Chapter 36: Secrets Revealed

May, Seventh Year

"It's good to finally meet you, Brittany! Come in, come in!"

She was smiling at me widely, and I stepped into the office.

"Good to meet you too, Mrs Macdonald," I replied with a smile to match hers. I'd sent her quite a few owls over the past month, asking about muggle relations at the Ministry. Santana had been wonderful, doing this for me, but I'd wanted to find out about it for myself. She'd always sounded very friendly in her letters, and it was nice to see she was in real life too.

"Please, call me Gloria. Do have a seat. Can I get you any tea?"

"No thank you, I'm fine," I replied, settling down in the comfy seat opposite her desk. She bustled around to the other side, shuffling through a few piles of parchment before finally coming up with what I recognised as my letters.

"Well I have to say, Brittany, I'm very impressed by your perceptiveness in these letters. You seem to have a firm grasp of muggle relations and I can't say I have many worries about your knowledge in that area. Although, what are you predicted at NEWT level for Muggle Studies?"

"An O, I think. Professor Holliday says I should get an O, anyway."

"That's excellent, then. So, what I really wanted to discuss with you today were the more practical elements of the job, such as the changes to the Statute. I also remember you saying you don't have any experience of administrative work?"

"Not really," I admitted. She'd said in one of her letters that it shouldn't be too much of a problem because I'd be trained, but I'd still tried to think of something to tell her about that, to show I could do it well. "I helped my neighbour last summer with paperwork, though. She's a muggle, and her husband died, and she asked me to sort out his office for her. Oh, and I brought those notes I told you about," I added, reaching down into my bag to reach for the folder Santana had found for me a few days ago. I unclipped it and passed over several sheets of parchment that were covered in the Muggle Studies notes I'd made, partly for myself, but mostly to help Santana study. They were colour-coded, and everything was in an order that made sense, and I'd made sure to pick up the ones that didn't have any wrong spellings. It was the only way I could memorise things for exams, making notes like that. Otherwise I just got confused.

"Oh I see. Yes, these are very well done – organisation will be key in this role, and you obviously have a knack for it. And your descriptions of muggle items have just the right amount of description to help wizards understand. I'm very impressed. Did Holly help you?"

I thought back, but I couldn't remember any time when I'd needed Professor Holliday to help me explain something to Santana. "Not really. I'm just used to it. My… uh, my girlfriend, she's pureblood, and I grew up explaining things to her." For a moment I felt worried at how Gloria might react, and I had a sudden understanding of what Santana had always been so nervous about. I wanted to impress Gloria, I wanted this job. But I wouldn't lie about Santana. I couldn't just call her my best friend, like I'd been about to, when I'd talked to her so many times about being brave.

"Ah yes, that's Santana? Carlotta mentioned it," Gloria said, continuing to look through my notes.

I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself grinning. Santana's mum found it hard to talk to Santana or me about what was going on between us despite a brief discussion to confirm that we were done keeping it a secret. But she still managed to show that she was okay with it. I was so glad Santana had her, especially with her grandmother still being horrible about it.

"Well this all looks very promising, although of course I'll need to consult with my colleagues. Let's see… ah, I thought we could talk about the changes to the Statute of Secrecy, and the purpose of the committee. It doesn't come into action until the start of next year, but preparations will need to be made - for instance, the new regulations on keeping track of floo locations that have passed into muggle hands. Some in the Ministry argue that this can be done without any contact with muggles."

She was testing me, I could tell. But for once, I didn't feel nervous. I knew what the changes were; Santana and I had gone over them all last week, in between studying for NEWTs. I'd just ended up explaining everything to her - telling her how it would affect the muggles.

"It probably could be done, but it would be much easier to make contact with muggles. They could announce a problem with certain chimneys and let the Ministry go in and close the floo down, without having to worry about being caught."

Gloria nodded, a small smile playing on her lips as she leaned back in her chair. I returned the smile. The nerves I'd felt at the hit witch tests, or the quidditch trials, were nowhere to be found. I wasn't great at some magic. I couldn't get amazing marks all the time like Santana. But talking about muggles was as easy as talking to Santana.

