EXIT

25. COAL BLACK

25. COAL BLACK

Ever since our conversation on the roof, Granger has been successfully avoiding me.

I'm on the verge of asking Potter where her sleeping quarters are several times, but always dismiss the idea at the very last moment — mostly out of shame, because deep down I know that I have wronged her with my accusations. Once again, my emotions were to blame. It was an unfamiliar mixture of guilt and desperation that overwhelmed me to the point of ruining any chance of retrieving the situation, and now I have absolutely no idea how to set things right again. Pride also plays a small role, though. While I'm well aware that I'm the one who fucked up, I don't want anyone (including Granger) to think that I'm crawling to her on all fours.

However, it annoys me that, hypothetically speaking, she doesn't even give me the opportunity to do so. Despite the official decision to target Theo as the next Exit candidate, Granger avoids all meetings. Also, she never shows up in the dining hall during mealtimes, and instead of participating in the morning workouts, she's back to her solitary jogs. She continues to lead the combat training, but I only have to attend twice a week and on those days she constantly ignores me. Neither does she challenge me to a duel, nor does she give her usual cocky advice. As far as she's concerned, I simply don't exist anymore, and it's driving me insane.

I think a lot about what she said that night on the roof. Not everything came as a surprise, like the fact that she didn't want to take me to Hogsmeade because she was afraid of worrying about me. That, I had already figured out, after all. Some of her statements, however, were unexpected and only added to the great Granger mystery. Among other things, I felt that my original motivation to help her find Greyback disappointed her. I wonder what she would have preferred to hear.

What bothers me the most, though, is her list of things that made her soften up on me, at least physically. Her handful of arguments, so to speak. Because with that she basically admitted that she was watching me the whole time and kind of liked what she saw.

The more I think about all of this, the more confused I am. So I give up my musings after a few days and brush them aside for the time being.

To distract myself, I start a task force of sorts with Pansy and Daphne. Apart from me, they're the only members of the Resistance who have ever been to the Nott Estate before, so it makes sense to consult them for the preparation of the blueprints and the listing of the wards. Since there is no one with enough time to accompany me to Camp White every day, Potter, in his new, pragmatic way, orders Pansy and Daphne to be housed at Camp Black until the mission. From then on, the three of us use the command centre to sift through our memories and write down everything we remember.

After a week, our notes are detailed and decent enough, although we can't necessarily assume that the wards and security measures haven't been replaced or at least reinforced in recent months. This time we won't be spared a reconnaissance, so Blaise begins strategic planning.

Another week passes before it's decided that six of us will be going to the Nott Estate. Blaise and Smith, Ginny and Creevey, and Granger and I. And yes, that is apparently also the allocation of the teams. When Blaise announces it at one of the meetings, I raise an eyebrow in surprise, but don't question the decision.

It's only when I'm back in my sleeping quarters that I realize what kind of game Granger is playing. It's too blatant, too conspicuous, to be sheer coincidence. Also, as I've discovered on numerous occasions, nothing Granger does is a coincidence. The constellation of the teams is clearly a message — from her to me. The decision that we're partners again is meant to be a nod to the fact that I'm no longer a distraction; that she doesn't worry about me anymore; that everything is back to normal. Allegedly.