Geminus

Kara was up early Saturday morning. She got dressed quietly and slipped down to the common room. She was soon engrossed in her book. When a hand fell on her shoulder, she jumped and dropped her book.

"Oh, sorry."

Harry bent down and picked up the book. He recognised the author- a Muggle called Stephen King.

"You like Muggle stuff, don't you?"

"Some of it, I wouldn't want to be one though- I'd miss magic too much!"

Kara looked up at Harry, a smile on her face.

"So what's up? Couldn't you sleep?"

"No."

Harry turned away from Kara and walked to the window, sighing. Kara frowned, she knew he had a lot of problems but so far the only stuff she knew was what Dumbledore had told the twins over the summer. Kara wondered how many mornings Harry was up this early.

"Harry, you know I'm here if you ever want to talk?"

He turned back to her, a slight smile on his face.

"I know. Look, there is some stuff I need to deal with, stuff I haven't even told Ron and Hermione yet. Give me time- I do want to tell you."

Kara went over to him and gave him a hug, she knew all about keeping secrets.

"Come on Mr Potter, as we are both up, we can start our DADA project."

Harry groaned but followed Kara down to the library.

There was no-one in the library when the two sat down to work. Harry sat reading one book while Kara searched the shelves for any others that would help.

"Found anything yet?"

"No, well except that veritas means truth, but we guessed that already."

"I don't get it - Lupin gives us a random incantation and then we are supposed to figure out what spell it is. It's a bit of an odd project. We never had anything like this in Ireland."

Harry looked up at Kara. The twins had both mentioned their school before, but not in much detail.

"What was it like?"

"What, Ireland? Lovely, except for the school being all girls. There was an all boys school nearby so we often all met up."

Kara laughed then looked off distantly - remembering the times that the boys sneaked over to the school only to be chased away by their caretaker, Mr. Fogle.

"Apart from that, it wasn't much different to Hogwarts really - except for we had no-one like Snape!"

Kara wrinkled her nose in disgust, causing Harry to laugh

"Oh, one thing was different. As the place was so remote, we were allowed to do our Apparation test early"

"You mean you and Kara can Apparate?"

"Yep!"

"Lucky cows. So how come you went there, you mentioned Voldemort."

"Ahh yes, good old Voldy as Jenna calls him. Well..."

Kara suddenly looked awkward and she played with her necklace.

"....to be honest Harry, there is stuff that I can't tell you and stuff I don't even know. All I can say is that Voldemort can't find me and Jenna."

Harry looked worried. He was used to being on Voldemort's most wanted list, but he didn't like the fact that Kara was too.

"Anyway, I'm not worried as long as Dumbledore is around. Come on, let's get back to work."

They continued what they were doing until the sound of someone giggling made them both look round. Pansy and Draco had sat near them - she was currently trying to lean over him, but he looked unimpressed as she batted her eyelids. Kara felt a horrible jolt in the stomach, which she told herself wasn't jealousy. She was about to look away when Draco spotted her watching, he grabbed Pansy and pulled her into his lap before whispering in her ear.

"Ugh, those two deserve each other."

Harry looked away, a look of disgust very similar to Kara's on his face. Kara shook her head and looked back at Harry.

"Hmmm."

"Kara, about what Draco said....."

Kara walked over to Harry and kissed him briefly on his lips.

"I told you he was just trying to wind you up. He's a git and I hate him like the rest of you."

Harry smiled, reassured, and they settled down to work again.

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While Kara and Harry were working in the library, Jenna was making her way down to the Quidditch pitch. Last night Oliver had agreed to give her a private Quidditch lesson before practises started. She reached the pitch to find Oliver waiting for her.

"Hey hun."

"Hey, sorry I'm late, what you got planned for me?"

Oliver grinned.

"What, now or later?"

Jenna smiled, although secretly she was confused. Oliver kept blowing hot and cold - one minute he was flirting with her and the next he was suggesting that TAs and students shouldn't be together.

"Just Quidditch for now, I think."

