Love is in the Air

Expulsa!

As he'd practiced a hundred times, Ron let his arm follow his wand as it tried to escape his hand. He felt the familiar tug of the strap, then tugged back to bring his wand back to him. The second he felt the wood in his hand, he followed through and aimed at the ground.

Scotoro!

He braced himself against his own hex and watched as it knocked his opponent to the ground.

Brilliant, isn't it? Got the idea from Colin's camera. I did. No one else; me. And look at that; it was good enough to beat you. I guess you're not so clever after all, Brain.

"Cohort!"

Ron snapped to attention and returned to reality. The pain in his stomach still threatened to return his breakfast, and his dizziness didn't go away, but he forced himself to focus on Rose.

"If being back here is gonna be a problem, then we'll quit now," Rose said. "We've got a few weeks to make up, so we don't have time to waste."

Ron nodded absently, only partially taking in what Rose was saying.

How could he have called Hermione a mudblood? He hated that word. He was certain he'd called her "Brain", but why did Hermione remember it differently.

Why wasn't Rose telling them what had happened. She'd been there, heard everything, but refused to say who was right.

"Question for you, Cohort," Rose said. "If I break your right arm, what will you do?"

"What?!"

Rose rolled her eyes.

"If I broke your arm, how would you defend yourself? That strap's clever, but it doesn't stop me from taking out your entire arm. What will you do then?"

Ron didn't know what sort of question that was, but he figured he'd just use his left hand. It couldn't be that bad. Neville and Rose got by alright being left-handed.

For the rest of the day, they drilled casting left-handed. Ron found out that it was a lot harder than he'd originally thought. He couldn't get off a Summoning Charm with his left hand, nor any other charm.

"You had the wrong answer," Rose told him at the end of the hour. "The correct one is 'I won't let that happen.'"

"How am I supposed to stop someone from breaking my arm?!" Ron exclaimed.

"Professor Flitwick fought the Basilisk without looking at it. Maybe you should ask him."

"Cos that worked so well last time," Ron muttered.

Ron was in no mood to ask professors anything. Last time he'd gone to a professor for help, it'd ultimately resulted in Hermione screaming at him and refusing to talk to him.

January turned into February, and still Ron and Hermione refused to talk to one another. Harry and Neville talked with Ron on occasion, but it was mostly to find out what was really going on. Like Ron, no one was sure what to believe. Ron wasn't so insensitive that he'd call Hermione a mudblood, but Hermione wasn't melodramatic, so no one believed that she'd made it up. Even Sally-Anne couldn't figure out what was going on, because both Ron and Hermione believed themselves to be correct. Ron believed that he hadn't said "mudblood", but Hermione swore she heard it.

With the end of February came the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

"All I'm saying is, I'm positive there was only one of these," Rose said.

"This is the third match this year," Harry said. "How can you not have noticed?"

"It's Rose," Hermione said, her nose buried in a book.

"I never thought I'd say this as a bad thing, but you're starting to remind me of Shadow," Rose said. "She likes hiding her face too, but it–"

"Not now, Rose," Hermione snapped.

Harry tried to ignore the feud. He watched the teams take to the sky, paying close attention to the Ravenclaw Seeker.

Back in November, Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang made their first appearances on the Pitch. Both players had been in reserve, and it was brilliant to see them go against one another for their first match. It'd been a close match, with Ravenclaw coming out just ahead of Hufflepuff, even with Cho catching the Snitch.

Harry admired both of them, even if they were on opposing teams. He hadn't been happy at the time, because it'd only been a few weeks before that that he'd lost his Nimbus 2000.

Looking back on it, Cho moved through the air as if she were born and raised in it. On top of her Quidditch prowess, Cho was awfully pretty. Maybe not as pretty as Sally-Anne, who had received constant praise about her new dress, which was now part of her standard attire, but close.

Actually, Sally-Anne's dress was starting to annoy Harry, because she was receiving a lot of attention from other boys. He'd noticed the same thing back at the start of November when Rose had used her wand to make them all better, but it was worse now.

