A/N: So…I wasn't going to update so quickly. My husband and I were supposed to go on a day-long hike to condition for a three-day backpacking trip we're taking in May. But then I fell over our bedframe in the middle of the night and screwed up my knee…so here I am writing this author's note in Starbucks a few hours before we go see Deadpool. On the bright side, it's Valentine's day tomorrow and I figured why not give a little love to ION's readers?

Warnings – This chapter has a distinct lime flavor and there is a lot of setup because this chapter also kicks off the DA arc! This chapter also features Hermione who is far and away my favorite trio character to write…I don't know about you guys but I always picture her as being a little sassier than JKR shows in the books, especially towards the twins.

Thank you a million times over for the reviews, favorites and follows! I always try to send PM's to the people who review, but still…extra thanks!

Disclaimer – I don't own Harry Potter. If I did I wouldn't cry every time I saw my student loan balance.

Chapter 6 – In a Compromising Position

"Kate." Ian's voice sounded oddly hollow in Kate's head, filtering between the loud ringing she heard between her ears. Comprehension came to her in single word increments, each one banging against her skull louder than the last. Ian. Cara. News Dungeon. Snogging. The scene was also now permanently burned into her retinas. "Earth to Kate?"

Kate registered that Ian was chewing nervously on one thumb and waving the other hand past her face. He shifted his gaze nervously over his shoulder back at Cara and frowned as if to say 'what now?' The ringing faded to a dull roar as Kate tried to put the pieces together. Questions began to present themselves in rapid succession and Kate's mouth began to move before she really had a grasp on what she was saying.

"What are you-when did you? How long have you? I don't even know where to-" she said and pinched the bridge of her nose. Screwing her eyes tightly shut she exhaled sharply and then opened them to see Cara and Ian staring at her with guilty expressions. All of the frustration she'd felt since the summer had been building to a boiling point and it seemed that walking in on her best friend and little sister snogging was the tipping point. "OH MY GOD!"

Kate's shout echoed painfully throughout the News Dungeon, Cara and Ian flinched. Breathing hard, Kate pressed a hand over her chest to try and calm her erratic heart. "Okay, okay I know this looks bad," said Ian, daring to take a closer step to her. "It's not how I wanted you to find out."

Raising a shaking finger, Kate dumbly pointed at her best friend. "You," she slipped her finger through the air to point at Cara. "And you! You're snogging? In the News Dungeon? Oh my God!"

Cara, recovered from her initial surprise at being caught, snorted in laughter. "Told you she'd take it like this."

Ian gaped at Cara. "You said she'd be surprised. You didn't say she'd go mental."

"I'm mental?" Kate said loudly, drawing the attention back to her. "I'm mental? You thought that you two could go around snogging in News Dungeons and I wouldn't find out about it? How long has this been going on?"

"We were going to tell you. This week actually," said Cara, stepping in to relieve a terrified Ian. "Things sort of officially started a couple days after school started? But we've been writing to each other all summer, things just sort of progressed from there."

Her brain shorted out. "All summer? You've had feelings for Ian all summer and you never told me?"

Cara smiled at Ian, her flawless skin practically glowing. There was something in the way they looked at each other that was familiar to Kate. "More like since before school ended last year. For my part anyway. It's just we're in the same house and we have you in common. We have a lot of things in common, actually. And after you started dating George you weren't around as much and we started spending time together. Then I started helping out with the paper and you know how the saying goes, one thing led to another."

"You've liked me that long?" Ian asked, a smile slowly spreading across his handsome face. "Because I definitely fancied you towards the end of last year, too," he said.

Kate literally couldn't believe the things she was hearing. Her friendship with Ian was something she prized and no matter how much they drove each other crazy they were very possessive over one another. It had taken Ian weeks to get comfortable with George being around. Somewhere, deep inside, Kate knew that eventually Ian would get past his social anxiety and find someone. But in all the permutations of all the scenarios Kate had imagined, she'd never thought that person would be her little sister.

