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Hermione buries her face in the couch and cries harder than ever.
Harry and I sit on either side of her saying nothing, just rubbing her back and her arms, running hands through her hair.
Just then the fire flares green, and a face momentarily appears then immediately disappears.
"Padfoot?" Harry croaks out.
"Harry? Are you sure it's safe?" Sirius asks, tentatively appearing once more. "What's wrong? What happened?" His voice gets more concerned as he goes on.
"This is..." Harry clears his throat when his voice cracks again. "This is William Lerner, I told you about him. And of course you remember Hermione."
Hermione sits up, face splotchy. "Hello again, Padfoot."
Sirius takes in our condition and the apparent lack of any kind of emergency. He repeats his question in a softer voice. "What's happened, Harry?"
Harry just shakes his head.
"Have you...have you ever heard of Shakespearean tragedy, Padfoot?" Hermione asks, voice thick with emotion. "Well, we're living in one right now."
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"Do you think we got enough?" Hermione asks for the third time, biting her lip in worry.
"I'm sure three dozen titles is more than enough," I repeat. "You're really cute when you bite your lip like that, by the way."
"William! Stop making me blush in public!" she whispers heatedly despite the privacy charm.
"Well stop being cute!"
"I don't know what you find cute!"
"Mm, that's a tough one," I say, rubbing my chin. "Wow, that's a really tough one. Pretty much all of your facial expressions are some kind of cute."
"William..." she whines.
"Ah ha!" I say, snapping my fingers. "I've got it. You're going to have to pick your nose."
She gasps with indignation. "I am not going to pick my nose!"
"Well it's either that or I control myself," I point out, "and honestly, which one do you think has a better chance of succeeding?"
"He has a point," Harry offers from under his cloak.
"Maybe you do, but it's too bad," Hermione says, folding her arms. "You're just going to have to control yourself."
"Okay, but making your robes hug your figure like that is just going to make it harder."
"Your suggestive double entendre cheers my very soul, brother," Harry says.
Hermione's mouth drops open when she realizes what Harry means. "William!"
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"William, wake up," I hear Hermione say through my grogginess.
"Mm, not yet," I say, nuzzling my fluffy and pleasantly fragrant pillow and shutting my eyes harder.
"Ow, ow, not so rough!" she pleads. "That's my hair!"
That snaps my eyes open. I sit up and look around in confusion. "Wha—?"
"We, er, fell asleep in the common room," Harry says.
Sure enough, it seems we were leaning back on the deep couch by the fire. My neck is killing me.
"Correction, you guys fell asleep," Hermione says, "and now I've got drool in my hair and on my shoulder."
"Ah, sorry 'bout that, Hermione," I say, stifling a yawn. "Why didn't you give me a shove? Aren't you going to be exhausted?"
She blushes a bit. "Well I didn't mind, and I dozed off several times, too. You fell asleep against my head and Harry did against my shoulder on his side."
"Oops. Sorry I hogged her hair, Harry. I thought it was a bit strange that my pillow smelled so good."
"I don't think he minds too much," Hermione says, glancing at Harry who is blushing furiously. "His head was resting on my left breast up until a minute ago."
I bark out a laugh at that. "Well-played, Harry, well-played." I rub and stretch my neck as thoroughly as possible to get the stiffness out, but the soreness remains.
"You should have put your hand on the right one, she would have let you," Harry says with a smirk.
I sigh exaggeratedly. "Good call, but it's too late now."
"Hmm," Hermione says, tapping her lips. "Maybe not." Her hand shoots out and clamps onto my chest. Harry starts laughing loudly, and once I recover from the moment of shock, I join him followed by Hermione.
"You know what comes next, William," she says with a grin. "It's only fair to complete the cycle."
I laugh again at that. "Alright, get over here, Harry," I say, making a kneading motion with my hands. "Left or right?"
After sharing a few more laughs, we grin at each other, and then our grins fade to grateful smiles. The unspoken message is clear: we needed that healing, and now we have a job to do.
We take a break to take showers and then head to the Room of Requirement to discuss that job before breakfast.
The shower does wonders for my sore neck, so I indulge in a much longer-than-normal soak. It also does wonders for my thoughts, and I plan out how to tell them my strategy now that they finally know what the First Task is.
Mostly, anyway, since they don't know about the egg. By the time I finally get dressed and head down, I find Harry and Hermione both in the common room waiting for me.
Once we exit the portrait, we assume our normal walking positions: Harry on the left holding Hermione's left hand and me on the right clasping her right arm. It's a little bizarre how it feels odd when we're not walking like that.
We walk in companionable silence the entire way, stopping only to catch the early morning view from the seventh floor corridor.
"What was Sirius going to say before Ron came down and made him leave?" Hermione asks rhetorically, once she's prepared and opened the Room. It's her usual miniature library with a cozy sitting area.
I'm surprised Hermione brought up last night so quickly, and Harry's face falls. As if the dirty laundry we aired last night wasn't bad enough, Ron's behavior is clearly weighing on him as well. "Remember the Void, if you need it," I suggest softly. Harry nods and closes his eyes. Hermione also picks up on his somber mood so we both follow suit.
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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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