25th November

At breakfast I received a letter from Oliver,

KP!
Sorted out the meeting, will see you after break! Can't wait!
Ollie x

It took me a while to work out what he had meant. Maybe it was too early in the morning, but I got there after drinking a cup of coffee. I really wasn't in the mood for dealing with people or my own emotions for that fact. I just sat there, slowly eating a slice of toast.

"Are you not talking this morning?" Hermione said, nudging me.

"No." I shook my head.

Ron butted in as Hermione was about to speak, "She's too busy being an attention seeker."

Hermione ignored him, "There's something wrong with you, I know it… Talk to me."

At that moment I got a tap on the shoulder. "You're miserable without me. Admit it." George said.

I turned around and groaned. I really didn't want to see his face this morning. "You are the last thing on my mind." I snapped. That unfortunately was so far from the truth. I had gone yet another night with hardly any sleep, my thoughts racing, by heart pounding.

"I haven't seen you smile in weeks," George commented, "You need me in your life to brighten it up."

"You are the last person I'd go to, to make me smile." I snapped again.

George looked offended, "What's gotten into you?"

"I could ask the same of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I swung my legs over the bench, crossed them and leaned against the table, "It means why are you talking to me? You were the one who decided that I wasn't good enough. Remember?"

George's voice trembled as he realised that the entire Great Hall was staring at him, judging him for what he had done, "And I'm apologising for that. I'm sorry! Let me make amends. Please?"

"Why should I let you? Why on earth should I even look at you?" I shrugged my shoulders, grabbing my bag from behind me.

"I'm making an effort here!" he stood a little taller.

I smiled sardonically, "I'm not interested."

"Tell me what to do and I'll do it." He pleaded.

I stood from my seat and stood on my tiptoes to whisper into his ear so no one else would hear, "F*ck off, George." I swung my bag over my shoulders and headed for Charms class.

"Talk to me, Katy…" George yelled after me.

I saw Ginny stand as I stormed past her, "You are the biggest idiot in the entire Wizarding World, George Weasley!" she yelled, "You are lucky she's even looking at you at all, never mind talking to you."

I was livid by the time I got to Charms. This had to be some kind of joke, right? Ron waltzes back in to Harry's life and now George thinks he can walk back into my life and pick up where we left off? No way. He can apologise all he wants, he can say anything and it won't change my mind.

We wrote notes on the banishing charm today in class, which was the opposite of the summoning charm (funnily enough). I wrote with such force that I put holes in my parchment with plenty of blots. My handwriting was a mess and halfway through the class I managed to hit my bottle of ink with my elbow and smash it on the floor. I quickly recovered it with a simple cleaning spell but I couldn't help but hear the whispers about me throughout the classroom. Towards the end, I just gave up, pushed my parchment to the top of the desk and put my head where it was supposed to be and waited for the bell to ring. I half expected to get a detention from Professor Flitwick, but on the way out the door he wished me all the best for my free periods. He knew I was going to see Maura.

I arrived ten minutes early to Maura, unable to look at Ron's smug face, Hermione's concerned face and Harry's oblivious face any longer. I had all this build up anger and really wanted to strangle something. So I knocked on Maura's office door and barged my way in as soon as I heard her say 'come in'. I saw her sitting with a pile of papers at her desk, reading.

"Oh Maura, you'll never guess what's happened to me." I started to vent and there was nothing stopping me, "Harry is alive and well, I suppose I ought to clear that one up before I really begin." I started pacing in front of her desk, "So Harry desperately wanted Hermione and me to teach him the summoning charm on Monday, which is why I had to reschedule this meeting. So thanks for helping me out there. He mastered the spell around 2am. I hardly slept that night and was up again at 6am on the morning of the task, feeling like I could throw up. Harry was grand, well, as good as anyone could expect for someone who is walking towards impending doom. So halfway through lunch he was called by Professor McGonagall to go and get ready. That's when Hermione and I walked down to the stands. Ludo Bagman came out of the tent where the champions were and announced that each of the competitors were going to face a nesting dragon and take the golden egg. Then guess what happened." I paused to catch my breath, "Fred and George Weasley then start up a bookmaker sort of thing and encouraged people to take bets on who will survive and who will die. They got people to predict who will lose a leg or an arm or get burnt alive! You name it, people placed a bet. They even discouraged someone from placing a bet that Harry will come first! WHO DOES THAT? Hermione had to stop me from slapping him. I actually think I might have done worse to him. Then-"

Maura put her hand up in the air, "Kathryn, stop."

"W-Why? What's wrong?" I said, pouring myself a glass of water.

She laughed, "Mr Wood is here. He's looking a little intimidated over there."

"Oh hey!" I waved to him, "Can I continue now?"

"No. You are going to take a seat for a minute and breathe." Maura directed me over to the sofa beside Oliver.

