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Chapter 4

I was dancing. I could practically feel the music coursing through me, as I swayed on my feet, raising my arms above my head. There was a sea of bodies dancing around me, heating the air. The space between each dancer was thick with humidity and desire. I could almost taste it.

I continued to move, and swirl my hips around as a hand circled my waist, spinning me. I didn't even know who the person was, and I didn't care. I closed my eyes at the feeling of another body pressed into my back, their hips pressing hard into mine. We moved together, their hands balling the sides of my shirt in their fists.

As the beat to the music bumped heavier, a hot breath on my neck sent me trembling. With shaking knees, I turned in my partner's arms and pressed my face into their chest, inhaling deeply. Soap and sweat met my senses. So familiar, and so intoxicating.

Hands gripped my wrists, pulling me back and out of the stranger's arms. I looked up, but the haze from the heat made it impossible to recognize their face. I whimpered as someone else spun me around into open arms. I was sent spinning across the dance floor several times until everything stopped and it was only me left, standing alone in the Gryffindor common room, surrounded by red and gold streamers. I watched as they floated to the floor curling around the toes of my shoes.

Confetti rained down from the ceiling as I spun around, trying to find the person I had danced so closely to. "Come upstairs." A voice whispered against my ear, sending a wave of shivers down my spine. I gasped at the sound and my eyes opened to the dark of my room.

I could hear Luce faintly snoring on the opposite side of our dormitory. I covered my face in my hands and groaned softly, not exactly wanting that dream to end. I had never dreamt so vividly. The goosebumps were still stretched across my arms and legs.

With a sigh, I situated my pillows and pulled my blankets around me that I had apparently kicked off. Luce's snoring kept me awake, but only for a moment before I was fast asleep, unable to conjure a damn dream.

An alarm was beeping annoyingly. I cracked an eye open to see Luce hop out of bed as if she had slept a full 8, perfect hours. Her morning routine made me regret ever befriending her. "Rise and shine sleepy head!" She said, patting my ankle. I pulled it back under the blanket and groaned.

"Why should I?"

"Because! Today we are having a picnic, remember?"

I had forgot. Her and Simon have apparently felt as if they were excluding me, and decided that what I needed most was a picnic as a third wheel. Their intentions were good, so of course I agreed. The two always managed to keep public affection to a minimum around me, something I was silently thankful for.

I didn't know if I could to take seeing such acts after that dream I had. Even after falling back asleep, the remnants of it were fresh in my head. I could probably have fifty dreams and would still remember every detail about it.

Luce threw a white shirt at my head and bounced the corner of the bed, jarring me out of my reverie. "C'mon! It's such a gorgeous day! And it's not too cold yet."

"Fine…Ugh, I'm up." I groaned as I pulled my pajama top up over my head and threw it in our shared hamper. I looked at the Quidditch shirt she had thrown me, with a bright green emblem of Australia's team. A dragon circled the shield with the words 'Australia's Best' written in glittering green letters. "Quidditch? Really? I've had just about enough Quidditch." I mumbled, pulling it on.

Luce scoffed and smoothed her shiny mane of hair down past her shoulders where it fell in a perfectly straight line at her back. She somehow always managed to keep her hair in perfect condition, no matter what circumstance came our way. I just wanted to ruffle it up once to see if it fell back into place perfectly.

"Well, there's a game this weekend, you know. We play Hufflepuff."

"Oh joy."

I admit, I wasn't one of the sporty girls. Despite having friends who knew practically everything about the game, I couldn't tell the difference between a bludger and a beater. And to be honest, I liked it that way.

Me and sports never mixed well, probably because me and coordination never mixed well. Add aerial acrobats in the mix while flying at dangerous speeds and I might as well just throw myself off the Astronomy Tower. At least that way, I'd have at least a few unbroken bones.

"You can sit with me and cheer Simon on!"

"As long as we skip the after party. Of course, if the Huff's win, I doubt there'll be much of one."

Luce turned around as I slipped my pants on and put her hands on her hips. "You bet your arse I'm not letting you go to another bloody party until you're 30!"

Somehow I didn't believe her, but she would be the best at keeping me out of trouble. Funny how just a few weeks ago, Trouble and I didn't even know each other…now we're on a first name basis and he just seems to follow me around everywhere.

