Tickling the Giant Squid and other Grand Adventures

28. Karou

 A week and a half later, I was sitting on the floor in my common room, sewing materials and extra fabric strewed around me on tables. Farid was sitting in a space she had cleared out, surrounded by sparkling white fabric scraps and diligently writing up a paper for one of her classes. She was off the hook, since I had already finished her costume; the bodysuit was easy to make by hand, and the details were easy to do on my own. Avila stood in front of me, patient but a bit irritated as I rambled, words garbled by a mouth full of pins.

"And Professor Deathridge said that the other professors agreed that hosting a Halloween Ball was a fantastic idea, and depending on how it goes, it might become a tradition." I pinned the hem up a bit more and, satisfied with the bottom, moved the place where the corset had to connect with the skirt over a small bustle. I had fashioned it from thin wires that Marissa had brought back to me with the fabrics she bought at Hogsmeade. "Since this Halloween is a Monday, they plan to have the ball on the Saturday before - Obelia, can you hand me those scissors over there?" I interrupted myself, asking one of my Housemates. "No, not those- yes that one. Thank you." She smiled and held the white cloth up to Avila's waist for me, humming as I gently snipped, then pinned.

Avila yelped as I pushed the pin in, and all three of us flinched. I shrunk back a bit as Avila turned one of her famous glares on me. "Sorry," I said cheerfully. Turning to Obelia, I told her, "Thanks. I think I got it from here."

She grinned back at me, standing up. "Anytime, Karou." I turned back to the girls as she walked away.

I looked up to find Avila still glaring at me. "What?" I asked.

"You need to stop stabbing me."
"It wasn't on purpose!"

"You've stabbed me ten times!"

"Six," Farid muttered from her spot at the table, not looking up from her paper.

"You wanted to be the White Queen!" I protested. "I'm trying to make your costume!"

"You could certainly try to make it less painful!" Avila yelled back.

I felt my face screw up in anger, but instead of saying anything, I walked out of the common room and into the boys' dormitories, trotting down the staircase and flopping face-down on Castor's bed, where he sat reading a book. For a minute, he didn't say anything, but then I felt a hand rubbing my shoulders and I began to relax, simply breathing.

"Something wrong, kiddo?" my sister's boyfriend asked.

"Just calming down," I replied, voice muffled.

There was a short pause. "You came to me, so I'm assuming there's something I can do for you?"

"I can't go see Marissa right now because that would involve going through the common room and if I do that I'm going to say something I'll regret, so you were the next best thing."

I heard Castor chuckle. "If I'm second in line after Marissa, I must have done something absolutely fantastic to deserve this."

"You make her happy," I said, voice still muffled.

"What?"

"You make her happy when I can't," I said, lifting my head off the bed. I rolled over, head by his knee.

"You don't know me very well," Castor pointed out.

"Nonsense. Marissa read your letters to me. I know you like the back of my hand."

Castor threw his head back and laughed. "I would be embarrassed if I didn't know you were discreet. Truce, then."

I thought for a minute, trying to formulate my question. This close to Castor, I could feel the spark of happiness he got whenever I said Marissa's name, but he was also pleased to see me, which is more than I could say for some of my American friends' older sibling's significant others. I decided I liked him.

Calmed down enough to handle a conversation again, I stood. Castor looked at me curiously. "So," he asked. "What was that all about?" His book was still open on his lap.

I shrugged. "I got into an argument and one of my friends starting yelling at me and I didn't want to yell back so I walked away."

Castor nodded in understanding. "Walking away is always better than losing your temper. Explaining why you left is much easier than repairing trust and feeling you've damaged with words and actions."

I clenched and unclenched my hands, then leaned forward to hug him. He set down his book and wrapped his arms around me. "Thanks, Castor."

He smiled as I withdrew. "Call me Cas. I'll see you later, okay, lil' sis?"

I smiled broadly. "Whatever you say, big bro." Taking a deep breath, I walked up the spiral staircase and out the door back to the common room. Avila still hadn't moved and was facing away from me, talking to Farid in hushed tones. In the white fabric, with the sunshiney halo the room provided, she looked a lot like a bride, and I thought she was beautiful, even with the green hair, which was now shoulder length and had blonde roots. I stepped forward and picked up my sewing materials again, walking to stand in front of Avila with a giant grin on my face. "May I continue my noble pursuits once more?" I asked.

Avila looked at me, unsmiling. "I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "I really don't do well with pain, and I'm relatively short tempered, and I shouldn't have snapped at you. I understand it's part of making a dress like this, and tailoring in general. I'm really, really sorry."

I leaned forward and gently hugged Avila around the waist, not quite reaching her shoulders. "It's really okay." I let go as soon as I felt her stiffening.

"It's really not, but thank you."

I ignored her response. "Now, since we're pretty young, the bustle isn't really necessary, so I'm going to need you to make a decision on whether or not you want to keep it.

Avila sighed in consideration. "Whatever is easiest for you and more comfortable for me, I don't really care."

I thought for a moment, then shrugged. "It's already up and measured, so I'll leave it there. I only need a few more pins." I flipped through my project notebook to Avila's dress and squinted at it, pinning the skirt up in a few more locations. I carefully threaded a needle with fine white thread and knotted the end, pinning the needle through the skirt and corset.

From the table, I grabbed my wand, a smooth and straight alder wood affair with a dragon heartstring core. I looked over to Farid, who still hadn't looked up from her paper. "Did you have any luck finding sewing spells?" I asked her.

Without looking up, she pulled a folded piece of parchment from her pocket and slid it across the table to me. I opened the note and on it was a list of spells written in her signature blocky, compact font.

"Consuunta filo," I said, moving my wand up and down in a wavelike pattern. The needle wiggled for a moment, and then began to move itself through the fabric, making neat, almost invisible stitches along the entire waistline much faster and more efficiently than I would have been able to do by hand. A few minutes later, I dropped the spell, leaving my wand on the table and approaching Avila again, looking carefully at the waistline.

"Looks like it worked well," I said, tying the needle off and snipping the excess thread with practiced ease.

"The first time?" Farid asked, finally looking up from her paper. "That's... impressive," she admitted begrudgingly, looking a little bit jealous.

I walked around Avila to the back of her dress, carefully undoing the tiny buttons. Frowning, I went back and fetched my scissors, snipping the threads at the small of Avila's back to open it. It would be essential it wasn't tight if we wanted her to take it on and off. I took the needle and thread, closing it off my hand. After a couple more minutes, I had her buttons finished. Picking up the sleeves off the table, I used the same spell to attach them to the rest of Avila's dress. I took a few steps back and smiled.

"I'm finished," I proclaimed. "You want to see it, Jellybean?"