Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell is JK Rowling's

Chapter 33: She-weasel, more like she-devil

There was a loud knock on the door. I looked away from my Veritaserum, I never managed to alter the process last year and was picking up where I had left off. I put it back on the fire to simmer, wondering who it must be. Teddy only joined me in my sanctuary when he caught me on my way down, and Mi had my password.

I opened the door.

"How did you-"

"Hermione." She walked in, giving the place a once over twirl, her flaming red hair settling back down as she looked straight at me.

I closed the door, having a feeling she was going to be a while. She sat down on my armchair, and I raised an eyebrow at her, "Please…sit down." I said sarcastically, sitting down on my stool. "What's wrong? I know Mi wouldn't tell you where I was if it was not an emergency."

"It's not an emergency!" She exclaimed defensively, "This hardly qualifies as an emergency."

I narrowed my eyes at her, the realisation that she needed help in something that was out of Mi's very broad field of expertise, "Is this about a boy?"

Ginny looked at me, her eyes wider than usual. I noticed she was using her thumb to rub circles along her index finger, a nervous tendency she had. "Yeah, it is. I need…advice."

"Advice, on boys…from me? I don't know if you've noticed-"

"Of course, I noticed. " She snapped, "The whole school has, haven't they?"

I changed the heat on the cauldron, busying myself with chopping shrivelfigs.

"Ky? Oh no…what happened?"

I stood in the doorway, not sure what to tell Mi. I obviously looked like something was the matter, and here I thought that I was being so calm and collected after I realised how unnecessarily dramatic I was being for running up the stairs to the Fat Lady.

I shrugged, mechanically walking to her bed, and picking up a page of the Ruins assignment we were given. Bobby and Parvati must still be down in the common room…it was a Saturday.

"He kissed Cho. A few minutes ago." I didn't look up at her, reading about the influences of Sanskrit on the magical prose, I didn't want to see that look on her face.

"Oh…are you sure. Maybe you heard-"

"I saw." I picked my head up and looked into her wide cocoa eyes, "I saw Mi." I was biting my bottom lip, preventing it from trembling. Images of Harry and Cho…who knows what they were doing right now.

Oh, I sat down quickly, my head dizzy. I felt a drop on my hand.

Oh no! I wiped at my face quickly, there was this ugly rasping sound and I realised it was my erratic breathing. Oh Ky, you are not losing your cool again! I felt Mi's warm arm across my shoulders, and I concentrated on that, fighting away images of black hair in pale white hands. I took a deep breath.

"I'm OK."

"It's OK to not feel OK Ky, if I saw what you did right now…I'd probably be…hexing Harry. But at the same time…you did say-"

I stood and looked into Bobby's floor length mirror, angry at the tear stains on my cheeks. "I know. I know what I said." I looked into my grey eyes seeing only orbs of green. I bit my lower lip harder; I won't cry again. "I just didn't think he would. I thought she'd try and he'd…turn her away." I would never tell this to anyone except Mi, it sounded so naïve and stupid. "I thought he liked me. I'm such an ass."

"Ky." I saw the brown orbs get closer in the mirror, "You are not an ass. You're just trying to do the right thing. And so is Harry. I know, I'm breaking the rules and getting involved…you have to see it from his perspective as well. You pushed him away-"

"Because I didn't want to steal something away from Cho again! I can't deal with that guilt Mi…I just can't."

"I know…and it's natural for you to protect yourself from the pain that comes along with it."

The pain that came along with the guilt…the pain…I let it fester within me for months, getting more and more potent and destructive…yet this ache that ran throughout my body at seeing Harry with Chang overshadowed the very pain that I was protecting myself from…I thought I was choosing the lesser evil…

I was so wrong.

"Ky?"

I snapped up and looked at sharp brown eyes, "Yes."

She looked at me hesitantly, "Will you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You didn't listen to a word I said, did you!" Ginny swatted the arm of the chair in annoyance. I shrugged, and she sighed, "Michael Corner-"

"Is that the boy you've been snogging all over the place."

She opened her mouth wide in shock and then closed it quickly, staring at her nails, "Yes, how did you know?"

"I have my ways… my spies."

She rolled her eyes, "How Ky?"

"I saw you two leaving a broom cupboard on the third, two weeks ago. So why all the secrecy?"

"Well, I didn't know if I wanted…more. I mean, I don't know!" She said frustrated.

"Do you like him?"

"I don't know."

I shrugged, "That means you don't."

"I do." She said angrily at my dismissal of her feelings.

"Then you do. He definitely likes you. He'd be dumb not to."

She narrowed her eyes at the compliment as I swirled the potion around, I chuckled at her wary expression, "It just makes sense Red, you're out of his league, and any trepidation about taking this broom cupboard romance out into the light must be on your part."

