It's a Love That Has No Past

“Briley,” a soliciting voice said softly, “Please, I beg you.”

“No,” I replied automatically.

My hands were trembling, although I couldn't quite understand why. The halcyon air seemed as if it was reticent; nothing could be heard except my rapid heartbeat and uneasy breathing. I looked at the man that had spoken to me. He stood just before me, his dark mangled hair resting upon his shoulders, dark sullen eyes fixated on me, he wore a pleading look upon his troubled face. I shook my head slowly.

“Please, just listen to what I have to say,” the man said, taking a step forward.

I instantly took a few steps backwards, still shaking my head, “No. I know what you did.”

Thump, thump, thump, thump. My heart was beating so fast it felt as though it was about to jump out of my chest. I wondered if he could hear it also.

The man's expression fell, lucid in misery. He bowed his head, “You don't know the whole story.” He spoke softly, barely audible.

“I don't need to know the whole story,” I replied, my voice trembling almost as much as my hands were.

“But you do, you deserve to know the truth.” he said, looking up at me once more. His dark eyes glazed with tears.

I gasped as I woke with a start, sitting straight up. My breathing was as rapid as it had been, my heart racing in fear, drenched in sweat. I looked around wildly, unable to determine where I was and if what had just happened was a dream or not as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I saw my covers, my hangings, my four poster bed. Your in your bed. It was just a dream. Though I had determined it had been a dream, my heart continued to thump along, sounding like a drum inside my chest beating along in a steady rhythm.

“Briley? Are you alright?” Hermione's voice called sleepily.

My hangings divided to see her standing there in her night gown, the moonlight illuminating a curious and worrisome look upon her face. I glanced at her blankly for a moment, still trying to control my breathing. I could see the window behind her, it was still dark outside.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” I finally replied, wiping the beads of sweat off my forehead.

“Are you sure? You were tossing and turning and talking in your sleep,” she said, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.

“Yeah. Just a dream,” I answered, not looking at her. I put my heads in my hands.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, yawning slightly.

“Oh, no. I'm fine, you need to sleep. Thanks though Hermione,” I answered, my voice muffled by my hands.

“Ok,” she replied, standing up, “If you decide to, you know you can talk to me.”

“Thanks Hermione, I appreciate it.” I smiled faintly at her as she closed my hangings back.
I plopped down on my bed staring blankly at the ceiling. What had it meant? I had never had a dream about my father before. I'm sure its because I been holding in my troubles. Yes, that's it. I reassured myself numerous times. I sighed heavily.

I rolled over, closing my eyes and attempted to drift back to sleep.

The next morning after breakfast, Hermione and I made our way to the library, Ron promising to catch up with us in a while. We spent a good part of the next five hours, books upon books piled around us, jotting notes. After my seventeenth book, Hippogriffs and Their Behaviors, I had slammed it shut, causing Ron who had fallen asleep holding the book he pretended to read to awake with a start and told Hermione I couldn't handle looking at another book, my head was pounding. I checked out an arm full of books (Trials of the Fourth Century by Fieldista Hoggleton, The Beauty of Hippogriffs by Piper LockeKey, to name a few) and said my goodbyes, making my way to the common room to dump my load of reading materials in my trunk.

I sat with Fred and George for quite sometime, not talking much, just listening silently to them planning new pranks against people. I made sure to keep it a secret from George that I did still remember I was suppose to get even with him for placing the Dungbomb in my bag, mentally taking notes from their scheming. I had honestly almost forgotten all about it, my mind seemed like there was already too much to handle, kindly discarding minor facts such as this. I stretched out across the couch, laying my legs across Fred's as I always did and drifted into a lazy sleep.

With the safety measures in place, it made it impossible for Ron, Hermione, Harry and I to pay Hagrid a visit the next day or in the evenings that followed. After supper Sunday, I slipped into the dimly lit bathroom to visit Myrtle, as promised, Hermione tagging along to say hello also. I hadn't quite determined if she honestly wanted to pay Myrtle a visit with me, or simply just keeping me company since the nights events. We spent at least an hour in the bleak bathroom, chatting about random things from Myrtle's times here at Hogwarts to Hagrid's predicament. The days passed slowly, I was anxious to get to Hagrid's hut to see how he was holding up. His well being loomed in my mind every waking second, along with the image of my father from my dream, pleading me to hear him out. I had to excuse myself numerous times from classes, the common room or even the Gryffindor table, stalking into a secluded bathroom to silently let my tears fall until I could control them and reemerge.

