Chapter 1
She couldn't wait to get through the barrier to the platform – even before she reached it, she was craning her head around, trying to see who she could spot.
"Mum! Look! There's Penny! Remember Penny? I told you about her – she's the best at potions!"
"Yes, yes! I remember!" Her mum laughed impatiently. "But you've got however many hours on a train with all of your friends – you're not going to see me again for at least three months!"
"Sorry, Mum!" Marian gave her mum a quick one-armed hug, holding the cage of her owl, Biscuit, in the other hand.
"Marian! Baker! Is that you?" All she could see from behind the luggage trolley was a flash of blue hair, but that told her enough. There was only one person with blue hair at Hogwarts that she knew about – Skye Parkin.
"Skye! How's your summer been? You never replied to my owls!"
"So this is the famous Skye Parkin? I've heard a lot about you! Is your father here?" Marian's mum asked curiously.
Marian rolled her eyes. "Ignore my mum. I think she has a crush on your dad. Gross."
Skye chuckled mischievously. "Not sure what my mum would say about that! No, just me today. He has a big game up North, so they just sent me by floo. And sorry about the owls! I've just been so busy! I have a new training schedule – I can't wait to tell you all about it! Come on!"
By that time, they were all through the barrier and Platform 9 ¾ looked busier than ever, thronged with students in a mixture of muggle and wizard clothes, parents crying and chatting, owls and cats and toads and all sorts of animals getting lost or under people's feet, and behind them all, the scarlet steam engine chugging out clouds of thick smoke.
Marian's mum grabbed her by the hand before she managed to disappear off with any of her friends. "Listen, darling, I'll say goodbye now so that you can go and have fun."
"Oh, mum. I'll miss you."
"You won't, but it's all right. I'm just pleased you're so happy at Hogwarts and that you have so many lovely friends to look after you."
"Please. I'm the one that's always looking after them," she huffed in response, rolling her eyes.
"That's true, actually. She's always getting people out of scrapes. Although it's usually her fault they're in them in the first place." A tall, red-haired boy appeared next to them. "Bill Weasley. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand to Marian's mother.
She hid a smile, took his hand and shook it seriously. "Ah, a Weasley. Yes, I've heard a lot about you and your brother."
"Not now, Mum!" Marian hissed, looking embarrassed. "Merlin's teeth!"
"But no more scrapes this year, Marian! I mean it. No more sneaking about in vaults or anywhere else! Do I make myself clear?" Her mum's voice was suddenly strict.
"Yes, Mum. You sound like Professor McGonagall!" Marian groaned.
"Come on, Baker! I've got us a compartment! We need to talk tactics!" Skye's voice bellowed across the platform.
Marian's mother winced. "Galloping gargoyles, that girl has a loud voice. Right, well, goodbye darling! Have a lovely term! Do please remember to write sometimes."
"Bye, Mum!" Marian gave her a quick hug and a kiss. "See you at Christmas!"
And then she was surrounded by a crowd of friends, all asking how she was doing, what she'd been up to, whether she'd been practising quidditch at all, where she was sitting on the train… By the time she managed to push her trolley to the door of the train, Marian's face was aching from her huge grin. It always felt nice to go home and see her mum, but it felt fantastic to see her friends again too.
"Let me!" A big, muscular boy with dark hair, enhanced with a LOT of hair gel, grabbed Marian's trunk and heaved it up the stairs and onto the train before she could even say thanks.
She smiled at him, feeling a little awkward. "Oh – cheers, Barnaby! How was your summer?"
He shrugged at her shyly. "You know. All right. You look hot. I mean," he scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "You look tanned."
"Er – thanks." Thankfully, she was saved from any more awkwardness by Skye, who shoved her head through the door of a nearby compartment and waved at her. "See you later then."
God, she thought. That boy. She knew he had a crush on her, and she'd felt kind of flattered at first when she'd realised because, she had to face it, he was very good-looking. But she didn't like him like that. While Barnaby was a really sweet person, he wasn't the brightest. And there was nothing wrong with that, Marian thought, but the only person she wanted was someone she could talk to, someone she could discuss things with, someone she could share interests with. Someone funny and interesting, with blonde hair and…
"Baker, if you don't get in here now, I'm going to drag you in myself!" Skye grabbed Marian's trunk and heaved it with difficulty into the compartment. "Merlin's beard! What do you have in here? Did you take home half the library?"
