The Next Generation Fanfic

By Helen Elliott and K.

HELLO TO ALL YOU PEOPLE READING THIS STORY. SO MY FRIEND AND I WERE SPENDING THE NIGHT AT HER HOUSE THIS SUMMER AND WE DECIDED TO WRITE A STORY BASED ON WHAT WE THINK SHOULD HAPPEN TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF HARRY POTTER. THIS IS WHAT WE CAME UP WITH. ENJOY!

DISCLAIMER: NEITHER I NOR K. (MY FRIEND) OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THOSE BELONG PURELY TO J.K. ROWLING WHO IS MY HERO. HOWEVER WE DO LOVE HARRY POTTER AND WE DO OWN THE PLOT TO THIS FANFICTION AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS.

Okay, Hi! It's me! This is my second note, added with the second version of this chapter. For any of you who have read the original version, you might notice a few minor changes, namely, the scene in the Astronomy Tower. I got several reviews telling me that it was too extreme, and quite frankly, I agree. It was way too dramatic and didn't really fit with my idea of Brynne. Anyway, due to unfortunate circumstances, I am now writing this story on my own, and though I realize I haven't updated it in a while, I promise I'm going to try my hardest to get out updates within a reasonable time period. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. You guys and your amazing reviews are the reason I want to continue with this story. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Slytherins, Food Fights, and Detentions

The Hogwarts Express steamed steadily toward its destination as six teenagers piled into a compartment.

"Where's Hugo and Lily?" asked a girl with maroon hair that was currently changing to a dark purple as she looked around at her friends, searching for an answer.

"They went off with some of their friends," answered Albus Potter as he flopped down in one of the seats.

"Yeah, some of their fellow third years were talking about trying to pull a prank on a couple of Slytherins," explained Albus' older brother, James, as he lay down in his seat, placing his feet in one of his cousins' laps. A loud bang, followed by a puff of smoke came from outside of the compartment. James rolled his eyes.

"Amateurs," he muttered under his breath.

"Get off of me you great lump!" protested James's cousin Rose as she shoved his muddy shoes off of her skirt, wincing in disgust at the stains that his shoes left behind. "That was my favorite skirt you prat!" she yelled as James shrugged his apologies.

"Here Rose, let me get it," soothed the girl with the changing hair as she waved her wand over the skirt. The stains immediately disappeared.

"Thanks Brynne," Rose said as she sighed in relief.

"Hey Brynne, do you think I could see your potions homework? Just so that I can check my answers of course," asked another boy, who shared Rose's bright red hair and freckles. He was sitting next to a girl who would look identical to him if she didn't have her long hair pulled back in a braid. Brynne laughed cheerfully, her then orange hair turning a bright aquamarine.

"You mean so that you can copy me? I don't think so Fred," she answered in good humor. Fred pouted.

"But Professor Malfoy is going to kill me!" he whined. His twin slapped him upside the head.

"Shut up you oaf, if you were worried about that then you should have done it last night when I offered to help you with it," snapped his twin.

"Ouch Roxi, that hurt!" Fred growled. Roxi just sent him a glare. The others all laughed at Fred's injured expression. Their laughter was cut short as the compartment door opened, revealing two Slytherins.

"Oh look," cried James sardonically, "It's a couple of snakes." He shot them murderous looks, but they seemed determined to ignore him. Instead, a rather pretty girl with long brown hair looked over at Albus and smiled warmly.

"Want to go patrolling with us Al?" she offered. Albus opened his mouth to speak but was cut short by his brother.

"Why would he want to go patrolling with you when he has us?" spat James, eyeing the two Slytherins with the utmost disgust.

"Why wouldn't he?" demanded the girl, her voice turning hostile as she turned to the other Potter. "I'd rather hang out with the giant squid than be seen with an arrogant, good-for-nothing prat like you Potter."

"Vera..." began Albus in a warning tone, trying to silence the girl with a look.

"Even the giant squid is a step up from the son of a Death Eater!" the boy standing next to Vera now drew his wand, pointing it at James.

"Watch it, Potter," snarled the boy, his ice blue eyes flashing dangerously.

"Brave now, are we Malfoy?" taunted James, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was the one in danger of being hexed.

"Are you coming or not Al?" asked Vera, tugging on Malfoy's arm, trying to get him to lower his wand. Albus looked around nervously.

"Yeah I'm coming," he answered Vera, and then turned to exit the compartment before James did something really stupid.

"Come on Scorpius," he called, and Malfoy lowered his wand reluctantly and followed his friends out the door. Silence reigned in the compartment for a few moments before Brynne spoke up.

"Honestly James," she began in an exasperated voice, "was that really necessary?" James looked at her in confusion.

"What'd I do?" he demanded, "If anything, Al's the one you should be yelling at! Going off with a bunch of Slytherins!" Brynne rolled her eyes. It was well known that James hated all Slytherins. She honestly didn't blame him, but they couldn't pick a fight every time they saw a Slytherin.

"You know, you used to be friends with Vera," Fred cut in. Roxi nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, the two of you were almost inseparable before we got to Hogwarts," she agreed. James shot a glare at his favorite cousins.

"Yeah that was before she turned traitor and decided to become a Slytherin," he explained as if this were the most obvious thing in the world, which, to him, it was. Rose scoffed.

"Please," she laughed, "It's not like she started declaring herself a Death Eater!"

"No she just started hanging out with one!" yelled James.

"Scorpius is not a Death Eater!" argued Rose, annoyed.

"No, just his whole family," snapped James, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Of course he is, Rose, you don't just decide to be the only one in your family who isn't a Death Eater."

"Sirius Black wasn't a Death Eater," shot back Rose, "and as I recall, he was related to the Malfoys, and the Lestranges." She gave him a triumphant look as James spluttered in protest.

"That's...well...erm...well I mean...that's different!"

"How?" demanded Rose. James was about to answer when Brynne, who was trying to read a book, decided that she'd had enough of this.

"Oh will you two shut it!" she cried, "Please, I'm begging you!" James and Rose fell silent, each looking sullenly in a different direction. Brynne went back to reading her book, and Fred and Roxanne began a game of exploding snap. They remained in silence for the rest of the train ride, with the exception of the occasional explosion from the twins' game.

Getting off the train, they immediately went to find a carriage. When they found one, they all climbed in. They were joined shortly by Albus, who greeted them all cheerfully. James chose to ignore his brother, glaring out the window in angry silence.

"What'd I do?" asked Al in confusion, looking to Brynne for an answer. Brynne just shook her head.

"Don't ask," she told him, glancing at James warily.

"You ditched us for a couple of Slytherins, that's what you did!" yelled James. Albus rolled his eyes.

"I did not 'ditch you for Slytherins' as you so quaintly put it," he defended himself, "I merely left our compartment to hang out with Vera and Scorpius."

"And they're Slytherins!" James shouted, as if this wasn't already obvious.

"No, really, James? I hadn't noticed," quipped Albus sarcastically as everyone rolled their eyes.

"Well apparently you haven't noticed Al, because they are Slytherins and you were hanging out with them!" James pushed. Al threw up his hands in annoyance.

"Again with the whole Slytherin thing," he sighed loudly, "Really James? They're people!"

"They're not people!" protested James, "let's try this once again, they...are...SLYTHERINS! I don't think I'm getting through to you here!"

