Chapter 45
Reaction
The silence after George made this statement was absolute. Cassie wasn't sure if she should be the one to break it or not. Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was probably no more than 30 seconds, Arthur cleared his throat.
"Yes. Yes. Sorry, Molly. I meant to tell you before . . . she arrived."
Molly was sitting there staring at George like she was waiting for him to laugh and admit he was playing a practical joke. At Arthur's words, though, her eyes snapped over to him.
"You meant to tell me? Meant to tell me? How hard would it have been to just slip that into conversation? And how long have you known this?" Her gaze sharpened on George again, but Cassie was fairly certain that Arthur wasn't going to get off the hook that easily.
"Since yesterday, if you must know. And don't start into me again about going to Hogsmeade. I went to see Cassie and I'm glad I did. We had a wonderful day."
"I . . .I . . ." Her lips pursed tightly together and her eyes moved rapidly between her husband and George like she couldn't decide who to yell at first or longest. Fred was looking supremely innocent in his seat although Cassie noticed the Molly's eyes darted over him occasionally as well. "I can't believe it . . . I . . . Hogwarts for an entire week? I . . . How? I mean, are you sure?" She looked at Cassie now. "Are you really . . . a Muggle?" Cassie nodded slowly, unsure how to feel about this new development. She had, of course, assumed the Molly would have known by now - that George would have mentioned it if Arthur had never done so. Obviously, however, she was wrong.
"I assumed you knew. I'm sorry." Molly shook her head.
"I . . .I'm . . well, I'm angry, to tell the truth!" And she glared at Arthur. "You knew what I thought! It wasn't just forgetting to tell me! It was on purpose! And why? Why? I don't understand!"
"Well, Molly, I just. . . I just . . ."
George touched her on the arm. "Come on." Fred stood up, too, and Cassie thought they both looked eager to get away from what seemed to be a fairly large argument brewing. Fred grabbed the small box of matches off the table where Arthur had set it and jerked his head toward the steps. Cassie and George followed him up the steps.
"That's going to be a fight I would rather not hear. Let's go see if we can figure out how these things work." All three of them practically ran up the steps to Ginny's room and stepped inside. Fred pointed his wand toward the door and uttered what Cassie recognized as the silencing charm. "At least they fight fast. I'd say 10 minutes and it'll all be over." The room was dark and Cassie tried to see where the bed was so she could sit down. George lit his wand but it was too late for Fred who tripped over the suitcase Cassie had left in the middle of the floor. "Oooh!" He sat up and rubbed his shin. "Cassie! You could have warned me!"
Cassie smiled wanly, finding the bed easily in the wandlight and sitting down on the end. "I'm sorry. I caused a big problem didn't I?"
"No, it won't even bruise." Fred had pulled up his pant leg and was examining the sore spot where his leg had hit the suitcase. George snorted.
"She doesn't mean your leg, idiot. She means with Mum and Dad." Fred's eyebrows raised.
"Oh. Uh, sorry."
George answered Cassie. "No. You didn't cause the problem. And I don't know what Mum's having kittens about. Even if we had told her, nothing would have changed. I just think she was caught by surprise and she feels like a fool, so she's taking it out on Dad." Fred nodded sagely.
"So she doesn't hate me or anything?"
"Hate you? Why would she hate you?"
"I don't know." Cassie groaned. "She looked less than thrilled to find out about me."
"Mum likes Muggles, Cassie. She would have a hard time being married to Dad if she didn't. She was just embarrassed, that's all. Now, come on. Let's get these lamps lit." Fred held up the box of matches. "How do these things work?"
"You don't know how to light a match?"
"Nope. Sorry."
"That's funny. Here." She took the box from Fred and struck the match. Both George and Fred oooh'd for a second at the sight of the flame. "See? It just makes a small fire. I guess I can light the lamps with this." She looked rather questioningly at the two lamps in the room. She had seen lamps like that before in old museums and things but that didn't mean she was comfortable lighting one. "Anyone got any ideas?" Apparently no one did. George showed how simple it was for him to stick his wand down the chimney of the lamp and light what Cassie assumed was a wick but she couldn't get her hand holding the match down there. She thought about having George make the matches the long ones like you could get to light fireplaces, but she decided she would try something else first. She carefully pulled off the top part of the lamp which to her pleasant surprise exposed the wick very nicely. "Okay . . . I think we're getting somewhere." She lit another match but the wick didn't light. It took the three of them about five minutes to figure out how to turn the wick up a little so that it would light easily. Then Cassie replaced the glass top and was pleased to see that it kept burning. "Okay. That'll work. Nice." She lit the other one with a minimum of trouble and then looked around the room. It was much nicer with the lamps lit although she was reminded rather forcefully of the fact that she still had to remove all those pictures of Harry. She was about to recruit the twins to help her when Fred released the silencing spell.