"Ha ha," Marian replied, following Skye in. "Just picked up a few books in Flourish and Blotts. You might actually like them, Skye. I got a couple that Murphy recommended... oh!"
Skye had thrown herself down into a seat, allowing Marian to finally see who else was in their compartment. Two boys, one tall, lean and dark-haired, and the other… bloody hell! What had happened to Murphy over the summer? Marian struggled to keep her eyes on his face, and she was sure she could feel her face burning. When they left Hogwarts for the summer, only eight weeks before, Murphy had been… well, Murphy. Not anymore. He was… his chest… his arms… his jaw…
"Are my ears burning?" grinned the boy in question. Marian hoped that he hadn't noticed her checking him out, but by the slight blush on his face, she realised with great embarrassment that he probably had.
"Er…" Absolutely fantastic, she thought to herself. Now you can't even string a sentence together in front of him. It's Murphy, she thought to herself. Your boyfriend!
"Hi, Cursebreaker!" He grinned at her, his eyes flicking over her rapidly, causing heat to course through her. Then his eyes were on her face again, his eyes bright. "Did I hear you say you'd picked up those books? Can I see? I really want to check out exactly what Warren says about the Porskoff Ploy again – I'm not sure I described it with 100% accuracy to you." Murphy didn't even wait for an answer before opening her trunk and starting to rummage through.
"Murphy!" She slammed the lid down with a thud. "Stop! All my things are in there!"
"So?" He frowned, looking confused.
"Galloping gargoyles! Haven't you ever heard of underwear, McNully?" Skye groaned.
"Underwear?" He stared at Skye as though she'd grown two heads.
"Marian probably doesn't want you looking through her underwear," Skye explained, talking slowly as though he was five years old.
Marian definitely didn't imagine the blush on Murphy's face this time. He jerked his hands away from her trunk as though he'd been electrocuted. Skye chuckled.
"Orion – how are you?" This wasn't quite how she'd pictured her journey back to Hogwarts. Trying to find some calm, she turned to the quieter member of the Quidditch team - their captain, Orion.
Smiling, he nodded at her. "Marian. We are all better when we are with one another, are we not?"
Murphy shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I'm only 54.3% ready for your nonsense, Orion."
Marian settled into her seat, next to Skye. Leaving her to stare straight across at Murphy. He really had filled out – in a good way. She supposed he'd always had quite muscular arms from wheeling himself around, but – this was something else! She felt like she was seeing him all over again. Had his eyes always sparkled like that when he laughed? Had his laugh always been so joyful, so carefree? More importantly, what was wrong with her? She'd been head over heels for him for most of last year, but this was something else. She felt like her head was spinning, like electricity was surging through her veins every time she looked at him. She'd really missed him over the summer and had been looking forward so much to seeing him again, but now she could hardly look him in the eye! Thankfully, before Marian could scrutinise her feelings any deeper, the compartment door swung open, crashing into the wall loudly.
"Oh gosh! Sorry!" Rowan Khanna was standing in the doorway, looking sheepish. "I don't know my own strength."
"Rowan! Hi!" Marian leapt up to hug her oldest and closest Hogwarts friend. "I didn't see you on the platform!"
Rowan wiped her forehead on her sleeve. Now that Marian looked closer, she could see that Rowan looked pretty hot and bothered. "I only just made it! I had to sprint down the platform – I think I might have dislocated my shoulder trying to pull my trunk onto the train!" She peered over Marian's shoulder and gave a vague wave to the others. Not being on the quidditch team, she wasn't really as close to the others as Marian. It had felt strange last year, when Marian had started to spend more time with Skye, Orion and Murphy – Rowan had been a little put out at first, a bit jealous, but she got used to it eventually, even making closer friends with some of the others in their year. Just then, though, she pulled Marian out of the compartment.
"Marian, have you seen Bill Weasley yet? He is looking phenomenal. What a snack!" Rowan almost licked her lips.
Marian giggled. "Of course – he introduced himself to my mum! So weird."
Rowan raised her eyebrows, looking deeply envious. "Really? Ugh, you have all the luck."
"Why don't you just talk to him? This is his last year – you won't get many more chances to try and seduce him!" Marian elbowed Rowan affectionately.
"Marian. Be serious. He wouldn't be caught dead with me. Now, you, on the other hand…" Rowan waggled her eyebrows.
Marian shook her head. "No way. I'm not interested. I told you before."
