If there's any return readers, thanks! If not, that's ok too. This is more for me than anything. Without further ado, allons-y!
Braccae illae virides cum subucula rosea et tunica Caledonia-quam elenganter concinnatur!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but original characters.
Chapter 4
You Know It
The next few weeks went by in a blur for Iwan and Mary. Their N.E.W.T.s very much lived up to their title, and left the two friends exhausted. They had seen less and less of Gareth and Anora as well, they hoped things hadn't gotten too difficult for them. Even though they were worried about their friends, Iwan and Mary had been distracted by the influx of letters from professional teams, all asking for them to try out for their clubs. Mary had also received a letter from Oxford in that time which said they had been deliberating on it, but wanted to see Mary in action again, inviting her for a trial the day after Iwan's.
As the last night of the school fast approached, the 7th Year students gathered in Hogsmeade at the Three Broomsticks for one last, inter-House get-together before joining the wide world of adulthood. As the graduating class of 2008 gathered, they reminisced on the years spent learning and pranking, discussed plans for the future and made promises to keep in touch.
Iwan and Mary sat in a booth with Gryffindor Eddie Vance, Head Boy Henry Brightwood from Ravenclaw, and Head Girl Wendy Tompkins from Slytherin, "Do you remember that prank you pulled 5th Year, Hughes?"
"Which one, Brightwood?"
"The one with the teapot, the pocketwatch and Professor Hoskins' toupee?"
Iwan did remember that prank. It was one of his stranger creations, and frankly, he was embarrassed by it now. "Oh, please, Brightwood, don't remind me of that one. It's far too embarrassing. I almost got expelled for it!"
"Oh come off it," Wendy Tompkins interjected. "You know even McGonagall appreciated the amount of work you put into it."
"She right," Eddie Vance agreed. "She said it was some of the most creative transfiguration work she'd seen at Hogwarts in a long time."
"When did she say that?!" Mary's disbelief was evident in her tone.
"The Prefects meeting afterward. She had to bring us all in to help clean it up."
"Damn, I didn't know it was that bad." Mary sat back in the booth, curious now as to how much planning Iwan put into that particular prank. Before the conversation could go any further down that particular rabbit hole, however, Iwan noticed someone walk through the door: Louisa Allen. He still hadn't had a chance to talk with her since that night a few weeks earlier. It was nagging him, as he wanted to define what that night actually was, as he didn't want to graduate with any unresolved issues.
Iwan quickly excused himself and dashed to Louisa, catching her before she made it to the bar. "Louisa!" he greeted.
"Oh," Louisa said, somewhat awkwardly. "Hi, Iwan. Is there something you need?"
Iwan stared at Louisa. He wasn't sure why she seemed so clueless. She slept with him, leaves before he wakes up, then avoids him for weeks, and acts like nothing ever happened when finally gets a chance to talk to her about it? "Can we talk, outside?"
Louisa looked at the bar for a moment, as if she were checking to see if there were someone she was supposed to meet there before turning back to Iwan and sighing. "Sure," she said. "Quickly though, I'm supposed to be meeting someone here."
The two stepped outside onto the dark streets of Hogsmeade, and off to the side of the entrance. "So," she said cautiously. "What did you want to talk about?"
This is where Iwan started to get a little worried, and by worried, he meant nervous. He had never really been open about sexual topics with anyone besides Mary, Gareth and Anora. Not that Louisa was his first or anything, but he never knew how to start these conversations. He could feel his cheeks start to blush. Luckily, Louisa must have noticed the signs of Iwan's anxiety and apparently caught on to what he wanted to talk about.
"Oh! You want to talk about that night." Clarity rang in her voice as she picked up on Iwan's "clues," if they could really be called that. They were more like bricks with notes being thrown through a window with detailed instructions on what to do.
"Yeah," Iwan said, lamely. Even he knew he sounded like a moron.
Louisa looked, shiftily down the main road before speaking. "Here's the thing, Iwan. It was a fun night. Something I wanted to do for a long time. But that was it. It was just a bit of fun."
Iwan felt relief wash over him. "Good," he said.
"Please don't think I left because I was embarrassed, or it was bad, or anything. You were actually quite good! I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards, actually. But I promised my boyfriend I'd meet him that night, since he was feeling pretty upset that Hufflepuff had beaten them that day, and all -"
"Wait, what?!" Iwan exclaimed. "You have a boyfriend?"
Louisa looked at him with confusion. "Of course: Michael Thistlewit."
