TW FOR THIS CHAPTER: Mention of transphobia.
If this is something that you find triggering, I've noted the part of the chapter where it is mentioned so that you can skip over it. Stop reading at the TW and begin again after it says "End TW".
To summarize the part of the chapter without the trigger (chapter content spoiler warning, feel free to come back to this point once you get to the TW and then read on after): Jay mentions that some people have been spreading rumors about Lorcan, who is trans. Phoenix gets him to agree to give her the names of the people spreading the rumors so that she can "make their lives hell next year". She also mentions that Lorcan's coming out had been something that only their circle knew about when it happened because Luna and Rolf had been very private with the twins, only making it public that they had had twins.
Please let me know if there's any element of this warning or the chapter that I need to adjust. As always, my messages are open, please feel free to reach out if you need anything. If you're reading as a guest, you can also private message me on Tumblr (iiowaw), though please know that I'm not always as quick to respond on Tumblr. All the love.
Chapter Thirty-Five: OWLs
Normally, I was a fan of the rain, so long as I did not have to be out in it. The sound was soothing, the soft patter of water in a form that posed no threat at all to me. Though I found water intriguing and beautiful, even baths posed a bit of an issue to my hydrophobia, so it was nice to be able to enjoy the liquid in at least one form.
Waking up on the morning of Jay's seventeenth birthday to a torrential downpour, however, had my face crumpling with disappointment. The expression was so genuine and unthinking that I didn't have the chance to hide it before Jay noticed, his hands cupping my cheeks as he tipped my chin up to face him, still blinking away sleep even as he scanned my face.
"What's wrong, love?" He asked, his voice deep and his accent thicker than usual due to him still being half asleep. "You normally love the rain."
"I had plans," I mumbled, trying not to sound too devastated. "For your birthday. It's okay, though. I'll figure it out."
He opened his mouth to respond, but I pressed my lips to his, wordlessly and wandlessly hitting us both with a breath-freshening charm even as I did so. Yet another reason that self-cleansing charms were useful, I realized absently. I would have to tell Roxy later, if just to continue to poke holes in her age-old disgust of self-cleansing charms.
After a few long minutes, I leaned back and gave Jay a genuine smile, tucking my disappointment away. "Happy birthday, my love."
His smile was absolutely blinding. "You've never called me that before."
"Have I not?" I asked, honestly a bit shocked. "Odd. I think it."
"You do?"
"All the time."
Since our morning run was obviously cancelled, I convinced Jay to lay in bed with me for a few hours longer, talking about nothing important while I figured out how to go about my plans despite the rain.
He got a slew of well-wishes and gifts throughout breakfast. I made him hold up his wrist in the library, sketching a quick picture of him with his new watch. The tradition had once been to gift exclusively pocket-watches, but many families had shifted over the years to wristwatches, as they were more practical. Jay couldn't stand the idea of a pocket-watch, so he had been gifted his great grandad's old watch, which had been magically modified into a wristwatch.
Once I finished my sketch, I set about adding color to it while everyone else studied. When the paint was dry, I passed it to Jay, who promptly flushed a brilliant shade of red that drew the eyes of everyone at the table.
"What, did she draw you naked or something?" Jack asked, ignoring the horrified, very exaggerated gags coming from my twin as he gave Jay a wicked smirk.
"What? No, she just…it's very nice to get a glimpse into how she sees me. That's all. I think that she thinks a lot more of me than I do myself," Jay mumbled quietly, looking a bit humiliated.
"I just paint what I see," I responded, confused by his comment. "It's not like I do anything special."
"Let me see," Nikki said, grinning when Jay let her glance at the paper, before letting out a slightly disbelieving laugh. "Oh, wow. She actually, literally thinks the sun shines out of your ass. How'd you manage that one, Wood?"
Jay dropped his face into his hands with an embarrassed groan as Jack barked out a laugh and bent over the parchment to exclaim his agreement. My boyfriend leaned across the table and snatched the painting back before it could be passed around even more, his ears scarlet.
"I don't understand," I said flatly, thoroughly confused.
Don, who was sitting on Jay's other side, shrugged. "You have a habit of creating your light sources around Jay, so it looks like he's the thing that casts the light. It's cute."
There were a series of hoots at his words, which had me flushing as deep a shade of red as my boyfriend.
I wound up moving the picnic that I had planned for the Astronomy Tower to the Room of Requirement when the rain didn't ease up by dinner. We ate plates of Jay's favorite pasta and cherry pie while sitting in the window seat that I had created, which looked out over the stars. When we finished our meal, I gifted my boyfriend a bag that matched the one that he had given me, which made him spectacularly happy. He pinned his flickering white flame pin to the bag, which made my grin widen.
"I got you something else," I said when he gave the smile on my face an upturned eyebrow.
"You didn't have to do that!"
"I know."
The "something else" was an additional charm for his necklace. It was a tiny blue jay, which made him beam at me, commenting that it matched my marigold charm. After that, we settled in to stargaze, just as we always did on special occasions.
The day was, as he said, perfect.
The morning of our Quidditch final, Jay was almost too nervous to go down to breakfast. Rumors about scouts coming to see the match had been running rampant for weeks, as someone apparently had an uncle who was one of the scouts supposedly coming. We were a bit surprised at the news, for the only seventh years on either team were our keeper, Elias Vikton, and one of our reserve chasers, Alexi Sang. While both were excellent players, it was unusual for more than one or two scouts to come when the seventh years in question had not expressed an interest in going pro, which neither of our seventh years had.
"Are there going to be scouts?" Jay asked me, then went an odd shade of green. "No, actually, don't tell me. I don't want to know. There's not though, right? Because you wrote to my dad and you would look more concerned if there were."
"You said you don't want to know, so I'm not telling you either way. Just go play your best game, Jay-bird. Win or lose, if there are scouts there, they'd have to be mental to walk away thinking that you were anything less than their next star player if they see you playing at your best. Just take a deep breath, ignore the whispers, and keep your eyes on the game. It will work out."
There were going to be scouts at the match. Both Oliver and Ben had confirmed it. Despite my revelation about my life expectancy over Christmas break, I found myself deeply panicked over the news. Still, Jay had enough to worry about just because of his status as our Captain without worrying about scouts as well, so I put on my game-face and made sure not to give anything away.
Ben had wanted to tell him, but agreed not to when I explained why I thought it was a bad idea. Still, he thought that it was unfair that he knew and Jay didn't, so he had told his entire team that he hadn't been able to find out anything about scouts, which cast doubt on the rumors not only amongst teams, but school-wide. Ben's network was pretty infamous for being able to find out anything that he wanted, so people trusted his information.
Muffling Jay's ears a bit as I normally did before a big match, I grabbed his hand and led him down to breakfast. We always skipped our morning runs when we had to play, so we were the very first people in the Great Hall. To my relief, the rest of the team heeded Jay's request and made their way down to the hall very early as well, so we wound up with a small barricade separating us from the rest of the table.
I glanced down as my bracelet burned with a private message.
LL: I really want to win.
Px: Me too, Sparky.
Lily was clearly nervous. Though she had been playing as our left beater all season, the final match was a big deal. We were seated to win, but that didn't mean that we could afford to get cocky. It was worse to lose when you were expecting a victory, after all. Plus, she had been hearing the rumors of scouts coming to see the match for weeks.
"It'll be fine," Nikki said, clearly noticing the way that I watched Lily. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder, using the other to pull Scorpius into her side as well. "We just need to play like we always do. We're good, we've worked hard for this, and we know what we're doing."
"I agree," I said. "Now, let's get down to the pitch and warm up."
