Chapter 24

On the Friday evening before their trip to Hogsmeade, Skye cornered Marian in the common room. It was a rare evening free of practice or homework, and Marian was stretched out leisurely on an armchair near the fire, reading a book on strategy that Murphy had lent to her.

"Marian, everyone's saying that you're going on a date to Hogsmeade with Bill Weasley. Is that true? Because I thought we were going to go to the quidditch shop and buy some new gloves, but…"

Marian shut the book with a snap. "No, it's not true! Unless the date involves Rakepick, because I am meeting Bill and Rakepick about going into the forest. Merlin's beard! All you have to do in this school is look at a boy and everyone thinks you must be about to get married and have children!"

"That's true." Skye nodded, taking a seat next to Marian and idly picking up the book she'd just put down. "Oh, this looks great! Where did you find it?"

"Murphy lent it to me months ago while I was in the hospital wing."

Skye glanced at Marian slyly. "He's the one that told me you were going on a date with Bill Weasley."

"What?" Marian leapt to her feet this time. "Murphy? Murphy McNully?"

"He's the only McNully I know."

"I'm going to kill him! Him and his big mouth! No wonder people have been whistling after me down the corridors!" And before Skye could say anything else, Marian stalked out of the common room. She knew exactly where he'd be. If he wasn't in the quidditch commentator's box or in the library, he'd be in the grounds, most likely with Kneil. She marched down flights of stairs, her anger building as she went. How dare he spread rumours about her? Did he really think she was going on a date with somebody else?

He was exactly where she thought he'd be – sitting under the weeping willow by the Black Lake, throwing a stick in for Kneil to dive in and collect. Normally, Marian would have smiled at this and joined in. But she was really not in the mood.

"McNully!" she cried when she was still twenty feet away from him. He jumped and turned as quickly as he could. He looked surprised to see her, particularly when he noticed the look on her face.

"Marian! Hi, how…"

"Don't bother to ask how I am! I am bloody furious! How could you go around telling people that I'm going on a date with Bill Weasley, of all people? Do you know how embarrassed I am? People have been really weird with me all week, and now I know why! Do you really think I'd be going on a date with somebody else? Although, let me tell you, that even if I was going on a date, with anyone, it would be no one's business but my own! And I don't appreciate you spreading gossip about me! Don't you know how word spreads in this school? Before you know it, they'll be saying I've given birth to Bill's love child or something…" She had to pause for breath, panting slightly from her furious diatribe.

Murphy raised an eyebrow, looking slightly impressed. "Wow, Marian. I don't think I've ever heard you say so much all at once. We'll make a commentator of you yet."

"Piss off, McNully! Didn't you hear what I said?" She glared at him furiously.

"It would have been hard not to. I reckon even the giant squid knows what a terrible person I am now." He spoke calmly, but there was a strange glitter in his eyes that Marian hadn't seen before.

"Well? Aren't you going to apologise?" Marian waited, hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

"For what? The only person I'd spoken to about it was Skye, because she wanted us all to go shopping together. I just said I didn't think you'd be able to come because you were going out with Weasley." His lip curled a little as he said 'Weasley'.

She paused, staring at him. "But why did you tell her that?"

"Because you are going on a date with Weasley? I heard him ask you out in the Entrance Hall the other day and everyone's talking about it." He didn't look at her as he said this – he threw the stick out for Kneil again instead, watching the little kneazle bob through the water.

Marian leant her head back, wishing for patience. "How many times? I'm not going on a date with Bill Weasley. I don't fancy Bill Weasley! I am never going to go on a date with Bill Weasley!"

He frowned, still not looking at her. "But I heard…"

"You heard him teasing me! He was being a git. But that's all!" She bent and picked up a stone, angrily skimming it over the calm waters of the lake, narrowly avoiding Kneil as he suddenly reappeared with the stick in his mouth.

"Great galloping… watch it, Baker!" He turned around, glancing up at her. "Why are you so annoyed then? People spread rumours all the time in this place. And it's hardly the first time there have been rumours about you and Weasley."

