The shock I feel knowing that this is the last chapter in this story is really insane to me. I cannot even begin to explain how surreal it feels. I have been working on this section of the series for so long and it's never been good enough, so I've had to start and re-start a hundred times. The fact that I've actually managed the impossible is unbelievable to me.

Guest: Thank you so much for the review! I appreciate it more than you could know. I am glad someone else is obsessed with the twins as well LOL. I have a particular soft spot for George, but they are just such perfect characters.

readerfaye: Thank you for the review! I agree about OC interaction in stories! It drives me nuts sometimes when they take over the plot line. Nessa will, of course, have some hand in the more important scenes, especially as the story continues on, but my intention is to leave Harry's role as close to canon as I am able.

RoonieTunes: Thank you! I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday as I was imagining, but I won't make you wait too long. I'm too excited to finish this one and move on to the drama of the next one. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ginny left the hospital wing not much later, looking much better. The color had returned to her cheeks, she'd slept for hours with no nightmares (Dreamless Sleep Potions were a beautiful creation), and she'd caught up on all of her coursework. She became even happier once all those that had been petrified had awoken and gone back to their everyday lives. Her crush on Harry had gotten much worse, however, and she could hardly look at him without turning a deep shade of red. Nessa would have laughed except she knew exactly how she felt because she had been doing the exact same thing with George every time he was near her.

What had transpired the night of Ginny's disappearance had only made the feelings stronger, which she did not appreciate. But now, all she could think about when she saw him was how kind he was, how he'd comforted her at the loss of her friend despite his own grief, and how his hair had felt soft in her hand as she'd tried to find a way to comfort him. It was hard to think clearly when she kept remembering how nice it had felt.

As for Harry, she had been keeping a very close eye on him now that everything was over. He'd walked into the hospital wing shortly after Dumbledore had left and he'd looked very weary when he'd seen her there, staring at him without saying anything. She'd been trying to take in every part of him — his hair, his eyes, the way he breathed, the fact that he was breathing — in an attempt to convince herself that he was real and alive and safe. He had misjudged her silence for anger because he had immediately raised his hands placatingly and said, "Okay, Nessa, look — before you break my neck…I know I promised not to be stupid anymore, but I really tried to get a teacher first, and —"

She'd cut him off completely when she'd plowed him down with a hug. He had been so shocked by the response that they'd both tumbled backward onto the floor before he could catch himself on the wall. He'd laughed and hugged her back, rubbing his head once they'd pulled apart because he'd smacked it on one of the legs of the beds. She hadn't lectured him about the fact that he'd gone to Lockhart of all professors, or that he'd gone down there and dealt with Riddle and the Basilisk on his own. She didn't even care about any of it because he was alive and so was Ginny and it was better than anything she could have asked for.

The rest of the school was completely back to normal. The sun shining on the grounds and through the castle windows was now a welcome sight and she'd spent many days with the twins and Tori lounging outside, watching them play Quidditch or set off fireworks. On one occasion she'd watched stressfully as the twins and Lee had stepped into the black lake, their pant legs pulled up around their knees, and tickled the Giant Squid. She'd need not have worried, however, because the squid seemed to enjoy it and she did not need to know under what circumstances the three of them had figured this out.

Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled and Nessa and Tori found this extremely exciting because they no longer had to find things to occupy themselves for the hour they were in that class. Even better, Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Hagrid had been right in his assumption that he had threatened and bribed the majority of them in order to get rid of Dumbledore and when they'd found out that Ginny Weasley had been taken into the Chamber, they had scrambled to get the headmaster back. They had apparently not taken lightly the fact that he had nearly caused a girl's death and threatened their families, and had used the power they had over him instead.

Draco was no longer strutting around the school as though he owned the place, and instead, was looking surly and resentful. Nessa tried not to feel too smug about this, but she felt that it was nothing less than what their family deserved. Maybe learning that they were not above the rules of society would cause them to be more compassionate for others.

Too soon, the last day of the term had arrived and she had to begin packing all of her things into her trunk again and prepare to set off on the Hogwarts Express. She closed her trunk with a snap, locking it, and sat down on top of it with a heavy sigh. Looking out the window, she watched the sun begin to set. It was her last night in the castle. In previous years, this had not felt much different than any other day in her life. She'd hated saying goodbye to Tori, but otherwise, she felt only mild disappointment at the prospect of returning to the Dursleys. Whereas Harry despised the return and wanted nothing more than to stay within the castle, but Nessa had never felt at home here. Not in the same way Harry had.

But this year was different. This year hurt to leave behind. So much had happened within the year. Not only did she have Tori now, but the twins had tunneled their way right into her heart in a way that she knew would last a lifetime. The fact that she'd hidden from them for so long felt like an entirely different life. Not to mention Ginny, who she had grown so incredibly close to within the last year. She'd dealt with the horrible whispers of the student body, faced her worst fear in the form of Acromantulas, felt the grief of losing a friend, only to have her surface totally alive and well. After everything, she should have been relieved — desperate even — to return back to the boring life at the Dursleys.

