A/N: Frick! I am so sorry for the LOOOOONG arse wait for this next chapter.
I apologize profusely and throw myself upon your mercy and good will. I
hope to have the final chapter up just as soon. So here's hoping that
school and classes don't eat me alive again. *bitter laugh*
Acknowledgements:
PT-chan: Aww, thank you. I am glad you find this cute. Woot!
HyperCaz: I found my smelly duck socks in my closet last night. *smirk*
ScarletRurouni: The too young to marry bit was from my treasured book "Ella Enchanted" it was a lovely homage to the wonderful story. *grin*
FluffysBijin05: Glad you liked it, and I am soooo sorry for the wait. *growls at self*
Coffee Luv and MORT: Pointless humor is quite fun it is!
CoffeeCokeCookie: Yes, it does have that effect on you. *smirk* Glad I can amuse you greatly with this.
Jestana: Yes, quite the understanding.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day, bright and early, I dashed down to the corner liquor to grab some milk. Being the moron that I was, I had quite forgotten to check my food supplies for the weekend. I'd gone to see about making some breakfast to find we were out of milk. I decided to slip away while Gilderoy was still catching those z's that I treasured so much and rarely got these days. I scrawled a quick note and left it on the coffee table where he would see it before he saw anything else once he had the grace to wake up.
*No, I'm not bitter that he sleeps a world better than I do. No siree.*
After donning my jeans, green long sleeved shirt, green fleece jacket, and purse, I dashed outside into the crisp air. The breeze was light and made me feel as if I were in New York or elsewhere in the East Coast. I pulled my fleece jacket closer to myself and made my way quickly to the liquor, which was two blocks over and one block down, musing to myself with each step I took.
I felt strange for some reason. This whole week was something else. I felt that I was living a dream of some sort. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. First, there was the fact that my parents were going to be gone for three weeks. A truly precious Merlin-send, as I quite needed the mental health weeks with them away. Yes, I still attended my classes and still went to work at the times I was scheduled, but somehow it felt different from the other times my parents had left. Oh yes, how could I forget, there was the matter of living with a man all this week. Yes, that was it. I'd always been pretty much on my own and now, I wasn't. I had someone living with me.
Granted, he was just there until whatever sent him here sees fit to take him back. I suppose it was a reprieve for the both of us. He got away from St. Mungo's to lead a different sort of life if only for a week and I suddenly had a companion to share my tedious week with. I never thought I'd be getting along as well as I am with him, and never thought I'd be wondering about the possibilities of him actually staying. Strangely enough, it feels like I'm married...
*OY! That's it, stop right there, Miss Stephania Julianna! You are not thinking that, not at all. One, you know you'd be preferring someone else, a certain DADA professor, so get that right out of your head, and two, he can't stay. You know he can't. You don't even have a place of your own, wench!*
It was moments like this, that I wondered how I ever managed to stay even slightly sane, given the shape of my life. "All I want is a life, please," I muttered to myself, "is that too much to ask?" Apparently it was, as I stepped into the liquor, purchasing the milk that had prompted me on this errand. I grabbed the bag and left the store, heading back the way to my house, not even realizing that I was trudging.
*Life isn't fair, Stephie, you'll have to deal with it as you have been. Never sigh, never cry.*
I reached my front door step a little bit later, unlocking the door and stepping inside. I then moved to the kitchen where I found Gilderoy making some scrambled eggs for the both of us. I smiled, setting the milk in its proper place in the refrigerator. "We are learning, grasshopper," I joked approvingly. He grinned, turning off the burner and tipping the eggs into the two plates on the counter. "Well, I did have a fine teacher," he returned, giving me that simple smile that he was now coming to reserve only for me.
I laughed, reaching for two cups to pour some milk in. "You flatter too much." I told him playfully, taking the cups along with forks and napkins into the dining room. He followed me bringing the plates of eggs. "Hardly that," he responded, setting the plates down and pulling out my chair for me. I thanked him and sat down, taking up my fork for a bit to eat.
We ate our breakfast meal, and after he took the dishes in to wash, even though I was more than willing to do that myself. Not wishing to be pampered, I dried the dishes and put them away, wishing to do something. "You know... I want to go back, but in a sense I really don't want to," Gilderoy admitted to me, drying his hands on the towel I offered him, turning to me with a pensive sort of expression. I didn't say anything at first, refusing to admit, even to myself, that I wanted him to stay, however small the feeling was. "You'll have to go back someday, Gilderoy, and to be honest, even if I were to let you stay, it wouldn't work out," I responded, vaguely, putting the towel back where it belonged once he was finished with it.
He nodded in understanding, following me out of the kitchen to the living room, where I flopped down on the sofa. He sat down by me, shifting me slightly so that my calves rested comfortably in his lap, tossing the afghan over the two of us. "You know, I wanted to ask you if you enjoyed reading my Harry Potter books." I mused after a few moments of silence. I snuck a glance at Gilderoy who had a surprised look on his face.
"H-how did you know about that?" He asked me, looking very sheepish. I laughed, finding this so amusing. "I went to grab something from the bin under my bed, and I noticed a few things were out of their place, and there was a bookmark in book five that hadn't been there before." I explained logically, a smirk on my face.
He ducked his head, still sheepish, before sparing me a glance. "I had wanted to know what really happened and what happened after, I had thought it might help me remember some things." He said, tracing a pattern on the afghan. I poked his hand a bit playfully. "Did it help then?" I asked, curious myself.
