Chapter 18
"Hurry up!" Grace nudged Leah forcefully, holding back a laugh at the tangle of hair wrapped around her friend's pillow. "Aren't you hungry?"
"Yes, starved, but I have my detention with McGonagall." She grumbled and Grace groaned.
"Oh, I forgot about that." She glanced around their empty dorm. "Well I guess I'll hurry and see if I can find Terry... or Luna or Padma." She paused as Leah sighed, finally pulling herself from bed and starting to the closet. "Have you seen Terry much lately? I feel like he's barely even here anymore. I only see him for classes."
"I thought that too... Think he's replaced us." Leah shrugged, though Grace could see the annoyance in her eyes as she pulled a sweater over her messy hair. It took less than two minutes for Leah to pull together a somewhat acceptable outfit, or at least one that wouldn't earn her yet another detention, before they were starting down the winding steps and out into the chilly corridor.
"You don't think it's..." Grace muttered as they stepped off the staircase, Leah turning slightly towards Gryffindor tower. "I mean... I know he doesn't like Draco and the Slytherin's, but..."
"No, he's just being a prat. He'll get over all of that. Besides, I think all of this has made your social life a ton more interesting!"
"Bye." Grace rolled her eyes, starting down the next set of steps as Leah rounded the corner out of sight. She glanced down at her watch, her stomach grumbling until she reached the Great Hall at last, loud chatter exploding from the students crammed along the tables inside. It was still early, yet it seemed as if much of the school had gotten an early start to their weekend.
"Terry!" Grace smiled, calling over to the group of Ravenclaws piling from the oversized doors of the Great Hall.
"Oh..." Her friend plastered on an unconvincing smile, the rest of the group seeming quite nervous, all except for Luna who offered Grace a friendly wave.
"You already ate?" Grace asked, scanning over the Ravenclaws. "It's so early."
"Yeah, sorry... I've got a lot of work to do and thought I'd get an early start."
Cho Chang, Padma and Michael Corner nodded quickly in agreement and Marietta Edgecomb grabbed a hold of Terry's arm, lightly tugging him towards the stairway.
"I gotta get going, I'll see you later, Grace." Terry offered her a small wave as he followed the group up the stairs, waiting until they had reached the next story before falling into a fit of whispers.
Grace let herself watch them turn the corner before walking through the doors into the Great Hall and scanning over the Ravenclaw table, scattered with younger students, though the ends of the table was noticeably sparse. Her eyes flickered towards the Slytherin's next, which was packed with darkly clothed students, per usual.
Her eyes caught onto the familiar dark curls as he lifted his mug of coffee, setting it back to the table as his eyes linked with Grace's, warmth flooding her chest at the sight of her friend, the way his smile spread easily as she started over.
"Morning." She spoke, quietly, Draco's eyes flashing to hers as he hurried to make room for her at his side. "Mind if I join you lot? My friends seem to have disappeared."
"Wrong, sweet thing." Enzo grinned, shoveling another forkful of eggs into his mouth between sentences. "You found us."
"Lorenzo." Daphne dropped her forehead into her hands. "Disgusting. Chew your food."
"Yes, mum." He flicked a grape towards the blonde witch and giggled evilly as it bounced off her nose and into Blaise's drink.
"Thanks." Blaise sighed, and Theo chuckled beneath his breath.
"How'd you sleep, be... Grace?" Theo asked as she started on her breakfast.
"Alright, how-" She trailed off, her eyes flashing to the dozens of owls swooping through the Great Hall, gliding easily along the tables and dropping letters and rolls of parchment into students waiting hands. There was a moment of silence before the Great Hall was filled with an echo of matching gasps which morphed at once into a loud hiss of whispers.
"What the hell just happened?" Blaise asked, glancing over as Draco unrolled his copy of the Daily Prophet before the group. There, in large, black, bold letters, was the answer to Blaise's question.
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Mayhem at High Security Prison: MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
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"What?" Grace asked, without thinking. The table had fallen silent around her, though she hardly noticed, leaning closer into Draco's side and scanning over the front of the paper.
"Several high security prisoners escape..." She mumbled, finally glancing around at her friends, noting the silence that had fallen between them. Daphne's face was white, Blaise was doing anything to avoid looking back at the paper, while Draco's eyes flashed nervously between the Prophet and Enzo across from him, who's eyes had not pulled from the large picture at the center of the table. A picture of a crazed woman, locked in chains fastened around her wrists and ankles and who appeared to be screaming in silence, her wild curls overtaking most of the portrait.
