Chapter 22

It didn't get much better for Marian over the course of the week. She couldn't understand how everything had gone from so good to so bad so quickly. Murphy, Orion and Skye weren't talking to her at all, and nor was Rowan, once Skye told her about the broomstick.

"I just don't understand why you didn't trust me!" she'd cried to Marian, tears in her eyes. "I knew you were hiding things, but I thought it was about McNully! We're supposed to be best friends, Marian!"

With no friends left in Ravenclaw, Marian had taken to spending her time in the Great Hall with Bill and Charlie as much as possible. She'd told them everything, feeling that she might as well get it over with seeing as how everyone seemed to know now anyway. They both took it surprisingly well.

"If Rakepick knows and she doesn't care, then neither do I," Bill had said, shrugging. "Come here, Cursebreaker – you look like you're going to cry on me!" And he'd pulled her into a bone-breaking hug.

Charlie had also not seemed bothered. "I understand why you'd find it hard to trust anyone after the attack," he'd replied. "And it was rubbish of Snape to plonk you in the middle like that. He was blackmailing you – what could you do?"

Marian couldn't tell them how much it meant to her that they were willing to put it all behind them. Charlie even sat next to her in all the classes they shared together which made them much more bearable since hardly anyone else in Ravenclaw was even willing to talk to Marian. They weren't the only ones though – in Herbology, Penny and Tonks came over to work with Marian. They'd heard the whole story from Tulip, but Tonks just smiled at Marian and said, "Sounds like a proper headscrew, Cursebreaker! I wouldn't have known what to do either!"

Penny had given Marian a look of concern. "Marian, you look terrible! Are you eating? Sit with us at dinner, OK?"

For once, Marian was glad to have the vaults to distract her. She, Bill, and Charlie had met with Rakepick on Tuesday to go through their plan to head back into the forest to find Torvus at the weekend, and Marian was spending her spare time brushing up on her knowledge of defensive spells in case they were needed.

On Friday evening, Marian and Bill were hunched over the book 'Confronting the Faceless' in the library when Bill nudged Marian. She looked up to see Murphy glowering at them from a couple of desks away. He quickly glanced away when he saw that Marian had seen him. "He's been glaring at me all week," Bill muttered.

"It's me he's angry with, not you," Marian replied, trying to keep her voice light. In reality, she felt so devastated about her breakup with Murphy that she'd cried herself to sleep on at least two occasions that week.

Bill shook his head. "If he's stupid enough to let you go then he doesn't deserve you, Cursebreaker."

"It's my fault," she said, sighing. "I just don't know what to do about it. He doesn't understand."

"Look," Bill leaned closer, speaking in a whisper as Madame Pince whisked by. "Me and Charlie were with you in that courtyard. We know what it was like. We understand. And I've been there with you in every vault. I understand that too. McNully is never going to get that. He's never going to really understand the pressures you're under or what you've had to go through."

Marian didn't answer. After Murphy had described the other ways that Rakepick could have found out about the broom, she'd felt stupid. He'd been right – she shouldn't have been so quick to believe he'd betrayed her. She could understand why he felt hurt and disappointed in her. But at the same time, she'd told Murphy more than anyone else and he knew the situation with Snape and Rakepick. The fact that he didn't realise or couldn't understand why she might feel paranoid and suspicious of everyone, friends and boyfriend included, upset her too. She thought he'd understood – him more than anyone. Maybe Bill was right.

Potions was the worst class by far for Marian that week. Nobody in the class was speaking to her, unless you counted Merula insulting her regularly. Even Barnaby had been off with her since Valentine's Day. When Snape asked Skye a question, she replied, "Why don't you ask Marian, sir? She's been telling you so much recently."

Marian flushed brightly, and Snape took five points from Skye and threatened her with detention.

Halfway through the lesson, a first year Hufflepuff knocked on the door, looking completely terrified. "Please, Professor Snape, I've been asked to fetch Marian Baker. Professor Dumbledore wants to see her," he squeaked.