By the time we had made it out onto the lawn, it was clear that the majority of the students planned to spend the last pretty day outside, before the weather turned nasty. The wind was nippy, but I was warm inside my fleece jacket. I stuffed my hands inside the soft pockets and followed Luce and Simon to our designated picnic spot.

The lawn sloped downward a bit and leveled off before descending down the stone steps to the dock. It was a nice spot, with a lovely view of the lake. I could see a few students skipping rocks and laughing before I sat on the blue and silver blanket Simon stretched out.

He tapped his wand against the basket and pulled out three plates and sandwiches. "Smells yummy! I didn't realize how hungry I was." I said as my stomach growled in anticipation. Just as I started to take a bite, I caught a glimpse of a group of girls standing above us on the hill. They were marching down the slope heading straight toward us.

And of course, in the lead was my new found enemy, Jillian. With a sigh, I set the sandwich down on the plate and dusted my fingers off on my corduroy pants.

Luce turned to glance over her shoulder at what I was staring at, and I couldn't be too sure, but it sounded like a growl escaped her throat. "Oh great." She muttered just as the clique of girls stopped before us. Jillian's perfectly polished boots were on the blanket.

With a sigh, as if the entire thing was an inconvenience to our picnic, Luce tapped the tip of the girl's boot. "Excuse me, you're getting mud on my blanket."

"Well, it's only an improvement." Jilian bit back, grinding her foot into the fabric of the blanket. I rolled my eyes and stood up, knowing good and well that Luce was going to go stark raving mad if I didn't stop this right now.

"Can we help you?"

Jillian cast her dark eyes toward me, her arms crossing over her chest slowly. Her dark hair fell in pleats and was tied back with a thin, red ribbon. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" She stepped to the side, only a foot away from me now. "Do you honestly think you could stand a chance with Sirius? Because to be honest, I don't."

"Well, thank you for you honesty, but I really do not care about Sirius Black. Nor do I care about dating him, or pretty much anything to do with him."

"Then why are you spreading around the rumor that you two slept together?"

I narrowed my eyes, my brow furrowing. "I'm not spreading it around. Everyone else is! If you seem to know something about that night, why don't you come forward and tell everyone you were with Black?" I tapped my chin, in mock thought, anger fueling my words. "Oh that's right, because you weren't. And if my memory serves me correctly, it wasn't you waking up beside him, it was me. So why don't you just give up this little game you're playing. You're not very good at it."

I could see flames behind her eyes as she seethed under my words. I had gotten to her. The words of a chubby Ravenclaw actually unnerved a Gryffindor bombshell. Chalk one up for the big girls! I felt proud. Until a sharp slap to my face sent stars through my vision.

"What. The. Fuck." I said, blinking back the tears from the sting. Jillian was breathing hard, her fists clenched at her side. In seconds, Luce and Simon were on their feet and by my side, their wands outstretched. The girl's surrounding Jillian were a bit late, but by her side nonetheless.

"No one speaks to me like that. Do you even know who my parents are? They could literally strip you and your entire family of magic, of course unless you're a stinking mudblood."

"She's not." Simon snapped. "But I am. And I don't give a rats arse who your family is. If they come near me, I'll hex them into the fucking sky." Both Luce's and my eyes widened at him. He was so quiet, I never knew he had it in him. I very much liked it.

Her eyes narrowed at his threat, but she didn't push him further. Jillian turned her attention back to me, raising a finger close to my face. I thought about grabbing it and throwing her down the hill, but I couldn't face another detention. "Just stay the hell away from my boyfriend, you disgusting, fat slut." She sneered before spinning on her boot heel, her long hair whipping me in the face.

I shook my head and touched my tender cheek with my fingers. My skin was still hot from the slap and a part of me wondered if any of it happened at all. My head was dizzy from the incident, and all I wanted to do was scream at the top of my lungs. That would probably give the professor's something to worry about, so instead I turned to Luce and Simon. "I'm sorry." I said, sighing toward the sky.

"She's a bitch." Simon put his wand back into his pocket and glared at the retreating group of girls.

Luce inspected my face and put the back of her cool fingers against my cheek. "She's so nasty. Are you alright? I couldn't believe she slapped you."

Smirking, I glanced over at our abandoned picnic, wishing we had opted to have it in the Ravenclaw common room instead. "I'm fine. I kind of feel good though."

