Before Delilah knew it, it was already the first Hogsmeade trip. The morning of the trip, she had decided to stay and help Draco, but Daphne and Lyra were saying otherwise.
"Nope, you're coming," Lyra said, dragging her towards the line Filch was checking students for dark artifacts.
"But I don't have my jacket or mittens."
Daphne pulled Delilah's jacket and mittens out of her bag as she said, "Good thing I came prepared."
"I'm not getting out of this, am I?"
"Nope!" Daphne and Lyra chorused.
Delilah rolled her eyes but let them drag her over to Filch. She wouldn't admit it, but she was glad for the break. Merlin knew she needed it.
The line moved smoothly, stalling only when Ron asked why it mattered if they were smuggling dark stuff out. Delilah rather agreed with him, but didn't say anything to avoid the extra jabs with Filch's Secrecy Sensor, and she was on her way to Hogsmeade with her two best friends.
"Ugh, it's freezing," Daphne complained.
Lyra nodded and said, "Yeah, do you guys want to go to the Three Broomsticks first?"
"Actually I know a great café, but it closes early. Could we go there first? It has wonderful hot chocolate and french toast."
They agreed, and headed to the café.
"This is delicious," Lyra declared after taking a bite of her french toast.
Daphne nodded, too focused on savoring the food to say anything.
"Try dipping it into the hot chocolate," said Delilah.
They did as she suggested and Lyra gasped.
"Why did you keep this place from us? I thought we were your friends! Think, we could have been enjoying this for years."
"I only found out about it last year, and there hasn't really been time since then to show you."
Lyra sniffed, looking away as she drank the last bit of her hot chocolate.
Delilah chuckled, her smile fading as she looked at her empty plate. She'd have to come here again during their next trip, if there was going to be another one. Conditions outside of Hogwarts were steadily getting worse, but hopefully that wouldn't stop Hogsmeade trips. Then again, nothing short of murder would make Dumbledore cancel anything, so they probably would be fine.
After they all sadly finished their breakfast, they headed to Enchanted Forest to see if there were any interesting magical items.
Lyra found a book that answered most questions you wrote in it, but Delilah convinced her not to buy it, reminding her how a book similar to that caused the whole fiasco in their second year.
"Right, I don't want to go through that again. My parents tried to send me to Beauxbatons again afterwards."
"I'm glad you talked them out of it," Daphne replied as they shared a smile.
Sometimes Delilah wondered if there was something more going between Daphne and Lyra, but she hadn't found enough proof to ask them.
They continued roaming the store. Delilah left them for a bit to see if she could get some evidence while looking for Christmas presents. It was never too early, especially since she wasn't sure when the next trip would be.
She managed to find a cool box that turned objects invisible for Harry, since the invisibility cloak could only cover so much, a book on self-care for Draco, and some makeup that did itself for Daphne. She even managed to slip in an enchanted book that suggested books to read based on what it sensed the reader needed for Lyra, insisting it was for herself, though Delilah didn't think she bought it.
At the bookstore she found a book on finances for Fred since she remembered him complaining about how they were the hardest part of running their shop, along with an unbreakable pocket sized glass that, when she had finished enchanting it, would show a picture that showed whoever the viewer wanted it to see. If she could get the charm right. Otherwise it would just show a picture of the Weasley Family on one side, and Fred with George on the other.
Delilah, Daphne, and Lyra went to a few more stores, picked out a few things, then decided to finish off with a trip to the Three Broomsticks.
"Why did we wait to go here last?" Daphne complained.
Impatiently, Delilah replied, "Again, I thought we may as well warm up for a bit before heading to school."
She sniffed. Delilah had forgotten how much Daphne loved her butterbeer.
"Calm down Daphne, we're almost there." Lyra smiled fondly at Daphne, who relaxed a bit at her words.
They finally made it to the Three Broomsticks, got their butterbeer, and sat down.
If Delilah hadn't been feeling like a third wheel, she probably wouldn't have greeted Slughorn with nearly as much enthusiasm when he entered the pub.
"Professor Slughorn! I didn't expect to see you here."
Chuckling, he replied, "Oh, the Three Broomsticks and I go back longer than I'd like to admit."
"The butterbeer here is the best for miles."
He nodded, looking around.
"Yes, yes. How is Harry doing? I thought he'd be here with you."
Delilah suddenly regretted her eagerness.
"He's probably with Hermione and Ron."
"Ah, he is good friends with them, but why isn't he here with you? He is your brother after all."
"Oh, we're planning on hanging out later in the weekend, sir. We both have just been so preoccupied with classes." And helping friends not get murdered in his sleep.
"Ah, good, good. When you see him can you ask when he's available for one of my dinners? He hasn't been to any of them yet!"
"I've been trying to get him there, but he has Quidditch practice, sir. I'll ask him when the next one is so you can plan around it."
"Thank you, thank you, Delilah. Ah, I think I see an old colleague of mine. Goodbye."
And with that Slughorn left, letting her finally relax.
"I keep forgetting you're in the Slug Club," Lyra commented.