Sally-Anne didn't always sit with them at meals, but instead ended up surrounded by a group of second-, third-, fourth-, and even a few fifth-year boys. It wasn't that different from when Sally-Anne had beaten Malfoy in their duel a year ago, and after she explained it, Harry realized she really didn't like all the attention.

Harry of all people understood, and he couldn't stay angry at her for long. He thought of his friend every time he went out to practice Quidditch, and remembered just how much trouble she went through to get him his Firebolt.

Harry glanced over at Ron, who was sitting with Fred and George several rows down. Ron had always been excited about Quidditch matches, but now he stared vacantly at the Pitch. Harry couldn't figure out why it was so different from every other time Ron had been mad at someone. Usually he'd just vent for a while, stubbornly claim that it wasn't his fault, then finally break down and apologize. What was different about this time?

It wasn't that Ron was taking longer to apologize that bothered Harry, it was that his friend was upset. Harry saw the way Ron and Hermione were acting, and it was as if they were both upset by what Ron had said. Did Ron say something and not mean it, or had Hermione somehow misheard him?

Harry put it out of his mind for the moment and concentrated on the match. The Ravenclaw team moved through the field effortlessly, nearly flying circles around the Slytherin team. Cho drifted silently above the match, searching the Pitch for her prey. Harry knew the second she spotted the Golden Snitch, she'd dive on it like a hawk and snatch it right out from Malfoy's nose.

"And it's over!"

Harry looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. Everyone looked confused, until they saw Malfoy holding the Golden Snitch.

"For those of you that missed that, here's what happened," Lee Jordan said. "Slytherin caught a lucky break. The Golden Snitch popped up right beside Malfoy, but unlike the last time it did that, he wasn't preoccupied with taunting Potter."

"That's rubbish!" Harry shouted.

Three quarters of the spectators joined Harry in his frustration with the match. It was an easy win for Slytherin, but possibly the most boring match anyone had ever seen. Worse than that, it put Slytherin in the lead for the Quidditch Cup.

"Isn't it the House Cup?" Rose asked.

"There's the House Cup and Quidditch Cup," Harry explained. "Pay attention!"

Harry watched as the Ravenclaw team sadly landed on the Pitch.

"They didn't even get a chance to play," Harry said.

He saw Cho floating to the ground, and heard jeers from Slytherin. She looked like she was about to cry.

He took off down the stands, hoping to get out before a large crowd gathered. He was towards the front of the crowd that moved off the stands, and just managed to see the Ravenclaw team disappear into the changing rooms. Harry couldn't go in and talk to them, but he knew the fastest way to get to the entrance.

He walked quickly around the outside of the pitch, right to the exit to the changing rooms. Harry was so worried about getting there before the team left that he wasn't actually paying attention to where he was going, and ran right into Cedric as the latter emerged from another exit from the stands.

"Cedric?" he asked as he climbed to his feet.

"Sorry, Harry," he said. "I was just… What are you doing?"

"Er… nothing," Harry said quickly. "What are you doing?"

"Going to see how Cho's doing," Cedric said. "Ravenclaw's awfully competitive when it comes to… everything, and the Slytherin Quidditch team is especially nasty when they want to be."

"I didn't know you and Cho were friends," Harry said, trying to look past Cedric towards the changing rooms.

"I guess we are," Cedric said. "She was the most gracious of her team after they beat us last week. I didn't think Roger was ever going to stop going on about it." He glanced behind him, and saw people starting to leave the changing rooms. "We'd better hurry if we want to catch them."

"I didn't say–" Harry began.

"You didn't have to," Cedric said as the boys broke into a quick walk.

They caught up to Cho, but found that someone else had already got to her. Draco Malfoy, backed up by Crabbe and Goyle, was taunting her about her loss.

"Oi!" Harry shouted as he and Cedric came up behind Cho.

"What do you want, Potter?" Malfoy asked.

