Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own characters.

Note: SOOOOOOO HAPPY this getting read and SO HAPPY x1000000000000 that SiobhanPhelps has commented on every chapter so far (I owe you so much-it really does mean everything to mean to see the story getting comments). So happy. At least 2 more chapters (after this one) tonight. You'll certainly have a lot to think about/comment on! Happy reading.

Almost

"No, do you think I should? I don't want to run the risk of her not believing me like you" I told but he only rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say I didn't believe you, I just think…" he trailed off, looking over at the staff table which he seemed to keep his glance on. I looked up too, Professor Madison was sitting up there, looking right at us. "Tam, if she is Burnner, I want you to stay away from her" he said, his voice a little more serious than our last talk about it. I started to remind him that she was a Professor but he slowly looked back at me. "Outside of class I mean, she wasn't gentle to you last time, she almost killed you. Like I said before, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you" he said with a lazy smile as I moved closer.

"You believe me?" I asked, overly anxious for his answer. He took a deep breath, as if he it were a loaded question.

"I didn't" he started as I looked at him curiously. "But, yes, I do believe you" he said as I nodded.

"Should I ask what changed your mind?" I asked anyway.

"You're scared. You're normally not a scared person, you get anxious and nervous sometimes but not scared. And it shows and it makes me upset because I can't fix that. I can't fix what happened third year, I can't fix what happened last year but I will try my hardest to never let it happen again and the first step to all that is to trust and believe you" he said as I tried to contain my smile.

"Thank you" I said wrapping my arms around his neck.

"You shouldn't have to thank me in the first place" he said sounding slightly upset with himself. "But," he said with a pause as he looked over at the Ravenclaw table. "I think explaining it to Melinda is a different story, you should approach it cautiously" he said as I nodded and started for the table but then remembered something.

"What were you talking to Hermione about this morning?" I asked as he gave me a questionable look but it quickly disappeared.

"Nothing" he said but I searched his face, I knew that was a lie, but why did he feel the need to lie to me.

"Okay" I said unwilling to push the issue. "I'll probably sit with Melinda for lunch" I told him, though I said it to try and get a rise out of him.

"Good, good, spend some time with her" he said to my surprise. I followed his gaze, he was looking over at Matt who was sitting next to Harry and Ron.

"He's cool" I said as Fred absently nodded.

"Kinda harsh on Draco for a guy who doesn't know him" he said as I half laughed, that was unexpected, I thought.

"Wasn't like he didn't deserve it" I said with a shrug.

"Yes, because when I insult your cousin you get all bent out of shape" he said as I shifted.

"Can we not do this?" I whispered. "Fred" I said gently turning his chin so he'd look at me. "I only meant it was nice that Matt didn't feel intimidated" I told him but Fred only rolled his eyes.

"I highly doubt he feels intimidated by anything" he mumbled.

"Okay, I'll see you later" I told him with a kiss and then went off to sit with Melinda who was saying a goodbye to Andrew. I nodded as he nodded back.

"Hey" I told her as she passed the plate of fruit.

"How was Defense Against the Dark Arts" she asked as I shrugged.

"Can I tell you something? And you have to promise not to get upset" I told her my words a bit rushed.

"I will stab you with my fork if you and Fred broke up" she said as I looked at her with horror. "George had a lot to catch me up on, if you dump Fred you will be the worst person ever" she said.

"No, I didn't dump Fred; things have been weird, I feel like he's giving me the cold shoulder a bit" I told her as I started playing with a hangnail.

"What do you mean?" she asked but I shrugged trying to pretend it didn't mean anything to me.

"Just busy with the shop I guess" I told her. "I just, I wanted him to walk me to class but, he didn't want to because he was testing his treats—which I took—but I dunno, it's his last year, I wanna spend a lot of time with him" I told her. "I know it sounds kinda selfish, but, we're good this year and I want to enjoy that" I said as she nodded, hiding a smile that I couldn't quite understand why she had.