Delilah flinched. How had she forgotten Daphne and Lyra were here too?
"It makes sense though, she is the best in Potions," Daphne pointed out.
"I thought Harry miraculously got a lot better?" said Lyra.
"He has," Delilah said. "But it's mainly knowledge, not skill."
Daphne's eyebrows creased together.
"What's the difference?"
Lyra stared at her in disbelief.
"They are completely different. You can know something, but if you don't have the skill to do something with the knowledge, it is pointless. In fact-"
"Ok, I get it, sorry," Daphne apologized, cutting her rant off. "Should we head back?"
"Alright," Delilah reluctantly agreed.
Daphne was right, but Delilah had enjoyed finally having a chance to relax and not worry about Draco. She didn't want to go back quite yet, but why delay the inevitable?
Sure enough, almost as soon as they got back to the castle Harry came up to her.
"Hey, can we talk for a minute? In private?" he asked, glancing at Daphne and Lyra.
"We'll meet up with you later," Daphne said, grabbing Lyra's hand and pulling her away.
"So... you know Katie?" he said, glancing at her nervously.
"Your Chaser? Yeah."
"Well, something happened to her. Do you know about it already?"
"No...? What happened?"
"She got cursed."
Delilah's shopping bag slipped from her hand.
"What? How?"
Harry relaxed. Had he thought she had something to do with it? Why?
"She got a hold of a cursed necklace after going to the girls' bathroom in the Three Broomsticks. Her friend, Leanne I think was her name, had a fight with her about it, it seemed Katie got put under the Imperius curse since she was set on delivering it to someone. Her friend tried to pull it away, and Katie brushed the necklace and started to rise into the air, her arms outstretched like she was about to fly, but then she was screaming." Harry took a breath. Delilah waited anxiously for him to continue. "We — that's, Ron, Hermione, Leanne, and I — tried to get her down, but when she was she started thrashing, so I went and got Hagrid, who was right there. We brought her back to the castle and Madam Pomfrey is looking at her, I think she'll get transferred to St. Mungos though, she looked really bad."
Delilah stared at him, trying to process what he had said.
"But how did she get the necklace in the Three Broomsticks? Madam Rosmerta would never let something like that in there."
Harry shrugged.
"I don't know, I was hoping you might know something about it. I think Malfoy might have something to do with it, but he was in detention. Do you have any idea what he's up to?"
Delilah paused. Should she tell him? But then Draco would be in even more danger. Then again, she had just gotten onto good terms with Harry, and she didn't want to fall out with him again.
Not wanting to seem suspicious, she replied, "I can tell somethings going on with him, but I can't tell what."
Good thing for impartiality. So why couldn't she meet Harry's eyes?
"Are you sure?" he asked. She made the mistake of looking up and saw his pleading expression.
"Well, he keeps disappearing," Delilah finally said. "But I don't know where. Sorry I can't be of much help, I'll let you know if I find anything out."
Why did she promise him that? She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it.
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Harry pulled her into a hug.
Delilah blinked in surprise before hugging him back. She had forgotten what Harry's hugs felt like.
They pulled apart.
"Do you want to hang out next Sunday? Just walk around the lake and talk. I feel like we haven't done that in ages," he asked, smiling.
She felt a pang. She wasn't being honest with him, yet here he was, oblivious and wanting to hang out with her.
Forcing a smile she said, "Of course, it's really been too long."
Crap, why couldn't she just say no, that she was too busy with homework.
Why?
After Delilah said goodbye to Harry, she went off to find Draco, because Harry wasn't far off, and knowing him he wouldn't stop until he got the answers.
"Ah, there you are," Draco said from behind her. "I just got out of detention, want to head to the Common Room?"
"Actually, can we talk for a sec?"
"Ok? Should I be worried?" he asked, sounding even more stressed than normal.
"I don't know. Here, this room's empty."
Delilah opened the door into the empty classroom, closing it behind them and murmuring, "Muffliato." She had seen the spell when she was looking through Harry's potions book, and found out it made it so no one could hear what they were saying. It was very useful.
"Ok, what's going on?" he asked.
"Did you give Katie Bell the cursed necklace?"
Draco froze.
"I-" he started, then paused. "Yes."
"How? You were in detention."
"I've managed to put Rosmerta under the Imperio. She gave it to her."
"Ok... why?"
He stared hopelessly at her.
"The cabinet isn't working and I thought it was worth a go. Now that I think about it, it couldn't have worked."
He stared at the floor, as if expecting to be chastised. Delilah sighed, lifting his chin so he saw her.
"Ok, I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't a mistake, but we can't change the past. We'll just need to be more careful next time. It's a good thing you were in detention, because Harry's even more suspicious of you now. So please, next time talk to me, I can help."
"Really? You're willing to help me kill Dumbledore?" Draco asked, sounding surprised.
"I'd rather it be him than you," Delilah quietly admitted.
They stood in silence, staring at each other.
Finally, Draco said, "I- thank you."
Delilah nodded, gently kissing him.
"Now let's go work on your sticky situation."