AN: Timeline-wise: sometime after D3.
Hope you enjoy!
Hogwarts High
"Ouch." It was still dawn when Evie stubbed her toe against a box on her workshop's floor. Through what minimal light was available, she saw it was one of the boxes Doug brought with him. Even though Mal's room remained untouched even after she moved to live with Ben and Dizzy moved in, the latter mentioned there was still an extra room for Doug so he didn't have to live in the dorms anymore as a college student after the holiday break.
Evie's face had been as red as her mother's poisoned apple when she mumbled, "We never talked about it," because she refused to admit the thought had crossed her mind plenty of times.
Weeks later, Doug packed up his dorm room and came with a total of two boxes and one bag to Evie's cottage after convincing Evie to let him pay his share in rent and chores. She vowed to help him unpack and settle, but Dizzy asked if they could do a Harry Potter movie marathon last night. Needless to say, the couple was unable to turn down the girl.
While they were only able to watch three of the films last night, they promised Dizzy to continue little by little every day until they finished everything before Doug went home to spend the rest of the break with his family. They knew indulging the girl's request was not a problem.
Her hands now settled on her hips as she eyed the boxes. They were lesser than expected, but she wanted Doug's new living conditions settled as soon as possible. Kneeling on the floor, she opened the one that she bumped into earlier.
The contents were all school books and notebooks, music sheets, writing materials, and… as she pulled it out from under the weight of the other items, she found a photo album the size of her hand.
At this point in their relationship, she knew there was nothing she didn't already know about his past so she didn't think it was odd when she opened the album and started scanning through it. Her face split into a grin when she landed on a photo of a toddler Doug with his brother and their cousins, all wearing matching sweaters.
She presumed that was what Snow White made for them that particular year because the older-looking children did not look pleased. No matter how ugly the sweaters were, Evie's eyes shone with mirth.
Matching sweaters.
She found the idea adorable. They didn't have anything like the holidays back on the Isle, much less deliberately going out of one's way to 'match' clothing with someone, even if that someone was a family member.
If it had been her mother, the Evil Queen would have scolded Evie for wearing something remotely similar to her outfit and would order her to change.
She settled the album back into the box and pushed it out of the way. Propelling her feet to her work station, she flipped the lamp on and started sketching, forgetting her initial desire to help Doug unpack his things.
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The sun was already high in the sky when Doug staggered into Evie's workshop. "Good morning," he yawned.
"Good morning," she hummed, gaze not leaving the garment in her hands as she guided it under her sewing machine.
He checked the date on his phone with bleary eyes. "You don't have a deadline anytime soon."
"This isn't work." She grinned, taking the finished garment and setting it aside on the table. "Good morning!" she called out, seeing Dizzy teetering towards the kitchen.
"Shhhh." The younger girl groaned, continuing her trek to the kitchen to make coffee.
Doug tried to peek at what Evie made, but she tiptoed to block his view then nudged his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen.
Going through the motions, he let her lead him into the kitchen where Dizzy was waiting for the coffee maker to finish doing its job. The girl refused to look at them, opting to stare at the machine.
Evie hummed as she sat, Doug reluctantly following suit.
Once they were all sipping their coffee, Dizzy's mood visibly brightened. "Do you have plans today?" she asked Doug.
Surprised she snapped out of her grogginess, he stammered, "Uh. Not - Not that I know of…" he trailed off, looking at Evie for confirmation.
She shook her head, knowing he was fixated on what she was working on earlier. "But…" she checked the time then faced Dizzy, "if you're already up, we could continue our movie marathon with some added flair."
"I'm up." The younger girl chugged the rest of her coffee cup. "I'm up!" she said again, bouncing in her seat.
Doug blinked at the sudden switch of disposition. After spending so much time with Evie and her friends, he already knew the older VKs were dependent on coffee. To see it in Dizzy too was somewhat off-putting. "What if you eat something first?" he suggested, grabbing the apple basket Evie always kept stocked and pushing it in her direction.
He didn't know what his girlfriend was planning with the 'flair' part, but to let Dizzy go on doing whatever it was without breakfast was a no-no for the half-dwarf.
Evie winked at Dizzy, a silent plea to humor him. Growing up the way they did, regular meals like breakfast was a rarity. They used to get their coffees from a store called the Slop Shop, where the coffee was always strong and black to get them moving with or without food. Evie knew, like Dizzy, that they might never be used to having at least three meals a day.
Still, the latter grabbed an apple and took a bite. She eased off her chair, waiting for them to tell her what they were doing for their continued movie marathon.
"Be a dear and get the clothes on top of my work table, please."
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When Dizzy's muffled squeals could be heard, Evie began to make snacks for the three of them.
"Popcorn is not breakfast."
"Oh, hush." Evie closed the lid on the pot and waited for the popcorn to finish. Her boyfriend can compel Dizzy to eat something 'proper' in the morning, but she refused to take the bait too… at least for today.
"What did you make, anyway?"
"Hogwarts robes, like the ones the students wear."
"For her?"
She clicked her tongue, noncommittal. She made three coats, after all.
"I'm a Slytherin?" they heard Dizzy say followed by footsteps. "Doug! Doug, come here! Wear yours too!"
"Wha…" He heard Evie chuckle.
Nonetheless, he followed Dizzy's voice to the living room and saw two black robes draped at the back of the couch. Dizzy herself was wearing a black robe with green lining at the hood and a green logo on the left side.
She raised one of the robes and gave it to him. "You're a Slytherin too."
He shrugged the robe on. This was what Evie was doing earlier? It was simple enough, just a loose black robe with green lining, but upon close inspection… The logo on his left side was a detailed hand-stitching of what indeed looked like the Slytherin logo with some embellishments.
He squinted, bringing the fabric up close. It was the green snake from the movies they watched last night, but with an embossed "Doug" on it. It looked as if it had always been that way. He saw Dizzy grinning up at him so he smoothed the robe down.
"Mine says Dizzy on the logo," she giggled, unable to contain her glee.
His eyes tracked the patch on her robe and true enough, even though Evie placed them in the same Hogwarts house, the girl's name was embossed on hers. "Is Slytherin your favorite house?"
She shook her head. "But I love the color," she said, fluffing her hood to show more of the green lining.
He agreed with that.
"Good, it fits," said Evie, walking into the living room and settling two bowls of popcorn on the table. "Do you like it?" she reached under Dizzy's collar and straightened the front of the robe.
"I love it. We'll wear this while we watch?"
"If you like."
"What's your house?"
"Oh." She just remembered she made hers last. Grabbing the remaining robe and putting it on, Evie smiled sheepishly at Doug's curious stare.
"Ravenclaw?" he asked, the blue eagle proud against his girlfriend's chest.
"Because it's blue." She's never worn green in her life, but she knew Doug knew that.
"Movie?" voiced out Dizzy, already turning the television on and browsing through the titles.
"Wait," Doug called out, "sit on the sofa for a second. Let's take a photo before we're tired, okay?"
"Okay!"
The two girls complied while Doug set-up his phone's camera timer.
"While we're at it," he sat on the sofa, nudging Dizzy to sit between him and Evie, "can I interest you two in some cereal before the movie?"
"Doug…"
The phone made a clicking sound.
… Evie later framed that photo of them in matching black robes, her mouth hung open in the middle of scolding Doug, with him and Dizzy grinning from ear to ear.
AN: I'd like to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, favorited so far. I realized my ANs tend to be impersonal, and I could blame it on my introverted nature, but I really do appreciate everyone's support.
'Til next time!