Chapter Twenty-Seven: Point of No Return
A/N: For those who may have missed it, there was a scene added to the last chapter after it was posted. Totally forgot about it when posting last week. My bad.
This first scene here might seem kind of weird without going back and reading it first.
Friday, 18th February 2000.
Hermione snuggled closer against Harry, the pair having entwined on the empty couch in the rec room several hours earlier when they had found it currently unused. Her eyes flicked to her boyfriend who was quietly reading a book in his outstretched left hand, his right arm tucked around her shoulders comfortingly. He noticed her gaze and smiled at her past the book before he turned back to his reading.
She envied him slightly at the moment, as while she too had a book in hand, she had not read a line in over half an hour. Hermione was too busy thinking over the things that Jack had said earlier in the week.
It wasn't that she disliked the man at all. He was nice enough outside the training room, but he had a habit of getting Harry to do things that to her felt foolish. Had he not already been in enough danger during their time at Hogwarts? She also hated that she knew the two of them had taken the whole encounter too lightly. They both knew full well that there were spells that a simple shield would not protect against and they had become complacent behind their seemingly impenetrable defence, thinking that Mother could not use such an attack.
Hermione respected the tall woman immensely. While women had been allowed to serve in the armed forces for decades, she still occasionally saw stories about the stigmas and treatment they often faced. Women had only been truly allowed to serve as combat pilots by those forces during her third year at Hogwarts.
Mother was an imposing presence, but a lot of fun to talk to when she was about. She was quite crass, but after Hermione's experiences at Hogwarts, crass was a bit of a welcome relief. Mother had even taken her aside the day before and encouraged her not to give up on the training, impressing that Hermione was a lot like her little chickadee friend that she had served with until recently.
Hermione felt a smile spread on her face at such a thought before her attention was once more pulled away by two people stepping up in front of the couch.
"Hello," Carson said brightly, the man's demeanour was also light and airy and she found it impossible not to like him.
"Hello, Carson. Neville. How are things?" Hermione asked as Harry marked his place and lowered his book, nodding at the two other men.
Neville looked thrilled to have the Scotsman with them and had been working closely with him since he had arrived two weeks earlier.
"Very good," Neville said, looking at the Scot beside him happily. "I've already learned a lot that might help mum and dad one day."
"Aye, we'll get them back on their feet soon, laddie. But for now, I need to go downstairs." Carson said, turning back to look at the two of them.
Harry and Hermione glanced at one another for a moment before she replied. "Are you certain? Once you go down, you can't come back up until the cure is complete without undergoing the minimum three-week quarantine."
Carson nodded. "I'm aware. But we've run every simulation I think it is possible to do up here. And as talented as your magical friends downstairs are, they're having trouble with my purely muggle methods." He said with a smirk at the odd term they all used. "I'm needed down there so we can run the next stage of tests on fresh live cells."
"Is that wise?" Harry asked, leaning forward, his arm pulling Hermione with him.
"It's standard procedure. At some point you have to test your theories practically, otherwise, we can never know for certain. We're still a few steps away from trying to treat the patient, but we can use the beam technology to precisely extract cells from parts of her body to test effectiveness against any mutation that may have occurred in her cells. I assure you, we will all abide by the most stringent safety guidelines. No one wants this thing to have a chance to replicate and get out. But this is what we need to do if we're going to beat this bugger."
"Alright then," Hermione said, getting a nod from Harry and Neville as well. "Is there anything more you need us to provide? Or anything you want to take down. Keep in mind, anything you do take down may not be able to come back up. Our plan is to break down the molecules of that entire area into hydrogen and beam them into the sun once the research is complete."
"No, just me. Anything else we need you can send directly down there. I have to say, it's nice not having to deal with budget constraints. I ask for something and you just have it here within the day."
Harry gave a chuckle. "Being here does have its privileges."
"Aye. I'm seriously considering sticking around once all is said and done. So long as I'm able to visit home on the regular. As beautiful as it is here, and as homely as my rooms are, I do miss the green hills of home. The fake window just isn't that same."
"I don't think any of us are planning anything that would prevent that," Neville said. "I've got too much at home I need to keep an eye on to disappear on it."
The group nodded as they considered all that they had left behind by starting on this journey, and Hermione found herself suppressing a light chuckle that she really hadn't left much behind at all. Aside from a few friends she'd made, all that she needed in life was right beside her here in Aether. From Harry to her parents. There wasn't even a home or business left back in England now. She was all in on this new adventure. And that helped to solidify her need to succeed in Jack's tests as well.
