‘There you are!’ A kindly looking red-haired woman exclaimed. Quinn, Bill, Charlie and Percy walked up to her. Merula sauntered behind them. They exited the train a moment ago and said their goodbyes to their other friends. This year Quinn would spend Christmas at the Burrow. The woman, who could be none other than Mrs Weasley, pulled each of the boys into a big hug.
‘You must be Quinn.’ Mrs Weasley smiled warmly at her once she stood in front of her, hands on her shoulders. ‘Bill told me all about you.’
Quinn returned the warm smile and nodded. ‘Thank you for having me, Mrs Weasley.’
‘Call me Molly, dear, and no need to thank me. No one should be alone during Christmas.’ Mrs Weasley, no Molly, answered. Then she shifted her attention to Merula, who was standing to the side.
It had been a surprise when Bill told her he invited Merula too. The bigger surprise though, was finding out Merula actually said yes. Bill thought this would be a great way to follow Madam Rakepick’s advice to bond as a team. She was adamant about them all trusting each other. It had been hard at first with Merula. Lately, things were relatively peaceful though, even friendly sometimes. Even so, this would be the first time they were going to spend time together beyond classes and training. It wasn’t for an hour either, no. For two whole weeks! She could only hope they wouldn't get into a fight. At school she wouldn’t be scared of a fight. This wasn’t school though. The Weasleys were kind enough to host her for two weeks and she didn’t want to cause a scene.
‘And you must be Merula! I’m glad you came to your senses, dear.’
Merula made a face that was somewhere between shock and annoyance and Quinn had to stifle a laugh. To Merula’s credit though, she quickly recomposed herself and nodded.
Molly then led the group to a fireplace where she watched the teens as they stepped in one by one and yelled: ‘The Burrow.’
Once she stepped out of the fireplace Quinn dropped her trunk and took in the room. It was lit by the fireplace and a few oil lamps, which gave the room a warm glow. In front of the fireplace was a table with some unfinished knitting projects. Around the table were two big couches and three fauteuils. Bill and Charlie plopped down on the couch behind it, with their father. Mr Weasley showed them something Quinn didn’t recognize. She took the liberty to walk around the room and almost bumped into two boys. They were running and laughing. Not a moment later Percy followed, yelling at the boys. It must be the twins, Fred and George, she mused and laughed at the sight. Bill told her all about his brothers.
Then she took a good look at the walls. The upper half was covered with rows upon rows of shelves. They in turn were stacked with books, cups, plates, toys and more. Around the shelves were lots and lots of children’s drawings. Many of them depicted dragons, which had to be the work of none other than Charlie. All the drawings and clutter gave the whole room a cosy feel. It reminded her of her nan and granddad’s home. Their walls had been covered as well. Every silly little thing she and Jacob made had a place. Mum threw everything away after they died.
‘Bill go show the girls to their room.’ Mrs Weasley’s, no Molly’s, voice boomed.
Room? As in one room? To share with Merula? One, single, room?!
Quinn spun around to see Molly standing in front of the fireplace, frowning at Bill. Merula stood a little awkward to the side with a sour look on her face. Bill looked unbothered. He got up slowly and motioned for Quinn and Merula to follow him.
‘Mum put you up in Ron’s room. He’ll be sleeping with Ginny for now.’ He explained while they climbed the crooked staircase. ‘Here it is.’
They were almost at the top floor of the house. The room was small, with sloped ceilings on three sides, decorated with a few posters. Someone must’ve tidied before they got here. It looked remarkably neat considering it belonged to a seven-year-old. Toys and puzzles were stacked in an open cupboard. The floor was empty, save for a colourful rug. Despite the size, the family somehow managed to squeeze two beds in there. So yes, one room for the two of them. It was fine, it would be fine.
‘I’ll let you unpack.’ Bill commented as he stepped out of the room. ‘Mum will have dinner ready in a bit. I’ll yell for you if you’re not down yet.’
