Disclaimer: JK Rowling laughs when fools who try to claim ownership of the Harry Potter universe get kidney-punched.
A Curse of Truth
Chapter Twenty-Five: Final Preparations
The excitement of the headmaster's visit to Gryffindor Tower had apparently buried lingering concerns Hermione may have had about the revelations Daphne had let slip. It's not her fault that she let it slip, of course, since to her it's a reasonable assumption that Hermione would know what Daphne does. Especially since so much time had gone by since I let that little tidbit slip before the First Task. Regardless, I let out a mental breath every day that goes by where Hermione doesn't try to call me on it. In the run-up to the Final Task, I make my final preparations in secret. I convince our original workout group, sans Tracey and Blaise, to once again meet in the Room of Requirement. Ostensibly this is for maze training, but I still insist that our Shielding game is useful.
In reality, I'm training to fight in the graveyard.
After some deliberation on who to contact for certain parts of the plan, I send an urgent message to Mr. Delacour that says I need to meet him in Hogsmeade as soon as possible. I decide to wait until after that meeting to send a message to Sirius and Remus, but they actually beat me to the punch.
"It's from Moony," Harry says excitedly one day at breakfast. Hermione and I jerk at that, and he passes it to her. Her squeal and hug give away the likely contents, but just to make sure I quickly snatch it from the table in front of her.
Harry and friends,
It took some shopping around and we got a little sick from it, but you'll be most pleased to know that we have gathered three of the more rare chocolate frog cards you were missing. After we received the fourth rare one you got there, we had a huge bonfire to celebrate! We're at home now doing some light reading, though we're still arguing over which novel is the best.
Padfoot says he's sorry he can't make it himself, but I'm planning on bringing Snuffles to the Third Task. He suggested perhaps an earlier meeting the weekend before might be possible, so let me know. If not, Harry, then good luck and, more importantly, be careful!
Moony
"That's excellent," I say, trying to keep my voice down even though my heart immediately feels lighter at one part of the plan coming through. It sounds like they had some trouble, but I was dreading the very real possibilities of either hearing some bad news from one of them, or worse, not hearing from either of them ever again.
Now, if only Remus and Sirius or the Delacours would come through...
"We should send Moony to Egypt," I say.
Hermione makes a face. "They just got home, why would you want to send him out again already?"
Damn, they don't know the time crunch we're under. Do I risk sending Bill a letter myself? If it gets intercepted then it's best that I send it as late as possible, but if I actually want to act on any information he has, then it's best to do it sooner. Damn it! Why didn't I take care of this back when I thought of it at Christmas time? It slipped my mind with the Ball and Christmas presents. I could try to go to him, but I have no idea how I'd get there without somebody's help. The Delacours, maybe?
"I know that look," Hermione says bossily. "You aren't really considering asking him to go already, are you?"
"Not anymore, I suppose," I say truthfully.
"Good, because they deserve a rest," she says with a firm nod. "You shouldn't have sent them after those dangerous things in the first place, you know."
"Hermione, it worked out," Harry says in my defense.
"This time," she retorts.
"She's right, Harry, I'm asking too much of them," I say.
He looks at me oddly. "If you say so."
I grunt and go back to my ruminations. Would Ron know how to get a hold of him? Probably not directly, he'd probably have to owl his mother or father. The twins are more independent, they'd be fine with just the occasional owl. But what about Ginny? Bill's her favorite brother! She has to have a way to contact him better than an owl, doesn't she? I glance around and find my target chatting away with several of the younger Gryffindors. I wonder why they never name any of them in canon? I mark her spot and plan to approach her when she leaves.
"Yes, I suppose Ginny might know how to get in touch with Bill," Hermione says, and I turn to see her smirking.
"Hermione Granger," I say with mock outrage, "are you spying on me?"
"Oh please," she scoffs, "I can read you like a book, what makes you think I need to do any spying?"
"Challenge accepted," I say with a grin, "so what am I thinking right now?"
She blushes. "William!"
Harry laughs. "Oh come on, Will, even I could have guessed that one."
I scoff. "Not fair, you guys just know me too well."
"Too well, yes, that's exactly it," Hermione says, shaking her head but smiling playfully.
"Must be," I agree, "I mean, how else would you know I'm wondering how the weather is going to be this weekend?"
"Pardon me, Ms. Weasley, could I have a word? It will only take a moment."
The poor girl jumps when I speak and whips her head around, flaring out her bright reddish-orange hair. "Um, sure," she says nervously, causing the other girls to giggle and walk away after sharing some teasing looks. I sigh inwardly. Girls.
"We've never been formally introduced," I start out, hoping to put her at ease before asking such a personal question. "I'm William Lerner. I realize you have a brother with the same name that goes by Bill, so please call me William or Will."
"Okay," she says noncommittally.