The hall exploded into cheers when we stood. I laughed as Ben glanced up with wide eyes, cast a tempus charm, and then shoved half a piece of toast in his mouth all at once while gesturing for his team to get up. Just as we had the year before, our teams made our way down to the pitch together.
Unlike last year, however, there were already people in the stands. The robes of several very famous Quidditch teams were clearly visible from across the stadium, sending a spike of anxiety through me. I wasn't sure that I had ever heard of so many excellent teams showing up to see a Hogwarts match. There wasn't any reason that I could think of for this to be the one that they showed up for.
"To the locker room!" Jack sang, his voice slightly high with an unexpected and rather uncharacteristic hysteria as he ushered Jay and Lily along. "Locker room then panic, locker room then panic!"
"Wait," Jay said, his voice more steady than I was expecting. He turned towards Ben, holding out a hand as our friend did the same. "Good luck, mate."
"You too!" Ben responded cheerfully.
I let out a shriek of indignation as he scooped me off of my feet and spun me around in a hug.
"Good luck, bug!" He chirped, laughing as I glared at him.
"Stop doing that!" I whined, resisting the urge to stomp my foot like a child while the scouts watched. "Good luck, Slytherins!"
We parted ways with a course of good wishes, ignoring the approving nods from the scouts. It wasn't for their benefit-we always wished the other team luck before the match.
Jay was still calm when we entered the locker room, though Jack was jumping around like someone had put him in springs and I found myself bouncing onto my toes with nerves.
"It's okay," Jay said soothingly. "We know they're here, but this doesn't change anything. At least now we know the situation."
"They're scouts!" Jack protested, voice still too high. "I don't even want to go pro and that freaks me out! How are you not out of your mind right now?"
"Jack!" Nikki scolded, smacking his arm.
"Look, I'll be honest with you all, I was really nervous this morning. Phoenix had to spend twenty minutes just convincing me to come down to breakfast. The fact of it is though, that there are people who I'm nervous to watch me play on this pitch every time that we have a match. I still get nervous for my parents to see me play. The rest of you feel the same way. I see the way you scan the crowd for your mum, dad, siblings, significant other, or friends. We know how to handle pressure because we're always playing with it. At least now we know the situation for what it is. Treat this like any other match and we'll be okay. This is the best team at Hogwarts. You've worked harder, trained longer, and we want it more. I know it. This is our match, just like always. Lily-you came into this and were exactly what we needed this year. Elias-god we're going to miss you watching the goals for us next year. Alexi-having you as our reserve has meant that we never had to worry about one of us being unable to play. We were undefeated last year and we're undefeated this year too. I have confidence in this team. Don't think about them, just think about the game. That's all that matters."
"You know what to do!" Nikki shouted, shoving her hand into the center of our group.
"Jack, Jay, I want to run the play that we wrote after the November match today," I said as I thrust my hand on top of Nikki's. The boys nodded in agreement. It was the play that had been running us ragged for months, but we had perfected it and I knew it was going to look good.
"1…"
"2…"
"3!"
"Gryffindor!"
As we made our way to the door, I found myself tripping over my own feet. Jay shot me a look of concern, but it was the way that Lily's face went ashen that set off warning bells in my head. There was no time to ask her what was going on before we left the locker room, nerves like I had never experienced suddenly making me feel dangerously ill. The pitch was packed. Apparently, someone had spotted the scouts, for it truly looked like everyone in the school had come. There were also more parents than usual, and it looked like some of the Hogsmeade residents had come up for the day as well.
I could also swear I saw…
"Fuck," Jack spat, causing every head but mine to turn towards him. "Who the fuck let the press come?"
Lily was trembling as we took in the small crowd of flashing cameras near the base of the professors' stand. A glance at Minnie saw her giving me an apologetic expression.
Nikki, Jay, Scorpius, Lily, and I glanced down at our wrists at the same time as someone sent out a group message.
Rx: The Minister invited them.
Rx: He's here too.
"She always seems to know everything," Scorpius muttered before turning to relay the message to the rest of the team.
Lily and Jay were looking at me like someone had just shot a killing curse at my head. I forced myself to smile at them both, horrible illness and sudden clumsiness explained. My goal went very quickly from playing my best to not falling off of my broom or vomiting whilst in midair.
"This changes nothing," I said, keeping my voice even as everyone turned to look at me. "The pictures won't be as nice as the ones Coleen takes every match, of course, but we'll just have to make do."
There was a spattering of laughter at my weak joke.
"It's like Jay said: play to our best and ignore the rest. That's really all that we can do."
For the second year in a row, the normal Captain handshake was forgone in favor of a hug. This year, however, Jay was the one tugging on Ben's hand, smiling determinedly for the cameras that went crazy over the gesture. As we had learned the hard way after the incident on the platform before Christmas, Ben's last name still made him a target for the press. They still didn't seem to believe that we were all friends, so I knew that Jay's gesture was partially an attempt to prove them wrong.
Everything that could go wrong did during our match.
It began pouring about five minutes in. Ben called the timeout, his entire team filing over to me so that I could cast water-repelling charms over everyone's eyes. My hands were shaking so badly due to my horrible nausea that it was a wonder I managed to do so successfully. When we took off again, I overshot and nearly crashed, praying that it merely looked like I had slid on some mud as we took to the skies.
Jay and I had made sure that everyone on our team had gloves that were charmed against rain, but Ben's seeker crashed another twenty minutes in when she lost her grip on her broom and was knocked unconscious by the fall. Her replacement was clearly not as strong a flier, for the tiny boy clung to his broomstick as though he might fall off at the slightest gust of wind, though he managed to remain seated for the rest of the match.
The beaters' bats were not in great condition due to the minimal funding that the school board dedicated to Quidditch, so it was unsurprising when one of Lily's hits went wildly off-course due to the slick bat failing to find traction on the equally wet bludger. The problem was that this sent the ball careening into Jay's shoulder, nearly knocking him clean off of his broom.
The obvious equipment malfunction caused Hooch to pause the match while a replacement bat was found, which gave me time to send Freddy for my bag, rubbing a bit of bruise paste into Jay's shoulder before the match began again. Still, the paste didn't hold up well against the rain, and Jay was obviously in pain for the rest of the match.
The saving grace of the match was that both teams had enough respect for each other to play fairly and safely. Despite my qualms over Jay's injury, he insisted that we run the play that I had spent weeks perfecting before we ever even attempted it.
It began with Jack dropping the quaffle somewhere in the middle of the pitch on a play when he had all of Slytherin's chasers on him. I caught the quaffle when he dropped it, flying up in an arc and passing it as subtly as possible to Jay as I flew by him. Jack had lost the Slytherin chasers at that point, so I pretended to pass the quaffle to him, but then continued to fly like I had the quaffle. The play was designed to keep everyone guessing at where the quaffle was, and it worked even better in the rain, when visibility was low. The Slytherin keeper bobbed anxiously in place, unable to see who had the quaffle as we all held our arms against our bodies while approaching him. Jay threw the quaffle through the hoop uncontested as the keeper flew towards me. Jack then snagged it and made a second goal while the keeper tried to reorient herself.
The play took us directly next to the part of the stands where the Minister sat. Now that I was aware of the cause behind my clumsiness, I could feel an odd tautness in my chest, as though there was a cord between us that he was pulling tight.
We won the match when Scorpius went into a sudden nosedive, the replacement Slytherin seeker determinedly following despite looking like he might cry while doing it. Scorp used one hand to hold the snitch in the air while thrusting the other one out for the little green-clad seeker to latch onto as he nearly slid off of his broom while coming to a stop.