Both girls nodded and looked up when they heard a weird noise coming from above them. Bill chuckled at their reactions. ‘Don’t worry, that is our ghoul. He lives in the attic.’
When he left, Merula immediately flopped down on the bed in the back of the room, with a book from her trunk. Her back was turned towards Quinn. It made her uneasy. Like she was in a room with an unsecured bludger. One wrong movement would set it off. It would be her job to make sure that wouldn’t happen.
She dropped her trunk by the other bed and decided to take the time to finish the gift for Mrs Weasley. She had started working on it after Bill invited her, there was no way she was coming over for Christmas empty handed. When asked, Bill told her his mum loved anything handmade and his dad anything muggle. So she decided on a crochet tea cosy for Mrs Weasley and a tennis ball for Mr Weasley. Ben helped her with that gift.
The project was finished when Bill yelled for them to come get dinner. The smell of pork pie filled came up the stairway when she went down. Everyone scrambled around for a place at the large dinner table. It looked amusing, with no two chairs the same. The kitchen was like the living room, very cosy, colourful and stuff everywhere. Quinn ended up sitting between Ginny and Mr Weasley, who said to call him Arthur. There was no need for her to talk much during dinner. When she asked Arthur some questions about his work, he got so enthusiastic he wouldn’t stop talking. Like she was another one of his children he was explaining something to.
‘How are your parents, Quinn? Bill said they were unavailable for the holidays. Are they ill?’ Molly asked when Arthur was quiet for a moment.
‘Oh, they’re fine thank you.’ Quinn smiled politely and straightened herself. ‘They’re visiting my dad’s family in Arizona.’
Molly pursed her lips in disapproval and Quinn hurriedly added: ‘I didn’t want to come along. I hardly know my dad’s side of the family.’ It was only a half-lie.
‘Well, we’re happy to have you.’ Molly replied and her face relaxed again into her warm smile. Her gaze then shifted to Merula, who sat between Bill and Percy. A tiny flicker of dread came over Merula once she noticed Molly’s attention was on her.
‘Are you enjoying the food, Merula?’
‘Yes, thank you.’ She answered and Quinn could feel the relief in her voice.
No asking about family if I want to keep the peace, she noted to herself.
They spent the rest of the evening around the table, playing card games. During the games the Weasleys told stories of past Christmases. They all tried to outdo each other and the stories got more and more outrageous. Even Merula cracked a smile at the stories and joined in on the games. By the end of the night Quinn knew why candles were no longer allowed and what not to do if your brother got bitten by a gnome. When she went to bed her cheeks hurt from all the laughter.
Breakfast the following morning was great as well. Mrs Weasley was a great cook. Afterwards she ordered Bill, Charlie and Mr Weasley to get the Christmas decorations. She invited Quinn and Merula to join in on decorating the house. Quinn eagerly agreed, Merula shrugged.
Decorating ended up to be loads of fun. The family shared even more stories and the house looked more festive by the minute. The real kicker was the afternoon though, when they hunted the garden for a gnome to put atop the tree. The thing looked grumpy as could be, dressed up in a tiara and wearing a crown.
At bedtime Merula decided to take a shower. Quinn used the time to finish another Christmas project, this one for Merula. It felt only natural to get her a gift as well if they were spending Christmas together. As she worked on her project by the light of the oil lamp, she heard Merula’s singing voice from the floor below. By Merlin, her voice was amazing. Very powerful, yet deeply soothing. Even though the sound came from below, it surrounded her. She leaned against the headboard and enjoyed the singing while she worked. To her surprise she even recognized a few songs.
The singing stopped abruptly and Quinn felt a little pang. Then she realised this meant Merula would come up soon, shoved her project away and got a book.
‘Missed me?’ Merula quipped when she got back, obviously in a good mood. She was already dressed in green satin pyjamas and went over to her trunk to put away her clothes.
‘I was quite enjoying the show actually.’ Quinn mused.
