We had Herbology first thing the next morning. Harry and I edging to tell our friends at breakfast, but out of fear of being overheard, Harry suggested we tell them as we walked over to the Greenhouse, filling them in as we walked across the vegetable patch. The weekend's brutal wind had died out at last, and a strange mist had taken its place. 

"Wow, scary thought, the boy, You Know Who." Ron said quietly as we crowded around the greenhouse door. "But I still don't get why Dumbledore's showing you all this. I mean, it's really interesting and everything, but what's the point?" 

"He says it's all important in keeping Harry alive." I answered. "Perhaps we need to understand how Voldemort began his rise to power. If we want to know how to end him." 

"And that would mean getting all the details of Voldemort in every single aspect. I see where you're going with this." Anubis said. 

"So how was Slughorn's latest party?" Harry asked Hermione.

"It sucked." Ryan answered focusing back on his plant. 

"Oh, it was quite fun, really." Hermione answered as she put on protective goggles. "I mean, he drones on about famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he's so well-" 

"Ugh. I'm not interested in McLaggen." I drove away from that conversation. And Ryan wasn't kidding when he said that it sucked. The parties had now given way to becoming starring contests between Ryan and McLaggen. And I think McLaggen gave me some smirks, even though I already had a boyfriend in Neville who was a million times better than McLaggen. 

"Hello, Kassie." Neville said next to me as he was trying to tame his plant. After a bloody lip and several nasty scratches along the side of his face, he was clutching an unpleasantly pulsating green object about the size of a grapefruit.  

"You okay?" I asked. 

"Just fine. This plant is one heck of a stubborn one." Neville assured. "Careful." 

I dived at the gnarled stump in front of me. 

I also saw Sprout briskly bustling over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Quite enough chat over here! You're lagging behind, everybody else has started, and Neville's already got his first pod!" 

The stump in front of me though, sprang to life at once. Long, prickly, and bramble like with its vines. They flew out of the top and whipped through the air. 

"Trap the vines. Knot them together. Hurry." Neville told me. 

I was able to trap the vines and knotted them together. and a hole opened in the middle of all the branches. I plunged my arm into that hole, which closed like a trap. "Ow."  

"It's okay, Kassie." Neville assured me. "Now... can you feel a pod?" 

"Can I what?" I asked staring at him. 

"Can you feel a pod?" Neville repeated. 

I moved my fingers through trying to feel for a pod. Still I touched something that was pod shaped. "I think I got it." I said. But I had a tough time trying to force my arm out. "I think it's stuck. My arm's stuck." 

Neville soon got behind me and grabbed my waist to help me get the arm out. It got out and I got the pod. But a little too fast, because when it was done. Neville and I were both on the floor. "Oof!" 

Neville was right on me, and I had the pod in my hand.  

Sprout walked up to us. "Are you okay, Miss. Bauer?" She asked. 

"I'm okay. I got my pod out." I answered. 

"Good work. Now, Mr. Longbottom. If you want to have an intimate moment with your girlfriend, please don't it in the middle of class." Sprout told Neville.

Neville helped me back up. "Sorry, Professor. Just trying to help my girlfriend is all." He said. 

I saw that Ryan had managed to use Horus to grab his pod. And I could also see Horus restrain all the branches. 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione on the other hand, were not so fortunate. Hermione's vines tangled in her hair, Ron beat it back with a pair of secateurs. 

At least when we pulled out the pods. the vines shot back inside and the gnarled stump sat there looking like an innocently dead lump of wood. 

"You know, I don't think I'll be having any of these in my garden when I've got my own place." Ron commented. 

I took out a bowl, holding out my pulsating pod. And then proceeded to drop the pod into the bowl. 

"Don't be squeamish, squeeze it out, they're best when they're fresh!" Sprout called. 

"Oh, Kassie. You've got a minute?" Hermione asked me. 

"Yes?" I asked. 

"Slughorn's going to have a Christmas Party, and there's no way you'll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you can come." Hermione informed. 

