The Window

For a few days after their fight outside the Potions classroom, James had tried to talk to Kate, slinking away with his tail between his legs every time she refused to speak with him. After a week or two of being ignored, it seemed he finally had enough and stopped going near her altogether. Apart from Potions class and Arithmancy, the two classes they had together, they were hardly even in the same room as each other.

September had turned into October, and before anyone seemed to notice, the first Quidditch match of the year was looming on the horizon. Ravenclaw was up against Slytherin, and while nothing was ever as exciting as a Gryffindor versus Slytherin match, anticipation buzzed in the air, especially during dinnertime on the first day of October, a week before the match.

Kate sat between Scorpius and Romana Montague, picking at the soup she had chosen to eat that evening. Ravenclaw was picked as the favorite for the upcoming match, as they had just recruited a new Seeker, fifth year Christy Boot, and rumors were flying around that she was as good as it got. The Slytherin team didn't seem extremely jarred by the idea, but Scorpius noticed that Kate certainly seemed a little antsy. He was sure it wasn't just because of the upcoming game. After all, there was still no word on her father's health, she had just broken up with her boyfriend, and was probably dealing with a shit storm of emotions. He couldn't really blame her, but he was worried about her.

"Kate, are you okay?" he asked softly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kate shook her head. "Not really, no." She lifted her head and gazed across the room at James, who was sitting at the Gryffindor table, making quite the ruckus as usual. He was loudly relaying some sort of story to his pals, his arm wrapped around a smiling Gryffindor girl who seemed positively pleased to be hanging on him. Cathleen Derek was a sixth year Gryffindor girl, and although she wasn't incredibly attractive, she had arguably the biggest chest Hogwarts had ever seen. It was actually bizarre rather than alluring and seemed to cause her to walk with a hunch. She had narrow gray eyes around which she wore ridiculously bright shades of eye shadow, and wavy brown hair she wore in a style that looked like a peacock's tail.

"I know it's hard Kate, but you just need to forget about him," Romana told her sympathetically. "You can do better than him anyway. There are plenty of fish in the sea, they say. I mean, look at Aran Entwhistle. He's pretty cute."

"I guess, but his twin sister is one of James's exes. That seems like a bad idea no matter how I look at it," Kate replied glumly.

"Yeah, but he's got those dimples..."

Kate sighed at Romana and gave her head a shake. "I think I'm just going to swear off dating for awhile. All it seems to do is get me in trouble."

"Hey, whatever, girlie. Your loss." Romana turned back to the conversation she was having with Cholpon earlier.

"Romana's right," Scorpius declared. "We can't have you moping about like this. It's almost Halloween. It's your favorite."

"Yeah, I guess," said Kate dully. "I still feel terrible though."

"Well, stop feeling sorry for yourself and have some fun," Scorpius told her with a small smile. "I'll help you practice for the game."

"Seriously?" Kate looked at him dubiously. Scorpius hated Quidditch, and even though he seemed to tolerate it for her sake, she didn't think he even knew how to play the game let alone properly ride a broom. They had learned in their first year how to fly, as was mandatory, but beyond that, she didn't think he really knew how to fly well. She remembered even then he was terrible at it.

"Seriously." He smiled again at her, but quickly turned his attention to the staff table as the headmistress began to speak.

"Good evening, students," Headmistress Shacklebolt began with a smile. Celandine Shacklebolt was a short, busty, dark-skinned woman with wide, bright eyes the color of chocolate. Her dark, curly hair was slowly streaking with ash-gray as the years went by, but she wore it in an exotic, artistic style. A former Ravenclaw, she was Head Girl in her seventh year and went on to teach at a prestigious school in Brazil before coming back to England to become a school governor of Hogwarts and a Ministry official. She married Kingsley Shacklebolt, the current Minister of Magic, when he was still just an Auror and became the headmistress of Hogwarts upon Minerva McGonagall's resignation from the position.