1 week later

I sighed as I finished reading the letter from Santana's grandmother. She held out a hand, and I sighed again. I didn't want to give it back to her. I didn't want her to pour over all that hate tonight when I was asleep. But it was her letter, so I handed it back over and she folded it before slipping it into her pocket. I leaned in to kiss her once on the cheek, passing on all my 'sorry's without having to say anything. She squeezed my hand under the table, sending me a brief, forced smile before returning her attention to the lighter reading in front of her.

"Oh. Apparently Berry's finally sent Finnocence packing. I guess she finally found out he's been hooking up with Niamh," she commented, glancing down the Slytherin table. Rachel was sitting alone, looking very miserable - especially considering how chirpy she normally was. It must have happened recently. It was kind of freaky how Jacob managed to publish the gossip so quickly in Hogweekly. The day after that party at the Shrieking Shack, when Santana had kissed me in front of all those people, there'd been a special issue to break the news to everyone who hadn't already heard.

"We should go talk to her."

Santana turned to me with a very confused expression. "What? Why?"

"Because she's been your roommate for seven years and you're not going to see her for ages once we leave," I reasoned. Also, it would get her mind off her grandmother.

"That's a good thing."

"Come on, Santana. She's upset."

She sighed, but nodded, picking up an apple as we walked down the table, settling down opposite Rachel. She looked just as confused as Santana had a moment ago when she noticed us.

"Hi Rachel," I said cheerily. I reached for the giant cereal bowl nearby, picking up a handful of corn flakes and popping one into my mouth.

"Uh… hi Brittany. Santana," she added after a pause.

"Berry."

I nudged Santana's foot under the table, sending her a look that was meant to tell her to be nice. She rolled her eyes a little, but not enough that Rachel would be able to see unless she was looking closely.

"Rachel," she amended. "Sorry about Finn. He's a dick."

I glared at her again and she shrugged slightly at me. I felt like if she was speaking she'd be saying well what do you want me to do? But at least she didn't look sad anymore. I turned my attention back to Rachel.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She looked up briefly from her cereal to shrug once. She really didn't look okay. She looked like she might burst into tears at any minute.

"I guess. I just… I have to get on with things. I have exams. I have to pass them to get into the Academy, and I can't mess up my chances of that. I have to focus on me," she said firmly.

I vaguely remembered a mention of some performing school in London that she'd auditioned for a while back, but to be honest I wasn't exactly sure what it was.

"Well that's good. Hey, you should come to the party. The one Puck's organising, the last one before exams start?"

"I don't think I should be partying the day before NEWTs…"

"No, no, it's not the day before. Exams start next Monday, right? And the party's the Thursday before, this Thursday. seventh years only - it is, isn't it?" I asked, turning to Santana. She nodded. "And there won't be loads to drink, either, I don't think. Everyone's gonna be there. You should come, it'll get your mind off things. That's what everyone else is doing – just coming to relax, and have fun."

"I… I guess maybe, I could. For a little bit. I might," Rachel said, staring down at her cereal again.

I smiled at her to try and cheer her up a little more, but got distracted by the arrival of a lone owl landing on the next Slytherin table down. I glanced down at it, then froze when I realised I recognised it as exactly the same type of brown owl the Ministry always used. It turned, wide eyes finding mine, then hopped down the table until it was right in front of me and dropped its letter. It looked up at me again, and just like the one I'd received before about quidditch, it didn't move until I reached out to pick up the envelope. Then it turned abruptly, spreading its wings and taking off without disturbing anything else on the table.

I wondered for a moment why this owl was later than the rest of the post, but then I fully realised what I was holding. It had been a week since my interview. That was exactly how long she'd said it would be before she could get back to me. But this past week had gone by so fast. I hadn't even been counting the days. Santana had turned to look straight at me, and I could see that even Rachel was distracted from her sadness enough to be staring curiously. I turned the envelope over to see where the flap was stuck down. My hands were shaking just as much as they had been the last time I'd got a letter like this. All the confidence I'd felt at my interview dissolved into nothingness, and I was just left thinking of everything I'd done wrong. What if I'd been too informal? What if my revision notes had been wrong? What if I'd said something stupid and not realised it? It wouldn't be the first time.

"Brittany."

My head jerked up, but I calmed the moment I found Santana's warm, brown eyes. Her hands clasped my wrists gently to stop my shaking. She didn't even blink. She just stared at me. She didn't say anything, either. But I could tell what she was thinking. She thought I'd got the job. And even if I hadn't, she wouldn't care. We'd find something together.