I was still giving Harry the cold shoulder, snapping at him viciously whenever he tried to talk to me. It seemed the more and more my anguish increased, the shorter my temper got towards him. I felt bad that I was more or less taking out my anger on him, but I let it slide, justifying my actions by telling myself he had had no regard for my emotions before, therefore I had the right to give him it right back. We walked along the path leading to Hagrid's hut on Wednesday in silence. Ever since Saturday night when I had the dream of my father, my mood had instantly changed. Hermione and Ron had noticed my doleful and reserved disposition and had barely spoken to me the past couple days. They had obviously warned Harry of my temperament, fore he had abandoned his attempts to make me hear his apologies. The only people I had spoken to, except when needed to teachers, was Fred and George. They had made it their number one priority to constantly try to make me smile, only managing on a handful of occasions to crack a smile upon my face. Fred had sat with me almost every evening, arm around my shoulders in the seclusion of the second floor bathroom, telling me everything was going to be alright as I wept. I had never had a dream about my father before, and the thought of standing before him as I had, had sent me into a pool of despair. I longed so much for the dream to be reality, whether he spoke to me as he had in my dream or not. I wanted to meet the man I had never gotten to know.

“Hi Hagrid,” I said softly once we reached his hut, “How are you holding up?”

“Eh, 'lright I reckon. 's all my fault. I got all tongue-tied standin there, wif all the committee watchin me.” he said, his head bowed in regret.

“Oh, Hagrid, no it's not!” Hermione protested, “There will be an appeal!”

“'s no good. Lucius Lafoy's got 'em in his pocket. Scared I 'uppose,” he said miserably, “Bes' get class started.”

With that we excused ourselves from his company, taking our places with the rest of our classmates. Hagrid's demeanor showed in his lesson. Instructing us to simply read out of our snapping textbooks. After the long hour went by, we headed back to the castle. Ahead of us strolled Malfoy, accompanied by his usual dimwitted crew of Crabbe and Goyle.

“Did you see him blubbering?” he laughed, not attempting to keep his voice down, “I could see him now. ''e's not 'armful, 'o-'o-'onest!'”

Instantly, I felt my blood boiling with anger.

“MALFOY!” I screamed, accompanied by Hermione. I glanced over at her, her face consumed with anger as I'm sure mine was.

He whirled around, grinning maliciously at the sight of us, “What is it Granger? White? Upset about the fate of that retched creature?”

As we approached him, instantly I dropped my book and hit him as hard as I could across the face, Hermione hitting him at the exact same time. The double blow knocked him to the ground, blood tricking from his nose. He stammered up, looking utterly shocked.

Ron grabbed Hermione's arm as she flung it back again.

“Get off of me Ron!” she yelled, pushing him off her.

“Let me tell you something Malfoy,” I said, taking a few steps to enclose the gap between us, my face inches from his, “Your going to keep talking shit, and I'm seriously going to hurt you.”

He glared at me, eyes fixated on me, “Is that a threat, White?”

A small devilish grin spread across my face, “No, it's a damn promise.”

With that, I reared back once again and hit him across his jaw, causing him to stumble once more.

“Keep it up, grease ball.” I said grabbing my book quickly from the ground, bumping my shoulder into him as I passed. I heard Hermione shouting her insults before they came trotting up behind me.

“You just wait til my father hears about this!” he shouted as we began into the large oak doors.

I whirled around, “Oh boo hoo hoo! Run to daddy you pathetic little twit, it's sad when I can stand up for myself without my father and you can't seem to do anything without having him fight your battles for you, you coward!”

I turned around and stalked in the entrance hall.

“Bloody hell you two! That was brilliant!” Ron said, smiling.

“We better hurry, we're going to be late for Charms,” Harry said, not even acknowledging Ron's remark. We hurried up the marble staircase and hastily made our way to the third floor without another word and into Flitwick's classroom just in time. My blood still boiling with rage as we entered.

“Your pushing time, you three.” Professor Flitwick squeaked as we made our way to our seats.

I realized he had said three instead of four as I sat down and looked around to realize Hermione was nowhere to be found. I glanced back at Ron curiously as he shrugged his shoulders. I had swore Hermione was right behind us the whole time.

“Wands out, today we're going over Cheering Charms,” Flitwick said to the class.
I was forced to be partnered with Dean Thomas due to Hermione's absence and Harry's partner swapping. I had hoped Anna or Emily would give up being paired together so I could be with one of them, but they never even bothered to pay me any mind. I was particularly happy I hadn't had to be with Seamus, bless him, I would hate to have seen what would have happened to me. Then I did, poor Parvati got a blast to the face when Seamus didn't flick his wand correctly. I laughed hysterically; the Cheering Charm did me well, for the first time in days, other than the feeble smiles the twins' had managed to squeeze out of me, I was smiling broadly.

