Chapter Ten

Lily didn't speak to Kayla for days.

Technically, she did murmur the odd, "Excuse me," as they passed each other in the hall, or if they were both cooking in the cramped kitchen, but otherwise, she didn't speak to Kayla at all. Even when she'd apologized to Lily, she was uncharacteristically quiet.

Kayla had tried to talk to Lily soon after Albus had apologized on Monday night. He'd knocked on Lily's door for a full three minutes before she'd come out. They made up, hugged and then he treated her for dinner. According to Al, it had gone well and Lily had forgiven him.

But for some reason, when Kayla tried to apologize the next day, it might as well have fallen on deaf ears. Lily only stared at her as Kayla said how sorry she was for keeping that secret, how she wasn't sure if she and Al would really be dating and wanted to make sure before she caused any trouble. There was absolutely no response to the apology at all.

Lily could keep a grudge, but she'd never kept one against Kayla before.

By Wednesday, Kayla was feeling guiltier than ever. She didn't see how it would have done any good to tell Lily earlier, because it seemed that she would have been extremely angry either way. And now that Kayla had sincerely apologized, she felt a bit angry, too. It wasn't as though Lily was explaining herself, either.

Kayla went to work that morning, her insides twisted with guilt and contempt. Wednesday tended to be a quiet day for Slug & Jiggers, and she decided the best thing for her to do was to throw herself into her work to avoid the endless thinking about Lily or Hugo or Albus. Unfortunately, there were no potions to be made, no ingredients to be ordered and she finished the cleaning hours ago.

Kayla really wondered then why she worked at the store. Most of the time there was no challenge at all, nothing to learn, nothing to do. She always said she liked it, but maybe she liked that it was so comforting to her. There were usually long, quiet stretches where absolutely no wizards or witches entered the store at all.

It was not comfortable at the moment.

Then she thought about poetry.

The type of poetry she heard at the slam was honest and meaningful. Each word felt deliberate to be experienced through the audience. Kayla felt like her writing was more of endless drabbling, and as she tried to write, her mind ultimately went back to Lily and Hugo.

She tried to write about something else, at first, but it kept popping back into her mind. She wrote a couple of lines about her best friend leaving, and then a few more on resounding silence.

It was then that she snapped her notebook shut and shoved it back in her rucksack. Her hands were trembling, but she decided to read Magical Mediterranean Water Plants out loud so she couldn't hear the thoughts roaring through her mind:

She will never forgive you.

He is leaving forever.

You are going to be entirely alone.

Her mind felt like a warzone.

She was so wrapped up in it all that she didn't even hear the door jingle when it opened. Luckily, it was only Albus, though that didn't make it less embarrassing. When he saw her sitting at that counter, reading the paragraphs aloud from the book and teary-eyed, he came around the counter.

Kayla didn't stop reading until she first noticed Al when he was stepping behind the counter. Before she could say anything, she found her nose pressed into his middle as he wrapped his arms around her.

She took a deep breath before mumbling into his jacket. "Hello."

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, squeezing her a pulse before letting go. "You look pale. And why are you reading that book out loud?"

"I don't know," she muttered, avoiding his eyes and folding the corner of her page. "I'm weird."

"Well, yeah, but a good weird." He knelt down and peered at her, forcing her to look at him. "Are you angry with me?"

"What?" she asked, suddenly confused. "Of course not."

"Is it…" He hesitated. "Is it Lily?"

"Yeah."

"You haven't talked yet?"

"I've talked to her," she said quietly, irritably, "and apologized. But she hasn't forgiven me."

"So now you're reading…" His expression softened as he read the title. "You still haven't finished that yet?"

"I've been busy."

"Sure." Al sighed and leant down to kiss the top of her head. "Have you seen Hugo? I think he's been avoiding me."

"Erm…" Kayla was a terrible liar, but she wasn't about to sell out her best friend's secret. She could feel her face turning red as she spoke. "I'm sure he's just busy with Gemma. He told me he's been very taken with her."

