Cho Chang peeked out of the hangings around her bed, making sure that the dormitory was empty. Victoria and Lou were in the Common Room library studying, Claudia had gone off somewhere with Roger Davies, and Marietta had been gone since just after dinner. Cho was a little concerned about that--Marietta had been on edge lately, mostly from fear of being caught with Dumbledore's Army--but Marietta had a habit of wandering around the school and talking to the less-visited portraits, so she wasn't worried.

It was a pity she'd missed the D.A. meeting, though, even if they had been chased out of the Room of Requirement in the end. Surely, it would work out. Things always worked out for Harry; he always came out mostly unscathed.

Cho pulled out her wand, pointed it lightly at the door, and imagined Cedric, hovering around her, protecting her. "Expecto Patronum," she said, and a swan burst from the end of her wand, wings spread like a great shield in front of her. It took flight and flew around the dormitory, and Cho laughed, a sound that was too rare to her own ears, although it used to come easily. Maybe, if she found a way to patch things up with Harry after the disaster on Valentine's Day... he'd been nervous, and she supposed it had been stupid to make him think about that night in the graveyard, at least if either one of them was going to do any laughing.

But she'd thought it would be good for him to have a cry about it. She herself had bottled it up all summer, and it was only when she came back and Marietta talked her into letting it out that she'd really let herself feel it, which had to be healthier than just shutting down in the traditional English way. Or the traditional Chinese way, Cho supposed; it wasn't as if her parents had encouraged her to cry.

Of course when Marietta had offered her a shoulder, the floodgates had opened. And she'd been there all year, encouraging Cho to talk about it, to let herself feel it. Marietta had hugged her and stroked her hair and kissed her forehead as her mother should have, and just let her cry, and promised her there was nothing wrong with it.

The world needed more Mariettas.

The swan Patronus flew over to her and settled at her feet. It was starting to fade already, but Cho thought it still had some strength. "Fly," she said, smiling. "Be free."

The swan took flight toward the door, but was abruptly dissipated when the door flew open and someone screamed.

"Get it AWAY!"

Cho dropped her wand and ran to the door, where Marietta was standing with her hands blocking her face. Her curly hair was wild, and her voice had the harsh, whipsaw quality of someone who had been crying. Cho knew that sound very well this year.

She put her arm over Marietta's shoulders and led her to the bed, sitting her down on the edge then wrapping her in a hug, almost glad for the opportunity to repay the kindness.

"Shh, Marietta. What happened?"

Marietta just sobbed, not even returning the hug.

"What is it?" Cho reached over to her nightstand and picked up a comb. "Here," she said, "let me get your poor hair untangled."

Sniffing, not moving her hands from her face, Marietta nodded convulsively.

Cho moved around behind her and started to comb her hair as gently as she could, starting at the bottom and moving up to keep the snarls from tangling down on themselves. "What happened? Where did you go after dinner?"

"You'll... you'll... hate me... everyone will... hate me."

Cho stopped combing long enough to give her a quick hug. "I won't hate you, I promise."

"You will. It's about... Harry..."

Cho frowned and went back to combing Marietta's hair. "Harry?"

"I always... thought... he was... " Marietta sniffed. "I didn't lie to you about that. I don't like him."

"I know. You're wrong though."

"Am I?" Marietta took a deep, uneven breath. "I thought that you all were going to get into trouble. I didn't want you to get into trouble with the Ministry, and he... he was making you break the law."

A cold sliver of a thought formed in Cho's mind. She started to push it away, but didn't let herself. Ideas were not meant to be pushed away. And if it was true, then there would be a reason for it. "Marietta... did you tell someone about the meeting?"

She nodded miserably. "I had to, Cho. I... I thought you would get into much bigger trouble if I let it keep going. Someone had to make him stop before he got all of you into trouble." Her shoulders grew still as Cho continued to comb her hair. "Do you hate me?"

"Of course I don't hate you," Cho said automatically. A part of her wanted to shove Marietta away, scream at her, call her vile names. But she was the one who had sat and listened while Cho cried, and Cho would not treat her that way. She'd have enough trouble with the rest of the D.A. if they found out. "I think you were wrong--"

"My mother could lose her job if knew about it and didn't tell. So could your father. And everyone could get in so much trouble, Cho, please, you have to understand..."

