Barry Potter - Chapter 10
Barry once again found himself sitting up late at night, cup of tea in hand. He looked across the table the professor and Coren. It was still a shock to wake up and find an elderly woman sitting by his bedside. It oddly felt almost like having a grandmother, though she was probably only Coren's age. Her twany eyes were always watching him with a tender, caring gaze. Like Coren, but maternal. It was an odd feeling. Oddly pleasant.
"So tell me once more what your dream was?" Professor McGonagall rubbed her temples and peered across the table at Barry. His resemblance to Harry was truly remarkable. But then, they were twins. She leaned closer to him.
He looked into his mug, swirling his tea for a few moments. At last Barry looked back up and said, "I dreamed that I was at Hogwarts with Harry and three girls. One had long black hair, another blonde, and the last brown. We were all talking, but men in wizards robes came to take the first two away, and the third flipped. Harry and I tried to stop her, but she went mad. Then she turned into... I don't know how to describe it, it was almost..."
"A black wolf with snake eyes." Barry tilted his head in surprise.
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
MacGonagall smiled mysteriously, saying with a cryptic note to her voice, "One has to know these things when one teaches witchcraft and wizardry. What happened next?"
"Well, someone started singing, dunno who, and suddenly the black beast disappeared and the girl with brown hair came back. But she still had yellow snake eyes. It was... confusing." Barry turned back to his tea, swirling it around his mug once more. The professor's eyes twinkled behind her glasses, seeming to pierce into Barry's heart, though he was unsure why.
"I told Dumbledore not to bring her, but did he listen to me?" she muttered to herself, looking away from Barry with a sigh. The boy looked up.
"Excuse me?"
"Never mind, Barry. Finish your tea then right back to bed, there's a love. Good night." Barry finished his tea and soon crawled back into bed. Once he was gone, Coren turned to MacGonagall.
"Will 'e be alright?" His eyes were large and concerned. So much had happened to Barry all at once. It wasn't fair, poor tike. No, he wasn't a tike anymore, he was nearly a grown man. Nearly.
She smiled sweetly, "He'll be fine, Coren, never fear. I've got my eye on him. I'm more worried about my students at school..."
Coren nodded, managing to stifle a yawn. All the late nights recently weren't doing him any good. The professor saw this and shooed him off to bed. He rose, bid her good night, and lumbered off to his room, Spyke padding sleepily after him.
Minerva sat up right through the rest of the night and into the early morning, thinking and scribbling on a piece of parchment. At last, she looked down at her handiwork. With a satisfied grin, she went out back and sent the parchment off to Hogwarts.
Barry slammed his locker closed and strolled down the bustling school corridor. At last he reached the large double doors, closed tightly against the still frigid air. Pushing against a rough wind, he managed to swing the door wide open and step out. Jenni was sitting on the third step, waiting for him.
He stood silently, examining her back for a moment. She was tall for her age, with short dark hair that brushed her shoulders gently as she moved her head in time to the music she was listening to. Most guys would have called her pretty, but to Barry, she was beautiful. And the only friend he had.
With a sigh at that last thought, he stepped toward her. She jumped slightly, hearing his footsteps. Turning, she brought her eyes up to his. They brightened as she saw him, and a smile spread across her face. She pulled her earphones off, rising up to greet him.
"Cold enough?" she shivered. Barry shrugged.
"I'm fine. What about you?" He noted that she was wearing a spring jacket, not at all the coat to keep a strong wind like this one off. She laughed, rubbing her arms lightly.
"It was a lot warmer this morning. Let's go, before we freeze." They started toward the bus stop, walking silently side by side. That was one of the things he liked about Jenni. He never felt he needed to say much to her. Most girls expected him to talk, and that expectation always left him tongue-tied. He didn't need to talk to Jenni, but she was always there to talk to.
They stood close, shivering as they waited together for the bus. Jenni rubbed her arms again, trying to return the feeling to them. Concerned, Barry pulled off his own coat and offered it to her. She shook her head, pushing it toward him, "Barry, you'll freeze, put your coat back on."
"No, I'm fine," Barry pulled the coat over her shoulders, "This sweater's thick enough."
She shrugged, pulling the coat on tighter and sighing warmly. Barry reached his arm around her shoulder boldly, hugging her to his chest. Her body was warm beside his, and he could feel the slow, steady beating of her heart. Jenni gently lay her head down onto his shoulder, and he tucked her head under his chin. They stood silently again, no longer noticing the cold.
