Gwen wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to sit there, trying to be scheming without Jory noticing what was going on. Well, that and her head started spinning as she remembered the conversation she had with Ari on the train. Too many love related things. Sigh.

Why her?

WHY?!?!

Though she immediately drew her attention to the Arithmancy book, as she heard Jory agree to go on calculating the last numbers. ‘Well, for the Heart’s Desire Number, you need to add the values of the vowels in your name. You should figure that out for each name separately, and then add them together’ The reduce and find out the meaning. ‘You do the same for the Personality Number, only with consonants this time’ Shouldn’t be hard to get, even though she probably wasn’t a very good teacher. ‘Looks like this is it’ Yep, they had agreed to work until here for Arithmancy. ‘So… Muggle Studies’ Gwen wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about that.

Even without knowing it, Jory turned up to be helpful this time as well. She’d thank him for this, if the situation would be different. And well… she didn’t REALLY want to find out. But the faster she’d get over the sentimental stuff, she’d feel better. ‘No’, she answered his question about Ariadne, wondering how he got to ask that all of a sudden. It would be a bit odd to just ask her about her bestie, unless… ‘Why do you ask?’, Gwendolyn said rather nonchalantly. Jory would probably never tell her anything if she looked extremely curious to find out. Now the only thing she had to do was wait.

"Right,'' Jory said as he scribbled more notes. They were all similar except that only certain letters were used when calculating certain things. He'll need to memorise what to use and when. "I hope I don't mix it up,'' he thought. What a disaster that would be. "Think positive, think positive...'' It was something he always said to try to ease his mid when anything was troubling him. "What in particular do you want to know about?'' the badger asked hoping he'd be able to explain everything just as well to his friend as she had to him.

"No reason,'' Jory responded resorting to mumbling again and and looking up from his note book even though he was finished making notes. "Should I tell her?'' he wondered. He never confided anything anything to anyone. Except his dad. Maybe this one time, won't hurt? "Er...,'' he began again then shut his mouth. He could feel his face growing hot. "Nooo, don't go all tomatoey red now,'' the boy begged himself silently. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "I think I'm in love with her,'' he said as quickly as he could and then wondered if Gwen understood what he said. Really, it won't be too bad if she didn't hear him. He waited anxiously for her reaction.

So Muggle Studies was next. ‘Umm… I don’t know. Did you have anything in mind?’ Since he had the book with him, Jory probably did think of something. He could start with anything, since Gwen didn’t know much about muggles. ‘Technology. Famous people. Anything will do’, she said simply, since Jory had probably already figured out that she didn’t really know a lot about muggles.

And now.

What was up with that question? Why did he ask all of a sudden?

No reason?

Gwen tried not to roll her eyes at that. The red colour of his face was kind of giving him away. Even to a person who wouldn’t exactly notice that sort of things, it was quite obvious. Just as she thought that Jory would stop there and pretend it was nothing, just like she would have done if she were in his place, she heard the Hufflepuff say something. Not just something. Exactly what she had to find out for her bestie. ‘You think?’, the Ravenclaw said, still trying to keep a straight face. Still, this was a way better reaction than the one she had when Ari decided to break the news to her. Merlin’s beard, Gwen had reacted like it was a calamity. Still, Gwen couldn’t help but wonder why the two of them couldn’t just talk to eachother and not make her meddle… Oh well. At least it was over. Yes.

Her job there was DONE.

But wait- She still needed to talk to Ari. Ughh. Great. She’ll have to listen once again to her bestie talk about the ‘Puffs new haircut for an eternity.

Jory just remembered that Gwen didn't know a lot on the Muggle World. Anything, she said. Right. Maybe he wouldn't need to use the text as much as he thought he would. "Okay,'' he began. "I'll start with famous people then. It's just as same as in the Wizarding World, we've got famous authors, actors, actresses, athletes and singers. They're tons of each so I'll only tell you about one each, mostly my favorites since I know a lot about them.'' He seriously hope his friend won't be bored. "For authors, there's Mary Higgins Clark. She's a best seller and she writes crime novels. For actors there's Johnny Depp. He's been at his job since he was really young and one of his most famous movies-well series of movies is the Pirates of the Caribbean. Ever seen them?''

