Hey guys! I'm SO SORRY it took so long! I took all my exams, wrote a term paper, took a Biology SAT Subject Test, and left the country for 2 weeks, so I have a good excuse. I have siriusly (pun intended) had no time. Again: SORRY! Be prepared...this is the longest chapter yet, because this finishes off "One More Year" (or at least all the parts I plan to include). After this it's all new stuff, so if you've read "One More Year," and were getting bored fear not. I included a couple Steven/Em/James scenes in this chapter and next chapter will be all about them, so get excited!
A few days after the Christmas Holiday ended I was working at the bank again. Work was getting more difficult as I was now six months into my training. I sent Clarice a letter that morning, so I was waiting for a response. I was pleased when Lynx returned during my break at about 10, clutching in his talons a letter from Clarice. I opened it eagerly and read:
Dear James,
Everything here's good. I haven't even started studying for N.E.W.T.s, which, when you're friends with Rose and Scorpius, makes you feel like a slacker. I'm friends with Annabel again, she wanted me to let you know that she's apologizing, because she feels awful about what she said to me and to you that day. Well, mostly to me, but she wanted me to tell you sorry too. Rose and Scorpius are good, and I was-
And then it stopped. Just like that. I read it again to see if I'd missed something, because Clarice wouldn't just stop right in the middle of a sentence. There was an ink stain covering the bottom half of the parchment, and the lettering was a tiny bit smeared. I couldn't imagine a reason that Clarice would send me a half completed letter unless something was wrong. I tried not to panic (with difficulty, might I add) and grabbed the nearest slip of parchment, on which I wrote:
Are you okay? What's going on?
I gave it to Lynx and watched him fly away feeling nervous. I had a really bad feeling about this...
Twenty minutes later Lynx still hadn't replied, and Clarice would surely have replied if she thought I was worried. Another twenty minutes passed and I really was getting frantic. I told Michael, the curse-breaker instructor, that I had to go to the bathroom (pretty childish, I know, but I was panicking), and then headed for the nearest fireplace. I decided I would floo to the Ravenclaw Common Room (probably not too good an idea in hind site, considering anyone could've been there), and track down Clarice from there.
I jumped into the green flames, and was whisked off to the Ravenclaw Common Room to find a truly unbelievable sight.
"What's going on?" I asked. I saw Al with his wand pointed at Scorpius and Rose, with Annabel hovering behind them. There were burn marks on most of the walls from what looked like curses, but still no sign of Clarice. The portrait above the mantle had fallen onto the mantle, which had crumbled, and was now covering..."CLARICE!" I rushed forward and pulled her out.
"Oh my God!" cried someone, I think Rose, and then she and Annabel were with me at Clarice's side. I could only assume that Al and Scorpius were behind us.
"What happened to her?" I demanded. I felt gingerly around her arm to see where I thought the bone was broken, because it definitely was considering the angle it was at when I found her.
"Ask them," said Annabel, and I turned to see her pointing at Scorpius and Albus, who were, indeed, behind us.
"I really don't know," said Scorpius, "She was in here when we arrived, and then wands came out, and...I don't remember what happened to her." I was furious. What idiots! Why on earth would they duel over this?
Everyone looked at Albus, who said, "I...I don't know," he looked close to tears, "Tell her I'm sorry," and with that he ran from the room. Good riddance. He was really the cause of all of this...but he was still my brother, and he was hurting. You can imagine the difficulty of my position. But I didn't have time to deal with Al, cause Clarice really needed help.
"We have to get her to the hospital wing," said Scorpius, and he was right. I decided I would revive her and see how she was feeling.
"Enovate," Her eyes fluttered open-she; really looked feeble.
"James?" she looked around confusedly, "What-What happened?" she tried to sit up, but I put a hand on her shoulder to keep her down, as did several others. She looked far to weak to even think about sitting up-let alone act on it.
"Where does it hurt?" Rose asked.
"Everywhere," she groaned, closing her eyes. That was not a good sign.
