"Hold on!" I said "that's a load of bullshit! You saw me and Harry kissing in the hospital and didn't complain!"

"That doesn't count" Ron replied "you were in intensive care, I could hardly stop you, it would have been very inappropriate!"

"Anyway" said Hermione to Ron, breaking up the argument "you're not exactly straining yourself, are you?"

Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack — a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.

"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Harry

Hermione looked severely over at him too. "I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!"

"Is spending time with my girlfriend not constructive?" asked Harry

"You should be looking at that egg!"

"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Harry said.

He had put the golden egg upstairs in his trunk and hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.

"But it might take weeks to work it out!" said Hermione. "You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!"

"I second that!" said Demelza

"Even if he is kissing my sister in front of me, at least he's having a break, which he does deserve" said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.

"Nice look, Ron . . . go well with your dress robes, that will." It was Fred and George. They sat down close to us as Ron felt how much damage had been done.

"You got a date for the ball yet?" Ron asked Fred

"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.

"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," said Fred to us "piece of cake."

"I'm glad you chose Hermione though" said George, "honestly, we overheard Viktor Krum saying he regretted not asking her sooner!"

"WHAT?!" we all said at once

"Yeah good one guys" Ron said

"No, honestly, it's not a joke" Fred said "why do you think he was hanging out in the library so much?"

"Because he fancied me?!" said Hermione, astonished

"Yep" said George, "ask him if you want, he's been saying it to anyone who'd listen"

"That would have been hella awkward" I said "can you imagine that, Hermione going to the ball with Viktor Krum? I don't know if you two could recover your friendship if that happened!"

"It would certainly have been interesting to say the least" Hermione said

"Yeah, well, let's all be glad it didn't happen!" Ron snapped

"You two are perfect for each other, just like Harry and Ginny" said Fred, "it's great you've seen it"

"We're only going to the ball together, we're not dating" said Ron

"We have no doubt that will change" George said "it's just a matter of time"

"Did you guys know that Ron only noticed Hermione was a girl a couple weeks ago?" I said, and everyone except Ron laughed, and it was now his turn to blush.

"Classic Ronald" said Fred "so oblivious. It's no wonder that he doesn't think the ball will lead to anything further with Hermione"

"We're sitting right here you know!" Hermione said

"Come on, you fancy each other really, admit it" said Demelza

"No" said Ron unconvincingly, but Hermione bit her lip, looked away and did not deny it

"See? It'll be February at the latest by the time you make it official" Fred said

At that moment, the portrait hole opened and Amy walked in.

"Finished your detention then?" I asked

"No, I just left Snape without permission" she said in a deadpan. "Obviously I'm finished"

"I'm guessing by that attitude he made you do something horrible then" said Demelza

"Yeah. Cleaning the entire dungeon floor without magic, there was so much disgusting stuff!"

It was at that moment that I remembered what Harry had told me, that Karkaroff had once been a Death Eater. I'd let it slip my mind, I'd allowed Amy to take the full blame and apologise when it turned out she really had been on to something. I still couldn't tell her though, I had to wait until there was proof from a source other than Sirius. It was yet another time that I had to feel guilty and hide something important from someone.

"I assume you're taking Andrew to the ball then" said Harry

"Yes of course. Ginny, I'll show you my dress tomorrow"

"Yeah same" I replied

"You two are friends again?" Harry asked

"Yeah" I told him how it happened.

"Ludo's nearing his deadline" said Fred, and suddenly the whole atmosphere changed.

"I'll help you guys with preparing the prosecution case if you want" Hermione said

"Thanks" said Amy darkly

"Isn't this a bit of a conflict of interest for you?" asked Ron

"Why?"

"Well, you obviously want Ludo to be punished for his crimes and for Fred and George to get their money back, but you also know that if Ludo is convicted you'll have nowhere to live"

"I would rather do what is right"

"We'll take care of her" I said "we'll look at adopting her, she can share my room at home"

Ron looked like he didn't quite agree with this, but thankfully didn't argue.

I sent the following letter to Mum the next morning:

Dear Mum,

Merry early Christmas!

Sorry I haven't written sooner, I've had a huge amount going on. The Triwizard Tournament is the event that's been happening at Hogwarts this year, though I'm sure you know that already. Harry was drawn into it against his will, which is very worrying, but he did brilliantly to get past the dragon. You have to take partial credit for that, as it was your summoning charm on the twins before the world cup that made me teach it to Harry, which he used to get his broom to him. I had a brief falling out with Amy, though we have now reconciled, and that's crucial, because we could be taking legal action against Ludo Bagman soon for stealing the twins money. I know, I know, you're gonna say they shouldn't have been gambling anyway, but that does not excuse Ludo whatsoever! I need to ask though, would you be willing for us to adopt Amy temporarily if Ludo gets sent to Azkaban? She would have no where else to live, she can share my room.

The Yule Ball is happening on Christmas Day, and obviously I'm going with Harry. I'm really looking forward to it, especially as the Weird Sisters are performing live! I know you like Celestina Warbeck, but honestly Mum, the Weird Sisters are so much better, especially for something like this!

Ron's going with Hermione, and although they claim not to be dating, it's obvious they're perfect for each other and will begin doing so very soon. Expect to hear about that in the near future.

Hope you're doing well,

Love,

Ginny