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Author's Note:Chapter Nine for you!

Chapter Nine

Thursday, May 12th 2022

Ravenclaw Common Room, Hogwarts, Scotland

"Grace," Lorcan's voice is urgent and his usual smile is absent from his face. He is much later than she expected him to be.

"Is everything okay?" she looks up at him and closes The Tales of Beedle the Bard with a snap.

"No, no," he runs a hand over his face and sits down next to her. "It's… it's Evie. I can't find her, she's… and Brandon…" He shakes his head.

"Okay. Calm down. From the beginning," she looks at him steadily. "Eva and Brandon. Did they fight? Did they break up?"

"No, it's… I stumbled across Brandon in the hallway by the charms classroom," he takes a deep breath, "with Melissa Hopkins."

"Melissa… fourth year?" she asks and he nods in reply. "Maybe he's helping her with homework?"

Lorcan snorts. "He was not helping her with homework, Grace. There was very little talking."

Grace curses quietly. "So he's…?" When he nods again, another string of expletives leaves her mouth.

"Oh, it gets worse," he says darkly. She looks at him, not daring to ask how it could possibly get worse, but she doesn't have to. "Eva saw, too."

"Was she with you?"

"She was at the other end of the hallway, staring at them. When she saw me she turned around and ran." He sags, it's almost like watching him crumble. "I couldn't find her."

She touches his shoulder lightly, "Do you want to go look again?"

"Would you? I didn't want to stand you up," he admits quietly.

"She's your sister, but she's also my best friend," she tells him, ignoring the little flutter in her chest. Now is not the time. "Let's get going."

They stand up and she leads the way out the door and down the spiral staircase. They search in silence for the most part, only occasionally suggesting a new place to look until they hear someone sniffle quietly and then the sound of something breaking and they surge forward.

The blonde figure is slumped on a desk in an abandoned classroom. Broken pieces of a chair surround her.

"Evie?" Grace whispers, and suddenly she has an armful of shaking girl and Lorcan is holding them both. And it's almost like last year only it's Eva that needs held now and it doesn't matter anyway.

"We've got you, Evie."

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