The Wishing Web

- Chapter Two -

One Saturday morning several weeks later I received a letter from home. After breakfast I went back up to the boys dormitory to read it in peace. Sitting on my bed I carefully perused the parchment, occasionally sharing the funny bits with Daphne who was perched on the end of the bed. I never minded her being in here as long as it was empty. The other boys had voiced objections about it in the past for obvious reasons.

My father cheerfully updated me on all the latest family news (my uncle Theophilus had the flu again. Not a week went by when he wasn't apparently suffering from some illness) and mentioned the latest interesting inventory the Department of Magical Antiquities had received. My dad worked there sorting and cataloguing ancient magical artefacts, some of which had rather nasty curses on them. I had lost count of the times my dad had come home with rather unattractive growths covering him. Still it certainly made his occupation amusing to say the least and dad had noted down a few particular incidents that had occurred over the last week.

"Listen to this one," I giggled to Daphne. She stopped writing in her journal and looked up. "Apparently one of the wizards my dad works with ended up with the word 'thief' burned into an ... err ... interesting part of his body when he touched one of those Elizabethan crystal balls!"

Daphne laughed and made a show of looking revolted. "But why would anyone want to protect a crystal ball?" She asked. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to steal them."

"I dunno. Maybe they worked better back then."

"Goodness knows they don't now," she sniggered.

I lay back on my bed, wondering whether I should send a reply. My parents did like to know how I was getting on but I often found I never had anything really interesting to tell them and therefore my letters tended to sound the same - boring.

My mind wandered back to the half remembered incident in Potions. I hadn't given it much thought. The only backlash I had received in punishment for the heinous crime of saving a Gryffindor from potential embarrassment was a tirade from Malfoy that had made my ears ring and that hadn't been much of a punishment at all. Malfoy had run out of steam pretty quickly when I had offered nothing but a wide-eyed stare of confusion in my defence. It had been rather fascinating to watch Draco's face turn pink with exasperation when he realised his rant wasn't having any affect on me. He normally looked so pale and ghostly.

Eventually I decided to send a standard 'I'm fine, settled in ok, enjoying my classes' reply. Fetching a quill and parchment from my bedside cabinet I started to write then paused when an idea suddenly occurred to me. I hadn't given it a second thought since Daphne had raised the subject at the start of term ... it would be easy ... but it just wasn't the right to way to go about it ... downright cowardly in fact.

Sighing I hastily scribbled the letter and tied it to the leg of our family owl Hector. I watched him fly off then turned and sat back down on the bed.

Daphne was watching me intently as if she somehow had read my mind. The corners of her mouth were turned down in slight disapproval but she didn't say anything. Instead she finished whatever it was she had been writing in her notebook and said, "Why don't we go and sit down by the lake. It's a nice enough day." Indeed the weather was rather warm for the end of September and it was relaxing to just sit quietly by the water, watching the giant squid going about it's business.

"Sounds good." I fetched my cloak so we would have something to sit on and we set off. The water sparkled invitingly in the sun when we reached the edge. For the moment the squid was nowhere in sight.

Plenty of other students were out and about too, having also decided to make the most of the unusually good weather. They were dotted around the banks of the lake or just strolling around the grounds.

We saw Luna Lovegood, a fifth year Ravenclaw whose father was the editor of The Quibbler. She was in the company of a red haired girl I recognised as Ron Weasley's sister although I couldn't remember her name offhand - Jenny or something.

More amusing was the sight of Draco walking with Pansy, reluctantly holding her hand as he glanced nervously around, not wanting to be seen doing anything so hopelessly unmacho.

"How repulsive," smirked Daphne as we watched them stroll back towards the castle.

"I know. I can't believe Malfoy would allow himself to be seen holding the hand of his girlfriend." I'd once heard him boasting about how he had employed the 'treat 'em mean and keep 'em keen' strategy with Pansy. Clearly, like so much with Malfoy, this was all talk.

"Oh he's not doing it willingly," said Daphne in a lofty tone that implied she knew something I did not.

"Really? I didn't see Pansy forcing him at wand point."

"She doesn't need to. Pansy's been complaining for a while now that he's not showing her enough affection - "

"Didn't anyone inform her she was going out with a Malfoy?" I asked with a derisive snort. Daphne frowned at the interruption. "Oh sorry, carry on."

"So anyway, she basically told him she would break up with him if he didn't buck his ideas up. Hence the hand holding."

I stared in disbelief. "He gave into her?"

"Well," said Daphne with a mischievous look on her face. "It's not like the girls are queuing up around the block to go out with him is it? And if he was the dumped one he would definitely lose face. Draco's always banging on about how he's got her wrapped around his little finger after all ..." ah, now that definitely sounded like Malfoy.