Iwan's jaw dropped. She was dating the Captain of Ravenclaw House Team. "Oh my God," she said, realization dawning on her. "You didn't know, did you?" Iwan shook his head dumbly.
"Please, whatever you do," Louisa begged. "Don't tell him. He spent the rest of the night, and the weeks since, complaining about you and the bruises you gave him from that hit. It would ruin him, if he found out we, y'know. Please don't tell him!"
Iwan nodded his head, and assured her he wouldn't tell Thistlewit about sleeping with his girlfriend, even though he had no idea. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the whole situation when Louisa leaned in and whispered "maybe we could do it again sometime, though." She then winked saucily and went into the pub. Iwan was left wondering where the hell the shy girl she was known for being had been this whole conversation.
Still very much distracted, Iwan went back inside and returned to the booth to stares from Mary, Eddie Vance, Brightwood and Tompkins. After he sat down, he grabbed his pint, and downed the rest of the ale before looking at his friends.
"What was that all about?" Mary asked, pointedly.
"I'll get the next round," Brightwood said, excusing himself. Mary still looked at Iwan, expecting a reply.
"Louisa has a boyfriend," Iwan said.
"What? No she doesn't!' Mary said in denial. She then looked over to the bar where none other that Louisa herself and her boyfriend were locked in a passionate snog. "Well, shit!" she exclaimed. "How did I miss that? And why would she go on and on about wanting you, when she has a boyfriend?!" Mary continued on most of the night, interjecting almost random babbling about her confusion with the whole situation.
"It's alright, Mary," Iwan tried comforting, a few times throughout the evening. After a while, though, Mary seemed to forget or lose interest in the topic and returned to reminiscing with the rest of the booth. Gareth and Anora were nowhere to be found that night. Just before intoxication set in, the various friend-groups of 7th Year students got up and returned to the castle for their last night in the dorms before stepping into the world of grownups.
The next morning was a rush of activity. Students running about, trying to finish their packing before it was time to board the train and leave for holiday. Except for Iwan and Mary, who had packed after returning from Hogsmeade the previous night. They sat at Hogsmeade Station waiting for the mass of students to show up. They had already selected their car for the ride home, a small, private one towards the back.
They had received a note that morning from Gareth and Anora, asking to speak privately on the ride home. They had a bad feeling about where it was going, considering the last time they had spoken to the clueless couple. Pretty soon, they noticed one of the carriages pull into the station, carrying the two.
Gareth and Anora greeted their friends warmly and they adjourned to their car as the rest of the students began to arrive. After settling in, Iwan noticed that Gareth had been exceptionally gentlemanly towards Anora. Those two were usually far more antagonistic. Before Iwan could open his mouth, Mary blurted out what was on both their minds, "You're pregnant, aren't you?"
Gareth and Anora looked shocked. "How did you know?"
Iwan and Mary gave the other two very similar faces of exasperation. "Because Gareth is never that considerate. He's never helped you load your trunk up before, why start now?" Iwan pointed out.
Gareth looked offended. "I'll have you know," he said. "That I am the very image of a gentleman!"
"To the girls you want to shag, Gareth" Mary said.
"Right, never to Anora. You two are always laying into each other."
The two soon-to-be parents looked at their shoes, slightly ashamed. "How long have you known?" Mary asked softly.
"Found out three night ago," Anora answered. "Madame Pomfrey tested me, and set up an appointment at St. Mungo's for Tuesday with a Healer to help us from here out. I'm gonna be a mum." Anora smiled unexpectedly at her last remark.
"Are you excited?" Iwan ventured. When Anora nodded, he and Mary embraced their friends, reveling in their happiness.
"So," Mary said. "What's the plan now? Are you two getting married, or what?"
"We're not getting married," Gareth answered. "At least not yet. I'm going to work at my uncle's pub in Carterton, start making money."
"And my family said they would help out while I work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I've been offered an internship there under Hermione Granger herself."
Many more commendations and hugs and smiles were shared among the four friends as the train began to pull out of the station. "What about you two?" Gareth asked. "When do you start your professional trials?"
Iwan thought back to all the teams that offered him a trial: Puddlemere, Appleby, Portree, Wimbourne, Caerphilly and, of course, Oxford. His trials for Puddlemere and Caerphilly were both this coming week, with Appleby, Portree and Wimbourne the week after. Oxford was the last trial he had in three weeks to the day. Mary's schedule was quite similar, though instead of Caerphilly, Wimbourne and Appleby, she had trials with Kenmare, Ballycastle and Wigtown.