Oliver explained he was going to act as Keeper and Jenna would try to score goals. After an hour of flying, they landed back down on the pitch - both hot and sweaty.

"Phew, I need a shower."

"That sounds like fun!"

Before Jenna could reply, Professor McGonagall strode onto the pitch.

"Could I have a word please, Mr Wood?"

"Yes, Professor."

Oliver turned to shrug at Jenna before following McGonagall inside.

Jenna didn't see Oliver again until that evening. Everyone was sitting in the common room discussing Quidditch when he arrived. He sat down next to Jenna, putting his arm around her.

"What did McGonagall want then?"

"Nothing important, just work stuff."

Jenna frowned. She could see something was wrong but decided not to push it.

"So Ron, when you starting Quidditch practise?"

"Tomorrow, and then I thought a couple a week until the Slytherin match."

"Slytherin? Is Draco on the team?"

Kara shot a 'shut up' look at her sister which she chose to ignore.

"Yeah he's their seeker."

Harry responded. He glanced at Kara next to him but she just looked bored with the Quidditch talk. 'I guess she really doesn't like him,' he thought, relieved.

"Yeah, but Harry always beats him to the Snitch so it doesn't matter."

Everyone laughed at Ron's comment before the talk turned to the up-coming Hogsmeade trip.

It wasn't until everyone else had gone to bed that Kara and Jenna had a chance to talk alone. They sat in front of the fire, worrying.

"He won't tell me what's wrong and I don't know how to get it out of him."

"Tell me about it, Harry's the same. Men! They always have issues."

Jenna laughed at her sister. She did miss not spending as much time together as they normally did, and she knew Kara felt the same. In Ireland, the pair were inseparable - Jenna was never bothered about blokes and Kara never had the same one for that long, so they were never normally a issue.

"I'm looking forward to causing some more mischief. Shame we have to wait for a while though."

"Yeah, but you know Hermione is right. We were lucky, so let's wait til November fifth as planned."

Kara was smiling as she said this. Although she enjoyed causing trouble as much as her sister she was definitely the calmer one of the two - many a time Jenna would have got caught if it wasn't for her.

"You looking forward to Hogsmeade and the Halloween feast?"

"Yeah should be good, I know you are too. Finally some quality alone time with Harry!"

Kara laughed but suddenly she looked serious. Jenna bit her lip worriedly.

"What?"

"Harry was asking why Voldemort is interested in us. Before you start, I didn't say anything but...."

"But what? You know we can't tell him, besides he's not going to be interested in some spell for a veil in the depths of the Ministry."

"Yeah I suppose. Anyway, as someone is forcing me to play Quidditch tomorrow I'm off to bed."

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Sunday saw everyone traipsing to the Quidditch pitch to watch the Gryffindor team practice. Jenna was tying to get her sister motivated as they pulled on their Quidditch robes and headed out to the pitch.

"You know you will enjoy once you get up there."

"Uh huh, yeah."

Jenna sighed at her sister as they mounted their brooms, causing Kara to smile weakly. Jenna was right, she did enjoy it when she was in the air as long as she didn't think of the fall she had last year. The team flew up and Ron released the Quaffle followed by the Bludgers, before flying to the hoops.

After a while, Jenna noticed Ginny lagging behind on her Cleansweep. Jenna, who was now in possession of the Quaffle, darted through her team mates towards Ron in goal. For a moment, Ron thought Jenna was going to collide with him before she pulled up and hovered perfectly in front of him.

"Ron, I need to speak to you about something, got a minute? It could help us thrash Slytherin even more than were gonna."

"This better be important."

Ron called a time out and the rest of the team members landed and dismounted. Kara had started to chat to Harry, blocking out her sister's and Ron's words.

"Jenna thinks she's got a way to help us thrash Slytherin even more. So Jenna, what is it?"

"Well, I've noticed that Ginny is lagging behind though some of our plays."

Ginny opened her mouth in protest, but Jenna cut her off.