"I will never understand you! What's not to be interested in?"
"I don't know! He's like… a brother!"
"A hot brother that you kind of lust after?"
"Merlin's beard! No! I don't fancy him, all right? And you know I'm with Murphy."
"All right, all right! Keep your hair on." They pulled the door open again and re-entered the compartment, Rowan squeezing in next to Skye, who frowned irritably and moved her broomstick servicing kit on to the table by the window instead. Marian considered sitting next to Murphy. She felt strangely awkward around him, even though he was her boyfriend. She wanted to kiss him and hug him and touch him, but she felt like he was almost a stranger – a very hot stranger. It had been eight weeks since she'd last seen him, after all.
A couple of hours later, when they all managed to finally fill each other in on their holidays, the door opened again, heralding the arrival of the trolley witch.
Orion surprised everyone by buying a large number of chocolate frogs and sharing them around. As an orphan, he wasn't usually someone who splashed their money around a lot. In response to the querying looks he was receiving, he sighed and said, "My friends – this is the last time I will travel with you on the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts. Let us celebrate and make it a trip to remember."
"What're you talking about?" Skye frowned at him, looking confused.
"Seventh year, Parkin. Orion will captain us for the last time. Our final chance to win the Quidditch Cup! I'd say we have a 68.3% chance, depending on…" Murphy replied.
"This is your last year?" Marian interrupted. She was surprised to feel tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't imagine Hogwarts without Orion, or Bill, or any of her other seventh year friends. "I – I'd forgotten," she muttered, feeling the eyes of the others on her.
"Yes. I will take leave of my family and venture into the great unknown – and isn't adventure the real father of us all?" Orion closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat.
Skye pulled a face at him. "I won't miss that."
Orion chuckled lazily. "You say that now. You'll be begging for me to return next year when you are the captain and have to make all the decisions."
"I won't! Are you joking? It'll be amazing! We can finally use Parkin Pincer in every match, AND my new signature move that I haven't even told you about yet!" Skye practically started bouncing in her seat with excitement.
"Well, I'm glad you're so excited about Orion leaving, but aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself, Parkin? Maybe Marian will be our new quidditch captain." Murphy smiled at Marian warmly, seeming to notice how downcast she was. "I'd say there's only about a 13.56% chance that it will be you, actually, Skye."
Marian snorted. "Come off it, Murph. The odds have to be greater than that! They're hardly going to make little Anthony Davies the quidditch captain, are they? It has to be Skye!"
Murphy considered, his head on one side. "Well, what about Egwu? He's an extremely talented keeper. There's no reason why a keeper can't be the captain. He's a better tactician than Parkin, no doubt about it."
"I am sitting right here, you know?" Skye snorted in protest, waving at him sarcastically.
"And I have yet to leave!" Orion added quietly.
Rowan giggled.
Marian raised her eyebrows at her. "Don't tell me you have a crush on him too!" she whispered to her friend.
Rowan shrugged. "No reason why I can't like several boys at once, is there? I have to make up for your serious lack of interest in anyone but McNully!"
"What's that? Who's Marian interested in?" Skye interrupted, leaning around Marian to speak to Rowan.
Marian could feel her face heating up again. Why were her friends so determined to embarrass her?
"Who do you think? She's blind to everyone else! Not even Bill Weasley!" Rowan sighed dreamily.
"Bill Weasley?" Skye tilted her head to one side as if trying to remember.
Marian would have paid good money for the ground to have swallowed her up. She didn't dare look up at Murphy. "Can we drop it?" she hissed, staring at the floor.
"I heard that Slytherin boy was still wildly in love with you, Marian. What's his name?" God, even Orion was joining in now.
"Barnaby?" Rowan provided helpfully.
"Hmm. Yes. I think that was him. I heard that he spent an hour in Honeyduke's, trying to decide what type of sweet to buy you for Valentine's Day last year."
Marian's face felt like it was on fire. "Well, whatever you've heard is probably dragon dung. We're just friends."
"I told you – she's not interested in anyone but McNully!" Rowan added, shaking her head.
"Enough! Please! Stop discussing my love life! It's really not that interesting!" Marian burst out, unable to take it any longer. She still couldn't bring herself to look at Murphy, for some reason.
"To be fair, it really isn't. Marian's incredibly boring like that." Rowan couldn't resist it. Marian shot her a dirty look.
"Well." Murphy cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly. "We should probably get changed into our robes anyway."