"Can't argue with that." He tugged the thick textbook out of her hands and set it down on the counter beside her. "You seem quite down because of Lily."

"I don't know what's going on with her," Kayla admitted miserably.

"Can I cheer you up?" he asked, taking her now-empty hand and holding it firmly. "It's nearly the end of your shift, right? I need your help with something."

"I dunno, I think I just want to go home and conk out."

"After," he urged, pouting at her with wide eyes. "Please? This is good, I promise. And after I will watch telly with you."

Kayla looked at him skeptically. "I thought you didn't like doing that." He'd almost never attended her movie marathons and thought it was strange to stare at, as he would say, "A moving picture box for hours on end".

"You love that muggle stuff, so I will try it." He looked sincere, as though he was actually looking forward to it.

She stood up to step closer to him, looking at him very seriously, even though she was joking entirely. "I will need a bribe."

"It's a bit late for coffee, isn't it?"

"Chocolate," she corrected, cracking a smile. "Honeydukes. I have been craving that stuff all week."

Al laughed just as the door jingled again, and Kevin stepped in. He somehow didn't even look surprised when he saw Albus behind the counter, but just nodded at Kayla and headed for the back room.

"Looks like your shift is over," Al said, pulling her hand. "Let's go. I promise this will cheer you up. We just need to stop at your apartment first."

"How come?" she asked, grabbing her rucksack and jacket from her chair.

"You have a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, right?"

Kayla's father had gifted her with a Mimbulus Mimbletonia ages ago. She kept the tiny grey cactus alive at her windowsill for years, as it was a rare and very useful plant. It reminded her of her father whenever she thought about it.

Al was more excited to see it than she thought he would be. When they approached it at her window, he knelt down beside it and petted it very gently. Not to her surprise, it made a gentle crooning sound and did not erupt any Stinksap from its boils.

"It's almost like a pet," he joked, straightening up.

"What do you need it for?" she asked curiously, setting her bag down on her bed. "I know Stinksap is dead useful, but we never use it in potions."

"Oh, I know," he said, grabbing his wand and taking out a large plastic container from his own bag. He held it up against the cactus. "I want to use the Stinksap for something that came up today."

"For what – eek!"

Al had poked the cactus roughly with the end of his wand. Kayla jumped back as the Mimbulus Mimbletonia's boils exploded, splattering Stinksap everywhere. It smelled strongly of manure. While some of it went onto the window, most of it ended up into Al's container.

"Give a witch a warning, would you?" she said, her chest heaving heavily from surprise. He grinned guiltily at her before muttering "Scourgify," and cleaning the mess in Kayla's room.

"Sorry," he said, closing his container and shoving it back into his rucksack. "I should've said something. I just want this to be a surprise."

She shook her head, smiling. "I've never used it for Stinksap. The only thing I've ever done is use Herbivicus on it."

"What do you mean?"

Kayla pointed her wand at the Mimbulus Mimbletonia and said, "Herbivicus." A thin green light shot towards the plant and stems began to grow outwards from the boils. The steams grew into the buds that immediately bloomed into beautiful pink and white flowers.

"Whoa," Al said, leaning down close to the plant again. "I've never seen that before."

"It's an advanced Herbology charm," she explained. "It's a bit tricky, but usually it makes the plant grow. For a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, instead of making it grow, it blooms and its flowers are magical. They can be picked and used for hygienic purposes."

"I never took N.E.W.T. level Herbology," he said, shrugging. "It actually looks really interesting when you explain it."

Kayla blushed.

"Come on," he said, standing properly and holding out his hand. "I'm going to cheer you up, now."

Albus led Kayla down the road to Eeylops Owl Emporium. Until they entered, she hadn't a clue to what he wanted to do, but as she entered the shop, it dawned on her. Many of the owls were hooting weakly and tiredly and looking extremely sick.

"Stinksap will help them better than the potions," Al explained as Kayla ran her fingers at the top of a particularly quiet barn owl near the front. He brought out the container full of green, horribly-smelling sap and pushed it in her hands. "The owner sent us an order today but I thought this would be quicker. I didn't want the disease to spread any more than it already has."