He sighed and shook his head, "Can I get a hug?"

"I suppose so." I said cheekily, "It's good to see you." I wrapped my arms around him and he held me tight. He smelt great.

"Have you calmed down enough to have a conversation?" he chuckled, "This is exactly how I imagine you brutally murder some of the letters you send me, taking out all of your anger through ranting on parchment." He shook his head at me mockingly.

"I don't think I've been quite so annoyed, but yes, I have broken a quill or two, mostly about Snape, if I'm honest." I smiled, feeling more relaxed, I made myself comfy on the sofa, "I like your letters too, they make me laugh."

"I'm glad!" he said, "But I must say, you've had a lot of built up anger and unnecessary stress this year and I'm surprised you're in such great shape!" Oliver made me stand, "You look like you haven't slept in about a week, and you've lost a load of weight but…" he gestured if it was okay for him to touch my arm and I nodded in approval, "its muscle. What have you been doing?"

I answered simply, "Going to Ange's gym every time George has annoyed me."

His jaw dropped, "Merlin's beard that must be every day for the past three months!"

I thought about it for a second and had to agree, "Pretty much, yeah. It gives me a great excuse to get away from him."

Maura giggled from her armchair, "You two seem to have made up!"

"Yeah, I'm proud of him and how far he's come! And now you're winning matches, writing great letters and getting yourself back on track again!" I said honestly.

Oliver looked ever so slightly embarrassed, "Come on, look at you! Three months ago you were a completely different person! You've taken so much crap and you're still standing!"

"Yeah, I stand up for myself now and get detentions for it."

"Snape was well out of line. For all of it. And how dare he call you fat! You are the opposite of fat! But you must have done something right for him to call the DTs to a halt."

I smirked, "Yep, it's called shutting your gob and getting on with it."

Oliver winked, "That's my girl."

Maura interjected, "I have absolutely no problem with the friendship the two of you have and long may it continue. You seem very good for each other." She smiled appreciatively, "Now. The next issue we are here to discuss today is George."

"Ughh." I said.

Maura repositioned herself on the chair, "I daresay continue your story."

"Well." I began, "So Fred and George started the bookmakers. Oh yes, then halfway through Harry's task he was on his Firebolt swooping and tantalising the dragon in the hope she would stop guarding her eggs, and at one point he got a bit too close and Harry got hit by the Hungarian Horntail's tail and got a gash in his shoulder. FRED AND GEORGE CHEERED THE DRAGON ON. Who does that? For all we knew it could have been worse than what it was! Then after the task had finished Ron swoops in and starts talking to Harry again as though nothing had happened. He's really doing my head in as well. Harry took him back no bother. I just can't get over it." I felt myself getting really aggravated again and took a momentary breather before continuing, "After dinner Fred and George had gotten food from the kitchens and we had a bit of a surprise party. They were acting like pricks, putting prank foods out, making Neville turn into a canary and making inappropriate jokes and pretending like they hadn't thought Harry would be in a worse state right now. I sat with a book near the fire and kept an eye on everything. Then later on George approaches me with hot chocolate and a brownie and offered it to me. I wondered what was going to pop out and scare me, and what I would turn into if I ate or drank anything from him. So I refused. Then he called me Katy and tried to apologise for what had happened. HOT CHOCOLATE AND A BROWNIE ARE NOT GOING TO WIN ME OVER, NOT WHEN HE HAS DONE WHAT HE HAS DONE." I nodded to Maura who understood that George was the one who drugged Oliver, not that Oliver knew. It wasn't up to me to tell him.

"Go on…"

"That's the reason why I didn't sleep overly well last night with that anger. This morning at breakfast I was not in a good mood whatsoever and Ron said that I was only being an attention seeker and I could have hit him, but he was saved by George as he approached me again. This time he told me that I looked miserable and needed him back in my life. All I could think was that if he was out of my life completely then I might be a little bit happier. Then he said that he hadn't seen me smile in weeks. He has not a clue what has been going on with me. And I still think about my parents' trial and if I'm going to take part in it or not. I've also got Harry's potential death at the back of my mind. Then there he is acting like an arsehole, reminding me of all the mistakes I've ever made in my life. Like what was I thinking?"

"Merlin's beard!" Oliver exclaimed.

I was shocked that he interrupted, "What?"

Oliver blinked a few times, his mouth half open, "After all this time you've been writing to me about him and all that he's done. I thought you hated him-"

"I do hate him. I hate everything he does and has done and continues to do."

"No you don't!" Oliver said with a smile, "You still love him! After all he's done you're still in love with him!" he looked amazed, "And you were so upset when he kissed Alicia because you wanted him for yourself. You've been at the gym to make yourself look better for him. You've been so mouthy because you've been trying to get his attention and he's been acting like an idiot to get yours. All whilst desperately trying to show each other how you are 'moving on' when you really are doing no such thing. How come I haven't seen this before?"