I resist the urge to frown...obviously she is not impressed. I start walking down a corridor that doesn't lead up to Gryffindor Tower, so we won't run into as many people. "You know, Harry has told me a lot about your family. Ron, too, of course, but Harry really loves you guys." I pause and look back to see her following, face sporting a blush redder than her hair. "Even though I haven't met all of you, I can see what he's talking about. I mean, I've never even seen your mother and she knitted a wonderful sweater for me just like Harry."
"I saw you both wearing it all the time," she says with a warming smile, but then she blushes again and looks away as if she's embarrassed that she made those observations.
I chuckle. "I love it, and I know Harry does, too. He showed me his collection." Her lips part in surprise, but I let my smile fade. "When his name came out of the Goblet and Ron got mad at him, Harry was hurt pretty bad by that. He told Hermione and I that he'd trade everything for a family like Ron's."
Her face grows darker when I mention Harry being hurt. "That bloody jealous prat," she growls.
"Ron came to his senses eventually," I say waving the topic away. "I'm getting off-track, sorry. Two of my other Christmas presents were partially picked out by your brother Bill, because I'm interested in Runes and warding. So I was wondering, do you have a way to contact him other than the usual owl?"
"I wish I did," she says with a frown, but then her face lights up. "Actually, he's coming here to watch the end of the Tournament! I'm sure he'd speak to you then."
"That's great!" I don't have to feign surprise or excitement here; I'm sure it happened but I certainly don't remember. This adds some possibilities... "Is he going to come back early at all?"
"He told me he took the whole week off, so he'll probably be home that Saturday," she says.
Will that be enough time to act on any information he might have? I don't know – I guess it depends on what, if anything, he knows – but it's definitely worth a shot. "That's great," I say again. "Thank you so much, Gin—I mean Ms. Weasley. I need to send him an owl."
"Oh, sorry," she says blushing, "you can call me Ginny."
I smile. "Well thank you, Ginny," I say, starting to turn away. "I'll see you—"
"Um," she says quickly before I can walk away. I turn back and look at her expectantly. "Is...is Harry...okay? With the Tournament and everything..."
I lift my eyebrows at that. A lot of fanfiction authors give Ginny crap – granted I'm not a fan of canon pairings so I tend to stay away from those – but I can see she genuinely does care about him. I guess it'd be kind of difficult not to, since he quite literally sacrificed himself to save her...it was only through Fawkes' intervention that Harry even lived. I smile sadly. "He seems to be fine...either he's a lot better at hiding his emotions than I think he is or I'm more frightened than he is." I'm quite sure it's the latter, personally.
She smiles and shakes her head. "I don't know how he does it. Anybody else would..." She trails off and looks sad.
I nod. "He does get into his fair share of scrapes, usually against his will, doesn't he?"
Turns out that is exactly the wrong thing to say to Ginny, because her hands quickly cover her crumpling face.
"Hey, no, no, no," I say quickly, wrapping her in a hug. "Shh, I'm sorry, Ginny, I didn't mean it like that. The diary...that was not your fault." She gasps and looks up at me. "It's okay," I say with a reassuring smile. "I know all about it, and I also know that nobody blames you one bit. Harry certainly doesn't, Hermione doesn't, Ron doesn't..."
"I-I know, it's just...I just wish..." her face drops again.
"That it would go away?" I try to speak as softly and as comfortingly as I can. I really do wonder if they ever sent her to whatever the magical equivalent of a Muggle psychiatrist is. I wouldn't be surprised at all if she had some measure of post-traumatic stress issues. I am woefully unqualified for this, but I rub her back slowly anyway.
After a few moments she gently pushes away. "I'm sorry," she says, then lets out a growl of frustration as she wipes her eyes. "I shouldn't have...I mean, you hardly know me, and now you probably think...ugh, I'm such a mess!"
I shake my head. "No, you're strong, Ginny. Nobody should have to go what you went through, and the fact that you're here and can act normally...well, I only wish I could be as strong as you." Maybe then I wouldn't let the fear of what's to come get to me so much.
Her jaw drops at my proclamation. "You...you mean it?"
"Absolutely," I say firmly.
"But you...the Second Task..." She blushes and gives me a small smile for the first time. "You're a lot like him, you know...my brother. Same first name, same interests...same way of making me feel better. Thank you for that."
"It's my pleasure," I say, returning the smile. "So does this mean I get to be your honorary fourth or fifth brother around here?"
"Oh, Merlin! The last thing I need is another big brother to watch over me," she says with a laugh. "I'm trying to get rid of them as it is."
I laugh too. "Fair enough, fair enough. I should let you get back to your friends, though. Who knows what rumors are flying around here, now."
Her laugh quickly cuts off as her eyes bulge. "Oh...oh yeah, the rumors," she looks at me askance. "You're not what I expected from those, by the way."
"Oh?"
She blushes. "Well, I guess I didn't know what to expect," she says quickly. "The rumors are quite varied."
"Well, if you'd like to start cycling through them I can try to meet your expectations," I say with a grin. "Am I a dashing rogue?" I push out a stream of magic and snap my fingers, conjuring a rose. "Milady," I say with a bow.