"Is there a problem here?" Cedric asked.

"It's no concern of yours, Diggory."

"It is if you're hurting one of our friends," Harry said.

He knew he and Cho weren't exactly friends, but he'd take the side of anyone harassed by Draco Malfoy.

"I didn't know you were friends with all the losers, Potter," Malfoy sneered.

"You got lucky, Malfoy," Cedric said.

"Is that how you made yourself feel better when she beat you?"

"Leave them alone, Malfoy!" Cho said.

"Leave us all alone," Harry said, "unless you want me to get Rose involved."

That touched a nerve. Malfoy glared at Harry, but he quickly lightened up.

"That's your solution to everything, isn't it, Potter?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry shot back.

"Like anyone actually believes that you just so happened to get a Firebolt for Christmas," Malfoy sneered. "Everyone knows you got your pet to steal it!"

"No one stole anything, Malfoy!" Cho snapped. "We all pitched in to help Harry replace his broom."

"Unlike you, some of us see our opponents as people," Cedric added. "If it'd been me, I'd have been grateful for the help. That's all I needed to know."

Harry couldn't believe it. He knew Hufflepuff had helped him get his new broom, but he didn't know that Cho had helped. He didn't realize that she knew about him outside of being another Seeker.

Malfoy looked at each of them, his hand inching toward his wand. It was an even match– three on three, if Harry didn't call in backup. He wasn't sure how he'd get his friends' attention, but he knew he'd find a way.

Mum says it's best to shout 'Fire!' if you're ever in any trouble.

That was a thought. Harry wasn't sure how true Sally-Anne's words were, but it'd certainly get Ginny's attention. A small crowd was beginning to amass around them, but Harry didn't see his friends among the faces.

"What's going on here?"

All six of them turned to see Madame Hooch storming towards them. The small crowd quickly dispersed.

"You see–" Malfoy began.

"Not you," she said. "Diggory, you're incapable of lying. What's happening?"

"Draco was being unsportsmanlike, Madame Hooch," Cedric said.

"I was–"

"Walk away, Malfoy," Madame Hooch said. "I'm still in charge of Quidditch in Hogwarts, and I can have you suspended. Remember, dumb luck is nothing to gloat about."

Harry heard Malfoy mutter something offensive under his breath, then obediently began the walk back to Hogwarts.

"Chang, don't let this get you down," Madame Hooch said. "Stuff happens."

"Thank you, Madame Hooch," Cho said.

No one said a word until Madame Hooch was out of earshot.

"Thanks," Cho said.

"Don't mention it," Cedric said.

"You alright?" Harry asked.

"Thanks to my knights in shining armor," Cho said.

"Good. I just wanted to stop by, so I'll catch you two later," Cedric said.

He smiled at them before running to catch up to a group of Hufflepuffs.

After Cedric left, Cho turned to Harry.

"Would you mind walking me back to Ravenclaw Tower?" Cho asked.

"Sure," Harry replied. "Don't you want to walk with your team?"

"Not really. They'll be upset that we lost, and I'll get blamed."

"That's not fair. It wasn't your fault."

"It won't last long, but I want to give them time to cool off before I talk to them."

Harry nodded. The pair walked in awkward silence until they reached the castle.

"Did you mean what you said?" Harry asked. "Did you really help with my broom?"

"Yeah," Cho said. "Just because you're on a different team doesn't mean we can't be friends."

"Friends?"

"Why not? It looks like you've got enough enemies at the moment."

"Is it that bad?"

"I don't know, but even Granger sits at the Ravenclaw table now. Then there's Gamp, who goes on and on about how happy she is that Granger's 'finally slipping'."

That was news to Harry. He had noticed that Hermione wasn't talking as much as usual during class, but he didn't think she was falling behind on her schoolwork. Hermione hadn't shown up to a study session in weeks, but Harry figured it was to avoid Ron, who didn't show up either.

"I… I didn't realize," Harry said.

"I'm sorry," Cho said. "I thought you knew."

