Dorcas was on her way to the kitchens when she heard Juliet calling her.

She doubled back and found her sitting on the ledge of the balcony, with her boyfriend, Tristan Chambers standing beside her. They smiled and waved at Dorcas as she made her way towards them.

"I have never really introduced you to Tristan, have I?" asked Juliet, jumping down from the ledge. "This is Tristan. Tristan, I was telling Dorcas the other day about how you think muggle items are better than wizarding ones. Dorcas has a muggle mum, I think she will agree with what you say."

Dorcas smiled and pushed down the feeling of intense envy that was attempting to surface itself. "I do agree," she said. "Pens are so much easier to use than quills."

Tristan clapped his hands like he had made a huge scientific breakthrough. "Exactly!" he exclaimed, looking at Juliet as if he was trying to make a point. "What did I tell you? Pens aren't toys. They are useful, and certainly more efficient than quills."

"I once gave my friends some pens as gifts, and they put them on their desks as display," Dorcas said with a laugh, remembering the time in second year when she had tried to convince them to use pens instead of quills, at least for purposes outside of academic matters. "Maeve somehow managed to leak the ink over her shirt and didn't talk to me for a whole day."

"They carry around freaking inkpots, and they cannot even manage a pen!" Tristan told her incredulously, scoffing. "Wizards, am I right?"

Dorcas scoffed too. "Poor, useless creatures."

"I dread about what the future holds for them."

"I hope they gain common sense one day and accept the fact that muggles are indeed superior and that all along they've tried to separate the two worlds because they know that if we are together, wizards won't stand a chance."

They gasped in unison, revelling in the abrupt discovery that has dawned unexpectedly upon them. Tristan grasped Juliet's arm and shook her dramatically. "Do you hear that, Juliet? We are being fooled. The government doesn't want wizards and muggles to mingle – not to prevent unrest between the two worlds, but to prevent the wizards from going down."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "You guys do realise that you both are wizards, not muggles, don't you?"

"We have the best of both worlds," said Tristan, prodding her on the shoulder. "Unlike you, who has only wizard blood. We are clearly superior. Aren't we, Dorcas?"

It was Juliet's turn to scoff. She crossed her arms in front of her and said, "I have muggle ancestors," rather defensively, which caused the other two to burst into laughter.

"So you do admit that muggles are superior," said Dorcas, slapping her playfully over the shoulder. "Admit it, Juliet. In a war between muggles and wizards, wizards will end up extinct."

"We have magic," Juliet countered.

"And we have guns."

The sentence was uttered by both Dorcas and Tristan, at precisely the same moment. They glanced at each other, and Juliet glanced at them, each of their eyes wide like they have just witnessed something extraordinary. Then Juliet broke the silence. "Our magic can easily defeat guns."

Once again, her remark was rewarded with laughter from her audience, who almost stumbled into each other as they laughed uncontrollably. Tristan took a few steps towards her and hugged her, like a mother would hug her child. "Oh, Juliet," he said, tutting. "It's cute that you think that."

She pushed him away and scowled at the both of them. "I didn't introduce the two of you to start attacking me like this," she said, brandishing her finger towards the two of them. "You two will never talk from now on, at least not in front of me." Tristan placed a kiss on her temple, causing a smile to appear on her face, though it was clear that she was trying to hide it. Then she turned to Dorcas. "Can we go to the library? I had some confusion in Charms. I was hoping you could help me."

Dorcas remembered that she was going somewhere before she had come across Juliet in the balcony. But she couldn't remember where, though she decided that it mustn't have been something important as she would surely have remembered it if it was. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she said, "Sure. Let's go."

"Can he come?" Juliet tipped her head towards Tristan, who pouted like a little child. Dorcas couldn't help but laugh.

"Why not?"

As they walked towards the library, Dorcas realised that she really didn't mind having Tristan around. Maybe she would have, if it was a few months earlier. But now she was able to come to terms with her feelings and no longer felt the twisting ache in her chest that usually associated thinking about Juliet with another boy. Besides, his fun, quirky nature has really served to melt the ice inside her.

Dorcas realised something was wrong the moment she stepped inside the library.

She couldn't quite place her finger on it. But she remembered one time when she was ten, she was home alone – her mother had gone to work – and she was busy painting. Suddenly, she had begun to feel an odd, creepy sensation, like someone was breathing down her neck. She felt like someone was watching her. She had looked around the house and checked behind doors just to make sure she was really alone, and then fallen asleep on the couch during the afternoon. When she woke up, she had realised that the house had been robbed.

Now, as she walked into the library with Juliet and Tristan, that same creepy feeling returned. There were plenty of people in the library, noses buried in books, but she felt like something wasn't right, like something was out of place. It was like the feeling you get when you put a book in the wrong slot on the shelf and you know that you have done something wrong, but you cannot figure out what. A shiver ran down her spine.

Juliet chose a table and she followed the two, sitting down opposite them. Neither Juliet nor Tristan seemed disturbed in any way; they talked normally as the former began to pile up books on the table. Dorcas kept her head low, twisting her fingers together. She wanted to run away.

Juliet placed one of the books in front of her after turning to her desired page. She pointed towards a series of questions written at the end of the chapter. "I answered these questions, but I'm not sure if they're correct. Could you check?"

Dorcas nodded absently, pulling the book closer to her. She tried to read the questions, but she couldn't focus. Even after reading a single question five times, she was unable to process the information in her brain.

"Is it just me," Tristan said suddenly, "or are people staring at us?"

Dorcas slowly lifted her head, turning to look at the people around them. Indeed, a few of them were craning their necks to look over at their table, lips pulled up in a cruel sneer. They didn't bother trying to hide the fact that they were staring.

"Have we done something?" asked Tristan. Dorcas saw the frown on his face deepening. "This us honestly scaring me. Why are they staring like that?"

Dorcas wet her lips. The people weren't staring at the three of them, she realised. They were staring at her.

And she had no clue why.

"Uh – Juliet, I have to go," she mumbled quietly before rising to her feet. She didn't know why they were so blatantly staring at her, and she didn't want to find out. At least not now. She needed her friends.

She left the library and hastened through the corridors, keeping her head low. Dorcas hated the feeling, like she was constantly under watch. It made her skin crawl. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad in the corridors as it was in the library, although she flinched every time someone passed by her.

Dorcas wasn't really watching where she was going, but she kept a fast pace nonetheless, wanting to get back to the Gryffindor tower as quickly as she could. Suddenly, she bumped into someone and almost fell back but somehow managed to keep herself upright.

"Watch it, poof," the boy spat at her, shoving her from his path. So shocked was she that she didn't even bother to fight back. Instead she continued on her way, now running properly. Her vision blurred as tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't stop.

She now understood why people were staring at her at the library. It was because they knew.

She sprinted up the stairs, feeling her knees weakening beneath her. And all the while she whispered to herself. They know they know they know.

She continued whispering as she reached the Gryffindor tower, sputtering as she tried to utter the password that would gain her entry into the common room.

They know.