It was too much! After everything that had happened in the two weeks since starting back, something in Kate snapped. She slumped down and sat on the floor, burying her face in her hands and groaning loudly. Every time she thought that her year couldn't take another twist or turn she was thrown for a new loop which left her absolutely reeling. This was no different. Sharing Ian was one thing, but sharing Ian with the girl who liked to raid her wardrobe and happened to be her own blood relative was an entirely different monster.

"Kate," said Cara. She sat down next to her sister and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she said between her fingers. But that was a lie and Kate knew it. And she was tired of lying, she felt as though she'd spent all year lying and for the first time she could actually tell the truth. Raising her head she glared at Ian. "Actually no, I'm not okay. You should have told me! Ian, you're my best friend. I tell you everything and this isn't some random girl you want to take to Hogsmeade and then never talk to again. This is my little sister! How are we supposed to trust each other when you're keeping this from me?"

Ian crossed his arms over his chest and arched an eyebrow. Kate realized then that she probably looked beyond childish, shouting at him from the floor. It was a new level of mortifying, even for her. "Well, your reaction pretty much says it all for one thing," he said with the faintest trace of sarcasm. Kate's glare intensified and Ian immediately sobered. He came and sat down next to her. "I didn't know how to tell you. At first I thought it was a passing thing and I didn't want to make a big deal out of something that wasn't going to happen and get people hurt. I certainly wasn't going to tell you in a letter over the summer either. You're right though, we are best friends and I shouldn't have kept you in the dark for so long. I'm so sorry."

"I know you're making sense, but I still want to be mad for a little longer," she muttered.

Ian threw his head back and laughed. "You're entitled. You can shout at me some more if you like."

"Or at me," said Cara, sitting down on Kate's other side. "I'm just as guilty. Maybe more so, we did live under the same roof for half the summer and I didn't say anything."

Kate considered this for a moment and gave her sister a gentle shove. "Good point, you're a terrible sister," she grumbled. Cara grinned and shoved her back. "You guys just surprised me is all. Usually it's Ian walking in on me and not the other way around. I guess payback is a real bitch, huh."

"Hah! This isn't even close to payback!" Ian barked through his laugh.

"You've been dating my sister behind my back after spending a whole summer pining after each other," said Kate in a deadpan voice. "I think we're even."

"Touché," said Ian.

The longer the three sat on the floor, the more ridiculous the whole thing became. You-Know-Who was back, Umbridge was terrorizing the school, Kate had to decide about the Order of the Phoenix without telling anyone, George couldn't tell her where he'd been all summer and was hardly around because of the business. The paper was taking over her life again, while classes were overwhelming her and she was facing the business end of a week where George would be unavailable yet again. And now Ian Haynes—brilliant, gorgeous, funny, wonderful, supportive—Ian Haynes was dating Cara. Kate's anger deflated in her chest and was replaced with an irrational euphoria. Kate had almost nothing to be happy about and yet she tipped over sideways clutching her stomach as she began to laugh hysterically.

"Merlin's beard, she really has lost it," muttered Cara under her breath to Ian.

But Kate couldn't stop laughing. "You two are dating," she gasped between the waves. "And I shouted at you sitting on the floor like a five-year old!"

Ian's chuckle turned into a full-bellied laugh. "You should have seen your face!" He half-shouted. "I thought you were going to throw up."

This only caused them to howl harder, Cara joining in. It was some time before they finally stopped, all three laying on the flagstone floor staring up at the vaulted ceiling. "Has it really only been two weeks since term started? Because it feels like a lifetime," said Ian at length.

Kate's moment of glee had subsided, leaving her somewhat numb. "It's only been two weeks," she confirmed. "And they've been the fucking worst."

"I hope this whole fiasco has nothing to do with it," said Cara furtively, trying to extract her sister's approval. Kate had now had a little bit of time to consider Ian and Cara as a couple and the more she thought about it, the less it sounded like total lunacy. She was fiercely protective of both and in many ways Kate always worried that nobody would ever be good enough for them. But Cara and Ian exuded a strong feeling of belonging and Kate began to wonder why she'd never thought of them together before.