"Let's see if the fireworks are over." As soon as the silencing charm was removed, they all jumped at the pounding on the door. It sounded like whoever was out there was getting impatient. Fred opened the door. "It wasn't locked. You could have come in." He said to whomever was on the other side. His father walked in and looked around.
"I wasn't sure who was in here. Oh, you've already lit the lamps." He looked longingly at the box of matches. "Did they work? I really wanted to see them."
"Dad! What happened with Mum?" Fred looked impatiently at his father.
"Oh." Arthur flushed slightly. "She's fine, of course. Truthfully, boys, er, and Cassie. She wasn't mad, just embarrassed. I told her that she had nothing to be embarrassed about." He picked up the matches, looking at the six already burned ones Cassie had set next to it. "Oooh. These are the already used ones, of course. Hmmm. Can they be reused at all?" There was a tentative knock on the door and Molly joined what was turning into a large crowd in the small room.
"Cassie, I just wanted to apologize. I embarrassed you and made you feel bad and I really didn't mean to."
"It's all right. I'm sorry I didn't mention it myself." Molly hugged her tightly.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. Boys, go down and set the table. I'm going to help Cassie unpack her things." George and Fred both groaned but along with Arthur they left the room. Cassie lifted both the suitcase and the bag onto the bed.
"You don't need to help me, Molly. I can take care of this quickly."
"Well, I don't know what Ginny has left behind and . . .Ooh, such lovely things." Over the next few minutes, she helped Cassie find room for all of her things in the drawers and Cassie was actually glad she had stayed. The drawers seemed to be just the right size for the things already in them and on several occasions, Molly expanded drawers or things and moved Ginny's clothes around to make room for Cassie's clothes. "There. Everything's away and you won't have to worry about it later." They hadn't talked about very much and Cassie was grateful. She had expected the third degree about George, but Molly had seemed strangely reluctant to bring up that topic. "Well, the boys should be done with getting the table set and the food was already cooked, so why don't you come on down and we'll eat." Cassie had a difficult time extinguishing the lamps and Molly finally did it using magic, which made Cassie feel like a fool.
"I'll have to figure something out. I can't have one of you running in here every time I need the lamps off." Molly just nodded but Cassie felt like she didn't really hold out much hope for her working something out. She followed Molly down the stairs, holding on tight to the handrail because she really did not want to fall into her. Cassie sniffed appreciatively at the wonderful smells rising from the kitchen. "Something smells really good, Molly. I didn't realize how hungry I was until just this moment."
"Good. I hope you like it. It's one of my children's favorite meals." The table was set when they stepped off the stairs and Cassie felt bad she hadn't done anything to help. Everyone sat down while Molly carried several platters over to the table and set them down.
"I've made a nice roast. I hope that's all right, Cassie?" At Cassie's nod, she continued. "I would really like to hear how you survived at Hogwarts the entire week, though. Arthur said he had no idea how you had done it. You don't know, do you boys?" They both shook their heads and Cassie's eyes narrowed slightly. George had a twinkle in his eye that made her rather suspicious. But George really didn't know how she had tricked everyone - he had asked yesterday and said he wanted to hear the whole story later. She turned her attention back to Molly, who was busy piling everyone's plate with large slices of roast. "And I've got pumpkin juice to drink as well as water. Do you like pumpkin juice? I mean, Muggles don't usually drink it, do they?"