"I do." Cho hugged her again and kissed her temple, it being the only part of her face that was currently accessible. The part of her that was furious tried to rise up, but she stomped it mercilessly and went back to Marietta's hair. "I don't agree, but I understand. Really. I'll help you make sure that no one finds out it was you--"

Marietta wailed suddenly, bending forward at the waist. The comb tangled in one of the nests of snarls in her hair, and jerked out of Cho's hand. It clattered onto the floor with a skittering sound.

Cho moved and sat beside her again, patting her back and making the same kind of comforting nonsense noises that Marietta had made all year for her and refusing, absolutely refusing to be angry. When the fit of crying calmed down, she asked, "What is, Marietta? What's wrong?"

Slowly, Marietta dragged her hands down her face. Just under her cheekbones, Cho began to see a pattern of red marks, slightly raised. They looked like spots, but more... settled. Like they planned to stay awhile. When her hands were halfway down her cheeks, it became apparent what the problem was.

Cho took her wrists and pried her hands away from her face.

SNEAK.

Marietta just kept crying, her eyes closed, her nose running. The tears ran over the word, but didn't blur it at all. "Everyone will know! she wailed, and tried to cover up again.

Cho hugged her tightly, any anger at her completely swallowed up by anger for her. "Who did this?" she asked. "Was it Harry? Did Harry do this?"

"No. It just... showed up. When I told. I'll bet we're all hexed, so that no one would tell."

Another idea came into Cho's mind, this one not icy cold, but white hot. How could they all be hexed?

Simple.

They weren't.

But they were all subject to the terms of a magical contract, to which they'd signed their names without quite checking what those terms were.

And who had written that contract, disguising it as nothing more than an attendance list?

"Hermione Granger," she said. "That little bitch." She let the word hang in the air, letting all of her anger coalesce around the concept. A part of her was tempted to amend it to "Mudblood bitch," but even in a rage, she was disgusted with that urge. No matter what one Muggle-born tart had done, it was no reason to ideologically align herself with the people who had killed Cedric.

But it was very much time to disalign herself with anyone who still followed said little tart around. She would have to talk to Harry about this. Surely, he would have sent the girl off, or would make her come and apologize.

Oh, will he? This is the girl Harry left you in Hogsmeade for. He listens to every word she says and does what she wants. He'd no more denounce Hermione Granger than he'd write secret love letters to Professor Umbridge.

That was an argument for another day. Harry was a concern for another day, and maybe he would surprise her and say that he'd had words with Hermione about it right away. Right now, there was just Marietta, and Cho owed her a lot.

"What have you already done to get rid of it?" she asked.

"All the counterjinxes in Professor Umbridge's books that looked like they might work. And then I went to the library to see if I could find something else. And that's when she came to get me--Professor Umbridge, I mean--and I had to go to Dumbledore's office, and, and..." She began to breath in a shallow, rapid way that disturbed Cho. "Something happened. I couldn't talk properly. Everything seemed different. Harry was there. And Aurors, and Minister Fudge, and Percy Weasley. And Dumbledore is gone."

"What?"

"He said it was his group and they sacked him." Marietta wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "And everyone's going to know. Everyone."

The anger at Marietta came back, fighting for its place, seeming to punch at the back of Cho's eyes like a Bludger hit by the world's most manic Beater. She refused to let it out. "Why don't we see," she said, forcing her voice to be even, "if we can't find something between us to make it less visible? Appearance charms, maybe. Or... I don't know. There has to be something."

Marietta looked up through wide eyes. "Then you'll really be on my side, Cho? Really?"

Cho thought of the D.A., of kissing Harry under the mistletoe, of seeing Cedric's body sprawled on the ground outside the maze and swearing that she would make whoever killed him pay. A part of her wanted to scream, No, I'm not on your side, you stupid girl! You've ruined everything! You betrayed Cedric, and me, and Harry, and...

But she wouldn't. That's what everyone else in the school would do, and maybe they had some right. Cho Chang didn't have that right. Marietta had been there for her. Maybe if she hadn't already been punished in such a horrible way (and by such a horrible girl), it would be different, but it wasn't.

"I'll be on your side," she said, rocking Marietta slightly. "I promise."