I nodded, to show I understood, then tore my eyes from her to return to the letter. I ripped the top open slowly, pulling the familiar parchment out. I took one last deep breath, then opened it at an angle so that Santana could see as well.

Dear Miss Pierce,

I am very happy to offer you the position of Administrative Assistant at the Muggle Liaison Office in the Department of Magical-

I didn't get any further than that before Santana had barrelled into me, her arms tightening around me. She crashed her lips against mine, not caring that we were in the middle of breakfast and all of Hogwarts could see us. I kissed her back hard, both of my hands still clutching the letter. I felt like I was swelling inside - like someone had set off a thousand balloons in my stomach and now I was floating. I'd done it. With Santana's help, of course. But this was it. I'd actually been better than everyone else. I wasn't mediocre, or barely scraping a pass. I'd been the best.

"Thank you," I whispered the moment Santana pulled away. She just laughed and shook her head.

"Thank you to me? For what? This is you, Britt, this is all you. You're amazing, and someone else saw it, and now you're going places."

"You are too, with your hit witch thing," I pointed out, unable to stop grinning as I glanced down to see the rest of the letter. Terms of employment, the date of a meeting…

"I… yeah, I guess," Santana replied, and even through my bubble of pure happiness I could sense the uncertainty in her voice. I'd been trying to support her in becoming a hit witch since she'd passed the tests, even though I still wasn't really that keen on it. I opened my mouth to ask, but she cut me off before I could say anything. "But this isn't about me. This is you. I'm so proud of you," she added in a quieter tone.

I didn't think I could smile any wider, but with those words and the look she was giving me I grinned even bigger, before leaning in to kiss her again.

3 days later

"Come on, this way!" Brittany called back to an empty corridor.

"I can't believe we're doing this," I muttered, glancing back to see the slight ripple in the air that indicated where Puck was with his keg, under the disillusionment charm.

"Are you sure you want to?" Brittany asked quietly, pausing for a second to look at me.

I smiled and nodded, tapping our joined hands with my thumb as I pulled her back into a brisk walking pace.

"So long as it's not our room everyone's in. It's not like we're going to be in it much now anyway, it might as well be put to good use," I reasoned. It still felt weird, though. The Room of Requirement had been our secret since first year. But when Puck had mentioned he wished someone had been able to find it over the last seven years because it would have been a great place for a party, Brittany had given me this look and I'd known what was going to happen. Besides, we were still the only ones who knew exactly how to get in.

We paused at the appropriate location and I released Brittany's hand to start pacing back and forth. I kept my mind as far as possible from the usual thoughts of Brittany and Tony, and instead concentrated on the Shrieking Shack at night, and the Slytherin common room after quidditch victories, somewhere we wouldn't be found, a large space for lots of people… It was hard, though, to keep my mind from Brittany when she was everything I associated with the Room of Requirement.

"It's there," Brittany said, her voice breaking through my thoughts. I turned to find the familiar door, reaching for her hand again as I pushed it open and stepped through. I could hear Puck huffing behind us as he struggled with the keg, but I was distracted by the sight in front of us. I'd never seen the Room of Requirement like this before. It was huge, with walls that were distinctly similar to the ones in the Shrieking Shack – although they were at least clean. In the middle was a large dance floor, to the right was a (disappointingly empty) bar, and at the far end were several sofas and the familiar stone fireplace from the Slytherin common room. Dim, slightly green lighting lit the entire room.

"You kept this place secret for seven years?" Puck exclaimed from behind, dropping the keg to the floor with a loud clunk. I turned to see the disillusionment charm had disappeared. He'd shut the door behind him and was already moving past us both, swivelling to take in the whole room. "We could have had all our parties here! No detentions from being caught sneaking out to the Whomping Willow!"

Brittany moved closer to me from behind to rest her chin on my shoulder, her arms wrapping around my waist.

"We had other uses for it," she replied, turning her head to kiss me on the cheek.

I was painfully aware of Puck's raised eyebrow and wide smirk.

"No thanks then, Puck? We've just got you the best party location you've ever had, and you're just going to complain?"

He laughed, pulling the rucksack off his back and reaching into it to pull out two bottles, holding them out to us.

"Here, then. Two bottles for my two favourite ladies, for finding the perfect room. Even if it did take you seven years to tell me."

