A/N: The world belongs to JKR. The characters belong to me and their respective RPers. Enjoy and review!
Soft thread twirled between her rough, calloused fingers. The old friendship bracelet that Deidre and Dakota had exchanged when they were just six years of age, and had sworn not to take off. Unfortunately, she had physically grown too big for the strings that meant so much to each of them. However, Deidre never got rid of it, nor would she ever dare to do so.
The mild summer day, blew a light wind outside of her window and Deidre's jade hues flipped upward to find the large sprawling yard that separated her home and that of the Greengroves. It had been a few months since the death of Bailey and Abigail Greengrove, but it had been the first time that the children had been home since they had received the news.
Pocketing the bracelet, Deidre walked along the corridor and knocked on the door of her brother's room. Pushing it open, she leaned inside and looked over at him.
"Hey," she said softly, getting his attention. Once he turned to her, he seemed... Like someone else. Deidre always knew that Ace had a heart, even if he didn't show it to her often.
"I'm gointa go over there. Wanna come with?" she asked, softly, leaning against the doorpost. Ace nodded and lifted himself from the desk that he used to spend so many hours at.
"Still care about her, huh?" she asked, which Ace couldn't only respond with a small perk of the corner of his lip.
"If ya didn't already know tha answer ta that, you wouldn'ta asked me ta come along." He had a point, and Deidre knew it. She wouldn't say anything to him about it though. At least not under normal circumstances. And this circumstance was certainly far from normal.
With their hands stuffed into their pockets, the Ashton children headed to the Greengrove home, only to be met with Seth sitting outside, on the front few steps. Ace tapped his sister on the shoulder, getting her attention. Turning to him, he spoke in a whisper.
"I'm gointa go upstairs. I'll see ya later." Deidre nodded and Ace walked on, giving Seth an apologetic pat on the back. The men shared eye contact for a split second before Ace moved on into the house in search of Abigail.
A moment of silence passed between the pair before Deidre dropped her head and walked over to Seth. Taking residence up next to the brunette, her pockets still remained firmly inside her pockets.
"Have yeh gone in yet?" she asked softly. Deidre had already helped the Greengroves get past the death of their parents months prior. In her mind, bringing back up apologies was a pointless waste of time. Seth shook his head in response to her.
"I can't bring myself to do it," he answered. The blond pulled her lower lip between her teeth and allowed her eyes to dance around the dirt in front of the pair.
"Ace and me talked ta our parents. If any of yeh need a place ta stay, or a place ta get away ta... Well, if we don have tha room, we can create it." Deidre looked over at Seth, finally, finding that he was in fact, looking at her as well. A thankful smile pulled onto his lips.
"Thanks, Dee," he said. Pulling an arm around her, Seth pulled his younger sisters best friend, and one of his incredibly close friends, into a tight hug.
"Thank you," he whispered again, into her ear. Deidre smiled and pulled away from the man that she still had lingering feelings for. Looking at the younger Greengrove male, she smiled and wiped a stray tear from her eye.
"Yeh better go in soon. Yeh got a room ta dirty up, yeh know?" she laughed, and earned a laugh from the Gryffindor as well. She loved it when he smiled.
"Go in and talk to Dakota," he said, motioning towards the home. "She needs you." The blond nodded and headed inside. Looking around the large home, it felt ... Empty. The feeling sent a chill up her spine. However, she had to push that feeling to the back of her mind. Heading up the winding staircase, she found herself in front of Dakota's bedroom. She didn't even ask for access, she simply walked in and found the brunette buried beneath several blankets. She closed the door behind her and moved over to the bed, finding her way beneath the covers to find her best friend. Once the pair were both under the covers, Deidre spoke.
"Hey, m'love," she pushed back some of Dakota's hair, so she could see her best friends face. "How yeh, doin?" Dakota shrugged.
"It's so cold, yeah know?" she asked. Deidre merely nodded in response.
"Hey, ya wanna know what I found?" she asked, not truly looking for an answer. Reaching into her pocket, her tongue pointed out the side of her mouth. Dakota raised a dark brow in curiosity. Soon, Deidre pulled out the faded string and held it out to Dakota.
"Member these?" she asked with a wide smile, which Dakota promptly returned.
"Where did you find that?" she asked in amazement, taking the bracelet from her friend and examining it.
"When I got home, I went lookin through my stuff. Found my memory box, and this was in it. Do ye really think I woulda really thrown that out? I don care that muh mum had ta cut it off, I was gonna keep it forever." Dakota turned over and let her hand leave the safe comfort of the blankets to go searching through her drawer. After a few minutes, her hand returned with her own friendship bracelet. Deidre smiled widely.
"I couldn't get rid of it either," she stated. Deidre quickly wrapped her arms around the small brunette. She pulled away when she thought of something, she believed to be brilliant.
"I want ta give yeh tha bracelet back," she paused for a brief moment. The second that Dakota didn't seem to see her brilliance she elaborated. "This way, over tha rest of tha summer, we add onta it. Make it longer, stronger; like our friendship. Then, at tha end of tha summer, we'll exchange them again, just like we did when we were little."
Finally, the brunette smiled at her and nodded.
"I'd really like that, Dee." Dakota took the bracelet from the blond and vice versa. Then, without warning, the brunette hugged her best friend tightly.
"Thank you so much, Deidre. I love you." Deidre smiled.
"I love yeh, too, Dakota. I love yeh, too."