───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Hermione told Blair, Harry and Ron that Umbridge had been reading her mail and that she could have been the one who attacked Herman. It was a close call. If she had found out that they were talking to Sirius, he could have been brought back to Azkaban already.

Blair's mood only lightened up when she found out that their Quidditch team had been reformed and that they had practice that night. She wasn't surprised though when her three friends started arguing about their plan to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts because Hermione was feeling uncertain when Sirius told them to go on with it. Harry and Ron didn't speak to Hermione for the rest of the day, and Blair, feeling tired, focused on the thoughts of Quidditch practice that night.

Blair was the first one on the pitch even when it was raining. The fact that Angelina smiled at her proudly made her mood lighten up. Blair immediately felt the feeling of freedom as she zoomed through the air. Even if she couldn't see anything and she had no clue what the others were doing, she got a lot of goals in.

Angelina kept them at it for nearly an hour before conceding defeat. When they all went in, Blair stayed and played some more Quidditch. She was on her Firebolt, doing a One Man Porskoff Ploy when...

"OUCH!" Blair gripped the Quaffle tight to her chest, her eyes screwed tight with pain. The scar on her chest had seared again, more painfully than in months. Blair blinked back her tears and let out a shaky breath. She saw Harry and Ron coming out from the lockers and flew down to them.

"Did it hurt?" Blair asked Harry. Harry nodded.

Ron looked around, scared. "But... He — he can't be near us now, can he?"

Blair rubbed her chest. "He's probably miles away... But, he-he's angry."

"You felt it too?" Harry muttered. Blair nodded. She didn't know how she knew it, but she did. Voldemort, wherever he was, whatever he was doing, was in a towering temper.

"Did you see him?" said Ron, looking horrified. "Did you... get a vision, or something?" Blair and Harry stared at each other for a while, trying to figure out and it came into Blair's mind. A confused tangle of shapes, a howling rush of voices...

"He wants something done, and it's not happening fast enough," Harry said. Blair looked surprised because that was what she had been thinking as well.

"But... how do you know?" said Ron. Harry covered his eyes with his hands while Blair played with the Quaffle in her hands, trying to figure it out.

"Is this what it was about last time?" said Ron in a hushed voice. "When Blair's scar hurt in Umbridge's office? You-Know-Who was angry?"

Blair shook her head. "I don't know... But Harry's didn't hurt then."

"I told you, I don't know. If it did hurt, I could've mistaken it for the Bludger." Harry said frustratedly.

Ron looked from Blair to Harry and back. "What is it, then?" Blair remembered it. She had that odd feeling in her stomach... a strange, leaping feeling... a happy feeling, but she hadn't felt it then because she was feeling so miserable.

"Last time, it was because he was pleased," Blair said. "Really pleased. He thought... something good was going to happen. And the night before we came back to Hogwarts..."

"He was furious..." Harry said quietly. Blair and Harry stared at each other again. Why did they know? Why were they so certain?

"You could take over from Trelawney, mates," Ron said in an awed voice.

"We're not making prophecies," said Harry.

"No, you know what you're doing?" Ron said, sounding both scared and impressed. "Blair, Harry, you're reading You-Know-Who's mind..."

"No," said Blair, shaking her head. "It's more like... his mood, I suppose. We're just getting flashes of what mood he's in..."

"Dumbledore said something like this was happening last year... He said that when Voldemort was near me, or when he was feeling hatred, I could tell. Well, now I'm feeling it when he's pleased too..." Harry said. There was a pause. The wind and rain lashed at the buildings. Rain soaked Blair, who was still on the pitch.

"You've got to tell someone," said Ron.

"We told Uncle Padfoot last time."

"Well, tell him about this time!"

"Can't, can we?" said Harry grimly. "Umbridge is watching the owls and the fires, remember?"

"Well then, Dumbledore —"

"I've just told you, he already knows," said Harry shortly, getting to his feet. "There's no point telling him again."

He then looked at Blair. "Are you coming, Aika?"

Blair looked up at the skies and shook her head. "Go on, I'll fly some more."