"Would you quit it with the Slytherin thing already?" yelled the others, who were all quite sick of this argument.

"But they are-"

"If you finish that sentence, I swear on Merlin's beard that I will hex you until you can't see straight," threatened Brynne. James did not finish the sentence. They were silent for the rest of the carriage ride, much to the others' relief.

The Hogwarts Castle was just as beautiful as ever. None of them said anything as they reentered the school. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Students around them babbled excitedly, but the Weasley cousins and Brynne were all silent.

The students all sat at their respective tables, and waited for the sorting ceremony to begin. When it did they all cheered to welcome the newest members of the Gryffindor house while listening with impatience as James booed the new Slytherins; he was joined only by his younger sister, Lily.

After the sorting ceremony was finished, Professor McGonagall, the school's headmistress, stood to give her annual start of year speech. As none of the student's paid much attention to the speech, with the exception of Brynne, who always paid attention, I won't go into details of the speech except to say that it was very long and inspirational...sort of.

So instead I shall skip straight to the feast, which is the more interesting of the two. It started without event. The six Gryffindors sat at their table, while the two Slytherins sat at theirs. Trouble began when Vera tried to talk to Albus.

"So Al, what classes are you taking this year?" asked Vera, turning to face her friend. Albus turned to answer her, but was interrupted by James.

"None of your business Longbottom," snapped James.

"I don't believe she was talking to you Potter," spat Scorpius.

"And I don't believe I asked your opinion, Malfoy," growled James, shaking with fury. Albus smacked him upside the head, bringing him to his senses.

"Stop it James, they're my friends," warned Albus. The look he gave James was so severe that James shut up, giving them one last glare before turning away. All would have been well, had Vera not stood to grab some pumpkin juice and accidentally knocked the mashed potatoes over, spilling them down the back of James' robes. Everyone stood silent, watching nervously as James, who was known for his Weasley temper, slowly turned red.

"You're going to pay for that Longbottom," he spat, before pouring gravy down Vera's shirt. Vera shrieked in rage and grabbed a plate of butter and threw it at James, who ducked, so that it landed in Brynne's now violet hair. The hair quickly turned a bright tomato red as Brynne rose in fury.

"I know you did not just do what I think you did Longbottom," she hissed, reaching for a bowl of split-pea soup. "Because then I would be forced to do this," and she tossed the bowl of hot soup at Vera, who dodged it and laughed as it hit Roxanne in the face. At this point, the small argument had evolved into a full out food fight between the six Gryffindors and the two Slytherins. It was joined shortly by the rest of the school, ending only after a series of loud bangs that echoed from the headmistress' wand.

"ENOUGH!" screamed Professor McGonagall. The entire school fell silent. Professor McGonagall was well known for being very strict, and right now no one could remember ever seeing her lips that thin. Rose also noticed her parents, who were teachers at the school, glaring at her and her friends; she knew she was going to get an earful later on. Vera shrunk under the furious gaze of her father, who was the herbology teacher, and Scorpius looked wary at the look of fury on his mother's face. Professor McGonagall pointed at the group and hissed, unable to form a full sentence in her fury.

"You...my office...NOW!" she managed. She then dismissed the rest of the students and stormed out of the Great Hall, followed by the furious parents of Rose, Vera, and Scorpius. The eight students in trouble walked in the direction of the headmistress' office with their heads down. They walked the walk of those condemned to die, certain that what awaited them was a fate far worse than death.

The students were silent as they gathered around McGonagall's desk. None of them dared to look into the faces of their furious teachers. It was especially bad for those whose families worked there. Brynne was really the only one who wasn't looking at a relative, and even she was too afraid to look at her teachers. This was her first time in trouble. She had a fairly strict policy of following the rules, or, on the rare occasions that she decided to cut loose, not getting caught. Professor McGonagall was the first to speak.

"I am completely speechless," she began in a furious hiss that suggested otherwise. "Never, in all my years teaching, have I ever seen such blatant disregard for the rules. Even your grandfather, Potter, never dared to start a food fight. This is something I've never seen happen. Not even when the twins were here!" She glared at Fred and Roxanne, as if impressing upon them how misbehaved their father and his dead twin, the Fred that Fred was named after, really were. The twins grinned proudly at their heritage. Those grins quickly disappeared when they caught the look on McGonagall's face.

"I am astounded that this is coming from you. Especially since five of you are prefects! Not to mention the fact that most of you are related to at least one of the staff members here at Hogwarts." They all shrunk back at this. "Now I will leave it to your heads of houses to think of a suitable punishment. But I must inform you that I will be sending home letters of conduct to all of your families that do not work here." And with that she turned the children over to the wolves, aka, their parents.

Professor Astoria Malfoy was the head of Slytherin, and was the first to move. She looked directly at Malfoy and Vera, shooting daggers at her son.

"You two will be serving detention every Saturday for the next month," she said finally, "and twenty points will be taken from Slytherin. Each." The two children opened their mouths to protest but were silenced with a glare. Professor Hermione Weasley, head of Gryffindor nodded in approval.

"I think that is a more than fair punishment Astoria," she said approvingly before glaring at those that were in her house. "I think that my house should follow that example. You will serve a month of Saturday detentions as well. And twenty points from Gryffindor. From each of you." They all groaned. They had a lot more people in trouble than Slytherin. That meant that they had just lost 120 points, rather than the forty points that Slytherin had lost. They were dismissed, and the prefects of the group went off to find first years and lead them to the common rooms.

Brynne, Albus, and James were all prefects. Everyone understood how Albus and Brynne had gotten the positions, but it was still a mystery as to how James had managed. They were leading a group of first years to the Gryffindor common room and arguing quietly.

"This is all your fault James," growled Brynne. She did not take kindly to having her first detention. She had worked hard to get the reputation she had for never getting in trouble and that was all out the window now. She would forever be known as the girl who had helped to create the first food fight Hogwarts had seen in over a century. She was so upset by this that she couldn't metamorphosis correctly. Her hair was shifting colors faster than one could blink, and every once in a while the boys would catch a glimpse of her true appearance, a rare occurrence.

"My fault? How is this my fault?" James demanded in protest. Brynne rolled her eyes.

"Oh please!" she cried in anger, "Are you honestly going to ask me that?" Albus felt just a little frightened for his brother. He knew that Brynne didn't get that angry often, but he also knew that whenever she did get this angry, it was best to find shelter quickly. Things tended to explode whenever Brynne lost her temper. James had apparently not learned this lesson, even after five years of friendship with her.

"You're the one who couldn't keep his mouth shut!" she screamed in fury. "If you had just ignored them then your temper wouldn't have gotten us in trouble!"

"She dumped potatoes down my shirt!" protested James, "What was I supposed to do?"

"It was an accident!" screeched Brynne. Albus wondered that her voice was capable of reaching that pitch. If it got any higher, glass might break.

"That's what they want you to think!" shouted James, his face turning red from screaming.

"Oh honestly!" shouted Brynne in impatience, "How thick can you get? Just because you're determined to hate Slytherins, James, doesn't mean that every one of them is out to get you!" screamed Brynne in anger. Albus mumbled the password to the Fat Lady, who let them in without a word, though her eyebrows were raised in skepticism.

"You hate Slytherins as much as I do!" James pointed out. Brynne shook her head, laughing coldly.