As we made our way to lunch, I sat with the twins' since it had become my new routine. Fred immediately pointed out the smile I was wearing.

“Don't get too happy,” I told him as I reached for the pumpkin juice, “It's just a Cheering Charm.”

“Oh,” he replied, gloomily, “I was hoping you were feeling better.”

“You and me both,” I replied, sitting the pitcher back down.

He smiled at me feebly.

I ate rather quickly so I could make it back to the common room in time to dig through my trunk to locate my misplaced Divination book. I hurried down the corridors, Fred complaining how I was walking to fast as he attempted to keep up. I darted past the security trolls and into the common room to hear Hermione complaining about how she missed Charms.

“I can't believe it!” she proclaimed, gathering up her piles of papers and books scattered in front of her.

“How could you have missed it? You were right behind us!” Ron asked.

“I got to go!” she responded quickly, dashing through the portrait hole and out of sight.

I made my way across the room and up the stairs to the girls dormitory. I sat down in front of my truck, opening it with it's loud creaking, and began digging around the mess.

“No,” I muttered shoving a Sneakoscope the twins' had given me for my birthday out of the way, “No. No. No. No, again. And finally no. Damn!”

I jerked my hand quickly out of the trunk to see scarlet dripping from my finger.

“Ow!” I mumbled as I wiped the blood from my fingertip, peering down into the mess to find the culprit.

I saw it immediately, a old shard of glass from a small compact mirror I had broken ages ago and clearly not gotten out all of its pieces. I frowned and chucked it on the floor, hearing a hissing noise. I glanced over to see Crookshanks glaring at me, eyes fixated and hissing.

“Oh, shut up,” I said hatefully to the squashed faced cat and resumed my search once more.

As I peered into the trunk once more, I noticed a glistening of something from where I had extracted the shard of glass from. I pushed aside a old scrap of parchment to see the glisten had come from a small necklace. I picked it up curiously, I had never seen this before. It was a silver thin chain and on it hung a small silver pendant, rimmed with dazzling pink diamonds. In the center of the pendant was words in a beautiful script. To my beautiful Irish angel, I love you. I tilted my head and stared at it curiously.

“Briley,” I heard Lavender call from the stairs.

“Yeah?” I replied, not looking up from the necklace.

“Harry said you were looking for Unfogging the Future, I found it this morning in the common room,” she said topping the stairs, “Oooh, that's a pretty necklace!”

“Yeah it is, I found it in my trunk. I've never seen it before, do you know if anybody is missing a necklace?” I asked, directing my attention up to her as she stopped next to me, handing me my missing book.

“No, no one has said anything. But I'll ask,” she said, a puzzled look upon her face.

“Ok, thanks Lav, I'll ask around too.” I said smiling, turning back to the necklace once more.

“See you in Divination,” she said, walking back down the stairs.

I stood up, carrying the dainty necklace in my hand and walked down the stairs.

“Ron,” I said as I entered the common room.

“Yeah?” he replied, strolling over to me from the couch he had been sitting on with Harry, who also stood up and made his way over.

“Do you know if this is Hermione or Ginny's?” I asked, holding my hand out to show him the necklace.

“No, I know it's know it's not Ginny's, I don't think it's Hermione's either,” he said shaking his head.

Harry leaned over and whispered something in Ron's ear before Ron spoke again, “Where did you find it?”

“My trunk when I was looking for my book,” I replied.

“That's weird. We better get going or we'll be late,” he said, walking over and grabbing his books.

I nodded and walked by Harry, not glancing him as usual, grabbing my bag off the couch were he and Ron had been sitting and followed Ron out of the portrait hole.

We walked hastily to the seventh floor and up the descending ladder into the hot, stifling room. I took a seat at a small table alone, as Ron and Harry sat down at the table next to me.

The other classmates began appearing through the trap door, making their way to their usual seats. Finally a hassled looking Hermione, weighed down by the tremendous amount of books in her bag staggered in. She bustled over and took a seat next to me.

“Oh, Professor Flitwick hinted the Cheering Charm would be on the examinations!” she exasperated, “I can't believe I missed class!”

“How on earth did you manage to miss the class? You were right there with us.” I asked, looking at her curiously.

She ignored me as she dug about her bag, pretending she hadn't heard me. I sighed softly and shook my head as Professor Trelawny addressed the class.

“I thought we were to start the crystal orb a bit later, but the fates have informed me your examinations will include this, therefore I believe it best to start now since it is a very refined art.” she said in her misty voice, peering over her magnified spectacles.

Hermione and I snorted, trying to stifle our laughter. Lavender and Parvati shot us looks of hatred from the table beside Harry and Ron, looking as if they were thoroughly offended.

“What?” I hissed at them, “She makes the exams! 'The fates told her'... that's bollocks and you know it!”