"So, shall we?" Carson said, once more breaking her from her thoughts.
"You want to go now?" She asked in surprise.
"No time like the present."
"I can take you," Neville said, giving Harry and Hermione a knowing look that had the two blushing. Their friend certainly liked the fact that the two had become a couple, saying he'd seen signs for a long time, but that didn't mean he wasn't also a fan of giving them a ribbing whenever he found them being couplish.
"True, anyone on the council can get you down there. It's the coming back that needs full agreement." Harry noted, laying back against the couch once more. "Best of luck, Doctor. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"Will do. I'll let you get back to your reading."
The chipper man spun on his heel and Neville mirrored his actions before the two headed over to the nearby transport cabinet.
"Are you worried?" Harry asked her softly as Hermione too reclined back into his arm and snuggled tighter to his chest.
"Of course. This thing wiped out the people we're emulating. I know we hired Carson because he is an expert in his field, but playing with live cells just sounds dangerous."
"I know. But if we don't trust the experts, who can we trust?"
Hermione sighed softly. "You're right."
Hermione closed her eyes and pressed her ear to Harry's chest. She couldn't help but let the comment about the experts circle back on her own issues with Jack and the training. Hermione promised she'd do more to come to terms with it all. She pushed it all aside, for now, letting the sound of Harry's breathing and the distant soft beat of his heart lull her mind and body. Harry's chest rumbled once with a laugh before he softly shifted her hair out of her face and plucked the now-ignored book from her hands. She knew he had gone back to his reading as she let her mind quiet and Hermione fell gently into sleep.
ϟ
Sunday, 20th February 2000.
Harry watched the hologram quietly, noting the careful yet purposeful movements of the people in the bowels of the facility as they worked on the newest set of fresh cells. The first test had gone off swimmingly with eight of the ten compounds seeming to clear all signs of the virus from the cells.
The next day had been less promising, taking cells from elsewhere had shown greater resistance to several of the compounds, but Carson had not wavered in his belief that they were close to complete success.
Harry's nerves would not settle on this matter until every single molecule in that room had been proven clean or broken down. While he'd never had a cold or the flu thanks to his natural magical resilience to such common muggle ailments, he'd done a lot of research on the various diseases that plagued humanity. What he'd learned had terrified him. Microscopic particles he could not see or defend himself against.
Harry shuddered before his attention was drawn away from the image by a vibration at his wrist. The porta had activated.
He apparated directly into the conscensa and pulled his wand, his left hand hovering over the pistol on his hip as three Asgard stepped into the Aether for the first time. He relaxed upon seeing them and noted that their eyes fell on his weapons.
"Sorry, a little on edge today. Welcome to Aether. Idun, Vidar, Odin. It's good to see you."
"And you," Idun replied in her high melodic voice.
"Why are you on edge?" Odin asked simply, face unreadable.
"We have some people downstairs right now trying to perfect a cure for the plague that ravaged our ancestors. Obviously, we're being extremely cautious." Harry replied.
"You should destroy any and all samples of that vondur," Vidar said vehemently, and Harry wouldn't have needed to know Asgardian to understand the term.
"We are trying, but it was found in the living body of one of our ancestors. She predates their departure from this galaxy. We can't just kill her out of fear."
"Fear is usually a wise emotion," Odin said simply. "You would be smart to go with its suggestion more often than not. But I can see how such a thing would seem worth the risk."
Harry heard several others arriving behind him, having obviously walked to the conscensa upon hearing the connection rather than his panicked apparition. He turned to see Padma and Richard walk in and he nodded to them both.
"Hello," Richard said as he joined Harry though Padma remained silent and simply waved half-heartedly.
"We did not come today to discuss this matter," Vidar said. "We are here because pieces of Asgardian technology have been going missing from the primitive worlds we protect."
"And what, you suspect we're doing it?" Padma asked.
Odin and Vidar looked in her direction for a moment before turning back to Harry as though she hadn't spoken.
"We have noticed a correlation between the missing technology and visits to these worlds by the SGC. Every missing item was preceded by a visit from that group and their failure to negotiate for access to the devices." Odin explained.
Idun continued. "While we do not begrudge the SGC looking to advance their level of technology," Harry noted a soft growl of disagreement from Vidar that Idun ignored, pressing on, "we cannot stand by and allow them to do so at the expense of those we oversee."
"But you don't overs…" Padma growled, before Harry cut her off with a wave of his hand, shaking his head when she glared at him.