"Ah, there's one of them," she says with a laugh. "From what I've seen so far, though, somehow I doubt you could pull off brooding and serious. That's a more recent one."
"Alas, I have filled my quota for the week on that account," I say, smile fading.
She presses her lips together in consternation. "Sorry, that was stupid of me...anyway," she says quickly, "you're right that I should head back. Thanks for this, I enjoyed speaking with you, William."
My smile returns though it is slightly forced. "Me, too. I'm sorry we didn't get to know each other sooner."
She smiles brightly at that. "Me, too, but we can change that now. See you."
"See ya," I say, smile fading the rest of the way when she turns her back. I think to myself that I really do hope we can.
The next weekend I once again make excuses to miss the mass training session to go off on my own. I have a ready-made excuse to miss them with the core group since I don't want everybody to see what I can do. On the other hand, any time I sneak around the castle without Harry's sneaking tools, my heart tries to jackhammer its way out of my ribcage. I halt my morning carving shortly after I start when it occurs to me that I need my magic for something else. Foresight is awesome.
"Alone again, mudblood?" A high, cruel voice says from behind me.
I freeze a moment, worried that they know I'm headed to the statue of the humpback, which is just around the next corner. But I let out a relieved breath when I turn and see it's only the usual gang of Slytherins, who had apparently followed me from one of the common intersections. Pansy Parkinson is the one who spoke, and Draco looks decidedly uncomfortable. Apparently he advised against this. Daphne isn't with them since she and Astoria went to train with Harry and Hermione, but Blaise and Tracey are both present.
"Parkinson," Blaise says, shocking both me and the rest of the Slytherins. "This is unwise."
Pansy's mouth drops open. "Not you, too, Zabini!"
"I have seen what he can do," he says evenly. "And he always held back."
"What?" Tracey blurts out.
"Just because you acted like a blood traitor..." she spits, and Blaise's eyes darken in anger.
"Acted, Parkinson. Acted." He turns his hard look to me. I pull out two shield runestones to show him, and he lets out an amused breath. "Unless you can cast a Killing Curse, this is a waste of time."
"But he's a mudblood," she shrieks.
"Explain, Blaise," Draco says, breaking his silence for the first time. His voice lacks the usual air of superiority.
He quickly whips out his wand, but with my hand already on the runic shields, the shimmering blue bubble spring to life well in advance of his first spell. "Stupefy! Reducto! Confringo! Stupefy!" The red, blue, purple, and red spells sizzle and pop as they splash against my shield and dissipate harmlessly. I assume he was purposely not casting them perfectly since my shield is only depleted maybe an eighth of the way, if that. After he puts his wand away, I drop the shield and note the looks of surprise or fear on the others. Several of them had backed away from the impromptu battle. Tracey looks angry at him, but he either ignores her or doesn't notice. "It took Greengrass over a dozen of her strongest Stunners to deplete the shields he makes with those ward stones," Blaise says as if he hadn't just attacked me, "and she's stronger than I am."
"But—" Pansy sputters.
"And unless you can cast silently," Blaise continues smoothly over her objections, "he'll have it up in time – even if your wand is already up – since he doesn't need one to activate it. He charges them beforehand so it doesn't tire him out, and he's got at least two, probably more hidden away. He can hold Stunners in both hands wandlessly and replace them instantly, too, so go ahead and attack him physically if you're stupid." Most of the others are goggling at Blaise, who probably has never spoken this much at once. "And that doesn't even cover whatever he did at the Second Task. So, like I said," he drawls, "this is a waste of time."
"You are divulging all of my secrets, Mr. Zabini," I say, my face heating at the praise.
He scoffs and turns, walking away. Tracey shoots me an apologetic look and I give her a small smile to let her know it's okay before she takes off after him. Draco stares at me, expressionless, for several moments before he grunts and follows as well, which means his two ogres are close behind.
"Why do you do this, Ms. Parkinson?" I ask quietly, trying to avoid a confrontational tone.
She scowls at me and walks away without answering, leading away the last of the Slytherins.
I watch them disappear from sight and listen quietly for any other intruders, but I hear nothing. Satisfied that I am alone, I dash around the corner, quietly supply the password to the humpbacked statue, and slide through. Once it closes I breathe much easier despite the small passage. It's one thing to fend off Stunners, but blocking spells that could have killed me is another matter altogether. I'll have to thank Blaise later for helping me prepare in a way that I hadn't considered. It takes several minutes before I calm down enough to stand back up.
Since I had been having such an easy time of it lately it never even occurred to me to try Disillusionment. Since I'm alone I push out a stream of magic and, although it shouldn't be necessary with my kind of magic, I touch the top of my head with the intent of making myself invisible. I shiver when I feel the sensation of a large egg cracking over my head and then having the effect pour down my body. Before the sensation even reaches my elbows I feel the need to push out more magic. As my hand and then my fingers become transparent, I grow increasingly concerned about how much energy it's taking. But I keep going, if only to measure how much magic it takes. Thankfully it goes rather quickly once it passes my fingers and only the bottom two-thirds of my legs are left.
