Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters.

Note: This chapter shouldn't be too confusing.

A Crazy Plan

"It's okay—I mean, it's okay what you said—not that it's okay what you actually said, just that I don't mind…" I trailed off, realizing I was getting nowhere. "Do you push Melinda's emotions too?" I asked trying to ward off the feelings building in my stomach and chest.

"I have to push George's feelings to control her, she's too powerful and pushing her feelings for Draco would do more harm than good, so I let her and George be content until the time is right. I've been pushing Draco, but lately Courtney's been in the way, I think." I raised an eyebrow.

"You think?" I said with a snort.

"Well, Draco's feelings have been greater toward Courtney and I don't know why, that's now how it's supposed to be. And you're being pushed away from everyone; I don't understand that part either. I don't know why Courtney is so invested." A part of me wanted to remind him that his sister was pure evil but that was either something he was well aware of and didn't want to be reminded of or a fact that he was unwilling to face.

"She hates us" I said simply but Matt shook his head.

"I mean, she does, but she'd do other things if she hated you that much." I wanted to know what he meant, but since he didn't continue I left it alone.

"Well, you better try and 'push' her off Draco because there's an upcoming Quidditch game and Melinda isn't going to be nice to either of them. You know that, you heard Professor Snape suggest it."

"I know, which is why I needed to tell you, I'm going to push you because right now, the only way to get Melinda's mind off Draco is to give her a big enough distraction that she'll just ignore him." I nodded, it made sense and it would certainly help Melinda, but I wasn't sure I liked the direction of his thinking. "Don't worry, I'm going to talk to Fred tonight, during detention, make sure he's okay with it first, I don't want to mess up your relationship with him" he added. I sighed with relief as I wondered how Courtney and him were related when in fact one fought to keep relationships and peace while the other tried her best to tear things apart. "It will also give me confirmation as how Courtney's doing this. I mean, with age comes experience and well, she hasn't yet gotten to that age" Matt explained frowning. "But maybe she has, maybe she's just testing things out" he continued titling his head side to side as if weighting the possibilities.

"It doesn't matter, she doesn't need to test them out here, we have enough problems as it is" I found myself shouting at him. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, what's this plan you have in mind?" I asked, pinching the brim of my nose.

"I'm going to push you away from Fred. However you feel about him right now you'll feel less of over the next week, just until next Sunday, or well, Saturday evening since that's when the Quidditch game is." I was only half listening now, he was going to make me stop liking Fred, how was that was even possible? I wondered. I liked him from the day I met him, I couldn't just stop.

"What are you going to do to Fred?" I asked, my concern instantly turning on him. Unlike myself I didn't think it was possible for Fred to be less concerned about his feelings for me. He'd done it countless times when broke up. Strolled away, laughed with his mates, pretended I never existed. "I don't think you can push him to miss me…" I said sadly.

"No, I can, I know I can. There are things about guys that other guys notice right away. If he's willing and let's me I can push him." Matt declared. I should've disagreed; there were all sorts of problems that could arise because of this.

"It's okay with me as long as it's okay with Fred" I said now feeling a small wave of excitement. If we could get Melinda to come back around everything would be okay. "But Matt…don't push me to you, we're just friends, I'm only agreeing to help Melinda because I can't stand to watch her get hurt by Draco" I told him. He nodded and then moved to give me a hug.

"It's not painful or anything and I promise to tell you what I'm going to do, how you'll feel" I nodded as we pulled away.

"Thank you, for wanting to help us" I told him. He gave a light smile, this time his smile reached his crystal blue eyes.

"You should probably head out, we're supposed to be serving our detention in five minutes, Courtney's already waiting. You'll be fine, she won't kill you" Matt said with a smirk as he started for the stairs. I shook my head but laughed anyway.

"Did you see that?" I asked curiously.

"We have the same ability, mine is just a little clearer and I'm able to quickly make sense of it, you just need practice" he said before turning around and running down the rest of the stairs.

I stood there for another moment, debating if I should take what he said to mind, but I didn't let myself wait too long, if I was late I'd just get another detention, and I wasn't even sure who would be monitoring.

My heart dropped a little when I saw Professor Madison waiting at the door with Courtney. "Ah, Allen, I thought you were going to skip out on us tonight" she said cheerfully as we walked inside. I scrunched my face, I didn't remember the place looking this…destroyed when we left earlier, but then again, I wasn't exactly looking when we left. "Wands please" Professor Madison said as she held out her hand. Courtney skipped over and gave hers up first in exchange for a plastic bag. I reluctantly placed my wand in her hands, careful not to make eye contact as I moved to get a bag and broom and then went to work in the opposite direction of Courtney.

Halfway through cleanup Courtney moved closer even though she had a complete area to start working on, away from me. "This is servant stuff" she mumbled to me with a smile as if I'd agree. I was more taken aback by how much like Draco she sounded. When I didn't respond she picked up a few broken tea cups. "I'm sorry about Melinda…" she said, her blonde hair sweeping down in her face as she bent over. "I didn't know it was going to be that big of a deal."

"Yes you did, you know she still likes Draco, everyone knows that" I replied bitterly. She looked up, her green eyes wide as I surprised by the news.

"Well, why would she be with George if she still likes Draco, is she using George?" I hated her tone more than what she said. It was like she was figuring out as she went along rather than just admitting she already knew.

