𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 | 𝐡. 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝟏𝟐𝟑 - 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐚

𝙀𝙭𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, Harry told Ron and Hermione everything that had happened during next morning's Charms lesson (having first cast the Muffliato spell upon those nearest them) all the while Ophelia quietly seethed. They were both satisfyingly impressed by the way he had wheedled the memory out of Slughorn and positively awed when he told them about Voldemort's Horcruxes and Dumbledore's promise to take Harry along, should he find another one -- Ophelia on the other hand was none to happy that he had offered that in the first place and was biting her tongue regarding the topic.

"Wow," said Ron, when Harry had finally finished telling them everything; Ron was waving his wand very vaguely in the direction of the ceiling without paying the slightest bit of attention to what he was doing. "Wow. You're actually going to go with Dumbledore. . . and try and destroy. . . wow. "

"Ron, you're making it snow," said Hermione patiently, grabbing his wrist and redirecting his wand away from the ceiling from which, sure enough, large white flakes had started to fall. Lavender Brown, Harry noticed, glared at Hermione from a neighbouring table through very red eyes, and Hermione immediately let go of Ron's arm.

"Oh yeah," said Ron, looking down at his shoulders in vague surprise. "Sorry. . . looks like we've all got horrible dandruff now. . . "

He brushed some of the fake snow off Hermione's shoulder Lavender burst into tears. Ron looked immensely guilty and turned his back on her.

"We split up," he told Harry out of the corner of his mouth, "Last night. When she saw me coming out of the dormitory with Hermione. Obviously she couldn't see you two so she thought it had just been the two of us. "

"Ah," said Harry. "Well--you don't mind it's over, do you?"

"No," Ron admitted. "It was pretty bad while she was yelling, but at least I didn't have to finish it. "

"Coward," said Hermione, though she looked amused, she gave Ophelia a warm look of glee which she returned half-heartedly, her mind preoccupied with the horrid topic of Horcruxes and those few lives he had taken in his path for immortality, her heart twisted at the thought of being killed just for him to add to his horrid collection of cursed historical artefacts.

She hoped they eventually found peace even though the evidence against it was staggering.

"Flitwick," said Ron in a warning tone. The tiny little Charms master was bobbing his way toward them, Ophelia and Hermione were the only ones who had managed to turn their vinegar into wine; their glass flasks were full of deep crimson liquid, whereas the contents of Harry's and Ron's were still murky brown.

"Now, now, boys," squeaked Professor Flitwick reproachfully. "A little less talk, a little more action. . . Let me see you try. . . "

Together they raised their wands, concentrating with all their might, and pointed them at their flasks. Harry's vinegar turned to ice; Ron's flask exploded.

"Yes . . . for homework," said Professor Flitwick, reemerging from under the table and pulling shards of glass out of the top of his hat, "practice. "

They had one of their rare joint free periods after Charms and walked back to the common room together. Ron seemed to be positively lighthearted about the end of his relationship with Lavender, and Hermione seemed cheery too, though when asked what she was grinning about she simply said, "It's a nice day. "

He looked to Ophelia hoping for an answer but she more or less seemed preoccupied in her own thoughts, blinking a couple of times when she noticed Harry looking at her she offered him a warm smile as she kissed his cheek which he smiled into.