"No. They don't usually drink it. But I like it." Cassie smiled faintly. "I'll be happy to tell you the story of how I managed at Hogwarts. But I can't take any of the credit. It was mainly Hermione who thought of all the tricks." She cut into the tender roast and took a large bite. She chewed happily and then stopped, her eyes widening slightly as the taste flooded her mouth. Arthur and Molly had also taken large bites of roast and were now sitting there staring at their plates. "This is really good, Molly." Cassie took a large swallow of water and forced the bite down her throat. She felt like if she tried, she could breathe fire. The peppery taste of the roast was incredibly strong. As the burning increased, she hurriedly took a bite of mashed potatoes. Those were good and she chewed slowly. She took another bite of roast and once again had to force it down with a swallow of water. Her eyes were practically tearing now and she dared a glance up at Molly. Maybe it was a wizard custom to use that much pepper. Molly was staring at her own plate in horror, before she took a big drink of water, only to stand with shock after a second.
"I don't . . . I don't understand. Something is seriously wrong with this roast. Arthur! Is yours doing the same thing?" Arthur literally had tears running down the side of his face as he valiantly chewed his third bite of meat.
"Yes. I think you over-seasoned the meat, dear." He choked out as he swallowed.
"I didn't use any more than usual, really. Just . . . a little right at the beginning."
"Are you sure, Mum? Maybe you added some every time you came in to check on Cassie and me? That would have meant you added it, oh, maybe six times or so." Molly's eyes narrowed and she studied the twins. They both had tears running down their faces as well, but Cassie could tell neither of them had done more than cut the meat and push it around on their plates.
"What did you do to my dinner?" For a small woman, Molly Weasley could look exceptionally mean and Cassie almost shrunk down into her chair before remembering that all the anger was not directed toward her at all.
"Nothing! Honestly nothing!" Fred splurted, but Cassie could tell he was really trying hard not to laugh. Cassie swallowed another huge gulp of water, trying to quench the burning, but to her amazement, the feeling of heat only increased. The look in George's eye is what convinced her that neither twin was innocent in this prank. He was almost looking sorry as she reached for the goblet of pumpkin juice, hoping that the cold would douse the burning in her mouth and throat.
"Don't lie to me, Fred! I know that either one of you or both of you put some kind of charm on this roast! I want it removed right now!" She pulled her wand out and pointed it at the two boys. "Or your father will make you wish you had never been born!" Cassie almost laughed then as she fanned her open mouth with a napkin. Molly sounded so much like her mother threatening Matthew right then that it was almost like being back home. Of course, her mother never held a wand on Matthew, but other than that . . .
"Okay, fine, fine. A simple hex, really." Fred waved his wand over the roast and all of their plates. "But I'm not taking all the blame. It was George's idea!"
"I can't believe you would do that on the first night we have company! How embarrassing." Molly sat back down but put her wand down at the side of her plate. "If this isn't good, I'm going to hex you both into next week - and I mean it."
"It's back to normal - but I'm not taking the blame if it's not good!" George laughed, but Cassie noticed that he actually speared a piece of roast with his fork and ate it. She tentatively took a bite herself and after chewing for a second realized that it was really good. Molly and Arthur were doing the same thing and both of them visibly relaxed as they chewed. Molly glared at her two sons.
"Unbelievable. You two! Will you ever grow up?" But despite the glare, Cassie did not think she was really that mad. Molly then looked at her. "I apologize for them. Is your dinner all right now?"
"Yes, thank you. It's very good." They all ate in silence for a few minutes.
"So, Cassie. You were going to tell us what you did to fool everyone in Hogwarts." George smiled at her.
"I told you the basic plan. Someone else did the magic and I pretended I did it. It was pretty basic most of the time. I did have occasion to use one of your wands though, George and Fred. For Professor McGonagall" She told them the story about the rats and rabbits and how she had used one of the dragon-head wands to get out of doing the magic. "So, we just acted like it had been a genuine misunderstanding. Ron was pretty sure he would get detention, but for some reason Professor McGonagall didn't give him one." Everyone laughed at the picture she had painted of the stunned look on everyone's face and even Molly admitted (albeit grudgingly) that the twins' wands actually had some useful purpose.
"Although, boys, you had to admit that the chances of someone else needing a fake wand so they can get out of doing a magic Transfiguration are pretty small." George and Fred had to agree with that but they were grinning broadly nonetheless.
"But what happened the next time- how did you get out of it again? Minerva wouldn't believe you had accidentally grabbed the wrong wand twice!" Cassie looked around at their eager faces.
"No. Hermione had a different plan for that day." Cassie thought for a minute. "How about if I tell you about it tomorrow?" They all looked disappointed, but Cassie was really exhausted and knew that if she started talking about using the yucky potion, it would be a long story. It must have been obvious on her face because Molly clucked her tongue.