“Miss White,” she said, “Is there something wrong?”

I cleared my throat as I turned to her, “No, nothing at all.”

“Well then, if nothing is wrong, I'll ask all of you to begin to peer into your crystal balls.

Please remember to allow your Inner Eye to be opened.” she instructed.

I glanced at Hermione, who wore the same irritated and unamused look on her face that I
felt. I rolled my eyes and looked into the Orb, Hermione doing the same.

“See anything?” I heard Harry whisper to Ron.

“Yeah, someone spilled their candle. Look, a burn mark on the table.” Ron replied.

I had to force myself not to laugh loudly, trying to concentrate on the misty silver fog in the Orb in front of me. Ever since seeing my father in the Orb that one Thursday evening, I had developed a even firmer hate for the subject and a resentment against Professor Trelawny for not being able to provide answers to the one thing I had desired to know about but seemed to know everything else. She had noted my frustration in class and our lessons, trying desperately to light a fire of interest in the subject. She was failing miserably and made it a point to let me know I was wasting a perfectly good talent.

“Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, do you see anything?” her misty voice called as she approached their table.

“No,” Ron answered flatly.

She leaned over and peered into the crystal ball before then. A moment later she spoke, “There's something there... oh, my – it's the G-”

“Oh for goodness sake! Not the stupid Grim again!” Hermione shouted so loudly it caused me to jump slightly, turning to her, eyes wide in shock.

“My dear, ever since you entered the room I could tell you were a very close minded person, you do not possess the qualities needed for the refined art of Divination.” she said calmly to Hermione.

“Fine!” she screamed, “I could be doing something more productive with my time than looking in a bleeding crystal ball.” She snatched her heavy bag from the floor, slapping the Orb off the table, and stomping to the trap door opening it with a loud bang and descending down the ladder. I covered my mouth quickly to try to suppress my laughter and force myself not to start clapping in applause for Hermione's wonderful show.

“Oooohhh!” Lavender squealed, “You said ages ago one would leave us forever, remember?”

Trelawny nodded, “Yes, I knew Miss Granger would be leaving us, the Inner Eye can be a burden sometime.”

I began to laugh, unable to keep it in any longer.

“What is so funny, Miss White?” Professor Trelawny asked, turning to me now.

I suppressed my laughter long enough to answer, “That was bloody brilliant, that was!” I pointed in the direction of the trap door and the crystal ball that had finally come to a rest at the opposite end of the room.

She stared at me for a moment, as if taken aback, “Briley, if you feel the same maybe you should folllow her.”

I shrugged, “Alright, cool. I could never see the point in this rubbish anyhow, and the one time I see something you can't even explain it. Go figures right, just a ruddy liar I suppose.”
I snatched my bag also and made my way to the trap door. Once I reached it, I stopped and turned around, “Oh and by the way. Clearly your Inner Eye needs some cleansing because you predicted ONE person will leave this class forever. Wrong, it's two.” I winked and descended down the ladder as I heard a roar of laughter from the students.

Thank Merlin! No more extra lessons! I thought as I walked towards the common room wearing a broad smile. As I entered the portrait hole, I saw Hermione, Fred and George.

“What are you doing here?” Hermione asked, looking up from her book.

“Oh, I started laughing when she started talking about how the Inner Eye was a burden after Lavender mention her predicting someone leaving around Easter,” I said, tossing my bag to the floor and sitting down next to Fred.

“So she made you leave?” Fred asked.

“No, she said ifI feel the same as Hermione then maybe I should leave also and I said fine. Oh, and then I told her she had gotten her prediction wrong cause she said only one would leave and in actuality it was two,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

“Brilliant!” George proclaimed putting his hand up for me to give him a high five.

“That class is ridiculous!” Hermione exasperated, shaking her head and returning to her book.

“Yeah, I also insulted her by saying when I had saw something she couldn't even explain what it was. I called her a ruddy liar.” I said.

“Fabulous! Oh, I'm so proud of you,” Fred said, giving me a hug, “George, we've taught her well. She's all grown up now!” He began acting as if he was about to cry.

“Oh, pull yourself together mate!” I laughed, shoving him playfully, “I was perfectly well off without you two... you just helped me along and taught me some useful skills.”

“Damn right we did.” George replied proudly, “She is all grown up isn't she?” He turned to Fred and stuck out his bottom lip.

“Oh, quit you two.” I chuckled, “Wait, aren't you suppose to be in class?”

“Yeah, well, we decided to take a break,” Fred explained, propping his feet up on the small table in front of us.

“Understandable,” I said, shrugging again, “Oh, Hermione.”

She reemerged from behind her book, “Yeah?”