The press beat the rest of the school onto the pitch, which was irritating. Both teams huddled together as we were surrounded, unable to even celebrate our win due to the chaos. It was an effort to keep my teeth from chattering visibly, or from spraying the reporters with vomit, though it was admittedly fairly tempting to do so when I saw one of them shove a camera into Ben's face.
"Move back!" Minnie commanded, much to everyone's obvious relief.
The next raspy voice caused that relief to vanish, replaced by a panic that I prayed didn't show on my face. "Oh, Minerva, let's give them a few minutes to ask questions before we send them on their way."
"Actually," Oliver's voice was friendly, but firm as he spoke over the noise, "The scouts would like a moment with both teams before anyone else speaks to them. Perhaps we could all trouble you to use your Entrance Hall, Minerva, while they follow the teams into the Gryffindor locker room for a chat?"
"All students, staff, and guests that are not affiliated with a Professional Quidditch team and here to scout our players please move into the school!" Minnie directed, ignoring the relieved sighs from the students and grumbles from the press.
As he walked away, I could swear that Minister Hastings winked at me. It was probably the only time that I would be grateful to have his attention on me, for it caused him to completely miss McGonagall stumbling and nearly falling backwards into him. Only the firm grip that mum closed over her elbow spared her from toppling directly into the Minister of Magic. I could only pray that no one caught the moment on film.
I let Jay place a hand on my lower back and steer me into the locker room, Ben keeping pace with us on my other side.
A woman in the black and white colors of the Montrose Magpies stepped forward. "We would like to speak to Elias Vikton, Alexi Sang, Benjamin Nott, Jack Kress, Hazel Vicks, Douglass Montegue, Jay Wood, Nikki Boot, and Phoenix Potter. That being said, we understand that you'd like to re-enter the school as a team, so, Captains, please feel free to direct your teams to do what you'd like in their locker rooms while we speak to those players that we called."
Ben called Slytherin over to him while Jay rounded us up.
"Just go get into your jerseys and some jeans. Make sure you charm them to repel water or let Phoenix do it before we leave, though, so you're not at the party with wet jeans. We'll let you all know when we're ready to go," He said, then grinned. "Great job today, all of you. I can't lay claim to this victory-it only happened because of all of you, but I'm proud of you all. It's been a pleasure to be your Captain this year."
"In with them!" Nikki shouted, once again holding her hand out.
"Again?" Lily giggled, her laugh growing when Nikki playfully tugged her hand into the pile.
"1, 2, 3, Gryffindor!"
The Slytherin team slapped us on the backs as they filed out towards their own locker rooms, nodding as we praised their playing.
The meeting with the scouts was not what I was expecting. I was, apparently, only there because they wanted me to know that they had their eyes on me. Elias and Alexi were both personally invited to try out for almost all of the teams present (there were a few women and non-binary only teams in the room) and Pride of Portree guaranteed Elias a spot as a reserve on their team so long as he showed up. The rest of the group was informed that they would be at all of our games next year, though they warned that they were only seriously considering four of the six players that would be in their final year, as well as three players that were not on the Gryffindor or Slytherin team. Apparently, they were going to keep their eyes on all four teams just in case. There, apparently, was to be a very large turnover in the league soon, though we were sworn to secrecy about the entire matter.
"That was weird, right?" Nikki asked quietly as the scouts left, looping her arm through mine and keeping her mouth pressed close to my ear. It was smart, for I had learned long ago to never trust that the press had made themselves scarce when instructed to do so.
I shrugged, leaning some of my weight against hers as the tautness in my chest became stronger the closer that we got to the castle. "I'm not sure. I've never been scouted. They've never sat in on an entire season though, from what I've heard. I wonder why they've got such a big turn over coming up. It's got to be unprecedented, if they're so desperate to scout new players. Ben, did you hear anything about that?"
"Just that a lot of players are apparently quitting after next season to work in other fields. Weird timing, but it happens, I suppose."
Something about it didn't sit right with me, but I kept my mouth shut about it. I would bring it up with Minnie later, but I could think of very little correlation between Hastings and Quidditch.
"Alexi, Elias, are you two going to try out?" I asked, keeping my voice very low as we grew close to the castle.
Alexi shook his head, but Elias offered a slightly shy grin as he nodded. "Yeah, might as well. I was planning on taking a desk job, but there's no harm in seeing what offers I get, right?"
There were several whoops of agreement at his words, with Jack clapping him on both shoulders and giving him an encouraging shake.
Inside the castle, there was still pandemonium. Both teams were awkwardly shuffled off to the side of the hall so that the press could interview us. We were seated on Memorial staircase, which did not strike me as a coincidence.
"What did the scouts want?" One reporter shouted when Montegue pointed at her.
"I've never met with them before, but I'd expect it was the same thing scouts always want," Jack said with a laugh, doing an impressive job at hiding the nerves that were causing his knee to bounce rapidly under Nikki's hand to my left. There was, to my relief, an echoing chuckle from the crowd of reporters.
"Who did they meet with?" Someone else asked without being called on.
To my relief, no one responded. It seemed that we were all in agreement that keeping the turnover a secret would be difficult if we admitted that they had wanted every seventh, sixth, and fifth year on both teams to stay behind.
The questions turned to gameplay after that, which was a much easier topic of conversation. I blushed furiously when someone complimented my play and the entire team began talking about the work that I had put into it. Mum, Alicia, Oliver, and Montegue's dad were called over to take pictures with their children, before Minnie finally insisted that the press leave.
"Miss Potter!"
I tried to keep from cringing when Minister Hastings called my name, not bothering to wait for all of the reporters to leave. It was bad enough that I was having to make a conscious effort to keep from gravitating to his side without him bringing everyone's attention to me.
Lily, however, seemed to notice the way that cameras once again began to point in my direction and quickly hopped to her feet, rushing towards the man before I could think to yank her back to my side.
"Hi!" She chirped, shoving her hand out for the Minister to take. There were a bunch of giggles as the Minister gave my sister a polite smile that didn't reach his eyes and gave her hand a shake. "We haven't met, but that's okay! I'm Lily; I play beater! Did you see our whole match?"
The press slowly filtered out of the building as my sister kept the man occupied. Minnie began shepherding the guests and students into the Great Hall, insisting that everyone enjoy some hot chocolate as a special treat before the parents were sent off campus.
Finally, Lily could keep Hastings busy no longer. With put-upon niceness, the man said, "No offense, my dear, but I was hoping to speak to your elder sister…as well."
"Oh, okay," Lily said, giving me an anxious look as Luna ushered the girl into the Great Hall, hands gripping at the ginger-haired girl's shoulders as she did so.
"Phoenix," Hastings said, giving me a toothy grin as I approached, keeping all of my attention on not tripping over my own feet.
"Hello, Minister."
"I wanted to congratulate you on your paper in Charms and Countercharms! That's my favorite journal-I read every edition. You must be so proud; to have a paper published at your age is no small feat. As the scouts came to your game today, I thought it only fit to once again attempt to scout you myself-we could do great things together, Phoenix. I implore you to give the Ministry another thought. The position as my intern is always available to you. If you change your mind before your seventh year, I'm certain that we can make a special case for you," He said, grasping my hand between his own as he spoke. Unlike last time, his grip felt almost searching. The swirling grey magic that I had glimpsed around his hands last time he was in the school was vaguely familiar to me, so I knew when it began to creep into my skin. In response, I buried my own golden magic deep within myself, unwilling to let him sense it.
"Thank you, Minister. I'll keep that in mind," I responded, forcing my tone to remain polite.