Merula looked taken aback for a moment and went to sit cross-legged on her bed. ‘You heard me?’
‘Thin floors.’
‘Right.’ Merula nodded. Then she smirked. ‘Does this mean you’re finally ready to admit I’m better than you? You know you never had a chance against me!’
Quinn looked at Merula’s happy smirk and reminded herself not to set off the bludger. It didn’t work though and she burst out laughing.
‘What? What’s so funny, Lee?’ Merula snapped with a frown.
‘I can’t believe you still think I can actually sing!’
‘What?’
Merula’s confusion made her laugh even harder. ‘T-Tulip, she signed me up for the frog choir as a… joke.’ Quinn squeaked between giggles. How could Merula think she was competition when she had a voice like that! ‘I can’t sing for… for shit.’
‘But… you only dropped out because I took on Dennis!’ Merula combed her brown hair in a frustrated gesture. Even in the dim light Quinn could see how she turned red.
‘Yeah, because you made it into a… competition between us.’ Quinn snorted. ‘If you hadn’t stormed out before my audition you would’ve known I’m absolute shit.’
‘But that’s… everyone said you…’ Merula grabbed a pillow and squeezed it in her lap. Then she gave Quinn a death glare. ‘Sing!’
Ignoring the feeling she was on thin ice here, Quinn burst out in even more giggles at Merula’s angry face. It took some time to calm down enough to sing. Merula kept glaring at her while she did.
When she did calm down, she readjusted her glasses and sang the first thing that came to mind. ‘You hear laughter, cracking through the walls, it sends you spinning, you have no choice.’
Her voice cracked and squeaked. Merula’s mouth dropped open. Quinn fell backwards on the bed and burst out laughing again.
‘That’s… that’s not even the right rhythm!’ Merula blurted out. ‘How do you…? You can’t even keep rhythm?!’
‘Told you I’m shit.’ Quinn laughed.
‘You’re even worse!’ Merula frowned. ‘But then why did you make me take on Dennis?’
‘Tulip told me earlier she was sad Dennis wouldn’t get to sing, since you weren’t friends anymore. So when you demanded I drop out, I thought I could make my own demand.’ Quinn grinned.
Merula opened and closed her mouth. She groaned. ‘I can’t believe I fell for this.’ Then she threw the pillow at Quinn and hit her on the head. ‘You’re the worst.’
‘Thanks, I learned from the best.’ Quinn smirked and she threw the pillow back.
‘Oh so, now I’m the best.’ Merula muttered as she caught the pillow, yet Quinn could hear the hint of laughter on her voice. She breathed a small sigh of relief, so far so good.
They kept throwing the pillow for a bit. Merula demanded Quinn sing more and laughed while pointing out all the ways she failed. When she finally turned off the light, Quinn realised this was the first time she and Merula hung out by themselves. Not only had they not gotten into a fight, they even laughed together. Maybe the bludger wasn’t as volatile as she thought.
In the days following up to Christmas she played lots of games, both inside the house and in the garden. One of those games was mock-quidditch. She, Bill, Charlie and Merula all brought their brooms. It was more like throwing and catching the ball than quidditch, but still fun. Mrs Weasley had hot cocoa and tea ready for them whenever their fingers were frozen. At some point every day Merula would disappear to their bedroom, but she seemed to enjoy herself too. They even had a few more nights where they chitchatted a bit before sleeping.
The sound of Celestina Warbeck woke Quinn on Christmas day. She hurried to the bathroom to get dressed and went to the kitchen. Mrs Weasley sang along to the radio while multiple pots and pans stirred themselves. Clangs of wood on metal rung through the kitchen. Everything smelled wonderful. She recognized turkey, potatoes, bread, peas and pies. Mrs Weasley was clearly getting a head start on dinner too.
After breakfast they were all shooed into the living room, where Arthur and Molly handed everyone their presents. Quinn felt awed when she found she got a present too: a blue knitted sweater with the letter Q.