Harry and Ron waved goodbye and walked away. Blair flew through the skies, thinking hard. What was it that Voldemort wanted done that was not happening quickly enough? Blair remembered Sirius's words. "He's got other plans... plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed... stuff he can only get by stealth... like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."

Right. What was it? What was that weapon? Where was the weapon? Who had it now? Blair was so immersed in her thoughts she didn't see that Draco Malfoy was right in front of her on his broom. She crashed into Malfoy.

"Ouch! Bloody hell!" Blair said, rubbing her head. "Draco?"

Draco groaned. "What are you doing, Blair? Couldn't you see I'm here?"

Blair hesitated before smiling slightly. "Sorry, I drowned in my thoughts. Let's play?"

Draco smirked at her. "All right."

The two of them alternated between playing Chaser and Keeper, and so far, to no one's surprise, Blair was winning. While Draco was having his turn as Chaser, he suddenly said. "Are you all right, Blair?"

Blair looked at him surprised before nodding. "Yeah. It's just... I really love Hermione..." It was not exactly what she was thinking about, but it wasn't a lie.

Draco chuckled and threw the Quaffle that Blair blocked. "Isn't it obvious? The way you look at her, the way you chase her. Anyone can see you're in love with Granger."

Blair raised an eyebrow and threw the Quaffle back. "Just curious. You don't use the word? You know, that M word."

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "I told you, Wood. I'm not like my family. I-I'm just forced to be."

Blair smiled widely. "Well, Draco, I'm sure that if you try being a little nicer to others. They'll soon see how different you are."

Draco laughed loudly at that. "Not everyone is like you, Wood. Not everyone is as open as you."

Blair exchanged positions and started doing Reverse Passes and catching them. "You'd be surprised to know that there are lots of people who would listen. Like Mione or Harry..."

Blair was surprised when Draco slipped off his broom a little and blushed. Because his face was so pale, Blair could see the blush on his face. "Why are you blushing?"

Blair flew to him and glared. "Do you like Mione?"

"No!" Draco shook his head frantically.

Blair looked at him suspiciously before shrugging and taking the Quaffle. "So, why'd you blush?"

Draco gaped at her. "Are you seriously that oblivious?" Blair was confused when she thought about it hard. Draco blushed and slipped off his broom when she mentioned...

"YOU LIKE-" Blair said loudly, but Draco clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up. People might hear." Draco hissed.

Blair rolled her eyes and took off his hand before wiggling her eyebrows. "So, you like Harry." But her smile faltered slightly when she remembered someone else who liked Harry. She wondered what she should do now but she realized she should just be a friend and support them when they need her.

Draco blushed again and rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-Yeah."

Blair teased him. "Draco Lucius Malfoy liking Harry James Potter? Now, that's interesting."

Draco playfully shoved her. "And that's something you'll keep a secret if you want to live a long life."

Blair slung an arm around his shoulder. "What are friends for, Draco? But you better be quick, you might lose him to someone, you know."

"I know." Draco chuckled at her. "But I'm contented with liking him from afar."

 "Now, you can take it slowly, my friend. You don't have to rush it all." Blair grinned widely. "And, since we're on the subject of crushes, let me tell you about Hermione Jean Granger, the love of my life..."

Draco cursed under his breath. It was going to be a long night.

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Blair got back to Gryffindor Tower at midnight after telling Draco about her whole story with Hermione. The Common Room was empty. She was so tired from the events of that day that she fell down on the couch and dozed off to sleep.

She was walking once more along a windowless corridor, her footsteps echoing in the silence. As the door at the end of the passage loomed larger, her heart beat fast with excitement... If she could only open it... enter beyond... She stretched out her hand... Her fingertips were inches from it...

"Blair Wood, miss!" Blair awoke with a start. The candles had all been extinguished in the common room, but there was something moving close by.

"Whozair?" said Blair hoarsely, sitting upright in her chair. The fire was almost extinguished, the room very dark.

"Dobby has your owl, miss!" said a squeaky voice.

"Dobby?" said Blair thickly, peering through the gloom toward the source of the voice. Dobby was standing beside the table wearing all the hats that Hermione had ever knitted, and on the very topmost bobble sat Herman, hooting serenely and obviously cured.