"It's not that!" She could feel herself near tears now, and she didn't even know why. "I didn't want to think that you… I thought that you…" Trailing off, she swallowed, trying to regain control of herself.

He came closer, blinking up to see her face against the sunset behind her. "Think that I what?" His voice was soft, gentle.

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I'm sorry." She turned to go, still struggling to hold back tears.

"Hey!" He caught her hand. His fingers were so warm against hers. She wanted to intertwine their fingers together, run her fingertips over his skin, press kisses to the back of his hand. "Come and sit down for a bit. You look like you need a break from the castle. And Kneil needs someone who can throw a stick as well as you can throw a quaffle." His face was open and eager, his eyes searching hers for something. She nodded.

"Great! Come on." And he spread his cloak on the ground. "There's an 84% chance we'll get cold soon, but it's worth it to see the sunset, isn't it?" He settled himself down on the ground, and Marian sank down beside him, turning to lie on her front, chin resting in her hands so that she could watch the sunset.

"It really is. It's beautiful," she murmured.

"Beautiful," Murphy repeated, but he wasn't looking at the sunset. He was gazing at Marian.

She felt his eyes on her and blushed. "What?"

"Nothing," he smiled at her, mirroring her with his chin in his hands.

She could feel the heat of his body lying close to hers. It was the closest she'd been to him for months. Did he really think she'd agreed to go on a date with Bill? What did that mean? That he was expecting her to move on? Did he want her to? Did he want to move on? Sighing, she said, "Sorry for my rant. It's been a hell of a week."

He shrugged, turning onto his side, leaning up on one arm to look at her. "That's all right. You were quite alarming though, I have to say. I can definitely see the whole 'curse-breaker' thing now. I'd say there's a good chance the vaults would just open at your feet if you give them that glare of yours."

Smiling at last, she rolled onto her side, facing him. "My mum calls it 'the glare of Medusa'. You really didn't deserve that!"

"I should probably be grateful you didn't turn me to stone then." He smirked at her. "What were the chances of that happening if I had been spreading rumours?"

"I don't know – you're the statistician here," she replied. There was only about a hand's breadth between them. She could smell the musky, slightly woody smell that was all him, could feel the warmth of his breath on her face.

"Marian?"

"Yes?" Her gaze travelled from his deep blue eyes down to his lips and back up again. She remembered what they felt like on hers. She was lost.

"What were you going to say before? What did you not want to think about me?" He frowned slightly and she fought the urge to reach up and straighten out the little lines on his forehead.

"It doesn't even make any sense."

"Try me. I'm very clever."

"You're very full of yourself!" she said, smirking. "I was just going to say that…" she took a deep breath, "I didn't want to think that you thought I liked Bill – that I would go out with him."

He chuckled. "You're right. That's deeply confusing. Basically, you didn't want me to think you liked him? Why did that matter so much to you?"

There was a question that Marian was not prepared to answer yet. Didn't he know? She didn't reply. To avoid his penetrating blue gaze, she rolled onto her back, staring up at the pink sky above them.

"Hmm?" She felt his eyes on her still.

"What you think matters to me, Murphy," she replied eventually, not meeting his gaze.

"I'm pleased it's 'Murphy' again now, and not 'McNully'. That's when I know I'm in big trouble." She heard the smile in his voice, and it made her smile back, still not looking at him. "You're the only person who ever calls me that, you know? Or, at least, probably only about 1.2% of people I've ever met have called me that, and that includes you."

They were both quiet for a moment, just listening to the gentle lap of the water against the bank, the sound of owls taking flight for the night, the distant noises from the castle.

"I wish we could stay here forever." She said it without thinking, and immediately wished she hadn't. What on earth was she saying?

"Me too," he replied from beside her.

Her hand, lying on the cloak between them, accidentally brushed his. Embarrassed, she was about to draw away, but then she felt him run a finger over the back of her hand, and her breath caught. Her stomach flipped over as he gently slid his fingers between hers, his thumb caressing hers. Neither of them spoke a word. She felt like she'd just raced up the stairs of the Astronomy Tower – she could feel her breath coming out quickly. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him. His chest was rising and falling as rapidly as her own, and as she met his gaze, she felt herself melt a little bit more at the look in his eyes.