"Malaka." I complained. "Just another snobbish party with snobbish people, or something like that." 

Harry also groaned.

Meanwhile, Ron, who had attempted to burst the pod in the bowl by putting both hands on it, standing up, and squashing it as hard as he could, said angrily: "And this is another party just for Slughorn's favorites, is it?" 

"Just for the Slug Club, yes." Hermione answered. 

The pod flew out from under Ron's fingers and his the green house glass, bouncing like a rubber ball and rebounded onto the back of Sprout's head and knocking off her old, patched hat. 

"I got it!" Ryan yelled as it bounded on his hand and he caught it. 

But I had a hunch that I knew what this was going to cause. Yet another argument between Ron and Hermione. Or as we call it: Tuesday.

"Look, I didn't make up the name 'Slug Club'-" Hermione was saying. 

"Slug Club." Ron repeated with a sneer that would give Malfoy a run for his money. "It's pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your party. Why don't you try hooking up with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you the Pharaohs Slug-" 

"That is no way to talk about Djet like that, Ronald." Anubis scolded. 

"We're allowed to bring guests!" Hermione pointed out. And she turned a bright boiling scarlet. "And I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"

Wait. We can bring guests? Maybe the next Slug Club Christmas Party wouldn't be so bad. I started to lean closer to Neville. And away from Ron and Hermione. And I could tell that Harry wanted to do the same. But he was caught in the middle of it. 

"Say... Ryan? You could go to that party and bring Parvati." I suggested. 

Ryan sighed. "Well... maybe it won't be all that bad, if I had Parvati with me." 

"You were going to ask me?" Ron asked in a completely different voice. 

"Ugh." Anubis groaned, probably because Ron did this type of stuff fairly often. 

"Yes." Hermione answered angrily. "But obviously if you'd rather I hooked up with McLaggen..." 

"Oh, don't do that, Hermione." I thought to myself as I pounded that resilient pod with a towel. 

"No, I wouldn't." Ron replied in a very quiet voice. 

"Um... Kassie. You might need something sharper." Neville suggested. He held out a knife tool and poked my pod. 

"Thanks, Nev." I said. And then I had another thought. "Say... Nev... I was wondering..." 

"Yeah?" Neville looked up. 

"Um... well... Slughorn is holding a Christmas Party for the Slug Club. And I was wondering if... see we're allowed to bring guests. And I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with me?" I asked. 

"Oh." Neville said sounding surprised.

"Well, I understand if you don't want to go." I quickly said.

"No. I'd love to. It's just... I don't usually get invited to these sort of things is all." Neville replied.

"Great!" I yelled. Who knows, maybe one of these Slug Club meetings would be fun. 

Neville and I both smiled at each other. 

Then Neville looked at Ron and Hermione. "I just hope that it doesn't mess up those two." He said.

That pretty much ended the conversation of Slughorn's Christmas Party in Herbology. 

But another thought came to mind. Ron and Hermione making a move on each other. I knew it would happen sooner or later. Everyone thought so. I even thought so. But there was a part of me that had me worried. Harry and Cho, for instance, were too embarrassed to even look at each other, let alone talk; what if Ron and Hermione actually started going out, and then split up? Could their friendship survive? I remember the few weeks in our third year when they didn't talk to each other after the whole Crookshanks incident. But on the other hand, what if they didn't split up? Would they bee like Bill and Fleur, and it became so excruciatingly embarrassing to be in their presence that Harry, Ryan, and I were shut out for good? Would our Gryffindor 5 be the same? 

No... I had to hope for the sake of all of us... that it would be like Ethan and Penny. Ethan and Penny fell in love. And they never shut out their friends. And also Jacob and Lizzie fell in love, but that didn't mean that Ethan was shut out. 

Ugh. I guess we would just have to wait to see what happened under the influence of Butterbeer in Slughorn's room on the night of the party. 

