(Author's Note: the title is from a song by Lauren Fairweather; you can find it on YouTube. It's short but sweet. Enjoy!)

Kit was about to get undressed for bed when he heard a bang coming from the room next door. He yanked his T-shirt back down and went to find out what had happened.

The room next to his was Quinn's. He wondered what could have happened. It sounded like something had fallen. He tapped on the door. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah. Come on in."

He entered the code and the door slid open. Quinn was sitting on the bed, and he looked okay. He was already in his pajamas.

"I heard this bang. What happened? Did something fall?"

"No, I . . ." The other boy pointed across the room. "I kind of . . . threw it."

Kit went over and picked up the fallen object. It was Quinn's copy of the last Harry Potter book. "You finally finished this, huh?"

"Yeah, and I wish I hadn't. Have you read it?"

"Yeah."

"What did you think of that epilogue?"

"I don't know. It's an ending."

"She skipped over all the stuff I really wanted to know! All about the . . . the rebuilding. How did people learn to trust each other again? What did the Muggles think had happened? What happened to all the Death Eaters? But no, we have to have a happy ending. And now there won't be any more."

"There might be."

"No, she said she's not doing any more books about Harry. Period. Finito. The end." He slumped back on the bed. "What do I do now?"

Kit shrugged. "There's always the fanfiction."

Quinn's eyes went wide with terror. "Oh, no! I've seen the fanfiction. No, thanks."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Okay." Kit knew when to back off.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself now. I don't have that . . . that sense of satisfaction that I get when I usually finish a book. It's just, like, that's it? Now what?"

"You could start a new series. We'll go to the bookstore tomorrow. I've got a free day; do you?"

"I'm off in the morning."

"There you go. We'll go right when they open, and we'll have the place all to ourselves. How does that sound?"

"Okay, I guess . . ." Quinn didn't look very happy about it.

"There's always Maya's book. I know you haven't read that."

"No, because I know what happens." There was just the hint of a smile on his face, and Kit found it encouraging.

"Okay, then. The bookstore it is. Do they open at nine or ten?"

"Ten, I think."

"We'll leave here at quarter of. I hope they have good parking."

The new independent bookstore was next to Diorio's. It was a bit on the small side, but hopefully it would do.

A young woman in a flowered dress was shelving books when she looked up and saw them. "Welcome to Book Shelves," she said brightly. "What can I help you find today?"

Quinn just stared at her, as if he didn't know what to say. People who didn't know him well sometimes thought he wasn't that bright, but he was just shy.

"My friend here," Kit began, "just finished the last Harry Potter book, and- "

"Ah," she said, with a twinkle in her eye. "Post Potter Depression."

"Huh?"Quinn stared at her blankly.

"Come with me."

She led them around the corner to a display of books, mostly Young Adult fantasy, with a sign above them: GOT POST POTTER DEPRESSION? WE CAN HELP!

"This happened a lot over the summer and the fall," she explained. "People finished the book, they didn't know what to do next. There's some adult fantasy in here, too. The Discworld books are amazing."

Quinn's attention was drawn to a book in the second row, right-hand side. "What's this about?"

"The Lightning Thief? Oh, that's really cool. It's sort of a modern retelling of some of the old Greek myths -"

"I like myths." He read the jacket copy, nodding in approval. "I think I'll take this one."

"Good choice. That's actually the start of a series as well. When you're done with that, you can come back and I'll give you the next one. I can hold it for you."

"That would be great."

"What name should I put it under?"

"My name is . . ." He trailed off, blinking, as if his mind had gone completely blank. He turned to Kit. "What's my name?"

"Quinn."

"Oh, yeah."

"That's an unusual name," the girl said.

"Yeah, I know, it doesn't go, right? My grandmother on my mother's side was Irish. Quinn was her maiden name, so I was sort of named after her."

"I understand that. It's the same in my family. That's how I ended up with a name like Colleen Gutierrez."

"I don't think that's so bad."

"Let me ring that up for you." Colleen walked them over to the register, where she processed the transaction fairly quickly. She handed him the receipt, circling the store phone number. "If you have any questions, give me a call."

"I can come back tomorrow," Quinn said.

"I won't be here tomorrow. I'll be at the Café Florence. That's where I get most of my writing done."

"You write, too? What kind of stuff? If you don't mind my asking."

"Oh, I don't mind. Mostly fantasy, sci-fi, far out kind of stuff."

"I love far out stuff! I'd love to read some of it, if that's okay."

"I don't know . . ."

"Please? I promise I won't tear it to shreds."

"Well . . . okay. I'll be at the Café between ten and one, if you want to stop by for a coffee or something. They have really good pastries."

"Um, I'll be, um, waiting outside, when you're ready," Kit said. He could tell when he wasn't needed. He'd done his job, now he needed to get out of the way. He slipped away to wait out by the bikes.

It was several minutes before Quinn rejoined him. And he'd forgotten his book.