"Murph…" she began, but he interrupted her.

"Shhh." And he leaned over, very close to her, and kissed her. It was soft, gentle, warm, just a brushing of his lips against hers. She wanted more. He pulled back a little to look at her, but she reached up and cupped his face, drawing him back down to her, sighing in pleasure at the feel of his lips on hers, his breath mingling with her own. They kissed again, and again. She slid her arms around his neck and he tangled his fingers in her long, dark hair, holding each other close.

This is heaven, Marian thought. Everything else is nothing to this. Even flying. She felt his laugh rumble through his chest and looked up at him in surprise.

"Really? Even better than flying? I must be doing something right." And he kissed her again, deeper, more passionately, and she swallowed her embarrassment at obviously speaking her thoughts out loud and returned his kiss equally as fervently. She never wanted to let him go again.

Later, she lay with her head on his chest and his arm around her as it grew darker around them. "Skye's going to wonder what on earth happened to me. Or to you, more likely. She probably thinks I've killed you by now," Marian commented idly, smiling into Murphy's shirt.

"I think she knew how I still felt about you. She kept making little comments and winking at me all the time whenever I mentioned you." He chuckled. "Do you want to know what Orion said?"

Marian propped herself up to look at his face, unable to keep the smile from her face. "Did he say, 'attraction that blooms unlooked for is the surest to succeed'? I've heard him say that one before."

They both laughed at that. "No. He's been on at me for months to sort things out with you. His exact words, and I quote, were 'pull yourself together, McNully, before someone else pulls her for you.'"

"That's very un-Orion of him!" She blushed again as he reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Mmm. He had a point though. All those boys, lining up for you." He shook his head, a twinkle in his eye. "I wasn't sure I still had a chance."

Marian rolled her eyes. "Oh, hardly. You're exaggerating."

"Barnaby Lee, Bill Weasley, Tom Pucey, Diego Caplan, Richard Timpson, Tom Edwards, Michael Finnegan…" He listed them off on his fingers, ignoring her as she tried to catch his hands to stop him.

"We are not discussing Bill again. Barnaby just has a crush. And Pucey was just trying it on, I think."

"I nearly had a heart attack when I thought you were going to kiss Pucey in that quidditch match." He shook his head, laughing.

"Oh, come on! You really must have dung for brains if you thought I would kiss him – especially in the middle of a match!"

"Point is, you could have chosen any guy at this school. Are you sure you want… well… me?" He glanced down, looking uncomfortable.

Marian felt like she'd been punched. "Please, Murphy. We're not going through this again! Don't you have any idea how ridiculous that is?"

He laughed, but it sounded rather forced. "Maybe. I'm just saying – I'd understand if… I mean, you're you! You're the most beautiful, brave, clever, talented, kind person I've ever met! And you're a quidditch star! And a curse-breaker, for goodness sake! I'm just – me. All mouth and no trousers, as my gran would say."

Marian's face was on fire as she replied, "Sounds good to me."

"Marian Baker! Did you just…?" He sounded delightedly surprised.

She giggled. "Sorry. You said it."

"I did." He sat up so he could tilt her face up to his. "And I'm the luckiest boy here if I get to do this." And he kissed her again. "I've missed this. I missed you."

Eventually, they realised they would have to head back inside before Filch locked the doors for the night. "I don't want to leave this place. It feels magical," Marian whispered.

"Well, there's a good chance. We are at a school for witches and wizards, after all," Murphy quipped, earning himself a punch on the arm.

They trailed slowly back up to the castle, taking their time, neither of them particularly wanting to re-enter Ravenclaw Tower and face anyone else. When they reached the Entrance Hall, they blinked in the sudden brightness from the torches, and Marian let out a bark of laughter.

"Murph, you should see yourself! If you go back in like that, I think people might know what we've been up to."

He shrugged, grinning. "I don't mind too much. I'll let anyone know who asks that I've been snogging the most beautiful witch in the school."

