CHERRY // marlene mckinnon

-thirty two

"Ronnie! Merlin, it feels like we haven't seen each other in a long time." Aurora hugged her best friend tightly, seeing as they haven't seen each other in a while.

"It's only been almost two months but it feels like forever." Veronica spoke up after they pulled away from the hug. "I've missed you so much."

"Happy birthday." Aurora told her as she handed her the flowers and the neatly wrapped box. Veronica thanked her and then Regulus approached her after talking with Evan.

When Veronica saw that he had indeed gotten her an actual cat, she was quite surprised. But nonetheless, she loved it. Evan and her had two horses but there was always room for more animals in their household.

On the other side stood Evan and Aurora.

"Happy birthday, Evan. I kind of left the gift part to Reg since that's more of his expertise." Aurora chuckled.

"Thanks, uhm it's nice to see you." Evan and Aurora weren't uncommon with each other per day, but they didn't really know how to communicate either.

It wasn't always like this though. They kind of grew apart after their third year. The year Aurora had her first kiss. Yes, with Evan. So after that, things got quite awkward with the two of them.

"So how have you been?" Aurora tried to make some small talk to fill in the silence.

"I'm good, but things have been better before." Evan didn't tell the truth, but he also didn't really lie either. At the moment, he technically was good. But in the long run? He wasn't so sure. "How's summer treating you so far?"

"My summer has been spent by staying home pretty much the whole time. Actually, the first time i've been to a public place since summer started was last week." Aurora explained. "I'm glad that you two are back. I really could use some time with my friends."

"Yeah, friends."

*****

It had been a few hours since Aurora and Regulus had arrived at the Rosier Manor. Mr. and Mrs. Rosier had greeted the tow siblings and luckily for Aurora, they didn't mention the so called 'rumors' (which weren't really rumors since they were basically true) going around about her.

Aurora admired the Rosier family. They didn't seem so messed up, unlike her own family. They also weren't as strict, and seemed to trust their children.

Walburga and Orion should take some notes, Aurora thought to herself.

During the those few hours, the four teens had done a lot of thing. For starters they went out to swim in the pool in their large backyard. Except for Regulus and Evan, which caused a lot of suspicion, mainly from Veronica. Aurora knew the reason as to why Regulus didn't want to swim, but what about Evan?

Then Evan and Regulus attempted to try and teach Aurora and Veronica how to play Quidditch, in which they failed miserably.

Now they were all laying down the grass, smoking and staring at the clear sky. Trying to figure out what to do next. They heard the birds chirping, and felt the warmth of the sun against their skin. Everything was peaceful.

"Now are you sure you don't want us to teach you how to play Quiddi—"

Evan decided to speak up but both Aurora and Veronica quickly cut him off. "No!"

"I'm not trying to die an early death. Imagine trying to explain to someone that you died from falling off of a broomstick."
Aurora sighed.

"But if you're dead, how are you gonna—"