“Is this yours or anyone you know of? I asked Ron and he said no, but well, you can't always go by what Ron says,” I asked, pulling the necklace I had found out of my pocket and
handing it to her.

“No, why?” she replied after she glanced and reached out to return it.

“I found it in my trunk when I was looking for my Divination book,” I explained, stuffing it back into my pocket, “I figured it might have been yours or Ginny's and somehow got in my things when we left the Burrow.”

“No, not mine,” she answered, “That's strange.”

“It's gotta be somebody's. How else would a random necklace get in my trunk?” I shrugged.

“Lemme see it,” Fred said, holding out his hand. I retrieved it from my pocket once more and handed it to him.

“To my beautiful Irish angel, I love you. Well that's simple, just ask everyone if their Irish or not,” Fred suggested.

“Oh, that will work,” I replied trenchantly.

“Aren't you Irish?” George asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “What of it?”

“Well, duh. It says Irish angel, are you sure it's not yours?” George said.

“I think I'd remember if it was mine,” I laughed.

George reached out for Fred to hand him the necklace, “Hmm,” he said as he examined it, “There's a crest on the back.”

“Oh, I didn't even look at the back.” I replied, standing up and walking around to look over his shoulder.

Gracefully carved in the back of the pendant was indeed a crest, in the shield was three birds. Two located at the top and one lone one placed at the bottom.

“That's neat,” I said, still examining the necklace in George's hand.

The days drifted into the Easter holidays, with no luck in finding the necklace's owner. I had opted to wear it until I could find its rightful owner, seeing as how it was a very pretty necklace. The third years had never been so bombarded with such a heavy work load. Neville seemed as if he was going to crack under the pressure, fretting about his work. I too felt extremely over worked, but no one had as much work as Hermione did. Not a minute of the holidays was there not a book before her face, papers scattered around her. I had no idea how she was managing to do it, better her than me I thought. In what little spare time I had, between poring over my studies, research for Buckbeak's appeal and tedious Quidditch practices, I occupied my time by assisting the twins' in their mischievous activities or lounging outside by the lake as Fred and George pulled pranks and cracked jokes as I soaked in the suns rays. The atmosphere in the castle became more strained than ever, between the third years cramming for their exams and fifth and seventh years preparing for O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts, the upcoming match between Gryffindor and Slytherin caused a full out war. Scuffles broke out more than a handful of times through of the corridors, sending numerous students to the hospital wing with things ranging from leaks from their ears, growths on their arms and even sprouting wings once. Wood had instructed everyone to keep a close eye and not leave Harry alone, in case the Slytherins tried to do something to cause him not to be able to play. Emily and Anna chatted avidly with me about the match, seeming more enthused about it than I was. I desired nothing more than to beat Malfoy in front of the whole school, just as Harry did.

Shortly after the holidays had begun, Emily had started asking constantly when I was going to finally talk to Harry. I found this very strange that she had instantly taken such a interest in the battle of silence between Harry and I, especially since she had typically consumed her time with gossip and trying to convince me to start talking to Wood more often. Eventually I had found out thanks to Fred and George's excellent snooping skills that Emily had been talking to Harry. He had been getting her to try to convince me to give in and hear out his apologies. I'm not sure exactly why it hit such a nerve, but as the twins' told me about it, it infuriated me knowing one of my best friends was, in my opinion, basically fraternizing with the enemy. Between the Quidditch practices, studying, researching information to help Hagrid and Buckbeak, and the anguish that still lingered over me ever since I had the dream of my father, I eventually snapped on Emily. One day at the lunch table she had leaned across the table after I had spotted her giving a nod to Harry just down the table before she did, she asked me why I was being so stubborn about talking to him. I had had enough. I grabbed my glass of pumpkin juice and dumped it on her before getting up and telling her to mind her own. The twins roared with laughter as I stalked down the aisle. As I passed Harry, I stopped to give him some of my anger as well, instructing him to give up and stop badgering people into telling me I was being stubborn for not talking to someone who had been nothing but a git to me. With that I walked out of the Great Hall, the twins still rolling with laughter, Harry's face in complete shock and hoots and hollers from the Slytherin table.

From that point on, Emily avoided me at all costs. If I was in the common room, she was in the dormitory and vise versa. She sat on the complete opposite side of the classrooms as I did and refused to even glance in my direction. I laughed it off, calling “Looks like you've recruited someone else to be a git towards me! At least this time they have an excuse for it!”across the common room one evening when I spotted her and Harry talking in the corner. Fred and George found the situation rather amusing, sporting Team Briley badges one day just for laughs. Harry had obviously been hurt by this, causing the twins' to sit down and tell him they didn't mean it, they just thought it would be funny. Then Fred kindly let him know he was deserving what he got for acting the way he had to me. Anna had refused to take mine or Emily's side and still sat with me occasionally (more like when Emily and Harry had their heads together, whispering) and coming to watch the Quidditch practices with Emily when Madam Hooch would permit it. I was glad she hadn't, and I made sure to let her know I wouldn't drag her in the middle of anything that was going on between Emily and I.