It was really quite normal for the Headmistress to speak to the students during dinner. Her first words upon becoming the headmistress were in fact about forging personal relationships with the students to cultivate a better learning atmosphere. 'Students,' she had said, 'are more likely to be receptive to teaching from those with whom they are friendly and comfortable.' By no means did she encourage lax discipline--as she was quite the disciplinarian herself given the situation--but she certainly encouraged every possible option before harsh punishment.

Today, she seemed brimming with excitement to share something, judging by the way she grinned and looked to and fro down the staff table. Several of the less enthusiastic members, Professor Lee included, shifted a bit uncomfortably, but others seemed to be just as excited as Headmistress Shacklebolt. "As you know," she finally began, "every year we hold an annual Halloween feast. This year, we will be continuing that tradition. However, this year in addition to our most wonderful of traditions, we will be having a ball. A masquerade ball."

The Great Hall broke into a cacophony of giggling girls, groaning boys, and excited chatter. The headmistress continued to speak over it, "Owls have been sent to your parents notifying them of the necessity for formal attire, for those of you who don't compulsively bring dress robes every school year," here, she stopped and chuckled, but then continued, "In addition to compulsory formal attire, masks are also mandatory. It is a masquerade after all. From what I understand, Hogsmeade's stores will make these masks available this weekend. However, only fourth years and up are permitted to attend the ball. Beyond this, your Heads of House will give you more details.

"The school governors and several charitable patrons have funded this ball, and I, as well as the staff, would hope to all those of you who are able will attend." She finished her speech, sat down, and continued eating, leaving the Great Hall to its discordant buzz again.

Isabelle and Olivia were practically beside themselves with joy, twittering about whom they would bring as dates, what they were going to wear, how they would do their hair, and who was likely to show up dateless. It was enough to make anyone roll her eyes, but still Kate listened as the two babbled.

"Well, as you can imagine," said Olivia, "I'll of course be bringing Leighton. I mean, he is my boyfriend after all, even if he can't dance or tie a tie." She giggled obnoxiously and turned to look down the table at her boyfriend, Leighton Warrington, who was sitting with his back turned to them, talking in hushed tones to the male members of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

The oldest of five children, Leighton Warrington came from an upper middle class family that wasn't quite pureblood royalty but was still respected among the old money families. Leighton wasn't extremely remarkable, and it seemed rather fitting that he and Olivia were together. He had narrow eyes the color of sapphires, straight black hair that he kept cropped near his ears and a sparse growth of stubble on his chin. He had relatively plain features, but a tall, graceful build that was uncharacteristic of Beaters. He seemed considerably unenthusiastic about his relationship with Olivia, but she frequently showered gifts and appreciation upon him, neither of which he seemed to mind at all.

"What about you?" Olivia asked in a failed attempt at casualness, turning to Kate. "I guess you can't take James now can you? So who are you going to go with, Kate?"

Kate gave a noncommittal shrug and told her, "I'm not even really sure if I'm going to go, Olivia. I don't see much of a point. I hate dancing and I'd rather just spend it in the library or doing something actually productive."

Isabelle wrinkled her nose at the thought. "I don't know why anyone would willingly want to spend time in the library."

Olivia sighed patronizingly and smiled wryly. "I think it's just because you won't have a date that you don't want to go. Granted, who would want to go with a ginger like you?"

"I'm not a ginger," Kate hissed.

"Pale skin, freckles, red hair. Yep, you're a ginger." Olivia nodded.

"At least I don't look like an overgrown peacock in need of severe dental work," Kate shot back, turning her attention to her soup to avoid the impending catfight. Olivia was ready to pounce, claws out, but was intercepted by Romana, the strongest of the girls, who held her back.