"We have to move her," said Annabel. The thought of moving her was daunting, but we had to. I picked her up gently and carried her out of the Common Room, the others following behind me. Annabel stayed behind to clean up, and we all headed to the Hospital Wing. When we got there Clarice had fallen asleep. I set her down by the bed as Madam Pomfrey came bustling in.
"What happened to her?" she asked looking shocked. She then did a double take I would've found funny at any other moment and said to me, "Mr. Potter, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the bank?"
"Oh crap!" I muttered. I'd forgotten to explain why I wasn't back at work. Luckily Lynx had followed me, and I was able to scribble down a note to Uncle Bill, who would cover for me.
"What happened?" repeated Madam Pomfrey, who was now examining Clarice.
"Well," said Rose, "We were all in Ravenclaw Common Room, and Scorpius, Al, and I were practicing our stunning spells for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Clarice was writing a letter to James by the fire. But then, Scorpius' stunning spell missed and hit the mantle, and it fell on her. We cleaned it up, but thought we should take her to you." It was a pretty lame story in my opinion, and I was starting to wish I'd explained, except that then I wouldn't be able to claim that I wasn't there when it happened (which is true).
Apparently Madam Pomfrey didn't believe the story, not very surprising in my opinion, because she said, "Hmmm...well, Professor McGonagall will be having a word with you about what really happened later. In any case her skull is cracked, her right wrist is broken, as is her right hip, and her right calf. Her entire right side is pretty ripped up, but the left side seems fine, apart from a nasty cut on her left forearm. Also, some of her ribs are broken, and they're putting some unhealthy pressure on her right lung, but I'll be able to patch her up alright. I'll keep her in over night. You wait here for a moment." she raised her want, and out burst two silvery cranes, one of which flew out of the hospital wing, and in the direction of McGonagall's office, while the other flew out the window towards the green houses. Great. Me, McGonogall, and Uncle Neville all in the same room-just like old times...Still, I had more important things to worry about. I was stunned. How could one person sustain so many injuries so quickly. At least she was gonna be alright...
Annabel arrived a minute later and she, Rose, and Scorpius all settled into chairs. I didn't sit down with them though, I just watched Madam Pomfrey work.
Clarice woke up after a few minutes, and Madam Pomfrey left to get her some potion. I sat down by her bed and said, "How do you feel?"
"Fine," she replied, "My head's a little soft, but not painful."
"Good," I said with a grin, "Leave it to you to be in the hospital wing three days into term."
She laughed too, "I guess that is pretty sad..."
"Yeah, but-" suddenly the door opened, and in came Uncle Neville, McGonagall, and Al. Great: McGonagall, Uncle Neville, me, and Al all in one room together. It was gonna be some party.
"Clarice!" said Uncle Neville, rushing over to Clarice. I stood up and tried to fade into the background.
"Dad, I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes. It was so like her to play down major bodily injuries...
"What happened to you?" he asked. Well, this was about to get interesting.
"I...I don't really know," he looked at her, and I have to admit it sounded pretty weird. She continued, "I mean, I was unconscious before any of this happened," she pointed to her bandage turban that Madam Pomfrey had put on her to help her skull heal.
"James?" asked Uncle Neville, turning to me. Apparently I hadn't been too good at fading into the background. I gulped. This was in no way my fault, but if Uncle Neville got that idea into his head he wouldn't let me go out with Clarice any more...
"Don't look at me," I said, "I didn't arrive until after it was all over."
"Well, then, who does know what happened?" asked McGonagall, who seemed incredulous at the possibility that I wasn't involved in this. I wasn't sure if that insulted me or made me very proud.
"Well," said Scorpius, "Al and I had a fight, and-"
"I pulled out my wand," said Albus, "and I tried to jinx him, so he pulled out his wand, and we dueled. Clarice tried to stop us, she put up a shield charm, and then one of my stunning spells bounced off the shield and hit her. Then one of our spells, I don't know whose, hit the mantle, and it fell on Clarice. Scorpius stopped fighting, but I wouldn't, and then James arrived, and we discovered Clarice was hurt." Wow. Al had just shouldered all the blame basically. He deserved it, but still...
