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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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"Sweet Circe, you really know how to push it, don't you? Fine."
I step in and press her body firmly to mine briefly. "I really am sorry about what happened," I whisper as I let go.
"I know."
"Your hair smells good, by the way."
Hermione groans loudly at that. "You say that to everybody."
My fake scandalized look returns. "That's not true at all! I'm sure I haven't said it to more than five girls. And maybe Harry, I don't remember."
"You're an odd bloke, William," Harry says, shaking his head and smiling.
"Speaking of which, do you think my favorite portrait has finished describing the ways she wants to kill me yet?"
"Looks like it," Hermione says.
"Well, I suppose we should be off then." I drop the privacy charm, and Daphne gives the password. The woman starts ranting again while she swings open, so the privacy charm goes back up.
"I need some time to think, but we need to talk later," Daphne says, jabbing a finger into my chest. "Alone."
"Yes, ma'am," I say, snapping off a mock salute. Then I grin mischievously. "Shall I bring the wine or the strawberries?"
Her ice-blue eyes narrow. "I'd recommend a bag of ice and a pain-relief potion."
Everybody else finds that hilarious – though Blaise merely looks pleased – and I chuckle along with them. "Traitors. Well, I'm glad we had this talk, even if I am going to need to wear a protective cup for the next one."
"You don't have to," she says with a smirk, then turns her body away. "I'll see you later."
Astoria comes up and wraps her arms around me. "Thanks for asking me to the dance and then inviting me out here, this has all been...interesting."
"It has at that, Stori." Her violet eyes widen in surprise at the use of her nickname, but she smiles in acceptance. "I am sorry about the article, though, I do hope you don't get into too much trouble over it."
She shrugs. "Daph's overreacting, it'll be fine." She gives me another quick hug and then surprises Harry and Hermione with a hug each before hopping into the common room after her sister. "Bye guys!"
Tracey comes up to me next. "If you would have told me less than two months ago that Daph, Stori, and I would be dancing and hugging with Gryffindors before the year was out, I would have thought you were insane." She gives me a more timid hug, leaning in at the waist.
"On second thought, I might still think that," she adds with a smile. "Thanks for mini-Ball the other day, and the show this morning...and the show last week, too, for that matter. Stori was right, it has been quite interesting. See you later, William, Harry, Hermione."
"Glad to hear it, Tracey, see you around, then," I say with a smile. Then I nod at Blaise. "Mr. Zabini."
"Lerner. Potter. Granger." With a pair of stiff nods he follows Tracey into the common room.
"Well that was fun," Hermione says, letting out a breath.
"I'm disappointed in you, William," Harry says, frowning and shaking his head dramatically. "I think you could have slipped in at least two kisses on the cheek."
Harry and I both laugh at that, but Hermione only gives a small smile and shakes her head. She remains oddly quiet while Harry and I banter back and forth a bit more, and she makes no move to take my arm or Harry's hand.
To my surprise, Hermione continues up the stairs, not even hesitating as she passes the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower. Harry and I exchange a look, but at the determined expression on our friend's face, we shrug and follow wordlessly.
She leads us up to the familiar seventh floor corridor and, without hesitation, walks briskly back and forth in front of the moving tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and the trolls.
She's made the Room into a small sitting room, which fills me with dread. There is no training going on here.
I hold a miniscule amount of hope that she just wants to study, but I'm fairly certain she would want the comfort of a small library at her back even if all she used was her textbooks.
That hope is completely dashed when she sits and fixes her eyes on me as if Harry wasn't even in the room.
"Hermione?" Harry says uncertainly as he sits.
"William," she says coolly, ignoring his concern. "Are we not your best friends?"
My brows furrow. "You are."
"Do you not trust us more than anyone else here?"
I gulp audibly. "I do," I say uncertainly, not liking where this line of questioning is going.
Her gaze never wavers. "Then why have you shared something so important with Daphne that you haven't shared with us?"
Harry's head snaps to mine as my gaze drops to the floor. "What? Is that true?" Harry asks in disbelief.
"You saw Daphne's reaction when I was about to talk about William's so-called Operation Reptilian Redemption. That is not what she thought I was going to say. She believes William is planning something far more dangerous; something she doesn't want Astoria to know."
I hope that's my out, and I shake my head. "She knows far less than either of you. I realized after she told me about her family that she could be a valuable source of information. So I hinted to her in vague terms that I know what Riddle has done to try to attain immortality and that we're working on a way to counter that."
"She knows how dangerous that information is. She confronted me before the Ball because I still haven't confided in her, and she was worried that I would bring Astoria into it instead. I promised her I wouldn't. I never told her my original reason for befriending her, so she was worried you were going to bring up what plots she does know about."
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Hey guys if u like the fanfic and want to read ahead by 27+ chapters or just want to support take a visit on my patreon.
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
http://patreon.com/Marin_kitawaga