Despite being on good terms with the other girls in her dorm, Kate and Olivia had never really gotten on well. This was probably due to the bad blood between their families, but no one was really certain. While they were in school, Olivia's mother Demelza and Kate's father had dated for a long time, although on Theodore Nott's part, he did it mostly to please his parents. When he had left school at the age of eighteen and went out into the Muggle world to become a novelist, he met Kate's mother, fell madly in love, broke off his engagement with Demelza, and married Lilianne Casteel instead. Demelza still seemed to hold a grudge to that day, despite finding a husband in Charles Warrington, a successful Quidditch manager.

"You still won't be able to get a date," huffed Olivia after she had calmed a bit. She glared at Kate, who continued to eat her soup, trying to look at innocent and uninvolved as possible.

"Mark my words, Olivia, I most certainly will," Kate spat, tired of being insulted. "And he'll know how to tie a tie." She stood, gathered her things, and stormed off, leaving her half-finished dinner.

Scorpius let out a soft sigh, amazed at Kate's ability to be a normal, petty schoolgirl just like the others despite her great capacity for maturity and profundity. Not really wanting to stay with the rest of the girls, he quickly finished his dinner and hurried out after Kate.

When he finally caught up with her just outside the Great Hall, he grabbed her arm gently. "Look, Kate," he said, gazing down at her, "I'll go with you."

Kate almost glared at him, a scowl on her face when she heard Olivia's obnoxious laughter. "Well, they'll all be expecting that. Who else would I take if I didn't have a date?"

Scorpius was a little hurt by the implication that he was her last resort, but he persisted, "Come on, Katie. Give me a chance. I can tie a tie."

Kate smiled softly at him, but frowned again when she heard James's voice through the din. She bit her lip, glancing conspiratorially at Scorpius. She was sure that taking Scorpius and having a great time would make James jealous, just like he was trying to make her jealous by hanging on Cathleen Derek. Despite feeling a bit bad about electing to use her best friend, she still thought it would at least be fun for both of them to go together. She smiled sweetly and told him, "Alright. I'll take you up on that offer."

"Great." Scorpius smiled back at her and together they walked toward the common room.

Later that night after a long practice session on the pitch with Scorpius, Kate trudged through the common room up to the seventh year girls' dormitory. Despite Scorpius's inability to throw a Quaffle to save his life, he was pretty good at catching them before Kate could throw them through the goal hoops. She had initially chalked it up to her own bad throwing because of nerves, but the more she thought about it, she had to admit Scorpius wouldn't make all that bad of a Keeper. She was actually considerably exhausted, having taken most of her frustration out on practice, and had even strained a muscle. Her throwing arm, the left one, ached like hell.

She shuffled into the dormitory, having nothing else in mind but throwing herself onto her bed and sleeping until morning. Unfortunately, that didn't seem like a possibility. No sooner had she stepped into the room than had she been greeted by a chorus of obnoxious giggling and the loud sounds of what could only be gossip falling off her roommates' lips. With a groan, she set her broom and kneepads in one corner, and pulled off her worn black trainers to throw them near her trunk. She glanced around the room, wondering what the other girls were up to this time.

The Slytherin girls' dormitories seemed to echo all the stylistic décor of their dungeon common room without any of the dankness. The furniture was all Victorian style with eight dark wood four-posters arranged around the room in such a way that created the most space. Each bed had silk sheets the color of emeralds, silk hangings of the same color, and pillowcases and accents the color of pearls. Next to each was a small nightstand carved with patterns depicting flowering vines. Atop each sat a candelabrum shaped like three entwined serpents whose mouths held green and pearl-white candles. The floors were hardwood instead of the plush carpet of the other dormitories.

Despite the immaculate tidiness of the other beds, Kate's own bed was hastily put together, the sheets rumpled, one pillow sideways on top of the other. She sat down on her bed, ignoring the other girls' chatter as she peeled off her dirty practice clothing in exchanged for a pair of black sweatpants and a green ribbed sleeveless top--her nightclothes. She pulled her long hair out of its ponytail and began to brush it with the comb that was on her nightstand. Finally, Isabelle's voice caught her attention and she looked up at them.