Maura clapped and laughed, "I've been trying to get Kathryn to see this for weeks now and you've summed it up really very well Mr Wood, well done!"

"What he has done hasn't been right… The messages I've received…" Oliver said to Maura.

Maura nodded, "Many tears have been shed and Kathryn hates him for it…"

Oliver jumped to his feet and looked powerful, "He has hurt you in ways that are unforgivable. And I could hit him for it. He just needs someone to tell him what's what. To tell him the pain he has caused. Do you know what?" he questioned.

I was worried, "What?"

"I'm going to go find him." Oliver headed for the office door, "And I'm going to go and sort him out right now. Once and for all-" he disappeared in the fireplace.

"SHIT!" I ran, "NO! COME BACK!" I yelled.

"He won't be able to hear you!" Maura said with a smile, "I'm sure you'll have to go after him…" she said calmly, "remember to come back and tell me all that happens."

I jumped into the fireplace and yelled "PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL'S OFFICE!"

I ran through her classroom, "Miss Pink! What is going on? Why is Mr Wood running though our corridors?"

"I'm trying to stop him from doing something really stupid!" I shouted whilst running through her fifth year class. I ran as fast as I could, skipping stairs as I went, hoping that I would catch up quickly. I saw Oliver two flights above me and I yelled, "OLIVER! STOP!" but he continued going. By the time I got to the bottom of the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, Oliver had bullied Neville into letting him in, "NEVILLE NO!" I yelled, breathless, galloping up the last flight and bombing into the Gryffindor common room. My chest was heaving as I saw Oliver lift his fist and punched George in the face and then again on the nose. I could hear the bones break. "NOOOOOOO!" I screamed, "STOP!" I pushed past the crowds of people who had gathered around them.

"JUST SAY AWAY FROM HER!" Oliver yelled at George, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'VE PUT HER THROUGH! THE NUMBER OF MESSAGES I'VE GOT ABOUT YOU UPSETTING HER AND MAKING HER CRY! GROW UP, MATE! SHE DESERVES BETTER!"

"Oliver, please." I pleaded, trying to stop myself from crying, "he's not worth it…" I could see blood pouring from George's nose.

I grabbed Oliver's arm and tried pulling him away as he continued yelling, "AND AFTER ALL THIS TIME, SHE'S STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU. YET AGAIN SHE CHOOSES YOU AND YOU TREAT HER LIKE SHIT. I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THIS. I'M ASHAMED OF YOU." Oliver turned and put an arm around me, "I'm sorry, KP, but he had to be told… Please don't be upset…"

I couldn't even look at Oliver never mind talk to him as I handed him his coat and showed him the door to leave Maura's office. Maura handed me a tissue as he left, Oliver apologised profusely, not that I wanted to hear from him or see him.

"I'm mortified, Maura." I said, cleaning up my tears.

She took a seat down beside me and rubbed my back gently, "Oliver cares about you, only an idiot can't recognise that."

"What am I going to do?" I sniffled.

Maura took a strand of my hair and placed it behind my ear, "You are going to hold your head high and deal with this however you like."

"Oliver broke George's nose. George didn't fight back. He didn't defend himself." I realised.

"He knows he's in the wrong, Kathryn. George knows that he's hurt you and deserves everything that comes to him. I also know that he loves you, too, and he wants to make it right."

I felt so much hurt when I thought about it, "Why should I let him?"

"Because you're a good person and you see the best in people." Maura explained, "No one else would have let Oliver back into their life after being attacked. You give people second chances, and third and fourth chances and I think in George's case, he needs a fifth and he will never let you down again."

"How do you know?" I enquired.

She shrugged her shoulders, "He seems like a genuine guy."

"You've met him, haven't you?"

"My patient list is completely confidential, you know that." She smiled and tilted her head slightly, "Now, off you go and get some lunch."

26th November

"I can't believe I missed it!" Ginny slotted into the table beside me at breakfast, "You mean Oliver Wood punched George in the face, twice? And I missed it? I bet it was everything you wanted it to be and more!" her eyes lit up.

I raised my eyebrows in response, not really able to formulate words to express how exactly I was feeling.

Hermione added, "Where did you disappear off to yesterday after Muggle Studies? We were waiting for you at dinner and I went to bed and you weren't there…"

"I just wanted to be alone."

"What's gotten into you these days?" Ginny snuggled into me, "You seem different…"

Hermione questioned, "Is it what Wood said to make George feel bad? I heard that Wood told George that you chose George over him and that he thought he was stupid for treating you badly. I only got half a story from Angelina, she told me to talk to you. She said that you were mortified."

"I was."