Over half my magic gone to make myself invisible. I must be doing it wrong, but at least it doesn't take any magic to maintain it. Deciding to leave it on, I make my way down the passage and out through Honeydukes. As usual it's not terribly busy, so it's easy to make it out onto the street. Not wanting to chance being spotted somehow, I duck between two buildings and cancel it. Thankfully this takes no more energy than a simple finite. Then I lengthen my hair and turn it blonde. I can't exactly hide my student robes, but I'd rather have some kind of disguise just in case.
Exiting the alley I make my way to the Three Broomsticks, my bearing regal as if I belong there. I wonder if I look like a Malfoy to anyone else. Entering the pub my eyes easily pick out the long, light brown hair of Guillaume Delacour, facing the door. Idly it just occurs to me that Guillaume is the French version of William.
He's still watching the door as I approach him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Delacour," I say quietly.
He opens his mouth to reply but does a double take and smiles when he realizes it's me. "Ah, of course, monsieur. Good afternoon, indeed. My dear wife sends her regards and her regrets that she could not join us. Shall we retire to my room?"
"Lead the way, sir," I say with a short bow.
Once our room is secure, he looks at me curiously. "I didn't expect you to come alone," he says.
I grimace slightly. "Yes, well, I'm working on something on my own. But first, what of the Horcrux removal process?"
Now it's his turn to grimace. "Nothing solid. My lady wife has made some discreet inquiries, but nobody seems to know how to destroy a Horcrux without destroying the living vessel. We had discussed trying to use a dementor, but obviously that is far too dangerous."
I frown but nod. "I expected as much. You may stop looking unless you are curious yourself, because I have a different request. I have nobody else I can trust with it but you and your wife."
He looks at me warily. "My daughter's Debt?"
"If you procure me the items I ask for, it is discharged completely and without reservation," I say.
After some moments, he nods curtly. "And the items?"
I take a deep breath...here goes nothing. "This doesn't leave the room except if you need or want your wife to help. I need two sets of items. First, I need portkeys that can carry several people. Four portkeys would suffice, but I wouldn't say no to six."
He seems to have an internal battle, then, "why, if I may?"
"A rescue operation," I say vaguely. "All portkeys must target approximately the same location."
The question in his eyes is obvious.
"Again, this must not leave this room except for your wife. I expect you don't know where it is, so I imagine you'll have to go there in order to make them."
"Make them myself? But it is an involved process and I am not authorized..."
I frown. "Can you get in trouble for making them, or is it only the ones who use it?"
"The ones who use it," he says, "so when you—"
"Then it's fine," I say, holding up a hand. "That will not be a problem."
"If you're sure...may I have my daughter make them, to make sure the Debt is satisfied?
I consider that, and I figure it can't hurt as long as Fleur keeps the destination secret and doesn't know what they're for. "Of course, as long as you can arrange for her to accompany you and she maintains our confidence."
"She will, I know it...thank you," he says with obvious relief. "So what's the location?"
I take a deep breath and drop my gaze. "Little Hangleton..." I say, then I look up at him seriously, "...graveyard."
He pales at that, even though I'm sure he doesn't understand the significance. "And the other set of items—?"
I take another deep breath, because this one is going to be even harder to explain.
The growing fear from the inexorable march toward the Final Task is partially offset by more and more elements of my plans falling into place. It also helps that I'm exhausted most of the time, since, taking Hermione's advice, we've really ramped up physical training. I've finished my wood carving so now I'm stockpiling shields and lanterns, which I figure I'll distribute with the portkeys, just in case. It only takes me two days to carve and charge each one, now. The very next weekend I'm able to slip back down to Hogsmeade to retrieve the items that Mr. Delacour procured for me. I thank him profusely and say that he may consider the Life Debt discharged, but he insists that, while he will no longer drop everything to attend me, as long as I'm helping Harry in his fight against Voldemort, he would help me.
Both there and back I forgo the Disillusionment since it takes too much out of me, but I make it there and back unmolested. A group of older Slytherins see me but barely spare me a glance. It occurs to me that I've never seen or heard of the older ones doing much in the way of bullying except for Marcus Flint, and I don't think he's here anymore. Once I'm inside the castle, I duck into an empty classroom and close the door. I don't really need to do this, but with the next weekend being the one where I'm meeting with Bill, I feel like I'm out of time even though I could do this at any time in the next week. "Dobby?"
A soft pop mere moments later echoes off the bare stone walls. "You called for Dobby, Master Harry Potter's Lerny?"
"I did indeed, Master Elf," I say with a small bow.
His near orgasmic moan makes me flinch away. "You is a great not-wizard, Harry Potter's Lerny, sir, to treat Dobby with such respect."
"Of course, Dobby," I say more informally, hoping to a repeat of the rather uncomfortable situation when I use too much flattery. "How are you doing this weekend?"
