You’re curled up in the corner of an armchair with your book open on your lap, pretending to read, but you can hear every word the boys are saying, each one louder than the last.

Regulus stands in the centre of the room with his arms crossed. “I’ve got a meeting with a professor,” he says, casting a brief glance in your direction. “Won’t be long. Hey — could you watch my sister for me?”

He doesn’t say it like a question. He says it like an order.

“Yeah, sure,” Theodore replies easily from where he’s sprawled across the couch, one arm draped behind his head.

But the silence that follows is thick. Because none of them are just thinking about watching you.

“Watch her? I've been watching her since third year,” Draco thinks, straightening his collar as he leans casually against the fireplace.

“She doesn’t even know what kind of magic’s in her veins,” Tom muses. “But I do. And I’ll be watching very closely.”

“Watch her? I’d die for a chance to sit next to her,” Mattheo thinks, chewing his lip. “She smiled at me once. I haven’t slept since.”

“Sure, I’ll watch her,” Theodore thinks, shooting a sideways glance at the others. “Mostly to make sure none of them try anything stupid.”

“He really trusts us with her?” Lorenzo wonders. “Either he’s got nerves of steel... or he has no idea what she does to a room.”

“Protect her? I’d hex anyone who touches her. Including the rest of these animals,” Barty says under his breath, a crooked smile tugging at his lips.

You look up slowly, sensing a change in the atmosphere. Six pairs of eyes are very pointedly not looking at you. Except they are. You gently close your book, your brow arching.

“Something wrong?” you ask, your voice soft.

They answer at once.

“No,” Draco says quickly. “Not at all,” Mattheo echoes. “You’re fine,” Theodore adds. “Everything’s perfectly normal,” Tom says, though his tone is unsettlingly calm. “Just watching the fire,” Lorenzo mumbles. “Completely fine,” Barty finishes, flashing you a grin that’s half-trouble, half-truth.

You hum in response, unconvinced, your lips curving slightly as you lean back in your chair.

“Right. Watching the fire. That’s what I thought.”

Regulus rolls his eyes and heads for the door.

“Merlin help me,” he mutters. “Try not to be idiots while I’m gone.”

The door swings shut behind him.

And just like that — the fire wasn’t the only thing burning in the room.