Ron and Hermione's friendship was essentially over. They were so angry with each other, I could hardly imagine them ever apologising. Ron was enraged Hermione hadn't controlled Crookshanks well enough, and Hermione was angry because there was no solid proof it was Crookshanks.

I was sure Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, and Harry pointed this out to Hermione, but she got really angry with him.

"Okay, side with Ron, I knew you would!" she said shrilly. "First the Firebolt, now Scabbers, everything's my fault, isn't it! Just leave me alone, Harry, I've got a lot of work to do!"

This was the exact reason I didn't tell her my opinion.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Cole bracing to him. The two of them had made up, which was something. "And he's been off-colour for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly -- one swallow -- he probably didn't feel a thing."

"Cole!" Alia burst out.

"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself," said George.

"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said miserably. "Remember, Harry?"

"Yeah, that's true," said Harry.

"His finest hour," said Fred, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?"

In a final attempt to cheer Ron up , we invited Ron to the final practice before the match, letting him ride on the firebolt at last.

Madam Hooch-who was still keeping an eye on us in practice-was just as impressed by the Firebolt, and even gave a whole commentary on it before we started practice.

"Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a slight list to the tail end -- you often find they develop a drag after a few years. They've updated the handle too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows."

I felt offended, as my Nimbus 2000 was an amazing broomstick, representative of how good my friendship was with Draco. We were still friends, and sometimes he'd sit with me and Cole in potions (turning up late so it didn't look so obvious we were friends) and we'd go out into the grounds after dinner most nights, mostly bantering back and forth.

What did kill the mood was that Gennie was always lurking around during these moments, like an over-obsessive stalker. I wasn't sure what her problem was, but I hoped it wasn't that she was in love with Draco. A jealous Gennie was not a pretty sight.

Madam Hooch continued in this vein for some time, until Wood said, "Er -- Madam Hooch? Is it okay if Harry has the Firebolt back? We need to practice..."

Once Madam Hooch disappeared, Wood told Harry some bad news.

"Harry, the Ravenclaw seeker is Cho Chang, a fourth year, and she's pretty good as well. But her broomstick is a joke, so you'll be faster than her anyway. Right come on, let's practice!"

And at long last, we all mounted our brooms, and kicked off from the ground.

It was the best practice ever; the firebolt seemed to inspire us to do the best we could. Wood didn't even have any criticisms, which was a first.

"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" said Wood. "Not unless -- Harry, Rory you've both sorted out your Dementor problem, haven't you?"

"Yeah, sort of," I muttered thinking of my feeble Patronus and wishing it were stronger.

"Er, yeah." Harry said awkwardly.

"The Dementors won't turn up again, Oliver. Dumbledore'd go ballistic," said Fred confidently.

"Well, let's hope not," said Wood. "Anyway -- good work everyone. Let's get back to the tower...turn in early..."

I ended up staying out until late with Harry and Ron, all of us taking go's on the firebolt, scoring goals and even trying to catch a quaffle ball thrown twenty feet in the air.

Once night had fallen we headed out of the shadowy stadium, laughing about how we were going to butcher the Ravenclaws tomorrow-when I saw something that made my heart palpitate. Pair of eyes was gleaming out of the darkness.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

I pointed towards the darkness. Ron pulled out his wand and muttered, "Lumos!"

A beam of light fell across the grass, hit the bottom of a tree, and illuminated its branches; there, crouching among the leaves, was Crookshanks.

"Get out of here!" Ron roared, and he stooped down and seized a stone lying on the grass, but before he could do anything else, Crookshanks had vanished with one swish of his long ginger tail.

"See?" Ron said furiously, chucking the stone down again. "She's still letting him wander about wherever he wants -- probably washing down Scabbers with a couple of birds now...."

Feeling stupid for getting scared over a cat, I shook off the bad feeling. Tomorrow was going to be fine. Just fine.

*****

The next morning I left the common room with all of the boys, who seemed to think the broomstick needed five bodyguards.

"What do they think one touch from somebody not Gryffindor and it'll burst into flame?" A voice said sarcastically next to me.

I laughed, but paled when I realised it was Gennie. I dropped my gaze, and picked up pace to walk with my brother. Things were awkward enough without Gennie trying to get on my good-side without apologising.

"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" said a cold, drawling voice as we sat down for breakfast

Draco had arrived for a closer look, looking jealous. When he thought Harry wasn't looking, he gave me a wink and I gave him a little wave back.

"Yeah, reckon so," said Harry casually.

"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" said Draco, eyes glittering jealously."Shame it doesn't come with a parachute -- in case you get too near a Dementor."