"No you git! I only hate the stupid, arrogant, blood obsessed, Death Eater wannabees. Oh and Longbottom, too. But even I'll admit that not all of them are bad. You're just such a stubborn, arrogant, toe-rag that you refuse to see it! Well you know what James? I'm sick of it! Grow up! And get a brain while you're at it!" she ranted. They were now attracting the attention of the entire common room.

"I have a brain!" shouted James, "Just because I'm not a self-obsessed know-it-all who spends all her time in the library because she doesn't have a life, doesn't mean I don't use it! So get off your high horse Wood and come join the rest of us down here on the ground!" Brynne looked as if she'd been smacked. Her eyes turned a dark, stormy gray, and seemed to fill with tears that she held back.

"Not good," muttered Albus in a voice that no one else heard. Brynne's eyes turned hard and she glared at James with a look of pure hatred.

"I'm done with you Potter," she hissed, before turning and running up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. James stared after her with a look of utter shock on his face. As if he couldn't believe what he'd just done. Rose, who had reached the common room in time for that last bit glared at her cousin.

"Brilliant James," she snapped, "Just bloody brilliant!" and with that she rushed up the stairs after her friend, without giving James a second glance. James turned to Fred and Roxi, who were standing behind him, looking for help.

"Not smart mate," said Fred simply, shaking his head before he and Roxi went off into a corner to discuss their next great prank. James collapsed into an armchair by the fire, staring blankly into to the flames. Albus came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder, forcing a smile on his face as he did.

"Don't worry about it mate, she'll come around," he said, attempting to comfort his brother, "she always does." James just shook his head.

"She called me Potter," he whispered in shock, "she's never called me Potter before." Albus was silent. He had no answer to this. Instead he went up to his dorm and prepared for bed, thinking that, detention or no, this had been by far one of the most interesting first days back he'd ever had.

While Brynne and James were having their fight, Vera and Scorpius were leading the first year Slytherins to their common room. They did this without too much talk. But once in their common room they both collapsed onto the couch. The Slytherin common room had changed a lot since that day in Harry Potter's second year when he and his friend Ron disguised themselves as Slytherins using polyjuice potion. Although it was still under the lake and it still glowed with an eerie greenish light, the skulls and chains were gone. They were replaced with green and silver hangings and bookshelves stuffed full with books on the war. No longer were the faces of the Slytherins harsh and cruel. Instead they were like any other face. Some were warm and open, others were haughty and proud. The only traces of the old Slytherin feel was in a small corner filled with a bunch of mean looking older kids that almost everyone else ignored. Vera and Scorpius both let out a sigh of relief as they relaxed into the furniture.

"I thought we were done for," admitted Vera after a moment of silence, "I mean, did you see McGonagall's face? She looked like she was ready to eat us!" They both laughed.

"I think my mum planned for Professor Weasley to use her punishment on the Gryffindors," Scorpius admitted. "Didn't you notice that they lost a lot more points than us?" Vera snorted.

"I love your mum," she told him laughing, "But it serves those prats right. I mean, they did start it. And the look on Potter's face when he realized they'd just lost 120 points was priceless." They both laughed as they imitated his face. They compared schedules for a bit before both decided that it was time that they both went to sleep. As Vera pointed out, O.W.L.s were this year, and she wouldn't put it past Scorpius' mum to give them an essay, even if it was their first day back.

The first day of classes was by far the most awkward event Hogwarts had seen in many a year. Neither Brynne nor James was speaking to the other and their friends were forced to tiptoe around them all day. Rose had decided that James was entirely at fault for her best friend's foul mood and kept shooting him dirty looks from across the room, and refusing to acknowledge his existence, leaving Albus and the twins to struggle to bridge the gap between their friends. Albus was not speaking to his Slytherin friends at the moment, deeming it a good idea not to push too many of James' buttons. A wise decision on his part as none of them needed anymore detentions. The day was made worse by the fact that the rest of the Gryffindors were refusing to speak to the six friends, because it was their fault that they were in the negatives on the first day.

The teachers made their day no easier, giving all of their students extra homework for the day. Everyone had reached the conclusion that they were being punished for the food fight by being given an unusual amount of homework on the first day. The only thing that seemed to brighten their day was the fact that, due to James and Brynne being in different years, they didn't run into each other for almost the entire day. In fact, aside from mealtimes, they did not cross each other for the entire week. It was only when Saturday came along when the two friends were forced to cross paths.

Saturday morning dawned bright and early. The Gryffindors had all slept in late, but Vera and Scorpius were already down at the Great Hall, eating breakfast cheerfully. Or they were until they received two slips of paper. They both opened theirs to see the neat handwriting of Professor Weasley.

Your detentions will take place this evening at six o' clock. Please be so kind as to report to my office at that time.

Professor Hermione Weasley

Deputy Headmistress.

The two students rolled up the pieces of parchment and looked up glumly. All traces of cheerfulness were gone.

"I'd completely forgotten about our detentions," admitted Vera. Scorpius grunted to show that he'd done the same.

"We have Quidditch try-outs tonight," he said, looking as if Christmas had just been canceled. "I'm captain, what am I supposed to do?"

Vera shrugged. She was on the team, too, but unlike most of her teammates, it wasn't her entire life. They finished their breakfast in silence before heading over to the library to get some of their homework out of the way.

The Gryffindors all received notes like the ones Vera and Scorpius had received, but they weren't too upset. Except for Brynne, all of them had experienced their fair share of detentions. They were more excited about Quidditch try-outs that were to take place after lunch. James, the captain, was making a list of the players they would need that year. They already had two beaters. Roxi and Fred had both inherited their father's brilliant beater skills. They were the best Gryffindor had seen in many years. James himself played chaser, and Rose was keeper for the team. But they were short two chasers and a seeker. Rose had convinced Brynne, whose own parents were famous Quidditch players, to try out this year, and Brynne found herself mildly excited.

Brynne spent the entire morning in the library, not even bothering with breakfast. She hardly ever ate anything in the mornings, always claiming that she had more important things to do. Eventually, after she had finished her charms essay and her star chart for Astronomy, Brynne decided to finish the rest of her work later on, before detention. She headed down to the Great Hall, eager for lunch, her favorite meal of the day.

When it was time for try-outs, Brynne grabbed her Firebolt 260, the fastest broom ever invented, and headed out to the pitch. There were a lot of people lined up for the three positions open this year. Most of them were trying out for the position of Chaser. Brynne noticed that quite a few of the people there were giggling teenage girls. She rolled her eyes. It was well known that James Potter was the most popular guy in school not only because of his famous family, but also his charm and good looks. Even Brynne would admit that he was not half bad in the looks department. Unfortunately, James was all too aware of this and often let it go to his head.

It was nearing the end of try-outs, and all that remained was to pick a new seeker. They had two new chasers, a sixth year named Collin Creevey, whose mother was a famous chaser on the Hollyhead Harpies, and James' younger sister, Lily, who was in third year. Brynne looked around and saw that, apart from two other kids, she was one of the only people trying-out for seeker. This made her slightly less nervous.

