The Forgotten Twin

Chapter 15

The next morning the rumor went around like wildfire. Black had broken into the Castle. More specifically into the Gryffindor Common Room.

Apparently he had broken into Harry's dorm, and stood over Ron, holding a knife. Ron, for probably the first time in his life, was in the spotlight. Not his older brothers, or even Harry, but him. Delilah knew all too well how that felt. So, since she didn't want to increase his ego more than it already was growing, she just made sure he was ok, and then dropped the subject completely.

The day after the attack, Longbottom, the one who had left the passwords that Black had used, had gotten a howler from his Grandma and tried to run out of the hall. It was hopeless though, they could still hear the whole thing.

For the rest of the day, Delilah made an extra effort to be nice to him, though that seemed to scare him more than the howler.

During potions later that day, Delilah noticed that Ron and Harry were neglecting Hermione. After that she made a special effort to hang out with her.

Delilah couldn't help but notice how stressed she was. The shadows under her eyes were as big as Lupin's, which was saying something.

"You should really drop some classes," Delilah insisted one day in the library.

"I tried, McGonagall said that I couldn't until next year, but I don't know what to drop," Hermione said.

"Well, you already dropped Divination" — Delilah had heard the whole hilarious story — " and you could drop Muggle Studies too, then you would have a normal schedule."

Hermione nodded absentmindedly. Over the time they had been hanging out, Delilah had subtly examined the necklace she always wore, and seen her schedule. The only way Hermione could be in multiple classes at once was with the help of a Time Turner, and the necklace looked exactly like one.

Delilah only knew about them from a book in the Room of Requirement, but she did find them interesting and dangerous.

Hermione hadn't confessed when Delilah had bluntly asked. Instead she blushed furiously and changed the topic, which told Delilah that she was correct.

That day after classes in the common room, she smiled as she read the new notice. There was going to be another Hogsmeade trip the next weekend.

During dinner that night Delilah walked up to Hermione.

"You are going to Hogsmeade with me," she said firmly.

"Oh, but I was going to study-"

Delilah cut her off. "You study enough. You need a break, so you are going to Hogsmeade with me. We'll hang out and have a butterbeer."

Hermione hesitated, but eventually agreed.

On Saturday morning, Delilah quickly ate breakfast before heading off to Hogsmeade with Hermione, who kept glancing behind them at Harry who was waving goodbye. Delilah couldn't help but notice a lump under his robes.

She gave him a small wave before dragging Hermione into Hogsmeade.

"Come on, let's go to Three Broomsticks," Delilah said as soon as they were in the quaint village.

Hermione smiled. "Actually I was hoping to get some new quills-"

"You can get quills another time, this trip only has room for fun, no room for boring, serious stuff, you need to relax. I also made some non-potent Sleeping Draught that should help you sleep easily, but not so deeply that you won't be woken up by an alarm or anything else."

Hermione nodded, looking surprised.

"Wow, thanks."

Delilah shot her a smile before grabbing her wrist and pulling her into The Three Broomsticks.