"Isn't it horrible that Black's friendship with her ended the moment she decided she didn't want to date him? Like he was so willing to spend so much time with her, was able to linger around her so often until the moment she didn't want to date him. And then, in the blink of an eye, she wasn't worth his time? What sort of bullshit is that?"

"I dated your cousin," I reminded him yet again, with an exasperated sigh. "Not your friend but your cousin."

"I'm only 25; so why does it feel like I'm double that?" He shot me a contemplative glance and I couldn't answer him. I couldn't even tell him that sometimes I felt exactly the same. "I'm about to collapse under the stress of everything." "Percy," I said slowly in disbelief, never having heard him say something like that before. "I don't think we've had much time to be young anyway

He stilled as he neared the threshold, throwing me one final glance from over his shoulder. "I thought you would protect your family, that you would want it so desperately that it would be enough to make you set your Gryffindor pride aside. But perhaps I was wrong."

"I hope you're happy." "Happy?" "Happy that because of you my grades fell again." "They fell!" I exclaimed in disbelief, looking at him for a long moment. "How in Merlin's name did they fall? You were doing so well." "Don't blame it on me," he protested, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. "This is all because your replacement is an absolutely shit tutor."

Drawing me into his side, Zacharias spoke aloud, "Don't you just hate the sorts of people that give and give until there's nothing left for them to give? Or are the people that ask for things from those sorts of people worse? I can never decide."

"You're right," I agreed for a moment. "Words aren't the only way things can be communicated but Helga, using words certainly does prevent all sorts of misunderstandings." "And what sort of misunderstandings would those be?" he probed as if he didn't already know that answer. "What would I know?" I evaded with a shrug. "It's not like I'm your girlfriend."

"I felt so guilty about what happened yesterday," he started cautiously, his voice sounding so near that I almost thought that he had oriented his body towards my own. "It honestly kept me awake last night until I could figure out a way to make things right. Let me be your eyes until you regain your sight."

Even still, I clutched my hands together and smiled eagerly, "Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever read?" "Its cringey," he said shortly, folding it up again and holding it out of the way when I reached for it. "Merlin, it sounds more than a little creepy as well - admiring someone from a far is a warning sigh. It's not yours anyway, Conrad."

"Do you – maybe want to catch up some time?" he asked and the uncertainty, something I hadn't heard in his voice since his seventh year, threw me a little. It was enough to remind me that he wasn't like any of Mother's husbands, he was just that boy that had got caught in my web and continued to orbit around me. Only he was a few years older now. He wasn't the sort of fly that dese

The silences between the pair of us lengthened until I chose to break it, casting a quick glance his way. "Is there any particular reason you snuck out of school? Something bothering you Potter?" "I just missed you," he confessed after a long moment with a shrug. As if that was a reasonable answer!

"He was the whining son?" I asked incredulously, pointing towards Weasley who flushed a surprising red at his mother's nod. Merlin, I couldn't have stopped myself from laughing if I tried. Not that I did. With an embarrassed frown, Weasley turned his gaze to his mother and whined, "Mum!"

"Earn me," I said before I could take it back. "If you want me the way that you're making it seem, then earn me, Black."

"We will find a solution," father assured Mr Malfoy. "I swear that this dishonour on your family name will be rectified." "How exactly do you plan on doing that?" Mr Malfoy raised an eyebrow and father fell silent again. He certainly didn't have a solution and Mr Malfoy knew that. It was then, that the second Malfoy male finally spoke up, "You have another daughter, Mr Black."

"Of course, I do," he insisted sincerely. His eyes were so earnest that I swallowed nervously. "Merlin, I've never been invisible to you; even when I was that spotty short, chubby kid in third year. I was never invisible to you so how could you think that you would ever be invisible to me?"

Everyone said that a good man was hard to find and that no matter how hard you wished for one, he might never appear. And yet, I had managed to stumble upon one without wanting to. (Theseus Scamander)

"I was glad," he began quietly, averting his eyes from my own and onto the blanket he was steadily picking at. "I was glad that the first face I woke up to was yours. Part of me was almost glad that I got so badly injured because how else would I have seen you again? Godric, I was almost thankful for it, isn't that insane?"

"Neville, I've dated half of your ex-dormmates."

Forcefully buttering my toast, I demanded, "Did you know that the magical world is an oppressive –" "Patriarchal system that needs to be dismantled," Addison completed for me as she poured some milk into her tea. "Yes, we know."

"Am I supposed to take that to mean that you're actually trying to make me find you loveable?" "And if I was?" he asked, voice nothing more than a whisper. I rolled my eyes, pushing a sharp elbow into his side. He crumbled with a hiss of pain but didn't move far. Eyeing him with irritation, I announced, "Then you're doing an absolutely horrendous job of it. It won't work anyway."