‘You’ve got your own Weasley sweater.’ Bill grinned and he held up his own sweater. ‘You too, Merula.’
Quinn turned to see Merula smiling while holding up her own sweater, a green one with the letter M. It was new to see Merula smile as much as she did these past days. Back at school she didn’t smile much, not around her anyway. Which was partly her own fault if she was honest. She hadn’t always made the effort to be nice to Merula. At least she did better now.
Then it was her turn to hand out gifts. Molly gave her a big hug when she got her tea cosy and Arthur seemed very excited about his tennis ball. Molly less so, but ‘At least it doesn’t have a plug.’. Bill was happy with his woodcutting knife and Charlie with his Welsh Green dragon model. Since she didn’t know the other kids well, she had gotten them sweets and chocolates. Luckily they didn’t seem to mind as they dove in.
At last, she gave Merula her gifts and watched her unpack. Merula squinted her eyes as she took a fluffy ball from its package and turned it around. Then her eyes widened.
‘You made me as a Puffskein?!’
All of a sudden Quinn wasn’t so certain about her gift anymore. Knowing Merula liked Puffskeins she chose to crochet her one. A normal one at first. That changed when she planned her design. Since a while Merula jokingly liked to threaten her by saying she would turn her into a Puffskein. It seemed their first time working together, which had been a disaster, had become a joke. Or so she thought. Had she misjudged?
‘Of course you did.’ Merula playfully rolled her violet eyes. ‘You’re an idiot.’
Quinn grinned in relief. She had not. ‘It’s just a little joke, to commemorate our first time working together. I got you a real gift too.’
Merula made quick work of the paper and revealed a book. ‘Advanced hexing for the cunning and brave.’ She gave the book an approving look. ‘Huh, this might actually be useful.’ Merula shot Quinn a devious grin. ‘I’ll be sure to let you know when I learn some.’
‘By hexing me?’
‘You’ll see. Here.’ Merula threw Quinn a package. ‘I got you something too. And you.’ She threw another package at Bill and Quinn felt her eyes on her as she unpacked.
‘The curse-breakers compendium.’ Quinn read. She scanned the abstract. Curses, counter-curses, unlocking spells… This would be good! ‘Thank you, Merula.’
‘I thought you could stand to learn more.’ Merula smirked and got up to hand Molly a big gift. Quinn watched her reveal a large bouquet of flowers.
‘These are wonderful, dear!’ Molly exclaimed. ‘I love tulips! Oh, and I see dahlia’s, roses… and what is this one?’ She pointed at a funny-looking flower, which resembled a cockscomb more than a flower.
‘Celosia Cristata.’ Merula answered without hesitation. ‘It’s my own favourite. Dad used to plant those around the house for me.’
Then she blushed and started talking about the other flowers. It was interesting how much she knew. When Molly thanked her again, Merula hurried back to her gifts. Then she murmured something about putting her gifts away and bolted upstairs.
Quinn watched her go, curious about the soft interaction she watched. There was no time to dwell on it though, because Bill dared her to try to win a game of chess against him. The morning continued peacefully and happily. The twins got Percy to chase them again. Ron, the youngest brother, baffled Quinn again with his chess skills. It was so good to feel like part of a family Christmas. Much better than bouncing from house to house in an effort to be around people. Although those Christmases had already been an upgrade from the ones before Hogwarts.
After some time playing, Molly ordered everyone to tidy the floor. Both sets of grandparents and some other family members would be coming over soon. Quinn took her own gifts and brought them upstairs.
‘Don’t worry, I’m only putting my gifts away. I’ll be gone in a minute.’ Quinn assured Merula when she saw her look up from her book. She was laying sprawled out on her bed.
Merula nodded and was silent for a moment, but Quinn kept feeling her eyes on her as she stood bowed over her trunk.
‘Lee, can I ask you something?’ Merula spoke unexpectedly.