Snape sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes towards Marian. "Of course he does. Baker – begone! Write up notes on the potion for Tuesday in addition to your homework."

Marian hurried out of the dungeon, torn between relief at getting out of Potions and fear at why Dumbledore wanted to see her. Could he have found out about their trips to the forest? Would she be expelled too, like her brother? Marian shuddered at the thought of how her mother would react if she also had her wand snapped. However, at the statue of the phoenix that led to Dumbledore's study, Marian found Bill and Charlie Weasley waiting.

Bill smiled, but he looked a little uncertain. "All right? We thought we'd wait for you before we headed up."

"What's going on?" Marian asked, looking from one to the other.

"No idea," Charlie answered, his face apprehensive. "We got told to go and see Dumbledore. We had a feeling you'd be joining us."

"Butterscotch," Bill said to the gargoyle, and it sprang aside to reveal a moving stone staircase. Marian had visited Dumbledore before, but Charlie's mouth hung open as they stepped onto the staircase.

At the top, they all took a deep breath, glancing at one another, before Bill knocked smartly on the office door.

"Come in," called Dumbledore's voice from inside. Bill led the way in.

"Ah!" Dumbledore looked delighted to see them, his blue eyes twinkling merrily as he gazed at the three of them. "I am very pleased you could join me. Do come and be seated. Would you like a peppermint imp?"

They all shook their heads, too anxious to speak. As if he could sense this, Dumbledore said, "Now, there's no need for alarm. You are not in any trouble."

Bill spoke up, his voice polite. "What did you want to see us for, sir? If you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all, Mr. Weasley. I'm pleased you brought it up. I have not had a chance to speak to the three of you since the regrettable incident in the courtyard." He peered at them over the top of his spectacles. "You all seem to be coping admirably, especially you, Miss Baker."

Marian didn't feel like she was coping at all well, but she pushed this to one side, still curious as to why he had suddenly decided to check in with them. "Er – thank you, sir," she replied, not sure what he was expecting her to say.

"I told you afterwards that I believed that young Mr. Copper was acting under the influence of the Imperius Curse. I am now sure of that, and Mr. Copper has been recuperating for the last few weeks at home. He was, as you can imagine, shocked and deeply distressed at having had his free will taken away from him. He was particularly concerned that he had caused you pain, Miss Baker, and it was at his request that he remained at home for this long. However, Mr. Copper has bravely accepted my invitation to return to Hogwarts. Come along, Mr. Copper." Dumbledore turned his head to face behind him. Slowly, reluctantly, Ben trudged forwards into the light.

Despite herself, Marian tensed. She was pleased, in a way, that she hadn't seen Rakepick unmask Ben – that would have made it more real for her that the boy in front of her, one of her oldest Hogwarts friends, was the same person as the dark wizard who had tortured her and tried to kill her and her friends. She felt Bill move closer to her, protectively. Ben himself looked wretched, she thought. His face was very pale, almost colourless, and he had dark rings under his eyes, which looked slightly bloodshot. He seemed afraid to look at them – his eyes were fixed on the carpet at their feet. Marian's heart went out to him.

"Ben," she said kindly, stepping forward. "It's good to see you again! We've missed you!" And she held open her arms to him, hoping he wouldn't notice her hands shaking slightly.

Ben looked up, staring at her, almost as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. Then he almost ran forward, throwing his arms around her so tightly that she struggled to breathe. "Oh Marian! Marian! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! When they told me… I didn't even know what I was doing! I don't remember a thing! I couldn't believe it. I felt sick! I was sick! Out of everyone here, you're the last person I'd ever want to hurt – I hate myself! I'm so weak! So useless! I…"

"Shhh," Marian murmured, stroking his back gently. It was just Ben – her friend. Her poor friend, who'd been a victim just as much as she had – Dumbledore had been right. If anything, it was worse for him. He'd been made to act against his will – he'd been out of control. Marian couldn't imagine what that must feel like. "It's all over now. You're OK. I'm OK. We're all fine. It wasn't your fault."