"What did you say to Wood after?"

"I didn't say anything. I chucked his coat at him and sent him off home. I don't plan on speaking to him any time soon. He had no right."

After DADA I slipped away from the common room and found a quiet corner of the library to sit. I gathered my thoughts as I wrote some notes on turning guinea-foul into a guinea pig. Then I collected some books on the topic in order to write the essay which was due in two weeks' time.

"Katy, can I talk to you for a second?" George stood behind me. I didn't look at him.

"Not now." I said calmly.

George hovered for a second, "May I sit beside you?"

"So long as you are quiet." I said, clearly implying that he left me well alone.

He took the seat beside me and moved it slightly further away from me, giving me a bit of space to work. George took out his potions textbook and started writing about Veritiserum in silence. I was genuinely very surprised that he had the capability to sit down somewhere and work without causing a scene. An hour or so passed and I got a good chunk of my essay done and I had a sneak peek at what George was writing.

"It's twenty-five parrotfish scales and the aqueous humour of two trout eyes, you've written it the wrong way around." I commented as I left to leave the books back in the right places.

"Thanks." He said gratefully, "Katy?" he whispered.

I turned to face him, "Hmm?"

George put a letter into my hand, "Just read it, yeah? Please?" he gently squeezed my shoulder. I put it into my satchel, having little or no intention of reading it.

27th November

"Hey," Draco awkwardly approached me at dinner, "I realised I packed this into my bag when I was back in the common room…" he took out my pink case for my quills, "people were thinking things about us…"

I laughed, "I have been looking for this! Thanks!"

"I was also wondering…" he began, "will you be in the library later?"

"Erm… I don't think so, why?"

"I was just thinking we could work on the potions essays together?" He sounded uncertain, "Just because we did the first one, Snape said we could work together, so long as we produced our own work at the end?"

I nodded, "I was going to start it on Sunday afternoon, usual spot?"

Draco grinned, "I'll be there."

As Draco walked away Neville slipped into the free space on the bench beside me, "Can I ask you a favour, Kathryn?"

"Sure?"

"Can I borrow your potions essay? I promise I won't copy it, I just… it's so complicated. I can't believe you and Malfoy managed to brew it successfully!" Neville said with half a smile.

"No problem. I'll lend it to you this evening, but I need it back."

"Thanks!" he said before digging into his food.

Angelina didn't have to twist my arm too far this evening to convince to go to the gym with her. She told me all about the fight she had with Fred (which all of us witnessed in the common room) about him taking a joke one step too far and hurting her. It was hard to watch her cry when she wouldn't let me hug her.

"Okay, I've got a plan." I said after half an hour, getting onto the running machine beside her, "we're going to get payback. With alarm clocks."

"Alarm clocks?"

"Yes." I smirked at how brilliant my idea was, "We are going to prank the pranksters."

"Count me in." she immediately looked a lot happier.

I continued talking whilst jogging, "We have to collect as many alarm clocks as we can and set them to go off at regular times in the middle of the night. 0100, 0115, 0130, 0145, 0200 and so on. I can hide the clocks all around their rooms and they won't have a clue what's going on."

"How are you going to get up there undetected?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that one." I laughed, "I just need you to help me get the alarm clocks and set them and make sure I don't get caught!"

So Ange and I devised a plan and got to work… I borrowed five alarm clocks from the girls in my dorm as well as Ginny's and all her friends. We got all the girls to swear not to tell the boys who it was and if necessary to do the 'I am Spartacus' routine. Between the two of us we sourced 27 alarm clocks of all different shapes sizes and I climbed up to the top of the stairs into Ange's dorm and we got them all set. We had them all going off in fifteen minute intervals between 0100 and 0745. The two of us giggled like idiots and sat down in the common room waiting for everyone to go up to bed. We even had to annihilate the last few boys by talking about cramps and pain and blood! They soon scattered. At 0040 we reckoned that most people would be asleep by now and we collected the clocks we had already put into a big bag. Ange suggested I put a muffle spell on the bag to stop it from making a nose when I move. With my invisililia ability, I could do that on my own, so I told her I already had. Ange stood at the bottom of the stairs and kept watch, promising that she would whistle if anyone was out of bed.

As I crept into Fred, George, Lee, Tobias and Kenneth Towler's dorm room they were all fast asleep. Tobias was snoring. Completely invisible, I quickly set out all of the alarm clocks, making sure that the first one went off on the floor between Fred and George. I hid some in cupboards, in trunks, on top of two of the canopies of the beds, on the floor, under beds, wedged into satchels, under Lee's duvet, under Tobias' bedsheet, inside a pair of one of Fred's socks, I got a really small one and placed it right under George's head. On George's beside table I noticed a picture, taken as Gryffindor lifted the Quidditch Cup last year, everyone else had been cut out of it, it was only the remaining section was of me smiling and looking up at him. I felt a twang of pain, longing to go back to that moment and refuse to let Oliver take me out for that walk for fresh air. I found a loose floorboard in the middle of the room and put the 0300 alarm under it. I looked at my watch, the first alarm was going to go off at any minute, so I quickly and quietly closed the door behind me and crept down the stairs towards Ange and nodded to her my success. We listened as the first alarm went off, laughed and went to bed ourselves.