"I don't know what's going on with either of them anymore," Harry said sadly. "Hermione or Ron. They had this whole fight a few months back, then Ron tried to make up for it on Christmas, but Hermione just blew up at him. And just after me and Sally-Anne stopped fighting."

"I noticed," Cho said. "It's hard not to notice Perks and her followers."

"It's not her fault. She's sort of got this way with people, but she's too nice to tell them to leave her alone."

"That's great for her, but us mere mortals have enough trouble getting attention," Cho said. "So what happened with you two?"

"It was this whole thing with Sirius Black and the Dementors."

"Oh," Cho replied. "I'm sure it will be alright. They'll catch him."

The rest of the trip up to the seventh floor was spent talking about Quidditch, or classes, or anything Harry could think of so he didn't walk in awkward silence with Cho.

"Thanks for keeping me company," Cho said when they reached Ravenclaw Tower.

"Yeah."

"Don't tell anyone I said this, but let Peta-Lorrum know Lovegood shouldn't sleep here tonight," Cho said. "Our housemates are still angry, and they'll take it out on her if not on me."

"Thanks, Cho," Harry said. "I'll let her know."

Harry was on top of the world as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower. He stayed that way through the next few weeks, straight into March. Nothing could bring him down, even though Hermione and Ron certainly tried.

Their argument was blocked out of Harry's mind when it came time for the match against Hufflepuff. Harry had played with Cedric on his team before, so he knew the older boy was good, but he had no idea just how good. Even with the Firebolt and Rose's enchantment, Harry still had trouble outmaneuvering his opponent.

Part way through the match, Harry picked up something moving on the ground. He looked down and saw a group of four Dementors entering the Pitch. The crowd began to panic, but Harry was ready. He drew his wand, and aimed it at the squad of Dementors.

"Expecto Patronum!"

An orb of bright light shot out of his wand, straight into the group of Dementors. Instead of flying away as he expected, they toppled to the ground when the Patronus hit them. Looking closer, he saw feet dangling out of one of the cloaks.

A furious Professor McGonagall stormed out and dragged the "Dementors" away with her. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint all lost 50 points, and Harry was certain she used the words "detention until your grandchildren graduate."

Gryffindor won the match, but Hufflepuff's offence once again proved to be a force to be reckoned with, as the final score was 280 to 200.

After the celebration in Gryffindor Tower, Harry pulled Sally-Anne aside.

"Sally-Anne, can we talk for a moment?" Harry asked.

"Sure," Sally-Anne replied.

They left the common room, and Sally-Anne began to get excited. They didn't go to the Room of Requirement, but instead just an empty classroom. Whatever it was about which Harry wanted to talk to her, he didn't want anyone overhearing.

"There's something I've got to talk about, but I can't with Ron because… well, it's Ron. Even if he weren't all…"

"Rose calls him 'mopey'."

"Yeah. Even if he weren't mopey, he still wouldn't understand, or wouldn't care."

That probably means it's not about Quidditch, Sally-Anne thought. She resisted the urge to use her pendant to find out what it was. Whatever it was, she wanted to show Harry the respect to let him tell her himself.

"Harry, you know you can tell me anything," Sally-Anne said, smiling warmly. She stayed relaxed, accounting for every aspect of her body language. Harry would pick up the slightest hint of hostility and shut her out if she weren't careful.

"It's… erm…"

Sally-Anne took Harry's hands in hers.

"It's alright, Harry. You can tell me."

"It's… It's Cho."

What?

"I really like her, and I've got to tell someone."

Rose had explained to Sally-Anne that there were three main social skills: Bluff, Intimidate, and Diplomacy. Her dress and ribbon, along with the enhancement Rose had given her back in November, all worked toward improving these skills. They made Sally-Anne good at not only helping people open up to her, but at lying to and scaring them as well. So despite how annoyed she was inside, not a trace of it was on her face.

Sally-Anne smiled at Harry, showing him how happy she was that he was falling for a girl, and how thankful she was that he trusted her enough to tell her about it.