After a minute, Marian heard someone clear their throat. "She's right, Copper." It was Bill's voice. "It could've happened to anyone. Just bad luck that it was you."

"We've missed you, man!" Charlie added. "The dormitory's not been the same without you."

Ben drew apart from Marian and wiped his eyes. "Thank you," he whispered. "I didn't think you'd ever be able to forgive me."

Dumbledore beamed around at them all. "Excellent, excellent. Now, Miss Baker, I believe you have a quidditch practice to get to. We wouldn't want you to be late again, would we?"

Marian stared at him in surprise. How did he know about that? His eyes twinkled at her.

"Oh, and do send up Mr. Egwu. I believe Mr. Copper would like to see him again?"

Ben nodded eagerly.

Marian raced down to the quidditch pitch, anxious not to get into any more trouble from Orion, but actually ended up reaching the Entrance Hall just behind Skye, Murphy and Andre who were clearly on their way up from the dungeon. They hadn't seen her.

"What's she been up to this time?" Skye was asking moodily.

"Who cares?" Murphy replied angrily. "Something with Weasley, probably. They've been squirrelled away together all week. Didn't take her long to move on, did it?"

"McNully, I think you might be…" Andre started, but Marian interrupted, hurrying forwards, her heart beating very quickly.

"Andre, Dumbledore wants to see you in his office," she said expressionlessly, not making eye contact with any of them.

"He wants to see me?" Andre looked confused. "Why?"

"Ben's back," Marian replied, again without any emotion in her voice. She turned and walked away quickly. Is that really what Murphy thought? That she'd moved on already with somebody else? Didn't he know her at all?

She was halfway through getting changed when the girls' changing room door banged open, revealing Murphy. "Get out, McNully!" Marian cried, grabbing her top and holding it over her bra-covered chest. His face blushed scarlet, but he didn't leave.

"I've got my eyes closed," he said, immediately screwing his eyes shut and covering them with his hands.

"And I said, get out!" Marian replied coolly, quickly pulling on her top.

"Look, whatever you heard, I…"

"Just leave!" she cried, her voice breaking a little. "I don't want to talk to you!"

He opened his eyes tentatively, then moved closer when he saw she was decent. "Marian, I…"

She pulled out her wand. "I mean it, McNully. Get out or I'll make you!"

He stared at her, then turned and left without another word. Marian groaned, dropping down to sit on a bench, hiding her face against her knees, hugging them to her. A moment later, the door banged again. Marian leapt to her feet, wand out, ready to turn Murphy into a frog if she had to, but it was Skye. She gaped at Marian, then slowly moved over to another bench and started to change. Marian sighed and dropped back to hug her knees again. Neither of them spoke.

At dinner that evening, Marian sat with Bill and Charlie at the Gryffindor table. Suddenly a lot of muttering broke out, and Marian turned to see Ben entering the Great Hall, looking completely petrified, Andre beside him. As he got nearer, Marian waved to them and they headed over, with Ben looking particularly relieved. He sank into a seat next to Charlie, with Andre on his other side.

"How are you feeling?" Marian asked him.

"Terrified!" he yelped. "Everyone is staring at me!"

"They'll get over it soon enough," she replied. "As soon as something else interesting comes along."

Marian and Bill happened to be leaving the Great Hall at the same time as Rowan and Skye. They all stopped awkwardly, not able to fit through together.

Rowan, looking uncomfortable, said, "Are you OK?"

Marian raised an eyebrow. "Oh, are you talking to me now?"

"Yes," Rowan replied miserably. "Just, with Ben back… and you were sitting at the Gryffindor table again…"

"I wonder why that is," Bill interrupted. "Oh yeah, because you've all been real friends to Marian recently. Come on, Cursebreaker."

Marian followed him without a backwards look at Rowan or Skye. Every evening, she'd been waiting until late to return to the common room, managing to find it almost deserted and everyone in her dormitory asleep by the time she got there. She didn't think she could face sitting alone in a corner, watching her friends chat and laugh between themselves, ignoring her. It was bad enough in class. It particularly hurt to see Murphy joking and chatting with Skye as though nothing had happened, when Marian herself felt so terrible about everything.