Unfortunately for me, asking after a House Elf's welfare amounts to much the same thing.
"That's wonderful, Dobby," I say quickly, stemming the tide of compliments before he starts crying too much. "I was just curious to see if you would be willing to deliver a few packages for me and Harry at a later date," I say. He starts nodding vigorously well before I finish, though his face falls dramatically when the 'later date' bit comes up. "Most are just to other students, but the furthest one is another package to Harry's godfather and the former professor, and if it's possible I'll need you to take them as soon as possible after Harry or I give you a signal. I can let you know what that signal is later. Does that sound possible?"
"Oh yes, Great Master Harry Potter's Lerny, Dobby will be very fast in delivering Harry Potter's important packages," he says, bouncing up and down.
"Excellent, Dobby, thank you very much. I'll call you in another week or so..." I begin to dismiss him, but I trail off as a flash of inspiration strikes me. "Actually, there is one other thing, Dobby." His comically large eyes widen further, so I quickly continue. "Can you get me a time turner?"
My mind breezes through possibilities as soon as it occurs to me, including a quick dismissal of trying to imitate the effect with my own magic on account of the fact that it sounds like one of those ideas that seems great up until the execution of it unmakes the universe. Mentally I file the idea right ahead of the one where I transfigure something into antimatter in the folder of ideas to avoid without speaking to somebody way smarter than me first. Unfortunately for me, Dobby can't get me a time turner. Fortunately for him, though, I'm not too caught up in my imaginings to catch him and dismiss him before he slams his head against the wall more than twice.
"I thought I might find you here," Daphne says as Harry, Hermione, and I round a corner on our way to the statue of the humpback. She's leaning against the wall with an eyebrow raised at me. "Tracey said you've been coming through here the past two weekends, William."
My face heats as Harry and Hermione whip their heads around to face me. "Other preparations," I say, trying to hide my nerves and hope they drop it. Hermione's face, which I can see peripherally, disabuses me of that notion, however. I keep talking, hoping to stall enough that I can avoid the interrogation entirely. "Are you...would you like to come with us?"
"I am going with you," she says firmly, as if I'd never invited her.
"You know you're going to learn things—" I begin.
"I am going with you," she repeats.
"I'm okay with it, Will," Harry says.
"She has earned the right to know," Hermione adds, "and since Harry's okay with it..."
"Oh I agree," I say quickly, "I was just making sure." The determination on Daphne's face is clear enough, but she had avoided it thus far...
"Good, now come on, we're going to be late as it is," Harry says, thankfully forestalling any attempts at interrogation.
Daphne raises an eyebrow at me in challenge as Harry and Hermione take the lead, as if I'd try to get in the way of that freight train now. I just give her a small smile and move to follow. She looks surprised for a moment, but she quickly schools her expression blank and falls in next to me and threads her arm through mine. I realize belatedly that she expected me to offer her my arm. "You're getting worse," she whispers softly enough that Harry and Hermione can't hear.
Startled, I quickly turn toward her to see her looking back in concern. I let my gaze drop again in embarrassment, giving a quick nod.
"Dissendium," I hear Harry say, startling me that we're already there.
Daphne also gives a little jump, probably at seeing the hump turn away to reveal a hidden passage for the first time.
When we file in and the entrance closes I fire up one of my lantern runestones to find the other three staring at me. Hermione steps closer. "Why have you been going to Hogsmeade every weekend, William?" Damn, so much for avoiding the questions.
"So that's how you did it," Daphne mutters to herself, perhaps thinking of the time the three of us Gryffindors went to meet her parents.
"I met Mr. Delacour both times," I say, looking back and forth between them, "to call in his daughter's Life Debt."
Daphne gasps and Harry and Hermione's eyes bulge. The latter sucks in a breath as well, then steps forward again. "What have you done, William?"
"I thought they were already helping us," Harry says.
"They were trying," I say, "but they were unsuccessful. I came up with an alternative way to handle it."
Hermione instantly attaches herself to Harry's side. "How are you handling it, then?"
"The repayment of a Life Debt is a matter between the two parties, Hermione," Daphne chides.
"Thanks, Daph," I say, "but you'll all find out more on Thursday, I promise."
"You can't leave us hanging like that," Hermione whines.
"Sorry, my dear," I say, happy that Daphne came to my rescue, "but if you think about it we're leaving poor Daphne hanging right now."
Hermione mock glares at the other girl, who mock glares at me. "Don't think you can use me to weasel out of anything, Lerner," she says, poking me in the ribs.
That reminds me too much of our discussion before the Yule Ball about using her to keep my distance from Hermione. I clear my throat and the others sense the shift in mood as well.
"Well, best not to keep our host waiting," Harry says softly.
A round of nods and we make our way down the passage in silence, lit by Harry's wand from the front and my runic lantern from behind.
Finally after some time, Daphne clears her throat to break the silence. "How long have you guys known about this?"
"Since last year," Hermione answers, "the Weasley twins have known about it for longer, though."
