分卷阅读48

    “harry, you arse!” ginny found them both as soon as they walked through the door, rushing the present between the three of them when she hurtled towards them, throwing an arm around both of their neks and pulling them down to her height drao aught an elbow in the nek, but he was pretty sure it was on aident “i an’t believe you got the weird sisters to py at my party!”

    “it’s luna’s party, too,” trilled herne from somewhere near drao’s elbow, and he turned to find her sitting down at a booth already with a rge pte of heesy fries in front of her, rather giggly and pink in the fae ron rolled his eyes at drao, then shrugged herne’s an inredible lightweight and tely, always inredibly hungry

    ginny ignored her, whih drao thought was best

    “called in a favor,” harry said, grinning “thought you might like it”

    drao snorted called in a favor, more like, alled them up and told them who was speaking and then found the weird sisters had mysteusly leared their shedule for themonth and a half, at your servie mr potter, anything you like they ould have pyed during molly’s sunday night dinner, for all they ared

    “still, thank you and you,” she turned on drao, narrowing her eyes, and he had the stra suspn that she knew somehow, about the house and the doubts and how he stays up te at night trying to memorize what it feels like to have harry lying beside him, just in ase “do try to have fun tonight, won’t you? luna’s worried about you”

    drao squirmed unomfortably, beause if ginny had an idea about how anus he’s been the past few weeks, then luna knew for sure, would have been able to tell what was wrong with just one look at him

    “i’ll be fine” he tries to smile onviningly, but then he looks over and finds that harry has diseared from his side, swallowed up by the rowd that was dean and seamus and neville drao would not be welome there, even if they all smiled and made polite small talk there is a differene between fiveness and belonging, he’s finding, and it’s more of a hasm than a fine line

    ginny reahed over, squeezed his elbow “he loves you” her words are insistent, hitting him like a stunning spell to the hest “trust me i know what it looks like”

    he finds his way to the bar, expeting to find old, gap-toothed tom, but finds gee weasley instead, throwing drinks to the people who ome to him without waiting for a request and sowling down at the table top when he is left alone again, like he is reading some partiurly offensive word that a preus patron had arved into it drao heks, but nothing is there

    “oh it’s you” gee looks surprised for a moment, but then his expresn sours “you want anything?”

    “thought you were just throwing things out there?” he had been, like razy, throwing bottles into hands and p liquid into giant margarita gsses without heking the bels, and even when it had to be a dht disgusting ombinan, no one ompined, just oughed and spluttered and drank it all the same

    “well, normally, but seeing as it’s you, i’ll make an exepn so i’ll repeat myself” he was blunt, tonight drao supposes it must be hard for everyone else, to have gone from a friendly and heerful gee to this, but not for drao, beause to him this was the weasley he had always known—a little sharp, a little brusque, the kind of intelligent that was just a shade shy of ruel “what do you want?”

    “just a beer, thanks,” drao said, settling down onto a stool, w why they had stuk him bak here, of all people, and then realizing that it might have been the ki pe for him gee had told him one that every n was just a reminder of the lines that never would be said, where people automatially look to his left for the eho of his jokes only to find empty air, that he an’t take it he might have had an easier time bak here, where he is away from the jumbled mass of limbs and people only wanting the person he used to be, safe from small talk and idle hands

    “so b,” gee griped, but he passed the bottle along all the same, even attempting a grin

    drao doesn’t want to ask he wants to sit and sulk, take part in enough small talk to pass the night away without seeming like an arse, maybe searh out herne ter and then duk in to pass on another round of ongratuns with luna, then go home, iming a migraine it’s a pusible exuse and a doable pn, and none of it involves sitting here and pying therapist to gee, but he was his friend, and that omes with a ertain amount of responsibility

    “you alright, mate? you seem…” he paused, beause there’s no way to give an aurate desripn without being offensive “down”

    “yeah, i’m fine” gee says, and drao an see the moment where he hanges his mind and deides to tell the truth, an atual ripple aross his fae “no, i’m not i’m **, atually”

    he swears, a long string of it just to make himself feel better, and the people losest to them stare, a huddle of ravenws that drao an only vaguely remember

    “want to talk about it?”

    “it’s just that he’s not here” drao didn’t need to ask who he was “he’s not here, and he would have loved this, to be with her, to see her she’s got this line of es, like the father daughter e, only one with eah of us brothers, and there’s—there’s only five es there should be six” he is gripping onto the tabletop so hard that drao is half afraid that he is going to rip a piee off “it’s like he’s being fotten by everyone but me”

    “that’s not true,” drao starts, but gee uts him off just as fast

    “i know it isn’t true but it’s not fair, beause it’s like when he died, he ripped away a part of me that i’m never going to get bak, this whole huge hunk of my life that i’m never going to be able to fill, no