"Well," said McGonagall, "You, Mr. Potter, will receive detention every Friday for the next month, my office. Mr. Malfoy, you will join him. Be warned, Mr. Malfoy, If you had started that fight, or are in another one again, you will loose your badge."
And with that she swept from the hall. She had a habit of doing that-inflicting punishment and then sweeping away. After seven years of Hogwarts I'd learned that McGonagall never just walked away after punishing someone, she'd sweep away. It really was disconcerting, especially for the person on the receiving end.
Uncle Neville turned back to Clarice and said, "Sweetie, please rest. Your mother will kill me if she finds out about this," and once he received a nod from Clarice he left. I couldn't help but snigger at that...Hannah Longbottom had a notorious temper and watching Uncle Neville try to evade it was always something to enjoy.
"Listen," I said to Clarice, "I really wish I could stay, but I've got to get back to work. I ditched, and Uncle Bill is covering for me, but I really need to get back."
"Okay," she said, smiling slightly.
"Bye," I said, leaning in a giving her a light kiss before leaving the Hospital Wing. I walked through the castle, making sure to stop in the Great Hall and check that our message was still there (it was). I walked through the grounds, and then reached the gate. I opened it up, and then closed it securely, before disapperating.
A night and ten days before the Easter holidays started I was at home in my apartment with Steven and Em, when Rowan brought me a letter.
I opened up the letter, curious, but that curiosity evaporated when I realized the letter wasn't from Rose, but from Clarice. Clearly she hadn't wanted to use a school owl, and she didn't have her own
Dear James,
I hope everything with you is good, and that you haven't blown up the bank yet. I'd love to spend Easter at the Burrow! I'm just a little bit worried because Al is going to be there. He still isn't talking to me or Rose or Scorpius, but he started talking to Annabel again, or rather, Annabel started talking to him. She says that he doesn't hate us anymore, but that he's to stubborn to admit it. I hope she's right. I'll see you soon (exactly ten days). Missing you!
Clarice
I smiled.
"Who's that from?" asked Em. She and Steven were looking at flowers. They had narrowed it down between white lilies and white roses for the bouquet, quite an accomplishment, considering that earlier that evening they had about twenty different options (all in all white though). Their color scheme was emerald green and gold, to match Em's engagement ring, which was an emerald. Em had picked the bridesmaid dresses as well, emerald green, strapless, knee-length Vera Wang dresses. They had a belt (also in emerald green) that had a small, subtle bow on it. Steven had told her about Vera Wang, and she'd fallen in love with her, so had decided on those instead of ones from the wizarding world. Normally I wouldn't have paid much attention to the bridesmaid dresses, but Em had assaulted me with photos of hundreds of dresses only a week ago, and something that scaring is not something a bloke will forget easily.
"Clarice," I replied, "She's coming to the Burrow for Easter so-"
"So we won't see you again after tonight for at least another three weeks?" asked Steven, looking somewhere between exasperated and smirky.
"No," I said in a dignified voice, "Don't you remember, their Easter Holiday only lasts two weeks." They both laughed.
"You're bringing her to the wedding, right?" asked Em. I hadn't realized that was an option before.
"Can I? I didn't think the best man got to have a plus one."
"Of course you can bring her," said Steven, "I'm dying to see what's so special about her."
"Me too," said Em, "Did you really think we wouldn't invite her?" I was touched, but didn't intend to say anything about it. Steven and Em had decided on a pretty tight guest list, so them including Clarice on their special day when they didn't even know her showed that they trusted my judgment and wanted to get to know her. Obviously I wasn't going to say that, but it still made me happy.
"Okay," I said, "I'll be sure to invite her."
"Just don't break up with her the day of," said Steven, "Remember Marissa."
I shuttered.
Unfortunately, I had to remember Marissa again the next day. Clarice had written to me that morning saying that Al had apologized and wanted to see me, so I came to the Heads' Common Room after work. Clarice, Rose, Scorpius, and Annabel were all waiting for me.
