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Shenanigans

Thursday — June 4, 1992

Exams were finally over and the third year Hufflepuffs couldn't be happier. This year had been the most brutal by far, and they were ready to let off some steam and enjoy their free time the rest of the month, before they returned home for the summer.

When the three girls — Chrysanthe Hayden, Karen Pickford, and Jane Ramsey — finished dinner that evening, they headed back to the Hufflepuff Burrow, laughing among themselves about everything from boys to what they wanted to do during the summer holidays. They quickly dropped their things off in their dormitory, kicked their shoes off, and returned to the common room, where they dragged three dark yellow bean bags to one corner so they could sit and chatter away.

However, at nearly eight o'clock that night, their classmate Daniel Youngman came up to them and flopped down on the floor between Chrysanthe and Jane, a devious smile on his face.

"Ladies!" he said cheerfully, and then his voice became very quiet and conspiratorial. "We've a surprise for you tonight. Come to the third year guys' dorms at eleven o'clock."

Chrysanthe wrinkled her nose and edged away from him. "Why on earth would we go into the boys' dorms at eleven at night?"

"Yes," Jane said worriedly. "That's terribly improper —!"

Danny grinned. "That's the point, Ramsey."

Jane turned a bit red and stared at him.

Karen huffed. "You should at least tell us why we're to come. And just because it's improper isn't an answer."

"Oh, fine," he said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "We thought we'd play a game. The fourth years are going to join us. It'll be fun."

With that, he bounced back up and disappeared across the common room, to a table where Cedric Diggory, Gilbert Royle, and Will Richardson were cutting up and acting like typical teenage boys, playing Exploding Snap.

Chrysanthe's eyes narrowed on them, as Will put a card down and held his breath. It didn't explode, and four lads all burst into raucous laughter.

Frowning, she mused, "I wonder what on earth they're planning?"

"Probably something stupid," Karen answered. She was looking through the June edition of the adult-witches Venus mag, at an article titled Stylish and Spellbound: How to look your best for your bloke! Chrysanthe knew Karen had gotten the copy from one of the sixth or seventh year Hufflepuffs; it had an age limit of 17+, after all.

"Well," Jane declared, pouting slightly. "I'm not going. I'm knackered from exams. Snape's was awful!"

"It so was," Karen moaned, rolling her head back onto the bean bag and staring at the ceiling for a moment. "I'm definitely dropping Potions in sixth year!"

Jane agreed. "Me, too!"

Chrysanthe, however, was still frowning at the boys.

"Come on, 'Santhe," Karen said. "There's a good quiz in this one. What Wizard is Your Type? Let's do it together!"

But Chrysanthe didn't answer; it was as if she hadn't even heard her best friend.

After a couple of seconds, Karen nudged Chrysanthe's shin with her foot. "Oi, it's probably going to be something silly, like a kissing game. You know it is. Don't worry about it right now."

At that, Chrysanthe jolted. "Ugh!" She shuddered. "You're probably right. That would be just like Youngman!"

Karen tilted her head. "He doesn't seem to listen when you tell him you don't like him."

"Don't remind me," Chrysanthe grumbled. "I've been telling him that for two bally months! Why couldn't Ced fancy me? Or Gil?"

Karen giggled. "Well, maybe we should go tonight, and if you get a chance to kiss either of them, you can see if they're interested…"

"That's an idea." Chrysanthe's eyes lit up.

Jane looked up at them over the top of the boring book she was reading, which was definitely not about romance. Darkly, she said, "I think we should just go to bed and forget about it. What if Sprout caught you? You would all end up in detention!"

Chrysanthe and Karen glanced at each other, but they didn't say anything. Jane had a point, but then again, so did the boys.