"Okay," began James, looking around at all of them, "The first person to catch the snitch is our new seeker." Brynne felt a thrill of adrenaline as she kicked off from the ground and shot into the air. It was already getting dark outside, and she knew that it would be hard to see the snitch in this light. But she also knew that she had some of the best eyesight at Hogwarts. She could do this. Brynne circled the Quidditch Pitch, searching for the tell-tale glimmer of gold that announced the arrival of the snitch. She soon saw it, darting around just behind James. She immediately sped toward him. She passed him with little more than a hair of space between them. She couldn't help but smile at the look of surprise on his face as she sped after the snitch. By now the others would've noticed that she'd seen it. They'd be on her tail in a heartbeat.

She followed the snitch up and down the pitch, dodging bludgers sent her way by the twins. She let the snitch lead her in a nose dive and even when all the others pulled up, trying to avoid a broken neck that would result from a collision with the ground going 160 mph, she continued down, pulling up last minute with the tiny golden ball clasped firmly in her hand. Adrenaline still pulsed through her veins and she couldn't help the loud whoop that escaped from her mouth as she landed at a run. She was met by an overjoyed Rose who picked her up and spun her around in a circle, laughing. She received a clap on the back from both of the twins, who were smiling brightly, going on about her 'bloody brilliant catch' as they called it. Even Lily and Collin, who she didn't really hang out with much, gave her a congratulatory hug. The only one who stayed back was James. Brynne looked over to see where he was and felt the smile immediately disappear from her face. James was standing far off, and his face was cold and remote. She had seen that look on his face only once before, and it had been the day that Vera had been sorted into Slytherin. That had been in her first year. The look confused her, but she knew that it never boded well. The only question now was what had she done? She didn't get an answer.

Rose and Brynne hurried to the kitchens to grab a last minute snack before heading off to detention. They were greeted by the hundreds of house-elves that worked in the kitchen. It was Rose who insisted on two pitchers of butterbeer rather than the usual pumpkin juice. It was also Rose who insisted on two slices of chocolate cake to celebrate Brynne's success.

"It's not every day your best friend makes it onto the Quidditch team," Rose said firmly when Brynne protested the amount of sugar they were having. They finished their cake and headed to Rose's mother's office. Rose was fixing her hair nervously and Brynne quickly changed her hair to a natural dark brown. Professor Weasley was the only one, aside from Professor McGonagall, that could ever get Brynne to take on a semi-natural color against her will. They entered to find that the others were already there, including the Slytherins.

"Rose, Ms. Wood, so glad that you could join us," said Professor Weasley sharply. She was very displeased with the amount of detentions she had been forced to give her daughter over the years. It didn't help that her favorite student was also receiving a detention this time. She stood up with a sigh. Looking around at the eight of them, she saw herself when she was young. She saw the twins and Harry. She saw Ron, and she even saw a glimpse of Neville and Luna. It was weird to feel so old.

The eight students stood nervously, awaiting the final sentence. What would their punishment be? Would they be forced to do it together?

"Tonight you will be working in pairs," announced Hermione. "Rose, you and Mr. Malfoy will be working in the trophy room; it's in bad need of dusting. You will not use magic." Both of the students looked as if they'd just been told that they would be working with Voldemort himself. Their faces were whiter than death as they handed over their wands and were handed dust rags in exchange. They walked slowly to their destination, leaving the rest behind to await their fate nervously. Hermione turned to the rest of them.

"Ms. Weasley, Mr. Weasley," she said turning to the twins, "You will be polishing the handles on the broomsticks down at the Quidditch pitch," she told them. The delight at their good luck was evident on the twins' faces as they hurried off before their aunt could change her mind. Albus swallowed nervously, looking around at the options left. Either he would get his brother, and Brynne and Vera, who were sworn enemies, would be stuck together, or he would get either Brynne or Vera, and the other would be left with James, who was not on friendly terms with either of them. He could not see how this night would not end in death.

"Albus, you will be working with Ms. Longbottom tonight. You will be doing some filing for Professor Flitwick tonight. No magic allowed." she nodded, showing that they could leave. Albus glanced at Brynne and James nervously. The two were still refusing to look at each other or acknowledge the other's existence.

This cannot end well thought Albus, but he did not voice his opinion, because he figured that the way they were paired up now had the highest chance for survival. So he walked out without saying a word, he was followed by Vera, who did not give the other two a second glance. That left Brynne and James, waiting to see what they would be doing. Hermione studied them for a moment before telling them their assignment.

"You two will be polishing the telescopes and various other instruments in the astronomy tower. Good luck. And with that she took their wands and handed them polishing rags, motioning for them to get going. The two left without a word and headed towards the Astronomy tower.

Brynne worked in silence for quite some time, speaking only to James when she needed him to pass her a rag, or some polishing potion. They said nothing about the Quidditch try-outs or the argument. Brynne could not imagine a more uncomfortable way to spend detention. And they were only fifteen minutes into it. Eventually she decided that she'd had enough of the silence. Gathering her courage, she opened her mouth and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"You know, I've never really done the whole detention thing, but I'm pretty sure that it's easier if there's some conversation involved. Lighten the mood and all that rubbish." She waited to see how he would react to this. She expected him to laugh and make up. After all, she'd always been the one to hold grudges, James was famous for being able to forgive and forget in a day, unless he'd been really offended. And she knew that she hadn't gone that far in their argument. But instead he shot her a cold look and turned back to the telescope he was polishing. He didn't even bother to look up as he answered.

"Well I guess you'll have to find somebody else to talk to Wood, because I don't think I feel like talking to you right now." Brynne felt a twinge of annoyance at this. What had she done? It wasn't as if she'd called him anything he hadn't been called a hundred times before. He was the one who had insulted her.

"If I recall correctly, you were the one that landed us in detention in the first place and insinuated that I have no life." she reminded him, hoping he would realize that she hadn't done anything wrong.

"And as I recall," he spat, "You were the one that said that you wanted nothing to do with me, and then proceeded to ignore me for an entire week." Brynne rolled her eyes.

"Yeah because you were being a git," she explained, "A stubborn one at that mind you." He snarled at her. She could tell that there was something more to this than the argument. After all, he had been trying to apologize to her all week. It wasn't until try-outs that he had completely ignored her existence.

"Well if I'm such a stubborn git then why don't you go talk to Al, or Rose, or better still, go talk with Scorpius and Vera, that way I don't have to hear a bunch of people begging me to apologize to you," he spat. She just glared at him. She wasn't so much hurt by his comments, as the fact that he was using hem to avoid telling her why he was mad at her. That was making her mad. She hated that.

"Why don't you cut the crap and tell me what the bloody hell is bugging you, because I'm sure that you still wanted to be my friend before the try-outs this afternoon. And that just makes no sense because I proved myself to be a brilliant seeker, and you get on well with just about anyone who can play." He glared at her. He looked at her as if she were missing something glaringly obvious. But she couldn't see what she was missing. He shook his head and went back to polishing the telescope. It was silent for a long while and Brynne was beginning to lose hope of ever getting an answer to her question. Finally James stood up and glared at her. She had a feeling that he was about to start screaming his head off at her, so she shifted so that she had a better view of his face, and moved her hand to her back pocket, cursing when she realized she didn't have her wand with her.

"You think that you're so clever and that you can get mad at someone whenever you want and then when you're tired of fighting they'll be willing to forget all about it and make up. Well not this time," he told her coldly. She rolled her eyes. He was giving her a fake reason. She knew it.