"How long's this been going on?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Just a few months, I guess," Harry said. He smiled sheepishly and blushed. "I couldn't believe how brilliant she was at Quidditch. She just soared through the air like… like when a hawk is looking for a mouse, you know? I saw it once on television. She was just starting to do that last match before Malfoy got the Snitch. I just couldn't believe it."

"Lots of girls are good at Quidditch, Harry," Sally-Anne said, once again without a trace of jealousy in her voice. "What's different about her?"

"Most girls don't look half as pretty as her," Harry said. "Then I saw her just after the last Quidditch match."

Don't lose it, Sally-Anne, she ordered herself. The slightest hint that you're angry, and it's all over. Just make it to the end, and then vent to someone else.

"You never told us what happened."

"I wanted to talk to her, just to see if she was alright."

"Harry, that's so sweet."

"Thanks. Anyway, I met up with Cedric, and we found Malfoy and his goons bothering her. I tell him off, and he comes back with this nonsense about me getting Rose to steal my new broom for me."

Sally-Anne nearly faltered, but not because of anything with Cho. How had it never occurred to her to have Rose steal the Firebolt? Sure, it would've been wrong, but she hadn't even thought of it. What with how Rose obtained the Sword of Gryffindor for Neville, it should've at least crossed her mind.

"Then Cho said that she contributed to it. Is that true?"

"Yeah," Sally-Anne said. "A lot of people did. I accidentally let it slip during Runes, and Max and Ellie overheard. Along with Cedric, they convinced everyone in Hufflepuff to at least give a knut or two. That was a lot on its own, but a few Ravenclaws gave some too."

"Speaking of that, there's something that's been bothering me," Harry said. "How'd you manage all that without me noticing?"

"Hermione and me started it, really. We talked with professors when you weren't around, or when you were practicing with Rose or the team. That's actually when we got a lot done. Alex helped out a lot, and so did Angie and Alicia. Rose got Professor Snape to donate a lot by promising not to talk to him for an entire day per sickle he donated. Professor Vector was happy to help Hermione, and Professor Babbling liked helping me. Neville talked with Professor Sprout one Wednesday, and Professor McGonagall liked the idea of Gryffindor having someone with a Firebolt on its Quidditch team. Of course, Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid both really like you, so they gave what they could. In the case of Professor Dumbledore, he got the man at Diagon Alley to hold his last one. Fortunately for us, he reads the Quibbler, and recognized that dog when he saw it."

"Sirius Black's dog?!" Harry asked.

"Yeah, he was walking around the shop a lot," Sally-Anne said. "Told us if he hadn't recognized it as Sirius Black's dog, he might not have had the Firebolt for us."

Sally-Anne still could've gone the rest of her life without knowing that. Her mind had flown into a frenzy when she'd heard about it. If Sirius Black was responsible for stealing the only Firebolt in that shop, Harry would've gone on a warpath.

"Wait, why the Quibbler? Why not the Daily Prophet?"

"The Daily Prophet won't publish a picture of the dog from Rose because they don't trust her as a credible source," Sally-Anne replied. "She's practically related to Luna, so her dad didn't have a problem telling people to be on the lookout for that dog."

Sally-Anne was glad to be off the topic of Cho Chang. She wanted to be happy for her best friend, but she was finding it harder the more he mentioned how much he liked another girl.

"I guess that was lucky for me, then," Harry said. "It really helped today. Hufflepuff would've flown all over us if I didn't have my new broom. Not to mention, I'll need it in a few months when I'm going up against Cho."

And we're back to her.

"Am I talking too much?" Harry asked.

Keep smiling! You can do this!

"Not at all," Sally-Anne said. "Go on."

"After Madame Hooch got everyone to walk away, I walked Cho back to Ravenclaw Tower. She's really nice. We talked about Quidditch, and classes, and even Sirius Black came up. I think you might like her."

Wanna bet?

