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

Chapter 48: Lesson 3: Colour within the lines

"Harry!" Damn his long legs. I pounded up the stairs after him but was blocked by large breasts. I looked up at Nessie's gleaming eyes,

"Sorry Ness, wrong Thornton. Take your heaving bosom downstairs."

I sidestepped her but she blocked me again. Oh, I was not in the mood for this! Did she not see Harry storm up the stairs! I tried talking to him all the way from St Mungo's, but he ignored me. For once I resented the amazing contraption that is the Extendable ear. Could we have eavesdropped on a more inappropriate conversation?

I squeezed myself in between the wall and Nessie, trying not to shiver at the awkward contact that entailed…I should have faced my chest to the wall…

"Ky!"

I ignored her and jumped the last few steps.

"Ky!"

I can't believe Harry! He knows better than to listen to anything that paranoid git Mad Eye says.

"…rried now!"

I stopped, turning away from the boys' bedroom door.

"Reed what now?"

She rolled her eyes and took the step that reached the landing. "Linus and I are getting married."

I sighed, "I know that! I'm sure we had this discussion years-"

"Today."

"What?"

"Linus and I are getting married today." She looked casually down at her watch, "We're actually running a bit late. So would you please come with me, Linus is waiting for us at the ministry and Len is waiting for us downstairs."

" M…min…ministry?"

"Of magic. We're going to get registered. Well, we will be if you move your little tush."

"No…no…" I looked at the door forlornly and thought of Harry, probably wallowing in a world of unnecessary guilt. How did Nessie manage to pick the one situation distracting enough to pull me away from helping him with this dilemma?

I sighed and turned back to Nessie; I took a step back at the torn look on her face.

"Ness…?"

"I thought…I thought…that you were…I thought-"

With a quivered lip she ran down the stairs.

"What?" I was beyond confused! I looked at the dark wooden door and let out a growl and stormed after Nessie. I watched as her blonde head disappeared into the drawing room.

"What's going on? The registration office closes in five minutes?" Len met me at the foot of the stairs.

"I have no idea, she just started crying…"

"Crying? What did you do Ky?"

"Me? I didn't do anything!"

The entrance hall was filled with light at as the door banged open to reveal the unlikeliest of pairs,

"Li? Mi?"

Mi walked in, rosy cheeked with her trunk trailing behind and wrapped me up in an embrace.

"What's going on, the office close in two minutes?"

Linus' cheeks were also rosy but I doubt it was because of the cold.

"Ky upset Agnes and now she's crying in the drawing room."

"What? Ky! It's her wedding day!"

"Wedding day?"

For once words failed me as I was bombarded by chocolate, hazel, and midnight blue orbs of accusation.

"I…I-"

Linus turned and stormed into the drawing room, followed by Len. Mi turned and gave me a chiding look,

"On her wedding day, really Ky, you have got to learn some tact. I know, I know, you can't emulate something if you can't take the word itself seriously, heaven knows what so funny about tact though, it's actually quite a seriously enunciated word-"

We entered the drawing room and Mi's little tirade ceased.

"-sure you misunderstood." Linus turned to me, "Ky, Agnes seems to think that you don't want us to get married today. Please tell her that that is ridiculous."

I walked towards the fireplace where they were grouped around.

"I can't, because she's right. I don't want you to get married today."

"Ky!"

I ignored Mi's gasp and Len's disappointed shake of the head, looking only at the blue-eyed occupants, one furious and the other heartbroken.

"Ky I cannot believe-"

"You can't believe! I can't believe you are doing this!"

Linus' face froze and then a look of understanding faded into the anger, he sighed and took a step forward. "I know it seems terribly rude and inconsiderate with Arthur being in the hospital but that's why we're just getting registered, and we'll go out for a nice dinner afterwards. Very low key, and maybe when everything is over, we'll have a-"

"No. This has nothing to do with Mr Weasley's hospitalisation." I turned to Nessie, "You're not getting registered in some office in the Ministry of Magic! You're not wasting all that annoying planning and ranting about your wedding day being the most beautiful moment in your life in a four walled dedication to drabness. And you definitely are not getting married wearing a pair of jeans!"

Her eyes were clouded at the end of my rant and the room was silent, "Ky…I don't care about the details, I just want to marry Linus. I love him, and after all this Dark Lord stuff is over then maybe we can think about-"

"NO! No. Voldemort doesn't get to do this. He doesn't get to ruin this for you. He doesn't get to steal away the most important moment in your life. I won't let him. You want to marry my brother; you tick all the boxes. You tick all your boxes. I'll tick all your boxes. And I am a thousand percent sure that none of those boxes contain getting married in the King of all Cowards backyard." Getting married anywhere near Fudge was a horrible idea.

Agnes pulled me to her in a fierce hug, "Oh Ky, you have no idea how much this means to me. It's just-"

"Just nothing. Give me a day. I'll have your Wedding in a day."

"A day. That's impossible. We'll need a month at least." Mi's brown eyes were saucers in her still flushed face.

"A month is too long. I want-"

"Fine, on Christmas."

"Christmas is three days away, that's impossible Ky. Agnes, may be a fortnight?" Mi looked ready to strangle me.

"New Year's." I took a step forward and captured Agnes' eyes. "Just wait till New Year's."

"That's ten days Ky." Mi turned to me in shock.

I shrugged nonchalantly, "Nine days too many if you ask me."

"I don't know what to say." Agnes turned to Linus, and he shrugged at her.