"Hey you," I said, giving Clarice a kiss. We were interrupted by Al though.
He cleared his throat and said, "Guys?"
I turned to see him, and said, "Hey Al," wearily. He said he was sorry, but did he really mean it?
"I have to go," said Al. What? What was the point of me being there then? "but I wanted a friend to meet you. It's been a while since you've seen her James. Come on in, Marissa." I took a breath. There was no way he would stoop that low. I knew he was upset, but seriously! I glanced at Rose, who looked horrified, Scorpius and Annabel looking clueless beside her. Clarice looked curiously at me.
She looked pretty much the same. Still dressed to kill in heels and all, straight blond hair, tall, exactly the way she'd looked the last time I'd seen her at Teddy and Vic's wedding. She walked up to me and slapped me across the face. It wasn't like I didn't deserve it, so I decided to let it be. "You bastard. That's for that day...I never got to repay you properly. Well, actually I did, but apparently you need a refresher. Clarice," she looked at Clarice, wearing her 'I'm pretending to be nice' face, "It is Clarice right?" Clarice nodded. "I would get out now, while you still can, once you hear what he's capable of."
"Clarice, listen," I said, looking right into her eyes. I had to get this message across before Marissa did something to ruin my life, "it was a long time ago, that's not who I am anymore."
"What's going on?" she asked, looking weary.
"Why yes, Marissa," said Albus with a smirk, I wanted to punch him for it, "Clarice doesn't know the story. I'm sure that Scorpius and Annabel are rather curious as well. Why don't you tell them?"
"How dare you?" growled Rose, "Get out! Both of you!"
"I'm doing her a favor Rose," said Marissa, "As her best friend I thought you'd want what's best for her, and James isn't. You know what happened that summer." Oh God, she was actually gonna do it...
"What happened?" asked Scorpius, earning him a kick from Rose. I was glad she did it, cause if she hadn't I would've. "You idiot!" whispered Rose, "Stop making it worse!"
"Why, I'd love to tell you," said Marissa, sitting down.
"Clarice, how many serious boyfriends have you had?" asked Marissa as we all sat down around her.
"Define serious," said Clarice carefully, and that made me worried. How many had she had? Jealousy rose up inside me, before I realized that I had a lot more serious issues to worry about.
"You dated for four months or more," specified Marissa.
Clarice thought for a moment before saying "Three."
"Are you counting James?" asked Marissa curiously.
"No," said Clarice, "We've only been dating three months." Ouch. That hurt.
"I thought we were serious," I said, trying not to sound hurt.
"We are, but we haven't been dating four months yet," said Clarice, and I felt a tiny bit better.
"Now," said Marissa, "When these three relationships ended, who ended it? You or the guy?"
"Well," said Clarice, "I ended two of the three, and the guy ended other one." Who in their right mind would break up with her? It was mind boggling...
"How did that feel?" asked Marissa. Oh God...she was setting it up beautifully. It was sick. Why would Al do this to me?
"Terrible," said Clarice, "Miserable. But, in hindsight it was definitely better for me."
"Just," said Marissa, "Keep that in mind as the story proceeds, okay?" Clarice nodded. I groaned. It was starting. I knew that Clarice deserved to know, but this isn't exactly how I'd planned on telling her..."So, James and I started going a month before fourth year ended. We went out all summer too. The day of our four month anniversary he ended it-"
"That's all he did?" interrupted Clarice. If only...
"No," said Marissa darkly, "That is not all he did. I was pretty torn up about it, I really liked him. I thought I might even have loved him, so you can imagine how upset I was. He ended it a week before we went back to Hogwarts, so I'd had a little time to get used to the idea before I saw him again, but I was still really upset. Then, on the train he told me he wanted to try again. I was really excited, because I'd missed him a lot, and he said he'd really missed me. So, all that day we went out, sat on the train together, and then at dinner together, even though I wasn't a Gryffindor I sat with them. Everyone saw, and all the girls were really jealous, because everyone was always jealous of the girl who was dating James. Then, he snogged me right in front of everyone. I was so happy we were back together, but then, the next morning he told me the truth." God-this was gonna get ugly.
