“Okay,” Dean murmured as the three of them approached the Flint residence. “How are we going to play this?”
“Find Zabini, of course,” Seamus replied. “Never trusted that slimeball. Typical that he’d do a runner.”
Parvati snorted. Seamus, she knew, still nursed a faint crush on Lavender, despite him swearing the opposite. She knew how powerful first love could be, though. Her sweet first kisses with the boy from Beauxbatons still made her smile, that memory surviving even if the rest became a blur.
“We don’t know he’s done a runner,” Dean said neutrally. “We can’t assume anything.”
“That’s what his mam thinks,” Seamus retorted.
“Lavender knows him better,” Parvati snapped. She pulled out a list of the people who had attended the dinner party. “Look, why don’t we all go and see Lavender, then we can divvy this list up.” Grimacing, she studied the names. “Tabitha Flint, Merlin, I remember her from school “ looks like a bubble-headed bimbo, but is a right cow. I better take her, she’ll eat you both alive.”
“That’s Jonah’s sister, right?” Seamus said as he peered over her shoulder. “And Marcus is their brother and former Slytherin Quidditch captain. I’ll take him.”
The three of them stopped in front of an imposing town house towering above them in a quiet, but well-to-do area of Central London. The Flints lived near Muggles but apart from them. The high wrought iron gates were as effective as any Muggle-repelling spell at keeping out unwanted attention.
As instructed, Dean placed his hand on the metal gargoyle face attached to the gate handle. After a few seconds, the gate swung open admitting all three of them before closing with an imperious clang.
“Bagsy me speak to Malfoy,” Dean muttered. He punched his fist into his palm. “I promise I’ll be gentle.”
Parvati pulled a face. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We all know Draco from school. He’s an arrogant sod and he’s not going to talk to you. He might talk to me, or at least let something slip.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t see him pinching the diamonds, though. The Malfoys are loaded. He doesn’t need the money.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” Seamus muttered.
“Huh?” Parvati looked at him in astonishment. “What have you heard?”
“Your man, Malfoy, likes a bit of a flutter on the gee -gees” He smirked. “Malfoy dropped a packet last weekend at the last flying horse race of the season. The goblins were toasting him in bars up and down the country.”
Parvati didn’t ask how Seamus knew this. As he told both her and Dean, it was his job to know things, and the fact that he was able to slip effortlessly in and out of the bars in Knockturn Alley without raising an eyebrow was down to his knack of looking inconspicuous.
“You’re far too beautiful, and Dean’s far too ugly to pull off this kind of caper unnoticed,” he’d told her once, a self-deprecating grin on his face.
“H’are you the persons my lady ‘as ‘ired to find the young master?” enquired the rather plump witch, wearing crisp grey robes, who answered the door. She stood to one side as they entered, eyeing them beadily.
“That will be all, Esther,” Karis commanded from the staircase. She walked down, her step measured, as she held out her hand to Dean. “I didn’t realise you’d be bringing your subordinates, Mr Thomas.”
“They’re my partners, Mrs Flint,” Dean replied quickly before Parvati could leap in. “The three of us bought out old man Avery “ equal shares.”
“How interesting,” she replied, obviously not at all interested. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she lowered her voice, “As long as you’re all discreet, then I really don’t care, but if a whiff of this reaches The Prophet, then you won’t see a penny.”
“Discretion is our watchword,” Dean replied. Parvati stifled a snort, knowing that he’d read that recently in a Muggle detective novel. He scowled at her and turned back to Karis. “We’d like to speak to Lavender first. She might know where your son is.”
Karis pursed her lips and gave them a frosty look, but gestured towards a room on the right on the first floor. “My son and his girlfriend were sleeping there.”
It was a listless voice that told them to enter. Lavender was curled up on a small single bed, her face blotchy from crying. Parvati, who had spent seven years with Lavender and witnessed every conceivable mood change, was shocked at her appearance.
With her hair hanging past her shoulders, and a dull pallor despite the suntanned face, she looked the very picture of ill-health. Parvati rushed to the bed and hugged her tight.
“Thank you,” Lavender mumbled. “Thank you so much for coming. I don’t think I can bear much more of this house. They won’t let me leave and I’m so worried about Blaise. He could be in danger.”
“Danger? I doubt it,” Seamus muttered. “Lavender, your man’s done a runner with the diamonds. His mam called us in to find him and avoid a scandal.”
