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"No, that's not it," I say, holding my hands up, "I mean, that thought crossed my mind, but no, I severely doubt it crossed hers. It's Hermione we're talking about here: she doesn't have a devious bone in her body."
She presses her lips together and processes that. "Fine. Any other surprises? I suppose you were going to invite several other people over, too?"
"Just Harry," I say quietly. "In fact, I thought he was our best shot, that perhaps Lord Greengrass might want to meet the future Lord Potter."
She laughs then, her full laugh that is so rare and so wonderful, the laugh that somehow softens those hard, ice-blue eyes of hers.
"That's the coup de grace, William, you definitely should have been in Slytherin. I no longer believe you didn't plan any of our conversations."
I can't help but laugh with her. "I didn't. I think it's just that you've rubbed off on me." My smile fades and I cock my head back as I realize just how true that is. "You really have."
Her smile fades as well. "I think you already know what you've done to me."
"Sorry 'bout that, Daph."
She shakes her head, ignoring my use of her nickname. "Don't be. You may have complicated things quite a bit, but..." She shrugs.
"...but this is much more fun than outsmarting and fending off Death Eater wannabes," I finish for her.
She snorts. "I don't know if I would call it fun, exactly, but yes."
"Of course it's fun," I scoff, "I know for a fact there is a lot more hugging."
She scoffs back at me for that, but does not reply. "Well, I need to owl my father. Stori and I will work on him if necessary to get Hermione over, but I don't think you or Harry will be an issue."
"Oh Daphne, you're the best." I pull her into a hug, which she returns after a moment of rigidity. "Sorry about that, I forgot to ask first."
"I don't believe you forgot at all," she says softly.
"You are the best, though."
"Mmhmm."
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Unsurprisingly Luna picks up on the different behavior among the three of us as well, though she shows even less of a reaction than Daphne.
She merely smiles dreamily and gives me a hug, and she immediately accepts the same explanation we gave Harry when she expresses some confusion about why Hermione and I are not together now. I love Luna.
I spend a week breaking in my new rune-etching tools by perfecting a pair of rune lanterns and four rune shields for Sirius and Remus, and ask Harry to have Dobby deliver them with a note when it is safe to do so.
He comes back with a hastily-penned letter for Harry, Hermione and I with their sincere thanks and how impressed they are with my work. They also include a brief update on the status of their hunt.
Their progress makes me quite happy, so I decide to make extra shield runes to distribute to a particular group of people.
In the meantime Neville secures what he estimates as enough gillyweed for at least two and a half hours of underwater breathing.
Among other things I make sure we review the Revulsion Jinx and the Severing Charm in preparation for facing the creatures and plants in the Lake.
Luckily I don't have to hide what I know, since Hermione is already well aware of the grindylows and the giant squid thanks to Hogwarts: A History.
Harry actually feels rather good about his chances to survive this one, so he, Hermione, and I meet in the Room of Requirement and start working on the actual strategy.
One piece of fanfiction I read provided a rather nice strategy to reaching the hostage. I suggest something quite similar – leaving out mention of hostages, of course – except that my plan still involves the use of gillyweed.
The Harry in that story did not have foreknowledge of the Task, nor did he have Neville or Dobby hooking him up with it.
Hermione and I argue some of the finer points of the strategy, with Harry providing his own observations and opinions based on his abilities. Hermione has the Room conjure a pile of gravel and pebbles of various sizes for Harry to work with.
As Harry starts in on them, I glance at Hermione and smile broadly. Daphne wants to surprise Harry and Hermione with formal invitations, but I want to spill the news so bad.
She smiles back at me. "What is it?"
"Sorry, something good happened earlier today and I'm excited about it," I say. "You'll find out pretty soon."
Her smile fades. "Daphne took you aside earlier..."
"Yes, and it's a good surprise...don't you go and try to guess it, though," I say.
"William, you didn't...you and she aren't..."
Suddenly the reasoning behind her shining brown eyes hits me. "Oh, Hermione, it's not that!" I quickly pull her into a tight hug and kiss her on the top of the head. "How could you think it's that?"
"Well..." She makes a sort of annoyed grunt.
"Everything okay?" Harry asks.
Hermione gently pushes away to turn toward him. "Yeah, sorry Harry...I'm just...being stupid."
"I got a bit too excited and I made the mistake of telling her I had some good news that you both will find out about soon," I say, trailing off as I consider whether or not to just tell them.
"It's not your fault, William, I just saw you with Daphne earlier and I jumped to the wrong conclusion." Hermione says in a slightly angry tone.
Harry clears his throat, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Right, well..."
"Sorry, Harry, how is the sizing going?" Hermione asks, wiping at her face with her sleeves and trying to get back to business.
The tension in his face drains away at her tone. "I have it down pretty well with a certain size piece of gravel, but that's not enough for the smaller pebbles. And I can't seem to stack the same charms on the same object; if I get it wrong I have to cancel it and try again."
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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)
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