"I understand the issue. But I can assure you that we are not involved." Harry offered. "Merlin monitors the activity of the SGC, just in case something extreme occurs that might require intervention, but we have no direct contact with them at this point in time. We're still busy working out the intricacies of our own technology and how best to utilise it. And I assure you, were we aware of such thefts taking place, we'd have contacted you and asked how you would like us to proceed. We still hope that our two people can be friends."
"There is still great debate on that topic, and it is not why we are here," Odin said firmly, shutting down any further discussion on that subject. "We did not expect you to be responsible, we merely needed to check on matters. We will be contacting the SGC about the thefts as well."
"You are welcome to come by anytime. It doesn't always need to be dire circumstances for us to meet." Richard said with a smile.
"Thank you," Idun replied, seeming to be the only one of the three not predisposed to disliking them. "I like the improvements you have made."
Harry smirked. "I'll tell Luna you said that, she'll be thrilled."
"We should go. We will learn nothing more here." Vidar said, once more sounding like he'd rather be anywhere than talking to them, almost seeming disappointed that they were not further involved.
Before the Asgard could move, however, Harry noticed all the chevrons lighting up bright green, indicating another incoming wormhole.
"Watch out." He said, noticing as Idun stepped quickly aside while Vidar, who was positioned in the centre of the splash zone had to leap to the side, nearly knocking Odin over as he did so.
The portal filled in the normal fashion and without the unstable vortex they had seen on the video from the SGC a few times now. Out of the shimmering surface stepped Luna, looking as though she'd just been exploring the underbrush of one of the Ring planets with her small friend perched on her shoulder.
"Hello Idun. How are you?" She asked the moment she noticed the Asgard standing there staring at her. "How is Thor? He never says hello anymore."
"Thor is wel…" Idun began before being cut off.
"The Supreme Commander is busy elsewhere," Vidar growled as he pushed himself up from the hard surface. "He has no time for pleasantries right now."
Odin stepped over and helped his fellow council member up before any of them could get close.
"Well, give him my best then," Luna said, totally unfazed by the rudeness shown by Vidar. She simply waved at Idun and walked over to Padma, whispering to her for a moment before guiding the angry girl from the room.
Harry couldn't suppress the chuckle at her actions. Luna was something else at times, and he loved her for it.
"She is right. Pass our best onto all your people. If you need anything at all..."
"We will tell you." Odin finished for him, his tone clearly suggesting their discussion was over.
He raised one hand, in which he held a small pearlescent stone similar to those Thor had used aboard his ship that began to glow bright yellow. Harry watched as what looked like two lines of energy swept upwards and inwards from the bottom and sides of the porta at a low angle. He figured the energy must form at the base of the porta's opening and work around the circle on both sides, keeping a connection to that origin point as it moved. The energy formed a large narrowing V as it rose before it reached the top where the two edges met, leaving behind the usual blue-tinted event horizon. It was different to the way they themselves created a wormhole without the vortex, but no less impressive.
"Farewell," Richard said with a wave as the three Asgard turned to leave, only Idun turned back and waved in reply.
"You would be wise to abandon your research on the plague. Before it destroys you and all who reside on this planet." Odin warned, not even turning to reprimand them before he and Vidar passed into the event horizon and Idun soon followed.
Harry sighed as the porta disconnected and he was left looking out over the white expanse of Antarctica beyond. "With how amicable Thor, Idun and Penegal have been, I really thought being friends with the Asgard would be relatively simple. But Vidar truly seems to dislike us, and Odin…"
"Politics are never easy. They seem to suck wherever you go. And they've got a lot on their plate right now by the sounds of things." Richard defended the little aliens.
"Guess we just have to keep trying and showing we can be good allies. Do you think we should look into this theft problem?" Harry asked, turning away from the porta and walking back towards the room he'd been in before, noticing as he entered that the hologram of the procedure in the basement was still active.
"No. It seems the Asgard already know how they plan to proceed. I think in this case, the SGC needs to acquit themselves in the eyes of the Asgard. And this would be a poor way for us to introduce ourselves, showing up only to reprimand them for stealing things. In some ways, and I think Odin and Vidar might be thinking along these lines; that we're not much better."
"How so?" Harry asked, taking a seat by the hologram.
"We just happened upon Merlin's Lab. It's pure luck that we are in this place right now. So far, most of us have been lucky enough to have the gene necessary to run it. Since you found that cave, we've done good things, but we're still so inexperienced with what it is truly like out there. In the few encounters we've had we have gotten very lucky. And luck runs out eventually. I can understand why they would be reluctant to rely on us as true allies, given all of that."
