VIOLET (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

18.

Caiti hadn't been to Diagon Alley in the fall since she was ten. She'd forgotten how quiet it could be. There were still plenty of people bustling about, doing their shopping, but without the swarms of teenagers meeting up with their friends over the school holidays, it was much calmer.

She curved up the cooblestone street, heading towards a little tea shop where she'd agreed to meet Amelia for lunch and spotted her already waiting outside.

"Caiti!" she squealed, running over to give her a hug.

"Hi, Amelia," Caiti laughed. She might have been exasperated by this kind of greeting just a year ago, but it didn't seem so bad now. That was just how Amelia was. She was a lot, but she meant well. Caiti knew that her excitement was genuine.

They found a table inside and ordered sandwiches and a cup of tea each and then Amelia described what felt like every detail of her life over the last few months. She told Caiti how she'd gotten a job at a salon and she was just doing reception for now, but the owner was teaching her styling charms.

"And I did this myself," she said, reaching back to pull out her clip. Her hair came spilling out, but it was only half of what it had been. She'd cut it to just about shoulder length and it looked really cute on her. She looked professional and grown up and Caiti suddenly felt very young with her still long blonde hair.

"So if you ever need yours cut or styled for an event or... whatever. Let me know. I'll do it for free to practice. And if I totally screw it up, I know people who can fix it."

"I'd trust you," Caiti said. "Yours looks cute. I really like it."

"Thanks," said Amelia. She twisted her hair back up into the clip. "Also Bill and I broke up, but do you remember Riley Wood? He was two years ahead of us but in Gryffindor?"

"Vaguely," said Caiti.

"Well, his older sister works with me and he came in once to drop something off for her and now we're sort of talking. We're going to hang out this weekend, I think."

"Well that's exciting. I hope it goes well. He seems nice?"

"So nice," Amelia smiled.

She carried on like this for such a long time that their plates were cleared and the check paid when Amelia finally leaned her elbows on the table and said, "Okay, so tell me everything. What have you been doing? How's Marlowe? Are you working? Just doing your research?"

Caiti tried her best to keep track of all Amelia's questions as she gave her a rundown of the last few months and what out-of-school life had been like. She'd just finished giving her a very watered down version of what she'd been working on, minus all of the insurmountable self-doubt and imposter syndrome, when Amelia asked, "Did you ever look into mandrakes like we talked about?"

Caiti went very still.

"Oh my god," she said. "No. No I- I totally forgot. I guess N.E.W.T.s and everything I just... no."

"I don't know. Maybe it's a stupid idea. I quit potions after O.W.L.s."

"I don't think it's a stupid idea at all," Caiti said. Her mind was racing now. "I think it's really smart. I'm going to look into that."

Mandrakes were restoratives. Mandrakes were used for people who'd been petrified or transfigured. Why hadn't she jumped on this idea immediately? Why had she waited to come around to this and how had she ever forgotten?

A little flicker of hope had just sparked up in her chest.

—-

When Amelia left to go back to work, Caiti decided to walk over to the Magical Menagerie to see if Sean was working. She knew he was there before she was even very close, because she could see Barry in his favorite spot in the window.