Chapter thirteen

In the library

/

During Saturday afternoon, Harry finally got to work on the last week's assignments. As the school library was supposed to be closed on Sunday for some mysterious reason, he grabbed a stack of parchments, an ink quill, and ran briskly down the stairs.

"Ron, don't you want to go to the library with me?" he pleaded to his friend.

"What? You're out of your mind, aren't you?" protested Ron.

"Don't you have any school assignments?"

"No?" Ron guessed, but then caught Hermione's frown.

"Well... some, I guess, but I won't make them until tomorrow. I really don't feel like it today."

"Well, of course," Harry nodded. "What about you?" he turned to Hermione.

She looked up at him, almost frightened: "Me? Well, I… I've already finished all the tasks," she stammered.

"Oh, never mind," Harry said, walking away.

Those two definitely looked like they were hiding something from him again and they still though that he did not notice.

/

This time, Shiernov tasked them with an essay on Extinct and Current Dangerous Aquatic Creatures, as she found out that they did not have enough knowledge about them. Harry was running his eyes over the book covers on the third shelf and he already had two rather thick books in his arms. He spotted an interesting title and with some difficulty pulled out the thin book. Only then, he realized that someone was watching him through a narrow gap above the books from the other side of the shelves.

It was Angela.

Hi.

Harry smiled.

I'll leave you a message here. You can write an answer on it.

There was a soft rustle of paper on the other side and the book closing.

Aquatic plants and medicinal herbs, she added quickly, sliding the book into the empty space.

She then walked along the aisle and Harry along his own. Of course, when they turned the corner, they found themselves facing each other. Angela winked at him and headed to her place, where she already had written notes on almost the same topic as Harry.

Harry quickly made his way to where she had originally been standing. After a while, he found the mentioned book, added it to his own and went to the other end of the library to his desk.

After taking a seat and placing a pile of books in front of him, he first looked around and quickly unfolded the note.

If you do not have any more detention today, we could meet for another "telepathy" lesson, how about that? This time, we should better meet in the Room of Requirement; it will be safer than in that classroom last time. If you agree, decide the time of meeting up. It will suit me anytime...

Put the message in the same book, I will pick it up. And please, don´t use names.

A.

Harry was smiling happily and could not wait for the evening already. He checked again to make sure no one was watching him and quickly scribbled an answer on the other side of the parchment. He folded the note, placed it in the same place, and discreetly returned it.

When he finally got down to writing the essay, it took him quite an effort to focus, but it ended up going better than he'd expected.

/

Angela got up from her seat about ten minutes later, when she could not bear any longer with her impatience. She turned into the aisle where the important bookshelf was located and quickly pulled out the book in question. The message was there.

With a pleased smile, she placed the book back, began to slip the note into the back pocket of her pants, and turned to leave. However, she immediately stopped in unpleasant surprise. Just behind her, so close she almost crashed into him, Draco was leaning against the heavy bookshelf with his hands in his pockets, looking down slightly at her. Sometimes, it bothered her that he was taller.

She slowly slid the message all the way in and folded her arms over her chest.

"Are you spying on me?" she barked questioningly, clenching her nails into her palms.

Draco's eyes narrowed: "Should I?" he asked challengingly.

Angela gritted her teeth and stared into his eyes, but she could not tell what he was thinking. She moved closer to him, and then even closer until her lips were almost touching his left ear.

"I'm warning you this time, Draco," she whispered in a dangerous voice. "Leave me alone."

"Or what?" he replied just as quietly.

Angela gave him another icy look and walked away without any other word.

Malfoy followed her with his eyes, but did not turn to follow her. It could not be seen on his face, but she still managed to upset him. Rage and fear bubbled behind his cool mask. He was more worried each day regarding to what Angela was up to behind his back.

He made his way to the exit of the library, completely forgetting the urge to start writing an essay for Shiernov. He was angry, even though he knew that it was probably completely useless.

What is she even thinking? If she doesn't recover on her own and pretty quickly, I'm going to make her!

He did not know for sure, but he had a hunch from whom the note she stuffed in her pocket was.

She's getting herself into a lot of trouble. If this leaks, she won't be the only one to pay for it, and that…

His musings were cut short the moment he slammed into the petite girl, who unexpectedly appeared directly in front of him.

Daria yelped in surprise, and the pile of books and scrolls she had clumsily crammed into her arms clattered to the ground. Draco caught the girl at the last moment, so she would not fall after them.

Daria looked up at Malfoy's cold face, completely frozen under the touch of his hands. She met his eyes, grey as the summer storm sky, and her knees buckled as she did so.

Draco stared into her deep blue eyes for a moment, unable to tear himself away from them immediately, then let go of her.

"Sorry," he hummed softly, kneeling down to the mess on the floor.

"It's nothing," answered Daria, who also leant down.

Draco handed her a stack of books after she collected a few parchments.

"Thanks," Daria took the books and smiled beautifully.

Draco almost smiled too, but stopped at the last moment. He realized that she was Angela's friend from Gryffindor, and his pleasant expression a moment ago disappeared. Coldness and contempt replaced them again.

