at them sadly as they rounded the corner. He turned to Luna, who was smiling at him. It was as if a light bulb had went off in his head.

"Luna, will you go to the Christmas Party with me?" He smiled, and Luna's eyes went wide with excitement. "As friends you know."
"Yes!"