|6.14| Slughorn Christmas party

232 7 0
                                    


Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.



***



AS THE DAYS GREW AND December started to approach, Grace's mood only worsened, mostly because of Ron. She refused to talk to him and he didn't seem to make any effort at all, afraid that he might get shouted, which was not not true. The other reason was that she had to put up with the frequent presence of Lavender Brown, who seemed to regard any moment that she was not kissing Ron as a moment wasted. But that meant she was spending less time with Harry, who was determined to be friends with both Ron and Hermione, as they latter two weren't on speaking terms again. Grace and Hermione refused to sit in the common room while Ron was there, so Harry generally joined them in the library, which meant that their conversations were held in whispers.

"He's at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he likes," said Hermione, while the librarian, Madam Pince, prowled the shelves behind them. "I really couldn't care less."

She raised her quill and dotted an i so ferociously that she punctured a hole in her parchment. Harry and Grace said nothing. Harry bent a little lower over Advanced Potion-Making and continued to make notes on Everlasting Elixirs, while Grace, under the desk, practiced doing wand-less magic as she summoned her fallen pen on the ground in her hand. She had been practicing it was a quite some time, and she was improving greatly. 

"And incidentally," said Hermione, after a few moments, "you two need to be careful."

"What did I do?" said Grace suddenly, the pen falling from her hand again. 

"For the last time," said Harry, speaking in a slightly hoarse whisper after three-quarters of an hour of silence, "I am not giving back this book, I've learned more from the Half-Blood Prince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in —"

"I'm not talking about your stupid so-called Prince," said Hermione, giving his book a nasty look as though it had been rude to her. "I'm talking about earlier. I went into the girls' bathroom just before I came in here and there were about a dozen girls in there, including that Romilda Vane, trying to decide how to slip you a love potion. They're all hoping they're going to get you to take them to Slughorn's party, and they all seem to have bought Fred and George's love potions, which I'm afraid to say probably work —"

"Why didn't you confiscate them then?" demanded Harry. 

It seemed extraordinary that Hermione's mania for upholding rules could have abandoned her at this crucial juncture.

"They didn't have the potions with them in the bathroom," said Hermione scornfully. "They were just discussing tactics."

"And how does Grace come into this?" Harry asked.

The Lost Legacy || hpWhere stories live. Discover now