He excused himself to speak to the owner, leaving Kayla with the large container of sap. She looked back to the barn owl with its moon face and brown spotted wings and felt a deep pang; her father typically used barn owls to send letters to her, as Hogwarts had many barn owls in the Owlry.

When Al came back, he was holding several Popsicle sticks. He took the container and set it down on a table next to a few owl cages before opening the lid.

"I don't think they'll like the smell," Al said, swiping the tip of the wooden stick through the Stinksap and holding out the clean end for her. She took it. "We'll have to wait until they hoot and then quickly stick it in. I except they'll be alright by tomorrow."

She only stared at him, holding the stick, and he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You are…" Kayla trailed off and turned away, trying not to smile. "Never mind." As she began to poke the stick through a cage of a disgruntled scops owl, he pecked her cheek and went to the other side of the store.

For the next hour, it was both a frustrating and wonderful time, administrating Stinksap to sick owls. While the owls were adorable, one definitely pooped on Kayla's shoulder at one point, and she didn't notice until Al was laughing at her. They also reacted very badly to the taste of the Stinksap, and one flew aggressively at Kayla once they tasted it. Luckily, it was kept in a heavy cage.

"That one's a fighter," the owner had said wearily while the owl clanged in its cage.

Eventually, Kayla had treated many owls and was back at the first sick barn owl she'd seen before. It was very quiet, so she stood and had a staring contest with it, daring it to hoot so it could finally open its beak a crack.

Al ended up at her side ten minutes later, and the owl still hadn't opened its beak.

"It won the staring contest," she whispered as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Her bicep was starting to feel tired, holding the stick of Stinksap out.

"You're having a staring contest with the owl?" he said, sounding amused.

"I was."

Al laughed. "It's very sweet," he said gently, opening the door of its cage and scratching its neck. It yawned. "I think it's a she."

"It's a she," the owner confirmed, coming up behind them. He was a very tall man with a handlebar moustache, and he played with it as he spoke. "Very bright owl. We found the egg abandoned and raised her. She's only a year old."

"And she's sleepy," Kayla said softly as the owner walked away. "Do me a favour and make her yawn again?"

Al scratched the owl's neck again. Just as it closed its eyes, Kayla tipped the stick forward and it caught in the owl's mouth when it opened. It nipped the stick and then its eyes opened widely in surprised. Al hastily retracted his hand and closed the cage door.

"You're going to buy her, aren't you?" he asked, holding Kayla closer. She smiled but didn't answer. She wasn't sure if she was quite ready to buy an owl, no matter how beautiful it was. "I think I promised you tea now?"

"Don't forget the telly," Kayla teased, and he groaned.

They ended up bringing Chinese takeout from a restaurant nearby in London and settling on Kayla's couch before flipping through channels on her television. She didn't know if Lily would care, but either way, she wasn't home. Al decided to make the tea while she decided on the best program to watch.

"Did you find something?" he asked, collapsing beside her.

"Where's the tea?"

"It's coming," he said nonchalantly. She glanced behind him and saw two steaming mugs floating towards them. The mugs settled themselves onto the coffee table in front of them. When she looked back at Al, he was watching her expectantly.

"What?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Did you want me to be impressed?"

"Oi, it's really hard to do that without the tea spilling!"

"You do realize that Wingardium Leviosa is a First Year charm, don't you?"

"Shut it," Al said jokingly, poking her side and making her giggle. "I'd love to see you do the same."

"You should really challenge the First Years, at least then it'd be a fair fight –" Kayla cut off as Al grabbed her around the shoulders and nuzzled her hair gently. She squealed as he started tickling her sides.

After a few protests, Albus let up, but was still chuckling. "I think our food is getting cold."

As they began to eat, Kayla eventually found a documentary series on baking. Al didn't protest as the program began to describe the origins of many different sweets.

"You still owe me brownies," he said after some time.

"Owe you?" She pretended to think for a second. "Is it your birthday?"

He pouted at her, mouth full of noodles.

