Alicia straightened Celia's collar which she wasn't entirely sure were necessary but Alicia insisted that if everything was neat she would feel powerful which would have a huge difference. Celia didn't see how it could hurt so decided to humour her.

"Okay, Angelina have you got the bats from Fred?" Celia asked, turning around. Angelina nodded.

"Yep, I'll give one to Alicia," Angelina replied, passing one to her friend. She stood in a formidable position, her bat over her shoulder, "How do I look?"

"Like someone I wouldn't want to bump into on a dark alleyway," Celia said and Angelina nodded smugly, "Although we are being non-violent remember, unless he initiates an attack. I've learnt my lesson now."

"Dark alleyway girl, that's what I was going for."

"Okay, so I'll have two behind me with the bats, Katie next to me in case I mess up and Cormac..." She trailed off, "What is he doing again?"

"I believe he's protecting all women," Alicia said, smirking slightly.

"With him protecting me, I feel so safe," Angelina said nudging Alicia. Celia shook her head disapprovingly although she could see why they were still suspicious of Cormac. He had changed remarkably fast and if you didn't know him, you'd think it was fake. Celia knew that Cormac was easily swayed, despite what he thought and hopefully, he'd be on this 'protecting all women' phase longer than the 'you're overreacting' phase.

"I think Cormac was just going to be Cormac which means occasionally butting in with some vaguely aggressive remark before remembering that Goyle is twice his size," Angelina said, twirling the bat in her hands.

"Yep," Celia said with a small laugh, "You're probably right."

The four girls eventually got ready and went down to the common room, where Cormac was milling around in the lobby, a book open as he pretended to be doing something. The moment he spotted them, he jumped up, snapping the book shut.

"There you are, I've been waiting ages," Cormac said, looking a little impatient.

"We said we'd meet at six, it's six now," Celia said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, yes, but..."

"We're on time," Angelina said firmly and Cormac nodded, "Okay, so we're meeting Goyle at ten past right?" Celia nodded, "Well, then we'd better get moving."

The five of them walked down the corridor, Cormac occasionally glancing at Angelina and Alicia's bats partly out of fear and partly out of slight envy. Celia felt a lot stronger this time, surrounded by her friends. Before she'd tried to be nice and sweet to Goyle but she was going to be firm, strong this time. When she'd written the note to Goyle, she hadn't mentioned that she was bringing her army with her. He liked surprise assaults to her, so she was thought she'd return the favour with her own surprise.

Part of her worried that he wouldn't show up but she knew that there was no way he'd turn down a chance to see her, especially if he thought she was coming alone.

As they rounded the corner to where they were meeting, she held her hand out to her friends to stop before creeping a few paces ahead, peering around the corner. Sure enough, Goyle was standing there, absentmindedly staring into space. She grinned slyly to herself, this was going to be good.

She strode out ahead, her friends still concealed by the wall. As she stepped into the corridor, she felt an awful sense of deja vu. This is where the last two assaults had  happened and maybe she should have chosen somewhere else but she wanted to be able to walk through that section of corridor without feeling panicked and nervous. She wanted to associate it with strength and overpowering rather than a place where she was sexually assaulted.

"Goyle," She said, standing firmly, glaring at him.

"Alright, Celia?" He asked, looking her up and down. She'd intentionally worn knee socks today as she'd wanted to for the last few weeks. She wasn't going to let fear of Goyle stop her, her knee socks looked awesome.

"No, I'm not alright," She said, "Prepare to get educated Goyle, by the Dragon."

He stared at her blankly, "What?"

She instantly felt a sense of panic at this, the fear that she was losing only a few seconds in. Katie clearly picked up on this, jumping out from behind the wall.

"But Goyle, she's not alone. The Dragon also has..." She looked at Celia, trying to figure out what to say, "The Viper. Because Celia was never alone, not really, there were always people who knew the truth and knew what you'd done."

"I didn't do anything," Goyle sneered, "She wanted me."

"No. I did not, want you, Goyle," Celia said, smiling at her friend as she felt her fierceness returning, "When you asked me out, I said no. When you tried to kiss me, I said no. I said no to all of it, Goyle, I said no to you, don't you understand what it means?"

Goyle looked blank and the other three took it as their opportunity to jump out, Goyle looking vaguely alarmed as he craned his neck around the corner to see if there was anyone else hiding there too.

"Let me give you an example," Angelina said, "Goyle, do you want me to hit you with this beater's bat?"

"What? No," Goyle said screwing up his face.

"And what does that mean exactly?" Alicia asked, "In your own words, doesn't have to be anything special."

"What?" Goyle said, "Are you dumb? It means no, I don't want to hit with a bat."

"Really?" Celia cut in, "Because when I said no, you took it to mean yes, didn't you?"

"Well, that was different - "

"Was it?" Celia said, her fists clenched, "It was the same sound, the same meaning - "

"Although Celia probably pronounced it better," Cormac cut in, sniggering slightly. Katie gave him a quick head shake and he tried to subdue his smile.

"You tried to do something, I said no," Celia said firmly, "So clearly you do understand what it means because just now, you said you didn't want to beaten with a bat when you said no. So how come when you say it, it meant that but when I said it, it meant a secret yes?"

"Well, it just did," Goyle said, shifting uneasily, "You know how it is..."

"No, I don't." Celia said, "When I say no, when anyone says no, they mean it, okay? You don't judge it off body language or what you want to happen, you judge it by what they say."

"That doesn't just apply to Celia," Cormac said, stepping forward, "It applies to all women, because if you don't, you'll have me to answer to."

"Terrifying," Angelina muttered sarcastically which earnt her a glare from Celia.

"But Draco said that's how girls are like," Goyle admitted, "They want you secretly."

"Oh, Goyle, no, Draco was wrong," Celia said, "No didn't mean anything different then, nor will it ever."

"Not even if it's said flirtily?" Goyle said, folding his arms, "Just 'cos that seems like a the chase."

"Goyle, if someone says no, please don't assume anything, just take it as a no," Celia said, "Now do you see why I was so upset by what you did?"

"You were upset?" Goyle said, "Then how come you came to see me twice?"

"Because I wanted to explain to you why what you did was wrong. I wanted you to see how you distorted my answer and forced yourself on me."

"But it was a good kiss," Was all Goyle had to say.

Celia's voice was soft as she said, "Not to me. You left bruises, you hurt my back, you made me scared and on edge that I was somehow to blame for it. It wasn't a good kiss for me."

Goyle stared at her for a few more seconds, so intently that for a second she felt like she was all alone again but she wasn't scared. Something in him had changed, even if he still couldn't see what he'd done wrong, he had at least questioned it. He didn't say a word as he slowly turned around and left the five of them in the corridors alone.

"Success?" Katie said, looking at Celia for an answer.

"I don't know if it is by the conventional sense," Celia said, her eyes still fixed to the point where Goyle had stood, "But I feel like it was."

"Do you think you'll go to McGonagall?" Alicia asked.

Celia shook her head, "I might do in the future but for now, I feel like I've made peace with it. I think I can start trying to recover from it."

"Okay," Angelina said, "We'll follow your lead, Dragon."