She rolled her eyes at him and directed him towards a suit of armour for him to check his reflection. His yelp at the state of his mussed hair made her snigger until she saw her own reflection – hair wildly tousled, lips bee-stung, flushed cheeks and clothes slightly rumpled.

"Merlin's beard – I hope they're all in bed already!" she muttered, trying to smooth her hair down.

By the time they reached Ravenclaw Tower, she felt a fluttering of nerves in her stomach. She glanced down at Murphy and saw that he, too, looked a little anxious. He smiled up at her, though, as they answered the question and entered the common room together.

Skye and Orion glanced up at them from their game of gobstones. "Oh, you didn't murder each other then?" Skye called, grinning.

"No, it doesn't look like that's what they've been doing, does it?" Orion added with a most un-Orion-like leer.

Marian could feel herself blushing again and bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something stupid. Rowan waved at her from an armchair by the fire.

"Fancy a game of chess?" Murphy murmured, gently touching her arm. She nodded at him gratefully and they sat down across from Rowan, Murphy summoning his chess pieces from his dormitory. It almost felt as though no time had passed since they last sat there playing chess, almost three months before. As usual, Marian was roundly defeated.

"Just proving I'm still a 'worthy opponent'," Murphy said, grinning wryly at her.

Marian pulled a face. "Yes, about that… I'm sorry. I was just…"

He laughed. "It's fine. I was quite impressed – you actually won a game! Although Orion isn't really what I would call a worthy opponent."

"Does that mean that I am?" Marian smirked at him. "Wow – I feel greatly honoured! Although I thought maybe you'd let me win tonight, now that we're…" she waggled her eyebrows at him.

"Now that we're what, sorry?" he chuckled.

"Whatever we are?" she ended lamely.

"Marian Baker, are you suggesting I allow cheating in the sacred game of wizard's chess, all because I kissed you?" he whispered, leaning over the board so that no one else could hear.

She blushed again, smirking. "Well, you did kiss me quite a few times."

"And you kissed me back, I believe." His grin was almost as wide as hers.

When she finally dragged herself away up to bed, she knew she would face questions, and she was right. Skye, Rowan and Tulip were all sitting on her bed, expectant looks on their faces.

"Well?" asked Skye. "What happened?"

"Oh great jumping gargoyles! I can't wait to hear! I'm so excited!" Rowan bounced up and down on the bed in glee.

"I'm not telling you anything!" Marian told them sternly, trying to shoo them off her bed.

"But you kissed, right?"

"Is he still a good kisser?"

"He must be – they were away for aaaaages! And look at her mouth!"

"How far did you go?"

"Tulip!"

"What – it was just a question! You could hardly keep your eyes off each other during wizard's chess and that is the most boring game on the planet!"

"Did he tell you how he felt about you?"

"Did you tell him how you feel about him?"

"All right. Fine. We kissed. It was great. That's all I'm saying!" Marian rolled her eyes at their complaints and marched away to the bathroom. It took a while to get to sleep though – not only because she couldn't stop thinking about the feel of Murphy's mouth on her or his hand in hers, but also because Tulip kept singing, "Marian and McNully up a tree… KISSING…"

When Marian woke up the following morning, she lay in bed for a while, smiling to herself. She couldn't believe what had happened the night before – Murphy kissed her! Murphy still liked her! Murphy kissed her! There was an excited fluttering in her stomach, almost like the feeling before playing in a quidditch match.

She headed down to breakfast with Skye, trying to play it cool and not look like she was watching for Murphy to appear. She spotted him sitting at the far end of the table, deep in conversation with Orion, his back to her. Skye was very impatient to get going – she told Marian that the whole team were going to meet to look at new quidditch gloves.

"They're on sale at the moment but they'll be perfect for us for next year!" she said excitedly. "We might as well get them now. Orion said we have some money left in the quidditch fund. We should have something to cheer ourselves up with after last week." For once, she turned down an extra plate of food so that they could get a move on. They headed back up to Ravenclaw Tower to ready themselves for going into Hogsmeade. Marian was sure Murphy would be joining them, and she wondered how she should act around him today? Should she try and play it cool?