He turned to look at me, a touch of seriousness on his face. "Yes, it did," he responded, our eyes on each other.
Acknowledgements:
PT-chan: Aww, thank you. I am glad you find this cute. Woot!
HyperCaz: I found my smelly duck socks in my closet last night. *smirk*
ScarletRurouni: The too young to marry bit was from my treasured book "Ella Enchanted" it was a lovely homage to the wonderful story. *grin*
FluffysBijin05: Glad you liked it, and I am soooo sorry for the wait. *growls at self*
Coffee Luv and MORT: Pointless humor is quite fun it is!
CoffeeCokeCookie: Yes, it does have that effect on you. *smirk* Glad I can amuse you greatly with this.
Jestana: Yes, quite the understanding.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day, bright and early, I dashed down to the corner liquor to grab some milk. Being the moron that I was, I had quite forgotten to check my food supplies for the weekend. I'd gone to see about making some breakfast to find we were out of milk. I decided to slip away while Gilderoy was still catching those z's that I treasured so much and rarely got these days. I scrawled a quick note and left it on the coffee table where he would see it before he saw anything else once he had the grace to wake up.
*No, I'm not bitter that he sleeps a world better than I do. No siree.*
After donning my jeans, green long sleeved shirt, green fleece jacket, and purse, I dashed outside into the crisp air. The breeze was light and made me feel as if I were in New York or elsewhere in the East Coast. I pulled my fleece jacket closer to myself and made my way quickly to the liquor, which was two blocks over and one block down, musing to myself with each step I took.
I felt strange for some reason. This whole week was something else. I felt that I was living a dream of some sort. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. First, there was the fact that my parents were going to be gone for three weeks. A truly precious Merlin-send, as I quite needed the mental health weeks with them away. Yes, I still attended my classes and still went to work at the times I was scheduled, but somehow it felt different from the other times my parents had left. Oh yes, how could I forget, there was the matter of living with a man all this week. Yes, that was it. I'd always been pretty much on my own and now, I wasn't. I had someone living with me.
Granted, he was just there until whatever sent him here sees fit to take him back. I suppose it was a reprieve for the both of us. He got away from St. Mungo's to lead a different sort of life if only for a week and I suddenly had a companion to share my tedious week with. I never thought I'd be getting along as well as I am with him, and never thought I'd be wondering about the possibilities of him actually staying. Strangely enough, it feels like I'm married...
*OY! That's it, stop right there, Miss Stephania Julianna! You are not thinking that, not at all. One, you know you'd be preferring someone else, a certain DADA professor, so get that right out of your head, and two, he can't stay. You know he can't. You don't even have a place of your own, wench!*
It was moments like this, that I wondered how I ever managed to stay even slightly sane, given the shape of my life. "All I want is a life, please," I muttered to myself, "is that too much to ask?" Apparently it was, as I stepped into the liquor, purchasing the milk that had prompted me on this errand. I grabbed the bag and left the store, heading back the way to my house, not even realizing that I was trudging.
*Life isn't fair, Stephie, you'll have to deal with it as you have been. Never sigh, never cry.*
I reached my front door step a little bit later, unlocking the door and stepping inside. I then moved to the kitchen where I found Gilderoy making some scrambled eggs for the both of us. I smiled, setting the milk in its proper place in the refrigerator. "We are learning, grasshopper," I joked approvingly. He grinned, turning off the burner and tipping the eggs into the two plates on the counter. "Well, I did have a fine teacher," he returned, giving me that simple smile that he was now coming to reserve only for me.
I laughed, reaching for two cups to pour some milk in. "You flatter too much." I told him playfully, taking the cups along with forks and napkins into the dining room. He followed me bringing the plates of eggs. "Hardly that," he responded, setting the plates down and pulling out my chair for me. I thanked him and sat down, taking up my fork for a bit to eat.
We ate our breakfast meal, and after he took the dishes in to wash, even though I was more than willing to do that myself. Not wishing to be pampered, I dried the dishes and put them away, wishing to do something. "You know... I want to go back, but in a sense I really don't want to," Gilderoy admitted to me, drying his hands on the towel I offered him, turning to me with a pensive sort of expression. I didn't say anything at first, refusing to admit, even to myself, that I wanted him to stay, however small the feeling was. "You'll have to go back someday, Gilderoy, and to be honest, even if I were to let you stay, it wouldn't work out," I responded, vaguely, putting the towel back where it belonged once he was finished with it.
He nodded in understanding, following me out of the kitchen to the living room, where I flopped down on the sofa. He sat down by me, shifting me slightly so that my calves rested comfortably in his lap, tossing the afghan over the two of us. "You know, I wanted to ask you if you enjoyed reading my Harry Potter books." I mused after a few moments of silence. I snuck a glance at Gilderoy who had a surprised look on his face.
"H-how did you know about that?" He asked me, looking very sheepish. I laughed, finding this so amusing. "I went to grab something from the bin under my bed, and I noticed a few things were out of their place, and there was a bookmark in book five that hadn't been there before." I explained logically, a smirk on my face.
He ducked his head, still sheepish, before sparing me a glance. "I had wanted to know what really happened and what happened after, I had thought it might help me remember some things." He said, tracing a pattern on the afghan. I poked his hand a bit playfully. "Did it help then?" I asked, curious myself.
He turned to look at me, a touch of seriousness on his face. "Yes, it did," he responded, our eyes on each other.