"Well do you blame me? I'm not sure if I can 'date' someone. Especially…well because-"

"You had a major raging, write poetry, sing sonnets crush on one Harry Potter. Don't look so surprised, I know life existed in Hogwarts before I showed up. But as you said, Harry is taken." I turned away, biting my lower lip.

"A blind deaf mute would notice that Harry is taken."

I understood what she meant completely.

"Are you sure you're OK with this?"

"Do you have any other ideas Mi? Not like I can go sit somewhere else without being absolutely obvious." I muttered while we walked down the aisle. "Hey Ron."

We levelled up to our usual spot for dinner where Ron was seated with Harry…and Cho. I guess they're making it official…

"Hello Ky." I looked up at the delicate voice and forced out a smile, chanting internally you owed the girl after running around with her boyfriend last year like some harlot, "Hi Cho."

Oh fuck, please don't engage in conversation with me. Please don't. "So, I developed a new chess move, want to go upstairs and try it out?"

I smiled at Ron. Sometimes he just came through, didn't he? He gave me a small wink and I got up, so happy at the excuse to leave the table early.

"But it's more than just that." I turned and looked back at her, "I'm…Michael has his shortcomings. Maybe I'm too picky? I just don't want to be hanging on his arm all the time, and I think that's what he wants."

I remember feeling the same way when Cedric asked me out last year. "Didn't you speak to him about that?"

"We don't speak much." She replied quickly. "At least we didn't. Until he managed to ask me out on a date yesterday!"

"And you said…?"

"I didn't say anything, I just started making out with him again. Don't laugh…I panicked!"

"I probably would do the exact same thing if I was in your position. Which begs the question, why are you asking me, I am absolute rubbish at romance!"

"Well, I'm asking you because I need you now, don't I? He sent me a letter earlier on, saying that we should go for a little walk about the village after Harry's defence meeting at the Hogs Head tomorrow." Ugh… don't remind me.

"I don't see what that has to do with me?"

"Well, he said he could tell that I was a bit nervous about this whole thing, and he didn't want me to feel pressured into some romantic date situation. So, he said that he asked a few friends to come along and I should do the same and it can be like a more chill, group date thing…"

My eyebrows rose in unison, "No."

"You don't have to do anything Ky! You just have to come, sit, drink free butterbeer and if it all turns to shit we'll head on back to the castle."

"Why are you asking me? Can't you ask-"

"Who? Who can I ask Ky? You saw the girls that I room with! And I already asked Hermione and she said she's busy sorting out this Defence thing and some other meeting she didn't elaborate on, and plus, you owe me."

"Excuse me, how do I owe you?"

"I'm in this mess because of you!"

"What! How do you figure that out! Did I shove Corner's tongue down your throat!"

"No, but you shoved us in that cupboard together!"

I was about to retort back when I realised…she was right.

"I've sent all the letters."

"This is such absolute dragon dung. If I didn't love that man to bits, I'd strangle him."

Mi laughed softly and sunk lower into the armchair, "Relax, it would be just half an hour. He did have a point though, if you want to dissolve this club so badly you'd have to at least meet and get the signed consent from everybody else. Come on, let's go, they should be there by now."

We entered the Potions classroom,

"Finally. Sort this out. With haste. I'll be in my office."

Sev vanished with a twirl of his cloak. We hadn't spoken in a week, ever since I found out about what happened to Teddy and the others. I was having some difficulty dealing with his role in this.. I know he didn't send out the instructions of punishment, but nevertheless, he relayed the message. Honestly it was easier to blame him rather than the alternative…

My eyes fell on dark hair, "I told you; you didn't have to come."

Teddy's dark eyes glittered at me, "It's fine Kitten. We've got permission from the higher- up's; they want us out of this 'prejudiced pushing paper' as quick as possible."

I shook my head at him and walked to the front. The snakes were right at the back. Teddy at one end of the bench and Parkinson on the other. Greengrass gave me a small smile and Liam waved at me. He was a good kid. I managed to speak to him the Sunday after the ordeal and he seemed OK. Malfoy did take care of it, nobody was bullying him or pushing him around. He was just a little scared, hence locking himself in his room for days, but he looked a lot better today.

The next row sat our Gryffindors. Ginny glared at me, and I suppressed a smile. I did kind of promise her when she signed up that there would be no meetings. Mi sat next to her with an intent look on her face, as if she didn't know what I was going to say already. On her other side was Neville, who she had got to sign much the same way that Malfoy got Parkinson to sign. That Creevey boy with a love for photography, sat on Neville's other side. Mi said he was the only one that was actually enthusiastic about the paper.