"First one is coming up on Tuesday, actually. We have an open trial with Puddlemere at their practice facility in Dorset. Thursday, I'm in Caerphilly while she's in Ballycastle. The next Monday, I'm in Appleby while she's in Kenmare, then we're both in Portree the day after, and on Friday I'm in Wimbourne while she's in Wigtown. Then Oxford the Wednesday after all that."
Anora's eyebrows shot into her hairline while she tried to wrap her head around the busy schedule of trials. "That's a lot for three weeks," she said.
Mary nodded enthusiastically. "I know right! I'm so excited! Iwan and I are meeting up after every trial to discuss it and compare. I can't wait!"
The rest of train ride back to London was filled with similar banter and easy conversation, that they hardly noticed when they pulled into King's Cross. Iwan hugged his friends goodbye, wishing Gareth and Anora the best of luck and made them promise to write him. He and Mary then spotted Iwan's parents waiting nearby.
"Oh darlings!" Iwan's mother called to them. "It's wonderful to see you again, and all graduated now! We've got a special treat for the two of you, if you'll just follow us!"
"Now, now, Rosie," Iwan's father said. "You can't very well expect them to drag their trunks all over London now do you?"
"Oh, of course! How silly of me! Let's duck into the alley real quick, and you two and can just shrink them and set them in your book bags." Iwan and Mary followed his parents into the alley and quickly and as quietly as possible shrunk their school trunks down and set them into their book bags before following the Hughes's out into London.
"Um, Mrs. Hughes," Mary asked tentatively. "What sort of special treat do you have planned for us?"
Iwan's mother looked at Mary with a mischievous grin. "That is for you to find out, later. First, we have a nice lunch planned, and a nice afternoon ahead of us." Iwan and Mary exchanged confused looks as they continued on with Iwan's parents. They first stopped at a nice cafe for a light lunch of sandwiches and then continued on to the cinema to see a superhero film that managed to entertain Mary far more than it did Iwan.
Afterwards, Iwan and Mary were dragged on a small shopping spree for new clothes. Iwan picked out a few new flannel shirts and a new vintage jacket as well as a few other items, some that went very much with his new clothes, like the new trainers he got, and some that just expressed his general interest, like the watch that featured a certain dome-headed, cylindrical-bodied robot from a favorite film series of Iwan's. Mary had done much the same, but had added a sundress or two for the coming summer.
After another trip to an alley to shrink their shopping bags, Iwan's parents brought the recent Hogwarts graduates to a nice, fancy Italian restaurant in the heart of the city. After they were seated and had ordered their beverages, Iwan could not take it any longer.
"Okay, what is going on? You have to tell us now! You wouldn't normally take us out like this as a special treat. If we're going back home, then we need to get moving or we won't get there until this time tomorrow."
Mr. and Mrs. Hughes exchanged a look. "We know that you two are now graduated, and have gotten offers for trials for the big leagues." Iwan's mother took a breath, before continuing. "We also know that living up in the north with us is not what you want to do, when so many of the teams either have offices or are based nearby." She looked at her husband as he took over.
"So," Mr. Hughes said slowly. "We have gotten you two a flat to share while you do your trials."
Iwan and Mary both did not notice their jaws drop so low, it was amazing there was not an audible sound from them smacking the table below. "You got us a bloody flat?!"
There was a clamor of shushes at Mary's loud exclamation. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes laughed at Mary's behavior. It had become commonplace around the Hughes household ever since Mary had been taken in by them over the Summer. Her pureblood father had kicked her out for associating with Iwan's family. Though Mary was more amazed that it had taken her bigoted father. Marius O'Connell, as long as it did to kick her out, as she had honestly expected it when he found out she had been sorted into Hufflepuff rather than "noble Slytherin.," it still had left her in a tight spot. The Hughes's were more than happy to open a place in their home and hearts for Iwan's best friend though. They had come to find her crass and often vulgar nature quite endearing by now.
Chuckling, Mr. Hughes managed to reply. "Yes, we got you a flat. Temporarily." He made sure to look at both Iwan and Mary for a long moment each with the last word. "As soon as you've been accepted onto a team, you're paying for it yourself. So be sure to get a large signing bonus." Smiling again at his little joke, Mr. Hughes let out a chortle.
"Where is the flat?" Mary asked, after the shock began to wear off.
"Not far," Mrs. Hughes said. "We originally wanted to look in Diagon Alley, but considering your upbringing, Iwan, and your love of films, Mary, we thought -"
"Living in Diagon Alley would blow!" Mary said, with passion.
"Language, please, Mary," Mrs. Hughes scolded lightly. "But, yes, it would, as you said, 'blow.'"