Marian glanced up at him gratefully and he gave her a small smile that made her stomach flip over. God, what one earth was the matter with her? It was probably just being confined in a small space with him after all this time, she thought to herself. That's it.
Marian, Skye and Rowan left the compartment to stretch their legs while the boys got changed.
"Shall we try and find Ben and Penny?" Rowan asked, yawning as they ambled out into the corridor.
Skye nodded immediately. "Yes, good idea. I sent Penny a question about something and she sent me the weirdest reply. I need to discuss it with her."
"Oh, so you replied to her owls but not mine?" Marian gave Skye a friendly push.
Skye chuckled. "What can I say? Hers were all about quidditch – of course I did!"
"I really don't understand how you can be so obsessed with a game." Rowan shook her head.
Skye stopped and stared at her. "It's not just a game. I can't believe you said that."
Marian laughed. "Oh dear, Rowan. You don't know what you've started."
They had to traipse all the way down to the other end of the train before they found the rest of their friends. The girls heard them before they saw them – the laughter was echoing down the corridor. Penny gave a shriek of delight at seeing the three girls and ran over to hug them, almost tripping over Ben's trunk and falling head over heels.
"Ah! It's so good to see you! Wow – Rowan, I think you've grown again! And Marian, you're looking so pretty! Did you change your hair? You're so tanned – I'm jealous, it rained non-stop in Wales. And Skye Parkin – don't tell me you've been working out! You could give Barnaby a run for his money in the muscles department!" Penny giggled with delight as she hugged them all, almost dancing with happiness. Marian noticed Rowan glancing over at Bill, who was sitting in the next compartment. "Oh, wait – this is my sister, Beatrice. Bea, this is Marian, Rowan and Skye."
Beatrice looked like a smaller, younger, more round-faced version of Penny. She squeaked in excitement as she gazed at them. "I've heard so much about you! Did you really break into three of the cursed vaults? Can I come next time? Can I? Please?"
Marian exchanged glances with Penny, who shook her head quickly. "Er – you'll have to ask your sister about that, I think."
Marian left Penny and Bea to the mercies of Skye and her many quidditch questions. Despite Penny being a terrible flier herself, she was one of the most knowledgeable people Marian had ever met about anything to do with quidditch – the only other person she'd met who knew more was Murphy. Stop thinking about Murphy, she told herself sternly. This is getting ridiculous.
After a couple of minutes, the door opened and the Weasleys appeared.
"Behold, ye breaker of curses!" Charlie cried, pretending to bow.
"Oh, shut up!" Marian rolled her eyes but hurried over to hug him. Behind him and Bill, there was a smaller, equally ginger-haired boy, clutching a fat, grey rat.
"This is Percy, by the way. Our next brother." Charlie waved a hand at him vaguely. "He's not as fun as we are. Or as clever. Or as handsome, obviously."
"Or as big-headed, I'm sure," Marian laughed. She smiled at Percy, who looked extremely nervous. "Hi, Percy. Nice to meet you."
He nodded at her anxiously. "You too. Are you in Gryffindor as well?"
She shook her head and leaned around Charlie to speak in a whisper. "And despite what they tell you, it really doesn't matter what house you get put in. There's decent people in every single one."
"Shhhh, Baker! Stop dripping poison into our brother's ears!" Charlie rounded on Bill. "It's Gryffindor or nothing. We'll pretend we don't know you if you get put in Hufflepuff, and if you're in Slytherin, well…" he trailed off, miming a beheading motion.
"Do you see what I have to deal with now there's two of them at Hogwarts with me?" sighed Bill dramatically. "At least I'll be well out of here by the time Fred and George turn up. They'll be a bloody nightmare." He offered her a chocolate frog.
"No thanks – I'm stuffed!"
"I'm surprised there were any left for you – Orion went a bit mad and bought about a thousand!" Rowan chipped in, making eyes at Bill as he offered one to her. He looked a bit confused and sat down again.
Charlie leant over his older brother to speak to Marian. "Hey, Baker! Ready to be beaten at quidditch this year?"
"Not likely!" Skye interrupted from across the compartment. She glared at Charlie. "We'd have beaten you last year if we hadn't had a new beater to contend with. And we nearly beat Slytherin! You were miles behind!"
Charlie raised his eyebrows at her. "Are you a Baker now then? Did you two get hitched over the summer or something?"
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" Skye's eyes narrowed even further.