Harry really wished that Richard hadn't poked fate by mentioning their luck while they were playing with a plague that had nearly wiped out the civilization they were hoping to rebuild. In his experience, tempting fate like that usually tended to bite you in the arse.
"I guess that is why we have Jack and Carson here. So we can stop flailing in the dark and find a proper purpose." Harry replied quietly, watching the doctors below running their next battery of tests hoping that soon they might have a little insight into those they were currently emulating. He could use the help.
ϟ
Tuesday, 29th February 2000.
Aurora checked and rechecked the results of the latest tests. The first few days had been so promising, before they'd run into some difficulties with the heart and brain tissue samples. Clearing the viral particles from those had proven more difficult, even with Carson's ingenious muggle delivery methods.
Were they forced to do this purely the magical way, they'd have revived the subject months ago and simply forced a potion down her throat, hoping that it was successful. But they would have missed all the particles in these trouble areas. The virus would have returned much worse than before and they'd have unleashed something even worse on the world.
She shuddered at the thought before she noted her findings in the log. She wondered if they'd ever be able to release their findings, as some of the techniques they were using here were fascinating and could only help magical medicine improve. Aurora knew that Poppy occasionally dabbled in the muggle methods she had learned from her numerous contacts, but this was Aurora's first time doing so.
Magic could cure most any modern ailment that afflicted muggles, but they had become so resourceful in the absence of that useful skill.
Aurora looked up from her work and noticed the other three were all working over their own stations in the small lab. A small screen on the far wall showed the image of the living patient they were hopefully close to curing, still frozen in place, unaware of the efforts being put into saving her life.
Aurora had to admit that she was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to speak with the woman. Though Merlin had pointed out that she likely would not understand their language, and she was definitely not fluent in the woman's supposed language. But that did nothing to lessen her eagerness.
She'd had a few discussions with Carson since he joined them down here, and she was seriously considering sticking around after they completed their task, just as he was. This had been the most incredible few months of her career. And if they were right, and this was an alien ancestor of humanity, things only stood to get even more amazing.
If only they could figure out these last few tweaks needed to improve the efficacy of the cure. She glanced once more at the video feed, noting that Carson too was glancing in that direction before she returned to her work, making an alteration to the amount of knotgrass extract for her next batch.
ϟ
Wednesday, 1st March 2000.
Padma pressed her face harder into the pillow, hoping against hope that the effort might silence the irritating whispering in the back of her mind for five minutes. When she had something else to properly focus on, she could suppress the sound completely, but in moments such as these where she was alone, it would always return.
Slowly at first, almost too quiet to discern. But gradually it would build and grow. Sometimes it was clear and easy to understand. Other times it was just loud and cacophonous, impossible to make any sense out of. At others, the sound itself would be replaced by the images, and those were the worst of all.
Every time they would leave her feeling sick to her stomach. Sometimes she'd even had to rush to the ensuite to avoid making a mess.
Right now the sound was so loud in her ears that it wasn't until the fourth chime that she realized the beeping wasn't just an aspect of the irritation within her mind. But the irritation from outside.
"Go away, Harry." She growled, clutching the pillow tighter once more.
The intercom chimed again and she actually growled at it and the nuisance standing at her door. She threw the pillow down on the bed and stood, stomping over to the door and hitting the control panel hard.
"I said go away!" She said again, Harry's now visible face fixed in the exact slightly smug smirk she'd known it would be in.
"If you're sure, but is that really what you want me to do right now?" He asked.
She rubbed her forehead and felt some of the pain lessen as her mind found something to do other than focus on the foreign presence still buried somewhere in its depths.
"No." She said, through clenched teeth.
Padma swung on her heel and left the door open as she returned to her bed, sitting on the edge and clutching the previously abused pillow in her hands, scrunching it tightly. Harry took his time following her, stepping quietly inside and closing the door before he walked over to the desk opposite the bed and grasped the back of the chair, swinging it around to face the bed.
"When is Parvati supposed to be arriving?" He asked as though he hadn't been buzzing her for ten minutes for no reason again.
"In an hour," Padma replied snappily.
"That's good. I'm glad she enjoys her time here. You two seem a lot closer these days. Not that I was super observant about such things back at Hogwarts."
Padma scoffed at the comment. She'd barely had cause to interact with Harry in Hogwarts outside of the disaster that had been the Yule Ball and the mischievous subterfuge of the DA. And while she and Parvati had spent their fair share of time together in school, they had drifted somewhat apart by the time they graduated.