"Shut your face, Draco." I snapped, and he dropped his gaze, looking guilty for stooping that low.

"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy," said Harry. "Then it could catch the Snitch for you."

The Gryffindor team laughed loudly. Draco's pale eyes narrowed, and he stalked away.

At a quarter to eleven, we set off for the locker rooms. The weather couldn't have been more different from their match against Hufflepuff. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze and it really raised my mood.

The rest of the team traipsed into the changing room, but I heard my name called. Turning around, I saw Draco running towards me.

"I'll be there in a second!" I called to my team, before heading towards Draco.

Draco led me behind the locker rooms. "So, how's the broomstick?" He smirked.

"Don't be nice, I'm mad at you." I huffed. "Some of us hear dead people with the dementors."

Draco dropped his gaze. "Sorry, it just really annoys him."

"The broomstick is amazing, but nobody notices me when the firebolt is in the room." I rolled my eyes.

"Your brother always has to have the best, doesn't he?" Draco scoffed.

"Well, he didn't have the picket fence life in the muggle world, he deserves a brilliant life in the wizarding world."

"And what was your life like, eh?" Draco nudged my arm.

"It was crazy, but in the best way," I sighed nostalgically, leaning against him, our hands brushing. "I thought I had two wonderful sisters, parents who loved me and friends-even a boyfriend at one point. But it was all an illusion."

"I'm not an illusion," Draco said quietly, and he reached out to grab my hand.

Blushing, I dropped my gaze but kept my hand in his. "I did always think muggle magic tricks were stupid."

"You have to beat Ravenclaw today," Draco said urgently, a playful smirk on his face.

"I was going to do that anyway, you idiot." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, but then we'll be up against each other, it'll be fun."

"I heard you fell off your broom in your last match."

"Shut upppp," Draco whined, putting his head on my shoulder, and I laughed, my heartbeat in my ears, feeling nervous but in the best way possible.

"Hem, hem," an obnoxious cough came from behind us. I turned to see Gennie's head sticking out of the changing room doors. "You kind of have a match to be at, or did you forget that too?"

Feeling my cheeks burning in anger instead of nerves, I purposefully kissed the side of Draco's head as a way of getting under Gennie's skin. "I'll see you later, okay?" I said to Draco.

He nodded, also pink. "Sure," he dropped my hand from his and finally hurried off to the stadium, giving me a little wave as he disappeared around the corner.

"If he's distracting you, you shouldn't hang out with him." Gennie said obnoxiously as I followed her back into the changing rooms.

"Says the one who obsessed over my brother for two years," I snapped, and I caught the hurt look on her face, but I just pushed ahead of her.

As we joined the rest of the team, I heard the rest of the stadium's buzz of excitement. Putting my hair up in a secure bun, I slipped my wand into my bra, hoping I wouldn't have to use it.

"You know what we've got to do," said Wood as we prepared to leave the locker rooms. "If we lose this match, we're out of the running. just -- just fly like you did in practice yesterday, and we'll be okay!"

We walked out to crazy applause. The Ravenclaw team were already on the pitch, their seeker Cho Chang the only girl on the team. She was very small and beautiful, and I could see Harry blushing just looking at her.

"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain. "Mount your brooms ... on my whistle ... three -- two -- one --"

I kicked off into the air and my Nimbus went about half the height of Harry's firebolt. I felt comfortable on this broom, and I felt right at home, and determined as hell.

"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship --" Lee Jordan began as if starting a sponsorship.

As I streaked after Katie and Gennie on the pitch, I heard McGonagall screaming at Lee to shut up.

I managed to get possession from one of the chasers, and I started heading towards the goal post, going for those precious ten points.

"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Aurora 'Rory' Oswin of Gryffindor, is heading for goal..."

Catching a glimpse of Harry, I grinned, swerving around two chasers at once, wincing as I heard them collide. I could see the keeper, he looked nervous. Giving it all I had, I threw the quaffle, and watched it confidently sail past.

"Annddd ten points to Gryffindor by Rory Oswin, proving that throwing like a girl isn't an insult!" I heard Lee Jordan shout, and I stuck my fist in the air, tingling with excitement.

The game progressed quickly, with the three of us all scoring a total of eight goals between us. We were doing spectacularly well.

"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn -- Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision -- balance is really noticeable in these long --"

"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"

Laughing, once again, Gennie and I did one of our best strategies-throwing the quaffle between us to confuse the chasers. Our throwing was still on pointe, and it was made better with Lee's amazing commentary.

But soon Ravenclaw starting clawing back, they scored three goals-and if Cho caught the snitch now, we would lose. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Cho block Harry off from the snitch, and he wasn't doing anything about it.