"Here I was, thinking I was talking to Baker, and then you answered. So I thought maybe you'd changed your name?" he replied innocently.
"Give it a rest, you two," Bill interjected, rolling his eyes. "It's Slytherin we have to fight, not each other. Now that Rath's gone, maybe we've finally got a chance of winning that cup."
"I think Orion would die happy if he managed to win the cup before graduating," Marian added, nodding.
"So, Baker, any more vaults for us to plunder this year?" Charlie asked flippantly.
She shook her head. "I still need to find Jacob – we're so close now, I can feel it. I wish we didn't. I'd like a quiet life for once. Concentrate on OWLs, for one thing."
"Oh God, don't remind me!" Andre groaned from under Ben. "I'm going to have to use a face pack every evening until June just so that I don't get worry lines!"
"I think I'd rather face another cursed vault than an exam," Ben muttered. "I'm joking. I really wouldn't. I'd rather not face either of them." He added hastily. He seemed rather uneasy around Marian, and she had to say that she felt similarly about him, after he'd attacked her the previous year while under the imperius curse. She knew it wasn't his fault, and she didn't blame him, but she couldn't help feeling slightly awkward around him.
After a bit more discussion about holidays, OWLs, cursed vaults and quidditch, of course, Marian made a vague excuse about finding more pumpkin juice – what she really wanted was to say a proper hello to Murphy. It felt so strange to speak to him and smile, but not be able to kiss him or hug him like she wanted to. So she raced back up the train, taking a deep breath before re-entering the compartment. Orion was asleep in the corner, and Murphy was buried in one of Marian's books that she'd finally fished out for him to read again. He flashed that big, happy, beaming smile of his at her when she reappeared in the doorway. Again, Marian felt like she'd missed a step on one of the Hogwarts staircases. It was all very strange. "I thought maybe you'd got lost. Or you'd found some cooler people to hang out with."
"What are the chances of that happening?" She smiled shyly at him.
"Hmm. Probably pretty good," he replied, laughing.
"What? Not an exact statistic? That's not like you."
"Well, what can I say?"
"Usually quite a lot," she replied, grinning and moving to sit next to him. She wasn't sure whether to sit close or not, but as soon as she sat down, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush to him.
"Mmm," he murmured, bringing one hand up to her cheek. "I've missed you, Cursebreaker."
Marian was finding it hard to breathe. Her insides were melting, she was sure of it. It felt so good to be in his arms again, to feel his touch. "I've missed you too," she gasped breathlessly. "So much."
He lowered his face slowly to hers and her eyelids fluttered closed as she felt his lips brush hers softly, his fingertips stroking her cheek lightly. It was perfect – gentle, tender, but it was not enough. The weeks of missing him, the sudden desire that was coursing through Marian, seemed to suddenly burst out of her and she kissed him back deeply, her lips hard against his, her tongue sliding into his mouth, hands fisting in his hair. She practically crawled into his lap, sitting astride him. "Murphy," she practically moaned into his mouth. He seemed surprised for a moment, then suddenly he was kissing her back just as eagerly, his hands splaying across her back, pulling her even closer, one hand tangling in her long hair. She heard him groan as she shifted her hips slightly and the sound sent a shiver running through her.
"Ahem!" A sudden loud cough from the doorway interrupted them. Marian pulled back slowly from Murphy, feeling as though she was emerging from underwater, sluggish and half-dazed. Skye and Rowan were standing there – Rowan looked a little shocked, while Skye just looked smug. "So sorry to interrupt your snogging session," Skye said loudly, barging in. "But we need to get changed!"
Marian's face was hot as she quickly slid off Murphy's lap. "Sorry," she muttered in embarrassment.
"I thought you were looking for pumpkin juice?" Skye said, her voice teasing. "Were you trying to find it down McNully's throat?"
"Oh, shut it, Parkin," Murphy replied lazily, looking far less embarrassed than Marian felt.
Rowan fidgeted anxiously in the doorway. "We really should get changed! Or else we'll arrive before we're ready!"
"Oi, Orion! Wake up! We need to get changed!" Skye kicked him. He jerked awake, grabbing his wand.
"Really, Skye? Was that necessary?" Marian shook her head, her face slowly returning to normal as she opened her trunk to find her Hogwarts robes. It was only when the girls put their robes on that Marian noticed the shiny new badge pinned proudly to Rowan's chest. "Rowan – you're a prefect!"