"Marissa!" I decided I should at least try to intervene before it was too late, "I apologized later. I really am sorry about what I did, but I was only fifteen. I was a real idiot then!"
Marissa snorted, before continuing, "I found out that morning, that the only reason he'd gotten back together with me was to make Page Zabini, a Ravenclaw in our year, jealous. The entire school heard about it. Page was a real bitch, so she spread the story far and wide once she and James started going out. It was humiliating to have everyone know how I had been used. That's why you shouldn't go out with him. He never sticks with a girl past the four month mark, and if he does it won't be long before he uses her. You seem really nice Clarice, don't let him do that to you." I knew Marissa didn't really believe what she was saying, and that was the worst of it. She was just doing this out of spite, and my brother-my traitorous brother-was helping her. It made me sick. "When Al wrote to me I was really glad, because I didn't want another poor, innocent girl to have to suffer what I did," and then she threw me that infuriating smirk, so that the others wouldn't see. Then she left. The room was silent for a moment as we all watched Clarice, waiting for a reaction.
"Is that true?" asked Clarice. I wanted so badly to tell her it wasn't, because she'd believe me...but she deserved to know-this just isn't how I'd planned on telling her.
"Clarice," I said, "That was a long time ago. It's different with you, I-"
"Is it true?" she demanded, tears running down her cheeks. I could see in her eyes the silent plea for me to deny it, and the fact that I couldn't made me sick.
"Yes," I whispered. I don't think I've ever felt so low. "But, I really care about you. I-I love you." I didn't completely know what my plan was going into that sentence, but it certainly hadn't been that. It wasn't until it was out of my mouth that I realized it was true...
"Did you tell her that to?" asked Clarice as she stood up. She looked so angry it broke my heart. "How do I know if anything you've said to me is real?" She left without another word, but I could've sworn I heard a sob as the portrait hole slammed.
"Clarice!" I said, though I knew there was no way she'd hear me. I stood up and sprinted out of the Head's Common Room. I figured she'd be going back to the Ravenclaw Common Room, so that was where I directed my feet.
I ran as fast as I could. I caught sight of her as I entered the corridor leading to the Ravenclaw Common Room. She answered the question before I could hear it, and slammed the door. I arrived only a few seconds later, panting.
"What is the solution to every lover's quarrel?" asked the bird in it's sing-song voice. Unbelievable. What type of bird was this, a mind reader? Didn't I have enough issues without having to deal with a rude, sarcastic bird?
"Apologize?" I said. It was a pretty lame guess in my opinion, and apparently the bird thought so too, because the door didn't open.
"Explain?" I tried again. Still the door remained shut. There is a reason I'm not in Ravenclaw you know...
I thought about what I wanted Clarice to hear most at that moment, and it came to me. "I love you."
"Well said, but I'm not the one who needs to hear it." said the bird, and the door swung open. Really, what did this bird know about anything? It's a bird! Since when did bloody birds fall in love?
I saw her curled up in an armchair, and was glad she didn't go up to her dormitory, because I didn't really have a plan for getting up there.
"Clarice," I said, deciding to make my presence known while I was still a good distance away. I'd been slapped enough for one evening.
She looked up, surprised and asked, "How did you get in?"
"I answered the question." I replied. I admit it wasn't the brightest response ever, but both of us were kind of in a zen mode. The entire situation didn't quite seem real, and I could tell she felt it too.
"Oh," there was a horribly awkward silence, and I contemplated saying something, but Clarice spoke first "What do you want?"
"To talk." Wow. That was a really intelligent response James! Clearly my brain was suffering from trauma.
"So talk." Well that wasn't much help...though in all honesty I didn't really deserve more than that.
