VIOLET (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

16.

Marlowe didn't end up going into work that day. It was the first time he had ever called out and convincing him to do so had taken a lot of encouragement, but Caiti thought he was probably very glad he hadn't gone. He had stayed in bed the entire day and Caiti had sat with him the whole time, talking to him and trying to distract him when he was awake, rubbing his back when he wasn't.

She didn't go home until he did leave for work the following morning and as soon as she arrived, she burst into tears. Her mum was sitting on the living room couch and she looked up in alarm.

Caiti sank down next to her. She hadn't realized how much she'd been keeping in until she hadn't needed to anymore. Now it flooded out faster than she could keep up with.

"Caiti," her mum said. "Breathe sweetheart. What's wrong?"

She put her hands on Caiti's arms and tried to ask what was wrong, but Caiti couldn't answer her. Not until she had cried good and hard for several minutes.

"I just h-hate seeing him so sad," she choked out. "I hate seeing him hurting." Caiti explained to her what had happened, which was a surprise even to her. She hadn't planned on telling anyone, her mother especially.

She'd never really gotten Caiti's relationship with Marlowe, had never really trusted it the way Mrs. Finnegan did, but when she pulled Caiti into a tight hug, it felt like maybe she'd started to understand.

"Oh honey," she said, smoothing her hand over Caiti's hair. "I know. I know how much you love him."

"I just don't know what to do," she said. Her voice wouldn't stop shaking. Actually her whole body was shaking. Her teeth chattered and she couldn't keep her hands still and her brain felt so busy. "I'm trying so hard to figure this out. I'm trying so hard and I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, and what if I never get there? What if I never fix it? I can't let him keep feeling like this every month for the rest of his life. It's awful."

That was when her mum let go of her and looked her right in the eye. "Caiti," she said. For a few moments, she was quiet, her jaw set like she was determined to do something. "I have never in my life met a more persistent child," she said. "When you were little, when you were trying to learn something new, to figure something out, you would work at it and work at it without stopping until you did it perfectly. Sean was never like that. Sean was so cautious. He wouldn't try something until he knew he could do it or he knew he had help. You weren't that way at all. You tried before it was easy. You would set your mind to something and you would make it happen. You might not think you can do this yet, but you will. Because you want to. And that's all you need to keep going."

And then Caiti started to cry all over again because her mother had never, never spoken to her like that.

"He's very, very lucky to have you in his corner," she said, pulling Caiti back into her arms. Caiti just tucked her face down and held on tight.

—-

That afternoon, Caiti had sent a letter to Professor Pym. It was the first time she had reached out since school ended and she had thought first about asking Alora for advice, but she'd decided not to, because something about this felt too personal.

Professor Pym had known Marlowe, had taught him for seven years, and she knew Caiti much better than Alora did. Caiti liked Alora very much, but the years of trust she had built up with Professor Pym were what she needed right then. Not a fresh set of eyes.

Professor Pym wrote her back, agreeing to meet that weekend in Hogsmeade, and Caiti spent the few days leading up to that meeting trying to be as prepared as possible. She wrote lists of questions, did as much research as she could so she wouldn't waste time with things she could answer herself, and planned exactly how to explain what she needed.