“No, she called you in because I asked her to!” Lavender said, fiercely returning to life. “Blaise has not ‘done a runner’ and hasn’t stolen the diamonds. Gods, we had no idea they were here. We only turned up last night.”
“Crime of opportunity,” Seamus retorted. “Lavender, face the facts. He’s not here and neither are the diamonds.”
She stood up from the bed and, hands on hips, stared across at Seamus. Then her eyes flicked towards Dean, half acknowledging his presence, until she finally settled her gaze on Parvati. “Is this what you think, too?”
Parvati bit her lip, not knowing quite what to say. She wanted to support her friend but none of them really knew Blaise that well and the sad fact was that Lavender was biased. “I trust you,” she said at last. “So if you say he didn’t do it, then that’s good enough for me.”
“Not very professional, Miss Patil,” Seamus murmured, looking away.
“Lavender,” cut in Dean. “Can you tell us your version of events? Starting from when you got here.”
After glowering at Seamus, Lavender gestured for them to sit down. “We arrived yesterday afternoon, just after four. I thought Karis knew we were on our way, but ...”
“What the hell do you mean she doesn’t know we’re coming? Merlin, Blaise, I thought you’d sent an owl!” Lavender exclaimed as they stood in the Muggle street outside his mother’s house.
“I ran out of money,” Blaise muttered. “Look, it’s fine. She’s my mum and she’ll be delighted to see us.”
“Really?” Lavender looked at him in disbelief. “Blaise, it’s her birthday, she’s probably doing something and we don’t even have a present for her.”
“Okay, so ‘delighted’ might be stretching it, but she’s not going to chuck us out. And after living in mud huts in the Amazon, we don’t need a lot of space.” He slid his hand around her giving her waist a squeeze and grinning as she squeezed back. “Just wait; we can have a proper bath.”
“With scented bath oil?” she asked, and sighed pleasurably. “Lead on, Zabini. I’m up for this even if your step aunt, or whatever relation Tabitha calls herself, is there.”
“Pain in the arse, that’s all she is,” he murmured then placed his hand on the gargoyle to gain entry.
“Master Blaise, what a surprise!” huffed Esther Purbright when she opened the door to them “H’and this must be your young lady. Delighted to make your h’acquaintance, Miss Brown. H’I’m an ‘uge fan of all your stories in The Quibbler. You ‘ave been to so many h’interesting places.”
Lavender caught Blaise’s eye, trying not to laugh. She’d never met Miss Purbright, but Blaise spoke of her with a reluctant fondness. His mother’s housekeeper, she’d been a permanent fixture during all the impermanent husbands. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Purbright.”
“Call me H’Esther,” she wheezed.
“Hestia?”
“No ... H ... ESTHER,” the housekeeper replied, with great effort.
“What is all this noise?” Karis’ voice reached them from the dining room. “Esther, please do not tell me you’ve allowed the tradesmen to use the front entrance.”
“H’it’s the master,” Esther called. “Young Master Blaise, I mean, h’and ‘is h’intended.”
“Blaise!” Karis dashed out of the dining room. “You came back for my birthday. How sweet of you, my darling boy.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Blaise replied and, chucking both his and Lavender’s bags on the floor, he kissed his mother on her cheek.
“Ugh, darling. You could have washed,” Karis said, letting go hurriedly. She turned to Lavender. “You’re looking ... well, Lavender.”
“Hideously unwashed, too, I’m afraid, Karis,” Lavender replied, incredibly pleased her voice wasn’t betraying the nerves she felt. At the best of times, Karis made her feel like a gauche fourteen-year-old, but now with her week old unwashed hair, and grimy Muggle clothes, she felt like a grubby toddler caught with her hand in the biscuit jar. “We’ve been travelling since Tuesday and the Floo connections haven’t been at all kind.”
“Well then, the sooner you get bathed and changed the better,” declared Karis. “Esther, show them to the third spare.”
“Third?” Blaise pulled a face. “Mum, that’s tiny.”
“Unfortunately, my darling, you’ve rather caught us on the hop. Tonight we have a slew of guests staying with us. I would give you the first spare, but Aurelia is there.”
Blaise groaned. “Aurelia Savage is Jonah’s aunt,” he explained. “Pries a lot and disapproves of everything. She won’t like us sharing a room for one thing.”