"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!" Wood roared as Harry swerved to avoid a collision. "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"

I caught sight of Cho; she was grinning. The Snitch had vanished again. Harry turned his Firebolt upward and was soon twenty feet above the game. I squinted, trying to see my brother, and shook my head. This was not the time to get distracted.

Harry dived again, and Cho tried to follow; Harry pulled out of the dive very sharply and all attention was on him-even those on the pitch.

"Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing.

I looked down. Three Dementors, three tall, black, hooded Dementors, were looking up at us, and I froze, paralysed in fear.

Harry was Plunging a hand down the neck of his robes; he whipped out his wand and roared, "Expecto patronum!"

Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of his wand. I gasped as it hit the dementors and they fell with a heap, groaning... Wait-what?

Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. In the next moment there was cheering as we all collided in the sky, hugging Harry so hard he was almost pulled off his broom. I could hear the applause all around us, I I felt high in the best way, high on life.

"That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling. Katie and Gennie had both kissed Harry on the cheek (I settled for a hug); Fred had him in a grip so tight I thought his head would come off. Harry and I both dismounted, and headed into the crowd, where Ron, Cole and Alia (who was sat on Cole's shoulders) met us , cheering.

"Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air. "Yes! Yes!"

"I am so proud of you guys!" Cole whooped. "I'm so glad I put ten galleons on for you all to win!"

"Good for you, Harry!" I heard Seamus roar, but I saw there was an angry set to his jaw, and as he went over to Gennie, I heard him scream, "What are you playing at-"

Feeling uncomfortable and as if I should do something, I got distracted as Remus came over to us.

"That was quite some Patronus," Remus said to Harry.

"The Dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"That would be because they -- er -- weren't Dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see -- "

He led us out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field.

"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin.

I could barely believe my eyes. Draco was lying in a crumpled heap on the ground with Crabbe, Goyle and the Slytherin captain, trying to remove themselves from a long black robe.

It looked as though Draco had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall.

"An unworthy trick!" she was shouting. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"

Draco caught my eye, and I looked at how pathetic he was trying to escape the robe. "Enjoy yourself, Malfoy!" I shouted. "Nobody likes a so-called friend who decides to sabotage a match!"

"It-it was a last minute thing!" Draco struggled to say as he fought against the robe.

"Yeah, well you still did it!" I screamed, and turned away from him, not wanting the idiot to ruin my day.

George grabbed my shoulders. "Come on, Rory! There's a party in Gryffindor common room!"

"Right," I grinned and feeling happier than I had in ages, despite being burning mad with Draco. the rest of the team led the way, still in scarlet robes, out of the stadium and back up to the castle.

It felt as though we had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Fred and George disappeared for a couple of hours (with Alia and Cole in tow) and returned with armfuls of bottles of butterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets.

"How did you do that?" squealed Lavender as Cole started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd.

"With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Cole giggled, already half-drunk from the butterbeer.

Only two people weren't joining in the festivities. Hermione, incredibly, was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book entitled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles.

Gennie was sat in the window seat, tears streaming down her face. Nobody was paying her any attention, not even Seamus. The sight of her looking so vulnerable and heartbroken made a lump come to my throat.

"Come on, let's see Hermione." Harry said, dragging my arm. We broke away from the crowd surrounding Fred and George who were juggling butterbeer bottles, and Cole, who was downing all the bottles before they were juggled.

My worry for Gennie went away long enough to be distracted by Hermione.

"Did you even come to the match?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Of course I did," said Hermione in a strangely high-pitched voice, not looking up. "And I'm very glad we won, and I think you did really well, but I need to read this by Monday."

"Come on, Hermione, come and have some food," I said, looking over at Ron and wondering whether he was in a good enough mood to bury the hatchet. "You can always look for chapter summaries in the library!"

"I can't, Rory! I've still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!" said Hermione, now sounding slightly hysterical. "Anyway..." She glanced over at Ron too. "He doesn't want me to join in."

There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that moment to say loudly, "If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them --"

Hermione burst into tears. Before I could say or do anything, she tucked the enormous book under her arm, and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight.

"Can't you give her a break?" Harry asked Ron quietly as we approached him.

"No," said Ron flatly. "If she just acted like she was sorry -- but she'll never admit she's wrong, Hermione. She's still acting like Scabbers has gone on holiday or something."

"What's the matter with Gennie?" I asked him softly, watching my emotional wreck of a god-sister walk like a member of the dead up to the dormitory.

"Dunno. I don't talk to her." Ron shrugged.

I stared open mouthed. "You don't talk to her? I thought you were!"