The party had only been going for an hour, and I'd lost count of the amount of people marvelling at the Room of Requirement. I curled up closer to Brittany, resting my head on her arm as we listened to Quinn enthuse all about her training in Egypt to be a cursebreaker. There was a small group of us sitting next to the fireplace; Mike and Tina were on the sofa opposite ours, and even Rachel was there, sitting next to Quinn and showing great interest in all things Egyptian. Apparently her dads had taken her the previous summer. The music was quieter than usual, and altogether it was a rather subdued party compared to our normal ones, but it was nice. Karofsky wasn't even about to cause havoc – I had no idea where he'd disappeared to, but frankly I didn't care. Everyone was already stressed enough by the upcoming exams and various job interviews – mine included – but tonight we were all forgetting them and just having fun.

I went to take a sip from my beer but found it was empty, and shifted slightly to move away from Brittany.

"I'm just going to get another drink," I murmured quietly, not wanting to interrupt Rachel's spiel about the treasures Quinn might uncover. I'd noticed Finn lurking nearby for the last hour, and somehow even I preferred enthusiastic Rachel to depressed, about-to-cry Rachel who could very easily return if Finn got the chance to but in. "Do you want anything?"

Brittany shook her head, smiling as she waved her still half-full bottle. I kissed her once before rising, heading across the room to the bar. Puck was caught in between about ten different people demanding he tell them how to open the room, and he winked at me as I passed. He might have an idea how to get in from seeing me open it earlier, but he wasn't telling. Brittany and I had already agreed that the only person we would explain it properly to was her sister. I was just reaching for a bottle from the bar that had gained a lot of stock since I'd seen it this morning, when someone bounded up next to me and grabbed my arm.

"Santana!"

I almost dropped the bottle as I spun to find Kurt standing in front of me. He was still in his uniform, and I was sure that earlier he'd said he wasn't even coming to the party.

"I got in!" He brandished a letter in the air and I caught a brief glimpse of the St. Mungo's crest. "I'm officially a trainee healer!"

"Kurt, that's fantastic!" Normally I wasn't really one for hugs apart from with Brittany and occasionally Quinn, but I leaned in anyway to wrap my arms around him. After all the trouble he'd had at Hogwarts, I was so glad he'd achieved his ambition. "Hey, that means you'll be in London with me and Britt! You'll have to visit sometime. Come on, come join us," I said, not really giving him a choice when I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him across the room, back to where the others were. I slid in next to Brittany and he sat in the armchair nearby. "Kurt got into St. Mungo's," I told Brittany.

"Well done, Kurt!" she exclaimed, jumping up to hug him without any hesitation and almost knocking my drink to the floor in the process. Her actions prompted questions from the rest of our group, and soon congratulations were going all around. As the party got gradually louder and the music turned up, I tuned out everyone else and turned to Brittany instead. I found her already watching me, a small smile on her face. I snuggled into her side, lifting my lips to her ear to whisper.

"This place is great. But I kinda miss our room already," I admitted. I started to trace the outline of the hand she had on my knee with two fingers, running over the ridges of her bones.

"Me too," she murmured back. Her eyes shifted away from me to look over at our companions. I looked too, and found Rachel and Kurt laughing loudly at something Quinn had just said, while Mike and Tina were locked at the lips on the other sofa. "Hey, look! There's a door over there. We should see what's in it."

I turned in surprise to find she was right – there was a door there that definitely hadn't been present before. And the Room of Requirement did have a habit of coming up with whatever we needed. I nodded eagerly, jumping up from the sofa and pulling her up after me. She lifted her hand and spun me around, and I laughed as I stumbled away from the sofas towards the nearby door. She was giggling into my shoulder as I reached for the handle and pushed it open. I turned as I did so to snake an arm around her and pull her inside, shutting the door firmly behind us.

"It is!" Brittany exclaimed loudly.

I turned again and realised we literally were in the same place the Room of Requirement normally summoned for us. Photos covered the walls, and various Hufflepuff and Slytherin uniform parts were piled untidily into the wardrobe, its broken door hanging open as usual. Even the sound from the party outside was silenced. The only difference I noticed was when I found myself facing Brittany again. I leaned up to kiss her softly, reaching around her as I did to turn the key in the shiny new lock.