"Not very impressed with him anymore is she?" I said, remembering how in the past Pansy had turned into a simpering moron whenever Malfoy had been in the room. The amusement value of this spectacle had quickly worn off and it had become embarrassing to watch.

"Apparently not."

I lay back on my cloak, which we had spread out on the grass, the sun warm on my face. A cool breeze was blowing which took the edge off the heat of the day. Daphne took off her glasses (they kept sliding down her rather sweaty nose) and, following my example, lay back too. We remained there for a while making idle small talk.

"To think in a month this will be but a distant memory," Daphne sighed.

"Good of you to remind me," I said pleasantly. One simply could not be grouchy on a day like this.

When it was nearly time for lunch we decided to go for a walk around the grounds. As I was picking up my cloak, brushing off the bits of dirt and other debris that had adhered to it, three students walked past apparently in the midst of an intense conversation that was threatening to turn into an argument. Daphne nudged me sharply in the side.

"Ouch! What...?" I began indignantly then I saw what. It was Harry Potter and his two friends Weasley and Granger.

"Are we going to start stalking them now?" I asked exasperatedly, rubbing my side where Daphne had elbowed me.

"No, but didn't you hear what they were saying?" Daphne said in an excited whisper. Without further ado she set off after them leaving me to catch up with her.

"No, I didn't hear what they were saying," I replied, quite intrigued now.

The three students were walking pretty fast and kept looking over their shoulders, as if searching for eavesdroppers. Daphne and I reached a silent agreement and hung back a bit. When they rounded a corner of the castle we sped up. Finally we were in earshot again as they had stopped just around the corner. We ducked back and laid flat against the wall, listening.

"What...?" I asked again but Daphne shushed me. Granger's voice could be heard, tight with emotion.

"...Yes, it was sad, it was tragic and it's something we will never forget. I understand why you're doing this but Harry, don't you think this is the kind of thing best left to wizards in the Order? To people who have more experience in fighting the Dark Lord?"

There was a pause. Finally, Potter answered. "Yes, but ... I can't do nothing," he replied in a heavy, defeated tone. Another uneasy silence followed. Potter's friends apparently didn't really know what to say.

Eventually, Weasley broke the silence. "Look, we have a DA meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Let's just concentrate on planning that," he said firmly.

"Ok," Harry agreed. I could practically hear Hemione's sigh of relief but it was doubtful that this was the end of the matter.

They started walking again, their footsteps slowly fading away.

"The DA?" I repeated when I was sure they had gone. "What's that when it's at home?"

"It stands for Dumbledore's Army," Daphne said promptly. Off my confused look she clarified, "I was in the Inquisitorial Squad, remember? It was our job to get them into trouble. They used to meet in the Room of Requirement."

"Oh yeah, I remember now." With a sly grin I added, "I also remember that they escaped from you all." Daphne went red.

"That ... was just luck. Besides, they fought dirty!" She spluttered.

"How?"

"Well, they ... erm ... kicked and stuff ... um ... oh all right so they kicked our backsides because they were better than us. And seeing as how that was not my proudest moment I'll thank you to stop laughing now!"

I struggled to get my giggles under control. "See? It's so much better when you tell the truth."

"They mentioned something else too," Daphne went on, ignoring me. "The Order was it? What do you suppose that is?"

I frowned. They had said something about the Order having more experience with fighting the Dark Lord. In that case there was only one thing they could be.

"Aurors," I muttered. "If they are dark wizard fighters they must be Aurors."

"And Potter has known Aurors since ... when?" Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow disbelievingly. I felt rather offended by the scepticism since, at least in my head, my deduction made perfect sense. Potter attracted dark wizards without much effort; therefore he would have come into contact with those who fight dark wizards at one time or another. How, I wasn't quite sure.

All of this I explained to my friend but she still wasn't entirely convinced, arguing that it would make far more sense for Aurors to stay very far away from Potter for their own protection. If they were around him it would be incredibly easy for Voldemort to know who they all were thus rendering the secrecy surrounding the identities of all the Aurors entirely pointless.

As much as I hated to admit it but Daphne actually had a valid point there. It was also possible that Potter didn't actually know any Aurors at all and had simply read about the Order in a book. This theory annoyed me somewhat because I had done a lot of reading up on my chosen career and had never found one reference to an 'Order' of any kind anywhere.

"Well," Daphne said eventually. "As much as I enjoy a good mystery, I'm hungry. Let's go get some lunch!"