Meanwhile, Katie was still in St. Mungo's Hospital with no prospect of leaving, which meant that our promising Quidditch Team was now riding on the rails of Claire to step up to the plate again. Ryan was still hopeful that Katie would come back in a miracle, but with our opening match against Slytherin looking closer, that wasn't going to happen. It was obvious. But one of the things you gotta understand about Ryan... he will keep players on their toes in practice and have them act like they were all starters. 

But... there was a bit of muttering in the Common Room. Not only just for the fact that Ryan chose three of his best friends and two of his Foster Siblings for the team. And how last year, he chose his girlfriend for the team. Ryan responded with: "Well if you didn't like it. Why didn't any of you tryout?" Not to mention, Claire and Sophie were best friends. And some people muttered that Sophie was a Hufflepuff and was influencing Ryan was taking her advice. But Ryan would hear none of it. And the pressure of the upcoming match was enough to stress Ryan out. It was stressing us all out. If Gryffindor won, we were solidified as a great team, and Ryan as a great Captain. One of the greatest teams to have the best Chemistry in Quidditch. If we lost... well... I just had to hope we would win.

At least, Parvati was able to help calm Ryan's nerves. And Horus also had assured Ryan that as a Captain, he was going to have to make a lot of difficult decisions. But that was the job. 

"How do I know I'm making the right decision with this, Horus?" Ryan asked.

"You must have faith that you are making the right decision, Ryan." Horus told him. "But you also have to be sure that you are able to live with your decision. You must live with the actions of your choices. And you must be prepared to live with the consequences of your failure. And accept responsibility for them." 

Ryan breathed. "Okay. Well... fortune favors the bold." 

Our faith in Claire at least, proved to be a good one for the start. She worked well with Ginny and I. Our Beaters were Ryan and Nick Parkin. And Nick was a really good beater too. He said that the whole Parkin family were skilled Quidditch players.  Harry was still the solidified Seeker. Our only problem was... Ron. 

I always knew that he was an inconsistent player who suffered from nervousness and a lack of confidence, and that also included the looming prospect of the opening game of the season seemed to have brought back his old insecurities. After letting in half a dozen goals, most of them scored by both Ginny and myself, his technique became wilder and wilder, until, when flying in to make a goal, he punched me in the mouth. Accidentally, of course.  

"It was an accident, I'm sorry, Kassie, really sorry!" Ron shouted after me, as I dropped to the ground, dripping blood. "I just-" 

"Panicked." Ginny said angrily, landing next to me and beginning to examine my swollen lip. "You prat, Ron, look at the state of her!" 

"Ginny, calm down! I'm okay." I assured. "It's not that big of a deal. I've been punched harder in the mouth before." 

"I can fix that, Kassie." Harry landed beside us and pointed his wand at my mouth, and healing it up. 

Ryan also landed. "You okay, Kassie?" He asked me. 

"Yeah." I answered. I also casted the Episkey spell on myself.

"And Ginny, don't call Ron a prat, you're not the Captain of this team-" Ryan scolded Ginny. 

"Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should-" Ginny started. 

Harry forced himself not to laugh, but I let out a giggle. My lip was back to normal. 

"I don't care." Ryan replied to Ginny. "Back in the air, everyone. Let's go... We gotta make sure we're up to speed." 

Overall, it turned out to be one of the worst practices we've ever had. At least in terms of our Goal Keeping. Everything else was on point.

"Good work, everyone, I think we'll flatten Slytherin." Ryan said. 

I was about to argue differently, but Harry gave me a look that said it all. And I kept my mouth shut. Ginny, Claire and Nick left the changing rooms looking pleased with themselves. 

"I played like a sack of Dragon Dung." Ron commented in a hollow voice when the door had swung behind Ginny. 

"No, you didn't." Harry said firmly. "You're the best Keeper I tried out, Ron. Your only problem is nerves." 

"No. Let's be real. I can't do anything without Anubis holding my hand." Ron replied. 