That evening, however, Bill had to go on patrol outside. Marian had begged him to let her go with him, but he'd told her he wasn't allowed to take any other students with him. "Go on," he'd said with a smile. "You're the fabled cursebreaker of Hogwarts! Don't let a few gits get the better of you! You go and sashay through your common room and show them that they can't touch you!"

Marian had chuckled and nodded. Now that the time had come, however, she felt nervous. Swallowing her nerves, she pulled her shoulders back and strode into the common room. It was busy and she glanced around, looking for somewhere to sit. Unfortunately, her gaze fell on Skye, Rowan, Orion, Murphy and Tulip, who were sitting together near the fire. They were all watching her with a mixture of expressions – Rowan looked remorseful, Tulip looked curious, Skye's face was hard to read, and Murphy had flushed red. Orion looked the same as usual. He smiled at Marian and waved her over. He was the only person out of the group that would still talk to Marian, despite his anger at her missing the practice earlier in the week. Inwardly girding herself, Marian headed over and smiled charmingly at Orion.

"Orion – hi! How are you doing?" she asked, ignoring everyone else.

He looked like he was struggling not to laugh. "Er – yes, I am well as ever. You did well in practice today – I am impressed with your new aggression. It will serve us well against Slytherin."

Marian's smile became a little smug. "Well, I have a lot of anger to express at the moment. Would you like to play a game of chess, Orion?"

His smile faltered as his gaze flickered between her and Murphy. "Er – I'm not sure that I…"

"Come on," she fluttered her eyelashes at him a little. "It's been so long since I played against a worthy opponent." She heard a spluttering noise coming from Murphy's direction, but she didn't so much as glance at him.

Orion sighed. "Very well."

Marian summoned a chair and sat opposite Orion, studiously avoiding all of the others, while surreptitiously watching Murphy from the corner of her eye.

Orion clearly noticed this. Bending towards her on the pretext of examining the positioning of his pawns, he muttered, "If this is a ploy to make him jealous, you are achieving great success. However, it is hard to obtain balance when you are jealous, my friend."

Marian snorted. "I couldn't care less about him."

"Ah, I see," Orion replied, a small smile on his lips. "That is why you are watching him all the time."

It was true. Marian was really enjoying the glower on Murphy's face and the way he couldn't quite drag his eyes away from the chess table. She'd never played chess with anyone else and she knew he knew it. "You know," Marian said loudly at one point. "It's actually so nice to be able to concentrate while we play. Some people talk so much that it's impossible to focus on the game."

"That's your excuse for always losing to me, is it?" Murphy spoke up, seemingly unable to help himself. "Because I talk too much? I distract you?"

Marian ignored him. When she checkmated Orion a few minutes later, the victory rang a little hollow. Orion laughed and shook his head. "You and McNully… you are two of a kind!"

Marian glared at him and then, deciding she'd spent enough time in the common room, marched off to the dormitory to draw her curtains and pretend she'd gone to bed. She'd only been back there for a few minutes, though, when she heard footsteps.

"Er – Marian?" It was Rowan's voice. She sounded tentative. "Are you asleep?"

Marian didn't reply. After Murphy, Rowan's ignoring her had hurt the most and she wasn't ready to forgive her yet.