"Clarice," he said, kneeling down right in front of her, forcing her to look at me. I decided to start with a question, because everyone knows that's my favorite way to start difficult conversations. "You can't honestly think that I'm that person anymore, can you?"
"How am I supposed to know?" she asked. I decided to do something I rarely did. I always had a planned line when I talked to girls. I could tell what they were thinking, and I knew exactly what to say. I never, ever, did anything spur of the moment when it came to girls, because the generic lines just flew off the tip of my tongue. But, now, I was just going to speak without thinking, and see what came out of my mouth...I dangerous thing to do, considering this is me we're talking about.
"If I was still that person, do you think I would be here now. If I was still such a horrible git do you think I would put in the effort to find you? Clarice, I care about you. I can't survive without you. You're so amazing. You're funny, smart, compassionate, caring, and just perfect. I really want you to believe me. I would never use you like that, because I can't bear the thought of losing you." Parts of that might have been an overstatement at the time, I will admit, but at 19 it's easy to do that. I still meant what I said.
"I'll bet that's what you told her," she said. I decided once again not to think before talking, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best idea, but it actually worked out.
"Clarice, no. You're the only person I've ever cared about this much that wasn't related to me, and to be honest I don't really care this much about most of my relatives," I was glad to see we were at the stage where she'd still laugh at my jokes, always a good sign..."I want us to work. Please trust me. I know that you know deep inside that that's not who I am anymore. I haven't been that person for a while. Clarice, I was fifteen! How many people are mature at fifteen? I changed, and by the middle of sixth year I was looking back on who I was with disgust. I still do. Whenever I think about what I did to her I feel truly awful. It's one of the worst things I've ever done in my life." That hadn't really been what I'd been planning on, cause I normally don't let mushy things like that come out of my mouth, even when I'm thinking them, but this was a time for desperate measures, and I was definitely thinking it.
"I want to believe you," she said, "But how can I be sure? I want to trust you, but I don't know if things can go back to the way they were." That hurt, I won't lie. It's not like I didn't deserve it, but still...
"Clarice, no matter what you say I'm not going anywhere. I'll do whatever it takes to earn your trust again. I love you." That was definitely the least planned of anything I'd had to say, but I realized as I was saying it how true it was. I wasn't going to give up. I'd make her trust me again because I loved her.
I was glad to see that my heartfelt speech had won her over, because she lurched forward and gave me a hug, whispering "I love you too." I honestly felt like flying...
The next three months of my life passed in a flurry of getting involved in other people's lives, which, as I'm sure you've noticed, is something I love to do. Steven and Em's wedding was getting closer and closer, so a lot of my time was spent on that. I also had to devote a good two weeks on getting Rose and Scorpius back together after their break up, not any easy task, I'm telling you, but everyone knows I love drama as long as it's not mine (and sometimes when it's mine, I won't lie). Al and I made up during the Easter Holidays, and though it was really awkward at first, I was glad to have my brother back.
However, as June approached, bringing with it the end of the Hogwarts school year, my mind began to turn to finding a new place to live. I had enough money now to buy a bigger place, but it had to be just right. I decided to ask Steven and Em about finding a place without Clarice's help, because I wanted it to be a surprise, and a birthday present.
"You've kidding, right?" asked Steven when I brought the subject up.
"What?" I asked, slightly offended.
"Last year, you made fun of me for asking Em to move in-"
"He did?" interrupted Em.
"I was just surprised!" I said quickly, "And at least I'm warning you guys, unlike somebody I know."
"It was supposed to be a secret!"
"Well that's why he didn't tell you," said Em, "Everyone knows you can't keep any secrets except your own." I felt rather insulted at my friends' lack of faith in my, I must admit.
"Can we get back to the subject on hand?" I asked, "How do I pick a house?"
"Don't ask me," said Steven, "You're the one dating her. You have to know something about her if you're asking her to move in with you."
"Yeah," said Em, "This is something you've got to do on your own. Plus, how do you expect us to help? We've never even met her!"
I sat in silence, thinking for a bit, while Steven and Em arranged a seating chart for the reception. Suddenly, Steven burst out laughing.