"Well maybe I just figured since we're supposed to be best mates and since you were the one to piss me off in the first place, maybe you'd like to bury the hatchet. Excuse me if I was mistaken," she remarked dryly. His dark hazel eyes narrowed slightly.

"Well I guess you were mistaken," he said and turned to leave. She followed him.

"What the bloody hell is your problem Potter?" she demanded. "I don't recall ever doing anything to you and if I did I'm sorry. But you can't just go getting pissed off at people for no good reason and not tell them why you're pissed off." He snarled and she felt a thrill of fear at the expression on his face.

"You're my problem!" he shouted. "Leave me the hell alone and we'll both be a lot happier. Did it ever occur to you that I'm sick of being mates with a stupid, goody-goody bookworm who never stops to look up from her book and think about other people's feelings? So just sod off Wood! I want nothing to do with you!" Brynne looked shocked. A sharp pain was tearing in her chest, and she thought she felt a piece of her tear off. She did the only thing she could think to do in this situation. She fought back.

"Well I guess that's good Potter," she said without emotion, "Because as far as I'm concerned, I'm better off as far away from an arrogant, stubborn, thick-headed, conceited brat like you. You make a rubbish mate anyway." And with that, she strode off to retrieve her wand from Professor Weasley so that she could find a quiet place to let out the sobs attempting to make their way out. James just stared after her before turning to head back to Gryffindor Tower.

Rose and Malfoy had both groaned in dismay when they caught sight of the trophy room. Peeves, the poltergeist, had apparently decided that it would be a good joke to throw mud and feathers all over the glass cases, writing on the walls and smearing every visible surface with something that looked a lot like raspberry juice. Filch, the insane caretaker was waiting for them, a gleeful smile on his face.

"I think you'll be needing a bit more than those dust rags," he told them helpfully. He handed them a bunch of cleaning supplies and told them to get to work. He then skipped down the hallway, singing about students in trouble. Rose and Scorpius were left in a cloud of filth, wondering how they would ever manage to clean the trophy room in less than two hours.

"So much for making it to try-outs," mumbled Scorpius glumly. "I guess Flint's just going to have to do them without me." he looked thoroughly depressed at this thought. He hated Flint, and the thought of having to listen to him go on about the captain not doing his job for the rest of the year was almost sickening.

"And I don't think I'm going to be able to finish that essay my mum assigned us for homework tonight," admitted Rose morosely. "This means I'll be stuck inside all day tomorrow studying." They both sighed and began to work. It was slow and dull, and soon they were both wishing fervently that they could be anywhere but here.

"I wonder how the others are getting on?" mused Rose after twenty minutes of silence. Scorpius chuckled at the thought.

"Probably a right sight better than we're doing that's for sure," he answered. Rose laughed.

"Don't be so sure," she said, "My mum can be downright cruel when it comes to giving detentions. I'll wager at least one of them got a worse detention than us." Scorpius wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh, and how much would you be prepared to bet on this Ms. Weasley?" he asked her playfully. She considered it for a minute or so.

"I bet ten galleons that one of the others will either get a partner they despise, end up fighting, or come back in tears before the end of the night," she said. Scorpius looked at her in surprise.

"Wow, you're mum must be really cruel," he told her. She laughed at this.

"Not intentionally, I assure you," she said cheerfully. "But she's horrible at picking partners. Almost all detentions assigned by her end with some sort of disaster. Last year Lily disappeared for a full two days after being assigned detention with Jason O'Donnell last year. They were told to water the plants in Greenhouse 3 and somehow Lily ended up trapped in the jaws of an invisible Venus Witchtrap. It took them two days to figure out where it was. Poor Lily's never been the same in herbology since then." Scorpius laughed.

"Are you serious?" he gasped when he finally stopped laughing. "Is your mum that bad at assigning detentions?" Rose nodded solemnly. The effect was ruined when she began to giggle uncontrollably.

"You know Weasley, you're not half bad," admitted Scorpius, studying her thoughtfully, "For all you're related to Potter."

"Thanks," said a stunned Rose, she hadn't expected that. She smiled. "My friends call me Rose by the way," she told him. "And you're not so bad yourself, for all you're a Malfoy." He was about to get angry when he realized that she was teasing him. He responded by throwing a great chunk of mud at her. She shrieked in indignation and they began a mud fight, which lasted a few more minutes before Rose pointed out that they were supposed to be cleaning the trophy room, not making a bigger mess. Then they busily resumed their cleaning, although this time they laughed and joked while working. By the end of the night, they had discovered that they were quickly becoming good friends.

Roxi and George were not doing their detentions. They had decided to forget cleaning broomsticks, and had instead taking up racing them around the Quidditch pitch. They discussed pranks and ways to solve the rift between James and Brynne.

"It's so obvious they like each other," Roxi said while munching on some cauldron cakes she had summoned from the kitchens (they, unlike the others, had not been forbidden to use magic). "I mean, they both act like they're just mates, but anyone who sees the way they look at each other when they think no one's watching can tell." she continued sagely. Fred nodded.

"Too right you are little sis," he agreed.

"OI!" yelled Roxi, "I'm only five minutes younger!" she greatly disliked being called little anything. Fred laughed and continued with their discussion, biting into an apple as he did so.

"The question is, how we get them to realize it?" he asked his sister. They both thought on this for awhile.

"I suppose it's up to us to make sure those two end up together, isn't it?" asked Roxi. Fred nodded.

"James is too thick-headed to ever admit he likes Brynne, and as smart as our dear friend is, she has no brains when it comes to boys," said Fred simply. "And Rose and Al won't figure out what's going on until James and Brynne are married." They both snorted at their clueless cousins' expense.

"So...I'll handle Brynne and you'll take care of James?" Roxi was itching to start on their plan.

"Unless you'd rather handle James..." offered Fred. He laughed at his twin's grimace.

"No thanks," declined Roxi, "Brynne's smart; she'll pick up on the plan faster. I pity you. James is just as clueless as Al and Rose." Fred smiled confidently.

"I like the challenge. Why don't we make this interesting," he suggested. Roxi looked up, intrigued.

"I'm listening," she told him.

"Ten galleons to the one who can get their person to admit their feelings first," Fred said. A slow smile spread across Roxi's face.

"You're on," she agreed, "Easy money." Fred grinned mischievously; it was a grin that nearly always boded ill.

"We shall see little sister, we shall see," and with that he was knocked over as Roxi tackled him, yelling for him to take it back.

Albus and Vera were having a great time during their detention. Professor Flitwick, their charms professor, was ancient, and good-natured. Not two minutes after they had arrived Professor Flitwick had told them to hang filing, they were young; they should be having fun. He had waved his wand and immediately a cluster of brightly colored bubbles appeared. He informed them that each one was matched with the personality of someone that they knew. It would give them clues until they guessed who it was. The one to guess with the least amount of hints won a point.

"I'm a colorful person," said a bright blue bubble. Albus jumped up and down in excitement.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know this!" he squealed, "It's Brynne!" The bubble popped to reveal the image of Brynne, whose hair was a bright aquamarine. Albus did a victory dance that caused Vera to laugh and Flitwick to clap his hands in glee.

A dark green bubble began to play a piece of classical music that Vera recognized. She laughed.