"Kate, come sit with us," she half-whined, patting an empty spot on the bed where she was sitting. The girls had pushed Olivia's and Romana's beds together and appeared to be styling each other's hair, eating from boxes of chocolate and looking at magazines. Kate raised a brow when she took the sight in. Romana seemed extremely unenthusiastic about Olivia braiding her hair into two long, thick plaits and she could see that Cholpon was sprawled out at the end of the other bed reading a Quidditch magazine. Kate was relieved to see that at least she wasn't the only one who didn't enjoy the girls' slumber parties. Apart from Cholpon and Romana who wore nightclothes similar to Kate's, the other girls were all wearing short, frilly nightgowns in pastel shades.

Awkwardly, Kate walked toward them and very gingerly sat on the edge of one bed. She threw Romana a questioning look and the other girl simply shrugged and mouthed the words 'just go with it.' Kate rolled her eyes and let Isabelle take her hands and begin to paint her fingernails dark green.

"So the girls and I were just talking about the masquerade ball," Isabelle began, putting Kate in mind of the hairdressers she used to visit with her mother when she was much younger, "and we were wondering what sort of dress you're going to wear, and what colour." She paused long enough to catch her breath, then continued, "Romana is going to wear yellow, Cholpon is going to wear teal, and I, of course, am going to wear pink," she said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, then rambled on, "Kalia and Olivia don't know what colors they're wearing yet, but Roxane is going to wear dark blue or white--she hasn't decided which though. Anyhow, we all think that you should wear green. Because, you know, it matches your eyes."

"Uh-huh." Kate nodded, brow raised, wondering why this could possibly be of any importance to them. Then again, they were the type of girls who cared more about what the handwriting on their homework looked like than the answers.

"We're all going mask shopping when we go to Hogsmeade on Saturday," Isabelle added, practically bursting with excitement, "and we want you to go with us. It'll be fun. We don't get to spend a lot of time together as a whole, you know. I mean, we're like family. We've shared a dorm for practically nine months of the year since we were eleven, so it's about time we start doing things together. After all, this is our last year." Her eyes seemed to well up with tears and it was as if she could go on no longer.

"What Issy means is that she wants everyone's opinion on the mask and dress she wants to buy," said Cholpon with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, don't call me that, Cholpon," complained Isabelle pettily. "You make me sound like a boy."

Cholpon snorted and gave another shrug before turning back to her magazine. "How annoyed would you all be if I put a pin-up of Danica Krum on the wall next to my bed?" She pulled out an insert from her magazine and held it up for the others to see. On it was a dark-haired girl with inky blue eyes and beautiful Slavic features. She wore nothing but a pair of green panties with the word 'HARPIES' emblazoned on the backside in glittering gold letters. In her left hand she held out a golden snitch.

Isabelle, Olivia, Apikalia, and Roxane stared at her for a moment, before Roxane broke the silence. "God," she moaned, "I wish my boobs were that big." There was a collective snort and several pillows were thrown at Roxane. The dark-haired girl squealed and tried to dodge the fluffy projectiles.

"No, seriously," persisted Cholpon. She looked at the winking pin-up, then up at the others, nonplussed.

"If you tell her to cover up," Isabelle quipped, muffling her laughter with her hand. "Not all of us like to look at boobs as much as you do."

It came as quite a shock to the girls when Cholpon had revealed to them her bisexuality in the last year. Surprisingly enough, all of them seemed to be alright with it despite the stigma that tended to float around in Slytherin about homosexuality. Even the boys had taken rather well to it, although this was probably due to the fact that it meant they eventually would see Cholpon and another girl kissing.

"Fine," Cholpon whined and folded the insert back into the magazine. "I'll keep her in there." She complained, "She's too attractive to stay in a magazine."