"What?" I asked irritably, though I was pretty sure I knew where this was going.
"Nothing, nothing," he said through peals of laughter, "It's just that it's so funny."
Em smiled indulgently. Clearly she understood the joke and just didn't find it as funny as Steven.
"Oh come on Em, you know you think it's funny!" said Steven as she watched Em slowly start to snigger.
"What about this is funny?" I asked.
"It's just that you, James Potter, the boy who fears commitment, showed up here to ask about how to pick a house for you and your girlfriend to move into..." replied Steven, still sniggering, "I mean really James, don't you see the irony at all?"
I admit I could see the irony just a tiny bit, but I wasn't going to let Steven know that. There was no way I was giving him the satisfaction. "No, I don't. And I do not fear commitment!" I added.
"Not anymore," said Em, "But if you're going to try to deny that you feared it before dating Clarice I'll know for sure you've gone round the bend."
"Fine," I said, "In the past I've been known to have slight issues with commitment, but that isn't really what I came here to talk about. I wanted to ask how to pick a house, but since you people clearly have no good advice I'm off to look at real estate."
And with that I left them to their seating charts, both still sniggering in a way that was truly maddening.
I went to more houses and apartments than I could count before I found the right one. I knew it was perfect the moment I stepped in the door. It was on the thirty-seventh floor of an apartment building, and because of that every room had an amazing view, which was the first thing I loved about it. The first room that people would see when they come in is the living room, which was of a good size, and has a window instead of a wall opposite the door, which shows all of the city (London-which was perfect cause it was close to work for me and Clarice). There's a fireplace in the far right corner too, which I think really adds. The whole apartment has wood floors, except obviously the kitchen and bathroom, which is perfect. It's very modern, and has a good flow. After the fireplace in the living room there's a corner that leads to the dining room, which flows into the kitchen. The whole apartment's very modern, which is most obvious in the kitchen, which has all stainless steel appliances, limestone counters, light wood cabinets, and stone flooring made of huge, dark gray stones. The room I knew Clarice would love the most was the library, which doubled as an office. The office part has bookshelves at the end covering one of the walls, and there's a ladder next to the shelves which leads up to an enormous loft full of bookshelves, which I planned to fill with all of our favorites. There were 4 bedrooms and 4 full baths, as well as 2 half baths, and I couldn't help thinking about how good a size the apartment would be for a family-though I obviously would never admit that to anyone, at least, not for a long while. The thought was terrifying...I decided not to pick out furniture without Clarice, because I knew she'd want to do it, but I was pleased with my choice, and now just had to wait until her birthday, June 1st, to tell her. I really didn't think I could wait that long, but I managed.
For Clarice's birthday, the day of their last N.E.W.T., Defense Against the Dark Arts, we all planned a surprise party, the biggest surprise being that I would be there. I hadn't sent Clarice any present or card, which I felt marginally bad about, but I felt the surprise would be better if she thought I'd forgotten her birthday all together. So, I arrived at Hogwarts at about 6:00 that Friday. I flooed into the Heads' Common Room as usual, where everyone was setting up.
I looked around and saw Al, Annabel, Scorpius, Lily, Hugo, Sydney, Rachel, the Scamander twins, Roxanne and Fred, but no Rose. "Rose is with Clarice?" I checked.
"Yeah," said Scorpius, "They're at dinner."
"Good," I said. I began to help with set up, and while doing so observed the interactions between Lorcan and Lily carefully. They'd been going out since the Easter holidays and I wanted to get a sense of him. I obviously had known him since childhood, but you look at a bloke differently when he's dating your little sister, trust me. Suddenly, I heard the portrait door open, and threw the invisibility cloak over my head as fast as possible, and was glad that Clarice hadn't seen me. The rest of the group shouted, "SURPRISE!" and Clarice broke into a grin.
She began traveling from person to person hugging everyone, when I decided to reveal myself, "What? No hug for me?" I asked, taking off the cloak.