"I'm surprised at how gleefully she's taken to all of this new technology and information. Had you asked me five years ago what my sister would do after graduating, I'd have assured you she'd be running a fashion line or something equally banal."
"To some, those things are vitally important. I might find them silly, but I can understand why others might enjoy them." Harry said, showing more of the emotional depth he had grown into since leaving the school.
"Did you have to grow into such an understanding and nosy bugger?" Padma retorted, hugging the pillow to her chest.
Harry raised both hands defensively. "Hey, you lot are the ones who decided to make me High Councilor. It is literally my job to talk to members of my staff who decide to verbally attack one of our only allies."
"I didn't attack them." She said, rolling her eyes.
"I know, because you were advised to stop. How bad are the voices?" Harry said, diverting the topic exactly where she had not wanted it to go.
"Seriously? Do you have to be so nosy?"
"Not at all. I could leave and allow you to stew in your thoughts. We both know exactly where that will lead. I've been there. Thankfully I had a stubborn group of friends who dragged me out by the ear every time I felt like brooding on things like that. I wouldn't be the delightfully bright and chipper man before you if they hadn't."
"How I regret them now." Padma joked half-heartedly. "It gets worse the longer I go without something to focus on. Given I can't spend all of my time working, I often find myself alone with my thoughts."
"It's not healthy to throw yourself into work to hide from the pain. Trust me. It just means the inevitable explosion becomes all the worse."
"Did you ever think maybe I like the pain?" She said sharply, glaring at Harry.
"It crossed my mind, but I'm pretty sure you don't."
The two sat silently for a long time, Padma fuming at Harry but the longer she stared, the less she found she was angry with him. After about twenty minutes of silence, she realized she wasn't angry with him at all. The presence had been influencing her emotions again.
"Sorry." She apologized as her gaze slipped away from his own.
"What for? No one here holds you even slightly responsible, Padma. We all made a big mistake thinking that bastard was safely locked away."
"You keep trying to help, and I keep letting myself stew in its misery."
"Well, it isn't like you seek out its suffering for kicks. Darkness hides in the places we never think to look. I know Hermione and Luna have been looking for ways to get it out of you for good." Harry extended his hand and Padma looked at the tiny triangular prism sitting on his palm. "Hermione made this one special for you. Took a bit longer. It should help keep your mind busy enough, even when you're alone and not working, to ignore the call from the shadows."
Padma was surprised. She knew the others had been using the devices for a few weeks now, running the mental training gauntlet via the new interface. But her one had not taken well upon her first attempt, and Hermione had promised to rework it to be better.
She reached out and took the small object from Harry, tucking it gently against the skin just behind her right ear, immediately below the hairline. While there was no part that punctured the skin, she still felt a tiny pinch in the muscles under the skin as it affixed to her, a reaction to the new stimulus. She knew that it had just blended to match her skin tone, which combined with her hair would keep it hidden from any cursory inspection should she ever be captured.
"How's that?" Harry thought at her, the device operating as a communication method as well.
"Good. It'll be a while before I know for sure if it helps. But it already feels better than the last one."
"That's great," Harry said with a smile that slowly faded to a more serious expression. "Do you think you're ready to talk about the other day now?"
Padma sighed and tossed the pillow onto the bed behind her, laying on her back and ramming her head hard against the material, that somehow managed to be exactly as soft and firm as she wanted it to be at any moment.
"Go ahead, tell me off."
"Hey, it's not like I disagree. The entire treaty is a huge bluff that the System Lords are too busy fighting each other to test. But saying that outright to the two members of the council that most seem to want a reason to hate us isn't going to help our standing with them."
"I know that."
"And I know it wasn't all you that snapped at them. You'd been looking angry for days. I really want to help you clear whatever Anubis left in your head out. But we need to ensure we don't ostracize the Asgard before that happens. We all know they've got a lot on their plate right now."
"So we should do it!" Padma said forcefully, sitting up and staring at Harry.
"Again, I don't disagree. But Richard, Merlin and Neville are still researching the best options for a vessel we can use to do so. And even once we settle on a design, it will be at least a week or more to design and integrate it depending on how big it ends up needing to be. There are still only a few of us. I won't be responsible for us being overconfident and rushing in half-cocked. I've gotten enough people killed by being rash."
Padma looked away from him at the admonishment, knowing he was right. She allowed her arms to fall from underneath her and collapsed back on the bed again, turning away from Harry and his logic as the two fell back into a long silence.