"Are you guys-" She started, finally meeting Theo's eyes which were latched to hers, and wider than she'd ever seen them.
"Mr. Berkshire." The drawling voice sent Grace and Enzo both jumping from their spots, though Enzo was quick to spin and face Professor Snape who stood towering behind him. "A word, if I may?"
Lorenzo barely paused, standing up, his eyes still flashing back to the picture on the table even as he followed Snape into the hallway and out of sight around the corner.
"What's going on?" Grace asked, glancing between her friends and the doorway. "Is he alright?"
"He's fine. That's nothing." Draco answered quickly, before anyone else could speak and turned towards Grace. "Look, don't stress about this, alright?" He gestured lazily towards the paper, as if it had announced nothing more than the weeks weather report. "The Ministry's got practice with this now, right? After Black? And they've got the full support of the dementors with them. It'll all be fine."
Grace nodded slowly, though she was quite sure that even Draco didn't believe what he was saying.
"Well... we're all still headed to Hogsmeade right?" Daphne cut in, her face brightening slowly as she forced on a smile. "I mean Enzo definitely... He will want to go." She shrugged, finishing up her milky colored coffee.
"Yes." Theo answered at once, Blaise nodding, though Draco's eyes were still latched to the hallway, as if waiting for Enzo's return.
"You guys should go... I was planning on looking over my potions essay and-" She trailed off as Theo raised an eyebrow, though he didn't have time to speak before Daphne cut in.
"No! Grace, that's what Sunday's are for!" She whined, climbing from her seat and hurrying around Draco. "Besides... I need you to distract the boys while I sneak off later to see Graham."
"Why do you need a distraction, you're not going to tell them-"
"Oh, they'll take the piss." She hissed, though Grace could easily make out the smirk lining Draco's face as he stood from his spot as well.
"Alright... I'll go get Enzo. Someone walk Grace up to get ready and make sure she doesn't bail?" He teased, glancing at her from the edge of his eyes.
"Come on." Theo muttered, nudging Grace towards the doorway.
"I don't need an escort." She assured him as the Slytherin's turned towards the dungeons. "Don't you want to change?"
Theo shrugged, holding his arms out in his oversized jacket. "I'll be fine. You need something. A sweater or a rainjacket maybe."
"Is it raining?" She asked, craning her neck towards the windows as they climbed the stairs.
"Not yet."
The pair continued up towards Ravenclaw tower in silence for a while longer until reaching the wooden door which Grace reached out to knock at once.
"What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?" The strange voice called out and Grace paused for a few seconds, letting the words turn over in her mind.
"A river." She answered, easily, the door springing open and allowing them both to walk through.
"Honestly, Gracie, they get easier every time."
"Shut it." She warned, starting up towards her dorm. "No, you wait down here!"
"Why? Not like I haven't been to your room before." He grinned, enjoying the scowl that pulled to the blonde's face.
"Theodore." She groaned, though she didn't try to stop him as he followed her up the steps, pushing into the familiar doorway and starting towards the closet Leah had been destroying only an hour before.
"See? If you hadn't let me up here, how would I have known your flowers are dying already?" He teased, plopping down on the chair at her desk and nodding towards the wilting daisies on the nightstand.
"Flowers die." She muttered, pulling a thicker sweater on over her shirt and grabbing for the light blue jacket hanging just above her.
He hummed softly and stood up as she headed for the doorway, letting her lead the way back down and into the corridor once again.
"A lot of stairs just for me to get my jacket." She said, sneaking a glance up at him as the walked.
"Would you have preferred mine?" He offered and she huffed out a laugh.
"No."
"Didn't think so."
"Theo..." She started once they were halfway down the steps. "Is everything okay with Enzo? At breakfast, I mean... he looked so-"
"Grace..." Theo cut her off, his jaw clicking slightly to one side.
"What? What is it? You can tell me-"
"It's not mine to tell, bellasima." He muttered, "He's fine. Like Malfoy said. It'll all be-"
"He was lying." She replied, "Draco. I know he was lying."
"I don't think he was lying." Theo shrugged, nodding his head lazily to one side. "You worry too much, Gracie."
"Yeah, thanks." She rolled her eyes as they finally reached the first floor. "It's my specialty."
Theo nudged her arm playfully as they spotted their friends, all huddled to the side of the doorway. Draco towered slightly over Lorenzo who seemed to be more intent on studying the cracks in the stone flooring than Draco's words.
"-I'll go home with you. We can both go. They won't mind, you know they won't-"
"You weren'tย summoned."ย Enzo grumbled, finally meeting Malfoy's eyes again. "It's fine. It's whatever-"
Theo cleared his throat loudly and the group seemed to jump, locking eyes with Grace and plastering on smiles.