That was when we started to hear chanting outside. "Lawn Gnome Quidditch! Lawn Gnome Quidditch! Lawn Gnome Quidditch!" 

It was the Lawn Gnomes. They were chanting about their Quidditch League.

"Are they still at it?" Harry asked.

"Oh, give me a break." Ryan groaned.

Harry, Ryan, and I kept up the relentless flow of encouragement all the way back to the second floor, Ron looked marginally more cheerful. When Harry pushed open the tapestry to take our usual shortcut up to Gryffindor Tower, however, we found ourselves looking at Dean and Ginny, who were locked in a close embrace and kissing fiercely as though they were glued together. Kind of like those times Neville and I do that. 

I also saw the scowl twisting onto Harry's face. I could only imagine what he was thinking. 

"Oi!" Ron boomed from beside me. 

Dean and Ginny broke apart and looked around. 

I had a very bad feeling about this.

"What?" Ginny asked. 

"I don't want to find my own sister snogging people in public!" Ron shouted. 

"This was a deserted corridor till you came butting in!" Ginny shout back. 

"She does have a point, Ron." Anubis commented. 

Dean was looking embarrassed. He gave Harry, Ryan and I a shifty grin. Which Harry did not return. And me... it was just awkward to be in the same room. And I don't think Dean had ever seen Ron truly angered while Ryan was shaking his head. 

"Er... this is awkward... c'mon, Ginny." Dean said finally. "Let's go back to the Common Room..." 

"You go!" Ginny ordered. "I want a word with my dear Brother!" 

Dean left, looking as though he was not sorry to depart the scene. 

"Oh, Duat. Here we go." Ryan muttered. 

"Right." Ginny tossed her long red hair out of her face and glared at Ron. "Let's get this straight once and for all. It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron-" 

"Yeah, it is!" Ron sounded just as angry. "D'you think I want people saying my sister's a-" 

"A what?" Ginny shouted drawing her wand. "A what, exactly?" 

"I don't think you want to finish that sentence, Ron." I advised. 

Ryan started to step in. "Okay. Tap the breaks." He tried to say coming in between them. 

"He doesn't mean anything, Ginny-" Harry added, thought I could see that his eyes agreed with Ron's words. 

"Oh yes, he does!" Ginny flared up at Harry. "Just because he's never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he's ever had is from our Auntie Muriel-" 

"Shut your mouth!" Ron bellowed, bypassing red and turning maroon. 

"No, I will not!" Ginny yelled beside herself.

"Ugh. Now you two sound just like Geb and Nut." Anubis commented. 

"Put him back in, Anubis! I'm not done yelling at him!" Ginny demanded. 

Ron came back. And Ginny let him have it. "I've seen you with Phlegm, hoping she'll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her, it's pathetic! If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn't mind so much that everyone does it!" 

Ron pulled out his wand too by that point; Ryan was still in-between them. I tried to grab Ron from behind. 

"Stop it you two, that's enough!" Ryan demanded. "Ginny! You've made your point-" 

But it was not enough for the Weasleys. 

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron roared. A flicker of Anubis's voice inside of him. "Just because I don't do it in public-!" 

Oh Gods. 

Ginny screamed with derisive laughter, trying to push Ryan out of the way. "Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or Anubis? Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?" 

It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened next.  

A streak of orange light flew under Ryan and missed Ginny by inches; Harry pushed Ron against the wall, and I grabbed Ginny's arm, trying to break up the tension. And Ryan grabbed the other.

"I said that's enough!" Ryan yelled.

"Harry's snogged Cho Chang!" Ginny shouted, and she sounded close to tears. "Hermione's snogged Viktor Krum, Ryan's snogging Parvati, Kassie's snogging Neville! It's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got about as much experienced as a 12 year old!" She scoffed off. "No wonder Anubis has to bail you out at every turn!"  

And I think that really touched Ron in a way that no shout ever could. Because Ron, just stopped struggling. He just stopped altogether. "So... I'm the sidekick in my own body. Even my own family thinks that little of me." 