"OK, I know you're there because I can hear you breathing and I know you're not asleep because it's only nine o'clock," Rowan said quickly. "So just hear me out, please. I'm sorry for ignoring you this week and being a horrible friend. I was hurt that you hadn't told me any of the stuff that's been going on with Snape and Rakepick. At first, I was just angry about that, but I spoke to McNully and I realise what a lot of pressure you were under and why you didn't want to drag anyone else into it. I know Snape basically blackmailed you into it – I don't blame you at all, for any of it. We'd all have done the same thing. I was just hurt that you hadn't confided in me, but I do understand why you didn't. It's just – I'm used to us sharing everything with each other, and…" She stopped for a moment, then continued. "I'm sorry for making you miserable though. What Bill said… he was right. I should've been there for you this week and I've made it worse. And I felt really bad when I saw Ben tonight and I remembered what happened and how close I came to losing you!" She was silent again for a few seconds. "Anyway, it must've been hard to see him today and I couldn't believe it when you just beckoned him over and sat with him as if nothing had happened. That's one of the reasons I love you, Marian. You're really kind. And forgiving. And now I just hope that you'll forgive me too."

Marian pulled back the curtains suddenly. Rowan was standing next to her bed, her eyes wet. "Why were you in Rakepick's office?" Marian asked, her voice hard. She wanted to forgive Rowan. She really did. But she needed to trust her.

"What?" Rowan looked confused. "Why…?"

"Rowan, tell me why you knew she had a collection of dark detectors in her office," Marian said through gritted teeth.

"Oh." Rowan's brow cleared. "She left a couple of books in the library one evening and I saw, so I just took them over to her office."

Marian stared at her. She knew, somehow, that Rowan was telling the truth. The relief was almost too much for her. She let out a long breath, then she was suddenly throwing her arms around Rowan and crying and begging her forgiveness and Rowan was crying too and then they were laughing. A while later, once they'd properly discussed everything and laughed at how stupid they'd both been, Rowan said, "You do realise that they've both been messing with your head, don't you? Snape and Rakepick? They've both been trying to turn you against us – against your friends. It's sick."

Marian nodded. "I realise that now. I don't even know if they both meant to. I kind of feel like Snape probably doesn't trust anyone else himself. He probably did think he was helping."

"Now, about McNully," Rowan began, but Marian held up a hand.

"No, don't. I don't want to talk about him."

"But Marian, you were so happy on Valentine's Day! I spoke to him and I think he feels really bad about what happened. You two are so…"

"I mean it, Rowan," Marian snapped and Rowan, clearly not wanting another argument so soon, dropped the subject. Marian felt her insides twist at the reminder of their perfect date in the grounds on Valentine's Day – at the memory of how right it felt when she was in his arms or the heat she felt inside her when they kissed. He'd broken up with her. It was over. He thought she'd moved on already. Marian almost laughed at the idea. She couldn't imagine ever feeling the way she felt about Murphy again with anyone else. But the wounds still felt very fresh and she was furious with him.

Skye's apology was very different to Rowan's. Marian was woken earlier than usual to find the blue-haired girl looming above her. "Come on, lazybones. We're going training. Get changed, get your broom and let's go!"

And that was it. It was as if nothing had happened. Skye didn't apologise in so many words, and nor did Marian. But everything was good again. Marian spent Saturday happily doing her homework with her two best friends and (almost) everything felt right in the world. She ignored Murphy completely because she didn't know what to say to him or how to act around him at all.

However, Marian had other things to occupy her mind on Sunday. Straight after breakfast, she met Bill, Charlie and Rakepick down by the lake, all with their brooms. She felt a familiar swoop of excitement as they took off, following Charlie again, heading into the Forbidden Forest. At least she didn't have Murphy fussing over her and worrying this time, Marian told herself, but the thought didn't bring her any comfort at all. She missed him a lot.

As they entered the forest glade, however, any thought of Murphy was driven out of Marian's mind by excitement at the prospect of finally getting access to the vault. Her landing was much smoother than the last time, and soon, they were all standing in a little huddle. Rakepick lit her wand immediately and they peered between the trees.

"I'm sure he'll come," Charlie said, but he sounded uncertain. "He usually knows…"

"There!" Marian whispered. "Look!"