"She's a lot like you, I guess, but… well, you and me are just mates. I wouldn't think of you as a girlfriend, just my best friend."

Sally-Anne shoved every emotion that sentence produced aside. She wasn't sure to whom she was going to vent, but she already felt bad for them.

Rose, I need to have an emergency training session. I need you to teach me to blow up anything that moves.

"Maybe we'll get along," Sally-Anne said. "I'm glad you're so happy about her. Like my mum says, don't go overboard."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Harry said. "I've got a good feeling about this." He stood up and smiled at Sally-Anne. "Thanks for listening, Sally-Anne. You're a good friend."

"Thanks for opening up to me, Harry," Sally-Anne said. "It means a lot."

The two exchanged a quick hug before Harry started back towards Gryffindor Tower.

Sally-Anne went down to the first floor. She jogged straight to one of the bathrooms and flung open the door.

"Sally-Anne!" Myrtle exclaimed. "How are you?"

"I've gotta vent," Sally-Anne said. "Do you mind?"

"What's bothering you?"

"I've spent years working to get Harry to open up to me. When I first met him, Harry hardly spoke a word! Now he's practically spilling his guts to that jato!"

"What's a 'jato'?" Myrtle asked.

"A curse word Rose uses," Sally-Anne said as she began to pace up and down the bathroom. "She waltzes in with her 'good looks' and her 'I'm amazing at Quidditch' routine. I can't believe her! I can't believe him! If no one ever smiled at him, I'd think he just fell for her because she smiled at him! I smile at him all the time! And I'm ten times nicer than she is!"

"Who?"

"Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker. Harry likes her, but I'm 'not girlfriend material' or something. Dürah!"

"Another Rose word?" Myrtle asked.

"Yeah. I mean, come on! I've got a flock of boys following me so much it's annoying!"

"I'm sure," Myrtle said sourly.

"Sorry."

"No, keep going," Myrtle said. "I never had friends, so I never got to listen to someone rant."

Sally-Anne stopped in her tracks.

"Seriously? I mean, you're happy about this?"

"Not that you're mad, but I like feeling involved."

"Oh," Sally-Anne said, picking up where she left off. "I guess I should be grateful that he at least told me 'Hey, Sally-Anne, I think you're great, but this other girl's better. Sorry!' Ugh! I saved his life last year! Did she save his life?! No! Did her mum tell off his uncle and get him to sign the Hogsmeade form for Harry?! No! Did she organize an entire fundraiser to get Harry a new broom?! No! I don't care if she helped, the entire thing was my idea! Hermione did more than her! But she mentions that she helped, and Harry's suddenly love-stricken! Doesn't he notice when I do anything?!"

Sally-Anne ranted for nearly half an hour, all the while pacing back and forth. Sometimes she shouted, sometimes she spoke normally. The entire time she was venting, Myrtle listened patiently.

"Alright," Sally-Anne panted. "I'm done."

She collapsed on the floor, worn out from shouting and pacing for so long.

"I'm really sorry, Sally-Anne," Myrtle said.

"Thanks, but I'll be alright," Sally-Anne said, smiling. "I just needed to get that out of my system."

"Like you said, there are lots of other boys," Myrtle said.

"Yeah, but without my dress or ribbon, they won't care. The only boys that do are Ron, Harry, and Neville. Maybe Max, but I think he and Ellie are an item."

"What about Ron or Neville?" Myrtle asked, sitting beside Sally-Anne (as much as a ghost could).

"I'm not going near Ron or Hermione right now," Sally-Anne said. "They're in the middle of a huge fight. I don't want to get into it. Neville's okay, I guess. He's sweet, but it's a different sort of sweet than Harry. Besides, I think he likes Rose."

Sally-Anne glanced around the bathroom.

"Have you got a clock?"

"Why would I need one?"

"Good point," Sally-Anne said. "I've got to get going. Thanks so much for listening, Myrtle."

"Thanks for thinking of me, Sally-Anne," Myrtle said.

"That's what friends do. If I die, we're gonna have the most fun two girls have ever had."

