VIOLET (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

22.

The last day of their little trip, it rained. Hard. They ventured out for breakfast, but then they decided to come back to their room. They carved their pumpkins by magic and when they'd finished, they sat back to admire them.

Caiti tilted her head, smiling. She had done the same face she always did — little round eyes, a triangular nose, and a wiggly smile. Marlowe had gone for a scarier face with angular eyes, but then he'd gone and stuck a gourd in the nose and it didn't look so scary anymore. On the contrary, it looked like it was about to sneeze.

Caiti giggled looking at it. "What's yours named?" she asked.

"Gordo," said Marlowe without hesitation. "What's yours?"

Caiti thought. "Jackie," she said.

"Weak," said Marlowe, but he was grinning.

They both laughed.

"Fine, then her name's Winifred."

"Winfred and Gordo," said Marlowe. "What a dynamic duo."

Caiti scooted Winifred a little closer to Gordo, smiling.

"You remember when we had that licorice weaving contest at the Halloween feast?" Marlowe asked.

"Oh my god, the feast," Caiti said, eyes widening. "What do you think are the odds we could sneak back into the castle and pose as students?"

Marlowe laughed. "Slim to none?"

"Rats."

Then she smiled a little.

"But yeah, I do remember that. We tried to make a sweater and it didn't work so we tried to call it a suit of armor but it just kept falling apart."

"Yeah, because you were laughing so hard," said Marlowe. "If you'd have just held it to together, we could have been one galleon richer."

"Don't blame me for your styling shortcomings," said Caiti. "I was just the model at that point."

She got up and laid back on the bed, knees bent. Marlowe lay on his side next to her.

"That was like... one of the best days of that whole year, you know why?"

Caiti turned to look at him, smiling already.

"Theo was so jealous," said Marlowe. "And I wanted him to be. I knew he didn't make you laugh like that and I rode that feeling for weeks. It was the first time since you'd been dating that I really felt like there was any hope for you."

Caiti laughed a little. She turned onto her side. "When did you know you were serious?" Caiti asked. "All those times you asked me to kiss you and everything. When did it stop being a joke?"

Marlowe thought about that. "I don't know. I think I was serious and didn't know it for a long time. It was probably when you started dating Theo that I realized it, though," he said. "Or I guess a little after. I do remember the first time you kissed him in front of me, I got angry. Like, I realized you were actually dating him. Not just saying you were. That was when I finally admitted to myself that I liked you. But I never said it to anyone until right before I asked you to the Yule Ball because I was trying to pretend I didn't. Even after you broke up with him, I didn't think you liked me like that."

"I don't think I realized I was allowed to," she said. "'Cause you were my best friend."

"And look at us now," said Marlowe. "Almost two years."

"And you're still my best friend," she added.

Marlowe couldn't stop smiling. He felt so damn lucky. There was this little part of him that couldn't wait to be a little older, to marry this girl and live with her and spend every single day like they had this weekend, together. Another part of him felt so content with where they were now. He wanted this to last.