"About time!" Daphne hurried over, snatching Grace from Theo's side and starting towards the door which Blaise hurried to push open for the girls.
"You look perfect." Grace promised Daphne after noticing the way her eyes kept flashing down to her tights and heeled boots.
"Perfect?" She giggled, "Promise?"
"Oh, when don't you?" Grace rolled her eyes, letting Daphne pull her in closer to her side as they walked down the path through the misty gray to the village. Their boots clicked against the stone of the path as they left the grounds before Grace snuck a glance back to the boys behind them. "What's your big escape plan?"
Daphne hardly paused a second before tucking her arm beneath Grace's and yanking her towardsย Scrivenshaft's.
"Grace and I will catch up with you lot! She needs to show me some book she's been talking about all week-"
"We'll go with you, Daph-" Enzo started, already breaking from the group to follow the blondes and Grace watched as Draco's gaze flickered towards the girl beside her.
"Oh, Enz, don't be ridiculous! Go grab us a table at the Three Broomsticks, won't you?"
Grace's heart sank for a moment as she watched Lorenzo's smile dim slightly before he shrugged, the boys following the brunette towards the pub at the end of the street as Daphne and Grace ducked into the bookshop, Theo's deep green eyes pulling from Grace's as the door slammed shut behind them.
"I feel bad... I wouldn't have picked today if I'd known..." Her eyes widened as she glanced towards Grace and then reached to pull the door back open again.
"Known what?" Grace pressed.
"Nothing, just... Enzo's little face." Daphne shrugged, plastering a smile on as she stepped out onto the foggy street. "Thank you for covering for me. Go catch up with them, just tell them... I..." She trailed off into thought and Grace shot her a light hearted eye-roll.
"Ran into a dozen other friends who need their fair share of time with you? No one would even bat an eye."
"Exactly." Daphne grinned, "I look alright?"
"You know you do." Grace offered her a warm smile. "Have so much fun, I want to hear everything afterwards."
"You will." Daphne nodded, scanning the street quickly before starting down the stone walkway.
"You're going to have to tell the guys eventually!"
"Tomorrow!" She nodded before spinning around again, "Maybe..."
Grace chuckled, shaking her head as the blonde practically disappeared into the mist. She started down the familiar path towards the Three Broomsticks and wrapped her arms around herself, attempting to keep out the chill before slipping easily into the pub.
It wasn't difficult to spot the guys. They practically took over an entire corner booth, Draco's blonde hair towering over the rest of them even sitting down. Enzo's gaze was stuck on the window even as Blaise spoke, too softly for her to make out across the crowded room.
She made her way over quickly, wanting nothing more than to be away from the door which let in a new waft of chilly air every time someone entered or left the pub.
"That was fast." Draco announced, moving over to let Grace slide into the booth beside him.
"Where's Daphne?" Enzo asked, his attention now restored to the group.
"Oh, you know she has a new friend group in every shop... I barely got two minutes with her before someone came to steal her away."
"Shocking." Blaise grinned, shaking his head slightly as they fell back into their previous conversation.
Theo's fingers drummed lazily on the bar top as he waited for the butterbeers he had ordered. His eyes had drifted towards the door each time someone new had arrived, through no fault of his own. It was surely the blast of chilly air that filled the pub every few seconds that was catching his attention.
Finally, Grace had returned, her eyes latching to his friends at once in the corner, and he let his gaze fall back to the counter before him as he watched the familiar smile pull to her lips, sliding into the booth beside Draco.
"Here's the last of them, honey. Sorry for the wait." The bartender smiled warmly at him and he shrugged.
"No worries." He dropped a few silver coins into her palm and nodded his thanks, reaching out to gather the drinks into a ring, his eyes slipping once again to the long blonde hair which fell over the jacket she had picked out not an hour before.
"I got it all wrong, didn't I?" The unwelcome voice was so close to him now, it took everything in Theo's power not to throw himself backwards to knock them both to the ground.
"What are you on about, Pucey?" He asked, finally turning to face the Slytherin at his side, his blood practically boiling at the obnoxious smirk.
"She's not Malfoy's... Is she girl, Theo?" Adrian's eyes flickered towards Grace and back and Theo took his best attempt at a calming breath, feeling his jaw click into place at the words.
"Definitely not."
"No?" Adrian laughed easily, "You just can't help but stare at all of your friend's like this? Or start fights over them on the Quidditch pitch..."