At eleven that night, Chrysanthe and Karen made their way from their dormitory down the twisting corridor and back into the common room. There were still a few older students awake, mostly sixth and seventh years, who were chatting around the fire about their end-of-year exams. All of the other students had gone to bed, including Jane — who, true to her word, had refused to sneak into the boys' dorms with Chrysanthe and Karen. She'd sniffed and told her two dorm mates not to complain to her if the boys tried to take advantage of them or if Sprout caught them and they all ended up in detention. Chrysanthe and Karen had rolled their eyes at that. Jane might be the only other girl in their house year, but she could be a real prude sometimes.

The were making their way across the common room and were almost at the boys' dorms' door, when three fourth-year girls hurried up behind them.

"Wait for us," Beatrice Haywood called softly.

Chrysanthe and Karen turned around, and discovered that Tamsin Applebee and Bess Oakfield were with Bea.

Karen asked curiously, "Did the fourth-year girls get invited, too?"

Bess grinned. "Aye, but Rebecca didn't want to come. We left her burrowed in her bed."

Chrysanthe snorted. "Sounds like Jane. She refused to come, too."

Karen asked, "So, do you think the boys want to snog?"

Bess and Tamsin glanced at each other, and both snickered.

"Definitely," Bess replied between giggles.

Beatrice asked Karen and Chrysanthe, "Have either of you snogged a boy yet?"

"No," Karen answered, as they wound their way through the twisting corridor of the boys' side. "But I'd sure like to."

Chrysanthe shook her head. "I haven't, either. But I'd like to, too."

"Neither have I," Beatrice replied. "I hope that's what they want to do. I want to know what it feels like!"

"Right?" Karen grinned.

Bea added, "Bess and Tamsin have snogged, though."

Tamsin and Bess smirked, and Bess replied in her heavy Scottish brogue, "I have, and it's a lot of fun."

By that point, they had reached the third year boys' dorm door. Like all of the doors in the Hufflepuff Burrow, it was a large circular wooden door. They glanced nervously at each other; then Chrysanthe reached up and knocked softly.

The door opened almost immediately, and to Chrysanthe's visible relief, it was Gilbert who let them in instead of Danny. He was smiling sheepishly and put a finger to his lips.

"Come on," he whispered.

As they slipped inside, they discovered two fifth year girls were there, too — Jennifer Spangler, and Heidi Macavoy, who was a Chaser on the Hufflepuff team.

Of the boys who were sitting in the middle of the floor, the group included third years Cedric, Gilbert, Danny, and a sullen-looking Will; fourth years Herbert Fleet and Anthony Rickett, who were both on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and their classmate Adam Hodge; and two fifth year boys, Jason Glass and Cameron Fielding. With so many people, it was rather crowded.

Cedric looked confused. "Jane didn't come?"

Karen shook her head. "No, she went to bed."

"So did Rebecca," Bess added, flopping down next to Herb.

Tamsin sat between Bess and Anthony, and cheekily asked, "So, what are we doing?"

Danny grinned and held up an old butterbeer bottle. "Thought we'd celebrate the end of exams!"

The boys all smirked; they had clearly known exactly what the game was from the beginning.

Karen rolled her eyes and sat down between Will and Cedric. "We figured that's what you wanted to do."

Danny clutched his chest. "You don't have to say it like that, like there's no fun in it!"

Chrysanthe sat between Anthony and Jason, and ignored Danny. Curious, she asked, "The other fifth year girl didn't want to come?"

Jennifer shrugged. "No. Maxine fell asleep before we left the dorm. She has a boyfriend, anyways. So, it's just the two of us." She gestured to Heidi, who smiled brightly.

Jason nodded. "Same for Michael. He was ready for bed."

Cameron chortled. "He's such a fucking sod."

"Right?" Jason laughed.

"Well, let's get this started," Danny insisted, flopping down. "We spin the bottle in turns, and if it lands on a member of the opposite sex, you have to snog them."

Karen noticed Will shift uncomfortably. She arched an eyebrow and bumped his shoulder with hers. "It'll be fun."

He muttered, "I just get annoyed at Youngman and his schemes, that's all."