"Dobby volunteered to return Blair Wood's owl!" said the elf squeakily, with a look of positive adoration on his face. "Professor Grubbly-Plank says he is all well now, miss!"

Herman hooted and fluttered onto the arm of the couch. "Thanks, Dobby!" said Blair, stroking Herman's head and blinking hard, trying to rid herself of the image of the door in her dream... It had been very vivid... She looked back at Dobby and smirked. "Have you been taking all the clothes Mione's been leaving out?"

"Oh no, miss," said Dobby happily, "Dobby has been taking some for Winky too, miss."

"Yeah, how is Winky?"

Dobby's ears drooped slightly. "Winky is still drinking lots, miss," he said sadly, his enormous round green eyes, large as tennis balls, downcast. "She still does not care for clothes, Blair Wood. Neither do the other house-elves. None of them will clean Gryffindor Tower anymore, not with the hats and socks hidden everywhere, they finds them insulting, miss. Dobby does it all himself, miss, but Dobby does not mind, miss, for he always hopes to meet Blair Wood and tonight, miss, he has got his wish!" Dobby sank into a deep bow again. Blair chuckled and patted his head.

"But Blair Wood does not seem happy," Dobby went on, straightening up again and looking timidly at Blair. "Dobby heard her muttering in her sleep. Was Blair Wood having bad dreams?"

"Not really bad," said Blair, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "I've had worse."

The elf surveyed Blair out of his vast, orblike eyes. Then he said very seriously, his ears drooping, "Dobby wishes he could help Blair Wood, for Blair Wood set Dobby free and Dobby is much, much happier now..."

Blair smiled. "You can't help me, Dobby, but thanks for the offer..." She stretched her arms, and the firelight illuminated the thin white scars on the back of her hand — the result of her detention with Umbridge.

"Wait a moment — there is something you can do for me, Dobby," said Blair slowly.

The elf looked around, beaming. "Name it, Blair Wood, miss!"

"I need to find a place where twenty-nine people can practice Defense Against the Dark Arts without being discovered by any of the teachers. Especially," Blair clenched her fists, so that the scars shone pearly white, "Professor Umbridge." She was surprised to see Dobby give a little skip, his ears waggling happily, and clap his hands together.

"Dobby knows the perfect place, miss!" he said happily. "Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves when he came to Hogwarts, miss. It is known by us as the Come and Go Room, miss, or else as the Room of Requirement!"

"Why?" said Blair curiously.

"Because it is a room that a person can only enter," said Dobby seriously, "when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs. Dobby has used it, miss," said the elf, dropping his voice and looking guilty, "when Winky has been very drunk. He has hidden her in the Room of Requirement and he has found antidotes to butterbeer there, and a nice elf-sized bed to settle her on while she sleeps it off, miss... And Dobby knows Mr. Filch has found extra cleaning materials there when he has run short, miss, and —"

"— and if you really needed a bathroom," said Blair, suddenly remembering something Dumbledore had said at the Yule Ball the previous Christmas, "would it fill itself with chamber pots?"

"Dobby expects so, miss," said Dobby, nodding earnestly. "It is a most amazing room, miss."

"How many people know about it?" said Blair, sitting up straighter in her chair.

"Very few, miss. Mostly people stumbles across it when they needs it, miss, but often they never finds it again, for they do not know that it is always there waiting to be called into service, miss."

"It sounds brilliant," said Blair, her heart racing. "It sounds perfect, Dobby. When can you show me where it is?"

"Anytime, Blair Wood, miss," said Dobby, looking delighted at Blair's enthusiasm. "We could go now, if you like!"

Blair smirked and said. "Come on, Dobby."

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The next day, Blair immediately told Harry, Ron and Hermione about the Room of Requirement. Hermione was a bit doubtful at first, but Blair immediately reassured her, saying that it was fine and that she went there, but she didn't tell them that she was out late last night with Dobby.

The four of them spent most of the day seeking out those people who had signed their names to the list in the Hog's Head and telling them where to meet that evening. She was happy that the news had been passed to every one who had turned up in the Hog's Head.