"There are big changes coming to our world, Phoenix," The Minister whispered, his tone becoming more urgent. The way that he was looking at me, eyes widened and brows raised, made me realize that he was trying to convey that he was sharing a secret with me. "I have plans for our future, the likes of which have never been attempted by any other Minister. I implore you to consider what sort of position you would like to have in those plans. We can find a seat at the table for you, but you have to make the decision to sit on your own."
Jay's analogy about Max Holland wanting to hang me on his wall like a trophy popped into my head as Hastings stared into my eyes, his expression insistent.
"I prefer sitting on a broom to at a table, personally, but I'll let you know if that changes," I repeated, hoping that he would take the hint. His magic felt thick and sticky as it climbed up my veins, changed so immensely from its Magus state that I could hardly sense it at all. I buried my own magic deeper, and prayed that he would let go of my hand before he stumbled across it.
"I see," He said, his gaze becoming a bit cold. "Just remember that flying is not a sustainable career. If you'd like something a bit more…risk-free…to do with your life, your letters will always be at the top of my inbox."
I settled for nodding, trying not to let my relief show when he dropped my hand, the sensations of his magic disappearing at once. As he turned to give Minnie a nod, I found myself rubbing my arms where the magic had lain.
"What did he want?" Minnie asked as the door clicked shut behind the Minister.
"To offer me a seat at his table. It was odd…he said something that should have been threatening, but it really just came across as a warning. He said things would be more risk-free at his side. I think he was trying to warn me about what's to come," I mumbled, still running my hand over my arms.
"You're a powerful young witch," Minnie said, looking disturbed as she started at the doors to her school. "He must want you on his side."
"Fat chance of that happening," I grumbled, trying to shake the chill that lingered in my hands away.
"He hopes to stack his tower high enough that it will crush all those beneath it when it inevitably comes down upon them," Luna said with a shrug, arm wrapping around my shoulder protectively. "Clearly, he thinks that you're a pretty big piece of our tower. He's not wrong."
The party was explosive that night, as though Gryffindor was trying to make up for the delay in the start of the celebrations. Someone pressed a drink into my hand as soon as I made it through the entrance to the Common Room, and I didn't have to so much as think about what to do with it before James had lifted it from my fingertips and disappeared into the crowd with the cup raised into the air in thanks. Still, even with as busy as the party was, it was easy enough to sneak Jay upstairs, rolling my eyes as a shirtless Ben emerged from the bathroom and gave me a grin.
"Good game!" He said cheerfully as he yanked the curtains closed around Don's bed.
"Use a silencing charm for once or I'll set Jack on you both while you're sleeping!" Jay yelled at the couple, waving his wand threateningly, though only I could see him do it.
Ben snickered audibly. "I mean, he's cute. Have at it!"
"Benji! Shut up! Phoenix is out there, oh my god!" Don gasped, sounding absolutely mortified before the room grew very quiet.
"Oh my gods," I echoed, laughing despite the day's events. Jay chuckled as well, obediently complying when I clicked my tongue and gestured for him to sit on the edge of his bed. In one very fluid motion he pulled off his shirt, leaning forward slightly so that I could apply more bruise paste to his shoulder. Trying not to blush furiously at the sight of him shirtless and clearly failing, if his quiet smirk was anything to go by, I directed my attention to healing him. I furrowed my brow when he flinched as my fingertips touched him. "Are you sure that you didn't pull or break something?"
"Pretty sure," Jay said, starting to shrug before clearly thinking better about it.
Rolling my eyes affectionately, I continued to fix up his shoulder as best as I could. I knew that Jay was too smart to risk permanently ruining his shoulder by not tending to it properly, so I didn't order him to the Hospital Wing the way that I might have if it were James who was injured.
"What did Hastings want?" I could hear the distaste in Jay's tone as he asked the question, silencing the area as he spoke.
Though I knew that I was going to have to repeat the story to Freddy and Lily later, I replicated the conversation as accurately as I could for him, even telling him about the Minister's magic creeping up my skin.
"Your hands are freezing," He commented as I explained the last bit to him, trapping them between his fingers before abruptly letting them go. The pout that I unintentionally gave him at the motion made him grin. "Hang on. I just wanted you to try pulling your magic back from wherever you kept it."
I realized that I had never done so, feeling around for it before pulling it back into my hands where it belonged. Immediately, the room lit up with a brilliant golden glow, my hands disappearing in a haze of gold light and white flames. I let out a small sigh of relief as warmth once again crept back into my limbs.
"That's why I let go," Jay said with a small laugh.
We opted to skip the rest of the party, spending part of the evening pondering where we could find the book before Jay abruptly tugged my face forward and pressed his lips to mine, putting an end to the conversation.
Despite the act making me a bit self-conscious, I then let him spend the rest of the evening watching me draw a sketch of him during the match. It was slower going than usual, as he had questions about pretty much every aspect of my process. I answered all of his questions as best I could, though there was more than one occasion where I asked him to watch why I did something rather than have me explain, as it made better sense to me for him to simply see it play out.
When I grew tired of sketching, I put my sketch pad away and leaned back against his chest.
"Tell me something that I don't know about you," I requested.
There was silence for a long moment as he thought about it. Finally, he said, "My gran's favorite instrument is the piano. I started playing when I was three. I'd say I'm fairly decent at this point. I can play pretty much anything by ear, without sheet music. Flitwick lets me use the one that he has for the choir when they're not practicing."
"Would you play for me sometime?" I asked eagerly.
"Any time that you'd like."
I hummed in response, a pleased little noise that made him laugh. Poking me in the cheek, he gave me an expectant look.
"Let me think," I said, knowing that he wanted to know something about me. His smile grew when I leaned into the finger that he was still pressing against my cheek, causing him to shift his hand so that he was cupping my face in his palm instead. "Oh! When I was nine, I decided that I wanted to get to know my Grandpa better, so I started following him out to his shop. He was so touched that I wanted to spend time with him that he told me that we could do whatever I wanted. I think he regretted that when I asked him to teach me to drive his car."
Jay let out a loud laugh, tucking his face in my shoulder as he did so. I pressed a kiss to the side of his head before continuing my story.
"I couldn't reach the pedals, but I did alright steering," I giggled. "We may or may not have run over the mailbox, but that was fixed easily enough."
Jay let out a snort, his ears going red at the sound. We swapped a few more childhood stories before Jay suggested that we read a play, neither one of us regretting skipping the party that raged on downstairs as we opted for a quiet evening.
My fluid spellcasting lessons were either disastrous or spectacular. When I cast the sequence of spells that Professor Flitwick arranged for me properly, the dummy that I was practicing on crumpled under the rapid series of spells that I sent, unable to counter them efficiently. When I messed up a mental incantation or a wand movement, however, the results were interesting.
Once, I wound up blasting the dummy into the wall and growing sharp spikes of ice through it. I had never appreciated Flitwick's insistence that I practice on a dummy before we dueled more than I did in that moment.
Another time, I brought the dummy straight towards myself, moving at a high enough speed that the collision likely would have hurt had I not burnt it to a crisp before it touched me. Flitwick hummed, commenting on how he hadn't given me any fire-creation spells before commending me on my quick reaction. I accepted his suggestions that I try a shield charm instead of fire the next time something unexpected happened good-naturedly.
Though he swore that I was making very impressive progress, I readily agreed that we not attempt to duel each other until well into my next year. I didn't fancy lighting one of my favorite professors on fire, after all.
In the weeks leading up to OWLs and NEWTs, the library became so unbearably crowded that I no longer wanted to study there. It hadn't been as pressing an issue the year before, when the others in my study group could simply switch to another subject when I got up to work somewhere else. This year, my cousins and brother wanted to study in the library constantly, as though the room itself would somehow make them learn faster. Madame Pince gave me a small smile of understanding when she saw me leaving the library before ten on a Saturday, looking for a new place to study.