The next row sat the Puffs, with Bellamy right at the end. Mi said she had delegated the signatures to Ernie, and it looked like he just asked his group of friends to sign. Justin with the two names was sat next to him and on his other side was Hannah Abbot. Allison Fleeceheart and Jack Corner didn't show up.

The row right in the front and true to character were the Ravenclaws. I nodded at the girl right at the end who was Audrina Greyson. She nodded back, it was quite funny how I got her to sign. She was a fourth year Claw who was obsessed with Mi. She worshiped the ground Mi walked on but at the same time wanted to beat her high scores for every subject. The younger Corner sat a seat away from her, next to Anthony Goldstein and another seat away sat Luna. She waved energetically at me, and I returned it in kind.

"Well, most of us know why we are here. First things first," I growled quietly, how could Nonno stipulate this…it was downright awkward. "There are numbers on a card under your chair. Sit in the seat number that is stipulated on the card. Here are the seat numbers." I waved my wand like Nonno told me to and numbers floated above the seats.

"You're not serious."

I looked at Parkinson, "Unfortunately I am. The longer you take to move the longer we're going to be here so if I were you…"

Mi stood first, and slowly everybody followed. I looked down at the parchment, taking a calming breath.

"Turn…"I cleared my throat, "Turn to the person next to you. You're to ask each other ten questions and then write it down. Like an interview. The best written interview, which means the most captivating, would get fifty points for their house. You have twenty minutes. Start."

"I thought we were here to-"

"We are." I snapped at Parkinson, "But we have to do this first to do that, so just start!"

The twenty minutes went by slowly. I observed everyone. I am never becoming a teacher. How does Sev do it? Some like Audrina took to it quickly, berating poor Colin for answers. Mi was with Teddy; I actually didn't rig that. I laughed silently at the look on Neville's face as he answered Bellamy's questions.

I left the room to get Sev, he would choose the winning interview. Yes…Nonno went this far. I knocked on his office door and he swept through it in silence. He waved his wand and collected the sheets. He didn't bother looking through.

"Granger, 50 points to Gryffindor." He turned and walked out. I was surprised, Sev almost never gave points to Mi.

"That's not fair, he didn't even look!"

I looked at Audrina and bit back a laugh, thwarted by Mi again, what a pity, she must have put in so much effort. "Are you questioning Professor Snape's grading?"

"What…no…I just mean-"

"Good. OK, all those in favour of dissolving this club, raise your hand. Just one hand Parkinson."

She didn't laugh, with a majority amount of votes, with Colin being the only one against this dissolution; I passed the parchment around to sign.

"Longbottom, you twit, ugh it's in my eyes!"

I tried not to laugh at Parkinson's ink-stained face. Neville somehow managed to thrust the ink bottle into Parkinson's face, rather than summon it like I think was his intention.

"Relax Parkinson. Ginny go get the Sunseed Essence from the store."

She rolled her eyes but stood and walked out without complaint as she was nearest the storeroom.

"That's OK. I have some in my pocket."

We all looked at Luna. I laughed, only she would carry around bottles of potions. Parkinson grabbed the bottle without a thank you.

"Corner, go get Ginny."

He nodded and stood; he was sitting next to her, so he was the second closest to the cupboard.

"Woah, Parkinson, did you sign?" I ran after her, through the door, everybody else filing out after she did.

"She did, here." Mi passed me the parchment.

"Hold on to that would you. We can't risk me losing it."

Mi shook her head in disbelief but relieved me of the parchment, "I'll hand this over to Professor McGonagall. I'll meet you in the common room."

"I'll come with; I haven't seen Minnie in a while. Let me just lock this up."

"Oh…"

Her sharp eyes narrowed, "Oh. Oh! You left us in there for an hour!"

"The point is…I did come back. I remembered!"

"No! Hermione remembered! If it was up to you, I probably would still be in there!"

"Ok fine, so I mistakenly locked you up in a classroom alone with him. For an hour. I still don't see how that makes it my fault for you guys…OK fine."

I couldn't deny it, a pair of heterosexual teenagers of the opposite sex locked up in an empty classroom together; it was the makings of a porno.

"Good." She stood quickly, hastening to leave before I changed my mind. "Don't worry; you won't have to even speak to anyone. I just don't want to show up alone."

"Oh, I know, misery loves company."

Ginny laughed as she walked out the door and I continued with my potion, looking forward to tomorrow even less than I was ten minutes ago. I heard footsteps,

"Come back to complain some more! It was just an hour!" I turned, expecting to see Ginny, but found someone less expected, and even less wanted.

A/N: So that kind of fills you in on what's happening…things kind of suck at the moment…what do you think of Ky and Ginny's friendship? I think they would be friends, but the Harry of it all will always make things a tad complicated for them.

Please let me know what you think!

Kalina