28th November

I couldn't help but smile this morning at breakfast as Ange and I walked into the Great Hall to see five exhausted and exasperated looking sixth year boys. Hermione caught up with us, "Did it work?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I spoke mysteriously.

Hermione and I sat down with Harry and Ron. "You know, apparently someone put a bunch of alarm clocks in Fred and George's dorm last night and set them off at intervals?"

"Seriously?" I said, laughing.

"Yeah, they swore about ten minutes ago that they were going to find the people that snuck into their room and get them back, except a lot worse."

I thought about it and asked, "What could be worse than losing a night's sleep?"

"It's Fred and George, they are renowned pranksters, they can do a lot worse, surely you'd know that?" Ron replied cheekily.

"I wonder who it was?" I asked.

Hermione leaned in, "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

"My money is on Angelina; she was pretty upset with Fred last night. Did she say anything to you?" Ron enquired, "You two were sitting up last night after I went to bed."

"There were still a few people up when Ange and I went to bed." I lied, coolly.

"They're baffled." Ron watched his brothers and their friends, "They haven't got a clue who it was. Apparently they got into the room after they fell asleep completely undetected! I just can't-"

Angelina slipped into the seat next to me, "Did you hear what happened to Fred and George?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it." I acted surprised.

She looked downtrodden, playing the part very well, "I wish I could give them a high five…"

"I wonder if they'll do anything else?" Hermione asked.

"I hope so." Angelina smirked.

François kept staring at me across from the Ravenclaw table at lunch today. It was really off putting and I kept spilling my soup everywhere. I also noticed that Ron and Harry had entered the Hall but Ron directed Harry to sit further up the table with Fred and George, or maybe more specifically, away from the two of us as we were supposedly being 'bad friends' for not spilling the beans on who did the prank. By this time, everyone in Gryffindor was talking about the prank and it had now spread across the houses, all the Gryffindor girls knew it was Ange and me but refused to give us up. I gathered that if I played it cool for long enough, the subject would disappear.

"How did they actually do it, though?" the question bounced back and forth across the table, "how can you sneak into a room completely undetected like that?"

I had to laugh because I was the only person in the entire hall that knew the answer. Everyone except Hermione of course. The thing that surprised me most is that both Ron and Harry hadn't clicked on yet!

"Do you want me to tell him to stop?" Hermione asked, taking a look over her shoulder at François.

"No, if I ignore him, hopefully he'll go away." I said.

I mumbled a number of swear words under my breath as I saw him leave the Ravenclaw table and walk towards me, "Bonjour, Kathryn!" he said cheerily.

"Bonjour, François." I said with little enthusiasm.

"Would you like to go for zat walk now?" he said cheekily, "I 'ave somezing I would like to tell you."

"You had better not try anything on with her." Hermione warned.

François looked taken aback, "What does zat mean? Je ne comprends pas…"

"It means you had better not hurt her." Hermione defended me again.

François shook his head, "All I would like to do is talk. What is you thinking, Kathryn?"

I whispered, 'Rescue me after half an hour' into Hermione's ear. She nodded in agreement and I stood from the table, tapped my wand in my pocket and followed François out of the Great Hall with my hands firmly in the pockets of my jeans. One step outside told me it was freezing and I point blank refused to go any further.

"You make zis very difficile for moi." He shook his head with a smile, "You are lucky tu est belle."

"Oh shush." I covered my face in embarrassment.

The two of us walked up to the clock tower talking very generally. I realised he was a good bit taller than me and he caught eye contact with me as often as he could. François claimed that the weather here was much colder than in France, he also told me that he has a little sister, Coralie, who is the same age as me. I wouldn't say that I felt uncomfortable, I felt safe and I was happy talking to him, but I had the feeling he wanted there to be more, especially as he attempted on many occasions to grab my hand… He said that his favourite subject was charms because it was so 'delicate'. I'm not sure that was the word he wanted to use, but I went with it. "T'as une miette." He said, reaching out and stroking my cheek as we looked out of the window at the view of Hogwarts' grounds from the 6th floor.

"François…" I said with a sigh, I needed to let him down gently.

"Kathryn…" François said in his French accent which sounded a little more like 'Kasrine', "Tu est la fille de mes rêves."

"François…" I repeated, "Look, you are lovely-"

"Vous aimez le garçon aux cheveux roux. Oui?"

