Unmasked

Sectumsempra Scars

A/N: The art in the media section was drawn by @JoyridingFrankie ! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this! :)

Wednesday morning was no different than many of the others. The students dressed for classes, packed their bags full of books and parchment and met their friends for breakfast in the Great Hall. For Harry, Ron, and Hermione, this meant sitting at the Gryffindor table, loading eggs and toast onto their plates and tucking in just before Draco and Pansy arrived. The blond Slytherin sat with Harry and Ron, while Pansy sat with Hermione. Pansy scooped eggs onto her plate as well, while Draco reached for a blueberry muffin.

Harry turned to Pansy. "Ready to fail at bird-conjuring again?"

She snorted. "Meh, either way, I'll still beat you at it."

"Hey! I'll conjure three this time!"

Draco picked at his muffin, singing under his breath, "I doubt that..." Harry swatted him while everyone laughed. Draco turned to him and grinned. Harry's heart fluttered and he returned the gesture, dropping his gaze back to his plate.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Do you all want to meet in the library this afternoon during the free period to do some work?"

Ron nodded. "Sounds good, I have an essay to work on."

"Me too," said Pansy.

Draco nodded, half-finished his muffin. "Sure. I could browse around a little for new books, too."

"God," Harry huffed. "You sound like Hermione!"

"Hey!" The two looked at each other. Draco scowled and Hermione stuck out her tongue. He turned back to Harry. "There's nothing wrong with liking to read. What else do you think I do at home with no one there but my parents?"

Harry glared at Hermione, who smirked. "Fine. I guess I have work to do, too. DADA essay, Ron?"

"Yeah."

"Me too. We can work on it together. Have you chosen yours yet?"

"No... everyone already has though. I'm running out of options."

Harry smirked. "I think I have just the one."

*

That afternoon the library was bustling with busy students. Most of the tables were packed, books and parchment stacked so high no one could see the person across from them. Although Madam Pince tried her hardest, she couldn't get the level of quiet to where she wanted it to be—it just wasn't going to happen. In the middle of the stacks of books and rows of tables laid the belongings of the unlikely group.

Harry, Ron, and Pansy sat at the table, parchment spread flat and books open on the wood. Hermione stood behind them, flipping through the pages of a book. One page roared at her and she flinched, however the next one only twittered, and she smiled. Draco was down an aisle to the left of the table, his finger tracing the spines of the books with curiosity. He fingered one with red, leather binding and pulled it off the shelf, studying the gold script.

Harry and Ron kept bickering over Ron's essay. Harry continually offered him a spell he thought would be cool, but Ron insisted Harry was being a prat and the spell was made up. After a few minutes, Pansy straightened from her position hunched over her parchment and raised her eyebrows. "Do you two ever shut up?"

Ron didn't even look up. "No."

Pansy glanced at Harry, who shrugged. She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I wish there was a spell for that some days. What are you two even arguing over?"

"Nothing important," said Ron.

"Then tell me," she insisted.

"Fine. I need a spell no one else is using for my essay and Harry suggested this one he found in his textbook. But I can't find any information in it anywhere. I think it's made up."