Sure enough, Torvus was cantering towards them, appearing a moment later at the other side of the glade. He looked uncertainly at Rakepick. Charlie hastened to reassure him that she had helped them to find the arrowhead by lending her niffler and Torvus' eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

"You have it? You have found it?" His voice swelled with emotion as Bill produced the arrowhead, holding it out to him. Torvus took it, examining it carefully, then held it tightly to his chest. "My heirloom! The honour of my clan, restored! How can I thank you?" His eyes fell on Marian and he trotted forward, extending his hand to shake hers. "Forgive me for my harsh words about your kin, Baker. Your generous deed has cancelled out your brother's betrayal."

"What about your agreement?" Rakepick called out, her eyes narrowed. "You agreed you would lead them to the vault, did you not?"

Torvus nodded, looking a little uncertain. "I did. I must warn you, though, that it is an evil place and evil things reside there. You must prepare yourselves if you intend to enter it."

"What sort of things, Torvus?" Marian asked breathlessly.

He hesitated. "I know not. I only sense the evil. The entrance is near a large settlement of acromantula, however – that much I do know. They are vicious creatures."

Marian exchanged glances with Bill. "We thought that might be the case. Anything else we should know about?"

Torvus glanced down at her. "You will require an arrow. As you have returned to me my most precious heirloom, I will gift you with another arrow that you may use, if you so wish it."

"Thank you!" Marian beamed at him. "You are very kind!"

He shook his head. "No. You do not know how much this means to me. With our heirloom returned, my clan will accept me back. I will no longer have to wander alone, unloved and silent. My home! My kin!" He bowed his head, and Marian saw silent tears coursing down his bearded face. Again, she felt a pang of distress and anger for the actions of her brother – how could he do this to his friend?

Rakepick spoke up again. "We will return to the castle and prepare to enter the vault. I believe we may face a number of obstacles so you will need to revise your defensive spells and counter-curses. Centaur, thank you for your assistance. We will return when the time is right."

Torvus bowed his head. "Peace be upon you all. Until our next meeting." He turned and cantered off back into the forest.

Marian turned to Rakepick. "Can't we go now? Into the vault?"

Rakepick smiled thinly at her. "No. Didn't you hear me? We have no idea what we might face in there and we won't go unprepared. Each vault is increasingly complex and dangerous, as you have no doubt realised. We don't want anyone to kill themselves in the process, do we?"

Marian shook her head. "No. Of course not."

Rakepick laughed. "Good. Now, don't look so downcast! There have been no sleepwalkers for over a week now and no more than five who cannot be awoken from the cursed slumber – it seems to have stabilised somewhat. We must make sure we do it right. What you need to do, Baker, is practise your defensive spells. We will have a regular training practise – once a week – until I am satisfied you are all ready. Dumbledore will crucify me, after all, when he finds out I allowed you into another vault, so we must at least prove to him that you are all more than able."

They flew back to the castle. Marian immediately grabbed Rowan, and together with Bill, they spent the rest of the day in the library, trying to work out which defensive spells would be useful for them to learn and practise.

"If only we'd ever had a decent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Bill complained bitterly. "When I was in second year, we had this witch who was quite good, but she got dragonpox halfway through the year and we never saw her again!"

"It's cursed," Rowan said wisely. "That's what I heard."

As February turned into March, and the long, cold winter finally showed signs of melting into a beautiful spring, Marian found herself busier than ever. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, she had quidditch practice as usual. On Thursdays, now, she also trained with Bill, Charlie and Rakepick outside in the training grounds. Rakepick started off by revising spells they already knew, correcting their posture or their wand movements, encouraging them to practise on one another to improve their agility and speed. Despite Marian's distrust of Rakepick, she couldn't deny how useful this was. On top of that, she enjoyed it. She really enjoyed duelling, and this was no different.

The last week before the Easter holidays was the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff quidditch match. Marian and Murphy were still not speaking to each other, beyond the bare minimum needed to be polite. Marian had never gone for so long without his company and she missed it. It had been bad enough in January when they weren't talking to one another, but this time was different. Marian missed Murphy's laugh and his chatter. She missed his warmth and his smile. She missed playing chess with him and working together on their homework. She missed discussing quidditch with him. But on top of that, she missed the way she felt when he held her in his arms and kissed her, and the way her stomach flip-flopped every time he brushed hair out of her eyes or touched her cheek or held her hand. She knew that she had been falling in love with Murphy. Now, however, she had no idea if he'd even want to be her friend anymore, let alone anything else.

