"Go on," said Daphne in a low, excited voice. "Spill the beans."
Marisa guessed instantly what this was about, but she decided to feign ignorance. "What beans?" she asked.
Daphne sighed. "Look, Leo being clueless I could understand with these things, but I know for a fact you're faking it."
"You spoke to Leo about this?"
"Don't change the subject."
"All right," said Marisa slowly. "You tell me everything you've seen and heard since I've been Petrified that made you think Leo likes me, and I'll tell you what happened. Deal?"
"Deal," said Daphne immediately. "So… he was horrified when you were attacked, and he went a couple of times to sit by your bed and watch you. And then he got much more serious about trying to stop Slytherin's monster – do you know what happened in the end?"
Marisa nodded. "He told me."
"And then he was trying to convince us to do something and Theo refused and accused him of being obsessed with you… I never knew how scary Leo could be until I saw that. And then Draco… he called you a Mudblood, and Leo just literally blew up at him. That was when I first worked it out. And then I spoke to him about it, and he denied everything, but so obviously I could tell he liked you."
Marisa smiled, already filing away the information for future blackmail potential. "Fine," she said. "I'll tell you. We were just chatting the way we do, and then somehow the topic turned to how we should describe our relationship. I think we originally settled on 'best frenemies' but then Leo almost admitted he liked me… and I was teasing him and trying to make him say it… and then…" she couldn't help blushing. "He kissed me."
Daphne smiled. "So you're officially together now, are you?"
"I… guess," said Marisa slowly. "We didn't really talk much after that happened."
Daphne smiled knowingly. "You might want to watch out for Tracey, though. She'll be very angry when she hears about this."
Marisa sighed. To be perfectly honest she hadn't imagined Tracey as posing much of a threat or being the sort to try to get revenge on another girl, but even so she resolved to watch her back.