They got off the bus after thirteen stops, cold air hitting them sharply in the faces. They trudged the two extra blocks to Coren's tattoo parlor, and paused at the alley door. Barry fumbled for his key, then hesitated as he put it into the lock. "Do you... do you wanna step in? To warm up an all?"
"Can I?" Barry nodded, pushing the door wide open for her. They stepped inside, gasping in the sudden heat. Jenni pulled Barry's coat off, hanging it on its usual peg by the door. They could hear Coren talking farther inside, and fancied they could also smell spiced apples and hot chocolate.
"Hey Father! Mouse, what are you doing here? It's not Tuesday!" Barry laughed swooping the small child at the table beside Coren up into his arms. The little girl dubbed Mouse shrieked in delight as Barry swung her around in the air, at last settling her down on his lap as he slung himself into a chair.
"I wanted to visit," she giggled, still giddy from Barry's sudden arrival, "And Mum and Coren said I could."
Barry stuck out his chin in mock indigence. "Well, I say you can't."
"Well I say I CAN!" Mouse yelled, clapping her hands and laughing. She wriggled out of Barry's lap and found her way into Jenni's arms. "Jen-jen's here!"
Jenni laughed, "Mousie's Jen-jen is here! How've you been, you little imp? Behaving yourself?"
Mouse smiled with all the childhood innocence she could muster. "Mouse very good! Now come. Jen-jen have hot cocoa."
"Oh, is that what I smell?" Balancing the tot on her hip, she made her way around the dinning room table and into the kitchen, Barry watching until the door swung shut behind her. He gazed at the door for a moment, listening to the two girls laughing and the dogs sliding across the slippery kitchen floor, half-mad with excitement. Coren's voice brought him sharply back to earth.
"She's something, isn't she?"
Barry half-turned, eyes meeting the old man's then quickly dancing away. "Mouse? Oh, I'm quite taken with her. Expect to propose to her any day."
"Come off it," Coren chuckled, stirring his own hot chocolate. Fang grunted in agreement from where he lay on the hearth rug, soaking up the fire's warmth. "But really. What about that Jenni girl?"
Barry felt his ears go slightly red, and he began studying the pattern on the rug intently. "What about her?"
Coren's eyes glittered over the top of his mug. "She's a good friend, ain't she?"
"She's my only friend," Barry sighed, "My only real friend."
"No! Really?"
"Yup."
"What about that Bobby?"
"He got thrown in jail for doing drugs."
"Oh.... well, what about Frank Waterson?"
"He stopped talking to me."
"Why?"
"I'm no good at football."
"What?"
"See!" Barry exclaimed angrily, "I haven't got any real friends! They either hate me or use me. Well, all but Jenni."
Coren sat quietly, continuing to sip his cocoa and letting Barry's words sink into the room. There was a noise at the door, and it swung open. Spyke and Fluffy came bounding in, the smaller pup yipping madly. Next came Mouse, balancing her full cocoa mug and moving at a crawl, step by step. Last was Jenni, with two empty mugs in one hand and pan full of steaming hot chocolate in the other. While Mouse scrambled up into her chair, Jenni put the mugs on the table, filling one for Barry and one for herself before slipping back into the kitchen to return the pan to the stove. Barry pulled his cocoa toward himself, warm feeling in his heart that Jenni had thought of him. Oh, that was stupid. She was just being friendly. What? God, he was such a dork.
Coren studied his ward, guessing at the thoughts running through the young man's head. He turned to Mouse, "Dear, how'd you like to come with me into the parlor to draw some new patterns?"
Mouse looked up thoughtfully at Coren. She was almost never allowed to help Coren design tattoo patterns. On the other hand, she also didn't often have the warm chocolate treat now steaming before her, and Coren strictly enforced a no food or drink rule in the parlor. "Cocoa?" she asked suspiciously.
With a slightly resigned nod, Coren agreed. "Yeah, bring the hot cocoa."
Uttering a delighted squeal, Mouse leapt up, scuttling with Spyke in and around Coren's legs as he carried their mugs into the adjoining shop. As the door clicked closed behind them, Jenni reentered the room from the kitchen. She paused, finding Barry alone. Not looking up, he motioned to her cup, "You're drink's getting cold."
"Where'd Mouse and Coren go?" she asked, slipping into an empty seat and picking up her mug.
"Mouse wanted to draw some patterns," Barry said bluntly. He couldn't help feeling disappointed that she wanted to know where the others had gone. Was she uncomfortable alone with him? Was he- oh, come off it! He was doing it again. Crazy, really. Completely insane.