“She can’t tell me where to put my guests up im my house,” Karis replied sharply. “Now, shoo upstairs and have a bath. Lavender looks dreadful.”
Lavender pulled a face behind Karis’ back, not altogether sure if Blaise’s mother was intending to be a bitch. Then she caught sight of herself in the mirror across the hallway and decided Karis had a point.
“Aurelia Savage is a Flint, then?” Parvati asked as she took her notes.
Lavender nodded. “She brought them up when their mum died. She’s an absolute cow but they all do what she tells them “ even Jonah and it’s his bloody house now.”
“And Zabini?” Dean asked mildly.
Lavender shot him a withering look. “The old bat suggested I stay with my parents as there weren’t enough beds here. Blaise listened to her and then very politely told her to get stuffed.”
“Then what happened?” Seamus asked.
“We had a bath ... together,” Lavender replied and smirked. “Seamus, you’ve gone all pink.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get the picture, Lavender,” Seamus grumbled. “You’re still blissfully happy with Zabini. Doesn’t explain why he’s done a runner and left you here.”
“He hasn’t,” she said, determination in her eyes. “I know Blaise and there’s no way he’d have left me here. You have to find him for me.”
“Lavender,” Parvati said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “His mum has told us that they argued ... about money."
“Yes,” Lavender sighed, “they did, but it had nothing to do with the diamonds. He just wanted what he was entitled to.”
“Oh, Lord, what is that on the bed?” Lavender asked.
“Looks like a dress. Mum must have found you something to wear tonight.”
Lavender held up the brown satin dress and held it up to her. It was beautifully made and obviously expensive but not her style at all.
“Cheer up,” Blaise said. “You’d look good in a sack.”
“Just as well,” she moped as she struggled into the dress, which appeared to be a size too small, “because I feel like a sack of potatoes in this. Merlin, it’s tight!”
Blaise smirked at her, his eyes drawn to the fabric tight across her breasts. “You certainly look as if you’re ... er ... bursting with enthusiasm.”
“Don’t make me laugh, Zabini,” she replied, and started to giggle as he approached her, still with his towel around his waist. “I’ll split the dress.”
“Then,” he whispered, taking her in his arms and pushing her onto the bed, “I’ll have to take it off, very, very carefully.”
“Blaise,” Karis called from the landing. “Can you come out here for a moment, darling?”
He closed his eyes and swore softly. “Great sense of timing, Mother,” he muttered, reluctantly pulling himself off Lavender and wrapping the towel back around his waist.
Lavender sighed as she watched him go. Standing up she examined herself in the mirror. The dress really was horrible. Not only was it tight across her bust, but the material was straining across her hips too. Probably one of Tabitha’s cast-offs, she thought gloomily. Still it was just for this evening. Tomorrow she would visit her mum and pick up some of her things.
“Where’s the painting that was here?” she heard Blaise say.
“Painting?” Karis sounded faintly hesitant. “Ah, yes. It’s in storage, darling. Didn’t suit the decor.”
“So you don’t want it anymore?”
Lavender stopped looking at herself in the mirror and tiptoed to the door. Blaise had left it slightly ajar and peering through the crack, she could see Blaise leaning against an ugly looking piece of furniture and gesturing to an empty space on the wall.
“I wouldn’t say that exactly...” Karis prevaricated. “You know what I’m like, I shall probably get bring it out of storage when I want a change.”
“It’s mine, though!” Blaise argued. “Mother-”
“Call me Karis. You know how I hate to be called ‘mother’. It’s so aging,” she interrupted and started to walk away.
“Karis,” Blaise muttered through gritted teeth. “The painting is mine and I need the money. If you don’t want it, then I’d like to sell it.”
“Yours?” she replied, with a raised eyebrow. “Not till I’m dead, Blaise.”
“Er ... no,” he stated. “That painting was left to me by my father. You have no right to keep it from me. Lavender and I need the money.”
“Your father?” she queried, sounding amused. Lavender saw her smile at her son, then walking back towards him she patted him on his cheek. A calculatedly patronising gesture.
Blaise stepped back from Karis, his mouth agape. “You’d tell everyone?”