"What? No! God no, if you two want to go around snogging in the News Dungeon be my guest. Just put a sock outside the door or something next time."

"I should say the same to you about George," said Ian.

Kate's lips drug into a lazy smile, recalling the numerous times Ian had shouted George out of the News Dungeon. The trio lay for sometime time longer until the cold, hard flagstones began digging into Kate's shoulders and her backside went numb. Morning drew on while various other paper members came and went. Kate continued to work on hear article and edits of others, existing in her happy place. Chaos had followed her incessantly since the school year started but it did give her clarity as to one critical aspect of her life. She drew peace from the paper and her work with it and as she argued with Ian over the layout, Kate knew there was nothing else she'd rather do.

X X X

Late September arrived in a flurry of fall colors and cooler weather. A steady drizzle hung over the castle for days on end, reflecting the gloomy mood of the student body. Lessons drug on as they usually did and it seemed that every teacher was keen to remind the seventh years that the NEWTs would be upon them in no time. Though the exams weren't until June, the warnings appeared to work on a handful of the seventh years, sending them into premature panic attacks. George was among the contingent of students that remained entirely unconcerned about the exams, preferring to devote his time to the business with Fred instead.

On the last Sunday in September he found himself in one of Flitwick's empty classrooms, sitting in a chair, head between his knees. Clammy sweat had broken out all over his body, the beads clinging to the back of his neck and caused his t-shirt to stick to his sides. Looking down at his hands, George could see they visibly shook and his skin was even paler than usual. George's stomach alternated between flipping over repeatedly and tying itself into knots. Even now he felt the bile rise up in his throat, encouraging him to throw up the contents of his stomach, which at this point was absolutely nothing. Blowing out a barely controlled sigh, he tried to lift his head to fix a beady eye on Fred.

"I thought you said you worked out the long-term nausea effects?"

George barely got the words out of his mouth before he retched again, sending a spray of stomach acid into the bucket directly beneath him. Groaning, he rubbed the back of his neck, his palm sliding over his slick skin.

"Ah, yeah, thought I had," said Fred cagily. He was making furious notes on a clipboard.

"Rubbish, I took the purple end ages ago," rasped George, groping for the goblet of water on the desk closest to him.

"At least, I thought I did the incantation that Alicia gave me correctly. I don't know, she may have been having me on after I tried to secretly test the improved Canary Cream on her," said Fred, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

George, though his stomach rebelled against the thought, took in a large mouthful of water. Forcing himself to swallow, the water's near frigid temperature gave him a small measure of relief. His throat was thoroughly raw from their most recent round of testing and he felt nauseous again as he felt the water sloshing around in his empty stomach.

"You didn't think to look the spell up and double check?" Snapped George irritably.

"That would have been a good idea, sorry mate."

Sorry didn't even begin to cover it in George's estimation. For the last three hours they'd been holed away in the empty classroom, testing a multitude of iterations of Puking Pastilles. Each sample was in its own box with a small piece of parchment affixed to it, detailing the entire magical sequence that went into its creation. Unfortunately, it was George's turn to test after Fred had ruined one of his school shirts while they tried to work the kinks out of the nosebleed nougats. It was a good thing that Kate had a senior staff meeting with the paper that would go late, thought George irritably. She certainly wouldn't want to come near him in his current state.

Slowly, he started to feel better as he listened to Fred's quill scratch rapidly across the parchment on the clipboard. "We've managed to stop the continuous vomiting and if we can just solve the long-term nausea I think we've got a winner."

Finally in control of his stomach, George waved his wand over the contents of his buck, which smelled unpleasant to say the least.

"Evanesco," he muttered and the contents vanished, taking the stench with it. He sat up straighter. "What did Alicia tell you to do? Remind me to have a word with her by the way."

Fred grinned at his brother. "She told me to use a type of time charm to prolong the effects of a single event, the theory being that if the pastille caused the user to have one prolonged event of sickness it would keep the effects less severe and allow the user to swallow the purple half."

"The problem being that the after effects continue even after swallowing the purple half," said George and he stretched his arms over his head. The sweat at the neck and running down his back was beginning to cool and he reached for his navy blue thermal, tugging it back over his gray t-shirt.