With all the Gryffindor/Slytherin tension in the air, as expected I eventually got caught in the middle of a scuffle in the corridors one afternoon, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Slytherins directed their focus in on me. Pansy had jotted by me, nudging me with great force with her shoulder as she did causing me to drop my books. I snarled as I picked them up, attempting to hold my calm. She stopped and turned around as I straightened up from retrieving my book from the ground. She smiled maliciously, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle wearing identical smiles behind her as I saw her reach for her wand. I quickly grabbed mine out of my pocket before she even had a firm grip on hers and shouted “Densaugeo!” Her teeth began to grow at an alarming rate, the smiles from all their faces had vanished as Draco angrily reached for his wand as well. I aimed mine at him immediately as Fred and George pulled theirs out as well and shouted, “Furnunculus!” as I heard the twins' shout “Stupefy!” hitting Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy screamed as boils began to pop up all over him. We had spent three long hours in what Professor McGonagall called our “punishment” but rather we found it quite entertaining; sitting in the kitchen with the house elves as they served us anything we fancied. She had burst in Snape's office, instructing him that she was our head of house and she would administer our punishment, not him. We were thoroughly relieved when she had, expecting a gruesome punishment from her but instead she smiled and told us we needed to “help” the house elves. If I didn't know any better, and the twins' too, I would have thought she was actually pleased by what we had done. I had argued with Fred and George on the way to Snape's office, telling them they didn't have to step in like they had. The twins' stated they were not going just stand there, it was their responsibility to look after me. Whatever that was suppose to mean.

Finally the Saturday after the Easter holidays arrived, the air seemed to even stand still as if holding its breath in anticipation of the upcoming match. Breakfast was a chattering event, people gossiping and chatting avidly, staring at their watches every so often hopefully as if the next hour or so would have flown by in the two minutes since they had last checked. As usual, Oliver encouraged everyone to eat while touching nothing himself. The usual argument between us broke out when I told him I wasn't hungry.

“Stop trying to act like my father, Oliver,” I snapped, “I'm perfectly capable of determining when I'm hungry and when I'm not. Why don't you pile some grub on your plate!”

“I'm not hungry,” Oliver replied.

“Ah ha! See! Now stop badgering me to eat if your not either!” I said triumphantly.

“You are impossibly stubborn,” he said shaking his head.

“I've been told a time or two,” I snapped, flipping a piece of egg Fred had chucked at me towards him.

He narrowed his eyes as he plucked the bit of egg off his robes.

After what seemed like ages of endless talking and the mini food fight between the twins', Oliver and I it was time to head down to the pitch. Harry tagged along behind Fred and I as we made our way across the grounds, students cheering and wishing us a good game as we went. I smiled as Colin Creevy bolted up to Fred and I, donning a scarlet sweater shaking our hands vigorously and wishing us well.

“Thanks Colin,” I said politely.

His eyes widened as if shocked I had spoken to him.

“Colin? You alright, mate?” Fred asked curiously.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” he squeaked and took off to catch up with his friends.

“That was creepy,” I said, watching him dash across the crowd.

“Where on earth is Abe?” I said, scanning the crowd. As if he heard my calls, he appeared streaking towards me holding his Nimbus Two-Thousand One.

“Here,” he panted, handing it to me and hugging me, “Good luck!”

“I'm surprised Emily let you allow me to borrow this,” I said.

“Psh, she tried to convince me but I told her she was being ridiculous and that you were my friend and I could make up my own mind,” he smiled, “Kick their asses, girl!”

He winked and dashed off towards his friends who waited for him at the entrance as I called “Thanks!”. Fred chuckled as we made our way into the locker rooms. I walked over to take a seat next to George as Fred followed, passing my usual seat next to Harry.

“Bri,” he said softly as I passed. I held up my hand, shaking my head and continued on.

“Access denied!” George laughed softly, sitting down.

I pulled off my robe and tossed it onto the bench as I reached for my scarlet robes and t-shirt I was going to wear.

“I wish he'd take a hint,” I mumbled, taking off my top shirt and pulling on the old t-shirt. I stuffed my wand into my pocket and sat down.