"Oi!" Danny flicked his wand and sent a crumpled wad of parchment flying towards Will's head. "I happen to think this is a great idea!"

Will batted the parchment away easily and glowered. "Whatever."

But despite Will's reservations, it turned out to be a lot more fun than Karen or Chrysanthe had expected.

All of the third years were already fourteen except Karen, whose birthday was only a couple of weeks away, on June 20th. Cedric was closer to fifteen than any of them, because he was the oldest of their group; his birthday was in early September. Of the older students, Bess, Beatrice, Tamsin, Herb, and Tony were all fifteen already, and Adam was almost fifteen. Jennifer and Cameron were sixteen, Jason would be sixteen the following week, and Heidi had a month to go. It was a good mix of ages; no one was too young or too old.

There was a lot of teasing between everyone, and they had to all remind themselves repeatedly to keep their voices down, lest Sprout show up. In between turns, they bitched quietly about exams and shared how they thought they'd done. Jason, Cameron, Heidi, and Jennifer had completed their O.W.L.'s, and they talked about how difficult those had been. The only person who didn't seem to be having fun was Will, though he didn't say anything else.

Karen kissed every boy in the circle before it was over, but it wasn't until nearly midnight when Chrysanthe spun her next turn that the bottle landed on Danny. It was the first time any of her spins had landed on Danny, and the moment it did, she tensed.

Despite trying to hide how she felt, it was evident to everyone that Chrysanthe did not want to kiss him, while Danny looked positively thrilled. In fact, Karen knew Chrysanthe had a bit of a fancy for Adam Hodge, and Chrysanthe and Adam had already kissed twice that night. Now, Chrysanthe was forced to meet Danny over the butterbeer bottle to peck him on the lips, but Danny did something he hadn't done with any other girl in the group the whole night: he quickly cupped the back of her neck and unexpectedly tongued her.

Chrysanthe gasped, pulled away, shoved him for good measure, and snarled, "Seriously, Youngman?"

He just laughed as he toppled onto his arse, and then he grinned at her. "Well, I enjoyed it. Was kinda hoping you would too, 'Santhe."

Chrysanthe flopped down, bright pink, and wouldn't look anyone in the eye. "Guess again!"

"Nice try though, Youngman," Gilbert snickered, just loud enough for all of them to hear.

Will was laughing, too. "That made my whole night, Hayden. Cheers!"

Chrysanthe still looked livid, while Danny was eyeing her a bit wistfully. Perhaps Cedric caught her furious expression, because he coughed and said, "Well, I think we've all kissed each other at least once, right?"

Everyone murmured affirmatively. As a matter of fact, Cedric had kissed both of his female classmates twice during the game, and while he hadn't tongued Chrysanthe, he had tongued Karen for at least five seconds over the bottle the second time they'd kissed, to the soft whoops and quiet catcalls of everyone around them.

"Cedric's right," Bess piped up. "It's midnight, we should get back to our dorm. Before Sprout cottons on."

"Good idea," Herb agreed, winking at her.

She blushed and giggled; so did several other people in the group.

As the girls made their way out of the third year boys' dorms, Will immediately jumped into his bed and snatched the hangings closed around him. Karen and Chrysanthe glanced at each other, but didn't say anything. He had been acting odd all night, and it was a bit baffling. Maybe he fancied someone from another house.

Danny stepped out behind the girls, as though he wanted to speak to Chrysanthe again, but Adam stepped up to Chrysanthe before Danny could.

He smiled and said, "Hayden, wait a tick… I was wondering —"

Chrysanthe politely cut him off, however. "I'm knackered, Adam. Can it wait until tomorrow morning?"

He hesitated, but smiled again. "Yeah, sure. Night, ladies. Sweet dreams!"

"Night!" Karen waved at him, and she and Chrysanthe followed the older girls back into the now-empty common room, across to their own dormitories.

