Must Be Magic
It had been a long three months.
Everything had gone wrong the night of the Yule Ball. Ever since he had stupidly just stood there while Kitty kissed him, life had been far from fun.
For one thing, his friendships with James and Clarice were strained, to put it mildly. Bobby had expected Clarice to take Kitty's side, of course. And because Clarice was mad at him, he knew she was probably putting pressure on James. The other boy was not exactly the kind of person who did what his girlfriend said just because she said to do it, but he had been distant.
Bobby tried not to blame James though, or even Clarice. Being stuck between his best friend and his girlfriend couldn't have been fun for James. And Clarice was a loyal friend to Kitty; of course she wanted to protect the younger girl's feelings.
Still though, it was hard. James had always been his friend, but it was clear where he stood on this issue. And every time he saw Clarice these days, she always seemed to be touching Kitty protectively, green eyes impossibly narrow. Bobby had the distinct impression that Clarice wouldn't hesitate to hex him if he even attempted to speak in her presence.
And of course, he hadn't spoken to Kitty at all. Bobby had tried, in those first few days after the ball. He had hoped he'd be able to explain that he had merely been in shock, that he hadn't meant to hurt her, and that he definitely wanted a second shot at kissing her.
But Kitty had ignored him. His owl went unanswered. A few days after that, he'd seen Lockheed lurking in the corridor near the steps that led up to Ravenclaw Tower. He had hastily scrawled a note and put it under Lockheed's collar, which earned him three identical claw marks across the back of his hand. This time, however, Kitty wasn't around to offer him ointment as she had done before.
The blond boy was miserable, to put it lightly. He missed having the younger girl around; that's all there was to it. He missed her shy smile and pink cheeks. He missed that subtle, dry sense of humor and he missed the way his heart skipped a beat whenever her skin brushed against his. He could have gone on forever about everything he missed, but he was beginning to feel pathetic.
His school work was suffering because he couldn't concentrate on it. The same thing with Quidditch too. The game Bobby had loved his whole life no longer brought him joy. His appetite was nonexistent and he couldn't sleep.
Bobby had been hauled in for more than one meeting with his head of house, Professor Summers. Each time Professor Summers had expressed his concerns for Bobby's wellbeing, but the last thing he wanted was to talk about his love life with his teacher. He answered in monotone, one word responses every time until he was allowed to leave. Bobby was sure it was only a matter of time until he was brought into Professor Xavier's office.
In the meantime though, he continued to be miserable. He had taken to carrying around the Chocolate Frog card Kitty had made for him in his school bag. He looked at it from time to time between classes, not that it really helped. If anything, it made Bobby feel worse.
Now was one of those times. He had taken it out on his way back up to the common room after classes were done for the day. The familiar pang of sadness went through him. Even all these years later Bobby still couldn't believe that Kitty had done this for him.
The younger version of himself looked happier than he had been in a long time. Bobby sighed as he turned a corner, still gazing down at Kitty's careful handwriting that so accurately described him. The Gryffindor was so caught up in studying it for the thousandth time that he walked right into someone. Bobby dropped his card and a stack of books at the sudden impact.
His heart swelled hopefully for a moment when the thought that maybe it was Kitty crossed his mind. However, Bobby was only disappointed at who it actually was.
His brother Ronny sneered at him. "Well, if it isn't my big brother," he remarked coldly. "I've been meaning to have a chat with you."
"I'm really not in the mood," Bobby snarled as he knelt to gather his scattered books. Bobby wasn't the least bit threatened by his brother and was sure anything Ronny had to say would just be the same tired cliches their parents spouted at him whenever he was home. Despite knowing all of this, however, Bobby hadn't been lying. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Ronny at the moment.
"Mother is beside herself, you know," Ronny continued. "She blames herself for giving birth to someone who couldn't be more of a disappointment to his family if he tried."
The blond boy felt his blood begin to boil. He reached into his robes for his wand. "I'm warning you," Bobby muttered, "get out of here before I curse you."