"Did you win a bet? No…"

He swallowed. "I will take you out for a nice dinner this weekend if you make me some."

"Hmm." She narrowed her eyes. "So the only way you'll take me on a nice date is if I bake you brownies?"

"I'd like to change the last thing I said," he said loudly, his ears reddening.

"I don't think so!" she said, just as loudly, but she was smirking now. "I think you just keep bribing me into doing your dirty work."

He poked her side again. "It works, though."

"Hmph." She brought her knees to her chest and focused on her carton of noodles, chopsticks and telly, ignoring his pokes and tapping on the shoulder as he attempted to get her attention again.

Eventually, he rested his head against her shoulder. "You win."

"I do?"

"I am going to take you for a nice dinner." He turned to kiss her shoulder. "And I won't expect any brownies."

"I don't even know if I want to go to dinner with you anymore," she said playfully, keeping a pout on her face.

"We're having dinner right now."

"You've really cheaped out, haven't you?" she teased.

He heaved a long sigh and took hold of her shoulders, looking at her straight in the eye. "Kayla, will you please have a lovely romantic dinner with me and I promise I am not bribing you to do any more Herbology, even though I know you love it?"

She grinned. "I'll think about it."

Al rolled his eyes and let go of her in a huff. He had turned his attention back to the telly and his food when Kayla put her carton down and sat on her knees to turn to him. He was pouting playfully as he fake-ignored her.

She swallowed her nerves to press a small kiss against his cheek. "I'd love to."

He tried to contain his surprise, but she caught his eyebrows jumping up. "You're just using me for my money," he grumbled.

"I'm not sure exactly what money there is."

"Goddamn, I thought you were supposed to be a nice Hufflepuff," he said grouchily. "Can't you bake me brownies out of the goodness of your soul?"

"Hufflepuffs are very loyal," she told him seriously. "We can be very dedicated to our laziness."

He rolled his eyes but put an arm around her and held her tightly.

Kayla's heart was still pounding furiously and her cheeks were burning, but it nearly felt natural to her now. She had never felt so comfortable with someone she was dating; she was usually extremely self-conscious and barely spoke. Maybe it was because she and Al had known each other for a while, but then she thought maybe it was something different.

Maybe this is what people meant when they said they "clicked" with someone.

As she was thinking this, Al was playing with her hair absent-mindedly. He suddenly spoke, very quietly. "I'm looking forward to it."

"To what?"

"A nice date." He glanced at her. "With you."

She couldn't stop smiling after that.

Albus proved to be very good at distracting Kayla, but not for very long. As soon as he left, her mind was back to swirling thoughts of misery and confusion. She didn't want to bother Albus with her problems, and Hugo really was busy with Gemma. She wished she could talk to Lily.

She didn't see Lily until the next day at Rose's dress fitting. It was near the Ministry of Magic buildings, in a muggle shop that looked very small from the outside but carried an inordinate number of dresses.

When Kayla arrived in the back room of the shop, a little late as usual, Rose was in the change room. Kayla plopped down onto a plush white couch beside Lily and Hannah Wood, Rose's best friend. Hannah had a long face curtained by long brown hair and her nose and cheeks were covered in freckles. They were both sipping champagne and chatting animatedly.

She felt very out of place immediately; she wasn't a bridesmaid.

"Hi, Kayla!" Hannah greeted cheerfully. "Rose is trying on her first dress."

"It's not going to be the one," Lily added.

"It might."

"It's never the first one!"

Kayla grinned, slightly relieved that Lily didn't sound angry or irritated this time. She hadn't glanced at Kayla at all, but at least there weren't any dirty looks heading her way.

"Anyway," Hannah said, handing Kayla a glass of champagne, "I haven't seen you since Rose's birthday party three months ago! How's it been?"

She shrugged, accepting the glass. "Oh, you know. Not much has changed. Excited for the wedding, though."

"The wedding will be wonderful," Lily said happily. She'd clearly had a few glasses of champagne already. "Open bar is the best."