I sighed, I didn't know the honest answer to that one, "C'est compliqué."

"You do not talk to 'im, you do not look at 'im. I zought you like moi?" he looked truly heartbroken, "J'aimerais mieux te connaître… Ensuite, vous allez m'aimer aussi."

"Stop!" I said, not understanding half of what he was saying but I got the gist, "S'il vous plait…"

"Ce n'est pas le bon moment?" he asked.

Feeling bad, I put a gentle hand on his shoulder and said, "Je préférerais être amis."

François turned on his heels and walked away.

I felt awful.

29th November

"Oh, Kathryn…" Hermione said over this morning's cup of coffee, "You truly have broken his heart… Look at his little face… He hasn't looked over here once."

"That is not my fault. I gave him no indications that I was in any way interested. I was nice and spoke the very little French that I know to make him feel welcome in our school… Why do guys have to be so flipping complicated?"

"Speaking of complicated," Hermione began, "Fred and George still haven't worked out it was you, they think it was just Angelina. Do you think you should say something?"

"No, but I would really like my alarm clock back…" I said, "I didn't think that one through…"

"Okay, so I have taken the blame for you." Angelina said this evening in the common room out of earshot, "You have to tell me how you did it."

"You'll find that I don't have to tell you anything of the sort." I tried to shut down that conversation before it started.

She huffed a little, "I just want to know how you managed to get two of the alarm clocks on top of the canopy without waking them."

I raised my eyebrows, "I climbed?"

"Fine." She said, "and what did you say to that French boy? He was looking awfully devastated today. He totally had eyes for you."

"He just appreciates that I try and speak a bit of French to him."

"I think he appreciates more than your ability to entice him with the French accent." She winked.

I cocked my head to the side, "Meaning?"

Ange shook her head, "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?"

"No! What's wrong? Have I got something in my teeth?" I panicked slightly.

She laughed, "Dayum girl." She grabbed me by the hand and dragged me up to her dorm, "Take off your jacket."

"What?"

"Just do it." She said, so I did and she took a hold of my t-shirt and pulled it back to show off my shape, "You can't say you haven't noticed before!"

"Noticed what?" I said, looking at myself in the mirror.

Angelina sighed deeply and opened her dorm door, "Weasley!" she called Ginny, "Get up here a second, I need your opinion." I could hear Ginny begrudgingly walk up the stairs, "Do you think Kathryn looks good?"

I slapped Angelina's hand off holding my top, feeling very self-conscious.

Ginny winked at me, "A fitted top and she'll be completely irresistible."

"May I?" Ange went into her trunk and grabbed a t-shirt.

"No, you may not."

"Trust me, put it on." She handed me the t-shirt which was two sizes smaller than I would usually wear. I took off my own t-shirt and put on hers and looked in the mirror. It was dark purple and tightly fitted and accentuated my boobs, "Girl. You look good."

30th November

Around 2000 this evening I was sitting with Ange's top on with my jacket over the top sitting doing Herbology homework. I felt so self-conscious as it was so tight, but Ginny, Hermione and Ange all assured me that it fitted.

"Mate, what's wrong?" I heard Fred say to George. They were sitting on their usual window seat, Fred, George, Lee and a few others were having a laugh about Snape whilst discussing the potions test they had on Wednesday.

"I don't feel well." I heard George murmur.

"Have some chocolate or a canary cream or something! I can't remember the last time you ate something substantial." Fred responded, which followed with the rustling of packets.

George was quite irritable, so he must have been ill or in pain, "Leave me alone."

Lee stepped in, "Maybe you should go up to bed, I know you haven't slept properly."

"Wow, George you look awful." Angelina commented as she entered the common room, carrying a massive pile of books.

Fred took George by the arm, "Come on, I'm taking you down to Madam Pomfery, something's not right, I think you're coming down with the flu or something. You're sweating like mad. Up you get!"

Angelina screamed and dropped all her books as George's body landed on the floor with a thud. It all happened so fast as Fred got down to his knees, slapping his brother's face trying to bring him back into consciousness, "Georgie!" he yelled desperately, "Someone help! Get Madam Pomfery!"

I instinctively ran to George's aid, "George, can you hear me?" I put my cool hands on his face. Nothing. "Get out of the way Fred!" I shouted, as he kept getting in the way. I put my face down to George's mouth and felt him breathe weakly on my cheek. His breath smelt like nail polish remover – in this situation that could only mean one thing – ketones. I had simultaneously placed a hand on his chest to check his heart rate – his heart was racing.

"When was the last time he ate?" I asked Fred calmly, putting George into the recovery position.

"I don't know! I don't remember!" Fred panicked.

I placed a hand on Fred's shoulder, "Think! I need to know!"