"Bored yet?'' he wanted to ask before he went on. ''Olivia Wilde's my favourite actress. She started off in the medical series House but then moved on to he big screen like Aliens and Cowboys and Tron Legacy.'' The boy found her very pretty and he'd seen all the movies she'd come in so far. "There's Novak Djokovic, a tennis player from Serbia. He's currently ranked number two in the tennis world since he's won numerous Championships.'' Jory wished Novak were number one but that belonged to Roger Federer. Oh well... "For singers, there's this group called Linkin Park. They're a rock band of six guys. And recently they've been named the best artiste of the 2000s.'' He couldn't think of a group any better to win that title. "You should listen to the music,'' he said but he suspected Gwen probably wouldn't like it.

"No, I don't think,'' Jory said finally looking up. "I know.'' There, he had said it. He told Gwen so he might as well trike up more courage and tell Ari. What was the worse that could happen beside the two not speaking again. He couldn't read Gwen's face but she took the news better than he expected. Honestly, he didn't know what to expect this from her but it wasn't this. Her sitting and staring at him.

Gwen listened to him talk, trying to keep in mind as many details as possible. As she heard Jory talk about authors, the fifth year only gave a small nod. Alright. Mary Higgins Clark. After making a mental note of the name, she continued to pay attention to what Jory was saying. ‘No, I haven’t’, she said, and in this moment she started realizing how little she knew about the muggle world. But fine. Johnny Depp and Olivia Wilde. Got it.

Moving on to the singers… Linkin Park? ‘Don’t they sing ‘Numb’?’, she asked, a bit hesitantly. There were a few things she knew about the muggle world so hopefully that was correct. The Ravenclaw repeated in her mind the names which Jory had just mentioned. Well… this wasn’t so bad. She had expected things to be a lot more complicated. As she heard the Hufflepuff say something, she looked back at him.

Finally, the fifth year thought. Even though she didn’t really want to find out, at least her job was done! And since this was the thing that she expected to hear, Gwen didn’t look so surprised. It had been far worse when she talked to Ari. ‘You seem… troubled’, she pointed out, rather matter-of-factly.

Jory watched as Gwen nodded. "What kind of books and movies do you like, anyway?'' he asked. Maybe he could tell her about books and movies related to her preferences. He preferred crime books and action movies. He was a huge fan of all Marvel movies especially the X-Men series. "I've got loads of books if you want to borrow any,'' he said. "Almost every kind except those love ones, of course.'' His mom had a set of those though. It seemed as if the two of them bought books almost every month and it amused Jory that his dad didn't understand their book obsession- he was more of a movie person.

The badger was sort of surprised to hear Gwen name one of Linkin Park's songs. "Yes, that's right,'' he said smiling. "That's one of my favourites, incidentally,'' he added. He owned all their albums and had probably listened to them countless times. "You a fan of rock music?'' That was his favourite genre. "And do you listen to any other artistes?''

Jory shook his head and grinned. "Looks can be deceiving,'' he said. "Nope, I'm not. It's just you didn't react the way I had expected you to after what I just told you.'' What did he expect? An angry or happy Gwen? Her whispering furiously at him for falling for her best friend? But it wasn't her just sitting there and looking...satisfied?... relieved? Suddenly, something dawned on him. "Did you suspect that?'' he asked feeling panicky again. Had he shown his emotions?

Taylor had sent a message to Maxwell to meet her in the library as soon as possible. She had piles of books surrounding her and she was rapidly skimming the one in her hands. Tay had a tear-stained face but she didnt have any tears left to cry.

Maxwell got Taylor's message and rushed into the library, trying to stay quiet. He saw the tears on her face and rushed over to her, wiping them. "Hey, what's wrong? Tell me what happened?" He asked wondering who he needed to hex for upsetting his sister.