Jane was asleep, so Chrysanthe and Karen grabbed their pyjamas and hurried to the bathroom to shower, giggling the whole time about how the evening had gone.

As soon as they shut the door and started stripping, Karen eagerly said, "Adam wanted to ask you something! Why the heck didn't you let him? Maybe he wanted to sneak around!"

Chrysanthe blushed and smiled. "That's what I thought too, but I wanted a bit to think about everything tonight before I give him an answer."

"Oh, come on! You've had a crush on him since spring!"

"I know, I know!"

They cut their conversation short when they jumped in the showers, because they didn't want to shout over the running water and risk waking Jane, but as soon as they were out and toweling off, they picked up where they left off.

As Chrysanthe dried her long wet curls, Karen released the claw-clip that was holding her equally long, ash-blonde hair off her back to keep it dry in the shower, and her tresses tumbled down in straight waves.

"So?" she asked. "Who would you like to go with, if you could? Who was your favorite snog? Adam, or someone else?"

"I don't know," Chrysanthe said thoughtfully. "Adam's fit, but Cedric's really fit, too. And Jason was a phenomenal kisser! How in the world does one choose just one bloke?"

"I know, right? And Jason was definitely a good kisser," Karen agreed. "So was Herb. But if we get down to it, I think Danny and Adam fancy you the most."

Chrysanthe grimaced. "Danny can forget it. I wouldn't mind going with Hodge, though. What about you?"

Karen cheekily said, "I'd go with any of them if they asked me. Except Hodge, I know you fancy him."

Both girls laughed, then hushed each other and went back into their dorm, trying not to giggle. They didn't want to wake Jane. And they weren't going to tell her what had happened if she asked, either. It had been her own decision not to go.

Friday — June 5, 1992

"Oh, damn!" Cedric's best mate, Kenneth Towler, looked completely jealous and depressed. "Seriously?" he whinged. "I wish you two had invited me!"

Apologetically, Cedric said, "You know we couldn't have snuck you down to the Hufflepuff Burrow at eleven at night. Not that we didn't want to, I promise!"

"Yeah," Gilbert insisted. "What if Filch had caught you? The Hufflepuff Burrow is miles away from Gryffindor Tower!"

It was after breakfast and the three of them had headed down to the shore of the Black Lake to waste some time, since they didn't have classes and exams were over. And, as soon as they had exhausted the topic of how Harry Potter had thwarted You-Know-Who and Professor Quirrell (which admittedly had taken at least two hours because everyone was excited and a little worried about the whole thing), Cedric and Gilbert had finally told Kenneth what they had done the night before while Harry was apparently battling the evilest Dark Wizard of all time.

Kenneth complained, "I would willingly serve detention for that! A chance to snog some of the Hufflepuff girls? Bloody hell, I'd serve detention the rest of my life for that!" He still looked crestfallen, but begged, "So? Who was the best?"

"Oh, that's hard," Cedric said thoughtfully, rolling onto his back and gazing up at the sky. In truth, he had thought all of the girls were nice and quite pretty.

Gilbert turned pink. "I liked kissing them all, really. But I guess I liked kissing Karen, Bess, and Heidi the best." He hesitated, then added hurriedly, "But Tamsin and Beatrice were fun, too. Jennifer was kind of stand-offish with us third years. Guess we aren't old enough for her yet."

"Yeah," Cedric echoed. "Karen was fun, but so was Bess. And Heidi, for sure."

"What about Chrysanthe?" Kenneth asked, turning slightly pink.

"Oh. Danny's had a thing for Hayden half the year," Gilbert explained. "So we all agreed we wouldn't tongue her, to give him the chance. And then, when he did, I thought she was gonna hit him!"

Cedric laughed. "She shoved him backwards onto his arse! It was hilarious!"

Kenneth laughed, too. "Damn it, I wish I could have seen that!"