"Of course, of course. It's been a tiring day for you. So much going on - I think you should head up to bed."
"I want to help you clean up. I don't want you to have to do it all."
"Thank you, dear. But I don't mind and I have two sturdy sons to help me if I need it." George and Fred both groaned but neither of them ran out of the kitchen at her words. "Would you like a bubble bath? Ginny always says that lovely as the showers are at school, there is nothing quite so indulgent as a nice long bubble bath when she gets home."
"Yes, that does sound lovely. Thank you."
"I think you'll be able to work the faucets. You haven't had a hard time with that here, have you?" Cassie shook her head. Just like at Hogwarts, the faucets seemed to work on basic principles which she was grateful for. "And I think there's some bubble bath in the cupboards. Ginny likes the kind with the blue lid."
"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Cassie climbed the steps once again to the landing and entered the small bathroom. The tub was surprisingly large for the small space and she sighed with happiness at the thought of soaking for a long while in warm water. She turned on the faucets, carefully checking the heat several times. She found the bubble bath in one of the cupboards, next to items that she did not recognize at all and she read the label carefully on the bottle before pouring in a small amount. The scent of vanilla was very strong and Cassie smiled appreciatively. Ginny always smelled like vanilla. It must be her favorite scent. That was fine. It was nice. She left the water running and went down to the bedroom to change. It was dark again, of course, and she hurriedly lit one of the lamps so she could change out of her clothes. It was only then that she remembered that all these pictures of Harry were still on the walls. So, blowing out her breath in frustration, she grabbed her bathrobe and nightgown as well as her toiletry bag and blew out the lamp again. She would undress in the bathroom. She really had to get these pictures down before morning. Trying to avoid getting undressed in her own bedroom was really not tolerable anymore. She looked at the lamp and considered just leaving them burning but decided against it. She would feel terrible if there was an accident and something else in the room caught fire because of the lamp getting too hot. But how to put it out? She looked around for a minutes or two. She thought that if she covered the top of the chimney of the lamp and blocked any new oxygen from getting down to the flame it would go out fairly quickly. But with what?
She tentatively laid her hand on the top of the chimney. It was hot, but not burning. So she walked over to her trunk, opened it, and pulled out her potions book. It was thick and she didn't care if she melted it or burned a big ring in the cover. It wasn't like it was going to be of any use to her later in her life. She carried the book over the lamp and carefully laid it on top. As she expected, the flame immediately dimmed and about a minute later went out completely. She removed the book and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't relight immediately. That had worked well and she would keep doing it that way if nothing else came to mind.
As she stepped back down the hall, holding her nightgown and bathrobe, she noticed the door was closed. Her eyebrows rose. She was positive she had left it open. She turned the knob and was momentarily panicked when it was locked. Oh, no! She had to get in to turn off the water. Otherwise, it would overflow. She had just decided that she had better ask for some help, no matter how embarrassing it was going to be, when the knob turned from the inside and George stepped through the door. She blushed profusely. Of course, other people had to use the bathroom. If this was the only one for the three of them, then she had probably been extremely rude starting the water immediately. And maybe Fred would want to use it, too. Should she ask?
"Are you all done? Uh, downstairs, I mean." Great, she thought. That had come out all wrong. He grinned at her, as though sensing her discomfort and thinking it was funny.
"Yes. All finished. The bath looks nice."
"Um, yeah. I think so." This was definitely not the sort of conversation she wanted to be having with her boyfriend. "I'll just be going in . . . uh, yeah."
"How long do you think you're going to be?"
"I don't know. Why?" She wanted to take a nice long soak but she wasn't sure whether to admit it or not. Maybe they'd think she was wasting hot water or something. She had no idea how they got hot water - obviously not using gas or electric water heaters. Maybe there wasn't much of it available.
"I think Fred may want to get in at some point. I could tell him to come up now."
"Yeah. Maybe that would be best. I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone." So she turned off the water and leaned against the wall in the hall, blushing furiously as Fred came up from downstairs in response to George's call, locked the door, and emerged a few minutes later. He studied her for a minute as he passed by.
"Don't be too embarrassed. We're pretty used to sharing around here. It doesn't bother us." Cassie smiled faintly and then slipped into the bathroom and closed the door. It might not embarrass them, but it certainly was something she was not used to. She hoped that she could get used to it. If it was bad with just three of them sharing, she hated to imagine what it was going to be like when the other kids arrived from Hogwarts. Then there would be seven of them. Whoa!