Quinn turned around and saw Merula was sitting up now. She looked vulnerable somehow. Interested, she cocked her head. ‘Sure?’
‘Why did you give me a gift that first Christmas?’
The tips of her ears got hot. A few months ago, she would’ve acted all offended with Merula if she’d dared to question her motives. Not today. Things were different now, especially after the last few days. She pushed her red hair back and gave Merula the honest answer.
‘I hoped it would make you feel bad about the Devil’s Snare.’
Merula nodded, obviously not surprised by the answer.
When she stayed silent, Quinn dared to ask a question of her own. ‘Why did you accept?’
‘I didn’t have that book yet.’ Merula shrugged. Then she ducked her head. ‘And I suppose, maybe, I did feel a bit bad.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s alright. I suppose I deserved it a bit.’
Stunned by Merula’s words, Quinn didn’t know how to reply. She changed the subject. ‘At least we’re doing better now. I mean working together is better than I expected.’
Merula nodded. ‘You’re not as bad as I thought you were.’ Then she frowned. ‘Just don’t go thinking we’re friends now.’
‘I wouldn’t dare.’ Quinn laughed and Merula let out a small chuckle. ‘I’m going back downstairs. See you later?’
‘Yes, later.’ Merula confirmed, then she laid down again and turned her attention back to her book.
They were doing good, Quinn thought with a smile and she closed her trunk. Maybe Merula wasn’t like a bludger after all. Whatever she was, she was nicer than Quinn had given her credit for. Friends or not, Quinn did feel much more comfortable around her.
It was better than fine.
Merula stayed in bed for a while longer after Lee left. She kept staring at her book, but didn’t read. Her mind was going over the past few days. It was a lot to be surrounded by ten overly-excited redheads. Thankfully they left her alone if she went upstairs to be by herself. It had been one of her conditions when Weasley invited her. In no way did she want a repeat of last year, when she’d gone to Ismelda for the holidays. Ismelda’s parents didn’t leave them alone for even a second, ‘because Christmas is about family.’. They were beyond suffocating and it made both Merula and Ismelda grumpy as fuck. After a week Ismelda’s parents had enough. Two angry teens were too much for them and they brought her back to school. It was humiliating.
This holiday at the Weasleys had been much, much better so far. The Weasleys were kind, didn’t force her into anything and she had fun playing games. Even Lee was alright to be around, almost, well... pleasant. She had feared the worst when she found out they were sharing a room. Lee could be a real chatterbox in classes and loved pushing her buttons. Yet, over the past week she seemed to get it when Merula didn’t want to talk. And while Lee did still like to push her buttons, she now did so more jokingly. Like the Christmas gift. Only Lee would think to crochet her as a Puffskein.
Eventually, around dinner time, Merula decided to brave the noise again. There were even more Weasleys now and the chattering was almost overwhelming. The living room was full, but as far as she could tell it was adults only. She quickly made her way to the kitchen, where she found the oldest two brothers and Lee playing cards.
‘Come join us!’ They waved at her and Merula took a seat next to dragon boy. The game went by fast. They were about to start up their eighth round when Mrs Weasley came in and ordered the boys to go get an extra table.
Merula felt awkward staying seated with all the bustling around her. This was going to take a while. Which meant this was probably as good a time as any. She looked at Lee for a moment, pondering again if she should do it. Bring her or not bring her? Would she even want to come? Finally, she made a decision.
‘Lee, want to come outside for a bit? Bring your wand.’
Lee frowned in surprise, then she smiled. ‘Sure.’
Outside her eyes had to adjust to the dark for a moment. Then she led Lee to the spot she found earlier this week. It was far back, in a secluded part of the garden. Noises from the house wouldn’t reach them here. Lee followed her in silence and didn’t say anything either when they stopped. She just looked at her with this soft, curious expression. Very different from before, when Lee would only look at her with mean, fake smiles.
With no idea what to say, Merula turned her gaze to the sky and waited for a cloud to drift past the moon. The spell didn’t need light of course, it would only make the effects look better. When the moonlight returned Merula turned her attention back to Lee.