"Something like that, yeah. So either the charm was too strong or the spells on the purple chew need to be beefed up to stop all side effects."

George held his hand out for the clipboard. "Let me look at the spell sequencing."

Fred had just handed over the clipboard when the classroom door opened and Hermione Granger appeared in the doorway. Her bushy hair was pulled back from her face in a wild ponytail which went in all directions as she came into the classroom, despite Fred's weak protest. Her arms were clamped around a thick stack of books and George could just make out the faded titles on the spines: Practical Defense; A Hundred Heinous Hexes; and Curious Curses and their Effects.

"There you two are, I've been looking everywhere for you," she said and set the stack down. Free of the heavy load, she rolled her neck and George heard a few distinct pops.

"If you've come to give us hell, you'll notice we are currently first year-free and there's nothing you can do to keep us from testing on each other," started Fred, his hackles rising.

Hermione shot him a calculating glare, the kind that made George secretly nervous. Both he and Fred thoroughly enjoyed taking the mickey out of Hermione when they got the chance, but deep down he knew that if she really wanted to, she could probably transfigure both of them into banana slugs or worse. Crossing her arms over her chest, she arched an eyebrow as she drank in the sight before her. The empty bucket along with the different puking pastille wrappers, notes, and the ingredient list didn't leave much to the imagination.

"If you two insist on being incurable idiots I'm certainly not going to stop you," she snapped at Fred who gaped at her.

"Incurable idiot?" He mouthed silently as she plowed on, completely ignoring him.

"I'm not here to talk to you about that. As you know this weekend is the first Hogsmeade visit," she said and paused.

George grinned, regaining his bearings. "You know if you want a date you're going to have to ask Ronniekins yourself. I think we all know he's never going to work up the courage to ask you."

His remark had indeed hit close to home, confirming a theory he and Kate had been musing over for ages now. Hermione flushed a brilliant shade of magenta. "And if I wanted dating advice I wouldn't ask someone who waited to do something until after Kate got a boyfriend," she shot back, unafraid to go toe-to-toe with him. Fred howled with laughter. "Or someone who can't go two days without fighting with his own girlfriend."

That shut Fred up, much to George's amusement. "So, if it's not affairs of the heart or business matters, then what can we do for you?"

Hermione shifted her weight and glanced back at the books she'd set down. "I'm trying to gauge whether people would be interested in setting up a defense against the dark arts group."

Well, George hadn't been expecting that. "What kind of defense group?"

"A practical group. We're not learning anything from that foul Umbridge woman." George and Fred shared a surprised look, they'd never heard Hermione speak ill of any teacher before. "And if we don't start learning how to defend ourselves we'll never pass our OWLs or NEWTs and more to the point, we'll be totally unprepared against V-Voldemort and his followers."

Both Fred and George flinched at You-Know-Who's name and George found himself staring at her in awe. "Umbridge and the Ministry are trying to keep us from learning practical defense because Fudge is delusional and thinks that Dumbledore is trying to start an army," she plowed on, undeterred by the twins' shocked silence. "And I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let the Ministry tell me I can't defend myself."

George stared at Hermione with newfound respect and admiration. Suddenly she wasn't just his little brother's genius best friend. She seemed to stand taller as she spoke, a fire blazing in her brown eyes. "How're we going to be practicing without a teacher?"

"I've asked Harry to teach us," she said. "Out of everyone I know he has the most experience and he can do things that adult wizards can't do. Did you know Harry can produce a corporeal patronus? Or that he can throw off the imperius curse? And last year he learned over fifty curses, jinxes, and hexes for the third task."

Fred cast a sideways glance at George who nodded shortly. Holding up a hand, George silenced her. "Hermione, you don't have to give us the full pitch to convince us. We're in."

She gave them a breathless, rather pretty smile. "Great! So we're meeting at the Hogs Head Inn this Saturday. I was going to ask Alicia, Angelina, Katie, Lee, and Kate, do you think they'll be interested?"

"Probably," said Fred. "We can talk to them for you if you want, to save you some time and hassle."