Ginny seemed to realize what she said. Because the anger in her eyes lifted right away . "Wait, no. Ron- that's not what I-" 

"Look, I don't have to hear this crap." Ron started to go off alone and he pushed Ginny out of the way as he went off away.  

"I get you're upset, Ginny. But don't you think that was a hit below the belt?" I asked.

"He started it, he-" Ginny tried to say.

"I don't care who started it. I'll finish it." Ryan interrupted. 

All of us now stood there, breathing heavy, until Mrs. Norris appeared around the corner, breaking the tension. 

"On... second thought. Let's finish this elsewhere." Ryan decided.

"Good call." Harry said, as the sound of Filch's shuffling feet reached our ears.

"We should also make sure that Ron doesn't do anything stupid." I suggested.

"Yeah. You go do that." Ryan agreed. And that was when I saw Ginny start to slip away.

"Ginny." Ryan said not looking back.

"Yes?" Ginny asked as she stopped.

"A word." Ryan replied.

We hurried up the stairs and along a 7th floor corridor. "Oi, out of the way!" Ron barked at a small girl who jumped in fright and dropped a bottle of toad spawn. 

"Sorry. Friend of ours He's kind of upset right now." I commented. 

But I did cast Reparo for the girl. 

"D'you think Hermione snogged Krum?" Ron asked abruptly, as we approached the Fat Lady. And the answer to that was yes. And Ron seemed to gather the worst from the look on my face. 

"Do you think I'm a sidekick to Anubis, Harry?" Ron asked. 

"No. I never thought that." Harry answered. 

I wasn't sure if Ron believed that. He just said: "Dilligrout." darkly to the Fat Lady, and we climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room. And in all honesty. I just wanted to get back to Hermione at this moment. 

"I'm going to go check on him." Harry whispered to me. "Try not to worry so much, Kassie. I'll handle this."  

I really hoped things would be better by tomorrow. 

They were not. Ron had started not only giving Ginny and Dean the Cold Shoulder, but he was also treating Hermione with icy, sneering indifference. What was more, he seemed to have become, overnight, as touch and ready to lash out. If not for Anubis keeping him under control... it would've been worse. 

Harry, Ryan, and I spent most of the day trying to keep the peace between them, but with no success. Finally, Hermione departed for bed in high noon, and Ron stalked off to the boys' dormitory after swearing angrily at several frightened first years for looking at him. 

"What are we going to do?" I asked. "Ron's not calmed down about this." 

"Oh, you should've seen what he was like last night." Ryan answered. "I thought we were going to have to build a brick wall to keep both he and Dean away from each other." 

"Um, Ryan. You did build a brick wall." Harry reminded.

"Oh, yeah." Ryan said. 

To our dismay, Ron's new aggression did not wear off over the next days. Worse still, it coincided with an even deeper dip in his Keeping Skills, which made him still more aggressive, so that during our final Quidditch practice before Saturday's match, he failed to save every single goal we aimed at him, and bellowed at everybody so much that he reduced Claire to tears. 

"RON! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ryan bellowed. "Okay, we're done today! Nick! Go pack up the Bludgers! Claire, well done on that one maneuver. Ginny, take Claire back to the Common Room." He ordered. 

Ginny was about to retaliate, particularly at Ron. But a glare from Ryan which included a flash of Horus changed her mind.

Ginny took Claire by the hand. "Come on, Claire. Let's go see if Dobby can't make us some Ice Cream in the Kitchens. That always cheers me up." She said.

The only ones left were Ron, myself, Harry, and Ryan. "Ron. Would it kill you just for 5 minutes not to take your anger out on people and to not treat them like a bunch of Scarabs?! Ryan demanded. 

I think for a fleeting moment that Ron would hit Ryan, but then something worse happened. Ron seemed to sage on his broom; all the fight went out of him. And he said: "I resign. I'm pathetic." 

"No you're not pathetic!" Anubis yelled. 

