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"Training," I say with a small smile as I glance toward Hermione.
Hermione snorts. "Being stupid is more like it."
I smile at her. "What can I say, it's a gift."
"For you, maybe," Daphne says, crossing her arms. "More like a curse for the rest of us."
I smile at her but she looks away. After a few moments Astoria pats my arm firmly. "We better let Luna have her turn at you. You need your ambrosia."
"And my nectar," I say, holding my arms out for another hug. Astoria quickly complies, giving me a kiss on the cheek and a firm hug before she stands up and looks at her older sister expectantly.
"Don't you go thinking you're getting a kiss from me, Lerner," she says, poking me on the chest when she sits.
I start to answer, but Astoria beats me to it. "You do want him to get better, don't you, Daph?"
She scoffs but doesn't reply, choosing instead to simply lean over and put her head on my chest, and slipping an arm between my arm and my side to give me a little squeeze.
I take the opportunity to kiss the top of her head, which earns me a light slap on the chest.
"I didn't say you could do that," she says without conviction.
"Sorry," I say with an equal lack of conviction.
"You are not allowed to do something like this – getting knocked out for five days – again," she says, poking me in the chest once more before standing up.
I hold up my right hand. "I promise I won't do it again intentionally unless I ask you and/or Hermione first."
She narrows her eyes at me, suspicious of the wording, but doesn't challenge it. "I'll hold you to that," she says, then turns and walks toward the door, taking hold of Astoria's arm on the way.
Tracey leans over to give me a quick hug and tells me to get better before scurrying after the sisters.
"Tough luck, only getting one kiss out of the three of them," Harry says with an amused expression. "Should have said something nicer to Daphne, I bet she would have given you one."
Hermione whacks him on the shoulder. "Prat." Hermione turns her gaze on me with a thoughtful expression, then wraps her arms around herself and looks down.
"She cares for you, William...maybe as much as I do, even," she says softly. "If it wasn't obvious before, it is now."
I take a deep breath and shrug. "We are close friends, so I care for her quite a bit, too," I say. "But as far as—"
"I know, you...you don't have to say it again," she says quickly.
I sigh heavily into the silence. "It's painful to have a choice taken away from you," I say softly, "whether you were considering it in the first place or not."
Harry and Hermione both understand immediately and study the floor with pained expressions.
Just as I look to the door to wonder what's taking so long, the door swings open and Neville lets Luna and Ron through before letting the door close behind him.
Without preamble, Luna climbs on the bed, plants a solid kiss on my cheek, and snuggles into my chest facing Harry and Hermione.
"Hello, William, Harry, Hermione. Is this right?"
It's so unexpected, so Luna, that I laugh despite the painful subject we had been discussing just a moment earlier. Harry joins in.
Hermione smiles, and shakes her head. "I suppose Astoria had a chat with you before you came in?"
"Yes."
"Figures," the bushy-haired Gryffindor says lightly, burying the sadness of the previous moment.
"Well, Luna," I say, "this is perfect, thank you."
"You're welcome," she says, wriggling a bit to make herself comfortable after my laughter dislodged her from her initial position.
I think to myself that it would be great if she wouldn't do that.
"Bloody hell, mate, that was some wicked magic," Ron says, grinning ear-to-ear. "It reminded me of that thing you did at the beginning of the year that Hermione hated you for."
"I did not hate him for it, Ronald," Hermione says, reverting a bit to her old bossy voice.
"What are they talking about, William?" Luna's mellifluous voice vibrates my ribcage.
"It's a fake ritual spell I invented," I explain, "and the first time I used it was the second time I was knocked out by magical exhaustion. Maybe I'll show it to you sometime."
"I am not going to fall for that," Hermione says smugly. "You already agreed not to do it again."
"I agreed not to do the last part, anyway," I counter. "I could always replace the bar of superheated plasma with fiendfyre."
"William! Don't you even think about it!" Hermione pokes me in the shoulder, causing both Harry and me to laugh at how easily she gets riled up.
Predictably she does not appreciate our mirth, nor our subsequent back and forth banter.
~~~~~
Surprisingly, Madam Pomfrey clears me to leave late the next day, with the restriction that I am not to use magic until I get a good night's sleep in my own bed.
I can feel the roiling mass of magic there in the pit of my stomach, and, bizarrely, I feel like it's restless...waiting anxiously to be unleashed.
I poke and prod and pull at it experimentally, not willing it to go anywhere, and nothing feels different.
There is no sign or even hint of the glow or the whiteness that I sensed before.
I assume it requires extreme circumstances to be able to access it, which is fine with me since I'd prefer not to pass out for a week.
The next day, walking with Harry and Hermione as usual, plenty of looks and whispers follow us, as per usual.
"Maybe it's just because I've been knocked out for a few days, but it seems like you're getting more whispers than normal, Harry. Has it been like this all week?" I ask when we sit down for dinner next to Neville, Ron, and Luna.
Hermione raises an eyebrow at me while Harry chuckles. "No, it hasn't," he says.
I shrug. "So what happened with the points, anyway? How much of a lead do you have now?"
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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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