Hermione practically beamed at them. "Would you? Oh that would be great! Just let me know who you think will be coming!"

The bell rang, chiming nine o'clock. Startled, Hermione looked down at her watch. "I've got to go, I'm due to start prefect duty with Ernie. Thank you so much for your help, though!"

Hermione gathered up her books and without another word bustled back out of the classroom as quickly as she came in. Fred shoved his hands in his pockets. "A defense group, huh? Could be interesting."

"Just as long as Harry doesn't start shouting at everyone it should be great," muttered George, much to Fred's amusement. "C'mon, we should probably head back to the common room before one of the prefects tries to give us detention."

X X X

On the Tuesday before the first Hogsmeade visit, Kate was on the verge of setting her potions homework on fire and scattering the ashes on Snape's desk during the next potions lesson. Normally she didn't struggle too badly with potions. Snape's general distaste for Gryffindors certainly extended to Kate, but for the most part he ignored her existence and graded her papers harder than he should have. Something about the mechanical preparation and addition of ingredients made more sense to Kate than transfiguration ever did. But Snape's latest classes on advanced antidotes left Kate's head spinning.

"That's it, I quit," she said, not necessarily addressing Alicia and Angelina directly. "If I have to looked up the deconstruction of one more potion I'm literally going to scream."

Alicia looked around the library furtively, as if she was just waiting for Madam Pince to jump out from behind a bookshelf and tell them off for Kate's outburst. "Go ahead," said Angelina miserably from behind a stack of transfiguration books. "I could use the laugh."

Kate arched an eyebrow and shook her head. "Nah, I think I'll just head up to the common room and take a break before dinner. You all still have practice tonight?"

The half-panicked expression on Alicia's face and Angelina's scowl said it all. "Yes. And if you happen to see George tell him that if he and Fred give Ron any more trouble I'll murder them."

Alicia's eyes widened in mild alarm. Kate, however, coughed to cover her laugh. "I'll be sure to pass that on, though I doubt I'll see him before tonight. I think he and Fred were supposed to be meeting with their first year test-subjects."

"They could be leaping off the astronomy tower for all I care, just as long as they don't upset my keeper."

Kate's eyebrows rose higher. She opened her mouth to make a sarcastic comment about Angelina's priorities being slightly askew but thought better of it. In the month since school started, Angelina's quidditch mania rivalled Oliver Wood's to a terrifying degree. "Well, if I see him I'll pass your message along. See you all later."

Shouldering her bag, Kate exited the library and started the trek to the Gryffindor common room. In the couple of hours before dinner, the castle was unusually quiet. Kate contemplated why this was when a hand shot out and grabbed her hand. The hand pulled her in a half circle and she collided with a firm chest. Warm lips descended on hers, catching her in open-mouthed surprise. George's hand that had grasped hers slid up, lacing their fingers together while the other spanned the side of her head, holding her in place. Kate's eyes fluttered shut and she kissed him back, resting her hands on his sides.

"Well hello to you too," she said breathlessly when they pulled away. George grinned recklessly and started walking, tugging her along with him.

"C'mon, I gave Fred and Lee the slip on the way to try and sell fake wands out in the courtyard. They've probably already figured out I've ditched them to see you and the way I see it this could go one of two ways."

"Which are?" She asked, laughing as she tried to keep up with his long stride.

"One, they'll decide I'm not worth the trouble and go without me. Or two, they'll hunt us down which means we've got roughly two minutes to hide. And I for one don't want to wait and find out which way it's going to go."

Kate let him lead the way, clutching his hand tightly as they ran through the halls to some unknown destination. They ascended a couple flights of stairs before George tugged her down the hallway towards the gobstones room. The hallway was blissfully empty as he pressed Kate against it, fumbling for the doorknob while he tried to open it at the same time. The door opened inward and the tumbled in, laughing as they went. The unoccupied room was as inviting as ever. George kicked the door shut behind them, waving his wand to lock the door and then hastily shoving it in his bag before dropping it on the floor. The entire time he kissed Kate fiercely, his fingers tangling hopelessly in her hair.