"That's got to be Scorpius," she announced, "No other teenager in their right mind would listen to something as ridiculous as that!" The bubble popped to reveal a scowling Scorpius. They were still laughing when Professor Flitwick glanced up at the clock.

"Good Godric is that the time?" squeaked Flitwick, "You'd best be off or Professor Weasley will be wondering where you went!" And hurriedly he shooed them out of his office. They walked slowly back to Professor Weasley's office, still laughing. Finally they slipped into silence. Albus thought quietly to himself and Vera seemed to be off in some other world.

"Hey V," began Al. Vera looked up in surprise at her old nick-name.

"No one's called me that in years," she told him, "Not since James and I stopped speaking." Albus looked embarrassed at the mention of his brother's attitude to their old friend.

"Well I was just wondering, I can see why you hate James, but I can't understand why you and Brynne can't get along. You guys were inseparable for the first two years of school." Vera stiffened at the mention of Brynne's name.

"It's complicated," she answered slowly. Albus blushed.

"I understand," he told her, although he really didn't. It was silent for a while before Vera spoke again.

"She didn't like how mean I was to James. She said that even though he was being a prat for treating me the way he did, he didn't deserve to be treated like scum." Albus didn't have to guess who she was. "I...said some things I shouldn't have and...well… you know how Brynne gets when she's mad. She doesn't think. She said some things back and we walked away. We haven't spoken since except to toss around some more insults. Neither one of us can forgive the other." Vera looked immensely sad at this fact, and Albus could imagine how it must be killing her to be enemies with someone who was as close to her as a sister. Vera and Brynne had grown up as neighbors. It had been impossible to talk about one without the other growing up. Their fight had to have been devastating to both of them. Albus still remembered walking in on Brynne once, tears streaming down her face as she looked at a picture of the two of them, waving up at her, smiling.

They didn't speak for the rest of the way there. When they arrived Hermione seemed annoyed.

"Here are your wands back you two," she said, handing them their wands. "And here's your brother's wand Albus. Ms. Wood came in here an hour ago saying they were finished but he still hasn't shown up to retrieve his wand." she looked worried. Albus could see she was remembering Lily's brief disappearance from last year.

"Thanks Aunt Hermione, I'll be sure to give it to him," promised Albus, trying to silently reassure her that James was all right, even though he himself was worried about his brother. What had happened during his detention with Brynne? Albus walked quickly toward Gryffindor Tower, he was planning on going to get the Marauder's Map out of the trunk in James' room to look for his brother. But as it turned out, he didn't have to.

James was sitting on a couch in the empty common room when Albus stepped through the portrait hall. He felt a surge of relief and then annoyance as he realized his brother was okay.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" demanded Albus angrily, "Do you realize that Aunt Hermione was worried sick about you when an hour after Brynne came in to tell her you had finished your detention you still hadn't come back to get your wand? Why would you do that to her? Especially after what happened with Lily last year?" James looked up at him, a bored expression painted carefully on his face. The look in his eyes scared Albus. He looked like someone had just died.

"Sorry," mumbled James, grabbing his wand out of his brother's hand. "Forgot." Albus looked at him with fear.

"Forgot? James how did you...I mean what happened to you? You look like someone died," stumbled Albus. A grim smile played across James' face.

"Nothing happened, Al. I'm fine," Albus was about to argue. He wanted to tell James that no, he was not fine and to cut the crap and tell him what was wrong. But James didn't give him the chance. Before Albus could so much as open his mouth James was off the couch and headed toward the dormitory he shared with the rest of the sixth year Gryffindor boys. The door shut, and Albus could've sworn he heard the lock click into place as he sat numbly on the couch, waiting for the others to get back.

Fred and Roxi came in through the portrait hole laughing with Rose as they retold tales from detention. Their laughter slipped away as they caught a glimpse of the brooding look on Albus' face.

"Okay who died?" joked Roxi, trying to get a laugh from her cousin. Albus shrugged.

"Don't know," he admitted, "James won't tell me a thing. For all I know he and Brynne murdered someone by pushing them off the Astronomy Tower." They all exchanged anxious looks. Rose was the first one to say something.

"Okay Al, tell us exactly what happened," she said, taking a seat in an armchair across from her cousin. Al shrugged.

"Vera and I came back from our detention to get our wands and your mom told me that Brynne had come in about an hour ago to get her wand and tell her that she and James were finished with their detention, but that James had never showed to collect his wand. I came in to get the Map so that I could find him and he was there, just sitting on the couch. I confronted him about worrying your mom and he looked at me like he was completely bored, only his eyes looked like someone had died, and he said he'd forgot. When I asked him what was wrong he just smiled like he'd heard something funny and shrugged and told me nothing. But I could tell he was lying. He looked torn up. Then he turned around and disappeared into his room. He hasn't come back out and I haven't seen heads or tails of Brynne." They all looked at each other.

"I'll go talk to him," volunteered Fred, "I'll see what I can dig up." Albus shook his head.

"It's no use," he told Fred, "he locked the door." Fred smiled.

"You're forgetting who you're talking to coz," was all he said before squaring his shoulders in determination and walking over to the door. He knocked on it politely.

"Oi! James! You think you could let me in? I want to borrow the map for a prank Roxi and I are planning!" There was silence for a moment before they heard the turning of the lock and the door opened.

"Be quick," was all they heard as Fred strode in.

"Not likely coz," answered Fred, shutting the door behind them. The others exchanged awed looks.

"He's bloody brilliant," declared Albus, "I've been trying to get him to open up for the past half-hour!" They all nodded before Rose stood up.

"I'm going to go check on Brynne. I bet she's holed herself in our room, hoping for privacy. She's not likely to get it," she announced as Albus looked at her in confusion. Roxi stood up as well.

"I'll come with you," she said grimly, "It'll take the both of us to convince her to talk anyway." Rose nodded in agreement and they headed up. A few moments passes before they came down again. Rose looked worried and Roxi looked furious.

"What's wrong?" demanded Albus. Rose looked at him, fear clear in her eyes.

"Brynne's gone. She's not up there." Albus felt cold all over. It was well after curfew, and Brynne never ventured out after hours except in emergencies. She wouldn't be caught dead breaking curfew mere hours after her first detention. This was bad.

"I'm going to kill that idiot," snarled Roxi, storming over to the door to Fred and James' room. Albus couldn't remember ever seeing his cousin this mad. He couldn't recall ever seeing her mad period. "I'm sure he's got something to do with this. And I'm going to find out what," and with that Roxi began to bang on the door.

Fred looked around his dorm, searching for hints as to what was bothering his cousin and best friend. James was fuming silently, angry at having been tricked. Fred chose to ignore this fact.

"So how'd detention go?" he asked casually, collapsing onto his bed and grinning up at James.

"Sod off," was the answer he got. Fred shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Come now, don't be like that Jamie," he scolded, laughing silently. James glared at the use of his old nickname.

"I told you Fred, sod off," he repeated. Fred rolled his eyes.

"Look mate, we can do this the easy way, and you can tell me straight out what happened or you can be difficult and force me to bug you for days about it until I'm forced to resort to slipping veritaserum in your pumpkin juice. Which is it gonna be? My vote's for the first choice personally." He looked at James waiting for an answer. Something in James' face seemed to harden as he watched.

"I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way because I'm sure as hell not telling you anything," answered James coldly. Fred sighed in annoyance.