“I told you to marry the Greengrass girl,” Karis said succinctly, stepping away from him. “She has money and could have funded you in whatever ridiculous expedition you wanted to go on. Instead of which you’re having to rely on whatever pittance The Quibbler pays poor sweet Lavender.”
“Which is why I want to sell the painting,” Blaise implored her. Lavender watched as he struggled to remain calm in the face of his mother’s implacability. “Moth “ Karis, please! You don’t even want it.”
Lavender tilted her face but couldn’t see Karis’ expression. All she heard were the muttered words as she walked back down the stairs. “Jonah likes the painting, Blaise, so I’m not letting you sell it.”
“So it was a row about money, then?” Dean asked gently before Seamus could start on her.
“Yes, it was about money. We’re practically broke,” Lavender admitted. “Xenophilius is a lovely man but his head is permanently in the clouds and I haven’t had a Knut from him for the last couple of months.”
“And Blaise must feel guilty, living off you,” Dean continued, lowering his voice and staring intently at her.
“He does,” Lavender said.
“Then don’t you think it’s possible “” Dean’s voice was insistent.
“NO!” Lavender exclaimed coldly. “Get this into your thick head, Dean, and you, too, Seamus. Blaise would not have stolen the diamonds. He would not have run off and left me here.”
“How can you be so sure?” Parvati asked timidly.
Lavender got up, and walking over to a large bag, pulled out a large tattered t-shirt. “What’s the date, today, Parvati?”
“April the twenty-ninth.”
“And what is happening in three days time?” Lavender’s voice was soft, but all three of them could hear her words and couldn’t miss the aching sadness in them.
“The Battle of Hogwarts Memorial Service,” Seamus muttered.
Lifting the t-shirt to her face, Lavender inhaled then turned to face them. “We could have stayed in South America indefinitely. Yes, money’s short, but Xeno would have sent some funds through, eventually. We came back because we wanted “ no “ needed to be at that service. We lost someone too, remember.”
Parvati looked away from Lavender and glanced across at both Seamus and Dean, both of whom were shuffling their feet in embarrassment.
“I need you to find him for me,” Lavender said at last. “Jonah has decided that Blaise and I were in this together and won’t let me leave. Karis is quite sure Blaise did it, but thinks she can hush this up as long as the necklace is returned.”
“So where do you think Zabini is?” Seamus asked in a muted voice.
Lavender clutched the shirt closer to her and shook her head. “I really don’t know. He was angry with his mum and wanted to leave, but I calmed him down. We decided to stay for the meal. Merlin knows we haven’t eaten anything decent for months, and then Blaise would try and persuade her to give him the painting in the morning.”
Parvati listened to her friend, her brow furrowed as she thought it through. “When did he go missing, Lavender?”
“That’s the trouble,” Lavender replied. “It was before the big ‘reveal’. Blaise was talking to Draco, I think, and that other girl from their year ... Tracey something?”
“Tracey Davis,” Dean stated. “Yes, Karis told us that she’s Marcus’ fiancée. Her dad was here as well, wasn’t he?”
“Oh yes.” Lavender shuddered. “The lovely Gordon Davis. Unfortunately, I was put next to him. He’s rather a revolting letch, kept leering and asking me to call him ‘Gordy’. Still, at least it wasn’t Lucius Malfoy.”
“So what happened? Why did Blaise leave the table?”Seamus demanded.
“I don’t know,” she cried in anguish. “Karis had sat him at the other end of the table. I was trapped between bloody Marcus and Gordy. Blaise was talking to Draco and Tracey, and they were laughing about something that happened at Hogwarts. Had something to do with a bathroom or a toilet, I think.” She shook her head as if trying to clear it and shake a memory loose. “Then Blaise got up, said he needed some air “ Draco and Tracey were smoking quite heavily so that might have been the case, and he left the room. He was gone for a while, Karis was getting annoyed, so in the end she told Jonah to get on with it. He doused the lights and ...”
“They’re beautiful,” Lavender said dutifully as she stared at the large baubles adorning Karis’ neck. She’d never heard of the Cordalis Diamonds, but from what she’d managed to glean from her short time here, they were very old and very valuable. “Blue diamonds “ how unusual.”
“Blue?” Karis replied, and smiled condescendingly. “The Cordalis Diamonds are purple, Lavender.”
Narcissa looked across from Karis, flicked an imperious gaze at Lavender and then spoke. “Your son’s girlfriend is quite right, Karis. Your diamonds, if they are diamonds, are blue.”