"Erm…" His voice shook, he put his hands into his hair, "He hasn't had more than a couple of slices of toast since Wood hit him on Wednesday."

"And when did he start becoming sweaty?"

"He- he has been on and off yesterday and today."

I put my hand into George's and squeezed, hoping he would react, "Has he been shaky like this?"

"Yeah, yesterday and today as well."

"Forgive me." I said to George as I put my finger on his lips, which were dry, then into his mouth, "I think he's got low blood sugar…" I had one immediate thought, "Accio hypogel." I remembered Madam Pomfery giving it to me after feeling faint from not eating after being attacked. The gel swooped into the common from my own first aid kit which was in my dorm. I opened the tube as fast as I could and squeezed a few blobs onto my finger and rubbed the gel onto George's gums.

"What are you doing?" Fred looked at me in disgust.

"Saving his life!" I stated, adding more blobs and massaging.

"Kathryn! What's going on?" Madam Pomfery pushed past everyone to get to my side.

"It's George. He hasn't eaten properly in five days, he's just collapsed and is still unconscious… It's been about five minutes, he was sweaty, pale, irritable, his heart rate is through the roof and I can smell ketones… I reckoned he was hypoglycaemic and summoned this tube and have been massaging it in for about thirty seconds before you arrived. I really hope I did the right thing…"

"I think you did," Madam Pomfery said, "Help me get him onto the stretcher."

I nodded, "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" I yelled, getting nosey students to give me space to move, so I rolled George gently onto his back and we got him onto the stretcher to transport him.

"Can I come?" Fred asked.

Madam Pomfery, halfway towards the portrait door answered sharply, "I'm sure Miss Pink will look after him for you, I will update you if I have any news."

My jaw dropped, "I'm coming?"

The matron nodded, "Of course?"

"Right then, let's go!" I said, walking quickly alongside the levitated bed downstairs to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfery performed many spells and tests to determine what had made George collapse. She then gave me a list of things to collect within her stores.

Within about five minutes, we had connected him up to a bag of fluids and given him a range of potions. We changed him into a gown and I applied ointment to his knees to prevent bruising from his fall as Madam Pomfery wrote down exactly what had happened in a letter to Mrs Weasley and sent it off via express owl.

"He is going to wake up, right?" I asked.

"He will, I have to commend you for acting quickly, that hypogel can be a lifesaver. I reckon if he was left for much longer he would be in much more serious trouble right now."

"I feel like this is all my fault…" I said taking a seat, getting a little bit emotional.

Madam Pomfery pulled a chair beside me, "Did you tell him not to eat?"

"No."

"Then this is not your fault." She said in a definite, don't-you-dare-say-anything-different tone of voice.

"But I was the one who planted the alarms!" I admitted, panicking.

Madam Pomfery shook her head, "A lack of sleep a few nights back is not going to have affected him, besides I gave him a sleeping draught for the following night, he caught up on sleep, I can promise you that." She pulled up a seat beside George's bed, "Are you okay to sit with him so I can inform the twin?"

"Of course." I said.

As soon as Madam Pomfery left the vicinity I broke down in tears and instinctively took George's hand and held it tight. "You are such an idiot, George." I said, "You sure know how to give a girl a range of emotions – you've made me love you, hate you, be angry at you, be totally confused and fear for your life all at once. Well done. This doesn't change anything, though, you have so far to go to have any shot at winning me back. I still don't think that's a likely eventuality, mind. I just can't believe you, you used to be so-" I sighed, "I don't know. You weren't like this. I don't like this. I wish none of this crap happened. I wish I could go back to the summer and not have the meltdown about the flowers. I wish I could go into the apple tree forest and tell you to wind your neck in and promise to cut off all ties with Oliver and then everything would be back to the way it was. Why'd you have to go and ruin it? Yes, you've made me bloody miserable, but there's no need to point that out. And what the heck was that with Alicia? It's like you've had a personality transplant or something." I realised I was yelling at someone who was under a sleeping draught, "Don't worry, I'll remember how you were before, when I was hopelessly in love with you. Now I guess it's time to move on…"

"You know, he said something similar to me the other day…"

I jumped out of my skin, "Madam Pomfery! How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." She said with a small smile, "he said he deserved the punches, that he is now beyond sorry for everything that has happened and that he's at his wits end trying to get you to listen to his apologies. He loves you, Kathryn. He has realised his mistakes and I think you should at least listen to what he has to say. You acting like you did tonight speaks volumes for anyone around and the fact that you are sitting there, holding his hand with tears in your eyes tells me you still love him. All I ask is that you hear the man out, so I don't have to keep treating him." She joked and then smiled a little at the end, "I'd like to see him make you smile again."

1st December

I sat at George's bedside all night, making sure that he was comfortable, replacing the bag of fluids, moving his hair out of his eyes and stroking his hand until I found it impossible to keep my eyes open any longer.

