Suffocating In Darkness

Chapter 25

Exhausted but delighted with his night's work, we told Ron, Lyra and Hermione everything that had happened during next morning's Charms lesson (having first cast the Muffliato spell upon those nearest them). They were satisfyingly impressed by the way we had wheedled the memory out of Slughorn and positively awed when we told them about Voldemort's Horcruxes and Dumbledore's promise to take Harry and I along, should he find another one.

"Wow," said Ron, when we 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, I noticed, glared at Hermione from a neighboring table through very red eyes, and Hermione immediately let go of Rons 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 Hermiones shoulder Lavender burst into tears. Ron looked immensely guilty and turned his back on her.

"Wow..." Oliver grumbled. "Trouble in paradise much?"

"We split up," he told us 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 and Lyra was behind us, so she thought it had just been the two of us."

"Ah," I said. "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. "Well, it was a bad night for romance all around. Ginny and Dean split up too."

"Well... we're still in our relationships." Lyra shrugged.

"And you hardly see your boyfriends." Oliver points out, I smack him in the stomach and send my letter off with Rosabelle. "That was a letter to him wasn't it?"

"Yes it was." I say slowly nodding.

Keeping his face as immobile and his voice as indifferent as he could, Harry asked, "How come?"

"Oh, something really silly . . . She said he was always trying to help her through the portrait hole, like she couldn't climb in herself . . . but they've been a bit rocky for ages."

I glanced over at Dean on the other side of the classroom. He certainly looked unhappy.

"Of course, this puts you in a bit of a dilemma, doesn't it?" I said.

"What d'you mean?" said Harry quickly.

"The Quidditch team," I said. "If Ginny and Dean aren't speaking, I'm not being the middle chaser..."

"Oh - oh yeah," said Harry.

"Flitwick," said Ron in a warning tone. The tiny little Charms master was bobbing his way towards us, and us girls were the ones who had managed to turn vinegar into wine; our glasses flask was full of deep crimson liquid, whereas the contents of Oliver's, 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; Oliver's seemed to vanish; Ron's flask exploded.