Theo moved back towards the drinks, beginning to slip his fingers through each of the handles on the mugs and trying to push the vision of Adrian's bloody face from his mind. He forced himself instead to picture Grace's eyes, the way she had looked up at him the day she told him he got into too many fights... The way she had avoided him for days...
"Well, I guess you won't mind if I do ask her out then, right?" The smirk was evident even in Adrian's words, yet Theo couldn't help but scoff, his teeth practically grinding now. He knew all too well how un-interested Grace would be in anyone asking her out... Anyone besides...
"Best of luck there mate." He felt his lips pull into a forced smile before Adrian shrugged, pushing off the bar and starting towards the booth.
"Gracie!" Theo called out, most of the pub glancing over as he shouted, and he could practically feel the pressure in his chest lesson as her eyes met his. "Will you help me out here?" He glanced towards the extra mugs he hadn't yet managed to wrap around his fingers.
Her smile, the dazzling smile he could never pull his attention from, spread easily over her lips as she jumped up at once, hurrying over to the bar without even noticing Adrian who's own face had fallen into a scowl at last.
"Thanks, bellisima." He murmured as she grabbed the two remaining butterbeers and started back to the boys. "Where's Daph?"
"You know, too cool for us." Grace teased, sliding the drinks onto the table and re-claiming her spot beside Draco as Theo dropped down beside Enzo.
"What else do you guys have planned for the day?" Grace asked, noting that the mood had seemed a bit dull since the morning's paper, not just between the boys, but in all of Hosgmeade. She forced her mind back to third year, when Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban, and now there several prisoners on the loose.
"Have to hit honeydukes, obviously." Blaise answered, elbowing Enzo softly who nodded at once in agreement.
"I'm already hungry again," Enzo muttered, reaching for the menu from the center of the table and scanning over the pages. "Let's get chips or something."
"Yeah, alright... been like an hour since breakfast but-" Draco replied, though Grace could hear the laughter he was holding back.
"More than an hour." Enzo argued, hopping up from his spot and starting towards the bar.
"Saw you and Pucey over there." Draco glanced to Theo and the dark haired boy pretended not to notice as Grace's eyes found his before scanning the pub.
"Yeah." Theo answered, shortly.
"Kept your cool nicely? I could tell he was trying to piss you off just from his stupid smirk." Blaise pressed.
"He doesn't have to try to piss me off." Theo said, his eyes finally meeting Grace's once again, watching the way her lips pressed into a thin line for only a moment before deciding to change the subject. "Think it's going to rain?" He nodded towards the window, three pairs of eyes flashing to the sky.
"When doesn't it rain here?" Draco grumbled, watching as Enzo shoved Theo deeper into the booth and dropped in beside him with a heaping pile of chips.
"She said they were on the house. A nice birthday treat." He grinned, digging into his snack as Theo's lips pulled into a smile.
"It's not your birthday, you tosser." Blaise chuckled.
"Lorenzo!" Grace slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter as the brunette shrugged, pushing the bowl towards her.
"No thank you, I don't need anyย stolenย food."
"Oh, get over it, Grace."
"Yeah, you're going to have to start expecting this sort of rubbish from him." Draco explained, his gaze returning to the window once again.
The group sat in their comfortable bubble of warmth, chatting easily for what felt like hours, until Enzo was back to his usual bubbly self, and the morning's paper was all but forgotten.
At last, their attention was pulled by the skinny blonde racing up towards the table and grabbing onto one of the now cold chips near the bottom of the forgotten basket in the table.
"Oh, this is freezing!" Daphne whined, dropping it back into the bowl.
"Yeah, because we ordered it an hour ago, you know, to try to cheer ourselves up from being ditched?" Enzo whined dramatically, putting on his best glare for Daphne who's lips quirked into a fake pout.
"Oh, Enzo... did you miss me so terribly?"
"You know I did." He replied, charmingly and Daphne let out an effortless laugh.
"You're too sweet. Where are we off to next, then?"
"Honeydukes, and we've been waiting for you." Draco explained, raising his eyebrows slightly and Grace ducked her head, hoping the boys wouldn't notice anything was off, though how long Daphne thought she could hide a secret boyfriend from them was beyond her.
"Well, here I am!" She shrugged, pulling her jacket closer around her and pausing as the rest of them made their way towards the exit. "Honestly, what are you lot going to do after we graduate? We won't be able to see each other every second."
"I'll see you plenty, Greengrass... If you're taking up the job opening for janitors at the Ministry?" Draco grinned, stepping out of her reach before Daphne had even processed his words, her fingers narrowly missing his shoulder.
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