Jenni took a sip of her still steaming cocoa, eyes trained on Barry. At length she put her mug down and gazed earnestly into his usually bright eyes that were now clouded. "Barry, what's wrong?"
Her voice was genuinely concerned. She really wanted to know what was wrong. This, in itself, made Barry's heart skip a beat. She cared about him. She and Coren cared about him. "Lot of stuff going on. You know, university and all."
She nodded slowly, seeming unconvinced. Barry hid his face as he took a swig of hot chocolate; her eyes were piercing and perceptive. He heard her moving around, and when at length he returned his mug to the table she was sitting on the hearth rug with Fang and Fluffy, gently stroking the older dog's head as she sipped her cocoa. Jenni glanced up at him, then patted the ground beside her. "It's warmer over here."
Barry got up and slowly crossed to sit beside her. It was much warmer, and very pleasant when Fluffy lay his head down on his master's leg with a gratified sigh. They sat again in silence, lost in their own musings. At length Jenni asked again, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I swear." Barry looked down at Fluffy's shaggy head, uncomfortable looking her in the eye and lying. He was a terrible liar, always had been. And something about Jenni always made lying even harder.
"It's me, isn't it? I can leave." Jenni picked up her mug and started getting herself up. Barry looked up dumbly for a moment, then reached out and grabbed her arm.
"No! No, stay!"
"Barry," she tottered for a moment, half up and half down with Barry's hand on her arm, "Barry, I'm making you uncomfortable, don't think I haven't noticed. I'll leave you alone, you don't want me here right now."
"But I do!" His hand tightened around her thin arm.
"Don't worry, I'm not offended! It's me, I'll leave!"
"No." He forcefully pulled her back down with a soft thud, making Fluffy lift his head in surprise and Fang grunt in his sleep. Barry moved his hand around and gently held her neck and cheek in his hand so that she was forced to look him in the face. "No, Jenni, you don't understand. You're the only thing that's right."
She stopped trying to rise, looking Barry in the eye and falling silent. Her skin was warm against his hand, and he could feel her slow, seemingly calculated breath again. She wasn't struggling with him anymore, and that gave Barry some much needed confidence.
"Jenni, I don't know how to say this, but..." Suddenly, that confidence failed him, and the right words refused to budge from the tip of his tongue. "... I'm really glad to have you as a friend. You know, I don't really have many, and I wanted you to know I'm thankful you... you know... are there for me. You know?"
Her eyes were once again piercing into his own. He managed to gaze back at her evenly, though he trembled slightly and was forced to draw his arm from her neck for fear she would notice. At length a smiled played across her face as she found the true, hidden meaning of his words. She leaned forward, her face less than an inch from his. Barry drew in a sharp breath, feeling her heat so close to his own. In a soft voice, she whispered, "I like you too." The next thing Barry knew, Jenni had finished moving forward and their lips were locked together pleasantly.
Barry had never kissed anyone before, had never really wanted to. Well, that was a bit of a lie, he admitted as he moved his arm to Jenni's neck again. But now that he knew what this whole kissing business was all about... well, he was a young man after all, and not entirely in control of all of his thoughts and emotions...
All too soon they broke away, both faces tinged slightly with color as they realized what had just happened, where they were, and who was in the other room. For a moment they avoided each other's eyes, trying to get their thoughts together before facing each other again. Jenni recovered first, pressing Barry's hand gently and breathing, "Call me. I'll let myself out."
Barry nodded slowly, allowing her to lightly kiss his cheek then draw away, rising up and placing her mug on the table. She silently left the room, leaving him sitting on the hearth rug, alone with his thoughts and his dogs.
That was how Mrs. Jettison found him two hours later when she came to pick up Mouse. He was staring at nothing, mug of cooled cocoa in one hand, the other resting on Fang's head while Fluffy slumbered on his knee. Mrs. Jettison's arrival made him start, and the sudden movement woke the dogs. Yawning, Fluffy rose and padded over to get his ear scratched while Barry hurried off to get Mouse. The little girl didn't want to leave the cozy little shop and her still half-full mug of chocolate behind, but with the promise that yes, she would return on Tuesday (as she always visited on Tuesday), Mouse happily skipped away with her mother, leaving only two people, three dogs, and one very wary cat with twany eyes. The cat crept into the parlor where Barry and Coren where studying each other. With a loud meow, the cat spit out the letter she had been carrying and sat before them, twitching her tail impatiently. Coren looked down at her, "What is it now?"
"Another letter from Hogwarts," MacGonagall replied calmly, "And one I think you should read."