"She's with George because she cares about him and he isn't a complete asshole to her and whatever you think you're doing, you need to stop." My tone felt harsher than I wanted it to, but if I got my point across it didn't matter.

"I'm just trying to help you…" she said innocently, now looking down at the shards of glass and pieces of the pictures. "I mean, it must be hard helping everyone else when you're enemy is so close" she added. At first I thought, I assumed, she meant herself, but the way she spoke sounded eerily, as if she could sense something about the room that normal people couldn't.

"Who are you talking about Courtney?" I asked following her across the room, but forcing myself to stop I didn't want to draw attention to myself.

"Oh, you know…" she said glancing over her shoulder at me. Her green eyes scared me, as if they could read everything in my mind, as if she could see everything I've felt, heard and seen. "I hope you know I believe you" she said quietly before walking back over to her area.

I looked over to see if Professor Madison was still sitting on the counter, her magazine in front of her face, pretending like she wasn't watching us. I looked back at Courtney, I believed what she said, I believed she somehow was able to realize Professor Madison wasn't who she said but I knew I couldn't take her side, I couldn't tell Melinda or Fred, I couldn't support her, I couldn't support Draco's decision to like her. After all, she was pushing Draco away from Melinda, the only person he truly cared about.

"Courtney," I said, walking over to her, my voice still low as I swept the area closest to her. "I know you think Draco is the best thing ever but he's not and I don't think you should go for him because you think you like him" I explained, trying to sound as gentle as I could.

"Oh no," she said with a laugh. "I'm going for him because I hate Melinda and I think Draco can do much better and she's merely an obstacle in his way. It's the same reason I'd go for George. I would go for Fred next, but, he's too attached to you, it wouldn't work." Again, my mind went blank.

"At least you're honest…" I mumbled as she gave me a cheery smile and then went back to work.

"But who knows, I might still try to go for Fred afterwards, I always like a new challenge" she added setting up the table before moving to the corner closest to the Professor. "Just remember, if there's a crack, anyone can seep in" she told me before humming, her back to me.

I carried on with my work, my thoughts still scattered, I still couldn't believe how cruel Courtney could be, how cruel and honest she was. She admitted she knew Professor Madison was Burnner in the same minute she admitted she was taking Draco merely because she could and then warned me she was going to take Fred. What worried me most was she could succeed if Matt's plan was in motion, even if Matt told Fred. I had to tell Matt, I had to let him know his sister was, well, mean, and also that if he didn't talk to her she would destroy his plan.

My mind was so focused on not letting Courtney's words affect me that I didn't even notice Professor Madison telling us we could leave; Courtney had to tap me on the shoulder and point to her just to get my attention. She handed Courtney her wand first and waited until she skipped out before handing me mine. "I used to love this place…" she said looking around. "It's a pity it got so destroyed," she added with a fake stiff.

"Yeah, well, that's not my fault" I mumbled still keeping my eyes ahead of me. We didn't say anything else all the way back, not until we got inside the castle doors. I started to wish her a good evening but she turned to me first. "Tammie, there's something you should know" she said, her smile still wide.

"I already know who you are…" I replied, figuring that's what she was going to say. She let out a laugh, too loud, I thought to myself.

"Oh dear, I would hope so! I was going to say you need to observe things a little better, pay closer attention to people, even your friends, you never know when you might lose one." Her words hit my ear loud and clear, making me tense up, I couldn't move, I couldn't say anything, and even if I did, what would I say?

"You both hurt me and you better know sure as hell I'm going to get you both back" she said harshly, her words like ice, her expression hard, straight, determined. She looked like she did the night she tried to kill us.

There was a light mummer of students, or ghost or professors or a combination, but whatever it was it snapped Professor Madison back into her typical form. Her body went from rigid to light and friendly in seconds, her face shifted from the one I was all too familiar with to that of fakeness. "Have a pleasant evening Tammie" she said before turning around and walking away. I stared after her, not sure if it was better to start crying or run around screaming.

"You look like someone just slapped you." I turned around to face Melinda, she looked pleasant, a little too pleasant for spending two hours with Draco.

"I kind wish someone had" I told her gathering myself together as we started toward the Gryffindor Tower. "Why do you look so happy anyway?" I asked, though I was glad she did, it made me feel slightly better.

"Draco tried to apologize but I ignored him and then he got angry and told me I was better off with a Weasley, since, you know, I'm not his type anymore. So, I told him, 'good, I really like George anyway' and his eyes got all big. Then, detention was over and George came to see how I made out and he kissed me right then and there, Draco looked like he swallowed a dragon's egg. It was funny; George asked if everything was alright and he couldn't answer so George kissed me again and then whisked me away, it was great." I was glad she was laughing; hopefully it would lessen the impact of what I was about to tell her.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself" I told her trying to sound happy, but it was too late, she caught my voice.

"Do I even want to know?" she asked. I shook my head, but knew I had to tell her anyway. "C'mon, let's go the library, it's still open" she said with a sigh.

"She knows we know…and she's going to get us back for what we did" I said morbidly. "Even though, technically we didn't do anything…" I looked up at her in time to see her raise her eyebrow. "I mean, I know we almost killed her, but we didn't actually kill her, obviously, and we didn't hurt her feelings, I mean, it's not like she actually cared for Professor Barrass." Melinda thought it over for a minute before nodding. "There's something else too…" I said. She looked at me half curious, half depressed. I gave a deep sigh before launching into the experience with Courtney.