On their way to the Room of Requirement, Blair, Harry, Ron and Hermione used the Marauder's Map to make sure that Filch and Umbridge were out of their way. When they arrived at the wall opposite the tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy's foolish attempt to train trolls for the ballet, Blair whispered to them. "Walk past this wall three times and concentrate on needing somewhere to practice."

They did so, turning sharply at the window just beyond the blank stretch of wall, then at the man-size vase on its other side. Blair closed her eyes and stared ahead. Somewhere to fight... Somewhere to practice.

"Blair," said Hermione sharply, as they wheeled around after their third walk past. A highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Blair grinned and seized the brass handle, pulling open the door. Blair smiled widely at the sight. It was the perfect place for practicing.

"These will be good when we're practicing Stunning," said Ron enthusiastically, prodding one of the cushions with his foot.

"And just look at these books!" said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. "A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions... The Dark Arts Outsmarted... Self-Defensive Spellwork... wow..."

Hermione smiled at Blair, her face glowing. "Blair, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!"

Harry put a hand on Blair's shoulder. "We're fighting, Aika. We're doing it for them."

Blair smiled at him and squeezed his hand back. "They're proud of us, James. We've made them proud." There was a gentle knock on the door. Blair looked around; Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean had arrived.

"Whoa, Caelum," said Dean, staring around, impressed. "What is this place?" Harry began to explain, but before he had finished more people had arrived, and he had to start all over again. By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied. Blair moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, looking at her and Harry.

"Well," said Blair, slightly nervously. "This is the place we've found for practices, and you've — well — obviously found it okay —"

"It's fantastic!" said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement.

"It's bizarre," said Fred, frowning around at it. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then..."

"Hey, Blair, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.

"Dark Detectors," said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them. "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled..." He gazed for a moment into the Foe-Glass before turning his back on it.

"Well, Blair and I have been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and — er —" Harry noticed a raised hand. "What, Hermione?"

"I think we ought to elect a leader," said Hermione.

"Blair's leader and Harry," said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad. Hermione glared back at her.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," said Hermione, unperturbed. "It makes it formal and it gives them authority. So — everyone who thinks Blair and Harry ought to be our leaders?" Everybody put up their hands, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very halfheartedly.

"Um — right, thanks," said Blair, who could feel her face burning at Hermione's smile. Harry nudged her teasingly before looking at Hermione with exasperation. "And — what, Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name," Hermione said brightly, her hand still in the air. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully.

"Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" suggested Fred.

"I was thinking," said Hermione, frowning at Fred, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."

"The Defense Association?" said Cho. "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"Yeah, the D.A.'s good," said Ginny. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?" There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this.

"All in favor of the D.A.?" said Hermione bossily, kneeling up on her cushion to count. "That's a majority — motion passed!" She pinned the piece of paper with all of their names on it on the wall and wrote DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY across the top in large letters.

"Right," said Harry, when she had sat down again, "shall we get practicing then? We were thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but we've found it really useful —"

"Oh please," said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"We've used it against him," said Blair quietly. "It saved our lives last June." Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the room was very quiet.

"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Blair said. Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else. She smiled when she saw Cedric whispering something to Smith which made the younger one blush.

"Okay," said Harry, "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice." Blair and Harry smiled at each other and let out the breaths they have been holding. Everybody got to their feet at once and divided. Harry paired with Neville while Blair was facing some of the dummies.

"Right, everyone — on the count of three, then — one, two, three —" Blair said.

The room was suddenly full of shouts of "Expelliarmus!" Wands flew in all directions, missed spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying into the air. Blair was successful with disarming two of the dummies at the same time. She used her wand and her hand. A smile made its way onto her face at the thought that she could practice this wandless magic.

Blair started walking around and gave advice to some people. She grinned though when Fred and George kept on disarming Zacharias Smith. Blair saw that Ginny was now paired with Neville while Michael Corner was glaring at them. She caught Harry staring at Cho and Cedric staring at Harry while rolling her eyes. 

Blair made her way to Cedric who was still staring at them with a frown. "You do know you have lots of competitors for our dear James?"