"Thanks to my father," Harry says softly, causing Daphne to stiffen. "We're here. Do you want to come under the Cloak with us, Daphne, or do you want William to give you a disguise?"
She looks back at me just as my hair finishes lengthening and turning blonde, and I give her a grin.
"Ugh, you look like a Malfoy," she says, her face sour.
"Oh no, don't say that," Hermione says, slapping her hand to her forehead.
I bark out a laugh before I can twist my expression into a sneer. "Thanks, Daph. So what do you think about a cute, brown pixie cut?"
"What's a pixie cut?" Harry asks me with a confused look.
"I have no idea, actually, I just heard it once," I say. "I'm just thinking shorter brown hair."
Daphne unconsciously caresses her long raven-black locks. "Why not blonde?"
"Because I prefer dark-haired women," I say with a smile.
"That's a very valid point, there, Will," Harry says sagely. "I vote brown."
"Well there we are, my vote counts twice so the motion for brown carries." I pound my fist into my open palm like a gavel.
"Why does your vote—" Hermione begins, but she's cut off by Daphne's hair turning brown and shortening to a similar length as mine. She grabs at it as it shortens as if to stop the process.
"Wow, this is...light," she says finally.
I inspect it from several angles. "It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself."
"I think you have a fine career as a hairdresser ahead of you, Will," Harry puts in.
"I hate you," Hermione says. I notice I'm not the only one who does a double take, so she explains, "you shouldn't look that good without your usual hair."
Daphne blushes at the other girl's compliment and looks down. "Hermione," she grumbles in embarrassment.
Harry clears his throat after a few moments, probably clearing some inappropriate thoughts from his mind at the same time...not that I'm projecting or anything. "Right, well, let's go." He throws the Invisibility Cloak over himself and Hermione, which gets a pair of raised eyebrows from Daphne but no further comment. Harry heads out the trap door, then taps it softly to let us know we're okay to move. Once again we exit Honeydukes without incident, upon which I take Daphne's arm as we stroll lazily to The Three Broomsticks.
She accepts it with no comment, and I'm surprised when she leans into me to sell the boyfriend/girlfriend cover that we didn't even discuss. I open the door and stand aside until I feel Harry or Hermione brush against my hand, and then I guide Daphne in, in front of me.
Bill Weasley's red pony tail is quite easy to spot, and just like Mr. Delacour he only gives us a cursory glance before returning to his drink.
"Good day, Mr. Weasley," I say formally, giving him a short bow. "I thank you for agreeing to meet with us, and I'd also like to thank you for the robes you allowed me to borrow at the beginning of the year. Shall we retire to our private room for full introductions and idle discussion?"
He cocks his head back in surprise at the same time as Daphne. I'm sure I told her about borrowing robes before, so I wonder if she didn't believe me. "Is...everybody here?"
"We feel it's safer to...conceal our identities," Daphne says slowly, then continues in a lower voice, "even though his accent sort of gives it away."
"I do enjoy my games, my dear," I say.
"Very good," Bill says, standing up. He's actually got an inch or two on me, which is an uncommon occurrence. "Follow me, then."
We enter a different private room than before, which I realize might be kind of nice considering how much I'm using their rooms these days. I immediately set to work locking the windows, and I turn to see Bill's eyebrows raised in surprise both at me and at Harry and Hermione appearing from under the Cloak. The final step is a large Privacy bubble around the five of us.
Bill whistles at my handiwork. "I can't say I expected this," he says, looking at me, "are you any relation to Alastor Moody?"
"Constant vigilance!" I clap really loudly to punctuate it.
"He's our Defense professor," Hermione says as the rest of us laugh.
"I'm William Lerner," I say, holding out my hand, "and you've already met my lovely lady friend—"
"Daphne Greengrass," she cuts in, jabbing me in the ribs. "Not his lady friend."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," he says, shaking our hands without a flinch at Daphne's Slytherin robes.
"Sorry Daph," I say after I've jumped away and rubbed my side. "I forgot we weren't in character anymore."
"If that line didn't work with me, it's definitely not going to work with her," Hermione says with a laugh. "It's good to see you again, Bill."
"I wish I could say this meeting would be a little less dire than our last meeting at the World Cup," Harry says, "but it is nice to see you again."
"That bad, huh? I guess you've got quite a story to tell this year," he says, glancing at Daphne.
"It has been a busy one," Harry says, looking at me. "Business before pleasure?"
"I'm okay with that," Bill puts in, and I note the other three students looking at me expectantly.
"Very well," I say slowly, then look up to meet his eyes. "What do you know about Horcruxes? Specifically, I want to know if there is a way to remove the soul fragment from the vessel without damaging the vessel in any way."
The blood drains from his face instantly. "How do you know about those?"
I look at Daphne and see the same horrified expression. I slowly lift my arm to point at Harry without taking my eyes off her, though I can see Hermione tighten her grip on his arm. "Because he is one."
Silence reigns for several long moments.
"Bloody hell," Bill says finally. "Bloody fucking hell."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," I say.
