Harry's accusation, thick with hostility, was like a thorn pricked into the once-harmonious atmosphere of the Gryffindor Common Room.
Hermione stopped in her tracks, but she didn't look back.
Lia looked up from her arms, her sky-blue eyes flashing with confusion and hostility toward Harry.
She could smell it—the aggression radiating from Harry, born of jealousy, irritability, and the backlash of being excluded.
"Let's go," Hermione said softly.
She didn't argue with Harry.
Because Harry was right.
She did have secrets.
And more than one.
These secrets were as heavy as tombstones, weighing on her heart and making it impossible for her to be as open with her friends as she once was.
In fact, her biggest concealment was Lia; watching Lia drift among the guests that day had given Hermione the idea to investigate her thoroughly.
Back in the Girls Dormitory, Hermione sat on the edge of her bed and spread out a piece of parchment.
Using a quill, she wrote Lia's name on the paper.
Then she wrote... Ginny.
Hermione still remembered the sudden embarrassment and wrongness of that day.
This was currently her easiest point of breakthrough.
Late that night, by the fireplace in the common room, Hermione waited for Ginny, who was returning alone from outside.
Ginny looked preoccupied; Harry's outburst earlier that day had clearly affected her as well.
"Ginny," Hermione spoke.
"Hermione?" Ginny jumped, only relaxing when she saw it was her. "It's so late, why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I was waiting for you." Hermione's gaze cut straight into Ginny's eyes. "I need you to tell me something. Something about Lia, and about you."
Ginny's face changed instantly.
She reflexively took half a step back, her eyes darting away. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know." Hermione's tone was calm, yet carried an immense weight of pressure.
"Did Lia die once on the night of the Quidditch World Cup? I need to know the truth about that night."
"No! She didn't!" Ginny shook her head violently, her voice cracking. "Lia is fine, how could she..."
"Tell the truth," Hermione interrupted her. "She was killed by a Dark Wizard that night, wasn't she?"
Ginny's body shuddered violently, the color draining from her face.
She looked at Hermione, her lips trembling, but she couldn't say a single word.
This secret was like a brand, seared into the depths of her and Lia's souls.
They had sworn never to tell Hermione, because Lia said that if Hermione knew, she would be more upset than if she had died herself.
"Tell me." Hermione stepped forward, forcing Ginny to look at her. "Ginny, even if you don't say it, I can guess."
Ginny's psychological defenses completely crumbled under Hermione's eyes, which were filled with pain and persistence.
Warm tears rolled down from her eyes, but she still gritted her teeth.
"No," she choked out, her eyes reddening.
But she still kept her promise to Lia.
However, her "tough on the outside, weak on the inside" appearance essentially gave the answer away.
"I see."
Hermione took a breath and gave Ginny a long, deep look.
"Don't tell Lia about what we talked about today."
Without another look at Ginny, she walked straight toward the stairs to the Girls Dormitory.
The firelight from the hearth cast her long shadow onto the wall.
Ginny watching her back, suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.
Returning to the empty dormitory, Hermione took out that death list.
She dipped her quill in ink and drew a heavy checkmark.
The investigation must continue.
Her Lia—the truth behind every death, every ounce of pain she endured—Hermione would personally dig it all out, piece by piece.
Not for revenge, not for judgment.
Only to remember.
She looked up, her gaze piercing through the dormitory window toward the Forbidden Forest.
Since learning the truth of the Quidditch World Cup night from Ginny, Hermione had changed completely.
During the day, she was still the straight-A student—attending classes, taking notes, discussing problems with Professors—everything seemed normal.
Only, she spoke less, and her eyes were calmer, like a bottomless ancient well.
Lia felt the change in Hermione.
The warm, comforting scent on Hermione seemed to have been mixed with a faint, icy chill, like thin frost on a winter morning.
But she didn't know where this change came from, so she could only stay by her side even more cautiously.
Harry and Ron also noticed something was wrong.
Hermione no longer joined their late-night chats, nor did she raise any objections to Harry's use of the half-blood prince notes.
Like a precision instrument, she completed everything she was supposed to do, then plunged into the archives of the library or stared blankly at the marauders map alone.
She maintained an invisible distance from everyone.
One weekend afternoon, Hermione closed the copy of the Directory of Modern Dark Wizards in her hand; there were no valuable clues in it.
"Torture and dismemberment," "Black-robed Wizard"... these two keywords were too broad.
During the chaotic period of Lord Voldemort's first rise and fall, cruel Wizards dressed in black robes were as numerous as hair on an ox.
Without a specific time, place, or name, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Hermione rubbed her throbbing temples. She needed a new breakthrough.
The Forbidden Forest.
The Centaurs there had the ability to know everything; instead of searching blindly like a headless fly, she might as well try to see if they were willing to tell her.
"Lia," Hermione spoke.
Lia, who was dozing on her lap, immediately looked up, her ears twitching. "Hmm?"
"We're going to the Forbidden Forest."
Lia's body stiffened slightly.
To her, the Forbidden Forest held a strange emotional significance.
Coming from Hermione's mouth, it sounded more like "Let's visit your maternal home."
But if Hermione wanted to go, she would go.
"Okay," she answered simply.
They avoided Hagrid's hut and entered the Forbidden Forest through a hidden gap.
[Take care of yourselves, darlings. I think I've caught the flu.]
[I woke up with an aching back and cold sweats; it feels no different from when I tested positive a few years ago.]
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"