"Well we forgave each other. Gennie and you haven't. She's acting weird in any case. But I think I heard Seamus say he broke up with her." Ron shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Staring after Gennie, I wasn't sure what to do.

The party only ended when McGonagall turned up at one in the morning to tell us to all go to sleep. Feeling too undecided to go up to the dorm and face an awkward silence, I curled up on the sofa in front of the fire.

I was drifting off to sleep when I heard footsteps. Jerking awake, I lighted my wand to see Gennie trailing through the common room looking pathetic with un-brushed hair and her too-small teddy-bear nightie.

"Uh," she said, noticing me.

"Um," I said, feeling awkward. "I um, I heard about you and Seamus."

She gave a laugh and shook her head. "He's an arsehole."

"I once dated somebody like that," I said.

Gennie sat on the other side of the sofa awkwardly. "He thought I still liked Harry or that I was cheating on him," she said her eyes full of tears. "What did he call me? Oh yeah, a pathetic skank who couldn't get over herself to love him like I should."

"That's horrible," I said. "All I got was a phone-call saying that things weren't working out and that I was a distant, frigid bitch."

"We haven't had the best luck with boys, have we?" Gennie laughed her eyes full of tears.

I crawled across the sofa and sat next to her. "We'll find somebody eventually."

"Yeah right," Gennie scoffed. "I'm going to die without any friends or boyfriends."

"Don't say that," I said, feeling on the edge of an apology. "Cole was saying to me the other week he thought you were really hot and too good for Seamus."

"But that's Cole; he doesn't count, as sweet as he is." Gennie laughed, rubbing at her eyes.

"Maybe we can work things out and be friends again," I said quietly, so quietly I thought she didn't hear me.

"Maybe." She whispered.

And lying close together, our arms touching, we both fell asleep.

I was in a strange dream. I was stood in a clearing; afraid and paralysed, frozen into spot like a life-size statue. White mist was surrounding me, calling out my name in a whispery, eerie way, leaving my hair sticking up on the back of my neck.

Pain shot through my wrist and I screamed in agony as blood started bubbling under the scarred skin, and red and green lightning was crackling in sky as I screamed in agony, the mist swallowing me whole....

But a white mist was catching up with the trees. And each tree it touched curled up and died, and sent a shocking pain into my forehead.

"AGHHHHH NOOOOOO!" Ron's voice jolted me awake, and turning on the light of my wand I sat up, Gennie sitting up with me, looking terrified.

I looked to see what she was looking at, only to turn and see the haunted skeletal face of Sirius Black kneeling in front of us, his grey eyes staring in delight at us. He was clutching a knife in his hand.

"So much like your parents," he whispered, reaching out to touch my hair, and I jerked away, silent in terror. "Never doubt my innocence, Aurora; I only want to protect you and your brother."

"You get away from her, you freak!" Gennie shouted, and pushing me aside. In a flash of fur and teeth, Gennie was a wolf again, leaping towards Sirius teeth bared.

"Genesis..." Black gasped in shock. And then he was running, and he vanished through the portrait hole.

Gennie morphed back into human form as doors began opening, and people began calling to each other in confusion. My thoughts went back to Ron's scream. Was he okay?

"Are you okay?" Gennie said hurriedly, putting a hand on my shoulder as if we were friends again. I nodded, shocked.

Harry appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and I finally brought myself to move to reach him. "What's happening?" I asked.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming Ron?" Harry called up the stairs, he turned back to me. "Apparently, Sirius Black was over Ron with a knife. But you two are the only ones down here."

Harry headed down into the common room, and all of the boys joined him.

"I'm telling you, I saw him!" Ron shouted.

"What's all the noise?" A few people were calling.

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"

A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling on dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" said Fred Weasley brightly.

"Everyone back upstairs!" said Percy, hurrying into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke.

"Perce -- Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

The common room went very still.

"Nonsense!" said Percy, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron -- had a nightmare --"

"I'm telling you --"

I opened my mouth to tell them what I saw, but my mouth seemed incapable of working.

"Now, really, enough's enough!" Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around.

"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare --"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Professor McGonagall stared at him.

"He came down here!" Gennie burst out. Everybody stared at her. "He was in front of me and Rory. We only woke up because of Ron. He did have a knife, and probably would have killed us if we were still sleeping."

"Don't be ridiculous, Mr Weasley, Miss Lupin, how could he have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him!" said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. "Ask him if he saw --"

Glaring suspiciously at them, Professor McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with held breath. "Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadogan.

There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.

"You -- you did?" said Professor McGonagall. "But -- but the password!"

"He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk.

"Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.