"Have you told him?" she asked but I shook my head.

"He's been busy" I reminded her.

"What did you wanna tell me?" she asked. I started to open my mouth but noticed a shadow. I turned a bit to see Madame Burnner—Madison—standing there smiling at us. I felt the chill again, what was happening? How did no one see this besides me? I wondered.

"I don't mean to interrupt" she started as I tried to relax but the least I could do was not pee myself. "Melinda Hennings, yes?" she asked as Melinda looked up at her with shock and surprise.

"Yes" she said quickly.

"I know you don't have my class until later but I wanted to personally tell you I thought you did a wonderful job last year. I know it's not easy working against friends," she said as I tried to breathe normal. "Some are too pushy, some are too insistent, some are just, too nosey" she said with a glance at me. She knew, she knew I knew. I thought as I tried to keep myself from passing out.

"Did you know a Margret Burnner?" I blurted out. I couldn't help it, I couldn't at least put something out in the open, I had to say something out loud.

"Is that the one who had the unfortunate accident over a year ago? Who I believe you two and your ex-professor killed?" she asked as if having no clue. Touché bitch. I thought as I swallowed hard.

"Tammie, everyone knows who she was and what she did" Melinda said not at all helping my case. I half glared at her but she didn't notice.

"Anyway, I wanted to say congratulations, and you too Tammie, winning can't be an easy burden" she said, her words hitting me as double meaning.

"Yeah, I'm sure you know all about that" I told as she smiled at me.

"Good afternoon ladies" she said before walking away.

"Mean much?" Melinda asked as soon as Professor Madison left the Great Hall. "What was that about anyway?" she asked but I shook my head.

"Nothing" I said as I started to get up.

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked as I picked a few strawberries off the plate and waved them at her before returning to the Gryffindor table sitting between Harry and Matt.

"Hermione's not back?" I asked as the boys shook their heads.

"What did you say to Fred? He seemed really annoyed when he came over" Ron said leaning forward so he could see me better.

"It was nothing, he'll get over it" I told Ron who frowned at me but shrugged after a minute and then continued with his food. I sighed and continued on my strawberries as thankfully Dean and Seamus joined us. Things seemed to pick up once we got on the popular topic Quidditch, Neville joining us halfway through that. "So, is Quidditch hard?" Matt asked. We all looked at him, half forgetting he was there, half in disbelief.

"Well, no, I mean, not really" I started since I assumed the others were in shock at his question. "Haven't you played? I mean, just like, for fun?" I asked he shook his head. "You've been on a broom though, right?" I asked as he nodded. "Well, come to tryouts, even if it's just to watch, I think you'll enjoy it" I said though Ron was the only one didn't readily agree.

"Alright, who's trying out in our house?" he asked as we all looked at Harry.

"I'm not the Captain, I think Alicia is, but, I'm sure Ginny is trying, and Tammie," he said nodding at me as Matt raised an eyebrow.

"I was on the team third year and we had a Quidditch Battle last year as part of the competition" I told him.

"Battle?" he asked as I nodded.

"As one of the second parts we all played, like, our companions too, well, except those who signed a form saying they didn't want to. But, we all played, and it got pretty brutally" I said. "But no one was seriously hurt. I was fine, Melinda broke her wrist" I said trying not to think about it.

"How?" Matt asked.

"Fred hit her with Bludger when he realized Andrew tried to jinx Tammie's broom" Ron explained as I shook my head.

"That's the Ravenclaw Prefect, right?" Matt asked as I nodded. He didn't say anything for a moment, just stared off, but quickly brought himself back to attention as his eyes looked over at the Slytherin table. "Well, thanks, I'm sure we'll talk about Quidditch more later; I'll see you guys" he said getting up and going over to sit with his sister.

"It is just me or does he seem too naïve and innocent?" Harry asked as I stared after Matt. He certainly seemed isolated.