“What!” Karis clutched at the string in her hands, examining the necklace. Then she pulled hard, causing it to snap. “Is this some sort of joke?”she hissed to Jonah.
“No!” he blustered. “Aunt Aurelia gave me the diamonds this morning when she arrived. I checked them myself. This is not the same necklace.”
“Someone has stolen them!” Aurelia declared. “And there’s only one person missing from this table.”
“Are you accusing my son?” demanded Karis. She rose from the table. “That is utterly preposterous. Lavender, go and find Blaise.”
Ignoring the fact that the request sounded very much like an order, Lavender fled the room, calling out Blaise’s name. Behind her, she heard someone start to wail hysterically. Lavender gritted her teeth. No matter where she went and what happened, Tabitha Flint had to be the centre of attention.
“H’are you looking for Master Blaise?” Esther asked as Lavender ran along the hallway nearly sending the housekeeper flying. “’E was chargin’ up those stairs when I saw ‘im last. H’is there a problem?”
“Diamonds,” Lavender gasped. The dress was so tight with the exertion that she was struggling to breathe. “The Cordalis Diamonds have been stolen.”
“OOOH.” The Housekeeper’s eyes were round with excitement and the possible intrigue. “H’and they suspect the young Master.”
“It’s a mistake,” Lavender called back as she carried on running.
“H’I’m sure it is, ducks,” Esther replied. “H’after all, Master Blaise isn’t the h’only one who needs money.”
“What do you know about it, you nosey old cow,” muttered Lavender as she started to run again. “Merlin, Zabini, why do you have to disappear on me now?”
Parvati reached across and plucked at Lavender’s hand. Pulling her down to the bed, she gave her a hug. “We’ll find him for you, okay. But ... uh ... what was that you were saying about his dad? You kind of trailed off at that point.”
Lavender stiffened; she stared at the t-shirt in her hands and seemed to take heart. “Nothing to do with the case. Blaise didn’t know his dad very well, that’s all. He died when he was very young.”
Parvati frowned slightly as she released Lavender but didn’t say a word. Instead, she stood up, patted down her robes and fixed a smile on her face. “Right, then, boys, we need to start interviewing people.”
“Yup,” agreed Dean, walking to the door. “Thanks for the information, Lavender. We’ll let you know what we turn up.”
She nodded faintly and then lay back down in the bed. Parvati watched her friend stare open-eyed at the wall, waiting for someone who to all intents and purposes had gone.
“Zabini made himself scarce at exactly the right moment,” Dean muttered when they were out in the hallway. “Do you think she’s letting herself in for a fall?”
“She trusts him,” Parvati replied. “Look, Dean, I know Blaise is a Slytherin and none of us ever liked him at school, but you weren’t there in that final year. He saved our skins once or twice and certainly saved Lavender.”
“But can we trust her judgement?” Dean looked to Seamus for an answer.
“Toilets,” Seamus murmured.
“Seamus, mate, if you need a slash, just ask that servant, she’ll tell you where they are.”
“No, you twat, Zabini left the table after a conversation about toilets. I’ve remembered something from our sixth year.”
“What?” Parvati looked at Seamus in puzzlement. The only incident she remembered connected to bathrooms was when Moaning Myrtle haunted the girl’s bathrooms, and she was pretty sure Seamus wasn’t planning on asking her to help out.
“OH!” Dean grinned at Seamus, clapped him on the back and strode towards the ugly cupboard that Blaise had been leaning on. “Montague and the Vanishing Cabinet, he Apparated back inside a toilet, didn’t he?”
“The Knut drops!” Seamus exclaimed. “What if Zabini was still after his painting? He might have decided to search for it while his mam and stepdaddy were otherwise occupied.”
“Doesn’t explain where he is, though,” Parvati muttered, still not quite sure what they were getting at. “If Blaise found a Vanishing Cabinet, then why hasn’t he reappeared?”
Dean crouched by the cabinet on the landing, running his hand across the mouldings. As he reached the floor, his hand came into contact with something that had rolled underneath. “A wand,” he said slowly. “Anyone know if that’s Zabini’s?”
Parvati took it from him, examining the dark mahogany wood. It looked unyielding but she was surprised to find it had some spring in it. “I think this is his,” she said, searching her memory for the last time she’d seen Blaise. “Lavender will know.”
