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***
It was the third week of November, and the icy wind was whipping the clothes and hair of the professors and their students. The holidays were already a month away, but no one was in the Christmas mood yet. Half the school was just talking about tomorrow. Tomorrow was already the twenty-second of November - Gerard Argent's hearing. Allison had hardly spoken to the boys the past few days, hadn't answered her father's letters, and had skipped classes.
- Allison, it's gonna be okay. You can't skip classes because of this, it makes your grades worse! - Lydia tried to reason with her friend. Lydia tried to reason with her friend, but she got the usual silence. Sitting on Martin's shoulder, Sophie (as Lydia called her crypter) glared at Allison and Jane (as Malia called her baby girl).
- Ell, she's right,' Malia decided to keep her friend company and try to help her with this difficult task. - You're not going to pass your exams! It's about to be one of the hardest subjects of the term! And with your grandfather, it might not be a problem,' Tate looked at Martin, and she nodded approvingly.
- You don't understand,' Argent whispered. - I've remembered him since he was a baby! He's always been there for us. He was with my father when my mother- - The girl suddenly sobbed and covered her face with her hands. Lydia immediately sat up to her and put her arm round her friend's shoulders.
- Shh, Ell, shh. It's all right. It could be a simple mistake on the part of the Ministry. You'll see, tomorrow we'll be laughing about it, and your grandfather will write you a letter telling you the truth. You don't have to suffer for it. Everything will be fine. I promise you. - Lydia whispered non-stop.
- How do you know? You can't say that, Lydia, you can't! - Allison exclaimed and burst into tears. Ricky, the Argent crypter, looked worriedly at her mistress.
Lydia, sighing heavily, looked at Tate with a frank plea in her eyes.
- Allison, pull yourself together,' Malia's voice was steely. - Are you Argent or what? Tell me your family motto.
- Malia, what's this all about? - The girl looked at her friend with a tormented look.
- Tell me! - Tate insisted.
- La vie de la, résistance et de l'argent. Argent ne renonce pas, Argent bat jusqu'à la fin,* said the girl in Latin. With each word her voice grew firmer and her eyes clearer. When she had finished, she clenched her fists and stood up. - You are right. Whatever happens tomorrow will be tomorrow, and I can't influence it.
- Absolutely right, sweetheart,' Lydia nodded happily, smiling. - And yes, although you can't influence the hearing, I can influence your grades, which are getting worse every day. So you're coming to the library with me right now,' she said in a tone that sounded a little too much like McGonagall's chastising.
Nodding in agreement, Allison abruptly hugged both of her friends at once.
- Thank you,' the girl whispered.
Lydia and Malia gave each other high-fives behind Argent's back.
- Come on, let's go before the library closes,' Lydia said, pulling away. - Mal? - The girl looked questioningly at Tate.
- No, Lyds, I'm sorry, but me, you and books are an impossible combination. I'm going to go see the boys, I haven't seen them in a while,' she said, and with a twinkle in her eye, she left the room, followed by Lydia and Allison.
***
- Tim, damn it, stop it! - Scott exclaimed and pulled the kid away from his things. - Stiles, explain to him that his master is you, not me!
- Then you explain to Cripp that you can't race Tim across the room! Besides, he always crashes into something and I have to fix him,' Stilinski complained.
- Well, he's definitely into you with that one,' Isaac chuckled.
- Oh, Lehi, shut up,' Stiles hissed.
At that moment there was a knock on the door, and the boys froze, looking at the door in surprise. Stiles, having died first, opened it and exclaimed:
- Mal! Bloody hell, you scared me! It's been a long time since you've been here,' Stilinski exclaimed, hugging his friend.
- I haven't had much time,' Tate shrugged and jumped across the room to the window sill. Janey jumped off her shoulder and immediately chased after Tim and Cripp. - How's it going?
- Tim is carrying my stuff to Stiles's! - Scott exclaimed, and Stilinski rolled his eyes.
- The usual, I guess. How are you guys doing? How's Allison? - Matt asked.
- She's fine now,' Tate grinned. - Leeds and I were just calming her down.
- How's that going? - Leahy asked.
- They're fine. Probably working on heavy treatises in the library now,' Malia looked around the room with a cheerful glance at the boys. It was just as it always was. Just an ordinary kids' room - not orderly, but not critical chaos either. Anyway, Scott, Stiles, Isaac, and Matt always had a light, 'creative' mess - books on the nightstands, scrolls, inkwells by the beds, and the like. The boys never threw things around.
- Stiles to Malia, over,' Stilinski snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face, causing her to flinch.
- What?' She blinked in confusion.
- I asked you, are we going out tonight or not? - The boy asked. They had decided to call their walks around Hogwarts at night walks. - Matt and Isaac are with us tonight. And you?
- You ask again? - Tate stretched out resentfully, pouting her lips.
Stiles raised his eyebrows and put his arm around her shoulders and laughed happily. Tim, Jane and Cripp stopped, looking at them, and after thinking for a few seconds, hugged their tiny arms around each other. As they looked at the scene unfolding in front of them, the boys laughed out loud, making the Krypters flap their eyes in bewilderment.
***
- Lehi, quiet, Merlin! - Malia hissed. It was about two in the morning on the clock, and the guys, trying to find something interesting, had accidentally got lost. Yes, it had happened before, but that made it no less exciting.
- I'm sorry! - Isaac glanced guiltily at his friend.
- You walk like an elephant, damn it! - Stiles intervened.
- Shut up, all of you! - Scott hissed, and everyone froze. - Look over there,' McCall pointed ahead.
- Is that some kind of hatch or something? - Matt asked, stepping forward.
- It looks like it,' Malia whispered, following her mate.
After a few more metres and hitting the wall, Stiles exclaimed:
- You're the trapdoor! It's a wall! - The boy rubbed his bruised nose.
- Quiet, you stupid head! There's a ladder! - Malia hissed, pointing at the neighbouring wall. - Well, who's first? - The girl whispered, 'Merlin's beard, and they call themselves Gryffindors! - And climbed up.
Climbing out the top, Tate froze. She was on the roof. The sky, studded with billions of stars, loomed over her head. Turning round, the girl saw the lake, in which the full moon was reflected and the outline of a giant squid glimmered occasionally. Sighing enthusiastically, Malia walked forward. The boys followed and just like Malia, they froze with admiration, their mouths wide open.
- Amazing! - whispered Stiles.
There was a railing at the edge of the roof, and Malia went straight to it. She leaned on the railing and looked round. From here, she could see absolutely everything. The Quidditch pitch with the grass black at this time. The huge greenhouses nearby reflected the light of the moon and seemed like something wrong, unreal. The Forbidden Forest was one black, impenetrable darkness, casting a shadow over Hagrid's hut, near which, incidentally, Fang was running around, occasionally jumping on the door. Even the tiny lights of Hogsmeade were visible.
- Oh, shit,' Tate whispered, looking round in amazement. Jane, swaying slightly on the girl's shoulder, squeaked squeakily.
- Do you think anyone else knows about this place? - Isaac asked, sitting down on a stool right next to the hatch and looking up at the sky.
- I don't. Lydia said that even Dumbledore doesn't know all the secrets,' Stiles said, sitting down next to his mate and pulling his robe tighter around him.
- Oh, there's a Sagittarius! - Malia exclaimed a few minutes later.
- I see Orion,' Scott said.
- And I see Sirius,' Stiles added, pointing his finger at the sky.
That's how the boys spent the rest of the night - sitting side by side and looking at the twinkling roundels of stars in the distance.