"Oi!" Danny's voice interrupted, and the three of them turned to see him walking down the grassy slope towards them. However, he didn't look upset. Instead, he grinned and added, "She can shove me all she wants, if she'd just notice me!"

Gilbert grinned. "I don't think she will."

"Yeah," Cedric agreed. "She was pretty upset at you for that stunt. You should give up and try someone else."

"There is no one else," Danny replied easily, flopping down with them. "Only 'Santhe. So? What did the Gryffindors do last night?" he asked Kenneth.

Kenneth shrugged. "Nothing as fun as what you blokes did. Fred, George, Lee, and I just goofed off for a while. Fred and George had a bunch of Elephant on a Bicycle candies, and we ate those."

"Oh, that sounds fun too," Danny said. "Helga, I wonder what 'Santhe would sound like if she ate an elephant candy?"

All four boys glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

"Stop, stop," Cedric finally gasped, rolling onto his side, his arms around his middle to try and stop laughing. "That's not nice. We shouldn't joke about the girls like that."

"Ced's right," Kenneth agreed, pulling his glasses off to wipe tears away. "It's not funny."

They all glanced at each other, before they burst into laughter again.

"What's not funny?" a new voice asked.

"Yes, don't exclude us," its twin added.

Fred and George Weasley flopped down beside them. Cedric could never tell them apart. Lee Jordan was right behind them, as always.

Danny said, "We were just talking about what some of the girls would sound like on elephant candies."

At that, the twins laughed.

"Bloody hell, don't give one to Angelina!"

"She'd murder us!"

"She would."

Kenneth said dryly, "So would Alicia."

"Too right you are, Towler."

Lee snickered. "Might be worth it, though."

The twins shook their heads. "Nope, definitely not."

"It's blazing out here, isn't it?"

"And we have to play in this tomorrow," the first reminded the second.

The second groaned. "Don't remind me. But that's tomorrow. For now, who wants to go swimming?"

"Me!" Danny yelped, jumping up.

And before Cedric knew it, the twins and Danny had stripped out of their shirts, shoes, and socks, and were wading into the water, splashing each other. Lee yelled for them to wait up even as he tugged his trainers off.

Cedric glanced at Gilbert and Kenneth, and they jumped up collectively to join in the fun, too.

"What are they doing?" Chrysanthe demanded, staring across the lawn at the lake.

Three of the Hufflepuff boys from their class, and all four Gryffindor boys from their year, were playing in the shallows of the lake, apparently having a massive water fight. They had rolled their trousers to their knees, but otherwise, they were all shirtless. And it appeared they were using their wands to send waves of water at each other, to splash each other and try to knock each other over, while whooping and shouting excitedly as they tried to attack each other.

Since all seven were fourteen, it wasn't as if they were built, and to make it worse, they were all sopping wet, their hair plastered to their heads as they kept shouting gleefully, trying to knock each other into the water. Chrysanthe didn't find the first one of them attractive at the moment. Boys!

Karen, of course, stated the obvious. "Playing in the water, it looks like. Merlin, you can tell Cedric's been flying reserve, can't you?" she murmured appreciatively. "And the twins are definitely playing Quidditch, too."

Chrysanthe rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised Wood doesn't have those two on the pitch, practicing for tomorrow's match."

Karen didn't answer, and they stared for a few seconds longer, slightly transfixed by the scene.

Chrysanthe finally huffed, "Come on." With that, she turned to find a patch of sunny grass to lie in. Part of her wanted to keep watching the boys, and part of her didn't. Ugh, what was wrong with her? She should not find any of them attractive. They were all skinny and gangly, even Cedric! Maybe they would look better in a couple of years…? Well. In the meantime, she'd just daydream about Adam Hodge for a bit. He had caught her that morning just as he'd promised, and asked if she might like to sneak into a broom cupboard before dinner to snog a while. Chrysanthe had eagerly told him she would definitely like to do that, and it was something to look forward to that afternoon.

