𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 | 𝐡. 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝟏𝟐𝟓 - 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥

𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎 - 𝙵𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝟾𝟻% 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝙸 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢.

𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, Hermione and Ophelia had decided to go for a walk around the Castle Grounds unaccompanied which appeared to be a frequent occurence since Ron's split with Lavender which he wasn't sure was related or not, but when they eventually returned he had made a quiet bet with himself that they would be giggling and snickering amongst themselves as they turned in for the night.

Of course when Harry had pressed for more information at the insistance of Ron he got a very sharp, "Wouldn't Ron like to know?" and he had to retreat back shamefully, explaining to Ron that Ophelia probably overheard them when the most likely reason she knew about it was because she'd complained about Ron's thoughts which he projected, to her at least, like a foghorn.

"I'd rather hear his snoring -- in fact I already do!" she had whinged, "Honestly I think he needss to go to a doctor, I suspect there is one lonely  Erumpets out there thinking they've got a lover in the Scottish HIghlands!"

He had laughed, but was not laughing when he had to listen to said snores that evening.

"You still got detention with Snape this Saturday?" Ron asked him over the top of his magazine.

"Yeah, and the Saturday after that, and the Saturday after that," sighed Harry. "And he's hinting now that if I don't get all the boxes done by the end of term, we'll carry on next year. "

He was finding these detentions particularly irksome because they cut into the already limited time he could have been spending with Ophelia. Indeed, he had frequently wondered lately whether Snape did not know this, for he was keeping Harry later and later every time, while making pointed asides about Harry having to miss the good weather and the varied opportunities it offered.

Harry was shaken from these bitter reflections by the appearance at his side of Jimmy Peakes, who was holding out a scroll of parchment.

"Thanks, Jimmy . . . hey, it's from Dumbledore!" said Harry excitedly, unrolling the parchment and scanning it. "He wants me to go to his office as quick as I can!"

They stared at each other.

"Blimey," whispered Ron. "You don't reckon . . . he hasn't found . . . ?"

"Better go and see, hadn't I?" said Harry, jumping to his feet.

He hurried out of the common room and along the seventh floor as fast as he could, passing nobody but Peeves, who swooped past in the opposite direction, throwing bits of chalk at Harry in a routine sort of way and cackling loudly as he dodged Harry's defensive jinx. Once Peeves had vanished, there was silence in the corridors; with only fifteen minutes left until curfew, most people had already returned to their common rooms.