"Parkin! Baker! Wait up!" Just as they started to head back down towards the Entrance Hall, togged up and ready to go, they heard their names being called. Turning, they saw Orion waving at them, trying to push through a crowd of excited third years.

"I'll see you down there," Rowan said and carried on down the stairs with Tulip and Badeea.

Skye and Marian waited impatiently. Marian wondered where Murphy was – he'd been having breakfast with Orion, after all. Merlin's Beard, she thought, I'm obsessed. When Orion finally caught up with them, he smiled calmly at them both.

"Today, my friends, we will shop as a family. Fate will show us the way to the perfect gloves."

"No, idiot. McNully's done the research – that's what will lead us to the perfect gloves!" Skye muttered, rolling her eyes. Marian nodded.

"Ah, yes, McNully…" Orion fluttered his eyelashes at Marian.

She glared at him. "I'm warning you…"

"Oh no! If I'm not mistaken, there's a 68.9% chance that Orion's about to be turned to stone!"

Marian's heart leaped at the familiar voice behind her. Trying not to smile too broadly, she turned to see Murphy rolling towards them down the corridor. He beamed at her, and she could feel herself blushing furiously as his eyes swept over her. It had felt so nice to be wearing something other than robes or quidditch training clothes for a change, especially as it was so hot, and Marian had chosen a summer dress, white with short sleeves, her legs bare.

"I think your statistics are off, Murph. I'd say it's closer to a 99.9% chance if he doesn't shut up." She jerked her head at Orion, who was blinking innocently at them both.

Murphy looked from one to the other and shook his head, still smiling widely. "Those odds don't sound good, mate."

"Oh, come on!" Skye interrupted, tapping her foot impatiently. "We could be halfway to Hogsmeade by now! Amari, come with me. Let them flirt in peace!" She grabbed Orion's arm and half-dragged him off down the corridor.

"Subtle," Marian muttered, her face still on fire. She glanced down at Murphy. "Hi."

"Hi, beautiful," he replied, still grinning.

"You're looking very happy today," she said, regarding him with her head on one side.

"I have a very good reason for it," he replied, reaching out and taking her hand.

"Oh? What's that?" She feigned ignorance, but she could feel her heart beating faster at his touch.

He glanced up and down the corridor. It was deserted now, everyone else having already left for Hogsmeade. "I'll show you," he whispered, and pulled her suddenly onto his lap.

"Murphy!" she squeaked in surprise, grabbing his shirt to hold herself steady.

"Mmhmm?" His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her securely as his eyes quickly scanned her face. Her eyes fell to his lips and she reached up to kiss him.

"McNully! Baker! Are you planning to go to Hogsmeade today or not?" The stern voice of Professor McGonagall made them leap apart, Marian nearly flying through the air to put distance between her and Murphy.

"Er, yes, Professor!" Murphy called sheepishly, turning his wheelchair around to face their transfiguration teacher.

"Then I suggest you make your way there now and stop this… dilly-dallying!" She frowned severely at Marian, who wished the ground would open and swallow her up. "Now, Baker!"

"Yes, Professor!" Marian cried, almost sprinting down the corridor to escape, Murphy right behind her. As soon as they'd made it out of the Entrance Hall, they both collapsed in laughter.

"Merlin's beard!"

"Did you see the look on her face?"

"That was SO embarrassing!"

"I thought she was going to give us detention!"

"Is she still watching us?" Murphy glanced around quickly, but they were well away from the castle by then and there was no sign of Professor McGonagall.

"I don't think so. But we probably should hurry up – Skye'll kill us if we don't have time to look at these gloves she keeps banging on about!" Marian replied reluctantly.

"They would be great for the team! I think the built-in grips would provide a 3.54% greater hold on the broom, for starters. And they're waterproof – important in the winter. Remember in the Hufflepuff match? We don't want that happening again, and from my research, I think these gloves really might make all the difference." Murphy chattered happily.