As soon as she and Karen were comfortable (and where they could still see the boys, even though Chrysanthe was not watching them, damn it, not even Cedric and Gilbert, because she had a date with Adam!), Karen pulled out June's Venus mag again and started flipping through it to find where she'd left off the night before.

"Didn't you say something about a quiz?" Chrysanthe asked, shielding her eyes against the warm June sun.

"Oh, yeah, it was a What Wizard is Your Type? quiz. Want to do it?"

"Sure."

As Karen checked the contents to find the right page, Chrysanthe noticed Gryffindors Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell flying over the lawns, their long hair in braids to keep it out of their way as they soared around Ravenclaw Tower. Chrysanthe was rather surprised to see them flying leisurely around, because they did have a big game tomorrow, and it was rather surprising Wood didn't have them all on the pitch. Maybe the Ravenclaws had the pitch for the day, instead. Chrysanthe smiled up and waved at them from where she was lying in the grass. Alicia and Angelina noticed her, waved in return, and dived down to land smoothly next to them. Katie was right behind them.

"Hullo," Alicia said cheerfully, plopping down in the grass. "What are you two doing?"

"We were about to take this What Wizard is Your Type? quiz!" Karen said brightly. "Want to play, too?"

"Ooh, is that June's edition of Venus?" Angelina crossed her legs and sat next to Alicia. "I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but one of the sixth-year Gryffindor girls snuck me a copy this morning."

Karen grinned. "It's a good one, you'll like it. Lots of fashion in this one."

"Oh, thank Godric," Angelina moaned. "It's such a pain that under-17's can't order it!"

Katie wasn't paying much attention to this discussion; instead, her eyes had drifted to the boys. Longingly, the second-year said, "Blimey, I'll bet the lake is cool…"

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Probably, but it wouldn't be fun with those gits throwing water everywhere. Godric's pants, they're impossible! Heck, even Kenneth's out there with them!"

Alicia remarked, "I'm surprised he's not siding with Cedric and Gilbert against the twins and Lee…"

Karen was flipping through the magazine to find the right page, but she asked, "Doesn't Gryffindor have a game tomorrow? Wood isn't making all of you practice?"

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie grimaced.

"We do have a game," Katie muttered.

"But," Angelina said in disgust, "After the insanity of last night, our Seeker is currently unconscious, in the Hospital Wing. Not that we're not grateful to him, for saving everyone from You-Know-Who, but still!"

Alicia sighed. "Which means, we don't have a Seeker."

"Which also means," Katie complained, "Oliver is panicking, trying to find a reserve Seeker."

"Which," Angelina stated, "is impossible, because he wasn't able to find a Seeker even when we held try-outs back in September."

"Harry was literally all we had," Alicia said sadly. "Thanks to McGonagall getting Dumbledore to bend the rules."

"So," Angelina finished hopelessly, "as you can see, we're probably going to lose."

Chrysanthe winced. "That sucks."

Karen groaned, too. "Helga, I'm sorry. That's awful."

"It is what it is," Angelina sighed. "Oliver won't forfeit, which means we have to fly out there and just wait for Ravenclaw to catch the bleedin' Snitch."

"That could take hours," Katie moaned, flopping on her back.

"Slytherin'll get a big laugh out of it, too," Angelina said hopelessly. "Which really sucks."

"Well, let's do this quiz," Karen said in a bracing voice. "Forget about Quidditch for a bit."

"Cheers." Alicia smiled at her. "Do you have a parchment and quill? I can keep score."

Karen dug in her bag and pulled a scrap of parchment, ink, and a quill for Alicia, but even as she did so, they heard Lee and the Weasley twins shouting from the lake, calling Angelina and Alicia to join them.

Angelina wrinkled her nose and deliberately turned to ignore them.

Then Danny shouted and begged Chrysanthe to join them.

Chrysanthe also turned her back on the boys, but to her disconcertment, Angelina arched an eyebrow.

"Er, why are you blushing, Hayden?"