They laughed as Sally-Anne left the bathroom. She turned to head back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Well, isn't this an interesting development?"

Sally-Anne paled and whirled around to face Draco. Accompanying him were Crabbe and Goyle, along with their newest recruit. Attached to Draco's arm was Pansy Parkinson, one of the Slytherin girls. She wore the same smug look on her face that Draco did.

"What?" Sally-Anne asked curtly.

"You and Potter," Draco said. "I can sort of see that."

"I'd say one of you was beneath the other, but I'd have to decide who first," Pansy said.

Was that supposed to sound clever? Sally-Anne wondered.

"I take it from your rant just now that he doesn't know," Draco continued. "It'd be a shame if someone were to tell him."

"Draco, please don't tell him," Sally-Anne said.

"Oh, don't worry, we won't," Draco said. "Just so long as you do something for us."

Sally-Anne didn't like any part of this, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't know how to cast a memory charm, and she couldn't contact Rose or Hermione to have one of them do it for her. She was stuck.

"What do you want?"

"What's the password to Gryffindor Tower?" Draco asked.

Was that it? He literally had her in his pocket, and all he wanted was the password to Gryffindor Tower, which changed daily.

"Unicorn Horn," Sally-Anne said.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Pansy asked.

"Because if I lie to you, then you go blabbing to everyone you see. I can't tell anyone, because I'd have to tell them what you've got on me."

Draco smirked, and Sally-Anne's skin crawled.

"I'm glad we understand one another," he said coolly. "Nice talking to you, Mudblood."

Draco and his gang pushed passed her. Sally-Anne stood still until she was sure they were gone, then pressed her back to the wall. She slid down and started to cry.

Harry likes another girl and not me, and now Draco knows everything.

She was startled by Crookshanks, who hopped into her lap and curled up. Sally-Anne didn't even ask why he was there. She stroked his fur until she settled down, then the two of them returned to Gryffindor Tower.

That night, Rose tucked Luna into Rose's bed. When she was confident that Tutela would keep Luna safe, she left Gryffindor Tower. She walked through the quiet castle, careful not to pass by any prefects. Rose stopped when she reached the Astronomy Tower, then climbed the steps to the top of the tower.

She needed time to think. She'd made little progress on Hufflepuff's Cup, and the fight between her friends was getting to her.

Rose looked up at the stars peacefully staring at them from above. They never interacted, but always watched. The stars watched people wage wars, betray friends, and fall in love. They were the reason Rose was there, although it made her think of someone else. The other silent watcher at Hogwarts.

"Sally, are you there?" Rose asked.

"Hello, Little Rosie," came the smooth voice of Sally.

"How long have you been here?" Rose asked.

"Hmm… Around 943 years, give or take. One tends to lose track after a time."

"How do you see people?"

"Why?"

"Dad said the stars watch the world grow old. They see us at our best and at our worse. He wondered what they must think of us."

"That's easy. The world is cold. People come, and people go. Would you like to know a secret?"

"Sure."

"Your name is one of the few that I've bothered to memorize."

Rose nodded, not knowing if Sally could even see her. She didn't remember the names of Neville's roommates that weren't Harry or Ron. She didn't know if Ginny had other roommates, or if other Slytherins existed outside of Butterhead and his goons, whose names she also didn't know.

"It's easier not to get attached," Rose muttered.

"Quite right," Sally said. "I'm surprised you haven't figured that out yet, Little Rosie."

"I'll tell you a secret too, Sally. I've thought about it before. When Brain and Cohort were fighting before, I thought 'If I didn't care, then I can just go and talk to Shadow.' I'm not like you; I can't just stop caring."

"Don't worry, Little Rosie, you'll learn. Once you lose one of them, you'll learn."

Rose thought about Little Moon, lying safe inside Gryffindor Tower, protected by Tutela. Brain was doing alright, but Cohort wasn't ready yet. Toad and Firecracker might do alright for a time, but they'd wear down eventually. Rose couldn't leave yet, because she would lose one of them if she did.

