24 | ﴾ Kiddo ﴿

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I let the hours of the day waste away laying on top of the bed in Hermione's old room. I had mapped out the knots in the wooden planks of the ceiling, and shook out the bedding. I hadn't dared open the trunk of the deceased girl's personal items, feeling as though I was in part responsible for her death having been involved with her murderer. 

I watched from the window as witches and wizards of all ages and styles came and left the property throughout the day. A few times I had to drop and hide as their eyes wandered to my window during conversations with each other. By the time the sun was setting there was a loud racket rising from downstairs as a hoard of resistance members collected for dinner. I could hear the slamming of cooking utensils and the smell of food.

I pressed my ear to the floor next to the entrance of my room in a weak attempt to eavesdrop. Ginny's earsplitting voice penetrated the air in varying volumes and I knit my eye brows together trying to decipher the cause of her angst, "-and you never come back for anyone. But you came back for her, that miserable Slytherin bitch. It's not like she didn't date him in Hogwarts willingly. We can't trust her."

"We can trust her, Ginny. She confided in Hermione and I at school, she was trapped then. We couldn't let him get away with this again," Harry spat back at her. 

A chair was pushed back in a screech of wood against wood. I heard the callous, feminine voice of Pansy, "So we're supposed to believe that he just gave her up for Zabini? She's Malfoy's fucking prized possession. I agree with Ginny, something's off about this."

"Shut up!" Harry roared impatiently, "Both of you. She's trustworthy, and this is not a discussion. Besides, she's powerful and we need her help, especially now that our numbers are so low."

It was quiet for literally a second before I heard glass shatter, "You fancy her! And you're not thinking clearly." Ginny's voice was laced with jealousy and I scrambled from my doorway as I heard the onslaught of heavy foot steps hitting the stairs. She slammed a door on the second floor and the house was filled with uncomfortable murmuring. 

"You do fancy her mate. Bit obvious innit?" I heard Ron mumbling feebly. I swallowed against the lump forming in my throat. This was bad, very bad. I wouldn't be able to regularly reject Harry's interest if he truly did have feelings for me. I would have to drag him along to keep my position within the Order given that he was the only person fighting to keep me there.

The ache in my heart throbbed as Draco's absence suddenly felt emphasized. It was another hour of eavesdropping through the floorboards on poor conversations before I heard more footsteps approaching. When they didn't stop on the second level I scattered backwards and sat on the bed trying to mask my panting. 

The door opened without any hesitation. I stared at Ron in shock that he hadn't shown the decency to knock. He looked around the room pallidly before his dark blue eyes hovered on my face, "Dinners ready, if you wanted to come down." The words were icy and didn't feel like much of an invitation, and he disappeared as quickly as he had arrived not bothering to close the door behind him.

I slumped off of the bed, dreading facing all of the people who harbored so much hatred for me. It was no good to allow myself to starve and grow weak, and I would have to start speaking to them at some point in order to collect any useful information.

Down in the kitchen clustered even more people than earlier in the day and I baulked at the crowd sharing the small space. At least four people had bright red hair that I suspected were Weasley's; Ginny and Ron, and two identical taller boys who were ripping some kind of item out of each other's hands back and forth. Pansy was away from the rest of the members watching a blurry box television in the corner of the living room. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she leered at me with disgust when I reached the bottom stair.

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