"Skye mentioned something about them having a built-in heating charm, too. That would be nice. Andre nearly dropped the quaffle the other day because his fingers were so cold!" Marian smiled back at him, and they continued to chat about quidditch all the way into the village.

The rest of the quidditch team were waiting for them by Spintwitches Sporting Needs. "It's not a patch on Quality Quidditch Supplies, but it's better than ordering by owl. We need to make sure they're a good fit," Murphy had informed Marian on the walk over.

"Finally! We were about to go ahead and get them without you!" Skye complained as Marian and Murphy appeared beside them.

"I understand, my friends. I, too, would be slow of foot if I were presented with all the enchantments of a beautiful face before me," Orion said dreamily. Marian restrained herself from snapping at him again, while Murphy merely rolled his eyes.

Inside, the shop was already busy with Hogwarts students. Skye led the way through to the counter, where she, Murphy and Orion immediately started a discussion with the shopkeeper about the exact requirements for the team. Marian glanced around and spotted a familiar red-haired boy looking at posters of the Wimbourne Wasps.

"Charlie!" she called, fighting her way across to him.

He turned around and waved. "Baker! What're you doing here – with your full team? Trying to find a charm to help you fly better?"

She pulled a face at him. "Ha ha. You're hilarious. We're getting some…"

"New clubs for the beaters!" Skye finished her sentence, appearing suddenly at her side and frowning heavily at Marian. "Weasley." She nodded at Charlie.

He sniggered. "Very convincing, Parkin. What are you really up to?"

"Top secret. Marian, I mean it!" Because Marian had opened her mouth again.

Charlie smirked. "It's going to be hard to hide a delivery of brand new, dragonhide flying gloves, don't you think? Someone will find out, surely."

Skye gaped at him. "How did you…?"

He shrugged. "You were looking at the brochure during Transfiguration and circling the picture very enthusiastically. I put two and two together."

"So let me guess – you're here to get a full set for the Gryffindor team? Don't tell me that's why they're out of stock already!" Skye groaned, hitting her face with her palm. Charlie grinned at her. "Weasley, I swear…"

"Time to go!" Marian cried, grabbing Skye and dragging her towards the door before she could do damage to Charlie Weasley. Orion and Murphy followed. They all stood dejectedly outside.

"Well, we can still order them when they come back in, can't we?" Marian asked hopefully, looking around at them all.

"I can't believe that jumped up Gryffindor's been spying on me again!" Skye muttered angrily. "You know he's sure to be made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain next year when Littlewood leaves?"

They all nodded gloomily.

"There's a 74.6% chance that Gryffindor are going to beat us to the cup next year. We'll never win again," Murphy added, sounding unusually dejected.

The chiming of the clock made Marian jump. "Oh! I almost forgot! I need to go to the Three Broomsticks!"

"Why?" Murphy asked, surprised. "Do you need a butterbeer that badly? You should've said, I'd have been with you in a heartbeat."

"Would it have taken a butterbeer for that?" Orion sniggered.

Ignoring him, Marian replied, "Of course not! I said I'd meet Bill and Rakepick, that's all."

"Rakepick?" Murphy asked, then added, "And Bill Weasley?" in the same voice he might use to ask if she was kissing the giant squid.

Sighing, Marian grabbed his hand. "I don't have time to explain. I said I'd meet them at twelve and I'm already late! I'll tell you later, OK?"

He frowned but nodded, squeezing her hand. She dashed off in the direction of the Three Broomsticks, hoping they had waited for her. Pushing the door open, she glanced around, spotting them immediately. They were sitting at a small table in the back corner of the room, three butterbeers on the table in front of them.

"Sorry I'm late! But why isn't Charlie coming?" Marian asked as she sat herself down on a stool.

"He said he'd go along with whatever we decided," replied Bill. "I'm not sure what he's up to – he seemed pretty secretive!"

"He was buying new gloves with the Gryffindor quidditch team a minute ago," Marian said, shrugging.

