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

Chapter 48 - Close to Home

~Wren~

"It's just so bloody stupid! Fred Weasley? Has she lost her mind?"

I shrugged, trying not to wince. Nico had been going on about Ciara Malfoy and Fred Weasley since we'd gotten far enough down the road away from Hogwarts to be out of any aurors' hearing. Luckily, he wasn't really asking for my input, because I wasn't quite sure what to say. What would a Wren who was completely loyal to her family and not actually invested in her patrolling partner say? I honestly had no idea. Hopefully, either Nico wouldn't ask, or Nico didn't have any idea for what I should say, either.

"Did Potter actually know something about it?" he asked suddenly, turning to me for once instead of addressing the night.

"I don't think so," I said, tilting my head.

Nico sighed. He seemed to have gotten all the frustration out, finally. "I guess he would've told you, if he'd really known. Whatever. I just think it's ridiculous."

"Yeah, it doesn't really make a lot of sense," I agreed. That seemed natural enough. It didn't make a lot of sense, after all, without Ciara's explanation.

"You're lucky, you know, Wren. I mean, obviously Potter doesn't know everything, but he at least likes you. Doesn't hate you for no reason."

"For no reason? Do you think Malfoy hates you for no reason?"

"Okay, maybe she's got a reason," Nico admitted. "That wasn't my point."

I sighed. "I know."

"How'd you pull it off?"

I wondered that all the time as it was, which forced me to cast around for an answer that actually made sense. "Well... I suppose James doesn't hate me I've never tried to murder his cousin."

"Yes, you have," Nico said, raising an eyebrow. "Wasn't that Weasley girl the first one you used the Cruciatus curse on first year?"

Oh, that was true. I bit my lip, but he was grinning like this was a good joke. "Well, then, I played it off better than you did." Nico laughed at that, and after a moment I did, as well. "Honestly, though, I don't know. We're keeping our cover in different ways."

"Yeah." He frowned, serious again, and lapsed into silence.

I watched him for a moment. We were on the edge of Hogsmeade, now, moving to walk on the sidewalk. We both ducked our heads a little out of habit as we walked under a streetlight. As I raised my head again, I asked, "If you could go back, would you do things differently?"

Nico frowned at me. "Differently?"

I wasn't exactly sure why I'd asked that. The voices of Ciara and Astra and James and everyone else who had told me that Nico Jasper was a lost cause rang in my head, but I ignored them. "Like... if you knew how Malfoy would react, would you still have done what you did to Astra?"

Nico looked away again, seeming to consider the question. That was better than laughing it off, which I'd half expected him to do. I made myself stop watching him, trying to see his thoughts from his expressions. Instead, I scanned the street ahead of us, making sure there weren't any drunk witches or wizards slumped in alleys that we were going to pass by too closely.

"No," Nico said. "I wouldn't have done it."

"Really?" I asked, sounding surprised without meaning to.

Nico nodded, a faraway look still in his eye. After a pause, he said, "You know, I wasn't trying to kill Astra Lestrange that day. I know everyone thinks I was. But I wasn't. I didn't realize how serious that spell was."