She felt very aware of Murphy's presence next to her in Arithmancy and Charms, where they sat next to one another, and during quidditch practice she could feel his eyes on her as she flew. The team were working very well together now, and Andre and Anthony had settled into their new positions. Orion was even starting to talk hopefully about beating Slytherin and winning the cup. They were all expecting Hufflepuff to get slaughtered by Slytherin at the weekend, although the sooner the snitch was caught, the better, as Murphy told the team at the end of their practice on Friday. "We're sitting on 450 points at the moment, and Slytherin's only on 240, but all it would take is for them to catch the snitch and score six goals, and they'd be tied with us," he explained patiently. "They'll be trying to score as many goals as they can on Saturday."

"But Pritchard's not bad," Marian said, addressing Murphy directly for the first time in weeks. Skye and Orion stared at her. "There must be at least an equal chance that she'll catch the snitch, isn't there?"

Murphy cleared his throat, also looking surprised at her intervention. "Well, if it was calculated purely on skill, then yes. But it's Slytherin we're talking about – what do you suppose the chance is of one of the players trying to take out Pritchard?"

"Probably pretty high," Marian groaned.

He nodded. "Over 84%, I believe. If she has any sense, she'll have her beaters with her at all times. Anyway, that brings down the chance of Hufflepuff catching the snitch to 28%, and the likelihood of them winning is miniscule – only 4.9%. Slytherin are almost guaranteed to win the match."

Marian watched the match with Skye and Orion. It felt strange to hear Murphy's voice when she hadn't heard it properly in person for so long. She felt a pang in her heart at the thought that he was almost a stranger to her now. Skye couldn't understand why she and Murphy didn't just apologise to each other and make up, but Marian didn't want to talk about it with her or anyone else. For most of the match, it seemed to go exactly as Murphy had predicted. Slytherin scored goal after goal while Hufflepuff lagged behind. The beaters did try and target the Hufflepuff seeker, but she was skilful and the Hufflepuff beaters were fiercely defending her. To the amazement of everyone, she suddenly went into a dive and emerged with the struggling snitch in her hand – Hufflepuff had won by fifty points! The crowds went berserk, with Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw players invading the pitch to lift Hufflepuff captain and seeker, Pritchard, up in the air and bear her up to the castle. Marian joined the rest of the Ravenclaw team in congratulating the Hufflepuff players, who looked they couldn't believe their own success.

Marian was sitting with Orion and Skye back in the common room when Murphy arrived. He hesitated for a moment before joining them, his eyes on Marian.

"What a match!" he said as he manoeuvred himself into an armchair.

"I know!" Skye burst out excitedly. "I'm so pleased for Pritchard – I know she's technically the enemy, but I didn't know she had it in her!"

"You were right, Marian," Murphy said carefully, his eyes guarded. "I miscalculated the chances of her catching the snitch."

Marian shrugged, trying to pretend that it wasn't a big deal that this was the first semblance of a normal conversation they'd shared in weeks. "No, you were right about the beaters targeting her. I guess she was just more skilful than we thought – that dive was pretty spectacular too!"

Orion chuckled. "Gryffindor are lagging behind now – it would take a miracle for them to win the house cup!"

"Poor Charlie." Marian smiled at Orion. "If only the rest of the Gryffindor team were as good as he is!"

"Cursebreaker! Don't wish for things like that!" Skye hissed at her. "They're still the enemy!"

By the time the Easter holidays arrived, Marian and Murphy were talking to one another again – they were still being very polite and they were not seeking each other out. There were no games of chess or cosy afternoons working on homework together. But it was a start, Marian thought. And she knew Skye and Orion were both very relieved about it.

"The balance of the team has been restored," Orion declared dramatically. "A good omen for our game against Slytherin when we return!"