Kate managed to get her bag off her shoulder and dropped it next to George's before she slid her hands beneath his arms to climb up his shoulder blades and pull him closer to her. They'd found a few free minutes the week before to steal away, but this was the first time in ages that they had time uninterrupted where nobody would find them.

"Nobody's going to burst in, are they?" She asked between heady kisses.

"No, and if they do they can sod off."

Kate let George take her under, kissing her as though he'd been waiting his entire life to do so. He wasted no time, his tongue sliding across her lower lip and she opened her mouth, letting him deepen this kiss. The back of his legs hit one of the tables in the room and his hand shot out, steadying himself and knocking over a chair in the process. Kate giggled against his lips and she grasped his shirt, untucking it as he tried to sit down. She broke the kiss and stepped between his open legs after he sank into a chair. George's hands came to her hips and he gripped them tightly, feeling out the bone.

"Come here," he said and guided her to sit on one of his legs. Kate slid her fingers in his hair and searched out his eyes, trying to read his mood. It wasn't hard to see the darkness swirling in the hazel orbs, communicating his lust.

Tipping his chin up, Kate leaned down and kissed him, tugging gently on his hair. George groaned into her mouth and felt her body, running up her sides. A shiver slipped down her spine as he brought her shirt up with his palms. George began to unbutton the offending article of clothing. Swiftly, the knot of her tie came undone and it slithered off her neck to the floor.

George tore his lips from hers. "I've got to talk to you about something later."

"Well, then save it for later," she muttered hoarsely as George pushed her shirt off her shoulders, revealing the tank top she wore.

"Too right," he said and brought lips to her neck, easily accessible by her position in his lap. Kate's eyes fluttered shut and her plans to make short of his tie and shirt fell to the wayside under the open-mouthed kisses George pressed to her collar, moving across her chest while his palms pushed beneath her tank top.

Liquid fire pooled deep in Kate's stomach, causing parts of her body to ache while the heat spread to the very tips of her fingers and toes. George's teeth nipped at her collar bone and gripped him tightly to keep her from falling off his lap. She squirmed when his fingertips dug gently into her sides.

"Stop that," she breathed in his ear. George grasped the underside of her knee and tugged her leg around, guiding her to straddle his lap.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked through a rushed breath. "Because if you're not comfortable we can move or we can stop."

Kate began to unbutton his shirt, silencing him with a kiss. "I'm great. Why, do you want to stop?"

But she didn't stop working on his buttons, raking her nails light down his chest through his undershirt. Experimentally, she rocked her hips against his. George groaned into her neck and shook his head.

"God, no," he said and toyed with the hem of her tank top before peeling it off her body. "I could do this all damn day."

George's undershirt followed shortly and their hands took delight in exploring the familiar but still thrilling territory. His want radiated right through his bare skin into hers as he returned to kissing her. Kate threw herself into it, soaking up the heat and the closeness. In the weeks after Founder's Day Party, Kate had felt the definite disconnect between herself and George. Too many detentions, obligations, and interruptions had left a definite storm cloud over the year, one which Kate was determined to chase away. At that moment she felt anything but disconnected, her fingernails digging lightly into his shoulders when George's hand came to the clasp of her bra.

"I adore you," he muttered as the clasp came loose and he waste no time, cupping her breasts underneath the white cotton. Kate's head fell back and she had to bite her lip to help swallow the moan that worked itself up from her throat.

"The feeling is mutual," she replied as he continued to massage and tease her. Her bra fell down to her elbows and eventually came to rest in the space between Kate and George. His lips trailed fire down her breastbone and her hips involuntarily pushed forward when his kisses drifted to to the peak of one breast while one of his hands supported her lower back. The neurons in Kate's brain shorted out in response, leaving her incapable of forming a coherent thought. George had long-since lost his nervousness about touching her but he'd never kissed her this way before. Soft and curious and teasing, George's lips worked a wicked magic as he trailed to her other breast and Kate began to wonder if maybe they'd made a critical error not sneaking to his dormitory. This would have been even better in his four-poster bed.

