The dedication of this chapter is split twenty-two ways…
To some of the greatest people I know: my friends at my summer camp who made last summer the best time of my life—and got me to read Harry Potter, years late.
You probably won't read this, guys, but it goes to you.
It was six o'clock at night on July seventh, 2011. She sat on her couch, chewing her nails nervously, her brother beside her. His computer sat on his lap, and he worked quickly on it, scrolling, clicking and typing furiously. She held his 'emergency' credit card in her hands, fiddling with it impatiently, ready to ramble off the number the second her brother asked.
This was the moment of truth.
"Number," he said, never taking his eyes off the screen.
She rattled them off, one after another, keeping a steady pattern. When she reached the end, she held her breath, waiting to hear the verdict.
He gasped. "P-purchase successful," he whispered.
"That means—" she began to say, before being cut off by her brother's screams.
"WE GOT THE TICKETS!" he hollered, jumping to his feet, then onto the couch, and throwing his arms into the air. "WE'RE GOING TO THE MIDNIGHT RELEASE!"
Soon she stood too, jumping up and down with her brother.
"WE'RE GOING TO THE MIDNIGHT RELESE!" she echoed, a high of excitement rushing through her. This was the fourth theater they had tried; all the other's had already been sold out.
She had never been to a midnight release of anything before.
Not a movie.
Not a book.
Not a DVD.
Nothing.
And now she was going to be at the midnight release of the final Harry Potter movie…
Her brother cheered again.
…and she was going with the biggest fan she knew.
It was almost surreal. She had been a late start with reading the books, but had fallen into them at the request of her brother, after many years of pleading and prying.
Now she regrets never listening to him…or anyone else for that matter.
Lori had certainly never been a big fan of…any books really, and the rest of her friends just weren't very energetic about much at all. Blaine on the other hand…
"…MID-NIGHT RE-LEASE, MID-NIGHT RE-LEASE…!" he chanted, jumping off the couch and marching up to his room, coming back down clad in a Gryffindor House scarf, a large stuffed snowy owl under his arm.
"Catch!" he called, tossing the owl into the air and pulling a wand out of his pocket.
She caught the toy laughing, and watched her brother prance around the living room.
"You are such a dweeb!" she snickered.
He came to a screeching halt, sneering at her. "Muggle," he said scathingly.
She gasped dramatically. "I resent that!"
"Then be less stiff!"
After a second of thought, she ran up to her room too, the owl under her arm, and emerged at the top of the stairs, a pointy black hat on her head, also wielding a wand.
"HEY, POTTER!" she hollered, tossing the owl back at him.
He looked up just in time to get hit in the face with the flying toy. "…Granger?" he asked, picking up the bird endearingly from the floor.
"Granger," she said affirmatively, racing down the stairs.
~x~
She walked into her home at nine o'clock that night, tired from a late-run business meeting, expecting the same as usual: her son in the living room reading or watching his music or playing his guitar, and his daughter up in her room on her laptop.
Instead, when she came through the door, she was met with the sight of her two children, sitting hip to hip on the living room couch, both clutching wands, draped in gold and red, bent over her son's computer, watching a movie and sniffing back tears.
"…I want to burry him. Properly, without magic…" an accented voice said from the computer, before fading into a hauntingly familiar tune.
She tried to slide into the kitchen unnoticed, not wanting to disrupt them. A small whimper came from the couch though, stopping her in her tracks. She turned around and took a step towards the sound, expecting to find her daughter in tears, preparing herself to comfort her on a subject she knew little about.
She was not, however, expecting what she did find.
"D-d-dobby…" Blaine squeaked, leaning his head on Del's shoulder, his cheeks streaked with tears, a hand over his trembling chin.
Del had her arm around his shoulder, rubbing it fiercely, still sniffling herself. "It's okay…he saved Harry…that's all he ever wanted to do…he died fulfilling his life's wish…" She shushed.
"I know…" he mumbled his voice gruff. "…it's just…" The last part of the sentence was strangled in a quivering sigh.
Just then, Del's eyes shot away from the screen for a moment, catching sight of her mother. "Hi," she said quietly. "Could we…uh…have a minute?"
With a knowing nod, she slipped up the stairs, leaving her children alone with their childhoods.
I hope I didn't disappoint all true fans with reactions. Del is a perfect representation of me: late to the fandom with unwilling friends.
Unfortunately I have no Blaine to urge me into it. I have all of my camp friends to thank for that.