She undressed quickly, peeling off her clothes and piling them into a neat bundle. She sank into the warm water with a sigh. However they got warm water, it seemed to be very effective. This was heavenly. The bubbles were the thickest she had ever seen. It was wonderful. She had no idea how long she stayed in the tub and thought that she may even have fallen asleep at one point. It wasn't until her fingers and toes were all pruny that she pulled herself out of the warmth of the tub. No wonder Ginny liked to take a bubble bath. No shower could possibly compare to this. She dried with one of the thick towels hanging on the nearby rail and pulled her flannel nightgown over her head. The nightgown had been perfect in the cold stone dorm room but it was much to warm for this house. She thought for a few moments as she brushed out her hair about what other options she had for pyjamas but there was nothing else. Darn it. And she was too self-conscious to sleep without anything on. She pulled the bathrobe over her gown and gathered up her clothes. Then she realized that she hadn't dumped the bathtub yet. That actually took longer than she thought. It was not magical, but the drain was old-fashioned and stubborn and it took all her strength before it would open and the water gurgled through the pipes.
She took her clothes in her arms again and went back to Ginny's room. It was, of course, dark again and she thought that using the matches to light these lamps was going to be very tedious indeed. Well, it was only until Friday. Then Ginny would be back and she could light them the easy way. But, she lit the one on the bedside table and set her clothes in a neat pile by the bed. She had no idea how Molly did the laundry, but she would find out tomorrow and ask if she could somehow help. She felt like Molly was busy enough without adding extra work on her behalf.
Now that the lamp was lit, she started the slow task of taking down all of Harry's pictures. To her relief, they were only pinned up or taped up, much like her friends did for their own posters at home. No magical sticking charms or anything that she would have to get through. She started at one corner of the room and started methodically removing all the pictures, piling them face down on the dresser. It sounded stupid, but she apologized to each one as she laid it down on its predecessor. They looked less than thrilled but Cassie refused to allow herself to feel guilty. The fact that they knew they would now be facing nothing but blank space convinced her even more that they needed to be removed. It was obvious they were sentient to what was going on around them and that would certainly include her undressing. There were really not a hundred pictures, Cassie thought there were probably more like 50. She sincerely hoped Ginny was not too angry with her when she saw what she had done to them.
It was interesting to study the different pictures as she removed them. Some of them were of a very young Harry - maybe from when Ginny first met him. There were some of him on the back of his broom, and a lot of pictures of him from when he was apparently 14. She stopped and read a newspaper article or two about some sort of tournament that had happened when he was 14 that he had participated in. It was from the second article that she realized this was the year he had fought the dragon. There was no picture of him with the dragon, which Cassie sort of felt bad about. It would have been interesting. It was the most recent pictures, though, that Cassie found most fascinating. Most of them were with Ginny and she liked the relaxed look on his face when they were together. There were several framed pictures which she carefully turned over where they stood and it was then that she found the last newspaper article. It was folded up behind one of the frames and as she moved the frame, it fell out. She picked it up and realized with a start that it was the front page to the Daily Prophet from early last June. The day the newspaper announced to the entire wizarding world that Harry Potter was dead.
With trembling fingers, Cassie spread the newspaper article out on her bed and smoothed the creases. She wondered why Ginny had saved it - now that she knew it had all been just a trick. There was an old picture of Harry in the article but Ginny already had this picture. Cassie remembered taking it off her wall not long ago. So that was not it. She read the article slowly. Yes, she had heard the story of Harry's life from him that night on the couch many months before, but as had been brought home to her during Remus's introduction to Harry before his lecture in Defense, she didn't know everything about him. In fact, she probably knew very little. Harry tended to be very modest and did not like to talk much about himself. After she was finished, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. It wasn't that the article was so impressive. It was just that it was brought home again to her how hard Harry's death must have hit Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. She remembered that night - was it only Wednesday? - when Harry was off fighting. That had been terrible. She folded up the newspaper article again and put it back on the frame. She wiped her face again and grabbed a Kleenex from her bag and blew her nose. She was tired and needed to go to sleep. Cassie didn't even know why she was crying because Harry wasn't dead. She sniffled again, though, and got into bed. Then she remembered she would have to put out the lamp and got up again intending to put the potions book back up on the chimney. She heard a quiet knock on her door and walked over to it. She was not surprised to see George standing out in the hall, looking a little sheepish.