In the meantime, his free hand drifted beneath her skirt and slid over the curve of her backside. He squeezed, driving her hips forward again over his. "Kate," he muttered in the valley between her breasts, her name rolling off his lips like a prayer. George opened his mouth as though he were going to say something more but shut it instead. His searching fingers slid over the top of her thigh and Kate pressed her face into the top of his head to stifle her altogether too loud and altogether not godly utterance. George's fingers had found entirely new territory, brushing past her cotton knickers.

It was way too much for her. Too many new sensations collided and a series of small explosions went off in her brain. Simultaneously, Kate wanted him to stop and to continue with his ministrations. But almost as soon as she was about to let him get carried away, a brilliant warning reared its ugly head. The reminder that she had a bottle of unused P-3 stashed in her trunk along did its job of pulling Kate back into rational thought. What was she doing? They were half dressed in the gobstones room and she knew that if George continued his current trajectory there was nothing that would stop either of them from hauling off and shagging on the table behind his chair.

Kate didn't want her first time to be in the gobstones room. That thought was enough for her to grasp his wrist and stop his hand, bringing out from beneath her skirt. "Not here," she rasped. "Not like this."

George stiffened and immediately pulled back, fear flashing in his hazel eyes. Had he hurt her or gone too far? "Kate, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cross a line."

She framed her face with her hands and kissed him softly, letting her lips linger. "You didn't. I would just rather we do those kinds of things somewhere else, maybe after we've had more time to get used to this," she muttered, gesturing to their half-naked bodies.

If George was upset or disappointed, he had the good grace to not let it show. Kate herself felt a small tinge of disappointment. It wasn't that she hadn't liked what George was doing, she just couldn't get comfortable in the gobstones room of all places. "Yeah," he said, not entirely convinced by her rationale.

"This is all new to me," she murmured and started to put her bra back on. "It's great, but it's new."

He groaned and nodded. Kate eased herself off his lap and he leaned over to pick up his undershirt off the floor. "You're sure I didn't upset you or do something wrong?"

Kate finished tugging on her tank top and returned to where he now stood. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled lovingly up at him. "Definitely not. If you had I'd tell you. Are you okay?"

George didn't get the opportunity to answer her question. A thump at the door startled them both. The door handle rattled, struggling against the locking charm George put on the door. A flush swirled into Kate's cheeks and she snatched George's shirt off the chair tossing it to him before she grabbed her own.

"It's locked!" Came a muffled, high-pitched voice.

"What's the spell to unlock it?" Another similarly young voice asked.

"I don't know, we haven't learned it yet!"

George looked at Kate and raised his eyebrows. "First years?" He whispered and Kate shrugged.

"Let's go find an older student, I bet they know." George approached the door and carefully put his ear to it, listening for footsteps. He buttoned his shirt and hastily tucked it back into his school pants.

"They're gone," he muttered. "But we should go before they come back."

Kate straightened her skirt and started to put her tie back on while George rolled his up and shoved it in his bag. As soon as she finished her knot she shouldered her bag, waited for George to unlock the door and then they slipped out into the hallway, seen only by a couple of fellow Gryffindor sixth years. The sixth years passed, giving Kate and George knowing looks before rounding the corner and disappearing. They shared a look before bursting into laughter.

"Okay, I think I get your point now," said George, slinging a casual arm over her shoulder. "Maybe we should find a new place."

Kate happily rest her head against George's shoulder as they walked. Everything felt normal again, the way things had been for the second half of the previous year. She let George guide them down to the Great Hall where they would kill time until dinner started. As they took their sweet time, George filled her in on Fred's disastrous attempt at human transfiguration on Lee during class and about the Hufflepuff fourth year who had given him a love note slipped in with her money when she bought a pair of Extendable Ears. Kate regaled him with the latest in Ian and Cara's budding relationship and by the time they reached the Great Hall, Kate had forgotten her troublesome Potions homework and everything else that had been bothering her.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked as they sat down at their usual spot.

George brightened. "Oh yeah! What are you doing for the Hogsmeade visit?"