Barry once again found himself sitting up late at night, cup of tea in hand. He looked across the table the professor and Coren. It was still a shock to wake up and find an elderly woman sitting by his bedside. It oddly felt almost like having a grandmother, though she was probably only Coren's age. Her twany eyes were always watching him with a tender, caring gaze. Like Coren, but maternal. It was an odd feeling. Oddly pleasant.
"So tell me once more what your dream was?" Professor McGonagall rubbed her temples and peered across the table at Barry. His resemblance to Harry was truly remarkable. But then, they were twins. She leaned closer to him.
He looked into his mug, swirling his tea for a few moments. At last Barry looked back up and said, "I dreamed that I was at Hogwarts with Harry and three girls. One had long black hair, another blonde, and the last brown. We were all talking, but men in wizards robes came to take the first two away, and the third flipped. Harry and I tried to stop her, but she went mad. Then she turned into... I don't know how to describe it, it was almost..."
"A black wolf with snake eyes." Barry tilted his head in surprise.
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
MacGonagall smiled mysteriously, saying with a cryptic note to her voice, "One has to know these things when one teaches witchcraft and wizardry. What happened next?"
"Well, someone started singing, dunno who, and suddenly the black beast disappeared and the girl with brown hair came back. But she still had yellow snake eyes. It was... confusing." Barry turned back to his tea, swirling it around his mug once more. The professor's eyes twinkled behind her glasses, seeming to pierce into Barry's heart, though he was unsure why.
"I told Dumbledore not to bring her, but did he listen to me?" she muttered to herself, looking away from Barry with a sigh. The boy looked up.
"Excuse me?"
"Never mind, Barry. Finish your tea then right back to bed, there's a love. Good night." Barry finished his tea and soon crawled back into bed. Once he was gone, Coren turned to MacGonagall.
"Will 'e be alright?" His eyes were large and concerned. So much had happened to Barry all at once. It wasn't fair, poor tike. No, he wasn't a tike anymore, he was nearly a grown man. Nearly.
She smiled sweetly, "He'll be fine, Coren, never fear. I've got my eye on him. I'm more worried about my students at school..."
Coren nodded, managing to stifle a yawn. All the late nights recently weren't doing him any good. The professor saw this and shooed him off to bed. He rose, bid her good night, and lumbered off to his room, Spyke padding sleepily after him.
Minerva sat up right through the rest of the night and into the early morning, thinking and scribbling on a piece of parchment. At last, she looked down at her handiwork. With a satisfied grin, she went out back and sent the parchment off to Hogwarts.
Barry slammed his locker closed and strolled down the bustling school corridor. At last he reached the large double doors, closed tightly against the still frigid air. Pushing against a rough wind, he managed to swing the door wide open and step out. Jenni was sitting on the third step, waiting for him.
He stood silently, examining her back for a moment. She was tall for her age, with short dark hair that brushed her shoulders gently as she moved her head in time to the music she was listening to. Most guys would have called her pretty, but to Barry, she was beautiful. And the only friend he had.
With a sigh at that last thought, he stepped toward her. She jumped slightly, hearing his footsteps. Turning, she brought her eyes up to his. They brightened as she saw him, and a smile spread across her face. She pulled her earphones off, rising up to greet him.
"Cold enough?" she shivered. Barry shrugged.
"I'm fine. What about you?" He noted that she was wearing a spring jacket, not at all the coat to keep a strong wind like this one off. She laughed, rubbing her arms lightly.
"It was a lot warmer this morning. Let's go, before we freeze." They started toward the bus stop, walking silently side by side. That was one of the things he liked about Jenni. He never felt he needed to say much to her. Most girls expected him to talk, and that expectation always left him tongue-tied. He didn't need to talk to Jenni, but she was always there to talk to.
They stood close, shivering as they waited together for the bus. Jenni rubbed her arms again, trying to return the feeling to them. Concerned, Barry pulled off his own coat and offered it to her. She shook her head, pushing it toward him, "Barry, you'll freeze, put your coat back on."
"No, I'm fine," Barry pulled the coat over her shoulders, "This sweater's thick enough."
She shrugged, pulling the coat on tighter and sighing warmly. Barry reached his arm around her shoulder boldly, hugging her to his chest. Her body was warm beside his, and he could feel the slow, steady beating of her heart. Jenni gently lay her head down onto his shoulder, and he tucked her head under his chin. They stood silently again, no longer noticing the cold.