The Room of Requirement turned into my study space. I created a desk big enough to spread all of my notes, textbooks, and flashcards out before me. The windows looked out over Magus, and I changed the specific location on the island daily, though I really only used them to gauge the passage of time.
I was really only worried about my Herbology exam. Because I knew how to study for my exams after seeing the Charms OWL last year, I felt fairly confident about the written portions of all of my exams. There was no practical portion for Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and History of Magic, so I felt that those would go well so long as I didn't completely forget something major. Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, DADA, Transfiguration, and Astronomy were all practical exams that I felt I was well prepared for as well. The issue really arose with Herbology. All I could do for the practical portion was hope that it involved a plant that I was able to work with, and study everything that I could in the meantime.
After a bit of trial and error, I discovered that the room would give me the plants that had been left in it to work with. Most of them were in poor shape, though I suspected that the magic of the room kept them alive, but something was better than nothing when it came to practice. Once I was finished studying, I mentally vowed to turn the room over to Lily and let her rescue them all in her little greenhouse.
Jay made me promise to come back to the Common Room to relax a bit around noon on the last day before the exams began. I packed up a bit early, moving to sit before the window for a while before I had to leave the room to be around other stressed out students.
I had picked the marketplace on Magus for the day, missing the endless amount of things that there had been to see. As I sat before the window, I reminisced on the day, remembering how Rix had humored me by walking at my much slower pace while the rest of the group forged ahead.
The idea struck me at once, causing me to fly to my feet and grab my bag as I left the room at a run. The run to the Owlery might make me a bit late for meeting Jay, but I doubted that he would mind.
I strapped the note to the first owl that I came across, begging it to fly as quickly as it could. For the first time since Easter, I could feel hope creeping back into my chest.
The note had read:
Rix,
Sorry that this isn't a longer note. I have exams starting tomorrow, but it only just occurred to me to ask you to look for something for me.
Tell everyone hi for me please. I hope that you're all well.
I've been looking for a book called The Symbols and Tools of Death and Rebirth: A Worldwide Encyclopedia. It's a rare book, but I really need it for a paper that I'm working on.
Could you please look for it on Magus? I don't know where else to look. It can be in any language; I'll figure it out. I just need the book itself.
I've enclosed money. If you can't find the book, that's okay. Feel free to use it to buy something for yourself instead, if you'd like.
Safe travels and fair waters.
Phoenix
Herbology was, of course, my very last exam.
Care of Magical Creatures was remarkably easy. They had us work with hippogriffs for CoMC, which was a breeze considering Buckbeak was a family friend, so I had learned how to behave around the proud creatures years ago. History of Magic was a useless class, so I had been forced to teach myself most of the material. I wasn't as confident about that exam.
Potions was a bit more difficult than I had been expecting as well, as I had grown somewhat used to working with a partner outside of my extra lessons, but I got by easily enough. The written portion was about the potion making process, and I suspected I earned myself some extra points when I explained how and why I would tweak the original recipe to make it more efficient. Due to my extra lessons, I knew that my methods would work, so there was no harm in adding them in.
The practical portion of Transfiguration was almost fun. They had me tranfigure a tortoise into a teapot, which was easy, and then let me play with the patterns on it as I had in Charms the year before-which I had known was more along the lines of Transfiguration.
DADA did not, to my relief, include a boggart. Astronomy was only tedious because of how late it occurred. James walked out of Arithmancy with a broad grin, which did not fade after the Ancient Runes exam. I wasn't overly confident in my Arithmancy work, but I felt that I had at least done well enough to get the OWL. In Ancient Runes, however, I knew that I had aced the test.
The practical portion of the Herbology exam had us working with Devil's Snare, an interesting, but relieving choice. I walked away from the exam feeling as though I didn't deserve to have done as well as I did, for the only real issue I had was with creating light that shone a little bit too bright, wilting the leaves slightly (which I hadn't realized was possible, but I thought I had played it off well enough). There was no actual interaction with a plant involved with the exam, which was excellent news for me.
After the exams finished, Jay pulled me down to sit by the lake with nearly every person involved in our extended friend group. As he approached where we had just sat down, Ben loudly declared that he would protect us both just in case the lake became sentient and tried to tug us in. We hardly had time to register his words before he was sprawled out in Jay's lap, his head resting in mine.
"You're clingy," I teased, tapping his forehead lightly.
He grinned at me, something easy in his expression that had me returning the gesture unthinkingly. "Life is beautiful, you know? Next year is my last year here, which is sad, but I may or may not be getting scouted by a Professional Quidditch team. My third year here, Professor Flitwick sat me next to this tiny little spitfire of a Gryffindor who wound up becoming one of my best friends in the world. She introduced me to a group of amazing people, including the man that I happen to love very much. For the first time in my entire life, my name was in the paper a few weeks ago without a single bad thing being said about myself or my family. It's just…life is so good, bug. Thank you."
I giggled as he pulled my face down so he could press a kiss to my cheek, making grabby hands at Jay after I sat back up. Jay shoved at his hands lightly, laughing as he did so.
"I'm not kissing you, mate. Go chase Jack down or something if you're bored of kissing Don."
"Oi!" Don said, his voice bordering on a whine. "He is not bored!"
We all laughed as he put on an exaggerated pout that was out of character for him, but would have been at home on his boyfriend's face. Ben whined until Don opted to forgive him, clearly angling to resolve the faux situation without having to get up.
Coleen and James were sitting in the grass near us, with Coleen resting against James's bent knee as they signed with my little sister and Alice. It seemed that the girls had properly patched everything up, for they all looked to be getting along swimmingly as they squealed with laughter over something that had James looking on in bemusement.
The lake was still, reflecting the fat white clouds that drifted overhead. Scorpius and Al were tossing food to the giant squid, with Hagrid handing them pieces out of a massive bucket each time they ran out. Ava Carter stood beside him, laughing and calling out directions as the boys tried to remain clear of the squid's more eager limbs.
Lucy, Lana, and the Scamander twins were talking to each other further along the edge of the water. I was relieved to note that Lucy did not have the look of someone who had just failed any of her exams. Molly sat nearby with her boyfriend, who Roxy had told me privately was thinking about proposing to her. I hoped that he did, for Molly rarely looked as happy as she did when she was with him.
Roxy and Freddy were sitting with Nikki, Taylor, Conner, and Ross. They all looked cheerful as they chatted together, with Taylor and Roxy openly adorable while Ross and Conner took turns gazing longingly at each other when the other wasn't looking.
Rose, Louis, Hugo, and Hugo's boyfriend Mike were watching the bubbles that Louis was creating with his wand drift out over the water. I wondered if Dom would come home to see her little brother this summer, for I knew how much he missed her, despite how well he had adapted to not having her around.
I jumped when something touched my head, which made Jay, Ben, Jack, Don, and Arnold laugh at me. Ben pulled his hands back slightly to show me the crown he had made out of the daisies that grew in the grass around us before setting it back atop my head.
"What are you thinking about so hard over there?" Don asked, waving his wand and causing another cluster of daisies to appear as Ben scoured the grass for them with a frown. We both smiled as he lit up upon discovering the flowers that his boyfriend had just created for him.
"Just that Ben is right. Life is really beautiful. I hope that next year feels like this," I mumbled, tipping my head back slightly with one hand on the flower crown so that more of the sun fell on my face.
