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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑
"𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙; 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝—𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚."
—𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝑃. 𝐼𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟔𝟓𝟏𝟔

⋆⋆⋆✧⋆⋆⋆

"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐂 read this?" Hermione laughed lightly after Liliana explained to her the plot of a story she had read a few days before. This one involved a love decagon, which was quite the rollercoaster.

"Not yet." Liliana grinned as she leaned back on the couch. "I'm going to give him the book next class."

"I feel bad for taking you away from him so much." Hermione sighed, the corners of her lips turning downwards into a frown. "You used to be with him all the time."

"It's fine, it's good for me to get away from those boys for some time," Liliana reassured her with a giggle. "Plus, you're one of my best friends! How could I say no to spending more time with you?"

Hermione only gave a warm smile in return.

Her attention drew to the portrait hole as a sudden commotion filled the room, and her eyebrows furrowed. She peered over the crowd of people to see that it was Harry and Ron, and the former seemed to be holding the Firebolt that had been previously confiscated.

Hermione and Liliana exchanged looks of curiosity before Liliana shrugged and pointed out, "I guess the professors didn't find anything wrong with it."

After a few minutes of the other students admiring and congratulating Harry on the Firebolt, the two boys walked up to the girls. Liliana could only hope that they would now forgive Hermione. 

With a wide grin on his face, Harry held the firebolt up for them to see. "I got it back." 

Ron's grin was practically identical. "See? There wasn't anything wrong with it!"

"Well—there might have been!" Hermione pointed out with a large sigh. "I mean, at least you know now that it's safe!"

"Yeah," Harry agreed, much to Liliana's surprise, "I suppose so."

Liliana gave a small sigh of relief; the two boys seemed much happier around Hermione now that the broomstick had been returned. Life could go back to normal. 

Harry glanced down at his broomstick and murmured, "I'd better put it upstairs."

"I'll take it!" Ron exclaimed before Harry had the chance to leave. "I've got to give Scabbers his rat tonic."

Carefully, he took the broomstick from Harry, being as gentle as he would with a baby. He carried it gingerly as he made his way to the dormitory, keeping his eyes on the broomstick as he took each cautious step. 

"Can I sit down, then?" Harry asked the two, a little apprehensive as his gaze flickered between either face.

Liliana nodded, patting the empty space to her left, which Harry took with a small smile. "So, how've your classes been, Harry?"

Since the two boys had been ignoring Hermione, it had been quite difficult for Liliana to talk to them. Not to mention that she wasn't too happy with how the boys had reacted to Hermione's earnest action.

"They've been all right." Harry shrugged. "Snape's a git, but other than that . . ."

A thought suddenly irked her mind, and she was quick to bring it out into the open, "You've been taking lessons with Professor Lupin, haven't you? To fight Dementors?"