‘Remember the spell I taught you our first Christmas?’
Lee nodded.
‘Good. Get your wand.’
Merula waved her wand and Lee followed her lead. Within no time snowflakes were swirling all around them. Their combined power made for a heavy local snowfall. Perfect. The sight filled her with warm fuzzies as she threw her head back to take it all in. There was something so comforting and carefree about the sight of falling snow. Especially with the moonlight bouncing off it. Snow started to stick to her tousled hair and nose and she could feel the cold as it slowly melted against her skin. A grin spread over her face and she sank down on the already snowy ground. She waved her hands through the air, catching snowflakes on her fingers and blowing them away.
After a while she turned to look at Lee. She was sitting too, her glasses covered in snowflakes, but she didn’t seem to mind. Her red hair contrasted against the snow and she beamed as fumbled with the snow in front of her. She was making little snowpeople. They were actually sort of cute. As if she felt her looking, Lee turned her head and grinned at her. Something tugged at Merula and she gave Lee a quick nod before turning her attention back to the snow.
She laid down, hands to her sides, and watched. Snow tickled her face when it landed and melted. Without thinking about it she let her fingers trace the snow around her. After what seemed like too short of a time someone called out for them, telling them dinner was ready. With a sigh Merula got up. Once outside the reach of the charm she charmed herself clean and dry. Next to her, Lee did the same.
‘Thank you for bringing me, Merula, this was great.’ Lee beamed at her. Her freckled cheeks flushed from the cold and her green eyes gleamed with happiness. ‘I love the snow.’
Something tugged again and Merula shrugged. ‘Whatever, no need to get mushy.’
Unbothered by her comment Lee kept beaming and held open the door for Merula.
The Christmas dinner was long and busy. Stories flied around her as everyone tried to talk over one another. Grandparents praised their grandchildren and everyone was in a good mood. A few tried to engage Merula in their conversations, but she preferred to just listen. Still, the fact that they wanted to include her felt nice.
The following days were more of the same: playing games, sharing stories and drinking hot cocoa. And for herself also reading or listening to the radio by herself in the bedroom. Time flied and before she knew it, it was already the last day. Tomorrow they would already board the train again. She expected the last day to be like the other, but was thrown off when Lee went upstairs after breakfast. This whole holiday Lee had done nothing but spent time with others. She tried not to think much of it until she went upstairs herself. Lee was laying on the ground with some parchments and books in front of her. The radio was on and Lee was singing along to some rock music. Her messy bun of red hair bopped as her head swayed out of rhythm to the music. Merlin, she was bad. How had she ever thought Lee could be her competition?
Suddenly Lee turned off the radio and looked at her. ‘Do you need me to go? I can finish downstairs, I think.’
Curious, Merula walked over and looked at the parchments and books in front of Lee. They showed drawings of Mars and its phases. ‘You’re doing homework?’
Lee nodded.
‘But Professor Sinistra assigned this days before the holidays.’ Merula frowned. How had Lee not finished yet?
‘I know.’ Lee groaned. ‘But Badeea got caught up in painting Mars and its moons. And Rowan was busy making sure Barnaby had everything finished for the holidays… And now I still have to do this.’
‘So?’ Merula frowned, not understanding what Lee’s friends had to do with her lack of planning.
‘Nothing. I’ll get this done.’ Lee sighed. ‘Now do you need me to go or not?’
Not waiting for an answer, Lee started picking up her things. The title of Lee’s essay was visible on one of the parchments. Nothing else was written on it, even though Lee had been upstairs for more than an hour already. Then it hit her: Lee struggled with Astronomy.
‘Do you need help?’ Merula blurted out.
‘No, I can pack by myself. It’s not that much.’
Merula rolled her eyes. ‘With your homework, you dimwit.’
Lee’s green eyes widened. ‘Really?’
Impatiently, Merula arched her eyebrow.