"James..." he began, but he was interrupted by someone pounding on the door in anger.

"OPEN UP YOU PRAT BEFORE I'M FORCED TO BLAST THE DOOR OPEN WITH MY BLOODY WAND!" came the very loud and very angry voice of his twin, Roxi. Fred looked at his cousin in amazement.

"Merlin, what did you do?" he asked in amazement. "I've been trying for years to get her that angry, and you do it without even breaking a sweat!" James shrugged, his face blank, but Fred thought he detected a hint of fear in his cousin's eyes. He couldn't blame him. Roxi could be very scary when she wanted to be. Fred got up to answer the door before Roxi carried out her threat.

Roxanne Weasley's face was, for once, redder than her hair. Fred was reminded vaguely of his cousins, Victoire and Dominique, who were part veela, when they got mad. It truly was a scary sight.

Roxi stormed passes her stunned twin and shoved James roughly. Unprepared for the sudden force, James fell back onto his bed. Roxi pointed a finger at him and gave him a look that would've made Voldemort wet his pants.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" she shrieked, "WHAT STUPID IDIOTIC THING DID YOU DO TO HER YOU BLOODY WANKER!" James looked confused.

"Sorry but...what?" he asked in confusion. Roxi growled. Albus and Rose, who had followed her in, exchanged nervous looks.

"YOU KNOW BLOODY WELL WHAT YOU DID! NOW WHERE IS SHE AND WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HER?" shouted Roxi. Fred had honestly never seen her so mad in his entire life. He could catch a hint of desperation in her voice that scared him.

"Where's who? Would somebody please tell me why the hell you're screaming your head off at me?" demanded James defensively.

"It's Brynne," explained Rose, she sounded like she'd been crying, "She's missing." James's face went from red to white in less than two seconds. Fred was now seriously worried.

"W-what?" asked James, as if not sure he'd heard right.

"SHE'S MISSING JAMES! SHE NEVER CAME BACK FROM BLOODY DETENTION. NOW YOU BETTER TELL ME WHAT YOU DID AND WHERE SHE COULD BE OR SO HELP ME YOU'RE GOING TO FIND THAT I DO A MUCH BETTER BAT-BOGEY HEX THAN AUNT GINNY!" shouted Roxi, pointing her wand at James' chest. But James wasn't paying attention. He was busy rummaging through his trunk, looking for something. He pulled out a torn and crumpled piece of parchment and tapped it with his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he muttered. Then he turned to look up at Roxi, shooting her an angry glare. "I didn't do anything by the way."

"OH LIKE HELL YOU DIDN'T!" shouted Roxi. She snatched the map and looked down at it, searching frantically for their friend. She looked up, her face white.

"She's in the Astronomy Tower," she whispered. She sounded scared.

"That's great!" said Albus, "So why do you look like you just walked through a ghost?" Roxi glared at James before turning to Albus.

"Because dork, the Astronomy Tower is the highest point at Hogwarts; there's a reason that students aren't even allowed to go up there during the day. About fifty years ago a girl went up there, and was found beneath it the next morning. Dead. It's the perfect spot for suicide." The room went cold. James was the first to react. He jumped from the bed, looking like he'd just been told he had one day to live.

"I have to stop her," he said. Roxi stopped him before he could get any farther.

"No," she said, "I'll go." James opened his mouth to argue. But she interrupted him.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" she asked coldly. James' face went blank at this. He nodded stiffly and watched as Rose, Albus, and Roxi ran out, heading straight for the Astronomy Tower.

"Dammit James what did you do?" demanded Fred, turning to look at James. James just shook his head.

"All my fault," he muttered. Fred shook him.

"Mate, you have to tell me what happened," he said calmly. James shook his head again.

"I can't," he said.

"JAMES SHE COULD DIE!" shouted Fred in frustration, "DO YOU REALIZE THAT?" James nodded. He seemed to deflate.

"I just couldn't do it. I couldn't be around her anymore. It scared the living shit out of me and I couldn't deal with that," he mumbled. "So I told her I wanted nothing to do with her. I thought it would be easier if I pretended I hated her. I never dreamed she'd react like this. When I told her she just looked at me, like she was seeing me for the first time. She said that was fine with her, she was sick of me anyway. I thought I was gonna die right there it hurt so much. Then she walked away without another word and I just wanted to call her back, but I didn't." Fred looked at his cousin in dismay.

"Why?" he asked, "Why the bloody hell would you do something like that James?" James looked at him in desperation.

"I was scared okay? I thought she'd be fine with it. She hated me anyway. I didn't think she'd do this! I mean why in Merlin's name would she react like this?" Fred groaned.

"James, you're her best mate! You mean more to her than you know! It would kill her to loose you! Don't you know that?" James shook his head. Fred looked at him in confusion. "Wait, why were you scared of Brynne?" he asked. It was James' turn to groan.

"It was that ruddy stunt she pulled at try-outs today. The nose dive. I don't know why it upset me so much. If it had been you or Roxi or Rose I would've been cheering you on. But with her all I could think is, 'Merlin, what if she doesn't pull up in time?' I couldn't watch that but I couldn't look away. It scared the hell out of me. I just can't deal with that. I thought if I ended the friendship I wouldn't care as much. But it hurts just as much now knowing that they could be too late to stop her as it did this afternoon, thinking she might not pull up in time." Fred was grinning from ear to ear by this time.

"You love her," he said simply. James looked up at him in alarm.

"Of course not! She's my best mate!" he protested.

"And? Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were best mates in school and look how they ended up."

"I can't love her!"

"Why?"

"Because she doesn't love me!"

"How do you know? She's about to throw herself off the bloody Astronomy Tower because you told her you wanted nothing to do with her. Seems like love to me."

"How does that fit in with your definition of love?"

"Stupid...irrational...slightly crazy? Yep that's definitely love."

"Fine, I love her."

"Excellent."

"Er...how's this excellent? The girl I love is about to kill herself because of something I said to her."

"Roxi owes me ten galleons. And I suggest you do something about that by the way." James stood up and grabbed his broom.

"Er...what are you doing?" asked a confused Fred. "I meant stop her not go play Quidditch!" James rolled his eyes.

"It'll take too long for me to get there by foot. She'll be dead by then." He mounted the broom and flew out the window, pausing to look back at his cousin.

"And by the way, we'll discuss you and Roxi betting on my love life when I get back." With that he disappeared in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Fred leaned out the window to shout at his retreating back.

"Technically we weren't just betting on your love life, we were betting on Brynne's love life, too!" But either James didn't hear this, or he chose to ignore it. Fred sat there grinning stupidly before realizing that he was about to miss everything. Fred swore colorfully and rushed out the door, on his way to the Astronomy Tower.

Brynne had spent the last few hours crying silently in the Astronomy Tower. She didn't understand why her heart felt like it was being shredded, but she knew that for whatever reason, losing James hurt worse than anything else that she'd ever experienced. That included losing Vera, and that had hurt pretty bad. All Brynne could think about was what life would be like without James. It was almost unbearable to consider. She choked back yet another sob. She was done crying. Brynne stood up from the cold stone ground and walked to the balcony. The cool air felt good on her overheated skin. It dried her tears. Brynne wondered what it would be like to fly, not with a broom, but by herself, like a bird. She imagined the feeling would be amazing.