Some thoughts appear to be churning in Daphne's brain and she doesn't appear to like them. Harry stands stoically while Hermione has her head against his shoulder, facing away from the rest of us.
"Fuck, I'm sorry, Harry, I don't know," he says after a few more moments. "I've only heard about senior cursebreakers coming across them, and I've never heard of any attempt to save the artifact itself. I'm trying to think of anything that might help but they're so rare..."
"It's okay, Bill," Harry says woodenly. "It was a long shot anyway."
"William has had other people looking for a few months now," Hermione says shakily. "We'll find something."
"You have?" Daphne finally breaks her silence, looking at me in surprise.
I nod. "Harry's godfather and Professor Lupin are looking through the Bl—their libraries, and I had the Delacours searching as well. We tried the Greengrass Library as well, but..."
Daphne bristles in anger, and I hope it's directed toward her father and not me.
"That's dangerous information to be spreading around," Bill says uncertainly at the mention of the Delacours and Greengrasses.
"Lord Greengrass was not informed, and Fleur Delacour owed me a Life Debt," I say.
"Ah, yes, the Second Task," Bill says, nodding. "You have thought this through rather thoroughly."
I feel my face heat slightly at the praise. "I wanted to contact you sooner, but..."
"...that's not something you can put in a letter," he finishes. "Very intelligent. I can start making discreet inquiries now, though, if you like. Do you have a problem with sharing this with a few select goblins and other cursebreakers? I can assure you they will be trustworthy."
"I trust them if you do," Harry says.
"I'll start this afternoon, then," Bill says, nodding grimly. "The way my mother goes on about you, Harry, you're already a Weasley, so I'll do everything I can."
"Thanks, Bill," Harry says sincerely, smiling at the thought.
"I can't promise success, Harry, but if there's a way, I'll find it," he says solemnly. "Now, I can't tell you not to worry, but I do hope we can put that nasty business behind us for now. I heard an incredible story of the First Task from my brother Charlie, but I'd like to hear it from the point of view of the Champion himself."
Daphne is largely silent for the rest of the conversation, allowing me to tell the story about becoming closer friends with the Slytherins. When she snaps at one of my jokes about it, I stick to more boring explanations, but overall the tone is light and everybody else enjoys themselves. After we've said our goodbyes with Bill, she's completely silent entire way back through the passage, though in her defense the rest of us quiet down as well.
Hermione picks up on this, too. "Are you okay, Daphne?"
She shakes her head. "It's a lot to take in," she says just before her body goes rigid with anger. She takes a deep breath to settle herself. "I wish I wouldn't have stopped you from telling me sooner, William."
I would say that it wouldn't have made a difference, but she probably wouldn't appreciate that.
"It is hard to believe how much Harry has to go through," Hermione says softly.
Daphne makes a pained expression, then surprises the rest of us by pulling Harry into a hug. "I'm sorry," she says. "I...I should've..."
"N-no, it's okay, Daphne," Harry says, patting her on the back uncertainly. "Between you three and the others helping us look for answers, we'll find them."
"That's right," I say, putting a hand on Hermione's shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly, "Harry is going to kick Fate in the balls, just like he always does."
The next days crawl by with painful slowness, a feeling exacerbated by my decision to stop pushing myself to near magical exhaustion at every opportunity. I go to class to attempt distracting myself, but my restless legs make it even worse.
"You're making Harry nervous," Hermione whispers on our way to dinner on Wednesday, the night before the Final Task. I glance up at said Champion who is trying to distract himself in a discussion of Quidditch with Ron and Neville.
"I'm sorry, I'm trying to hide my nerves as best I can," I whisper back.
She tucks her arm in mine and pulls herself closer. "Is it the Life Debt thing?"
"Yes," I say honestly. "It is."
She sighs and closes her eyes. "You'll tell us tomorrow?"
"I promise."
"Good," she says with a firm nod. "I'll sick Daphne on you if I have to."
I give her a small smile, thinking the pair of them are equally scary to me.
She frowns at me and hugs my arm as we walk the rest of the way to the Great Hall. Once again I only manage a small portion, though I do push the food around on my plate to try and hide it. I reach over to the water pitcher plenty of times in the hope that the others think I'm eating normally.
"William, I would like to speak with you, please," Luna's melodic voice startles me...I didn't even see her stand up on the other side of Neville. Without waiting for an answer, she takes my hand in her own and holds it up, waiting for me to stand. I see Hermione nod at the small blonde Ravenclaw, as if they'd spoken about this. I realize they probably had. She glances around the hall and nods, then leads me out into warm evening air where she envelops me into a hug. "You have friends, you know," she says in her dreamy voice. "I know I didn't know how to have them before you came along and showed me, but I didn't think I would have to explain it to you."
"I know," I say, not knowing how else to respond.
"Then why," she says, lifting her head off my chest to look up at me, "aren't you acting like it?"
I sigh. "It's...complicated."