"Well… now that you come to mention it…" Rowan looked unusually bashful.
"Congratulations! That's amazing! You definitely deserve it." Marian hugged her friend, then rubbed her chest from where the badge dug in. "Ow."
"You don't mind?" Rowan gave Marian a questioning look. "I thought… Well, I was pretty sure you'd get it."
"Me?" Marian chuckled. "Don't be stupid! Dumbledore would never give it to me after all the trouble I've caused."
Rowan nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. I suppose you're right. I'm the goody two shoes, after all."
"Who else in our year got it?" Skye asked as they settled back into their seats. Marian waved the boys to come back in, making sure her trunk was out of the way so that Murphy could manoeuvre his wheelchair around it.
Rowan shrugged. "Talbott from Ravenclaw. Charlie Weasley told me he'd got it, and that girl, Abigail, from Gryffindor – you know, the one with the fringe."
"Penny got it, of course," Skye added. "She told me – I forgot to say."
"Talbott got it?" Murphy repeated, frowning. Marian glanced at him. It was so unlike him to ever frown about anything. She wondered if he'd wanted to be made a prefect. She couldn't pretend that it didn't sting a little, whatever she'd said to Rowan. But she was happy for her – Rowan did deserve it, definitely.
"They probably thought you were too busy creating legendary quidditch commentaries with their full complement of statistics to be interested in showing first years to their dormitories." She stretched out a hand to squeeze his shoulder, as she would've in the past, then suddenly thought better of it and pulled her hand back quickly. It must have looked very strange, because everyone else in the compartment was looking at her curiously.
Before they could talk anymore about prefects, however, the train started to slow down.
"Oh, gosh, we're here!" Rowan chirruped excitedly. "Hurry up, you lot!"
They gathered everything together, including a lot of chocolate frog wrappers, and prepared to leave the train. Skye and Rowan rushed out straight away, joining all the students thronging the corridors. Out of habit, Marian hung back to wait with Murphy.
"Want to do the honours?" Murphy grinned at Marian, gesturing at his wheelchair.
"Are you sure?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Remember what happened last time?" Last time Marian had cast leviosa on Murphy's wheelchair, he'd got concussion from an overhanging tree branch.
He threw back his head and laughed, one of his full, belly laughs that Marian couldn't help joining in with. "I'm hoping you've been practising over the summer. I don't want to spend the Welcome Feast sitting in the Hospital Wing with Madame Pomfrey, thanks."
She pulled out her wand. "OK. I'll do my best. Here goes. Wingardium leviosa." Pointing her wand at Murphy's wheelchair, she gently directed it upwards and out of the door into the corridor.
"You're doing well. I'd say there's a 94% chance of me making it onto the platform in one piece." His voice floated back to her.
"Watch it, or your chances might rapidly diminish!" she called after him.
"Are you threatening me again? I'll tell Rowan and she'll take away house points."
Marian accidentally lowered her wand a little too quickly and he shot down towards the platform.
"Merlin's great aunt…!" he shouted, hands gripping the seat of his wheelchair.
"Sorry, sorry!" She raced after him, catching herself just in time to lower him gently to the ground.
He wheeled around, glaring at her, but Marian could see a twinkle in his eye. "You, Marian Baker, are never allowed to leviosa me anywhere, ever again. I'm revoking your privileges."
He led the way to the last remaining carriage, flying himself up into it, while Marian trailed behind him, muttering apologies, and Orion followed slowly, gazing up at the stars and sighing deeply. The carriage set off, and Marian felt herself blushing again as her knees bumped against Murphy's.
"I mean, you may be the most brilliant chaser at Hogwarts, but you could never be a seeker, Marian. You really don't have a steady hand." Murphy was still grumbling.
"You think I'm the most brilliant chaser at Hogwarts?" Marian asked in astonishment, staring at him.
Murphy coughed. "Er – well, I mean, there's an 8.34% chance that it's you."
"That's not what you said, though. You said the most brilliant chaser at Hogwarts." She couldn't stop the smug smirk on her face. He had said that. He thought she was brilliant. Even though she'd nearly killed him only a moment before.
"I actually said, 'you may be the most brilliant chaser at Hogwarts', and the use of the word 'may' means that it's a possibility, not a certainty, and the possibility, as I just said to you, is actually only 8.34%, which is quite low." He rubbed a hand through his hair, looking embarrassed.
"Whatever. I know that you meant it." She grinned at him.