"I thought you might have fallen asleep with the lamps on."
"No. I was taking the pictures off the walls." His brows drew together.
"The pictures?"
"Yes. I am not going to undress in front of pictures of Harry Potter."
"Oh." He looked a little confused, but then apparently decided not to argue about it. "Did you finish?" She nodded. "You look upset. Is something wrong?"
She shook her head. "I was just reading and it made me a little sad." He took her hand and pulled her gently out into the hall. She laughed nervously. "I'm not dressed very well. I was just getting into bed." His eyes flared and she stepped back into the room. "Let me get my robe." He waited outside the room while she grabbed her bathrobe. Before she went back into the hall, she hurriedly looked in the mirror. Her eyes were red and her nose also looked red. But otherwise she looked all right. She shyly entered the hall again, where George was waiting. "Hi."
"What were you reading?"
Cassie considered for a minute. Should she tell him? "Nothing, really. And I don't know why I'm crying." He drew her close to him and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're here." She laid her head against his shoulder and just breathed in the smell that she was quickly coming to associate with him. "Are you sure you're not crying because of, uh, Mum and everything? The lamps, and the bathroom, and the . . . ."
"The dinner?" She laughed and his arms tightened around her. She closed her eyes and thought that she could easily have gone to sleep right here, standing in his arms. "No. And I'm not crying anymore. I was crying. But it wasn't anything to do with the house, or your mum, or the lamps, or dinner."
"You're positive?"
"Absolutely positive. I'm glad to be here, too."
"If Malfoy hadn't been giving you so much grief, I guess you wouldn't be here yet, so maybe I should thank him."
"No you shouldn't, George. You definitely shouldn't. He was horrible to me." He put her away from him a little bit, looking down into her face.
"I'm sorry. I was just teasing." She nodded and smiled as he pulled her close again. "Cassie, I-"
"George Weasley! Let the girl go to sleep! You go up to your room and leave her alone!" The disembodied voice came up the steps but Cassie knew that his mother would certainly be up there in a moment if she thought anything was going on that shouldn't be.
"Yes, Mum. I'm going. I was just checking on her!" He hugged her tightly and then bent his head to kiss her. The kiss was fast but then he kissed her again and then once more. Cassie couldn't help but smile as he bent his head for the fourth time.
"I mean it! Get up to bed! Now!"
"I'm going! I'm going!" Cassie flushed and stepped back into Ginny's room. George looked disgusted but let her go. "Fred and I go to work early, so I may not see you until tomorrow night." Cassie nodded, not wanting to admit that she had not even thought about his leaving every day to go to work. But, of course, he had to.
"NOW!"
"Yes, Mum!" He walked over to the stairs. "Goodnight, Cassie."
"Goodnight, George." He walked up the stairs, but glanced back at least once. She waved and then shut the door. Oh, this was better than she could even have imagined. The thought of being held by him like that every night while she was here was enough to make her heart beat a little faster. She extinguished the lamp and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up and then pushing all the blankets back down and just leaving the sheet up around her neck. It was very warm in this house and her flannel nightgown was more than enough. She tossed and turned for a moment before getting up and walking over to the window. When she drew back the curtains, the moonlight flooded in and she looked for a long moment up at the full moon. It was beautiful but she thought that she would never be able to look at the full moon again without thinking about Remus, suffering as the rest of the world went on in ignorance. She looked out over the trees and other landscaping around the house. It looked really different in the moonlight but it looked interesting and she hoped that at some point she could explore the outside some more. After a few minutes she went back and laid down in bed. As she lay there for a moment in the half darkness, she imagined that she could hear George moving in the room above her. It could have just been the natural shifting of the house, but it sounded like footsteps.
She heard the soft hooting a moment later and for a second was confused. Then she remembered. The sticker! Where was it? Where was it?! The moonlight was bright enough that she found her parchment and quills easily on her trunk and it was easy to grab the sticker. As her hand closed over it, the hooting stopped. She went back to bed, holding it tightly. She laid down again and the soothing warmth of it, telling her that at that exact moment he was also touching his, accompanied her as she finally fell asleep.