"Don't you think in future we should leave the stalking to somebody who is a little more unbalanced?" I asked light heartedly as we walked back to the castle. Truth be told I didn't want to be seen trailing after Potter and being labelled one of his hangers on. I was above such silly hero worship and the idea of anyone thinking otherwise was mortifying.

"Who is more unbalanced than us?"

"Well, Malfoy for one."

"Hmm. You're right. Ritualistic stalking of Harry Potter is really more his territory," Daphne replied as she held the door into the Entrance Hall open for me.

I nodded. "And we wouldn't want to crowd him."

*

September turned into October rather too soon for my liking. The weather turned fairly miserable but it did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Hogwarts students since they were all anticipating the first Quidditch match of the season - Slytherin versus Gryffindor. As ever, I failed to see the attraction of this pointless sport.

However, I always seemed to end up going to the matches. Mostly out of a sense that I should support my House team. Besides, there was always the bonus of perhaps seeing someone you didn't like get hurt. In my case that was nearly everybody so I was seldom disappointed.

One evening, a couple of days before the game, the common room was crowded with Slytherins discussing the upcoming match - going through new tactics the team captain was rumoured to be planning to use and other such things relating to Quidditch that I did not really understand.

I was seated in a corner away from the crowd, completing some Astronomy homework. For the most part the hubbub didn't bother me but every now and again it rose to an intrusive din. I didn't feel inclined to go to the library however so I did my best to block the noise out when it got too loud.

"Well, personally, I really think we have the upper hand due to what happened last year," declared a fourth year. "Potter is bound to be out of practice after being booted off the team!" Cheers and applause greeted the student's words, causing me to wince slightly and consider the possibility of admitting defeat in regards to finishing my homework tonight.

"Oh honestly," hissed Daphne, who seemed to have materialised out of thin air in to the chair across from me and was now listening to the conversations going on around us. Unlike me, she had quite a healthy interest in Quidditch and supported the Falmouth Falcons.

"Everyone possessing even half a brain cell knows we'll lose," she continued. "Naturally, when we do they'll come up with one thousand and one reasons for why it was not the team's fault, thus completely ignoring the fact that the real reason we lose and will continue to do so is because our Quidditch team is pants!"

A pause. I continued to write, oblivious to Daphne's narrowed eyes as she waited expectantly for some response from me.

"And your not listening to a word I'm saying."

"You are absolutely right. I'm not," I answered. "That is because I'm finishing my homework, which you may find is a far more constructive activity than discussing the Sport of Snores."

"Seeing as you are my best friend, I'll choose to ignore that insulting nickname you have given to our noble sport."

Resisting the urge to make another disparaging remark about the so-called 'noble sport,' I put down my quill and rolled up my parchment. Luckily, this was one piece of homework I had decided not to leave till the night before so I could work on it later. The problem was our homework was increasing in both difficulty and amount these days and showed no signs of slowing down. Therefore I would have preferred to get at least one piece out of the way that night.

Putting the half finished work back into my bag I rose from my chair and said tiredly, "Well, as stimulating as this conversation is not, I really must head for bed. Isn't it funny how Quidditch talk has that anti-insomnia effect on me?"

"You will notice Blaise, that I am not laughing. Therefore it's not funny."

I chuckled despite myself. "Good night. I hope tomorrow that you wake up with better taste."

"Oh get lost you spoil sport," she said with a disparaging wave, signifying that this conversation was well and truly at an end.

I took my cue and left.

Inside the boys dormitory I undressed and got into bed. My leg brushed something hard and rectangular that fell with a thump to the floor. Puzzled as I was not in the habit of leaving things out in this room lest it end up in the wrong hands, I got out of bed and went to see what it was.

It was Daphne's notebook. We had shared many secrets between each other, as we were the only people either of us trusted enough with private information but the content of her notebooks was not one of those things. Oh, I had asked to see one of them at least but had always been met with a curt refusal and a no nonsense glare.

Shivering in just my thin pyjamas I stared down at the book, a sudden and horrible temptation creeping over me. It would be easy enough to just take a little peek and she would never know, would she?

But she's your best friend and you know she'd kill you several thousand times over if you looked. Never mind the fact that your friendship with Daphne would be well and truly over, my inner voice of reason berated angrily.

I eventually resisted the urge to look after a long inner debate and tossed it onto the nightstand beside my bed. As curious as I was, I was not prepared to lose my best friend, my only friend, over something so trivial.

I fell asleep assured that I made the right decision.

What failed to even vaguely cross my mind however, was that I was sharing a room with people who had no such qualms about looking at someone else's' personal property.

I hadn't thought to tuck the book away in a drawer or my trunk or anywhere out of sight for that matter.