"Oh," Karen said, grinning slyly. "Because we played Spin the Bottle last night with the third, fourth, and fifth year Hufflepuff boys. Danny has a thing for her."

Alicia, Angelina, and Katie burst into giggles, though they at least kept their voices lowered so the boys wouldn't overhear.

"Really?"

"Danny?"

"He can keep dreaming," Chrysanthe growled, clenching her fists. Danny was annoying as heck and he was skinny and short and irritating and had way too much energy! He was always getting in trouble in class even though he seemed fairly smart! She couldn't stand him, she really couldn't!

"Then who do you like?" Alicia asked eagerly.

Chrysanthe's blush got worse, she could feel it. "Adam Hodge," she whispered. "I'm sneaking out with him today, before dinner."

The Gryffindor Chasers' eyes got wide.

"Oh my God!" Alicia looked envious.

Eagerly, Katie asked, "Which one is he?" at the same time Angelina moaned, "I'm so jealous! Give us all the details this weekend, won't you?"

"I will," Chrysanthe promised. Then, trying to shift the conversation from herself, she asked, "Do you girls fancy anyone?"

Angelina shrugged and glanced at Alicia. "There are some fit older blokes in Gryffindor, but…"

Alicia nodded in understanding. "They're nice to daydream about, though."

"No one in your class?" Karen asked.

"Definitely not," Alicia answered, her eyes glittering towards the lake, where Danny had suddenly hit Lee with a great wash of water. Lee yelped and crashed backwards with a huge splash, while Kenneth and the twins roared with laughter.

Angelina wrinkled her nose. "Definitely not."

"Well," Karen said brightly, "I think I prefer older guys, anyway. The blokes in our class are a bit…"

"Immature," Chrysanthe filled in dispassionately. "Come on, what's the first question on the quiz?"

Karen laughed. "Alright, alright! Alicia, are you ready?"

"Yes," Alicia answered, grabbing a book from Karen's bag to bear down on. "Fire away!"

"Would you rather… go shopping in Diagon Alley, play Quidditch, explore muggle London, read a book, or explore an ancient ruin?"

"Play Quidditch!" Katie piped up, and they all laughed.

"There's more to life than Quidditch," Alicia teased. "But that's tough. Hmm." She scribbled down Katie's answer. "Can you read them off again?" she asked Karen.

The Hufflepuff did so, and quickly added, "I'd rather go shopping in Diagon Alley."

Alicia wrote down Karen's answer, and then looked pensive.

Chrysanthe glanced back at the boys, who were now stumbling to the shore, thoroughly soaked and shoving each other good-naturedly. "Same," she answered. Hopefully Hodge would want to tongue that afternoon…

"Me, three," Angelina echoed, breaking her thoughts. "What about you, Alicia?"

"I don't know. Shop, read a book, or play Quidditch… it's so hard to pick!"

Katie poked Alicia and hissed, "Quidditch."

Angelina, Alicia, and Karen burst into giggles again.

Alicia finally wheezed, "Shop in Diagon. Because then I could buy books and Quidditch stuff."

Katie groaned and fell on her back again. "You two are no fun! Shopping is so boring!"

It took at least thirty minutes to complete the quiz, because they all had to stop and chat about each of the questions. Finally, they reached the end, and Alicia and Karen put their heads together to tally everyone's points and determine the answers.

"Okay," Karen announced, after another few minutes. "Ready?"

"Yes!" Angelina looked excited.

Karen announced, "Angelina's type is the Fun Loving Guy. Your type loves to have a good time, whether it's playing Quidditch or venturing into the muggle world to an amusement park. You can always expect something new with each date, so be prepared to wear heels or wellies, because there's no telling where he'll take you!"

Katie burst into laughter as Angelina gaped for a moment, then rounded on Alicia. She demanded, "Are you sure you tallied that right? That isn't me at all!"