They got off the bus after thirteen stops, cold air hitting them sharply in the faces. They trudged the two extra blocks to Coren's tattoo parlor, and paused at the alley door. Barry fumbled for his key, then hesitated as he put it into the lock. "Do you... do you wanna step in? To warm up an all?"
"Can I?" Barry nodded, pushing the door wide open for her. They stepped inside, gasping in the sudden heat. Jenni pulled Barry's coat off, hanging it on its usual peg by the door. They could hear Coren talking farther inside, and fancied they could also smell spiced apples and hot chocolate.
"Hey Father! Mouse, what are you doing here? It's not Tuesday!" Barry laughed swooping the small child at the table beside Coren up into his arms. The little girl dubbed Mouse shrieked in delight as Barry swung her around in the air, at last settling her down on his lap as he slung himself into a chair.
"I wanted to visit," she giggled, still giddy from Barry's sudden arrival, "And Mum and Coren said I could."
Barry stuck out his chin in mock indigence. "Well, I say you can't."
"Well I say I CAN!" Mouse yelled, clapping her hands and laughing. She wriggled out of Barry's lap and found her way into Jenni's arms. "Jen-jen's here!"
Jenni laughed, "Mousie's Jen-jen is here! How've you been, you little imp? Behaving yourself?"
Mouse smiled with all the childhood innocence she could muster. "Mouse very good! Now come. Jen-jen have hot cocoa."
"Oh, is that what I smell?" Balancing the tot on her hip, she made her way around the dinning room table and into the kitchen, Barry watching until the door swung shut behind her. He gazed at the door for a moment, listening to the two girls laughing and the dogs sliding across the slippery kitchen floor, half-mad with excitement. Coren's voice brought him sharply back to earth.
"She's something, isn't she?"
Barry half-turned, eyes meeting the old man's then quickly dancing away. "Mouse? Oh, I'm quite taken with her. Expect to propose to her any day."
"Come off it," Coren chuckled, stirring his own hot chocolate. Fang grunted in agreement from where he lay on the hearth rug, soaking up the fire's warmth. "But really. What about that Jenni girl?"
Barry felt his ears go slightly red, and he began studying the pattern on the rug intently. "What about her?"
Coren's eyes glittered over the top of his mug. "She's a good friend, ain't she?"
"She's my only friend," Barry sighed, "My only real friend."
"No! Really?"
"Yup."
"What about that Bobby?"
"He got thrown in jail for doing drugs."
"Oh.... well, what about Frank Waterson?"
"He stopped talking to me."
"Why?"
"I'm no good at football."
"What?"
"See!" Barry exclaimed angrily, "I haven't got any real friends! They either hate me or use me. Well, all but Jenni."
Coren sat quietly, continuing to sip his cocoa and letting Barry's words sink into the room. There was a noise at the door, and it swung open. Spyke and Fluffy came bounding in, the smaller pup yipping madly. Next came Mouse, balancing her full cocoa mug and moving at a crawl, step by step. Last was Jenni, with two empty mugs in one hand and pan full of steaming hot chocolate in the other. While Mouse scrambled up into her chair, Jenni put the mugs on the table, filling one for Barry and one for herself before slipping back into the kitchen to return the pan to the stove. Barry pulled his cocoa toward himself, warm feeling in his heart that Jenni had thought of him. Oh, that was stupid. She was just being friendly. What? God, he was such a dork.
Coren studied his ward, guessing at the thoughts running through the young man's head. He turned to Mouse, "Dear, how'd you like to come with me into the parlor to draw some new patterns?"
Mouse looked up thoughtfully at Coren. She was almost never allowed to help Coren design tattoo patterns. On the other hand, she also didn't often have the warm chocolate treat now steaming before her, and Coren strictly enforced a no food or drink rule in the parlor. "Cocoa?" she asked suspiciously.
With a slightly resigned nod, Coren agreed. "Yeah, bring the hot cocoa."
Uttering a delighted squeal, Mouse leapt up, scuttling with Spyke in and around Coren's legs as he carried their mugs into the adjoining shop. As the door clicked closed behind them, Jenni reentered the room from the kitchen. She paused, finding Barry alone. Not looking up, he motioned to her cup, "You're drink's getting cold."
"Where'd Mouse and Coren go?" she asked, slipping into an empty seat and picking up her mug.
"Mouse wanted to draw some patterns," Barry said bluntly. He couldn't help feeling disappointed that she wanted to know where the others had gone. Was she uncomfortable alone with him? Was he- oh, come off it! He was doing it again. Crazy, really. Completely insane.