Tay looked up at her brother and put the book down that she was attempting to try to read. Her arms flew up and wrapped around him. Taylor buried her face in his chest and cried for a few moments. After she was done, she replied quickly with, "SoDamonandIsplitandnowheisdatingArianaandheblames meforitsinceiwastheonewhotoldherthathehasacrushonh erbuthowisitmyfault?" She gasped for breath after that and then looked up with hurt shining in her eyes.

Maxwell surprisingly understood that and was infuriated. "What!?" He said managing to keep his voice down. "They're dating!?...Ughh I hate them both." He said going a little overboard. He didn't hate them, he was just very angry with them both. "Ohh they'd better hope they don't run into me..." He said. Maxwell was hoping to tell Taylor about his time with Elliot at the lake but now did not seem like the time.

"I know right?" She frowned and sighed, "What makes it worse is that Ariana and I were friends before this actually and Damon told me that he loved me even..." Tay looked away, obviously hurt.

Maxwell snarled. "I knew i shouldn't have trusted him..I should have warned you.." He said feeling bad now that he hadn't, but if he did would she have listened, probably not. "And she's just a snake...I wouldn't trust her farther than i could throw her." He said still angry with Ariana, only even more so now.

Tay sighed, "I probably wouldnt of had listen if you had..." She laid her head on his chest, "That she is..." Taylor sighed and held her brother close to him, "Thank you for coming at such short notice... you are an amazing brother..." Tay looked up at him.

Maxwell chuckled a little. "No you probably wouldn't have...which is why i didn't say anything." When is she ever gonna learn to listen to me? He wondered. "Anytime, Tay...I know you would have done the same for me."

Tay sighed, "I am just too stupid to realize that you were right until it is too late." She looked away then looked back. "Yeah, I would of tried to at least." Taylor attempted a smile but it was a sad attempt.

Maxwell shook his head. "You're not stupid at all, you just have more faith in people than i do...and that's a good thing." He loved that his sister would believe the best in people even when they didn't deserve it. "Well, i'm glad you would have." He said giving her a hug.

Taylor hugged him back. "Thanks for always being here for me, bro... Is there anything I can do for you?" She offered a smile again and this time it wasnt nearly as bad of a try.

Maxwell shook his head. "No, I mean a few days ago i might have asked you to help me get Min back but i already tried and she's done...at least for now, she thinks it's best we see other people so that's what i'm doing." He said not really caring if Min hated the girl, he wasn't going to see someone because Min liked her. He liked Elliot and that's what mattered. "So, i might start seeing this girl soon...but I don't know if you'll like her."

"I already know about Elliot and you, Max... and no I dont like her but if she makes you happy then that is what matters." She didnt say how she knew since yeah... but her and Min were friends after all.

Maxwell was confused. "You?...how did you know?" he asked. "Why don't you like her? I won't get offended. Just curious, you are my sister and i want your opinion."

Tay sighed, "I heard it from Min when we were talking about how we are both single and how guys are dumb..." She grimaced, "I just dont like how she is full of herself." Taylor looked away from her brother.

Maxwell sighed about Min. "Ugh..how come every Hufflepuff i know feels the need to share my life with everyone else?..." He said. "I don't even wanna think about her dating someone." He shrugged. "I don't know...I like her confidence, plus i think it's just a mask...i think on the inside she really just wants acceptance." He said feeling it on some level.

Tay sighed, "We are friends, Max, get used to us gossiping about ya." She laughed and teased him. "I dont like her and that is that. You can date her but dont expect me to be nice especially in the mood I am in. I am done with pretending to be anything I am not." At that, she crossed her arms.

Maxwell sighed. "I just don't like being talked about.." He said knowing she was just teasing him. "Well, i like her...and it's not like Min will have me." He knew full well that he was still crazy about Min but she didn't want to be with him anymore. "She wanted use to see other people so that's what i'm doing." He nodded. "I wouldn't want you to be someone you're not."

Tay pouted, "Awww sorry, Max... it was mainly how boys were stupid but she didnt complain a little about you..." She looked at Max, "If you ever tell her that I told you that I will go after you, okay?" Taylor gave him an -I'm not kidding' look. "Okay you do that then..." Tay smiled, "You are the first it seems..." She sighed.