Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its related works.
Author's Note: Enjoy chapter 28, everyone!
Annie as a beginning of my thank you (because I could not be doing this without you), I named a portrait after you.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Thursday, September 22nd 2022
Great Hall, Hogwarts, Scotland
Grace is laughing at something Archie said when Flora King, this year's head girl, approaches her. She sits down between Grace and Zoe, who has been staring at Lysander something awful, and looks at her. "Sooo… I know you said you didn't want Thursday night rounds, Grace, but… I've set Irina and Monty to supervising detention with Daniel and Meredith, and Camilla is covering my rounds with Kalina, so that we can actually get some heads stuff done, Coral has rounds with Valerian and I want one experienced prefect on call for whatever comes up in each house, so that's Rosa, Barney and Mortimer out, and Jesse's had rounds for the last five days and I think he'll kill me if I give him another one, but I also don't want the fifth years on their own yet, and…" she's talking a mile a minute and doesn't seem to be about to stop.
"Flora," Grace says, "Flora, slow down. You're trying to tell me I'm covering for…" she quickly checks off names in her head, "Blaine or Jason, because everyone else is busy, yes?"
"Jason," Flora replies, "He's busy saying hi to his breakfast. And Blaine has a broken leg, something really complicated the nurse says, so he's not allowed to get up, Jesse has been covering for him, but thankfully Blaine's off today or I'd have hell on my hands even more than I do already."
"Right, soo… Jason's rounds with…?" Grace looks at her questioningly.
"Rose," Flora glances around. "I thought I saw her earlier."
"I'll find her," Grace smiles and Flora looks incredibly relieved that she isn't arguing with her.
"Thank you. And again, I'm really sorry." She gets up. "I'll be in the heads' dorms should anything come up."
Grace turns back around to look at her friends. Lorcan's easy smile from earlier is gone and she feels terrible, she almost blurts out that she'll still be there just later, but Zoe speaks before she can. "So Grace… why did you not want Thursday night rounds?"
"That is a very good question," Eva says from her other side and Louisa and Carla lean around Archie curiously. They're like a horde of vultures circling their prey, which just happens to be Grace.
"I like Thursday evenings," is all she says, and even if that doesn't even come close to stopping their barrage of questions it's definitely worth it when she sees the small smile that steals its way onto Lorcan's face.
Grace makes it through dinner without giving a clear answer and Lorcan is looking on definitely amused, because the girls are like a dog with a bone, but Grace thinks she does pretty well. Still, if she gets up a little bit earlier than she normally would, then that's her business and hers alone. "I'm going to go find Rose," she says and looks around.
"I'll walk you," Lysander grins, looking up at her for once, but Grace shakes her head.
"She's literally twenty meters in that direction, Lysander. I'll be fine on my own," she tells him and ignores his absolutely over-dramatic sigh and the strange looks on most of their faces. She touches Eva's shoulder and looks around. "I'll see you all… tomorrow at the latest." And then she turns and walks toward the mane of red hair that can only belong to Rose. None of the other Weasleys have hair quite that wild. She sits down next to her and smiles. "I don't know if Flora told you, but apparently Jason is sick, so… you're with me for the night."
Rose smiles. "Alright… I didn't know that, but…" she laughs a little, "I do now, don't I?"
Grace laughs along. "And… your rounds are where usually?"
"Top floors and towers," Rose replies, her lips twitching, "Was Flora busy and distracted again?"
"Very much so. I'll meet you say 15 minutes before curfew by the portrait of Sir Cadogan, okay?" Rose nods and Grace gets up. "Great. Until then."
She passes the time until she is supposed to meet Rose in the library and still gets there five minutes before they're meant to meet. Rose doesn't though and when still isn't there half an hour after the agreed time, Grace starts to get a bit worried that maybe she was here before her and didn't notice the painting, because Sir Cadogan is one of his trips around the castle again and without him the painting is really not very recognizable.
Grace decides to go looking. She probably should have picked a different meeting place, but it was the first thing that came to mind and now it's too late to change it. And because she might as well do rounds while she's at it, she checks a few broom cupboards and classrooms on the way that are popular places for a little rendezvous. When she reaches the bottom of the astronomy tower she turns to one of the paintings. It shows a little girl and her teddy bear and they very rarely leave. "Anyone up there, Annie? Preferably a girl, about so tall with red hair."