"Ginny, before you start I'm not saying you're a bad Chaser. I'm just saying you need a better broom to keep up with us, maybe a Firebolt."

"I can't aff..."

Ginny trailed off as Jenna spoke over the top of her.

"That's not a problem, just listen. Kara and I have 2 Firebolts and 2 Nimbus 2001 at home. I was thinking, if Kara agrees, that Ginny you and Ron could have our Firebolts, and Dean and Seamus our Nimbus 2001's - take it as a gift to the team, we don't need them. They're just sitting in the broom shed at home going to waste, now that me and Kara have got our new Firebolt 2004's. So Kara, guys, what do you think?"

"Yeah whatever...." was Kara's reply, waving a hand in dismissal. It was obvious that she hadn't been listening.

"Are you sure?"

Ron's words were full of shock.

"Do you want to win this thing or not? The deal is the brooms are yours, but the substitutes are allowed to use them if they ever need to take anyone's place. Other than that, the brooms will be yours to keep. What do you say?"

"I could kiss you."

"Please don't! So, do you want the brooms or not?"

"Of course we want the brooms, Jenna you're the best."

Ron had pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you, I don't know what to say ... I'm going to have a Firebolt, this is unbelievable."

Ron said, still in shock, as Dean, Seamus and Ginny thanked Jenna. Kara still wasn't paying much attention.

"Good, well I'll send Nicodemus home tonight and we should have the brooms in a couple days. I'll get mum to send them individually to you, just to rub the Slytherins noses in it. I love seeing them squirm."

A mischievous grin crossed Jenna's face at getting one up on the Slytherins, and even better, getting one over on Malfoy. Although Kara may have developed an unhealthy obsession over him, Jenna still didn't trust him.

The team practised for a few more hours and, by the end, even Kara had to admit she enjoyed herself. As they landed, Ron turned to his team.

"Excellent guys. If we play like that, we will definitely beat those Slytherins."

"Confident, are we?"

Everyone turned to see the Slytherin team standing at the edge of the pitch in their green robes. Ron took a step towards Draco, who had spoken.

"Yes actually, Malfoy. We have the best seeker around and two of our chasers have Firebolt 2004's! Plus, by the match, the rest of the team will be on Nimbus 2001's or better!"

The Gryffindors grinned at the shocked faces of the Slytherins.

"How can you, Weasel, afford a Nimbus 2001?" questioned Malfoy.

"As a matter of fact Malfoy, I'll be on a Firebolt."

The Gryffindors grinned triumphantly again at the shocked faces of the Slytherins. Ron didn't give the Slytherins or Malfoy time to retort.

"The pitch is all yours, you'll need the practise."

The team strode past the Slytherins. Kara was determinedly not looking at Draco, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"What?"

She hissed at him as she pulled her arm away. Draco looked slightly hurt.

"Same time on Wednesday?"

"Fine."

She walked off and caught up with Harry, who had waited for her. Harry shot a clear 'stay away from her' look at Draco, before putting his arm around Kara's waist and leading her away.

Later in the common room, Harry questioned Kara.

"Well?"

Kara looked up from the chess game that Ron and Jenna were playing. She glanced at Hermione worriedly before answering.

"Well what?"

"You know what. You and Malfoy?"

Before Kara could respond, Hermione leapt to her defence.

"Oh really Harry, Malfoy is clearly out to wind you up and it's obviously working. Kara doesn't like him, everyone can see that but you!"

Harry had the good grace to look sheepish. Kara gave Hermione a grateful smile while ignoring her sister, who was trying to catch her eye,

"Okay, I'm sorry Kara. I guess I do let him wind me up too much."

"It's fine honestly, he is an annoying sod. He just wanted to tell me when he wanted to meet up to do more potions work, that's all."

Kara glanced at her sister, who was silently shaking her head.

"Besides why would I want the Boy-Who-Is-A-Git when I have the Boy-Who-Lived?"

Everyone laughed as Harry attempted to look annoyed. He gave up and joined Kara and Hermione in watching the chess match.