Clarice ran over and kissed me, which in my opinion is definitely better than I hug. When we broke apart I whispered, "Happy Birthday."
She grinned and said, "I knew you wouldn't forget."
"Not true!" piped in Rose, "She was very worried when she hadn't heard from you. It was down right depressing...watching her mope around. I could've given her the Eiffel Tower and she wouldn't have cared." I have to admit that that made me feel better about myself, and about what I was going to ask her...
Clarice rolled her eyes as everybody laughed.
"I got you something," I said, before mentally kicking myself, because I did not have it in my to ask her in front of everyone. I knew that asking important questions in public was never going to be something I'd go for. I couldn't even do what Teddy did, and propose to Vic in front of the family...talk about embarrassing-and if she'd said no...
"I thought you were my present," she replied.
"Okay. I'll take it back then," I joked, though obviously it wasn't something I could take back.
She giggled and said, "No! Give it!"
"Alright," I said, with my best overly dramatic sigh, "Later. Let's enjoy the party."
Because everyone but me had just finished with N.E.W.T.s the party everyone was more excited than they'd usually be, so the party got into full swing very quickly. However, by about 1:00 am it was just me, Clarice, Al, Annabel, Rose, and Scorpius left. We were all sitting together around the fireplace. Me and Clarice were on the couch with Rose and Scorpius, and Al and Annabel had the two armchairs. I won't deny that I felt kind of bad for them, being the singles among couples all the time...
"You know what?" I said after a few moments of silence, deciding to run my observations about Lorcan by the rest of them.
"What?" asked Clarice.
"I've decided I like Lorcan, I think he'll be a good edition to the family," I said seriously.
"You act like their getting married!" giggled Rose. She acted like there was no chance it'd happen.
I shrugged, "You never know. Any boyfriend could end up the husband. Why do you think we gave Scorpius psycho analysis before letting him into the group?" Honestly, for someone so smart she really had no common sense.
"But we weren't even dating!" protested Rose.
"Yeah, but it was obvious to everyone (except you of course) that you would," I said, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes. Of course we all knew they'd end up dating, and there was a pretty good chance they'd get married. I'd reconciled myself to the idea of Scorpius as a cousin-in-law a long time ago...
A few minutes later Rose fell asleep, so Scorpius took her up to her room before going to bed.
"Well, I'm going to bed," said Al a few minutes after that, and I was getting a little bit nervous, because once they all left it was time-and that thought was terrifying.
"Me too," said Annabel, and they stood up to leave together. I couldn't help thinking that there was something going on between the two again, or would be very soon, but I didn't really have much time to think about it.
As they left Clarice said, "You still haven't given me my present." Well, that was my cue.
"Your right," I said, taking the small wrapped box out of my pocket, and sitting up, taking a deep breath.
She took the box out of my hand and unwrapped it to find a ring box. I saw a look of shock on her face, before she opened the lid, and somewhere in the recesses of my brain I wondered what that was about, but I didn't really have time to think about it, because she had just pulled out the key.
"What's this go to?"
I smiled, "Oh, nothing...Just my new apartment." I never really got to ask my question, but that didn't really bother me. She lunged forward and kissed me, which I was assuming meant 'yes'.
"So...is that a yes to the question I never got to ask?" I asked, pulling away.
"Yes," said Clarice, beaming, and I couldn't help grinning too.
I realized over the next couple weeks that in one year I'd gotten my life put together in a way I couldn't have imagined last year. Partly because I wouldn't be able to imagine a life so perfect for me, and partly because only a year ago and the thought of falling in love and moving in with a girl was totally foreign and not something that appealed to me in the slightest. As I watched Steven and Em go through the final preparations for their wedding I realized what Steven had meant after her proposed to Em. Of course you don't get it. You've never been in love. But once you have you'll get it. Now I finally got it.
I hope you all liked that-especially after the horribly long wait: again, SORRY! So, drop me a review and tell me what you thought! Get excited, cause next chapter is Steven and Em's wedding!
XOXO
GossipGirlHere