Kate shrugged and reached for the pitcher of pumpkin juice to pour herself a goblet. "Not sure, Ian said something about interviewing a few of the townies the most underrated spots in the village for a feature article. Then again, if Fred can spare you, we could spend the day together. Why?"

George cast a furtive glance around the Great Hall, making sure that nobody was listening in on their conversation.

"Hermione Granger was talking to Fred and me on Sunday night. She wants to start up a defense against the dark arts group, sort of like a club that would meet and practice defensive spells. Harry Potter is going to teach it. Anyway, the first meeting is Saturday at the Hogs Head, you want to come?"

And just like that, Kate's precious moments of normalcy vanished. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is not a school sanctioned group."

George shrugged, resting his elbow on the table so he could rotate his body to face Kate. "You and Alicia are too alike sometimes. It's not technically a school sanctioned group, but there aren't any rules preventing it either."

"Tell that to Umbridge," muttered Kate under her breath. She thought about McGonagall's warning. Don't give Professor Umbridge a reason. Kate was entirely certain that joining a secret defense against the dark arts group qualified as giving Umbridge a reason to cause trouble in Kate's life. Another voice in her mind piped up. What if she did join the Order of the Phoenix? Surely it would be beneficial to learn more practical defense, wouldn't that be an expectation as an Order member?

Kate's stomach bottomed out as it usually did when she thought about the Order of the Phoenix. Surely Finn wasn't going to put her in immediate harm's way. They were writers, it wasn't like they'd be taking up the front lines of a war that had yet to actually break out. And moreover, Kate didn't think she could face her father if she got expelled for joining a secret defense group. George watched her with a hopeful face.

"Can I think about it?" She asked.

George's face fell slightly. Clearly he'd been expecting her to jump on the bandwagon with the rest of them. Kate cast a glance down the table to where Harry Potter was doing his homework with George's little brother and Hermione. "Yeah, no problem. Just let me or Hermione know sometime before Saturday."

A bevy of owls swooped into the Great Hall. A familiar gray owl fluttered down to the Gryffindor table, landing in front of Kate. It carried a letter that bore Finn's familiar handwriting. Kate pushed her goblet over for Finn's owl, Ringo. Tearing open the parchment envelope she pulled out the letter and began to devour the contents.

Kate,

Thanks for your last letter. Everything you told me is a complete contradiction to what we've seen in the Daily Prophet and from what's being put out as Ministry official statements. That is, thanks for sending the truth on. I'm working on a piece about the Ministry's involvement in Hogwarts and the message that it sends to other educational institutions across the world. Hogwarts is the premier wizarding school in the world and if its allowing the government to step in, it sends a scary message to other schools. In your letter you mentioned that the first village visit is this weekend. Can you spare your afternoon to meet with Beckett and I? We'd love to see you and if you don't mind sharing more dirt, it would be a huge help for the article. Lunch and drinks are on me. Send back a reply with Ringo and we'll plan to meet at the Three Broomsticks around noon. I'll try to rent a private parlor for our meeting.

Also, don't let me forget to tell you about the food editor's new-found crush on Beckett. It's a story best told in person, so you can see how red his face gets.

All my best,

Finn

"Looks like the defense group is going to have to wait," said Kate, relieved to have an ironclad excuse.

"Yeah, I guess duty calls," said George. He stared off, lost in his own thought and Kate didn't bother to divert him. The less they talked about Finn and the Black Charmer the less guilty Kate felt about blatantly lying to him all the time. "I bet if you talk to Hermione though she'd understand and you could still come to the second meeting."

Kate's insides squirmed. "Yeah, that's a good idea, I'll do that," she said and hated herself for lying to George anyway.

A/N: Cara and Ian are my new favorite thing! Sassy Hermione! Kate and George snogging! I hope you enjoyed this chapter…writing the middle section was beyond fun. Next chapter features the Hogsmeade visit and more of the DA arc. After that we'll swing into the quidditch ban and eventually move into Christmas holidays.

Let me know what you thought, questions, predictions, favorite parts, or suggestions! Much love – Brose.