As promised, chapter sixteen. Enjoy?

Chapter Sixteen

Over time, I grew accustomed to my invisibility. Teachers never called on me. I devoted my time to my studies, anything that would take my mind off of the one who kept haunting me. Mostly, it failed to work, but as long as I was trying, I felt a little better about the situation. A little- not enough, of course, to alleviate any of what I felt.

It had been exactly twenty-five days since we broke up, I noted wryly one evening as I worked on a Charms essay. Twenty five days of hell and loneliness like I'd thought I would never have to go through, and not a word of reconciliation. For the first time since I'd left him, I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

"Alecto!"

I started at Lorraine's voice. "What?"

"Owl. For you." I turned, and sure enough, a small black owl was perched on her fist. "Stupid thing wouldn't leave me alone until I brought it here."

I held out my wrist, and the owl hopped on, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the letter in its beak, the elegant handwriting on the outside not at all unfamiliar. "Thanks," I whispered, half to her and half to the bird, which was staring up at me expectantly. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the letter with the audience in the Common Room, so I retreated to the dormitory.

The owl didn't seem terribly impatient, but even after I'd taken the letter, it refused to leave. So, Antonin wanted a response. Interesting.

I stared at the folded parchment in my hand for a long time, trying to decide what to do. I could open it, and risk being shattered all over again. It couldn't say anything I didn't already know. At least it wasn't a Howler...

Really, though, I didn't want to hear from him. I was convinced that maybe, in a decade or so, I would be able to get over him enough to have some semblance of a normal life. This letter would only make that harder.

On that note, I pulled my wand from my pocket. The owl watched from where it was perched on my bedpost as I muttered "incendio," and sent a small jet of flames at the letter.

The fire, though, only ran down the length of the paper before disappearing as though nothing happened.

I grinned in spite of myself. Of course Antonin would have thought of that.

"Alright," I muttered, "I'll read your stupid letter."

I miss you terribly and I will never stop loving you. I just want to know if you're happy. If you are, then I wish you all the best in life, because you deserve nothing less. If not, let me know how I can help you.

I love you.

Happy? He wanted to know if I was happy? We'd been separated for weeks and that's what he wanted? No begging to get back together or describing how much hell he'd been though, he just wanted me to be happy?

I could feel the tears coming back to my eyes.

There was no way I couldn't write back, not after nearly a month of being apart. I rummaged for parchment, found a quill, and then sat down in order to formulate a response, a tear trickling down my cheek.

Happy? Me? I began to write, but quickly scrunched up the parchment.

Are you kidding me? I scrawled, but discarded that, as well.

NO I'M NOT HAPPY WHO YOU TAKE ME FOR? I started again, but decided to try another approach.

Antonin,

Thank you for your concern. Everything is terrific, and I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. NOT. Antonin, I miss you like hell. How could you think I could have all the best in life if I didn't have you? You can help me by saying you'll forget how stupid I've been and forgive me for every stupid thing I said to you. Please, Antonin, I need you to take me back. Please. I'm so sorry... for everything... I love you.

Love,

Alecto

There was no way words alone could express all I wanted to say, but it would have to do. The second the owl received the letter, it swooped out of the room; I had little doubt that it had been given firm instructions by Antonin, which was just as well. It gave me less time to change my mind.

It was the next morning at breakfast that I received the response.

I want to see you. Meet me by the front gate during your free period this afternoon.

---

Two o'clock sharp, I wrapped myself in my cloak to counter the cold and ventured out onto the lawns, nervous. It took me longer than usual to get to the gate, mostly because I was so reluctant to face the inevitable. Already, I was jittery and awkward; I wasn't sure if I could stand seeing him face to face.

As it was, though, I knew he would be expecting me. I couldn't back down at this point, and as much as I didn't want to see him, I couldn't live with not seeing him, either.

He wasn't there when I arrived, and for a second, I thought maybe he'd had similar thoughts to mine and chosen the opposite route. Then again, it wasn't like Antonin to back down. Seconds later, I saw him approaching, though the way he was walking wasn't with his usual confident strides.

"Alecto."

I jumped at the sound of his voice, even though I'd seen him coming. It was a beautiful sound, perfect in my ears, and I felt myself relax a little. There was no hostility in him; he seemed to already have forgiven everything I'd put him through, though I was sure it had torn him up just as much as it had me.

There was reservation in his posture, and to be honest, he looked a mess. I was too relieved to see him to care much about the dark circles framing his eyes. I suspected today was the first in a while that he'd bothered to style his hair or shave- but even if he hadn't, I wouldn't have cared.

"Antonin." A smile crept across my face. I couldn't help it. He returned it, hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure if I was about to reject him again or not.

"You look… amazing."

The short space between us suddenly seemed too far, but I didn't want to try my luck, so I stayed where I was. "Thanks…" Biting my lip, I glanced over him briefly one more time. "Look. I really--"

"Alecto... sh," he interrupted softly. "I know."

As I watched him, I realised he really did know what I was trying to say, and not because he could read my mind as I'd once suspected, but because he knew me even better than I knew myself. Rather than being alarmed, as I might have been at one point, it was a feeling of security that overwhelmed me. How could I ever have doubted that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him?

I took a tentative step toward him, and then another. It was my turn to repair the relationship that I'd so stupidly thrown away what seemed like years ago now, even if it had only been a matter of weeks.

Instead of waiting for him to initiate something, I slipped my arms around him and drew him against myself as if he would never be near enough. "Antonin," I whispered, inhaling deeply and reveling in the feeling of being close after all this time. His response was to pull me yet closer, but I was pretty sure he couldn't manage words at the moment.

My eyes flickered shut as I listened to his heart through his cloak, and I inhaled deeply the scent that I'd missed so much. As we stood there, together like we were supposed to be all along, I could almost hear his answer written into the swift drumming of his pulse.

I love you.

---

Okay, it's short, but isn't that sweet? I figured because the majority of the story was taken up already by her pining after him, I shouldn't keep them apart for TOO long. So I didn't.

Coming up: Lots of things that you aren't expecting. Or maybe you are.