"There is someone up there," Annie says in her soft, high voice. "I just… I don't know what they look like. I was playing with Bear, when I heard someone go up the steps, but… I didn't see who it was." She shrugs lightly.
"I'll go check then," Grace replies. "Bye Annie. Bye Bear. And thank you." She waves before she goes up the stairs and gets a little wave from both girl and teddy in return. There are no portraits lining the stairs up to the astronomy tower, just a few tapestries. One, almost all the way up, hides a little alcove, which is another popular spot among couples, so she checks it as she passes. There's no one there. She's a little relieved, because she hates catching couples make out.
Grace reaches the top of the stairs and pushes the door to the tower open. For a moment she thinks there's no one there. Then, she sees the lone figure scribbling something on a star chart. She smiles. "I should give you detention, you know."
"Gracie!" Lorcan exclaims, as he whirls around. "You're not supposed to sneak up on people like that!"
She chuckles and walks over to him. "Is your homework not done, Lorcan?" she shakes her head disapprovingly but she is smiling.
He rolls his eyes at her. "It's not due until Monday."
"Hmmm," she leans over his shoulder. "That star looks off," she points it out to him, "Deneb should be in line with Sadr and together with Albireo and Eta Cygni the two should form a pretty straight line, not this squiggle."
Lorcan laughs. "Well, that's where that star is, Gracie. I wasn't going for supposed to; I would have just found a star chart in the library in that case."
"Stars don't just move, though," she sits down next to him. "Let me see?"
"Be my guest," he motions to the telescope in front of him and she scoots over so she can look through it and won't have to find the stars again. There isn't all that much space between him and the telescope though so she ends up halfway in his lap.
"These stars are very much not in that squiggle," she tells him. "They're really, really not."
Lorcan leans forward and rests his chin on her shoulder to look through the telescope. She glances at him out of the corner of her eyes and smiles at how incredibly focused he looks. "You're right," he says after a while, "It actually is a pretty straight line."
She smiles triumphantly even though she's a little disappointed when he pulls his head from her shoulder and sits up straight again, but when she turns around, the 'I told you so' dies on her lips. Because he's close. Impossibly close. And as she stares at him, her words lost somewhere between her brain and her mouth, his eyes flicker to her lips just briefly. This time she's sure she didn't just imagine it. And she can't help glancing at his mouth as well. There is something in the air, something that makes her think that… but then there is a noise on the stairs and the jump apart.
"What?" They both turn to the door
"It must be tonight's astronomy class," Grace whispers.
"We… should get out of here before Professor Sinistra gets here," Lorcan starts gathering his telescope quickly and Grace rolls up his star chart. He grabs her hand on the way out and hurriedly pulls her into the alcove that she checked for couples not too long ago. A little giggle escapes her at the thought and he covers her mouth with his hand. "Shh, Gracie," he breathes into her ear as he pulls her to his chest. Her heart is beating faster than it has any right to, she thinks, even with the class (third years, she can pick out Leigh's voice easily and thinks that she must be talking to Ashlyn) passing so close. They stay like that for longer than they probably have to, because the class must have started by now, but she really doesn't mind. In fact, she is more upset when he lets go of her. But then he grins and grabs her hand and suddenly they're running, running down the stairs and past Annie and Bear, running through corridors and around corners, running until they find themselves leaning against a wall out of breath and laughing.
Grace finds herself caught in his gaze the moment she so much as glances at him and as always can't seem to break eye contact. But something is different and whatever seemed so certain, so inevitable up on the tower seems to be just out of reach all of the sudden. Still, neither of them dares to move or speak as they stare at each other as though transfixed.
"Grace!" Rose's voice shatters the moment. "Thank Merlin, I thought I was never going to find you! I met Sir Cadogan, but he wouldn't tell me where his painting was and… am I interrupting something?"
Lorcan clears his throat and smiles at the redhead. "Not at all," he says, before turning to Grace and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I will see you around, Gracie."
When he's gone, Rose looks at Grace. "I did interrupt something."
"Let's just… finish up these rounds, Rose," Grace smiles at her. "There is nothing for you to worry about."
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