We Will Shine {Book 6 in the Star of Gryffindor Series}

Chapter 17 - A Deceitful Friend

~Astra~

"Thank you, Astra."

Wren hugged me, and I felt my stomach turn. I'd never lied to her face before. It felt horrible.

Because there was no way in hell I was keeping that promise. This had gone to far, and Wren had been saying "not yet" for almost six months now. James deserved to know the truth, especially since she'd told the rest of us and lied to him about it. And if she wasn't going to tell him, I would.

"You're really amazing," Wren said, pulling back. "I don't deserve such a good friend."

I looked away. She could probably have seen the truth written on my face, and now she was making me feel bad. "I'm not that great."

"Yes, you are, and you're right." Wren sighed. "I... I'm just scared, I guess. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I don't want James to get hurt. I... I don't want to get hurt. But..." She shook her head. "I know you're right."

I nodded, feeling a wave of relief. Maybe I wouldn't have to tell him after all. "Yeah. I'm glad."

Wren looked down. "I... I'll tell him everything soon. I just... I need to find the right way to do it..."

Or maybe not. I forced a smile, and felt my stomach turn again. "Soon" had been coming for months. Maybe she was scared, but that shouldn't have kept her from talking to him. He needed to know all of this.

That's not to say I immediately went to find James. I decided to be fair about it, and gave her three days. That seemed reasonable. If I'd actually gotten through to her finally, that should have been enough time for her to talk to him.

I wanted to ask Albus what he thought of my plan. He might have been able to think of a way to break the news to James more easily. It's a bit hard to tell someone that their girlfriend is hiding the fact that she's got two criminally insane people out to kill her, either by proving something that is entirely true or by straight up murder. How do you even bring that topic up? James was going to be pissed that she hadn't told him. He might actually do something stupid, given the fact that he was hearing it all at once instead of in bits like the rest of us. I wanted Albus to help me calm him down, keep him from storming off to Hogsmeade to kill Zaria himself.

Unfortunately, Albus had a stronger moral compass than I did. There was no way he'd help me break a promise (especially one I'd made to Wren) or help me hurt his brother. Even if it was for the best. Even if it would save his brother from more pain down the road. Even if it was the only way to fix a situation Wren was refusing to do anything about.

Three days passed, and nothing. Wren didn't tell him anything. I didn't ask her, of course; I didn't want to make her mad. I also didn't want to make her suspicious. If she had confronted me, I don't think I would have been able to go through with it.

She didn't, though. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. I knew nothing happened, too, because I eased around the subject of Zaria Hempsey a few times with James, and he didn't bring up anything that had happened in the past few months. In fact, he was simply happy that she'd left Wren alone. I almost blurted out the truth then, when he told me that, but it wasn't the right way. Besides, Albus was with us, and desperately trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"What's your problem?" he hissed as soon as he could pull me away without looking strange.

"What?"

"What are you doing?" Albus asked, glancing at James. We had been waiting in the Quidditch changing rooms for the rest of the team to show up, and now that they had, James was distracted enough to not notice the fact that Albus looked pissed. "You know Wren hasn't told him about Zaria yet."