The boys all made noises of agreement as they settled in to enjoy the sunshine. When Ben had made flower crowns for the other four boys, he began using his wand to float them across the grass to everyone else. He continued to light up each time he found a new patch of daisies, while Don continued to create them with the same fond smile. James put a crown on Coleen's head with a grin, snagging her camera to take a picture of her while she blushed in what was clearly pleased surprise. I wondered how often she was actually in the pictures herself.
Lily made a crown herself, transfiguring the flowers into brilliant sunflowers before bringing it over and tucking it into Ben's curls. He gave her a bright smile in response, saying something about getting flowers from a flower that made her laugh delightedly as she made her way back over to Alice.
"They're cute," Ben said to me, clearly giving me space to either clarify the two girls' relationship or leave it to question.
"They've been friends for a long time," I said. "I've always been glad that they have each other."
Ben gave me a toothy grin, clearly having gotten what he wanted from my vague response. I knew that Lily wouldn't care what Ben knew or thought he knew about her relationship with Alice, just as I knew that Ben would never use information about my little sister the way that he used the information that he gathered on other people.
"When you run for Minister of Magic, can I design your campaign advertisements?" I asked Ben jokingly, hoping a second later that the abrupt shift in subject didn't seem too out of the left field.
He laughed, not seeming fazed in the slightest. "What do you have in mind? Will they be any good?"
His eyes were already on the sketchbook that stuck out of my bag as he asked the question. I rolled my eyes, digging the book out and quickly creating something.
"Oh, that's amazing, bug," He said as I flipped the paper around for him to see, his head tipping back as he laughed. "I'm going to put these up everywhere when I run!"
Jay grabbed the corner of the book, flipping it around so that he could see the drawing. I had done a sketch of Ben the way he looked now, though I had replaced my legs with a field of flowers of all sorts, making sure that the only sunflowers were those that made up the crown on his head. Underneath, I had written "Vote for your favorite pygmy puff".
"I-what?" Jay asked, looking baffled.
"He doesn't understand us," Ben pouted. I returned the pout for a moment before we both dissolved into giggles.
"No," Jay chuckled. "I really don't."
Minnie called me to meet with her before I went home for the summer. We were to meet in her office, not the Headmistress's tower, so I knew that we would not be meeting about anything serious.
On the way to her office, I passed Max Holland. He hadn't gone to the Hospital Wing for the scratches that he had carved into his face on the ill-fated night that I had last spent around him, so they had healed into long white scars that ran across his face. His eyes were still hauntingly empty as he tracked my movement across the hallway. I could still feel his gaze on me long after I had disappeared from his line of sight.
A copy of my paper was proudly displayed next to the drawing of Magus that I had done for her on the wall behind Minnie's desk. She gave me a small smile as I sat down in the chair across from her.
"How were your exams?"
"I think they went well. I think I might have scraped an 'E' in Herbology, which is shocking. I'm expecting a couple of 'E's and hoping for a few 'O's. We'll see in a month or so, though," I said with a shrug, accepting the biscuit that she offered me.
"Well, your Aunt Hermione earned all but one 'E', so I'm expecting a similar standing from you," She said primly, though the stern statement was rather spoiled when she snatched a biscuit and bit into it with a resounding crunch, which sent me into a fit of giggles.
"Did Teddy owl you?" I asked suddenly, leaning forward to look at the woman hopefully. I had been forced to have a stern talk with my older brother over the break when I realized that he and Vic had forgotten someone very important at Christmas.
Minnie gave me a blinding grin-possibly the largest that I had ever seen on the woman's face-as she pulled a sweater out of her desk drawer. It said "great gran". Her eyes were slightly glossy as she ran her fingers over the material before slipping it back into her desk.
"I'm so excited! They should be here soon," I said, bouncing lightly in my seat.
"It is very exciting," She agreed, genuinely seeming to mean it. "Speaking of exciting, I called you in here to discuss your Animagus transformation."
I laughed at the segue, which was almost as random as some of my own. "What about it?"
"I want you to begin attempting your transformation next year. It's going to be a lot of work, mind you, so you need to take this seriously, but I don't want you having to worry about the whole process during your NEWTs year. Keep in mind that you may not actually achieve your transformation until your seventh year. I just want you to complete the ritual that leads up to it and begin attempting the transformation."
"I understand. It will be good to give myself my seventh year to study, if I can knock out all of the complicated bits next year. I'm so excited!"
She smiled again as I waved my hands about excitedly. We spent the next few minutes going over my notes about the process leading up to transformation. Minnie wanted to make sure that I knew exactly what I would need to do, as some of the things would be time sensitive.
Once we had everything straightened out, we went back to discussing Teddy and Victoire's baby. Minnie was convinced that it was going to be a girl. I wasn't sure that she was right, but I didn't openly disagree with the woman. Though she was playing it cool, I could tell that she was incredibly touched by the sweater that they had sent her.
We walked to lunch together. The Great Hall was fairly empty because most of the school was scrambling to get their things packed for summer, so I had no issues waving merrily to her as I went to sit at my table.
"Hello, Marigold," Jay said, setting a sandwich on the plate in front of me. He had cut the edges off of it, something that I would absolutely never admit I preferred, but that he had somehow picked up on over the years. I could feel the broad grin spreading across his lips when I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek in thanks. "Are you excited for summer vacation?"
I thought about the question for a minute, taking a bite of the sandwich as I did so. After swallowing, I said, "Yes, definitely more excited than last year, but I'm also looking forward to coming back here next year."
He smiled broadly, seeming genuinely relieved by my response. "I'm glad. You really seemed to be dreading last summer and you didn't seem happy to be back at the beginning of this year. Hogwarts is your home. It's nice to see you excited to be here."
Sandwich with the edges cut off in hand, my gaze fell upon the dimples that appeared in Jay's cheeks when he smiled. The words were cheesy, but they slipped off of my tongue before I could think twice about them. "You're my home. Hogwarts is just the place where we happen to frequently exist together."
Jay's smile grew, his hands coming up to cup the sides of my face. There were still other people in the Great Hall, I remembered absently, but somehow it felt as though it were just the two of us. I suddenly recalled feeling like Jay wore a perpetual smile during my first year at Hogwarts. It had been charming, the way that my new friend's lips were always turned upwards with joy. Now, I knew that Jay always seemed to be smiling when I saw him because he was happy to see me. Predestined rotten luck aside, I was undoubtedly the most fortunate person in the world, to be loved by Jay Wood.
"Wherever I am is fine, so long as I'm with you," Jay told me, his thumb running over my cheek. I could tell from the look in his eyes that we were on roughly the same wavelength with our thoughts.
"I don't know that one. Who said that?"
His cheeks turned a bit red as he admitted, "Just me."
In response, I leaned forward and kissed him.
"Well! This looks cozy."
I jumped slightly as someone slammed onto the bench next to me. Ben was grinning as I turned around, trying to subtly rub my nose where I had smacked it against Jay's cheek when I flinched in surprise.
"Clingy," I said, flicking him in the shoulder as I turned back to my sandwich with a small pout.
"Definitely," Don agreed, giving me a put-upon look as he sat down beside his boyfriend. Despite his words, he slipped his hand under the table to grab Ben's, kissing his knuckles before reaching for a pitcher of water.
"I'm just going to miss you this summer!" Ben whined, dropping his head onto my shoulder as he did so.
"Come visit me then," I responded with a shrug, hiding a grin as the action jostled his head so much that he had to have been dramatizing it. "I mean, that's the obvious solution here, isn't it?"
Ben's head snapped up as my words seemed to register, giving me a wide-eyed look, as though he couldn't quite believe my words. "Can I really?"