‘Yes.’ Lee answered quickly and put everything back down.
Merula sat down near her and checked with Lee where to start. The assignment was to describe the effects Mars’ phases have on the magic here on earth. It involved a lot of math and Merula discovered this in particular to be Lee’s problem. She had to explain the same formula multiple times, because Lee just didn’t seem to get where to get her numbers from. Thankfully, Lee was serious and listened. She didn’t even argue whenever Merula pointed out mistakes. Like she accepted her superiority, for once. It was a nice feeling.
It took a while, but finally Lee got it down and finished her essay.
‘Done!’ Lee grinned as she dotted her last sentence. ‘Thank you so much, this would have taken me all day by myself.’
‘Whatever.’ Merula shrugged, trying to seem unbothered. ‘I didn’t know you struggled with Astronomy. You’re always bragging about your O’s.’
‘I don’t settle for less.’ Lee answered simply. Then she paused and her green eyes started to gleam. ‘Wait, you really thought I don’t struggle with anything?’
‘What? … Don’t be ridiculous!’ Merula muttered, feeling embarrassed.
‘Yeah, you do! You thought I could sing too.’ Lee giggled, scrunching her nose. ‘You really think I’m this perfect unicorn.’
Merula rolled her eyes when Lee used her insult against her. So what if she’d called Lee a perfect unicorn before? It wasn’t meant to be a compliment then and she wasn’t going to let Lee think it was a compliment now.
‘You know what I meant! We both know you’re not.’
‘We do now.’ Lee smirked.
‘I’m never helping you again.’ Merula huffed in pretend anger and got up to sit on her bed.
Lee stuck out her tongue and Merula stifled a laugh. Then she watched Lee gather her books and essay to put in her trunk. For some reason Merula had expected her to be messy, but Lee turned out to be quite neat thankfully. No clothes or anything had been strewn around this whole holiday.
‘I’m going back downstairs.’ Lee said when she finished. ‘Thanks again for helping me. Really.’
‘Don’t be mushy.’ Merula rolled her eyes. ‘And try not to trip over your ego on the stairs. You’d make us late for school.’
Lee laughed and smiled at her. Her eyes sparked merrily. ‘You know, you’re much more fun to be around than I thought you would be.’
With that she headed down the stairs, leaving Merula to ponder her words. She had no idea whether they were a compliment or an insult.
Probably both.
Later that evening, after dinner, they started talking about going back to school. Especially about training with Madam Rakepick and what to expect. So far, she had focused on defensive and healing spells. Boring. Weasley stated his hope to learn some detecting spells. Merula earned an angry glare from Mrs Weasley when she stated she hoped to learn some curses. Lee said she was fine with whatever, as long as they broke the curses.
When they headed up for bed Merula realised with a pang this was it. Holiday over. Tomorrow morning they would board the train and go back to school. While she was excited to go back and continue improving herself, this holiday had been a lot of fun.
She and Lee headed upstairs together and Merula waited for her turn while Lee got ready. When she was ready herself, she found Lee sitting up in the warm light of the oil lamp, frowning. Merula arched her eyebrow at her. Was she that upset about going back to school?
‘Merula, can we talk?’
Merula shrugged nonchalantly as an answer, although she was interested. Lee looked serious. She plopped down cross-legged on her bed, her arms relaxed on her legs. ‘This better not be long though.’
Lee nodded and Merula was a bit taken aback when she got up and sat down on her bed as well, with her legs to the side.
‘Do we need to be this close for a talk?’ She huffed. Lee was close enough that she could practically count the freckles in her face.
‘I don’t want anyone to hear this.’ Lee whispered.
Oh, a secret. Lee certainly had her attention now. ‘What is it?’ She whispered back.
‘I… Last year Madam Rosmerta gave me a notebook that belonged to my brother.’ Lee started. ‘He wrote down everything from when he searched the vaults. And I know Madam Rakepick helped him.’