Jenni took a sip of her still steaming cocoa, eyes trained on Barry. At length she put her mug down and gazed earnestly into his usually bright eyes that were now clouded. "Barry, what's wrong?"
Her voice was genuinely concerned. She really wanted to know what was wrong. This, in itself, made Barry's heart skip a beat. She cared about him. She and Coren cared about him. "Lot of stuff going on. You know, university and all."
She nodded slowly, seeming unconvinced. Barry hid his face as he took a swig of hot chocolate; her eyes were piercing and perceptive. He heard her moving around, and when at length he returned his mug to the table she was sitting on the hearth rug with Fang and Fluffy, gently stroking the older dog's head as she sipped her cocoa. Jenni glanced up at him, then patted the ground beside her. "It's warmer over here."
Barry got up and slowly crossed to sit beside her. It was much warmer, and very pleasant when Fluffy lay his head down on his master's leg with a gratified sigh. They sat again in silence, lost in their own musings. At length Jenni asked again, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I swear." Barry looked down at Fluffy's shaggy head, uncomfortable looking her in the eye and lying. He was a terrible liar, always had been. And something about Jenni always made lying even harder.
"It's me, isn't it? I can leave." Jenni picked up her mug and started getting herself up. Barry looked up dumbly for a moment, then reached out and grabbed her arm.
"No! No, stay!"
"Barry," she tottered for a moment, half up and half down with Barry's hand on her arm, "Barry, I'm making you uncomfortable, don't think I haven't noticed. I'll leave you alone, you don't want me here right now."
"But I do!" His hand tightened around her thin arm.
"Don't worry, I'm not offended! It's me, I'll leave!"
"No." He forcefully pulled her back down with a soft thud, making Fluffy lift his head in surprise and Fang grunt in his sleep. Barry moved his hand around and gently held her neck and cheek in his hand so that she was forced to look him in the face. "No, Jenni, you don't understand. You're the only thing that's right."
She stopped trying to rise, looking Barry in the eye and falling silent. Her skin was warm against his hand, and he could feel her slow, seemingly calculated breath again. She wasn't struggling with him anymore, and that gave Barry some much needed confidence.
"Jenni, I don't know how to say this, but..." Suddenly, that confidence failed him, and the right words refused to budge from the tip of his tongue. "... I'm really glad to have you as a friend. You know, I don't really have many, and I wanted you to know I'm thankful you... you know... are there for me. You know?"
Her eyes were once again piercing into his own. He managed to gaze back at her evenly, though he trembled slightly and was forced to draw his arm from her neck for fear she would notice. At length a smiled played across her face as she found the true, hidden meaning of his words. She leaned forward, her face less than an inch from his. Barry drew in a sharp breath, feeling her heat so close to his own. In a soft voice, she whispered, "I like you too." The next thing Barry knew, Jenni had finished moving forward and their lips were locked together pleasantly.
Barry had never kissed anyone before, had never really wanted to. Well, that was a bit of a lie, he admitted as he moved his arm to Jenni's neck again. But now that he knew what this whole kissing business was all about... well, he was a young man after all, and not entirely in control of all of his thoughts and emotions...
All too soon they broke away, both faces tinged slightly with color as they realized what had just happened, where they were, and who was in the other room. For a moment they avoided each other's eyes, trying to get their thoughts together before facing each other again. Jenni recovered first, pressing Barry's hand gently and breathing, "Call me. I'll let myself out."
Barry nodded slowly, allowing her to lightly kiss his cheek then draw away, rising up and placing her mug on the table. She silently left the room, leaving him sitting on the hearth rug, alone with his thoughts and his dogs.
That was how Mrs. Jettison found him two hours later when she came to pick up Mouse. He was staring at nothing, mug of cooled cocoa in one hand, the other resting on Fang's head while Fluffy slumbered on his knee. Mrs. Jettison's arrival made him start, and the sudden movement woke the dogs. Yawning, Fluffy rose and padded over to get his ear scratched while Barry hurried off to get Mouse. The little girl didn't want to leave the cozy little shop and her still half-full mug of chocolate behind, but with the promise that yes, she would return on Tuesday (as she always visited on Tuesday), Mouse happily skipped away with her mother, leaving only two people, three dogs, and one very wary cat with twany eyes. The cat crept into the parlor where Barry and Coren where studying each other. With a loud meow, the cat spit out the letter she had been carrying and sat before them, twitching her tail impatiently. Coren looked down at her, "What is it now?"
"Another letter from Hogwarts," MacGonagall replied calmly, "And one I think you should read."