Fred laughed as he too changed shirts, “Doesn't look like he is.” He nodded towards Harry. I turned to look as I pulled on my shoes; Harry sat, shoes untie and abandoned staring pitifully in my direction. As soon as I glanced over, he quickly returned to tying his shoes, acting as if he had just glanced over. I chuckled softly and rolled my eyes as I turned back to Fred, George now laughing too.

I stuck out my bottom lip, “Aw, I think I've hurt his feewings.” I said sarcastically, pretending to sniffle.

The twins laughed as Oliver addressed the team, “Ok, so everyone knows what's at stake here. Remember Harry, do not catch the Snitch unless were more than fifty points ahead.”

“I know, Oliver. You've only said it a million times,” Harry replied dully.

“Lets go out there and show them how to play Quidditch,” Oliver smiled feebly. You could see the look of anticipation and the nervousness he felt consuming him. I stood up and walked over to him as the team slowly made their way to the door that lead out onto the pitch. The roar of cheers echoing loudly as Lee Jordan's voice bellowed, “And here comes Gryffindor!”

“Don't be so nervous, we'll do just fine.” I smiled as we slowly walked towards the door.

He smiled feebly once more and before I knew it planted his lips on mine, “Thanks Bri.” He said as he pulled away and hugged me quickly.

I didn't even have to shake it off this time, I had almost gotten somewhat use to Wood randomly kissing me by now. I know I should tell him he shouldn't, but.. I just couldn't do it for some odd reason. I rolled my eyes at the thought of it as I stepped out into the sunlight.

“Potter, Bell, Johnson, Wealsey, Weasley, White and Wood!” Jordan yelled as we walked out onto the pitch, “The best team we've seen in many years here at Hogwarts!”

The roars of cheering and chanting coming from the sea of scarlet donning students was unreal as it drowned out the barely audible 'boos' from the two hundred or so emerald robed group behind the Slytherin goal post. As always I scanned the crowd for Emily and Anna, well particularly just Anna this time. I spotted her close to the commentary box, waving feverishly as she jumped up and down cheering. Emily turned her head when she spotted me waving towards Anna. I could see Abe's dark curly hair next to her, waving and smiling also. I rolled my eyes, not that anyone could see and gave Anna a thumbs up.

We filed across the center of the pitch as Madam Hooch instructed the captains to shake hands. The grip Oliver and Marcus had on each others hands looked as if they were trying to break the others'. I glared maliciously at Draco who stood across from Harry. He glanced in my direction, a sinister grin spreading across his face. I returned it as Madam Hooch yelled, “Mount you brooms!”

I swung my leg over the Nimbus as she blew her whistle and we took flight.

Immediately Angelina had possession, she soared towards the Slytherin goal post, I trailed behind her trying to divert anyone who intended to try to sabotage our pursuit. Warrington from the Slytherlin team streaked out of nowhere from the right and intercepted her, gaining the Quaffle.

“Oh no! Slytherin now has possession – heading towards the Gryffindor post – YES! Nice work by Fred Weasley, Bludger taking out Warrington who has dropped the Quaffle, Bell now in possession – SCORE! Gryffindor ten to zero!” Jordan screamed.

Katie screamed in victory as she lapped around the post.

“OUCH!” she screamed as a Slytherin ran directly into her, almost knocking her off her broom followed by a round of applause from the Slytherin supporters.

“Sorry! Didn't see her,” the boy called to Madam Hooch who was screaming from the ground.

Seconds later a Bludger soared through the air, hitting the boy and causing him to smash his face on the handle of his broom, blood gushing as he sat up.

“Penalty shot for Gryffindor for deliberate attack on their chaser! Penalty for Slytherin for deliberate retaliation on their chaser!” Madam Hooch yelled.

A sea of moans and boos came from the crowd as Fred, George and I screamed, “THAT'S RUBBISH!”

Katie flew forward to take the penalty shot, silence for the first time consuming the crowd.

“YES! SHE SCORES! Twenty to zero, Gryffindor!” Lee yelled as the Slytherin flew forward to take his.

Oliver floated in front of the goal posts, eyes fixated and jaw clenched in anger.

“He's saved it! Wood is a superb Keeper, never doubted it for a minute!” Lee screamed, barely audible over the cheers.

Another penalty followed minutes later when a Slytherin attempted to “pretend” to accidentally mistake Angelina's head for the Quaffle. She did well and scored another goal for Gryffindor, bringing us up to thirty to zero. I saw Harry bolt towards the Slytherin end of the pitch as I tailed Montague in the opposite direction, snatching the Quaffle and wheeled around to head towards the Slytherin post. Two Bludgers barley missed Harry as he dived, my heart seemed to stop in anticipation, hoping he honestly wasn't going for it. All of a sudden he bolted upwards, sending the two Beaters colliding.