Merula’s eyes widened. Oh fuck, this was bad. She shouldn’t know about this.
It did explain something though. Madam Rakepick told her Lee had been asking the teachers about her. If Lee ever told her something about it, she was to report it. It wasn't something she expected to hear about from Lee. They didn't really talk much. Except apparently they did now and well, this was definitely something to report.
‘I tried talking to her about it, but she denies even knowing my brother. I don’t know why she would lie to me, but it’s suspicious.’ Lee sounded frustrated. ‘And there is more. My brother talks of an organisation called R too.’
Her stomach tightened. This was even worse. She noticed she was squeezing her knees and willed her hands to relax. It would be fine.
‘At first they helped. Then they pressured his friend Duncan to brew a potion that killed him and made Jacob take the blame. And they trapped Ben in the cursed ice in our second year. I found a note telling him to go there.’ Lee twirled her finger through her long red hair, which was out of its usual messy bun and flowed freely around her shoulders. At least Merula wasn’t the only one feeling anxious.
‘I think Madam Rakepick is part of R.’ Lee finished and looked expectantly at Merula, still twirling her hair.
Her stomach pulled tighter and she had to keep focus to stop herself from squeezing her knees. What the fuck was she supposed to say to this? Lee wasn’t supposed to know about any of this!
‘What does Weasley think?’ Merula asked, trying to buy herself some time. There was no way Lee had not discussed this with Weasley.
Lee sighed and dropped her hand to fidget with the bedsheets. ‘He thinks she has her reasons and since Dumbledore hired her, we should trust her. My other friends are divided, Ben and Rowan agree with me, Badeea isn’t sure and Penny agrees with Bill.’
Did the whole school know?! So much for keeping the organisation a secret…
‘I think I’m with Weasley.’ Merula hesitantly replied, still fighting hard to keep her body relaxed. ‘I mean why would she teach us healing spells if she meant harm?’ Great, great answer. Well thought-out.
‘I don’t know.’ Lee sighed again. ‘I just thought I should tell you. Especially about R. I have no idea if they will do something again. But according to Jacob they are very determined to get into the vaults.’
Yes, very determined. Merula swallowed and nodded.
Lee nodded too. Then she leaned closer and gave her a pleading look. ‘Please don’t tell Madam Rakepick about anything.’
For some reason her stomach tightened worse than before and she had to force herself to say something.
Eventually she scoffed lightly. ‘I’m not a snitch.’
Liar.
‘Right, sorry.’ Lee’s face relaxed.
She watched Lee go to bed, with her purple nightgown fluttering around her legs. Once in bed Lee took off her glasses and turned off the oil lamp.
‘Goodnight, Merula.’
Right. Merula shook her head and got under the covers herself, even though she felt wide awake.
‘Night, Lee.’ She turned her own lamp off.
Her mind kept racing as she stared at the dark ceiling. Lee knows about R. Lee knows about R. And she thinks we’re bad too! Not fair. Only because her stupid brother couldn’t deal with his responsibility for his friend’s death. Because it couldn’t be true. R wouldn’t do such a thing, her family wouldn’t do that. Not this family. They were treasure hunters. Knowledge hunters. Not murderers!
At least Lee didn’t suspect her. Or did she? She wouldn’t tell her all this if she did, right? No, she practically begged her not to tell Madam Rakepick. Or maybe that’s exactly why she begged her, to test her.
No, no, no. She calmed herself down. It wasn’t like Lee to shy away from confronting her. She was always on her back whenever she suspected her of something. No way she had let this slip for two years if she suspected her. And she hadn’t, Merula remembered. Lee confronted her when Copper disappeared, because she had been making stupid comments. Despite this she had been able to talk herself out of suspicion, she was sure of it. If not, Lee would have dragged her until she confessed.
So, it was safe to say Lee didn’t suspect her. She still had to tell Madam Rakepick though, unfortunately.
She turned to her side, facing the wall. What a way to end the holiday.