UNBREAK | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 5)

[ 30 ]

It bothered Aine, she couldn't help but scoff a little when he seemed disappointed. Was he hoping she'll say something like 'Oh! I'm heading to the Room of Requirement to fix a Vanishing Cabinet with Draco so Deatheaters would invade Hogwarts, would you like to join us?'

Of course not, dummy.

Even if her close friends hadn't said anything yet, Aine could tell she was being watched closely. Not only did Ron become sceptical because of the insinuations Harry had hurled, even Hermione was also forced to make sure Aine wasn't up to no good too. Thankfully, Ginny wanted no part of having to suspect Aine. She had trusted her friend enough, knowing that Aine would tell her if things were dire for her. 

But of course, Aine obviously couldn't do that.

Among the three, it was Harry that aggravated Aine the most.

It was frustrating enough that she wasn't able to sneak out and lie under the pretence she was doing prefect duties now, as Harry had made sure Ron or Hermione would tag along with her. Since there wasn't any Quidditch match coming up any time soon, Ron could finally do his duties without bailing out using the reason that he needed to train.

With Ron and Hermione taking turns to go patrolling with Aine at night, attempting to slide away to the Room of Requirement to do her other 'tasks' was tougher. Even when Aine told her friends she wished to be alone, they would find some reason to make sure one of them was with her. Henceforth, the girl was unable to perform the fixing as frequently as she did before the holidays started. Which was a huge hassle now.

Draco had told Aine that it was fine and even opted to do most of the mending now that she was getting compromised. Nevertheless, it was hard on Aine too and she was deeply saddened by how she wasn't able to help him much now. She knew how difficult it was to mend alone, the incantations spoken had to be exact and spoken from the bottom of their heart, their words had to mean something. They had been doing it together most of the time and it was already hard enough, but Draco had to do it alone now while juggling to keep up the act and his studies.

"It's okay, love. I can handle it," he reassured her. From the beginning, it was his mission that the Dark Lord had assigned to him. He had to be the one to do most of it after all since it was also his punishment. However, although Draco was oblivious to it, Aine knew that there was only so much he could tank and keep up the facade before he couldn't.

Which was why Aine couldn't stay idle even when she had a target behind her back. It was her problem too. Just as how Voldemort had tasked Draco with the impossible mission, he had bestowed the same assignment on her too. She was Draco's partner and she needed to make sure that their plans had proceeded well. In return for Draco who was singlehandedly mending the Vanishing Cabinet, Aine had diverted Ron and Hermione's attentions and tracks from going anywhere near the hidden room where they had practically lived most of their nights in, whenever they had gone on patrol.

Aine also had to figure out her older friends' schedules so she could plan when to visit the Room of Requirement whenever they were occupied. As the Trio were a year older, they had more classes and remedials to help them prepare for their N.E.W.Ts. Compared to Aine's timetable, hers was much laxer as they had lesser remedials and more free periods for self-studies, which was perfect.

She had to calculate her time precisely and use those small blocks of time in between to sneak to the Room of Requirement. It was only a short period so there was only so little fixing she could do, but it was better than nothing. Every effort had counted and she could ease a bit of Draco's work too. That was also the only time she had without any constant prying eyes from the Trio, eyeing her every move. Additionally, Harry wouldn't be able to track her with his Marauder's Map since he was occupied with his classes. She knew he wouldn't risk taking the precious magical map out in his lessons and accidentally letting a professor catch and confiscate it.