"He's new, leave him alone" I said though I was feeling the same way. He was too quiet as well.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll come around" Harry added as I gave him a thankful smile. I knew I could always depend on Harry, if not anyone else, Harry was always good to me, and always just my friend, a mutual friendly interest. Ron snorted, rolled his eyes and looked over at the Slytherin table.

"Well, at least his sister is hot" he said as I rolled my eyes. I wanted to reply to tell him Matt was hot, but the twins coming closer to our table prevented that. "Hey" Ron said to his brothers who sat down on either side of me. "Did you know Matt doesn't know what Quidditch is?" Ron said with humor. The twins listened for a bit but then went on their own subject of the shop and the candies. People really liked the Fever Fudge, they were highly anticipating every item the twins mentioned. I listened as long as I could but eventually let myself zone off as I leaned against Fred who kept his arms wrapped around me and his chin on my head. I forgot how nice this felt, how it was nice to just be with him. No interruptions, no crazy upcoming challenges, no competition.

My afternoon continued in the peaceful direction with Muggle Studies that I had almost forgotten I signed up for again. I was a little surprised and felt a little guilty to see Melinda saving me a seat. Still, I went over and joined her, careful to make light conversation so she wouldn't be tempted to bring up any topics regarding Matt or Professor Madison.

"Excuse me" we turned around to see Courtney in the doorway, all the guys in their seats craning the necks to see better. "This isn't History of Magic, is it?" she asked though I couldn't help but wonder if that was on purpose.

"No" I said sounding colder than I should've. She seemed to only glare at me but quickly smiled, apologized and left.

"She flirted with Fred" I told Melinda as if needing to explain myself.

"I'm glad you said it like that, stood up for your man" she teased as I rolled my eyes and gave her a light shove as she smiled and shoved me back.

"Good afternoon class" our professor said as he came into the room.

I didn't pay attention to most of what the professor was saying, but I did happen to turn in to the end of whatever topic he was discussing.

"…Muggles have a less convenient way of showering." I let out a small chuckle a second before I put my hand over my mouth. "Can anyone tell me what labels are on the handles?" I tried not to look at Melinda as I raised my hand. Instead the Professor called on a Hufflepuff who sat closer to the front.

"Hot and cold" he said proudly. Either was muggle born or studied really well. I thought to myself. Most of the students in this class were either Ravenclaws looking to take as many classes as possible or Hufflepuffs who knew they could excel in at least one subject. The other students like Melinda, Hermione, Dean, Seamus and myself were taking this class because as students growing up in the muggle world it was an interesting prospective of what wizards thought of the muggle community. Last year when I first decided to take the class I almost laughed myself silly when we devoted an entire week's lesson to the remote control used for televisions. I remembered having to excuse myself three times that week due to people's complete lack of understanding what the power button did.

"What are the functions of these handles?" the professor asked, again, I tried to suppress a giggle as Dean raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Thomas?" the professor said looking over at Dean.

"Well, they turn on the water, and, um, you turn the handles, dials, if you want to adjust the temperature of the water" Dean said. I watched in amazement as the other students quickly scribbled down notes. It was easier to tell who was muggle born or half-blood when they struggled to explained something.

"And also to be used as a Portkey" I mumbled into my paper. This time it was Melinda who tried to suppress her giggle. We looked at each other and covered our mouths as we quietly laughed.

"Hard to believe that was two years ago huh?" Melinda asked we walked out of the class together, some students in front of us, others behind. I nodded, it was true, it was hard to believe that two years ago we were traveling by Portkey, from Melinda's shower to Hog's Head, in Hogsmade, just outside of Hogwarts.

"Yeah" I said with a laugh as we headed outside to Herbology, which seemed to look less tempting than the rest of my classes. We each sat with our respected houses and listened as Professor Sprout explained the O. and what plants we would be dealing with. The rest of the day seemed to be shaping up nicely, and even better I didn't see Matt, Courtney or Professor Madison for the rest of the day, not even dinner.