“HAHAH! TAKE THAT!” Jordan screamed, “White still in possession, heading for the goal – Flint alongside her – kick him off his broom!! Sorry Professor. Oh no! Flint now in possession pursuing the Gryffindor post, come on Wood!”

But Flint had scored.

Lee swore so loudly Professor McGonagall tried to swipe the magical microphone from his hands.

“No no!” he screamed, jerking it back, “Won't happen again! Thirty to ten, Gryffindor in possession...”

The dirty game continued, as a Slytherin beater hit me in the head and tried to convince
Madam Hooch he had thought I was a Bludger. George had dived towards him as he tried to make his case to her and swapped him across the back of the head as hard as he could. Two more penalties were awarded, I managed to score, bringing the score to forty to ten as Wood pulled off another spectacular save as I flew forward to hug him with joy. Harry hovered high over the field, in search of the Snitch, awaiting the moment we were at least fifty points ahead, Malfoy tailing him...

Katie Bell scored, pumping her fist in the air as Fred and George circled her in case the Slytherin's attempted to retaliate. The two Slytherin beaters took full advantage of Fred and George's occupied time and smacked both Bludgers towards Wood, hitting him square in the stomach, rolling over on his broom. I eyed them maliciously as Madam Hooch, who was beside herself in anger screamed at them, awarding Gryffindor another penalty. I took the shot and scored again. Only moments later one of the twins' pelted a Slytherin Chaser, causing him to drop the Quaffle as Angelina grabbed it and scored. The crowd roared with cheers. I saw Harry streak upwards towards a shimmer, the Snitch. Malfoy darted after him, throwing himself forward and grabbing a hold of the Firebolt, Harry wheeled around to see why he was slowing down as Madam Hooch roared with anger.

“PENALTY!” she screamed.

“YOU FILTHY CHEATING B-” Jordan bellowed. Professor McGonagall didn't even stop his swearing this time, she glared angrily at Malfoy.

Angelina took the shot but missed.

“Gryffindor in possession, Johnson with the Quaffle...”

The sea of emerald robes soared towards her, only Malfoy wasn't present as they attempted to block her. Harry turned sharply away from Malfoy who was so close he was bumping knees and streaked towards them as they screamed and scattered. Katie had a clear shot now and scored.

“Eight to twenty!”

I screamed and pumped my fist in the air as I caught sight of Malfoy diving, smiling broadly. I turned quickly screaming for the broom to go. Harry had seen it to and streaked toward Malfoy, gaining on him very quickly. As I approached I veered in front of Malfoy who was forced to quickly swerve to miss me as Harry whizzed by. He pulled out of the dive with his hand raise in the air.

“GRYFFINDOR WINS!!” Jordan screamed. The crowd went wild. I pumped my fist in the air once more just as Malfoy turned around quickly and barreled towards me, running into me as hard as he could causing me to fall off my broom. I screamed as I fell off, managing to keep a hold of the broom with one hand, swinging dangerously above the ground. I could feel my fingers slipping as a collective gasp from the crowd filled my ears. I tried to swing my other arm upwards to grab a hold of the handle, but as I did the movement from me swinging caused my grip on the handle to slip loose. I screamed as I began to fall towards the earth, closing my eyes in fear. Just in time, I felt someone catch me by my waist, holding onto me as tightly. I opened my eyes to see Fred as he slowly descended to the ground. The crowd went wild as they charged onto the pitch. I saw Professor McGonagall stalking towards Malfoy, her face riddled with a mixture of anger and happiness, tears streaming down her face. I hugged Fred tightly as my feet touched the ground.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” I screamed, squeezing him with all the strength I had in me.

“Your welcome, you think I'd really let you fall?” he chuckled, hugging me back.

“Well, you never know.” I joked.

He smiled at me before he screamed, “We won the cup!”

I jumped up and down in excitement as Wood and the rest of the team came running over.

“Brilliant Fred,” Oliver said, eyes filled with tears as clapped him on the back, “I'm glad you were as close as you were, I knew I couldn't make it to her in time. Are you ok?” He grabbed my shoulders as he asked.

“I'm fine,” I smiled as he pulled me into a hug.

As he pulled away, Harry came over, smiling feebly, “Thanks Bri.”

I nodded without saying a word. Oliver kept one arm around my shoulders as he pumped his fist in the air and screamed through his sobs of joy followed by Fred, George and I with the rest of the team screaming also. Professor McGonagall came over after she had tended to Malfoy, sobbing, if possible, harder than Wood. She hugged each of us and congratulated us as Dumbledore made his way to us, holding the giant Quidditch Cup. He handed it to Wood who held it up as the crowd screamed. He passed it to Harry who cheered as he held it up high, many eager hands clapping him on the back with joy.