"What?" Bill frowned. "How is he affording new gloves?" His ears went pink suddenly. "Not that we can't afford gloves," he added quickly. "Just – I don't understand…"

"Fascinating though this discussion is on your brother's whereabouts," Rakepick interrupted dryly. "Can we get on with discussing the matter in hand? I do have other matters to attend to this afternoon, you know."

"What did you want to discuss?" Marian asked her curiously.

Rakepick took a deep swig of her butterbeer before replying. "It is imperative that we approach this mission with the utmost discretion. The worst possible outcome would be for somebody to try and stop us entering the vault. So kindly don't tell your little friend, Snape, about this, Baker."

Marian flushed in embarrassment and irritation. "I wasn't planning to!"

"Good." Rakepick flashed her a quick smile. "We will meet tomorrow morning, straight after breakfast. We don't want to arouse suspicion, so act normally until then. Don't stare at each other all the time or pass notes or send little messages or whatever it is you normally do. Just eat, then we will meet down by the lake. Bring your broomsticks, bring your wands and bring your defensive skills that we have worked so hard on. That should suffice."

"Madame Rakepick, what if Professor Dumbledore finds out about us entering the vault?" Bill asked, looking a little anxious, Marian thought. "Do you really think he'll expel us?"

Rakepick snorted. "Unlikely, Weasley. Haven't you ever thought that he wants you to find and enter the vaults? He's an extremely powerful wizard. If he wanted to, he could probably have investigated them all himself years ago. For whatever reason, I believe he wants to allow you the opportunity to discover them for yourselves."

"What?" Marian frowned. "But that's really dangerous! We're still students, after all!"

Rakepick rolled her eyes. "You are learning. You are at Hogwarts to learn. Learning to deal with danger and manage risk is part of that learning process, especially for two budding curese-breakers such as yourselves. What do you think I was doing at Hogwarts? Painting my nails and reading 'Witch Weekly'?" She snorted again, then drained her butterbeer and set it down, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "Fine. I'll see you both tomorrow after breakfast by the lake. Remind that brother of yours, Weasley. Now I'm sure you've had enough of me. I'll let you get back to that new boyfriend of yours, Baker." And with a thin smile, she stood up and strode out of the pub, leaving an awkward silence behind her.

"Your new boyfriend?" Bill's voice was strange.

Glancing up at him, Marian smiled weakly. "It's early days. We've not… I don't know if he's my boyfriend, as such."

"Who?" His face was tight, unsmiling. "Not Amari?"

"Orion?" She pulled a face. "God, no. This is stupid. We've only kissed, I don't understand why it's such a big…"

"Ah. Still McNully. I see." Bill's eyes were fixed on a point behind Marian. Turning quickly, she saw Murphy sitting with Skye and Orion at the other side of the pub. He caught her eye and looked away quickly. "That'll explain the glaring then."

"Oh dear. I really need to go and explain…" Marian started to stand up.

"Wait!" Bill reached forward to grab her arm. "Do you still like him then?"

"Bill, this is a bit weird. Can't we just…?"

"I just thought that we… I didn't realise you still liked him, or I'd have…" He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'll see you around, Baker." And he stood up, letting go of Marian, and headed out the door. What was that all about? Marian had a sinking feeling in her stomach – it seemed that Rowan might have been right about Bill's feelings for her after all. She stood up slowly and wandered over to her friends.

"All right?" Skye greeted her. "Look – we managed to get the gloves after all!" She waved a package in front of Marian, but she barely noticed.

"Oh. Great. Thanks."

Murphy didn't say anything. Looking over at him, Marian saw that he was frowning again. She needed to speak to him – she hadn't liked the look in his eyes when he'd seen her sitting alone with Bill. God, he didn't think she'd gone on a date with him after all, did he? Surely Murphy knew her better than that? And what had he heard her saying to Bill? She tried to gesture to Skye with her eyes, but Skye didn't notice.

"Come on, Parker. Marian wants time alone with McNully here." Orion chuckled. "Madame Puddifoot's might be a better choice, though, if you plan on continuing your heavy petting session from last night?"

"Oh, gross." Skye shot out of her seat. Murphy and Marian were left by themselves in the booth. The silence seemed to stretch.