The younger Drake sibling ignored him. "Such a disgrace," he said as he stepped closer to where Bobby was kneeling. "A Drake pining over a Mudblood."
Ronny continued to look down at him cruelly. Bobby saw his brother's gaze land on the Chocolate Frog card. "Well well, what do we have here?" Bobby reached for it but Ronny got there first. "Something precious from the Mudblood, I'd guess," Ronny drawled. "Let's see if it's impervious to fire, shall we?"
Bobby got to his feet. "Give it back, Ronny," he said quietly.
Ronny had pulled out his own wand now. A tiny flame bloomed from the tip. Ronny held the card over it, his expression taunting.
And then before Bobby could do anything else, his brother started to scream. Bobby watched, eyes wide, as a number of tiny welts erupted across Ronny's skin. Bobby would know a Stinging Hex anywhere; it was one of Kitty's specialties.
Unable to concentrate further, the flame went out from Ronny's wand. He dropped the card and wheeled around. When his brother moved, Bobby could see that the person who had cast the hex was none other than Kitty.
She was alone for once; Clarice was nowhere in sight. Her features were calm, but her arms were crossed over her chest. Her wand was clutched tightly in one hand.
"You," Ronny breathed. "Oh, you are going to pay for that, Mudblood." He raised his wand. His face twisted into a grimace; the welts must have been making it painful to move. Bobby was glad he hasn't been on the receiving end of this particular curse.
Ronny was fuming. "I'll be talking to Xavier about you. Pack your bags, Mudblood."
Kitty merely looked bored. She had never looked less like that first year Ravenclaw Bobby had met all those years ago. "Prove it was me," she challenged. "No one else is going to back you up. I know for a fact that Bobby won't, will you, Bobby?" Kitty added, acknowledging his presence with a nod.
Bobby shook his head. "Nope."
Ronny's gaze flickered back and forth between them for a moment. "You deserve each other," the Slytherin boy declared.
"Yeah, whatever," Kitty replied, waving her wand hand carelessly. Bobby didn't miss the way his brother eyed her warily. "You should get to the hospital wing."
The younger boy stalked off, still muttering to himself. Once he had gone, Kitty let out a sigh. She walked towards Bobby. "Are you okay?" she asked.
He almost didn't respond. This was the closest he had been to Kitty in ages. She had gotten so good at avoiding him there were times he had wondered if she had learned to walk through walls. Up close, Bobby could see how tired she looked, but there was something else too. She was sad. His chest ached.
"No, I'm not okay," Bobby told her. Kitty frowned, concerned, her hand stretching out towards him. Then she remembered herself and pulled her hand back, much to the blond boy's regret.
"It's not because of my brother," Bobby continued. "It's because of what happened with us."
"I'm not talking about that with you," the brunette said. Her tone was firm. "I'm not — I'm not ready."
He nodded quickly and hoped his disappointment didn't show on his face. Bobby wanted desperately to ask if she had any idea when she might want to talk to him again, just so he had some frame of reference, but he was sure that would only make it worse. "I miss you, though," Bobby said before he could stop himself.
Kitty considered this for a moment. "Yeah. I miss you, too."
She knelt to help him gather his scattered books. Bobby could only think of how similar this was to the day they had first met. He hoped this wasn't the world's way of telling him they had come full circle. He wasn't ready to let go of her.
Kitty got to the Chocolate Frog card before he did. She studied it for a moment, brown eyes serious. "Have you really been carrying this around because you miss me?"
"Yes," he answered truthfully.
A pained expression flitted over Kitty's face. Her hand clenched around the Chocolate Frog card. For a moment Bobby wondered if she wasn't going to give it back. He didn't think she was petty like that, but she was also hurting. Pain like that could change people.
But her grip slackened and she offered the card back to him, her skin brushing his softly. "Here. I — I have to go." Kitty got to her feet and hurried down the corridor, very determinedly not looking back at him.
Bobby watched her go, a sigh escaping his lips. There was nothing he wouldn't have done for the chance to make things right with Kitty, but it didn't look like she was ever going to give him a chance.