"The open bar is for me," Rose said from behind the change room curtain. She emerged a second later in a white dress that reached her toes and practically bound her legs together. She looked a bit like an albino mermaid. She swirled around with difficulty. "I don't think I can dance in this."

"No dancing, no dress!" Hannah waved a hand in dismissal. A middle-aged lady attendant came out, hearing this and hurrying another dress over. It didn't have any sleeves and was a bit shorter than the current one.

The lady pushed the dress into Rose's hands and backed away again. "Try this on while I look for this one dress, I know I saw it just this morning…"

She bustled out of the back room again.

"I am so thrilled for this wedding," Hannah gushed as Rose went back into the change room. "I pushed Rose to ask out Scorpius for years, back while we were at Hogwarts. She was completely convinced he was uninterested."

"Yeah, I remember that," Kayla said, nodding and taking a sip of champagne. "There were rumours for ages…"

"You saw them snogging in a corridor, remember?" Lily interjected, finally looking at Kayla. "You didn't tell anyone, though."

"Well, I told you."

"I'm surprised," she said, the sharpness in her voice so slight that Kayla almost missed it.

Hannah hadn't noticed anything. "They hid their relationship for a long time, and now they're getting married…" Hannah trailed off, staring into nothingness with a mushy look on her face.

Despite their tension, Lily and Kayla exchanged amused glances.

"You really like weddings, don't you Hannah?" Lily said, hiding her smile in her glass.

"I really do," she said with that same, faraway look. Then she dropped her eyes down to the ground, sighing. "My boyfriend isn't into marriage, though."

"Come again?"

"He loves me," Hannah said quickly, cheeks colouring. "We've been together since Hogwarts and he asked me out at graduation. But it's been so many years, and he says he has no interest in ever getting married."

"So you'll date until the end?" Kayla asked. "What's the difference?"

"He thinks marriage will change everything," Hannah answered gloomily before draining her glass. She then grabbed the bottle to refill. "I will have to live vicariously through Rose."

Rose came out after that in another slightly ridiculous dress, and the discussion was dropped.

They split up to find dresses for Rose to try on. While she had meticulously planned every other aspect of her wedding, she hadn't a clue what kind of dress she wanted to wear. She attempted different lengths, fits, sleeves, no sleeves, sequins, jewels, poofs…

"This is insane," Kayla muttered while Rose tried on the twentieth dress. "There has to be one she likes a little."

"You know Rose," Lily replied under her breath. "She's extremely picky."

They clinked their glasses together in agreement, and things almost felt back to normal.

Hannah looked tired as well, since they'd been there for nearly two hours. "Maybe I don't want to have a wedding."

Kayla snorted.

"Do you?" Hannah asked suddenly, facing Kayla with interest. "Are you still dating Daniel Finch-Fletchy?"

"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "We broke up at Hogwarts, years ago."

"He cheated on her," Lily added unnecessarily. Kayla shot her a look, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Hannah frowned and patted Kayla on the shoulder in understanding. "That's horrible. I'm sorry, I guess I didn't hear about it."

"Nah, you and Rose already graduated by then," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

Rose came out again in another dress, but before the girls could say a word, she tutted at her reflection in the mirror and went back into the changing room.

"What about you, Lily?" Hannah asked, nudging her with her elbow. "Remember when we used to look at bridal magazines in the common room? You kept a picture of that amazing dress you wanted, it must cost a fortune…"

Lily cleared her throat. "Well, I'm not really interested. I mean, we're only twenty-four… loads of time, you know…"

"That's silly," Hannah said nonchalantly, crossing her legs. "Of course you're interested in getting married. You practically planned out the whole thing that one time –"

"Well, it's not for ages," Lily interrupted in a strained voice. "I don't really see the point. I want to enjoy my freedom while I can, have some fun." Hannah fell quiet after that, seeming confused.

Kayla cleared her throat. "I get that."

Lily's head twisted towards her immediately. Kayla could see the very little bit of vulnerability in her eyes. "Really?"

"Of course," she said casually, tasting her drink and avoiding Lily's gaze. "Don't we all get to choose what we want out of relationships? It takes time to meet the right person, and we might as well enjoy ourselves while we figure the rest out."