"Murph?" Marian said, hesitantly.

Murphy sighed loudly. "I don't want to sound like a gnome, Marian, but I could swear with 98.7% assurance that you said you were meeting Bill AND Rakepick in here?"

"I did! I was! She only just left! In fact, I'm surprised you didn't pass her on your way in!" she protested.

He didn't say anything.

"Don't you trust me?" she whispered, a lump in her throat.

"Of course I do!" He reached for her hand, entwining their fingers. This made her feel a little better. "But… he obviously likes you, Marian. I saw him looking over. He looked devastated."

"Er…" she tucked some hair behind her ear, feeling awkward. "He was a bit weird about… us, it's true." Continuing quickly, she added, "I don't know why. Why does anyone else even notice what I do?"

"Oh, Marian," he smiled at her again, and it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" she couldn't help smiling back at him, enjoying the feeling of her hand in his. She scooted closer and he wrapped his other arm round her shoulders.

"You're rather amazing, you idiot." He kissed her temple lightly. "And I'm not the only person who's realised."

Sighing, she leaned against his shoulder. "I don't care what anyone else thinks. Your opinion is quite enough for me."

"Hey," he murmured in her ear. "Look at that! We're finally having our butterbeer together!"

She laughed. "We had butterbeer here back in January!"

"That was different," he replied, grinning. "We were on a mission, remember? And you were angry with me!"

"And you starting kissing me!"

"Yes – I remember that part quite well," he replied, and leaned forward to kiss her gently.

After a couple of minutes, Marian sighed and pulled away a little. "I have something I need to tell you, Murphy," she said, anxiety fluttering in her stomach again. "We're planning on going into the vault. Bill, Charlie, Rakepick and I."

He nodded slowly. "I kind of figured that out. When?"

"Tomorrow," she replied, holding his hand a little tighter. She didn't want him to worry. She didn't want him to ask her not to go.

To her surprise, he just nodded again. "OK. Thank you for telling me." And he kissed her again, lightly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is that it?"

"You're a cursebreaker," he said, smiling slightly. "You've done this before. And now you have a real, proper cursebreaker with you too this time. You've been preparing. And I know how important this is to you."

"You're not worried then?" Marian asked, not quite believing how calm he was being about this.

"Of course I'll be worried!" He let out a breath of laughter. "How could I not be? I lo… I like you. A lot. I care about you. So of course I'll worry. But I want you to do this because it's important to you."

Marian closed the distance between them, kissing him passionately. He returned her kiss enthusiastically, wrapping both his arms around her and drawing her even closer to him.

"So," Rowan said to Marian as they made their way back from dinner together. "Into the vault tomorrow? How are you feeling?"

Marian shrugged. "I don't know. Nervous. Excited. Scared." She glanced at her friend. "I wish you were coming with us. You know so much more than I do."

Rowan laughed. "I'm glad I'm not coming! The looking up spells part is one I can do. The slightly sneaky investigation part I can get on board with. The heading into danger part is one I prefer to leave to others."

"Very sensible," Marian replied, grinning. "That's why you're much cleverer than me."

"Hardly," Rowan said, rolling her eyes. "I heard Flitwick telling McGonagall that you're the best at Charms in our year! And Rakepick thinks you're phenomenal at duelling – Bill told me. Even Snape seems to be impressed by you, and he doesn't seem to be impressed by much. And you're the only other person I've ever met who loves reading as much as I do, so that must make you clever by default!"

"Well, we'll find out soon enough! Exams start next week," Marian sighed. "My revision's kind of gone on hold over the last week or so, what with quidditch and Hogsmeade and practising defensive spells and…"

"And McNully?" Rowan added slyly.

Marian blushed. "Yes, and him. I don't mind that though."

"Well, don't think about exams or anything else tonight. Just think – who knows what you'll find in the vault tomorrow?"

Marian nodded. She'd been thinking about that for days – weeks, even. Would she find another clue to where Jacob was? Maybe even find Jacob himself? Sitting in the Common Room, she stared out of the window at the distant grounds, wondering what the next day held.