"Anubis is right! You're not pathetic, and I do not accept your resignation!" Ryan shouted fiercely, seizing Ron by the front of his robes. 

"You can save anything when you're on form, it's a mental problem you've got!" Harry told Ron.

"You calling me mental?" Ron asked.

"We ain't calling you stable." I shot back. 

We glared at each other for a moment, then Ron shook his head wearily. "I know you haven't got any time to find another Keeper, so I'll play tomorrow, but if we lose, and we will, I'm taking myself off the team." 

"Ugh. He's an idiot." Anubis commented. 

"Not when it comes to Mental Games like Chess... AHA!" Ryan had suddenly snapped his fingers and did a huge jump in the air. "I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!" And he grabbed Ron by the arm.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?!" Ron demanded to know. But Ryan didn't answer.

What were they going on about?

The Kitchens (3rd Person P.O.V)

"Thanks again, Dobby!" Ginny called to the House Elves as both she and Claire walked out with their mouths full of Chocolate Ice Cream. "There. Feeling better?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Claire answered sadly. "Why did Ron have to yell at me like that? Was it something bad I did? Does he miss Katie?" She asked.

Ginny sighed. "It's nothing you did, Claire. I was snogging my boyfriend, Dean in the deserted Corridors. Ron, Kassie, Harry, and Ryan came around the corner. Ron and I lost our tempers... and I... may have said something in anger that set him over." She explained. 

"A lot of things seem to set Ron over these days." Claire pointed out.

"It's not my fault, Claire!" Ginny snapped.

"I know." Claire interrupted suddenly.

"Sorry." Ginny apologized. "I just don't get him. Ron's got the maturity of a 12 year old when it comes to that stuff. Just because he's never been kissed by a girl before doesn't give him the right to interrupt and be so stingy when I kiss boys."

"And Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, and Bill wouldn't do that?" Claire asked confused. 

And Ginny was about to say no. Until a thought occurred to her head. She could totally see Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George doing something similar if they had the chance. "Actually... that's exactly something they would do." 

"And... isn't it kind of hypocritical of you to say that about Ron when you act all stingy about Bill and Fleur?" Claire asked. "Sophie told me." 

"Of course she did." Ginny groaned.

"What did I tell?" Sophie asked as she walked around the corner with Titan.

"Sophie? What are you doing here?" Ginny asked confused.

"The Hufflepuff Common Room is near the Kitchens." Sophie answered.

"Is that Ice Cream?" Titan asked like a child. 

"Yeah... Ron yelled at Claire at Practice today that reduced her to tears. I got her Ice Cream to cheer her up." Ginny explained. But then she noticed Sophie having a golden ribbon in her hair. "Is that a ribbon in your hair, Sophie?" She asked.

"Huh?" Sophie asked. "Oh... yeah. I must look really stupid though." She admitted. 

"No... I think it makes you look very cute, Soph." Ginny said.

"Emily didn't think so." Titan commented. "She called Sophie stupid." 

"Just now? Isn't she in Prison?" Ginny asked.

"No. This was when I was three. See, I was trying a ribbon in my hair. But Emily said it made me look stupid. Ryan said he liked it though." Sophie answered. "It also didn't help that she got rejected by Bill at the time." 

"Oh yeah... that." Ginny said. "Well that's what Emily deserves for saying those things about Bill and our family." 

"I think it makes you look cute too, Sophie." Claire commented.

"Thanks, Claire." Sophie replied blushing a little. And it was something that Ginny took notice of. 

"Thanks for the Ice Cream, Ginny. I feel better now. I'll see you back at the Common Room." Claire said going back up the stairs.

Sophie stared at Claire going up. "Um... Soph? You're blushing." Ginny told her Foster Sister.

"What?" Sophie asked. Then she looked nervously at Ginny. "Oh... um... see... I think... I think I might..." But then she shook her head. "N-Nevermind. Let's go, Titan." She ran away with Titan in foot pursuit.