But instead she felt…unhappy, depressed. Anxious even. The last part was irritating. She shouldn't have been anxious. She knew exactly what was going to happen when she got back to the Dursleys. The treatment was always the same. The summer would pass as it always had and then she'd be back in front of these doors again. But a part of her worried that when she came back it would all be different. Maybe the twins wouldn't want to spend as much time with her or the time apart would make it awkward between her and Tori. Both examples were irrational and she knew it — it hadn't been awkward between her and Tori when they'd reunited last year or this year. And the twins weren't any more likely to leave her alone than she was to go looking for the Acromantulas again.

She sighed heavily again and stood, brushing dust off her pants and making her way downstairs and walking idly through the castle. Tori had disappeared after dinner. She'd had a 'meeting' with a Ravenclaw fifth year. Vanessa very strongly suspected that it was not so much a 'meeting' as it was a last ditch attempt for her to snog someone before they were gone for two months. Nessa grinned and rolled her eyes at the thought. Tori was ridiculous, really, but she knew exactly what she wanted and she was not at all afraid to go after it. Nessa had always had mixed feelings about this personality trait — sometimes it made her want to rip her hair out, other times it made her jealous that she wasn't of the same ilk.

Nessa stopped suddenly when the cool, night air hit her face. Her thoughts had brought her directly up to the Astronomy Tower. She'd always loved it up here. She loved the stars and it was much easier to view them at the highest tower of the school. Except, as the door to the tower began to close behind her, she was absolutely sure she'd have rather been behind it and never walked on to the tower at all.

She'd always heard whispers that the Astronomy Tower was where couples came to snog after hours. She'd always been careful when she'd entered because of this. But she hadn't been paying attention this time, happy to let her thoughts take her through the castle and trusting her body to take her where it needed her to go.

As the door slammed closed behind her, the couple in front of her careened apart in surprise, but it wasn't the fact that she'd walked in on a very private moment with a couple who were in an extremely compromising situation that had her stuttering apologies and racing back toward the door.

No. It was the fact that the couple in question was Alicia Spinnet and George Weasley.

-o0o-

"Are you going to talk about it?"

Nessa looked up from her book to eye Tori cautiously. They had gone the majority of the trip back to London without speaking. Not for Tori's lack of trying. Nessa knew, without a doubt, that she had been trying to talk to her all morning, but she'd been avoiding her. It had been particularly easy.

She, Harry, Ron, the twins, Hermione, Tori, and Ginny had all grabbed a compartment to themselves and taken advantage of the last few hours they were able to use magic before the summer began. Between the games of Exploding Snap, the fireworks they'd set off, and practicing to Disarm each other by magic, there had been an ample amount of distraction to keep Tori from pestering her. As the others continued with Disarming, it seemed that Tori had lost the small amount of patience she possessed.

Nessa had long since gotten distracted reading. She'd done perfectly well at using the spell they were still practicing and it gave her the perfect excuse to avoid George, who she had not spoken to since the night before when she'd caught him with Alicia, the snogging they'd been in the middle of escalating to something a lot more than that. She couldn't look at him now. Partially from embarrassment because God knew she did not need to see anyone in that position. Ever. But the other part was really because seeing it had caused her to feel like she'd been stabbed in the chest. Which was stupid, really, because she had no claim on George and she'd not even told him that she had feelings for him and he was perfectly within his rights to snog anyone he liked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said finally, even though she knew perfectly well what her best friend wanted from her.

She'd not mentioned the scene she'd walked in on last night, but she was certain Tori knew something anyway. She always knew everything. It was very irritating.

"Don't play stupid, Vanessa, it's unbecoming," said Tori, snatching the book out of her hand and placing it behind her. Nessa did not have the energy to fight her at the moment so she just glared at her instead. "George told us you walked in on him and Alicia last night."

"So, what, you're going to make me relieve the embarrassment? Because let me tell you, catching him in that particular position is really not something I feel like we need to talk about."

"Why do you have to act like nothing bothers you all the time? Can't you just admit it has nothing to do with the snogging and everything to do with him?"

"He snogs people all the time, Tori," said Nessa with a roll of her eyes. "I'm well aware of how the twins…are, for lack of a better word. I have to listen to the gossiping every time I'm in the loo."

"Yes, well, he wasn't just snogging her —"

"Yeah, see, I got that. They were pretty close to shagging actually, which is more than I needed to see."

"No, not that. Although I wish you hadn't mentioned it because now I think I might vomit up my breakfast." Tori muttered in irritation. "What I meant was they aren't just snogging or shagging or whatever they're doing. They're…well, they're dating. They have been for the last month."

Nessa really hated the way the words felt like Tori had ripped out her heart. Christ, this was why some people avoided romantic attachments. Had to be. Because she was fairly certain this sort of pain, which somehow felt very similar to a rejection, felt horrible — nevermind the fact that he hadn't actually rejected her because she'd never voiced her feelings to him. That wasn't really the point.

"How did I not know that?" she said slowly. "We're together every day."

"Well, for one thing, you've been locking yourself up in the library all night and day. I don't think you'd have seen them together in there, considering the fact that it's George. For another, you never asked him. And I would have told you, except you kept trying to pretend like you couldn't see me staring at you when we were in the library together and I didn't really want to just drop it on you like a bomb when you were so clearly trying to avoid saying out loud that you fancied him."