"Good? I'm still bristling." Simon pushed a hand through his hair and shook his head in disgust. He sat back down on his blanket and proceeded to build his sandwich. Like a true boy, never gives up food for anything. As I sat down, I folded my legs under me and smiled at my two best mates. "It just feels good knowing that even for a drunken night, her boyfriend chose me instead."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you should try to pursue him. He obviously brings a lot of trouble to the table."

Trouble. There he was again, snickering behind my back. No doubt he watched the whole scene go down. Still, I couldn't help but smile to myself. Despite the harsh words Jillian had said, the underlying message was loud and clear; she was jealous of me.

And since I was a girl who always had boys consider me 'one of them'…it felt damn good knowing that I got the guy that she couldn't. Or well, that night. Sighing, I turned back to the picnic and took a bite of my loaded sandwich. Just as I was beginning to enjoy myself, a brown owl swooped down and landed on the blanket beside me.

Luce shrieked in surprise, her bread and bottle of water flying out of her hands. "Bloody hell!" She screamed, her mouth still half full.

Laughing, I reached over and untied the rolled up note from the bird. I pulled off a piece of bread and held it out for him to take as a treat before he took off into the sky. "Who's it from" Simon asked behind his cup of butterbeer.

I unrolled it and frowned. The handwriting was unfamiliar, and definitely not my mother or father's. "I don't know."

"Well, what's it say?"

I sighed and looked at Luce from over the paper, pursing my lips. "I'm trying to read it." They both fell silent as I inspected the note.

'Pen,

Meet me in the library at a quarter til' nine.'

It wasn't signed, immediately making the knots in my stomach tighten.

Surely this had to be a prank. Another ploy of Jillian's to get me cornered so she could inflict further damage. But, then again, my curiosity was peaking. Who could it be from? If it were someone like my new found enemy, she wouldn't have called me Pen. Unless she wanted to trick me. Ugh. The paranoia was seriously starting to make a dull ache form behind my eyes.

Luce glanced at me from over her sandwich, noticing my silence. Before she could lean over and spy what was written, I folded it up and slipped it into my pocket, smiling as convincingly as I could. "Just Margaret Moe. I borrowed her Astronomy maps to check mine and she wrote me, wanting to meet up to exchange them." I averted my eyes, not entirely sure why I had lied…

She always made sure to play things safe, and so far throughout my life, I thought that's what I enjoyed as well. And despite the fact that I still loathed myself for that drunken night in the Gryffindor common room, something inside me kind of, actually, sort of liked it.

And that in itself was horrifying to admit.

Sighing, I looked down at my egg sandwich. I didn't feel so hungry anymore. Instead, all I could think about what how I could show up in the library and spy on whoever came in.

In the end, I decided to go two hours early, just in case Jillian and her gang of lackey's decided to form a plan early on. So far, the only students amongst the books were studying or working hard on forgotten homework. I checked the large clock above the circular check-in desk and saw it was only 8:30. Madame Pince was stamping books and placing them on a metal cart, humming lightly to herself.

The library would be closing at nine, and still there was no sign of my mystery writer, or Jillian. Maybe it wasn't her.

For once, I was thankful my paranoia didn't pay off. I sat back in my chair, hidden at the back of the library. The locked Restricted Section was at my back, and I had a good view of the door if I peeked around the shelves. But, no one that would seek me out was in the library, and the door stayed closed until 8:55.

I sighed and stacked my books as Madame Pince came around and gave every one the final warning to finish up working so she could close the library. I stood and swung my satchel over my shoulder, wondering what I had even expected from tonight. Did I think Sirius Black would stroll in and tell me he dumped Jillian and wanted to be best friends forever? No, I don't think I was that daft. Maybe it was an apology from Eric? Even though I highly doubted that to ever happen.

With a shrug to my own thoughts, I pursed my lips and turned to face the library, nearly colliding head first into someone else. The scent of a fresh shower hit me, making me whip my head up so fast I felt my neck pop.

"Oh." I said as I looked up into a familiar smirking face.

AN- Well, a sort of cliff hanger. I've been debating on whether or not to re-write the last part of this chapter, and finally, I just decided to split it into two chapters. It was almost 10 pages and I didn't know where to stop it. Anyway, thanks SOO very much for all the reviews! I really, really appreciate them!