He stood up quickly and Daria followed him still smiling. But then she looked into Malfoy's eyes again and her smile froze.

"Next time, watch your step!" Malfoy barked mockingly and walked around her.

Daria watched in confusion as he hurried out of the library.

/

By nine in the evening, Harry had finished all his tasks and was one of the first to leave the common room. He placed the two described parchments on the windowsill of their bedroom. It was already dark outside and it was drizzling.

He looked back at Ron's bed, but he was not there. And he didn't see him in common room either... He shrugged and crawled into the bathroom to try to smooth his unruly hair for the umpteenth time.

By half past ten, he was already quietly coming down the stairs, passed unobtrusively through the Gryffindor common room, where there were still a few second years, fifth years and prefects, and slipped out through the opening.

Over the years, he had learned to walk quietly in the corridors of Hogwarts, so he could distinctly hear the voices of two laughing people coming from around the corner.

After a moment, he recognized Ron and Hermione and stopped in surprise.

"Why are we going back now?" Ron protested.

"It was terribly cold in that closet," Hermione comforted him.

"But there's still going to be a lot of people and…" Ron trailed off as they turned the corner of the corridor and both were left staring at Harry.

Harry glanced from one to the other, then to Ron's arm around Hermione's waist, and the corners of his mouth started to twitch.

Ron blushed and quickly shoved both hands into his pockets.

"Harry… For Merlin's sake, what are you doing here," he mumbled with a fake smile. "We're just coming back, well... from, um..."

"Stop it, Ron," slightly blushing Hermione cut him off.

Wanting to punish them a little, Harry started to frown, folded his arms and asked offended: "Can you explain why you didn't tell me anything for so long?"

"And what were we supposed to tell you?" said Ron seemingly innocently.

"You better shut it!" Hermione snapped at him. "I really wanted to, Harry," she began ruefully. "I thought it was pointless to keep hiding from you, but here Ronald was against it," and she dug her elbow into her boyfriend.

"But it's not… I just…"

"Stop it," Harry almost laughed, unable to take it anymore. "I'm not angry with you. Only a blind person wouldn't notice that there´s more than friendship between you two."

"Well, it took you long enough," Ron noted sourly.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded him again.

"Just leave him," Harry reassured her. "He´s right. If I had paid a little more attention to you, I would have known this a long time ago."

"But we don't blame you, do we?" Hermione turned to Ron with a frown.

"Of course not," he confirmed.

"Never mind, for now, I'm going," Harry patted Ron on the shoulder and quickly walked away from them.

Both Hermione and Ron turned to him in confusion.

"And where are you going?" Ron called after him curiously, causing Harry to turn as he walked.

"On a date!" he replied with a smile and disappeared from their sight in the next corridor.

"What? What is this? He has a girlfriend and he didn't tell me?" Ron started to get angry, but Hermione hung around his neck happily, so he quickly shut up again.

/

Angela arrived to the Room of Requirement about five minutes after Harry. They continued in the same way as last time, although Harry was having more trouble calming down when he felt Angela in front of him. A little later, she stated that he had a natural talent for communicating through thoughts. Harry's watch was showing almost eleven o´clock, when they both got up from their comfortable chairs.

Angela smiled a little nervously and walked over to the tightly closed window. For a moment, there was a tense silence between them. Harry stood close behind her and stroked her long hair.

"You know what they say about the second kiss?" Angela said softly then.

Harry turned her around a little shakily.

"No, I don't," he replied curiously.

"That it's the hardest of all," Angela said.

"Really? And isn't about time to disprove this theory?" Harry boldly challenged her.

Angela smiled widely and snuggled closer to him. Harry leaned down and kissed her on the soft lips. After a while, their mouths parted, but their faces remained close.

"And what about the third?" asked Harry.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Angela replied quietly.

"Good. It doesn't matter at all anyway," Harry said as he began to kiss his girl again…

/

"Do you know what I just realized?" Harry said a few minutes later, as he sat in the cushioned chair with Angela on his lap, holding her tightly, feeling warm and happy.

"What?" Angela asked with her arms around him and with her eyes closed.

Anxious, yet determined at the same time, Harry lifted her head from his shoulder to make her look at him.

"That I fell in love with you, Angie," he said softly. He was a little afraid to say those words, but at the same time, he did not want to choke them inside anymore. He wanted her to know how she made him feel.

A strange expression appeared in Angela's eyes, as she took in a shaky breath: "And you know what I realized, Harry?"

"No," he breathed out tensely.

"I think I´ve just fallen in love, too..."

/

Late at night, when the whole Hogwarts castle was already asleep, the shadow of a tall figure, cloaked in a hoodie, crept into the darkened library. They silently made their way to the restricted section and noiselessly jumped the rope that separated the shelves of rather shabby volumes from the rest of the library.

With a steady movement, they used a wand to pull a thick volume from the top shelf and put it on the floor. The shadow muttered some sort of charm and a few seconds later a perfect copy of it lay next to the original book.

The mysterious figure returned the duplicate, shrunk the original book and shoved it into the depths of their cloak. They cautiously looked around and disappeared again as quietly as they had come.