The next day the Slytherins had Transfiguration, but it was just a practice and review day, so Delilah mainly helped Draco.
"You're doing the wrong hand movement, that's the one for Bombarda, and I don't think McGonagall would appreciate it if you blew a hole through her door," she teased.
Draco blushed.
"What's the wand movement then?" he asked.
Delilah showed him it and he tried, but he failed.
She hid her smile, and slipped behind him, putting her hand over his.
"The movement is this."
Delilah did the movement a few times before letting go, making Draco do it on his own, which he did.
"Now say the incantation," she instructed.
"Evanesco."
The cauldron sitting in front of him vanished.
"Well done Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said from the front of the room.
Draco's face reddened even more. She hadn't realized how red it had been before.
When the bell rang they headed down to Care of Magical Creatures.
They were just coming down the stone steps when the Gryffindors came out from Herbology, Harry and Ron in front. Oddly enough Hermione wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Potter, have you split up with your girlfriend? Why was she so upset at breakfast?" Pansy teased, smirking.
Harry ignored her, showing brains for the first time in a while.
Hagrid, who had told them last lesson that they had finished with unicorns, was waiting for them outside his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his feet. It better not be another skrewt hatching, or Delilah would ditch this class, no matter how much she liked Hagrid.
When she got near enough to see what was inside it, however, it wasn't skrewts inside, but fluffy, black, long snouted, nifflers. Their front paws were flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at the class, looking puzzled at all the attention.
"These're nifflers," Hagrid obviously pointed out for all the oblivious Gryffindors (cough, Harry, cough), when the class had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff.... there yeh go, look."
One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Pansy's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward.
"Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a niffler, an' get ready ter set 'em loose."
Delilah took off all her jewelry and put them in her bag. Then she picked a niffler. It was a cute black and white spotted one. It nudged Delilah's neck lovingly. It really was quite cuddly and adorable.
"Hang on," said Hagrid, looking down into the crate, "there's a niffler here... whose missin'? Where's Hermione?"
"She had to go to the hospital wing," Ron said.
"We'll explain later," Harry muttered, noticing that plenty of people were eavesdropping.
It easily was the most fun they had ever had in a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, not that that was very hard. The nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it were water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Delilah's was particularly efficient; it soon filled his lap with coins.
"Nifflers are adorable," Delilah said, scratching hers under its chin, praising it as it dropped a pile of coins.
"More or less adorable than me?" Draco asked, grinning.
"More," she immediately replied.
Daphne, who was sitting right by them, laughed at Draco's betrayed face.
"Look who finally showed up," Delilah said, changing the topic.
Hermione was walking towards Harry and Ron. Her hands were heavily bandaged and she looked miserable.
"Well, let's check how yeh've done!" exclaimed Hagrid. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, his beetle-black eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours."
Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky.
Apparently Ron's niffler had been the most successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. The bell rang across the grounds for lunch. Delilah headed back across the grounds for lunch. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, stayed behind.
Delilah shrugged. She really didn't care what they did. However, she did want to make sure Hermione was ok. She'd ask during their 'study' session later that day.
The rest of the day went by slowly, as if it knew Delilah wanted it to hurry up.
Finally, after dinner, they met up in the library and continued to pour over books. It was boring, and they didn't find any new leads.
After yet another failure, Delilah headed back to the common room and groaned. Moody's hex-deflection test was tomorrow.
The common room was practically empty, except for Draco who was sitting on the far side of the couch. Delilah smirked, getting an idea.
She walked to the couch and laid down, her head in his lap with an arm draped dramatically over her forehead.
"W-what's wrong?" Draco asked, his face turning Gryffindor red.
"Moody's test is tomorrow," Delilah complained.
His eyebrows furled.
"But... you're the best in our class, plus you've already studied...."
"Yes, but I still don't want to do any of his ridiculously long and tiresome tests."
Draco chuckled, his face still red.
They sat like that until Delilah had enough energy to move, which took a good while.
"We should go to bed," she finally said, sitting up.
He nodded, and Delilah left for her room.
The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Delilah passed the test, no surprise, but that was all that really happened.
As usual, around Easter break homework increased so much that even Delilah was a bit stressed, and Delilah and Hermione still had no luck figuring out Rita's secret.
The start of the summer term usually would have meant that everyone was talking about the last Quidditch match, but this year it was the last Triwizard task, and it wasn't until the last week of May that anyone had any concrete knowledge of what it was.
But that wasn't what all the excitement was about. Krum had been attacked.
"What happened?" Delilah asked Hermione during one of their Skeeter sessions.
"Why do you think I know?" she testily asked.
Delilah shrugged.
"You are Harry's friend, and Harry is always somehow related to whatever drama is happening."
Hermione nodded, knowing that she couldn't argue.
"After they found out what the task was, Krum talked to Harry about... me." Hermione's face reddened. "They talked and then found Crouch who was in a... weird state. He was mumbling nonsense. Harry left Krum with him and ran to get Dumbledore."
Wow, Harry actually went to the authorities. That was a first. Hermione continued.
"They hurried down, and Krum was just lying there. No one knows what happened."
Delilah nodded. That's what most of the rumors agreed on.
"What is the next task?"
"They have to get through a maze, but there are going to be obstacles."
That didn't sound hard, they could just use the pathway finding charm.
"The obstacles must be pretty difficult then. Do you want any suggestions for spells to teach Harry?"
Hermione shook her head.
"No, I've already pulled out all the ones I think he needs to know, thank you though."
Delilah nodded.
"Any new theories?"
Hermione looked down, shaking her head.
"Me neither. I suppose she could just change her appearance, but that wouldn't explain how she listens to private conversations, she'd have to be a fly on a wall."
Hermione's eyes lit up.
"That's it!"
"What? Is she part fly?"
"She's an animagus! She can turn into a bug! Krum took one out of my hair after the second task!"
"And after I got locked in a closet with Draco, there was a bug flying around," Delilah recalled.
Hermione turned on her.
"Wait, that actually happened? I thought she was making things up!"
Delilah's face reddened.
"Well, not everything she said was true. We didn't... you know... Fred and George just locked us in. Nothing happened." Mostly.
Hermione nodded, looking distracted, before turning back to their discovery.
"We know how she is doing it now!" she exclaimed gleefully. "And it is illegal!"
Delilah smiled. She didn't want to burst Hermione's bubble, but felt obligated.
"We just need to prove it."
Hermione nodded, looking deep in thought.
"We have to catch her."