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I shrug. "So what happened with the points, anyway? How much of a lead do you have now?"
Harry grins. "I'm leading by eight, followed by Cedric, Viktor, and then Fleur."
"Only eight? You smoked everybody in the Second Task!"
He laughs. "What happened to not caring about the points, Will?"
"Oh yeah." I decide to ask the Twins what the odds are on Harry winning.
I don't think I'll be using my galleons before then, and I could use some extra ones when the Third Task is done.
That is, assuming everything goes well, of course.
"So what's up with the Third Task? Did you get any info or hints for it?" I still need to play dumb after all.
"He just aced the Second Task and you already want to work on the next one?" Ron asks, looking at me like I've grown another head.
Hermione rolls her eyes. Some things never change.
"They told us we'd find out about the Third Task a month ahead of time," Harry says, "it's to be held on June 24th, the week before summer break. We actually get to relax for a couple months."
"Relax, Harry?" Hermione asks, raising her eyebrows, "I hope you don't mean..."
"Oh, we'll still run and practice and such," Harry says, cutting her off, "but at least we don't have to rush to learn something in particular."
"If you guys don't mind," I say slowly, then I lower my voice. "I think I've learned something about my magic that I want to test."
Hermione looks at me sharply. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."
I hold my hands up in surrender. "Hey, I told you and Daphne that I wouldn't magically exhaust myself again without asking one of you first, and I meant it."
Neville and Luna look up from their quiet contemplation in surprise, as does Ron. They hadn't heard that part.
"What if something like that happens again?" Luna asks.
I smile at her. "Obviously a situation like that is not intentional, and my oath doesn't apply to situations that I believe fall into the realm of unintentional magical exhaustion."
"You prat," Hermione says with an accusatory glare, "you thought of that ahead of time, didn't you?"
"Of course I did," I say, letting my smile fade. "I would do that again in a heartbeat to save any one of you if something like that happened, regardless of what I promised."
Luna smiles and lets her head rest against my arm, which I gently move around her to squeeze her against my side and kiss her on top of the head.
Ron and Neville look embarrassed, but Harry nods grimly and Hermione blushes.
Ron clears his throat when nobody speaks for a few moments. "Um, what did you mean when you said you wanted to test something?"
I grin once again. "Don't worry, I'll show you guys in a bit."
"William..." Hermione warns.
"If you like, we can bring Daphne along, too, that way you can both beat the crap out of me if I break my promise," I offer. "I think she's earned the right to see the Room."
She purses her lips at me. "Fine."
I head over to the Slytherin table and end up inviting Tracey and Blaise, too, and then Astoria hops up as we're leaving, so she's invited as well.
I get plenty of looks when I do this, which, even though the entire school must know about our friendship by now.
I suppose is unsurprising since I don't think I've ever actually gone to speak her in the Great Hall before.
With such a large group, Harry and Hermione head back to fetch the Marauder's Map and his Invisibility Cloak while the rest of us head leisurely up to the seventh floor.
"So what were you going to show us, William?" Daphne asks when we've reached the top.
Tracey's face lights up as she recognizes where we are. "Are we going dancing again?"
"Not quite," I say with a smile. "Hermione said you should be here to help her make sure I don't go back on the promise I made you when I woke up."
She immediately drops back into Ice Queen mode when she figures out what promise I mean. "Lerner..." she warns.
Ron whistles. "Wow, she and Hermione both reacted the same way...I don't envy you, mate." Then he cowers, partially hiding behind Neville as the icy glare is turned onto him.
Astoria giggles and then dances away from her sister's attempt at a smack to attach herself to my side.
"It's okay, Daph, Hermione's just overreacting," I say, squeezing Astoria, "I just wanna try something."
Just then Harry turns the corner where the entrance usually is. "This way, everybody, quickly now," he says in a low voice.
The expected entrance grinds into existence and opens with seemingly no effort on Harry's part.
We all quickly slip in to find Hermione waiting for us in a large dueling area, except for the sitting area with more couches and chairs than usual.
Of course a pair of tall bookshelves against the wall complete the decor.
"This isn't what it looked like before!" Tracey sounds quite disappointed at that.
"It's not even the same shape," Daphne points out with her brows furrowed.
"Hermione redecorated a bit," I say with a smile.
The bushy-haired Gryffindor rolls her eyes and explains the Room to the surprised Slytherins, including the part about how I 'found' it.
That gets rather suspicious looks from Daphne and Blaise.
"You said it yourself, I am well-informed," I say airily, breaking off from the group and walking purposefully across the dueling pit before spinning around to find all of them watching me.
"Alright, Harry, hit me with the strongest Stunner you've got," I say.
"William, you told me to remind you never to get in a fight with Harry, remember?" Hermione says worriedly.
I laugh. "Thanks Hermione, but I meant an actual fight, this is just training."
"Are you sure, Will?" Harry asks quietly.
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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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