The girls all burst into laughter and went back to their gossiping. After a few relatively pointless conversations, everyone seemed to become very serious when Isabelle turned to Kate and spoke again, "So you and James are really through, huh?"

Kate pursed her lips, gave a shrug, and then nodded hesitantly. "I guess so. At least for awhile, maybe until he learns to grow up."

"I doubt that'll ever happen," snorted Cholpon from behind her magazine.

"Boys... they never grow up," Isabelle added sagely.

"So did you guys do it?" Olivia interjected with a smile on her face to rival the Cheshire cat's. A hush fell over the other girls as they leaned in, interested.

"Livie! Is that all you ever think about?" Isabelle squealed, but then added, "so did you?"

Kate groaned and rolled her eyes. "No, we didn't."

"What? So you still have your v-card?" Olivia seemed as surprised as the rest of the girls. "I almost don't believe that."

Kate gave a weak shrug and sighed, flopping onto her back. "Well, you should because it's true. I don't just want to have sex with a guy because we're dating. I mean, who knows how long those things last--obviously not long in this case. I'm glad now that I didn't."

"Well, uh, I guess that's good that you guys didn't do it then," Roxane said quietly.

"Roxi! Don't even!" shrieked Isabelle.

"Come on, she's going to find out anyway. It may as well be us who tell her." Roxane pursed her lips, glancing at Kate, who looked quite confused.

"What? Tell me what?" she asked pensively as one eyebrow quirked.

"Well," Roxane sighed, "We'd hate to be the bearers of bad news, but we thought you should know that James may not have been as great a boyfriend as you thought he was."

"Yeah, obviously, I guess," said Kate dryly. "After all, he can't grow up enough to treat my best friend like a civilized human--"

"No, that's not what we mean," interrupted Romana. "Kate," she said softly, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "James was messing around behind your back. Scorpius told us. At first we didn't believe him because we just thought he was jealous, but then we saw it for ourselves."

Kate's eyes widened with understanding. "So that's what Marjorie was talking about. James and Cathleen Derek have been for awhile."

"Not even just her." Isabelle shook her head.

"Who else?" asked Kate in disbelief.

"Ema Finnigan," Isabelle listed, "Tatiana Cadwallader. Cora Abercrombie."

"Diantha Barbary. Christy Boot," added Romana.

"Not to mention the Carmichael twins--at the same time," said Olivia sensationally. "Priscilla Higgs. Maria Kiely-White."

"The boy got around," Tara said, resuming painting her toenails an awful shade of chartreuse.

"And how long have you guys known this?" Kate wasn't sure if she should be more depressed or angry over the news. She had genuinely believed James to be a gentleman, at least where sex was concerned. But now it was all becoming clear to her exactly why he never pushed her to do anything she didn't want to do--he was getting it somewhere else.

"Well, Tatiana right off the bat. They've been messing around since fourth year, you know," Isabelle told her. "Ema Finnigan was only once, or so she told us, when she was drunk, and she feels really horrible about it, by the way." She continued to rattle off the facts while Kate listened, beginning to feel numb.

"Enough!" she exploded. "Sorry, I just don't want to hear anymore. That's just... disgusting."

"Maybe Scorpius was right about him, you know, Kate," Romana said softly. "Maybe you should have listened to him sooner. Even if he might have just been saying it for his own good."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked dubiously.

"What she means," said Olivia, "is that Scorpius has fancied you since, what, first year, or something like that. Der."

"Absolutely not," Kate denied, face straight.

"Absolutely." Romana nodded.

"No, he's just a friend. We've always been just friends."

"Really close friends. Come on, of course he has a bit of a thing for you, Kate, you're like his ... I don't even know, but trust me. He definitely does." Romana gave a little smile and a shrug. "No use denying it. Practically everyone else knows it's true."

Kate stood, obviously a little more than confused, and then moved to her bed, flopping facedown onto it. "This is ridiculous," she mumbled. "I hate boys."