"Anything you want Agnes. If it's in my power."

She laced her fingers in his and turned to me and nodded her head profusely, "I would like to not get married in jeans."

Len laughed and shook his head, "If you had told me that Ky would be the one that had to convince you and Linus on having a wedding two years ago, I would have thought you inhaled too much acetone on your frequent trips to the nail salon."

"Well, just like those trips are practically non-existent now, things change. People change." She smiled at me, "And sometimes they don't just change, they evolve into something unexpected. Something beautiful."

I rolled my eyes, trust Nessie to make this a sop fest. She kissed me on the cheek and followed Linus and Len out the door.

"You know she's right. It's pretty beautiful what you're doing for them Ky."

I turned to Mi and looped my arm through hers, "What I'm doing for them? You mean what you're doing for them. I don't know the first thing about planning a wedding."

"Ky!"

"Oh Mi, you saw her face. You don't want to disappoint her. And on her wedding day. Have some tact." I laughed at the word; I really don't know what was funny about it. My laughter faded as we reached the stairs, remembering the events of last night. Like a switch that was suddenly flicked on, I rushed up the stairs ignoring Mi's shocked shouts. I barged into the boys' room and yanked the sheet off him. His green eyes flew open, and he quickly turned towards the wall,

"I'm trying to sle-"

His words, or should I say lies, fell away as I lowered myself onto his waist, trapping him with my legs… let's see him ignore me now.

"Kyrianna I am not in the-"

I covered his lips with my hands. "Shut it, Harry. This isn't a straddle of intercourse; this is a straddle of intervention." I sighed; his eyes were set like emerald orbs in steel - rigid. I removed my hands and he remained silent. "Look, I get why you're pissed. I mean everyone is acting like you witnessing that attack on Mr Weasley is some kind of blessing, and don't get me wrong, I am happy Mr Weasley is OK, but having to see all of that…I get it…it must have been horrible. What I don't get is why you're feeling so guilty! You just witnessed-

My body jostled as he hastened upright, his back against the wall, "That's just it, I didn't just witness it Ky. I was there. I attacked Mr Weasley. I was the snake."

I shook my head slowly, "That's not possible Harry." He lowered his eyes, and I grabbed his chin and forced him to look me in the eye, "Harry you didn't hurt Mr Weasley. And you're not going to hurt anybody in this house."

"Ky, you don't-"

"No. I don't. And I won't. I won't ever believe that you're capable of that."

"But what if I am capable of that Ky."

I leaned forward, my lips almost upon his, "Harry, I believe you're capable of doing things, brave and hard things. Bittersweet things that will keep you awake at night and make you doubt your colour in life. But the truth is you're not black, or white. You're a thousand rays of colour that shine with the good, and the bad, but not one of those colours are malicious. Not one atom of you would harm Mr Weasley Harry."

"I want to believe you."

"Then do." I pecked him on the lips and pulled back, "Why would I lie?"

"Because you're blinded by…" I watched as he froze, the steel of his eyes was melted, it was just for his tight jaw to follow. His face cracked into a smirk, "my insanely good looks."

The smile was genuine but doubt still reflected in his eyes. I sighed, "Why won't you believe me when I say that you could not have done this."

"It's not that I don't believe you…it's that I do. And I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

We turned and looked at the entrance, at Mi and Ron. Ron smiled awkwardly but Mi walked unabashed into the room,

"I'm telling you that you did not harm Mr Weasley. And not because some…colourful… reason like Ky's. But a factual one that you all should know by now. You cannot apparate on the Hogwarts grounds. And therefore, it would be impossible for you to have been at the Ministry of Magic last night."

"Not to mention you can't turn into a snake by will. And if you were possessed by Voldemort, you wouldn't remember the events of last night."

He smiled at me after I finished, "So you had facts like that in your arsenal, but you chose to wax lyrical about…colours."

I shrugged and hopped off him, "Don't act like you didn't enjoy my little monologue. I saw your misty eyes Mr Potter, falling head over heels for my romantic words."

"You? Romantic?" Ron scoffed; I turned and smiled at him,

"Precisely me, Ronald." I hooked my hand into my redhead friends' arm and led him to the door, "You see it's all about the execution, you can get any girl with the right word coupled with the appropriate expression…hesitations and inflections in just the right places…by the end of the whole thing they would be eating out of your hand…or a more fun…organ."

Ron laughed and Mi actually tugged my hair in reprimand, "That's disgusting! I cannot believe you're dating such a pervert Harry!"

I turned and caught Harry smirking at me, "Neither can I Hermione, where are all the good girls?"

"Behind the back shelf of the right wing of the library giving all the good boys good bl-"

"KY!"

I laughed at Mi's expression and let her walk downstairs with Ron, my laughter quietened down a little when I felt warm breath at my neck,

"You're not a good girl Ky, and neither are you a bad girl."

I turned and leaned against the banister, smirking up at Harry, "Is that so? Then what am I?"

He leaned forward, placing his hands on the banister behind me, "The best girl."

I bit my lip, but I knew I couldn't fight the red that was plaguing my face. He kissed my cheek softly and ran his lips to my ear, "See…that's perfect execution Miss Thornton. Let's not forget your promise of eating out of the palm of my hand…or more, how did you put it, fun organs?"

I laughed and kissed him, holding my hand to his chest, feeling the sound of his most precious organ beating at the palm of my hand…

A/N: I hope you guys liked it

Please review

Kalina