"It's very annoying that you know me so well," she mumbled with an eye roll. Tori smirked.

"Yes, well, the feeling is mutual," she said. There was a long moment of silence between them as Nessa let the new information roll around in her head. They watched the others as they continued to practice. Harry was getting very good at the spell. It was several minutes later when Tori sighed heavily. "Nessa, why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

"Because he has a girlfriend," said Nessa incredulously.

"I'm not saying break them up," said Tori with an eye roll. "I'm just saying that maybe if you told him, he could…I don't know, help you feel less awkward about the whole thing."

"I would actually rather fly a broom, Victoria."

Tori snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well then, you can do what I do," she said with a smirk. Nessa eyed her nervously.

"What does that mean?" she said. "Have you ever fancied anyone?"

"Of course I have," Tori responded, waving a hand dismissively. "But then I snog them and it passes."

"How is that going to help me?" Nessa laughed. "I can't snog George. For one thing, he's clearly got someone to do that with. And for another, I don't know how to snog anyone because I've never done it."

Tori rolled her eyes. "It's not hard, y'know. You just do it."

"Yes, that's very helpful, thank you."

"Besides, you're very attractive. Any bloke would be happy to teach you, I'm sure." Tori continued, ignoring her friend's spluttering at this remark. "And anyway, I wasn't talking about snogging George. I was talking about snogging someone else. Like Diggory, perhaps?"

Tori was grinning at her with an eyebrow raised toward her hairline. Nessa rolled her eyes.

"This is exactly why people don't take advice from you, y'know," she said, but her mood was improving a little anyway despite herself. There was just something so absolutely comforting about talking to Tori. Even if it was ridiculous. "Snogging someone else to avoid your feelings is entirely irrational."

Tori sighed dreamily.

"Yes, but it's much more fun than moping," she said matter-of-factly. She grabbed onto Nessa's arm and pulled her into her side, leaning back against the compartment wall. "All jokes aside though…you say the word and I'll punch him square in the nose." Nessa laughed and Tori rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

"I believe you, don't worry," said Nessa, still laughing. "But I think I'll pass for now. He hasn't done anything wrong. It'll only confuse him."

"He's a bit thick, so it's probably no more than usual."

Nessa hit her gently on the arm and spent the entire rest of the train ride with her, talking about anything other than George Weasley. Ginny and Hermione eventually joined them and by the time they'd reached Kings Cross Station, the four of them were giggling and in high spirits.

"Ginny," said Harry suddenly as they were all stretching and grabbing their things off the shelf above their seats. "What did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

They all paused to look at the youngest Weasley, who was suddenly overcome with giggles.

"Oh, that," she said, her giggles increasing. "Well — Percy's got a girlfriend."

Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head and Tori started laughing happily. That did not bode well for Percy, Nessa thought to herself.

"What?" said Fred.

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — you know — attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.

"Not in a million years," agreed Tori, her face morphed into the largest grin Nessa had ever seen.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

Nessa laughed when Ginny looked at her frantically, clearly understanding that they were absolutely going to be teasing Percy for this. She threw an arm over the younger girl's shoulder as they headed off of the train.

"Don't worry, Gin," she said with a grin. "Percy could stand to be taken down a peg or two, yeah?"

She'd nearly made it to the barrier when she felt a hand on her wrist, pulling her to a stop. She turned around, expecting Harry or Tori, but it was George. She swallowed as he looked at her.

"Er — look, about last night —"

"We don't have to talk about that," said Nessa hastily, waving her hands in front of her as if that would erase the memory altogether. "Really, we don't."

George chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Right, well, I just — I don't know, I didn't want it to be awkward. You could barely look at me all morning."

"If you'd caught Fred or Tori in that position, would you be looking at them?" she said pointedly with an eyebrow raised. He grinned.

"Likely not, no," he agreed. "Maybe it's better that you caught us right before break, then. We'll have forgotten the whole thing by the time we get back."

Not likely, she thought, but she smiled at him anyway.

"Right, well, I should go," she said, backing away from him and toward the barrier back into the Muggle world. "The Dursleys don't take well to being late."

He crossed the distance between them in two strides and enveloped her in a hug. He grinned when he pulled away and chucked her under the chin affectionately.

"See you soon, Potter."

She stared at him in surprise as he took off through the barrier. Why did he have to be so sweet all of the time?

She shook her head sharply to dislodge the thoughts and wished she could do the same with the butterflies in her stomach. Suddenly, she was really hoping that her feelings would fade before they had to be back for the next school year. Because if they didn't, it was going to be a hell of a year.

-o0o-

This chapter hurt me to write. Because the idea of George with anyone other than Nessa hurts. But it has to be done, unfortunately. Relationships aren't a cakewalk. Their time will come though I promise — I'm a big sucker for a happy ending. But the ending is always so much sweeter if the journey is a little rocky.

I'll be posting the first few chapters of the next story later toda, so we can get into the swing of the next book. Come prepared, lovelies, because there's a lot going on in the next one!