I furrowed my brow, trying to figure out why he was so startled. There was an odd sort of tremor to his voice, like he was trying not to sound too hopeful, and I found that I didn't care for it in the slightest. "Yeah, of course. You've already been to my house."
"Only to floo home, though," Ben countered.
"So? It's not like mum and dad tell just anyone where the house is. You're my friend, Ben. One of my best friends. I'll owl you and we can figure out a few days for you to come visit, okay?"
Ben threw his free arm around my shoulders, giving me a tight hug before turning to Don with a grin.
"I told you that you should just ask her," Don scolded in an undertone that I was clearly not meant to hear. "She obviously loves you, Benji; it's not like she was going to say no. See if you can go when I go to South Korea with my parents, so I don't have to listen to you whine about being lonely the whole time."
I glanced at Jay and found him fighting off a grin as we listened to Ben begin protesting Don's words. He let out a snort as our eyes met, which set me off.
Leaning into his side as we both tried to calm down, I muttered in a much softer undertone than the one Don had used, "Why did Ben think I wouldn't want him to come over?"
Jay tipped his head from side to side as he thought about how to respond. Finally, he said, "You tend to see people for exactly what they are. It's a very good quality, in my opinion, but you also have a habit of seeing only that. You don't really notice how other people see them, which, like I said, isn't a bad thing. It's just that you don't always catch the lens that the rest of the world uses to look at them. Like Coleen, for instance. You had no clue that people said the things that they did about her. I'll bet you don't know what people say about Scorpius or the Scamander twins. Or me. You-"
"What do people say about you?" I asked, indignant. In my outrage, I forgot to keep my voice down. Ben and Don both turned to look at us for a minute before quietly continuing their conversation when Jay made no effort to respond to my question.
"My love, I don't want you tracking people down or anything, but the whole Quidditch Captain/Professional players' kid things are sort of the only things I'm actually liked at Hogwarts for. Beyond that, most people are sort of indifferent about me. I'm too quiet when I'm not around you to really be well-liked. A lot of people think I'm weird. It's fine; that's just how it is."
I had to pull my hands into my sleeves, because there was no controlling the magic that swirled around them. Jay touched the place between my brows, undoubtedly tracing the wrinkles that formed from the angry way I had knitted my eyebrows in.
"It's okay, Marigold-"
"It's not. That's completely unfair. You're not weird, you're-"
"Sweetheart, we've had this conversation before. Believe me when I say that knowing the way that you see me is worth more than the opinion of the entire rest of the world, but your opinion doesn't change anyone else's. That's just how it is," As he spoke, he traced my mouth before reaching down and taking my hand. I finally stamped the magic in my hands down, not wanting to light him on fire. "My point, though, is that people don't think very highly of Ben."
It was a struggle to listen to what he was saying with how hard I had to fight to keep control of myself, especially with how quietly he was talking. He frowned when I shoved my magic deep within myself in order to keep it under control.
"Don't do that," He mumbled, running a hand over my fingers. I ignored him, for I didn't think that he realized just how hard it was to control the golden magic otherwise. We had been looking for a way for me to do so, and Hastings had unintentionally forced me to learn. I wasn't going to stop just because it felt weird. "We can leave if you need to, but don't do that. Your fingers are freezing. It's not right. Look, all I'm going to say is that a lot of people speculate that you're just…I don't know, putting up with him? It's stupid, because Don's right, it's obvious that you love Ben, but people will think what they want to. I think it just occasionally gets to Ben, you know?"
"Oh."
Jay looked confused when I turned back to my plate without further comment, mouth suddenly too dry to finish my meal.
Truthfully, his words made me feel guilty. I had never realized that people were talking badly about my friends. For all of the years that Ben and I had been friends, I had never once defended our friendship to anyone, because I hadn't realized that there was anything to defend. I knew that people gave him a hard time over his grandfather, but I hadn't realized that they had been using our friendship to do the same thing.
"Bug?"
I glanced at Ben, forcing a small smile. He wore that soft look of concern that I had only ever seen him wear for me. My relationship with Ben was, I had often thought, the sort of relationship that I might have had with Teddy, were he a bit closer to my age. There was physical pain in my chest as I realized that, for all that he had been there for me over the years, I had completely missed the ill treatment that he was receiving.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I responded, trying for confusion so that I didn't have to explain why I was upset, when he was the one that should be.
"You clench your jaw when you're trying not to cry. What's wrong?"
For an inexplicable reason, his words only made me want to cry more. Blinking furiously, I curled my fingers around his wrist very lightly.
"I'm sorry if I'm not always an attentive friend," I said, my voice soft and cracking slightly as I tried to keep from crying. I hastened to continue before he could respond. "I value your friendship a lot. I'll forever be more grateful that I can explain that Flitwick sat us next to each other during my second year. Really, you're one of my best friends in the entire world, Ben."
"Phoenix," Ben said, sounding a bit distraught, "I didn't mean to make you upset. You're private. I get private. My dad comes to get me from King's Cross in disguise every year. I didn't ask you if I could come over directly because I didn't want to make you feel obligated to say yes. That's all. You're a great friend."
I tipped my head against his arm, sniffling slightly. "Okay. I just wanted to make sure. I love you, Ben."
"I love you, too, bug. Here, have some strawberries and stop looking so sad, please."
I let out a small laugh as I accepted the bowl from him. Don was giving me a look that made me feel like he could see right through me as I picked at my favorite fruit, his hand reaching over his boyfriend's plate to give mine a squeeze. On the other side of me, Jay looked intensely guilty.
After a few minutes, during which Ben told me really bad jokes in an attempt to make me laugh, Jay stood.
"Walk with me?" He asked, holding out a hand.
I climbed to my feet, kissing Ben on the cheek before waving to Don as I let him lead me away. The halls were fairly empty, warm summer air creeping into the building and making me realize just how cold my hands were. We passed Alexi, Julia, and Justin along the way, the Oritz siblings each clinging to one of the older boy's arms and blinking away tears. I wondered briefly how our reserves would handle next year without their pseudo-brother around, but the thought stung too sharply when I remembered that next year was the final year of a lot of people that I loved dearly, so I shook it away as Jay and I waved and carried on. He led me to one of the abandoned classrooms that we frequented with Lily and Freddy, closing and silencing the door behind us.
"Marigold, I'm so sorry," Jay apologized immediately. "I didn't mean to make you upset. You're a great friend to Ben. People just suck sometimes. That's not at all you, though."
"I just feel bad," I said softly, "I didn't even know that people talked about him. Or Coleen, Scorpius, you, or the Scamander twins-and what do they even say about those two?"
TW
"It's really stupid," Jay said with a roll of his eyes, mood shifting abruptly to annoyance. "Just that they're trying to cover up that Lorcan's secretly a girl or something-"
"You tell me who was saying that right now," I ordered, my hands burning white hot as I cut him off. "I'll make their lives hell next year."
"Marigold-" His eyes were on my hands, not my face.
When Lorcan had first come out, everyone had been a bit worried about the press being horrible. It was only after a few weeks passed and nothing changed but the name and pronouns that we used for him that the adults began to relax. I had found out a few years later that things had gone so smoothly because Luna and Rolf had been exceedingly private with the lives of their children. Lorcan's coming out had been news only within our circle because all that the rest of the world really knew was that Luna had given birth to twins not long before mum was due to have Lily.
"Lorcan is a boy. If anyone is saying otherwise, I'm going to take care of it," I practically snarled the words, so angry for the boy that it was hard to think straight.