"Oh, damn it, Blair." Cedric jumped in surprise, sending a glare to the laughing Gryffindor. Then he realized what she said and his frown grew. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you should start moving, dear Cedric." Blair winked at him before making her way back to the frown, looking back and seeing that Cedric was staring at Harry again with a small smile on his face. Blair summoned a whistle and blew hard. Everyone lowered their wands.

"That wasn't bad," said Harry, "but there's definite room for improvement." Zacharias Smith glared at him. "Let's try again..." Blair saw Hermione didn't have a partner. She was about to walk to her when someone grabbed her by the arm. Blair whipped her head around and saw that it was Cho.

"Hey, Blair. Could you teach me how to do it?" Cho said smiling weakly.

Blair nodded and started demonstrating. "Don't flourish your wand too much. Here." Blair reached for Cho's hand and fixed her hold on her wand while showing her how to do it. "There. Now try."

Blair let go of Cho's hand and walked in front of her. Cho, still blushing a deep crimson, pointed her wand at Blair. "Expelliarmus!"

Blair's wand went flying out of her hand, but somehow, it didn't fly to Cho's hand. It flew to the air before dropping right in front of Blair. Blair looked behind her and saw Hermione, who was looking innocent.

"Hey, Blair. I need a dueling partner. Can you be mine?" Hermione said with a smile. Blair nodded energetically, picked up her wand and went over to Hermione, leaving behind a frustrated Cho.

Blair grinned at Hermione, who smirked before calling out. "Hey, Harry, have you checked the time?"

Blair's eyes widened. "M-Mione?"

Hermione patted her on the cheek lightly. "Next time, Blair. Next time." Blair pouted as everyone stopped shouting and Harry set a date for their next meeting. She pouted even as they went on their way to their common room and Hermione and Ron complimented her and Harry.

While Hermione and Ron argued, Harry nudged the pouting Blair. "What's with you?"

As they arrived at the Common Room, Blair pointed to Hermione. "Her."

Hermione looked back and rolled her eyes before pulling Blair by the arm. "Good night, you two."

Blair mumbled a good night to the two snickering boys as she followed Hermione up. When they arrived, all their roommates were sleeping, and Blair was about to go to her bed when Hermione suddenly hugged her by the waist.

Blair's cheeks flushed but she turned around and hugged her back. "M-Mione?"

Hermione hugged her a little tighter and muttered. "I can't help it, you know."

"Can't help what?"

"I hate this feeling. The feeling that other people stare at you and the possibility that one day, you'll fall for them too."

Blair was confused, and she was about to say something when Hermione pulled away slightly and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on Blair's cheek. "I know how you feel, Blair, but it's like an itch that won't go away no matter how much I scratch it."

Still blushing, Blair smiled softly. "Mione, I love you."

And those four words made all of Hermione's worries go away. She took a step closer to Blair and their faces were inches apart. And slowly, their lips inched closer towards each other... Just one more move.

ZZZZ. The sound of Lavender's loud snore made them jump away from each other. Blair and Hermione blushed and looked away, avoiding each other's gaze. Blair cleared her throat and gave Hermione's hand one last squeeze. "Good night, Mione."

Hermione let out a contented sigh and squeezed her hand back. "Good night, Blair."

Blair and Hermione walked to their own beds with huge smiles on their faces and their hearts beating faster than ever. Blair brought her hand to her lips, thinking. Did Hermione Jean Granger have feelings for her? Was she finally getting her chance?

Hermione brought her hand to her heart, trying to calm it down, but to no avail. It was amazing how her mood changed in an hour. She had been boiling with fury when she saw Cho and Blair a while ago, but having this special moment with Blair assured Hermione and took away all her worries. She was deeply in love with Blair Aika Wood. The two girls went to sleep that night with thoughts of each other. One dreaming of a future with the Chaser, and one dreaming once more of a windowless corridor and a locked door.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Blair felt as though she were carrying some kind of talisman inside her chest over the following two weeks, a glowing secret that supported her through Umbridge's classes and even made it possible for her to smile blandly as she looked into her horrible bulging eyes.