Alicia snickered. "Yes, Angie, we tallied it right. Who knows, maybe you'll marry one of the twins!"

Katie laughed harder, and Angelina shrieked and tackled Alicia into the grass to tickle her. Alicia screamed with laughter and batted her best friend's hands away.

"Stop, stop! I take it back!"

"You'd better!"

"I do, I take it back!" Alicia was laughing so hard she could barely talk.

"Godric, 'Licia, don't ever say that again!" Angelina huffed, sitting up once more.

Karen said slyly, "Well, Alicia's type is the Sexy Swot. He might forget important dates, but it's only because his nose is in the books all the time."

Angelina burst out laughing. "That sounds like you, 'Licia!"

Alicia was bright pink. "Shut up!"

"Maybe you'll end up with Kenneth!" Angelina fired back.

This time, Alicia shrieked in indignation and pounced on Angelina, tackling her into the grass to tickle her, even as Katie snickered inappropriately. Angelina fended her best friend off.

"It was payback!" the older Chaser argued, grinning maniacally.

Alicia rolled her eyes and glared witheringly towards the lake. "Ugh!"

Chrysanthe couldn't help but laugh, too. Kenneth was nice enough, but she didn't fancy him. He was a swot! And he was just as skinny as the rest of them, and never mind his glasses!

Karen went on, "Well, it says the Sexy Swot can be very romantic when he sets his mind to it, so maybe it's not a bad thing! Be patient with him, because thumbing through all those library books means he's good with his hands!" She winked at them deviously.

At that, Chrysanthe snickered, Angelina squealed, and Alicia, giggling, tried to hush them.

Karen quickly announced, "Chrysanthe's type is the Loyal Type. Steadfast and maybe a bit stubborn, your guy will stick by you through thick and thin. He won't forget important dates and he's always very sweet."

Chrysanthe blushed. Was Adam loyal? She had no idea. Instead of dwelling on that, she demanded, "And what's your type?"

"The Physical Type." Karen grinned. She read, "He's a hands-on bloke, but you probably don't mind, because you like touching him, too. Be ready for all things physical, because that's how he shows affection."

Katie leaned back on her palms. "That sounds fun."

Alicia replied, "Your type is the Quidditch Player." She leaned over Karen's shoulder to read from the magazine, "Snogging on broomsticks? Definitely. Sex on the pitch? Yes, please. In the locker rooms? Absolutely."

Katie smacked Alicia's shoulder. "Oh my God, I'm only thirteen, Alicia! I can't have sex on a pitch!"

Angelina shoved her playfully. "You'll be ready for that kind of thing before you know it."

Katie grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, in another couple of years, maybe, but not right now!"

Angelina smirked. "Something to look forward to, then."

Karen went on, "The Quidditch Player is super focused, and sometimes he thinks more about the game than you, but don't get too mad at him. When he's focused on you like he is a Quaffle, Snitch, or Bludger, you won't regret it."

Slyly, Angelina muttered under her breath, "Maybe you'll marry Oliver."

Katie tackled her. "He's just a friend! He wouldn't ever look at me that way!"

"Maybe not now," Alicia said sensibly. "But later…"

She, Angelina, Karen, and Katie burst into giggles again.

Karen teased, "I wouldn't say no to Oliver Wood."

Chrysanthe glanced at her watch. It was nearly time to meet Adam, and much as she loved chatting with the girls, she was ready for her first real snog.

"Well," she said, pushing off of her back, standing up, and brushing her clothes off. "I hate to dash, but I have places to be," she said cheekily. "A fourth year bloke wants to meet me in a broom cupboard, after all."

"Have fun!" Karen grinned up at her. "Let us know what it's like, yeah?"

"Definitely!" Chrysanthe promised.

With that, she left the other girls giggling over the quiz, and headed back for the castle, butterflies bursting in her stomach.

She didn't even notice Danny drying out in the afternoon sun, his eyes gazing wistfully at her back as she hurried away.