Obliviate My Choices {Book 4}

12. So soon

It was winter again, snow was falling in constant flurries and the air of excitement was in the air once more. To make things even better, I felt happier in myself than I did last year, and nobody was in any life threatening danger like last year.

Girls kept trying to get Harry under the mistletoe, and I found it the funniest thing in the world, as I had no idea why so many people liked him. Alia was trying to deface the castle of mistletoe but failing as somebody kept putting them back up (probably Lavender Brown).

Alia seemed to be accepting herself more, but it seemed it was only her sister, Arthur (who'd overheard Camille blurting it out) and I who knew about her sexuality. She had gotten to the stage she was making jokes about being asexual, which apparently was a good sign of acceptance according to Arthur.

But something nobody was accepting was Ron and Lavender in a relationship. Sure, Ron acted happier, but the fact his lips never left a part of Lavender's skin was highly irritating. Not to mention he was blatantly ignoring Hermione for his new 'girlfriend'.

"She can't complain to me," Ron said to me one day when Lavender had left him alone to breate for over a minute. "She snogged Krum. So she's found out someone wants to snog me too. Well, it's a free country. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Hmmm." I mumbled, wanting to say a lot more. I was trying to stay friends with both of them, which involved me keeping my mouth shut for most of the time.

"I never promised Hermione anything," Ron mumbled. "I mean, all right, I was going to go to Slughorn's Christmas party with her, but she never said... just as friends... I'm a free agent..."

I sighed, turning the page in my text book. "Whatever you say, Ronald."

Hermione however, refused to sit in the common room when Ron and Lavender were attatched to each other (not that I blamed her)--even Gennie and Cole avoided them in the evenings. And that was saying something, since Gennie and Cole were usually all over each other.

One night I ended up sitting in the library with Hermione and Harry, and once again, I heard the other side of the story.

"He's at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he likes," said Hermione, while the librarian, Madam Pince, prowled the shelves behind them. "I really couldn't care less."

She raised her quill and dotted an 'i' so ferociously that she punctured a hole in her parchment. Harry and I exchanged a look, but he just raised an eyebrow and went back to his stupid potions book.

"And incidentally," said Hermione, after a few moments, "you need to be careful."

"For the last time," said Harry, speaking in a slightly hoarse tone after three-quarters of an hour's silence, "I am not giving back this book. I've learned more from the Half-Blood Prince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in--"

"I'm not talking about your stupid so-called Prince," said Hermione, giving his book a nasty look as though it had been rude to her. "I'm talking about earlier. I went into the girls' bathroom just before I came in here and there were about a dozen girls in there, including that Romilda Vane, trying to decide how to slip you a love potion. They're all hoping they're going to get you to take them to Slughorn's party, and thay all seem to have bought Fred and George's love potions, which I'm afraid to say probably work--"

"Confiscate them, they're practically magical rohypnol." I demanded. As much it was funny to joke about how many girls liked Harry, I didn't want him under the spell of some creepy potion

"They didn't have the potions with them in the bathroom," said Hermione scornfully, "They were just discussing tactics. As I doubt the Half-Blood Prince," she gave the book another scornful look, "could dream up an antidote for a dozen different love potions at once, I'd just invite someone to go with you, that'll stop all the others thinking they've still got a chance. It's tomorrow night, they're getting desperate."

"There isn't anyone I want to invite," mumbled Harry.