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chapter sixty-seven (stars fading but i linger on )
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DESPITE THE FLURRY of sun and patches of bright blue sky appearing above the castle, Ascella had noticed that Harry's mood had not uplifted in the slightest. He had been thwarted, both in his attempts to find out what Malfoy was doing, and in his efforts to start a conversation with Slughorn that might lead, somehow, to Slughorn handing over the memory he had apparently suppressed for decades.
"For the last time, just forget about Malfoy," Hermione told Harry firmly.
They were sitting in a sunny corner of the courtyard after lunch. Ascella, Hermione and Ron were clutching a Ministry of Magic leaflet — Common Apparition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them — for they were taking their tests that very afternoon, but by and large the leaflets had not proved soothing to the nerves.
Ron gave a start and tried to hide behind Ascella as a girl came around the corner.
Ascella snorted, "Calm down, it isn't Lavender."
"Oh, good," said Ron, relaxing.
"Harry Potter, Ascella Black?" said the girl. "I was asked to give you this."
"Thanks," said Harry, while Ascella smiled gratefully.
Harry's heart sank as he took the small scroll of parchment. "Dumbledore said we wouldn't be having any more lessons until I got the memory!"
"Maybe he wants to check on how you're both doing?" suggested Hermione, as Harry unrolled the parchment and Ascella peered over his shoulder; but rather than finding Dumbledore's long, narrow, slanted writing he saw an untidy sprawl, very difficult to read due to the presence of large blotches on the parchment where the ink had run.