And that made Ginny raise an eyebrow at Sophie's behavior. "Could Sophie be-?" She started to ponder. But then she shook her head. "No. No. Don't jump to conclusions just yet, Ginny." She told herself. 

Meanwhile (Kassandra P.O.V)

I didn't see Ron or Ryan anywhere at dinner. Not really wanting to get in between the saga of Ron and Hermione's drama. I went back to my secret hideout. Jacob and Ethan's old hideout. 

I lied awake for a very long time in the darkness. I didn't want to lose the upcoming match. But at the same time. I really wanted to beat Malfoy at Quidditch even if we couldn't prove he was up to something. Yet if Ron played as he had done in the last few practices, our chances of winning were very slim.

And Quidditch wasn't the only thing on my mind. There was also something else. All of us arguing like we did in Herbology. And just again with Ron and Ginny going at it. And Ron and Hermione at each others throats. Okay... they were always at each others throats. But this felt different. This time felt a lot more personal. And the worst part was that my friends were all fighting. And it felt like I couldn't talk to one without another getting mad at me for thinking that I would side with that one person instead of the other one. But I didn't want to take sides. I just wanted us all to be friends.  

I then heard some ruffling under the bed. I stood up. "Lumos." I quickly drew. It looked to be something in the shadow. Something small, and very fuzzy. And in the shape of a Niffler. "Sickleworth?" I asked surprised to see him. 

Sickleworth was shifting through some boxes trying to find some treasure no doubt. But I was able to rub his stomach. "I don't suppose you know what I should do, do you buddy?" I asked. 

Sickleworth began to squirm out and continue to look for some treasure. 

"I didn't think so." I still sounded defeated. I felt like I had to clean up this mess. But I didn't know how. I wanted all of us to remain friends. But I wondered if it was all a pipe dream now. 

"So... what's up with you?" A voice called up from behind me. 

I saw a blueish glow around him. 

"Chare, Duncan." I greeted with a bit of sadness in my eyes. 

"The pressure of being a N.E.W.T student already setting in?" Duncan asked. 

"No." I answered. "It's not that. It's all different type of stuff."

"Oho. Drama. From little Kassandra Bauer." Duncan said with a bit of a smirk. "I'd never thought I'd see the day." 

I glared at him. "Shut up, Duncan." 

"So... what kind of drama are you getting into?" Duncan pressed. "Trouble with boys?" 

"No." I answered. "I'm in a happy relationship with Neville Longbottom. F.Y.I." 

"You've got something else on your mind, don't you?" Duncan showed up next to me. 

"It's my friends." I snapped out loud and falling to tears. 

I think Duncan could see how I was crying. Because then he changed gears. "Alright, it's okay, Kassie." He said.

"I'm not sure it is, Duncan." I replied. "Harry's been focused on Malfoy. Ron and Hermione are at each other's throats while still trying to figure out their feelings or whatever they are... and Ryan... is busy with Quidditch and also trying to keep himself together. And don't get me started on those stupid Slug Club meetings. It's like..." 

Duncan crossed his arms. "It's like what?"

"It's like our Gryffindor 5 is falling apart." I answered. "It almost feels like we're not even friends anymore." 

"Well... Kassie... that's what happens." Duncan said. "Friends drift apart. Especially as they get older and go their separate ways. You and your friends aren't the only ones to drift apart, you know." 

But I didn't want us to drift apart. I wanted all of us to stay friends. To be together through thick and thin. Because without those friends, I would just go back to being the girl afraid of everything and not talk to anyone. And Hogwarts would be an even bigger bootcamp than it ever was before. 

Or maybe Duncan was right. Maybe it was an inevitability. Maybe I would just go back to being alone. 

"It's going to be okay, Kassie. Who knows? You might make new friends." Duncan said.

"I don't want to make new friends. I want to keep my friends together." I started to sob even harder. 

We were all just falling apart. It was inevitable. Everyone was at each other's throats. And it would all be down hill from here. Not without the intervention of the Gods.