The first reason was her near kiss with Hermione. Though they didn't talk about it yet, just remembering the memory would make Blair's heart beat faster and the butterflies flap their wings in her stomach. The second reason was the D.A. The fact that they were doing the very thing that Umbridge and the Ministry most feared was such a satisfying feeling.

Blair and Harry were finding it almost impossible to fix a regular night of the week for D.A. meetings, but they found that it was better to keep the timing of their meetings unpredictable just in case someone was watching them.

Hermione soon devised a very clever method of communicating the time and date of the next meeting to all the members in case they needed to change it at short notice, because it would look so suspicious if people from different Houses were seen crossing the Great Hall to talk to each other too often. She gave each of the members of the D.A. a fake Galleon.

"You see the numerals around the edge of the coins?" Hermione said, holding one up for examination at the end of their fourth meeting. The coin gleamed fat and yellow in the light from the torches. "On real Galleons that's just a serial number referring to the goblin who cast the coin. On these fake coins, though, the numbers will change to reflect the time and date of the next meeting. The coins will grow hot when the date changes, so if you're carrying them in a pocket you'll be able to feel them. We take one each, and when Blair and Harry set the date of the next meeting, they'll change the numbers on their coins, and because I've put a Protean Charm on them, they'll all change to mimic theirs."

A blank silence greeted Hermione's words. Hermione looked at Blair and smiled at the amazed expression on the Chaser's face. "Well — I thought it was a good idea," Hermione said a little more confident now, "I mean, even if Umbridge asked us to turn out our pockets, there's nothing fishy about carrying a Galleon, is there? But... well, if you don't want to use them..."

"You can do a Protean Charm?" said Terry Boot.

"Yes," said Hermione.

"But that's... that's N.E.W.T. standard, that is," he said weakly.

"Oh," said Hermione, trying to look modest. "Oh... well... yes, I suppose it is..."

"How come you're not in Ravenclaw?" he demanded, staring at Hermione with something close to wonder. "With brains like yours?"

Blair raised an eyebrow at him. Did he just find out now after 5 years that Hermione was the brightest witch of their age?

"Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting," said Hermione brightly, "but it decided on Gryffindor in the end. So does that mean we're using the Galleons?" There was a murmur of assent and everybody moved forward to collect one from the basket.

Harry looked sideways at Hermione. "You know what these remind me of?"

"No, what's that?"

"The Death Eaters' scars. Voldemort touches one of them, and all their scars burn, and they know they've got to join him."

"Well... yes," said Hermione quietly. "That is where I got the idea ... but you'll notice I decided to engrave the date on bits of metal rather than on our members' skin..."

"Yeah... I prefer your way," said Blair, grinning, as she slipped her Galleon into her pocket. "I suppose the only danger with these is that we might accidentally spend them."

"Fat chance," said Ron, who was examining his own fake Galleon with a slightly mournful air. "I haven't got any real Galleons to confuse it with."

While they watched everyone go out and Harry and Ron talked about Quidditch plays with Cedric who had seemed to take Blair's advice and was starting to get closer with not only Harry but also Ron and Hermione, Blair leaned closer to Hermione and whispered. "Hey, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes and whispered back. "Yes, Wood?"

"Can I borrow a kiss? I'll promise to give it back." Blair said with a cheeky smile.

Hermione blushed deeply before she leaned her head on Blair's shoulder. "What if I say yes?"

Blair's breath hitched before she wrapped an arm around Hermione and smiled widely. "Would you, Granger?"

"I would, Wood." Hermione said while lifting her head up from Blair's shoulder. The two of them stared into each other's eyes once more while moving... slowly and softly...

"Hey, what's up, you two?" Harry's voice suddenly said. Blair and Hermione moved away from each other. Hermione glared at Harry, who suddenly looked fearful.

"Harry James Potter..." Hermione said in a cool voice. Cedric and Ron snorted while Harry apologized and knelt down. Blair just laughed loudly, highly amused at what was happening, and she smiled softly at the furious Hermione. There was an opportunity, wide open, and like she had always done, Blair would give it all for Hermione Granger, who deserved all the love in the world.

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