Lily looked away.

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Rose came out again, dressed in her regular clothes this time. She sat in front of them on an ottoman, looking exhausted.

"This is terrible," she said sadly, putting her elbows on her knees and holding her head in her hands. "The wedding is in less than two weeks. Scorpius' bachelor party is tomorrow night and I haven't even found a dress yet."

"We'll try another shop this weekend," Hannah encouraged, smiling at her. "I know this one place a little farther out of London, they'll tailor for you too."

Kayla watched sympathetically as Rose nodded, not looking at any of them. She hated dress shopping and couldn't imagine how difficult it was to pick one for such an important day. She saw Lily in the corner of her eye, nodding along to Hannah's words.

Then without warning, Lily burst out, "Kayla hasn't found her dress, either."

Kayla's face burned in humiliation. Lily of all people knew how anxious she got for these big events and ended up fretting over what to wear. Any time when she had to face a crowd of people that were usually judging each other on physical appearance, she ended up taking any route not to think about it.

Thankfully, Rose and Hannah didn't comment on Lily's outburst. They packed up to leave and a few minutes later, as they left the shop, Lily glanced to Kayla. She looked very guilty at this point, but she didn't say a word.

It was in these moments Kayla realized how unsettled she still felt. Not only was her life with her career and work feeling messy, there was an added bonus of this uncertainty with her friends. She never thought she would ever feel that way with Hugo or Lily before.

Maybe she depended on them too much.

They walked in silence back to their place, which was about a fifteen-minute walk. It wasn't until they'd reached their flat and closed the door behind them when Kayla had mustered enough courage to speak.

"Look, Lily…" She took a deep breath as Lily turned back while shrugging off her coat. "I hate this. We never fight. I'm sorry I kept this whole thing from you."

Lily sighed deeply and threw her coat onto the couch before rounding on her. "Are you serious right now?"

Kayla stepped back in surprise. "Yes…"

"You're apologizing?" Lily demanded, gesturing wildly with her hands. "You?"

"Well, you won't speak to me." Kayla said, trying to keep calm, but she was fidgeting with her fingers and feeling extremely frustrated. "I just want to get this over with and be friends again. We need each other right now."

"You got that right," she snapped, kicking off her shoes and tossing them by the door. "Rose and Scorpius are getting married and Hugo is probably leaving right after."

"Exactly!" Kayla agreed, her insides twisting violently just thinking about it. "I don't want to fight anymore."

"You never want to fight," Lily said, a bitter edge to her voice.

"Well we should just try to talk it out calmly –"

"You're dating my brother," she said slowly, gritting her teeth, "and you didn't tell me! You think I can be calm about that? Do you know how badly this all could turn out?"

"What – no?" Kayla sputtered. "What are you talking about?"

Lily sighed, looking up at the ceiling impatiently and dropping her hands ceremoniously to the sides. "Do you not realize what will happen if you guys break up? I will have to choose. And I have to choose family."

Kayla felt like she'd been slapped in the face. "That's not – I think we could –"

"You would never be able to fix that, Kayla," she said tiredly. "Our group is going to be broken up as it is, and I am going to be the odd one out. Again."

She suddenly remembered when Lily was so torn about being Sorted in Gryffindor when Kayla and Hugo landed in Hufflepuff. They did their best to include her in everything, and they were still close as ever, but Lily would always go silent when Hugo and Kayla shared a story from when Lily wasn't there.

Perhaps it still hurt, so many years later.

"You're my best friend," Kayla said weakly, trying not to let her voice break. She was not going to cry. Not now. "I just want things to go back to normal."

Lily stared at her for a long time. Even after being friends for so long, Kayla couldn't tell if Lily's expression was more of disappointment, exhaustion or loneliness. Maybe it was all three.

"Fine," Lily replied dully, turning to head towards her bedroom. "Have fun with that."

"Lily, wait –" she tried to say, but Lily slammed the door. Kayla felt like she was going to throw up and cry and collapse all at once.

What the hell had just happened?