Brynne opened her eyes and looked out at the Hogwarts grounds. She could see almost everything from this vantage point. It was exhilarating. She felt so close to the heavens, and yet terribly far away from everything dear. Brynne stood on the edge of the balcony, simply being. She enjoyed the feeling of standing at the edge. It was dangerous, and yet safe at the same time. She knew that she would never consider jumping. She wasn't that kind of person, and she knew that if she fell, she had magic on her side.

A voice seemed to float in her direction. It sounded like James. Brynne wondered if she was hallucinating. It seemed possible. The voice sounded upset, scared. It was calling someone's name, but Brynne couldn't really make out whose name was being called. She closed her eyes and continued to enjoy the feeling of standing on the edge. She would get down soon, and then she would go back to her dorm, pretend like nothing was wrong, and act like James hadn't hurt her beyond repair. But first, she was going to enjoy the solitude that came with the night sky. She heard the voice again. It was closer. It definitely sounded like James.

"Brynne stop!" came the voice again. Stop what? Brynne was confused. She moved to get down when the voice came again.

"BRYNNE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" And something crashed into her, pushing her back onto the tower, away from the edge. She hit her head against the stone floor and groaned in pain. Strong arms were wrapped around her, and she heard someone sobbing above her. She opened her eyes to see the blurry image of James; his face was streaked with tears as he looked down at her.

"Brynne what the hell did you think you were doing?" rasped James, hugging her to his chest. Brynne was slowly recovering from the blow to the head, but she didn't understand what was going on.

"James?" she asked, confused. James just held her closer. Then he was shaking her.

"What the hell were you thinking Brynne? Do you know what would happen if you died? Do you even understand what that would put them through? What it would put me through?" yelled James, furiously.

"James!" yelled Brynne, attempting to stop his rant and understand what the hell he was talking about.

"Why would you want to kill yourself anyway? Huh? It's not like you couldn't get on perfectly fine without me! You're not allowed to try and kill yourself over something I say!" James continued, frantic.

"JAMES!" screamed Brynne, finally getting his attention.

"WHAT?" he shouted back.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself," Brynne said calmly.

"Of course you were I mean you…wait…you weren't?" James asked, confused.

Brynne snorted in laughter.

"Of course not," she giggled, "How stupid do you think I am?" James blinked in surprise.

"Oh," he said simply. Brynne laughed again.

"Oh indeed," Brynne agreed in amusement.

"Then what were you doing?" asked James, confused. Brynne rolled her eyes.

"I was trying to collect myself before going back to the common room and pretending everything was fine," she explained, "Speaking of which, why the hell are you here? I thought you didn't want anything to do with me?" Brynne accused him angrily, shoving him away from her and sitting up. She refused to meet his eyes as she did so. She watched as he ran his fingers through his messy black hair in agitation.

"Merlin Brynne, I thought you were going to kill yourself because of what I did," he told her, "I couldn't let you do that." Brynne laughed coldly.

"Well I wasn't trying to kill myself," she told him, "so you can ease your guilty conscience and go back to ignoring me now." James's eyes snapped to hers, and he looked angry.

"You think I was trying to save you because I didn't want to feel guilty?" he asked her, furiously.

"Why else would you bother?" Brynne demanded, "You made it clear tonight that you don't give a damn about me!"

"Brynne what the hell are you talking about?" James practically snarled. "Of course I give a damn!" Brynne just shook her head and James couldn't help but think that she looked so beautiful in the moonlight. Like an angel.

"You don't," she insisted, "You said you wanted nothing to do with me. You wouldn't have said that if you cared about me." James cupped her face in his hands and looked her in the eyes.

"I care Brynne," he said firmly, "So much it scares me. That's why I said what I did. I thought that if I pretended I hated you then it wouldn't hurt so bad to watch you almost kill yourself in Quidditch like it did this afternoon. I thought that it wouldn't hurt so much to know that you didn't care about me the same way I cared about you. I didn't try to save you because I felt guilty; I tried to save you because I can't imagine my world without you." She looked into his bright hazel eyes and she realized he was telling the truth.

"You prat," she growled playfully, "You thought I didn't care? Are you crazy?" she smacked him upside the head and he laughed.

"Yeah well, I guess we both have some things to apologize for," he said. Her eyes widened.

"Okay I can see where you might have some things to apologize for, but I fail to see how I have done anything that merits an apology," she said. James rolled his eyes.

"Gee, let me think about that while I nurse a couple of scrapes I received while trying to save your arse because someone suddenly developed an affinity for heights," he muttered sarcastically.

"It's not like I was actually in any danger," Brynne said calmly. James growled. Brynne smiled and backed off.

"Okay," she admitted, "That probably wasn't the smartest move I've ever made, but to be fair, none of this would've happened if you hadn't freaked out and tried to end our friendship."

"Because you scared me silly by doing a nose dive that almost ended in your broken neck!" he protested. She thought about that for a moment before giving her reply.

"Yeah well...Rose was the one who convinced me to try out, so this is technically her fault." She shot him a triumphant smile as she finished her sentence.

"What's my fault again?" asked Rose from the stairway. Roxi and Albus appeared shortly behind her, panting.

"The fact that she tried out for the Quidditch team and did a nose dive that scared me enough to tell her I wanted nothing to do with her which upset her so much that she had to go and hang out around the edge of the Astronomy Tower, which forced me to attempt saving her, earning me a couple of rather nasty cuts and bruises in the process," explained James, smiling without pausing for breath. Brynne glared at hm.

"It sounded better in my head," she said defensively. They all looked at her like she was insane.

"Well it did," she mumbled, blushing.

"Okay well as long as we are on the subject, what exactly are you doing here?" demanded Roxi, glaring at James. He shrugged.

"I wasn't sure that you guys would make it on time so I thought I'd fly over here and lend a hand," James explained

"Flying! Why didn't I think of that?" muttered Rose mutinously. They all looked at her.

"This coming from the girl who ran faster than the wind up about twenty flights of stairs without breaking a sweat?" questioned Albus; he was still recovering from the journey. Rose's eyes widened innocently.

"What?" she demanded, "I broke the heels off my favorite shoes and ruined my pedicure!" They all looked at her weird.

"Uh…Rose? I don't exactly know how to tell you this but...you're a witch...fix it." said James without sympathy. Rose shot him a glare.

"Ha, ha very funny," she said dryly. "The only good thing that came out of tonight, aside from the fact that you know, my best friend didn't kill herself, was that Scorpius and I are now friends. He owes me ten galleons now that I think about it. Yay! I'm rich!" she clapped her hands together in delight.

"I'm going to let that one slide out of sheer exhaustion and because I'm too happy about the whole 'my girlfriend didn't try to kill herself tonight' thing to start an argument about being friends with Slytherins, but tomorrow you had better be prepared for a lecture. Oh and by the way Roxi, Fred says you owe him ten galleons, something about betting on my love life." James said coolly.

"Dammit Fred!"

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT TO FIND OUT. WE'LL BE POSTING THE NEXT CHAPTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT IT COULD TAKE AWHILE. I'M AT BOARDING SCHOOL WRITE NOW AND K. IS 300 MILES AWAY. SO WE COMMUNICATE PURELY THROUGH THE WONDEROUS INVENTION THAT IS EMAIL. OH AND FACEBOOK OF COURSE. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!