"Why-oh. Okay, yeah, I'll get you names," Jay said, glancing up at me with understanding blooming on his face. Lily had mentioned that Lorcan had given the okay for Jay to know that he was trans if it ever came up over the summer, which was why I wasn't concerned that he seemed to have realized. Still, I would let the boy know that Jay knew the next time that I saw him.
End TW
Jay's eyes widened suddenly as he looked at me. I watched in confusion as he glanced at my hands, which I realized belatedly that I could put out. Jay looked back up at me with slight concern on his face.
"Marigold, your eyes were…really green. I don't know if you noticed, either, but your hands weren't gold, they were just on fire. Was that like when you fought Lucy, where it was all over?"
I thought back for a minute, and then nodded.
"Okay. That's okay," Jay said softly, tone odd, as though he were more concerned than he wanted to let on. "Let's just…it's almost summer. Let's go back to being excited. Can we do that?"
"Do you want to go for a fly?"
Relief colored his face as he grinned at me. "Yes, I would love to go flying with you. Come on."
The pitch was empty, so we took off into the clear blue sky in silence. We didn't bother to get out the quaffle, instead choosing to just fly around the pitch, racing each other from goal to goal and trying to one-up each other's tricks. At one point I flipped upside down right in front of Jay, to which he responded by kissing me.
"Spider-Man," I laughed.
"What?" Jay asked, looking bewildered.
"Oh my gods. Oh no. Okay, we'll get it sorted when we get home, don't you worry. I think Uncle Ron will loan you his comics," I said, shaking my head at Jay in mostly faux sympathy.
"Uh…okay? You're very red, Marigold."
I tsked at my confused boyfriend, flipping over and flying in a lazy loop before taking off down the pitch again.
Jay flew after me, chuckling as he tried to get me to explain what a Spider-Man was. He didn't understand why the question made me laugh, but he couldn't seem to help the responding grin that he gave me.
When we boarded the train the next day, I found myself seated between Jay and Coleen. The expanded compartment was as crowded as ever, leaving us all crushed together as we made sure that everyone who wanted to could fit.
"James told me about Teddy and Vic," She whispered in my ear as we got moving, grabbing my hand in hers excitedly as she spoke. "Congratulations! You must be so excited. That kid is going to be so lucky to have you as their godmother. You take good care of the people that you love."
I smiled, twining my fingers with hers. "I am excited. You'll have to come by the house after they're born so that you can meet them. Lils, Vic, and I are going into muggle London in a few weeks to get some stuff to decorate the baby's room if you want to come with us. Vic's got a charm that she's been using to hide her bump since she started showing, but she doesn't want to go out too close to term, so we'll be going soon."
Coleen lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah, I already talked to Victoire and she said to invite you along for sure," I responded warmly.
"I'd love that! Just let me know when she wants to go; I can be available whenever!"
James was smiling at me over the top of his girlfriend's head. I returned the grin before dropping my head onto Col's shoulder, my smile widening when she immediately set her head on top of mine in response.
After a while, James and Coleen started a game of chess, so I leaned the other way to cuddle into Jay's side.
He smiled, brushing my hair out of my face. "You're so affectionate lately. It's sweet."
Curling further into his side, I chose not to tell him that lately I had felt like time was slowly slipping from my fingertips, leaving me reeling as I tried to make sure that my loved ones knew how much they meant to me. Instead, I leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek before touching my fingers to the page of the book that he held.
We read in silence for the rest of the journey. When we pulled into the station, I was relieved to see that no reporters had crossed the boundary ahead of schedule. My parents were waiting with Jay's as usual, Vic, Teddy, and Levi at their side. Victoire determinedly had her hands in her pockets, undoubtedly trying to keep from rubbing them over her stomach unconsciously. Levi had requested off at the end of April until September, not wanting to miss the birth and first few months of his godchild's life. Vic had tried to insist that he didn't need to worry about it, but he wouldn't hear of doing anything else.
Victoire pulled Coleen into a hug after she was through with greeting Lou, Al, Lily, Jay, James, and I. The feeling of her invisible bump pressing into my abdomen when it was my turn made me giggle.
"Hello, pretty girl. Nice to see you again. Are you coming with us in a few weeks?" Vic asked the Ravenclaw with a warm smile.
James beamed as the two interacted. Stepping away from Jay for a moment as he discussed Quidditch with my parents, I nudged my brother lightly.
"You look happy," I told him softly.
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as he responded. "I am happy. I can't believe Coleen wants to be with me. She's so wonderful, P. Thank you for all that you've done to help make this happen for us. I understand why no one wanted anything to do with the girls before-honestly I didn't want anything to do with some of them-but it's really nice to be with someone that just clicks with our family. I'm not going to do anything to screw this up. I've waited for my chance to be with her for a year now. Plus, she's Lily's best friend, and, while making Lily mad doesn't make me all that scared, what you'll do to me in retaliation for angering her does."
I laughed at his teasing grin. "Well, I do love our little sister."
"I know you do."
"I love you, too, Jamie. I'm really happy for you," I told my brother, watching as his grin softened from teasing to something more affectionate.
"I love you, too. Now, shove off before someone sees us," He joked, lightly pushing me away from him and ruffling my hair.
I gave him a crooked smile before ducking out from under his hand and scooping Circe up.
"Come on, kids! Let's go before the press descend," Uncle Ron called, waving us into motion.
"Ben, you're coming with us again," Mum informed the boy. "I've already sorted it with your father. You can use our floo again, but we're going out for lunch first!"
Ben nodded happily, slinging an arm around Jay's shoulders. I was astonished to note that he was, in fact, shorter than Jay.
There were additional Aurors standing outside of the platform, trying to look discrete as they kept the press at bay. Rather than going out for lunch like we normally did, we took everyone back to the Burrow and ate our meal there. Ben left via the Burrow's floo with promises to come visit me soon.
After we finished eating, mum and dad took us home. Snuffles jumped on me, eagerly trying to lick Circe, who pretended to look disgruntled. James and Lily ran ahead, chickens scattering in the yard as they sprinted into the house. Snuffles chased after them with a happy bark, while Albus tried to calm the chickens down. Dad floated our trunks inside while mum summoned the chicken scratch for Al to give the birds, laughing as they pecked at her boots in anticipation of the snack. Levi wrapped an arm around Vic's shoulders, leading her into the house while Teddy carried their bags. The couple would be staying with us for a few days, though Vic was planning on going to Shell Cottage for a bit the next day to see Lou.
I gazed at the pale blue house, watching as Lily's window opened, her head popping out to wave before she began lighting candles. Levi was fussing over Victoire in the kitchen, to the obvious amusement of Vic and Teddy.
My window wasn't visible from the front of the house, but I could feel anxious anticipation for my soft bed and the scent of dried herbs that I knew still hung from my ceiling creeping through me. Mum would have washed my bedding and stacked it at the end of my mattress. Tonight she would make one of our favorite foods for dinner, letting me sit on the counter while she prepared everything, likely with Vic or Levi's help. James would try to talk one of us into playing a game of chess with him after dinner while we listened to the radio in the living room. Dad would probably talk mum into dancing with him for a while, perhaps with Victoire and Ted joining in. Lily would tug on Levi's arm until he got up and spun her around the room as well, not relenting until she was almost too dizzy to stand on her own. Once everyone grew tired, we would go to our own rooms, where I would light a candle and read a book until I was ready to drift off, fairy lights plugged in so that I could fall asleep completely alone for the first time in months.
"Come on, Circe," I said softly, setting the kneazle down at my side. She let out a little meow as I beamed at the house before me. "Let's go home."
Anyone remember the origin of Phoenix calling Ben a pygmy puff? I'll give you a hint-it happens in the first chapter that Ben appears in (New Friends).
As always, thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following!