"Is that how you learned?" Rose asked.

For a while, there was silence. Rose watched the stars, waiting for Sally's reply, but none came.

"I see you're shy, so I'll tell you what I know," Rose said. "I know that Salazar Slytherin had three children: two boys and a girl. The girl was the youngest of them. She died young."

"When you went to Arcrel, you were nearly killed simply for being Human. That little girl was killed simply for being a witch."

Rose looked beside her and saw a little boy with green hair. He sat down beside Rose and watched the stars with her.

"You're Salazar Slytherin," Rose said. "I worked it out over the summer."

"You mean Shadow worked it out for you."

"You hate Muggle-born students because you don't trust Muggles. You didn't believe that purebloods were inherently better than Muggle-borns, you just didn't trust them after what they did to your daughter."

Sally nodded.

"She was burned at the stake because they were afraid of her," he said. "I didn't find out about it until a week later. She died screaming and alone, abandoned by the father who swore to protect her."

"What was her name?"

"What was the dragon's name?"

Once again, silence fell between them. Neither wanted to let the other one in, but Rose remembered something Carolina had once told her.

Making bad choices doesn't make someone a bad person. There's no such thing as a bad person. I hold onto hope that if I show someone enough kindness, they'll make a good choice. But I've got to show them that kindness first.

"Valignatiejir."

"Rosalind."

That brought up a lot of questions, but Rose didn't think she would get any answers out of Sally.

"I'm sorry she was killed," Rose said.

"I'm sorry he tortured you, but these things happen," Sally said. "I can't stop them, Little Rosie, and neither can you. One day, you'll figure out the most important lesson of all: the only way to be truly happy is not to care. One day, you'll realize that they're all NPCs. You don't age, and they do. One day, you'll stand over them as they die of old age, and you'll look exactly as you do now."

Sally paused to allow his words to sink in. When Rose didn't say anything, he continued.

"Just think about how easy it'd be to forget about them and end everything right now." He pointed at a Dementor flying through the night sky. "You could kill it right now. Only you and I would know. It'd be easier than destroying a Spektre. The only thing stopping you is what would happen to your friends if you did. They're your weakness, Little Rosie. The Potions Master exploited it, I exploited it, and it's only a matter of time before other people start doing the same."

Rose thought about it. She knew she'd have to watch them die one day, but she didn't know where she'd be. She didn't know when she would return home, or in what state she'd find it when she did. As much as Rose wanted to go home, she didn't want to leave the people here either.

"It will be just the two of us, Little Rosie, until the end of time," Sally said. "You'll have to stop caring about them eventually. Maybe we'll be friends."

"You tried to kill my friends!" Rose hissed.

"I needed your attention."

"You're stopping me from talking to my family right now!"

"Same reason."

"You allowed that book to possess my little sister!"

"Only because you ignored me when I first asked for your help."

"You didn't ask for help, you wanted to study me!"

"I needed your help," Sally said. "Hufflepuff's Cup is one of a few items I require to correct a mistake. You're the only person in Hogwarts that can hear me; I learned that during your first year, and learned that you had the capability to defend yourself shortly thereafter."

Rose thought back to her first year at Hogwarts.

"You saw that I could hear the castle," Rose said. "You sent that dragon after us."

"I sent it after you, Little Rosie," Sally said. "I had no idea that you'd react the way you did. Cruentius attacked you in the Chamber of Secrets last year for the same reason."

"How well guarded are these items?" Rose asked.

"Heavily. The defences on each item are crafted to stop all attempts at recovering each object. It will be child's play for you, Little Rosie."

Rose smirked, but it faded when she remembered with whom she was speaking.

"I get it," Rose said. "I don't like it, but I–"

<Milady!>

"As much as I'm not enjoying our date, Tutela summoned me."

"Go to them," Sally said. "Enjoy your time with the NPCs while they're still alive."

Sally melted into the ground, and Rose burst into rose petals.