“Let’s not upset her,” Dean muttered. He touched the carpet, and then lifted his hand to show them something else he’d found. “Blood and quite a lot of it. There’s some damage here and I’m pretty sure Zabini wouldn’t have dropped his wand without a fight.”
“You mean ...” Parvati stared at him in horror. Her stomach began to churn at the thought of what they might have to tell Lavender.
“He could still be alive,” Dean said. “But without his wand ...”
“Don’t say it!” Parvati exclaimed. “Just blast the bloody door off that cabinet.”
“No!” Dean ordered. “Not if he’s inside. Look, there’s always a way of getting into these things.” He resumed his examination of the mouldings. “Ah-ha, what have we here?” He smiled grimly at them both. “I’m pretty sure this lever will open it, so stand clear.”
Parvati stood back, pulling Seamus with her, but kept both her and Blaise’s wands raised. If he was in there, then something had dragged him in.
“Ready?” Dean muttered. They nodded. “Three-Two-One ... and ... OPEN.”
With far less noise, the door to the cabinet door creaked open. Gingerly, Dean, standing to the side and using his wand, opened it wider.
Seeing nothing untoward, Parvati approached. “There’s nothing there,” she said. “It’s just a dusty old empty “ AGHHHH!” She shrieked as a gnarled, green hand shot out and grabbed her hair. Pulling her forwards, the hand dragged her into the cupboard, closing the doors with a loud clap. She shrieked again. There in front of her was a fierce green face with long fangs. “Help me!” she tried to shout, but the door was closing fast. The beast clamped its fangs into her wand arm and shook it until, in utter agony, she dropped both wands. She could hear Seamus and Dean hammering on the doors, and then heard Lavender’s voice too, as she dashed out of her bedroom, but Parvati couldn’t reply. The animal had clamped its hand over her mouth and was leering over her.
“No!” rasped a voice.
And then she felt someone alongside her, kicking out at the animal. It gave her heart to know she wasn’t alone, so with stupendous effort wrenched herself free and scrabbled for the wands. Her breaths were coming out now in shuddering gasps as she tried to edge away from the creature. Remembering the stories of the Vanishing Cabinet at school, she wondered if she’d slid into another room, but she could hear Lavender’s shrieks and feel the vibrations where Dean and Seamus were pounding at the cupboard.
“It’s some form of Kappa,” the other person groaned. She couldn’t see a thing, but Parvati recognised Blaise’s voice. “If you have a wand, don’t use it. It’s so cramped in here, any hex will rebound.”
“What do you suggest then?” she hissed.
“Lie still and wait for whoever’s out there to come and get us,” he replied. “This thing reacts to movement and light. When they get the door open, get ready to move, got it?” She nodded. “Who are you, anyway?”
“It’s Parvati,” she whispered, stifling an insane urge to giggle when she realised he had no idea who else was out there. “We’ve been hired to find you.”
“We?”
“Me, Dean and Seamus. We run a detective agency. Lavender made your mother hire us.” She broke off when Blaise put one finger on her lips.
“Get ready to move, NOW!” he yelled, and pushed her firmly with one hand towards the door.
There were hands to grab her. Not Kappa hands but two pairs of hands, hauling her to the light. “Help Blaise!” she said weakly.
Dean shoved her towards Seamus and grabbed Blaise’s arm. The Kappa reacted angrily, clawing at one of Blaise’s legs, but this time he was prepared, and using his other leg, he stamped on its head. The thing snarled, but fell back into the cupboard.
“Thank Merlin for that,” Blaise croaked. He lay back on the carpet staring up at them all. Then his eyes flickered towards someone hurtling along the landing.
“You’re safe, you’re safe,” Lavender cried, flinging herself into his arms and half pounding the breath out of him.
“Yeah,” he gasped. “I’m safe.”
“Not until you return my diamonds, you’re not, Zabini,” commanded the cold voice of Jonah Flint. He stood over them, pointing his wand directly at Blaise. “Give them back now, or I’ll call in the Ministry.”
The Foolhardy Boys and Parvati, too by Equinox Chick
Chapter Endnotes: If you want to know who Lavender and Blaise lost at the Battle, then you'll need to read Lavender, blue - a Gryffindor, true. Anything I say will be 'spoilers'.