Harry eventually broke it, jostling her out of her drifting thoughts. "Speaking of, Idun sent a message today. Not only did she finally send us some info on those purple-blooded aliens from a few months back, they are apparently called the Stragoth. She and O'Neill also managed to isolate and take out the rogue unit that was stealing their stuff. Maybourne had been running it since the reshuffle. They'd been operating with impunity for months now. Turns out they were taking Tollan and Nox gear too. The Asgard confiscated everything and are returning it to where it needs to go."
"Whoopee for them." Padma snarked, regretting being so confrontational, but unable to help herself sometimes.
She saw Harry smirk at her out of the corner of her eye. "Careful. Unless you want to be assigned the permanent ambassador to the Asgard by the Council."
Padma spun to glare at him, "You wouldn't dare."
"Of course, I wouldn't. We want this friendship to go well. Intentionally prodding them won't help matters. But you knew a lot of people from back home that I never did. Perhaps you can consider a few options we might bring on board who would be better at managing such relationships. Everyone knows I'm pants at it."
Padma felt herself properly smile for the first time in days. "True. What are the Asgard and the others doing to the SGC for the thefts?"
"Nothing. Due to them resolving the matter internally. However, I have been thinking about the SGC a bit lately."
"Really? How so?"
"Their chaotic dialling solution. Merlin is beginning to think he may never be able to smooth out the flaws in it. At least not without them noticing. Surely someone that works there wrote that program, to begin with. They'd probably notice if we started fiddling about with the code."
"Unfortunate, but also likely. So what do we do? We should keep a closer eye on them. They can't be allowed to continue ignoring the safeguards."
Harry nodded and tapped a few commands into his remote until a small hologram of a porta appeared between them. "What do you think?"
"I think it looks like a standard fourth-generation astria porta."
"Exactly. But internally, it's the new design. I think we're better off finding some way to give them a new porta. One that can output its energy signals directly into their computer to display as plain English text."
Padma pushed up onto her elbows again, looking up at Harry. "That… is actually quite genius."
Harry pretended to look hurt.
"Whatever, I know you know I think you're actually much smarter than you let on. How do we switch it out? We know they have that room under surveillance twenty-four hours a day. Not to mention the constant human presence. Beaming it out would be kind of obvious."
"Yeah, that's the part I can't figure out. I'd hoped you might have an idea or two." Harry said, looking at her hopefully for several long drawn-out moments before she shook her head. He sighed as he sat back and left the hologram slowly revolving between them. "Oh well. I guess I'll set the system to integrate it and we'll worry about how to swap it out when we have an opportunity."
He entered several more commands and Padma knew that soon there would be a new porta model sitting in one of the empty labs somewhere. She would remember to consider other ways of getting it inside the mountain base, and she noted a tiny flicker in her right eye as the device behind her ear created a reminder for exactly that.
"Wow. Hermione really did a number with these things." She whispered, waving her fingers in front of her eyes and still she could see the reminder in the bottom corner until she closed her eyes for a moment and willed it to vanish.
"They work great," Harry said proudly and Padma saw the goofy grin he always got when considering his girlfriend.
"So, you never did tell us. How was the date in Paris?"
"Spectacular. The view was amazing, and the dinner was excellent. Dobby outdid himself. And, well… the rest is private." Harry said, blushing slightly.
"Good. A gentleman should never kiss and tell." She said with a cheeky smirk, that Harry returned before they both broke out into laughter.
It helped her feel so much freer whenever Harry forced one of these talks on her. Padma knew she made it difficult as the more she needed one, the less likely she was to admit it. So Harry had resorted to cornering her a couple of times now. She was always angry with his method at first, but grateful once she regained full control. As she came down from the laughter once more, she noticed another beeping coming from her door.
Glancing quickly at the time, she started, realizing that somehow Harry had managed to distract her for the full hour. It had certainly not felt like it, but now her sister was at her door requesting entry.
"I'll leave you two to chat. Come find me if you wanna talk again, preferably before I need to track you down. Deal?" Harry said, stepping over to the door as she swung upright on the bed.
"I'll try."
"All I can ask. Have fun." He said, triggering the panel and watching Parvati shoot through the door, arms spread wide, seeking a hug that didn't come. She glanced to the bed and saw her sister looking up at her and sprang forwards, Padma noticing as Harry quietly stepped outside and closed the door once more.
"It's nice to see you too, Parv. Now let go and calm down." She said, feeling a whole lot better than she had in days.