"I know you can't tell me about it," she says, and I have to smile at how she can make me feel like a child without any malice behind it. "But that doesn't mean we can't talk about other things and give each other plenty of hugs."
"I do like hugs," I say with a small chuckle, squeezing her again.
A new voice sounds out behind me. "Then why haven't you been giving them out like you used to?"
I turn to see Astoria with her hands on her hips and, beyond her, Daphne standing with her arms crossed in front of her with a small smile tugging at her lips. "I'm sorry, Stori—" I begin, but I'm cut off by her marching up to me and whacking me on the shoulder playfully as soon as Luna pulls away.
"Apology not accepted." She takes Luna's place and squeezes me around the middle as hard as she can. "I don't know what's going on, but I do know that you aren't getting any happier by hiding from us."
"No, no I'm not," I admit. Idly I realize it's a rather odd personality quirk to shy away from physical comfort precisely when I need it most.
"Good," she says firmly. "As long as you realize that."
I reach my arm out to Luna and she happily joins the hug, upon which I close my eyes and draw comfort from both girls. I feel like the weight shifts partially onto them, and they don't even notice it. Then the enormity of my Task and the sting of the letters I've written them come back with a vengeance, threatening to overwhelm me. My eyes burn as tears threaten to leak out. "I...I need to speak to Daphne," I say, voice cracking.
Astoria and Luna both pull away, and Luna nods first while Astoria searches my face a moment longer. I manage a half smile and she jabs me in the chest. "No more hiding."
"No...no more hiding," I agree, looking up at Daphne. With a final squeeze Astoria goes and catches Luna's arm in her own, whispering and nodding as they walk away at the same time the elder Slytherin sister approaches. I put up a Privacy Charm as soon as she's in range.
"No more hiding?" She raises an eyebrow. "It's a day early."
"Yes, well, I think perhaps it's about time I followed up with you on something," I say. I take a deep breath, then open my eyes to find her ice-blue eyes fixed on mine expectantly. "It's tomorrow," I say. Her eyes widen dramatically. "The agent is Barty Crouch, Jr., a Death Eater that was supposed to have died in Azkaban."
"Where is he? What is he going to do?" I'm pleased to see the fear is making her hyper-focused right now instead of frantic, which is exactly why I couldn't tell Hermione.
"Listen to me, Daphne," I say seriously, putting my arms on her shoulders. "My plan is already in motion, and it requires that nobody else act on that information. Do you understand me?"
"William," she whispers, fear leaking into her voice. My words must register then, because her expression solidifies. "What do you want me to do? Please, tell me something..."
I take a deep breath, trying to decide what to tell her. "I've already written you a note that I will have delivered on my signal," I say.
She swats my hands away. "A note? You have to give me more than that!"
I bite my lip. "The agent is using Polyjuice potion. I have some backup planned for him, but I was hoping you would Switch it away from him. But I can't have you do it too early, or else all is lost. Do you see? This is why I can't give you too much."
Her hands reach up and grab fistfuls of raven-black tresses in frustration. "Damn it, William, we could have come up with something that didn't need such precise timing! We could have done this together!"
"I'm sorry, Daph," I say, looking down. "I'm sorry, but I...I got too close to you. I wanted your input, but..."
"...but I care about you too much to let you risk yourself, now," she says in an empty voice. Her head droops and she turns her face away from me. "Damn you, William," she says softly.
"I...have to hide tomorrow," I say after some moments. "Shortly before the Task starts, I'm going to borrow Harry's Cloak and hide so I can keep an eye on things without interference. So don't be alarmed when I don't show up to sit by you and Hermione and the others." I deliberately do not look in her eyes when I say this.
"My parents are coming, anyway," she says, voice still tinged with anger at the mention of her parents, but then her head whips up to look at me. "But if you're in danger and something goes wrong..."
I give her a pained grimace. "Yes, well, that's why hopefully nothing goes wrong."
"I don't like this plan, William," she says, eyes quivering slightly in the orange light of dusk. "I don't care if I don't know what it is...I don't like it."
"If I...if I don't..." My voice hitches and I can't complete the sentence.
Suddenly I see stars and my left cheek is burning. She slapped me! I start to reach up to rub my cheek but she grabs both sides of my face and pulls my head down, where her lips press firmly into mine. I'm so shocked and thrown by the torrent of conflicting emotions charging through my head that by the time I realize we're kissing, she's pulling away, looking at me with tears in her eyes.
"That...that wasn't just from me, William," she says. "That was from all of us that care about you. All of us that...love you. I'll keep your secrets, gods damn you, but you will come back to us. You will." She punctuates the last with a jab to my ribs, then turns and half-runs back to the castle.
A/N:
The color of the Blasting Curse (Confringo) is not described in canon, but it's purple in one of the video games, so that's good enough for me. Alternatively it's light blue, but I had made the Reductor Curse blue way back in the early chapters, so I wanted to differentiate it.
All the pieces of William's plan are in place...next up: the Final Task! Also, love quadrangle?
R & R, C & C.