Quinlan had heard about the meeting. He was a prefect; it was his job to pay attention to such things. Annoying, really, paying so much attention. It cut into his daydreaming. Before all this prefect business he'd been perfectly content to ignore everyone and spend his time lost in his own thoughts, or a good book. But now he was a prefect and paying attention was his job; more than that, getting involved was his job. He hated getting involved in things, in other people's business, other people's problems. It was just so messy.

But this meeting, it was really hard to tell what would come of it. For one, a prefect in a higher year had planned it, so really, if it was prefects involved, it shouldn't be any sort of trouble, right? He shouldn't have to bother with it. And yet the thought had nagged at him, that he couldn't turn a blind eye to things anymore, especially things going on in his own dormitory. To that end, he'd compromised, situating himself in a chair a short distance from the fire, close enough to eavesdrop without having to participate. He'd buried his head in a hefty Arithmancy tome and pretended to be lost in the complicated formulas, while really he was straining his ears to hear all that was being said.

Is the threat really gone, Elliot was asking. Quinlan felt a chill through his body. In a way he'd gotten very lucky. He was a muggleborn after all, and yet neither he nor his family had been harmed in the war. Even Tanai, a pureblood, had had family hurt, and yet for him, not a scratch. But if it was true, if the war wasn't over, was there a chance that he, or his family, were still in danger? The textbook slipped slowly to his lap as Quinlan turned his head to watch the group.

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