Hours later I woke up gradually, feeling someone's hand stroking my hair, feeling unbelievably relaxed. That was until I realised where I was, then I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Woah!" George said, "It's okay, Katy, you're in the hospital wing."

"George!" I said, waking up quickly and orientating myself to what was going on, "How are you feeling now?" I asked, taking a respectful step backwards from his beside.

"I feel great, thanks to you." He smiled. I got butterflies in my stomach.

I took another step backwards and shook my head, "I only did what I had to do…"

He squinted his eyes at me, like he does when he's trying to figure someone out, "You saved my life. I am indebted to you."

"Call it even," I said, "I'll let Madam Pomfery know you're awake."

"She's seen me already."

"Make sure you eat something, then," I said, looking at my watch, it was just after 0700, "I'd better go and get ready for class…" I headed towards the doors.

"Don't go…" he pleaded, "Please…"

I stopped in my tracks.

"You don't need to say anything, I just want to say something…" he sat on the edge of his bed and nodded towards the chair, "Please, Katy…"

"Stop calling me that!" I snapped.

He held his hands up in the air, "Okay."

So I walked back towards the bed and moved the chair backwards from the side of the bed and sat down, folding my arms and acting completely disinterested. I didn't know why I was sitting there. It was just at the back of my mind I heard Madam Pomfery's voice telling me to hear him out. If I did that, then I could feel less guilty.

"I know I've said sorry a hundred times and I'll say it a hundred times more until you understand how serious I'm being. I freaked out before. I realised how close we were getting and I had so many voices from my family telling me to get a move on with you, but it didn't feel right, I knew that the two of us would get together whenever we were both ready. I understand that you were ready a long time before I ever was…" he paused momentarily, "You even warned me that if I messed up, that you would walk away, and now you have, and it's killing me. I didn't think I would feel so… alone without you, I haven't been the same, I've been such a horrible person. I've watched you get on with your life. I have seen you happy and I've seen you sad and there was nothing I could have done to be part of that. Each day I've seen you, I've tried not to look, but I couldn't help but stare. I keep falling deeper in love with you and it hurts to have you angry with me. And yes, I chose the wrong time and wrong place to try and make amends. I just wanted everyone to know where I stand. I will spend every day for the rest of my life hoping that you will love me back, that you can look at me for more than a minute before cowering away, that we might be able to make a go of 'us'. Let me get to know you again, we can start from the beginning, on a clean sheet. Just give me another chance to let me prove I won't let you down again. You are the one, Kathryn." He looked at me sincerely, his eyes full of emotion, "Say something…"

I nodded, daring to look at him, "Thank you for your apology." I stood to leave.

"Can I ask you something?" George shifted on the edge of the bed.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Go for it."

"Are you dating him?"

"Who?"

"Wood? The French guy? Malfoy? Neville? I need to know."

"What does it matter to you?"

"Because I'm trying to communicate with you and you've been ignoring my messages. I can't deal with not knowing. I need to know if I have a chance…"

"It is absolutely none of your business who I see and who I'm friends with."

"Katy…"

I gritted my teeth.

"I hate myself for what I've done to you. But we were so good together, we talked, we laughed and we got on really well. I fell for you and there is no doubt in my mind that you fell for me, too. I miss you. I miss talking to you, I miss seeing your smile, I miss hearing your laugh, I miss the smell of your shampoo! It's ridiculous!" George got frustrated with himself and I saw a tear fall down his cheek, which he quickly wiped away, "I can't get you off my mind. I need you. I can't bear the thought of seeing you with someone else when I know I can make you happy…"

It seemed as though my stomach was filled with butterflies but I was still annoyed at him. I was still angry enough at him to not let my emotions show. He didn't even apologise for the things that mattered. For getting jealous about Oliver and drugging him, then taking the wobbler on my birthday that started this whole mess in the first place. He didn't apologise for acting like a prick, he just says he hasn't been the same, which is true, but he still needed to recognise how many people he has hurt in the process. His own sister can't even look at him! I still wanted to hit from for the bets that he carried out during the task. And Alicia, I can't even look past that.

He watched me intently as he asked, "What do I have to do? I will do anything to try and win your forgiveness. You name it, I'll do it."

I stood and thought of a list in my head, of all the things I wanted from him when I heard a familiar voice sounding from the doors, "Oh Georgie!" Molly Weasley bustled into the silence, "I only got the letter-" she paused as she saw me standing there, "Thank you, Kathryn, for everything you did."

I nodded and turned to leave once again.

"Mum," George said, "Can you give us a minute?"

Molly backed out of the door quickly.

"I just have one request for you," George said looking at me expectantly, "read the letter, please."

"Fine." I gave in and walked to the door to allow a worried Molly in to see her son.