We Will Shine {Book 6 in the Star of Gryffindor Series}

Chapter 18 - Over

~Wren~

Albus seemed quieter than normal. I nudged him as he set up his telescope. "Is everything okay?"

He started. "Oh, um, yeah. It is."

"Are you sure?" I tilted my head.

He glanced at me and managed a smile. "I'm fine."

I didn't believe him, but I couldn't tell what was wrong just from looking. "Is everything all right with Poppy?"

There was a real smile. "Yeah, actually. We're doing great. Meeting in the library tomorrow to study for Potions."

I smiled. "That's great! Is she good at it?"

"Better than I am," Albus said, shrugging. "I don't think she's as good as you, of course, but hardly anyone's as good as you in any class."

I felt my face heating up. "That's not true."

"I mean, sure, Astra's good at magic," Albus said, shrugging, "but really, the best ones in our year are you and Rose."

"And Ciara Malfoy."

Albus scrunched his nose up. "Yeah. Her too, I guess."

I rolled my eyes. "She's not very nice, but she's really smart."

"I know. It's easier to hate people when they get everything without deserving it, though."

"Don't hate her," I said, sighing. "She's awful, but it could be worse. She could be worse. It's not hopeless, at least."

"That's true," Albus said, adjusting his telescope a bit. "Well, suppose we'd better get started on these charts, hmm?"

"Probably," I said, smiling. We sank into silence, focusing on the stars.

Well, trying to focus, at least for me. Astra's words hadn't gotten out of my head over the past few days. I needed to talk to James. Really, she was right. I'd let this go on too long. And as much as I was scared, I needed to tell him everything. Relationships were built on trust, and if I couldn't trust him, maybe I wasn't ready for this.

I had made up my mind to talk to him tonight, after Astronomy. I'd considered before, but I had a feeling this would not be a quick conversation. Better to wait till after.

And I would talk to him. Really. I'd finally managed to psyche myself up for it. I was terrified. For good reason, too; I supposed James really did have every reason to be mad. He would be angry. That was the scariest part. There was the chance he would storm off before I got the chance to explain, in which case I would just have to wait for him to calm down.

Or maybe he would listen, and understand after a while. Not accept, appreciate, necessarily, but understand.

Or he would blow up at me, and I would simply have to wait out the storm. That was worst case scenario.

At least it would all be over after that. At least I knew that, after everything, James would eventually understand. He cared about me. I'd let this come between us, and I'd messed up, but I was fixing it in the best way I could. It might take him a while, but I had to hope that James would forgive me.

I had to hope, because I couldn't live with the alternative.

When Albus and I got back from Astronomy, James was no where to be found. Colette said he and Astra had both gone up to bed a while ago, which was odd. James generally waited up for us. Albus shrugged and said that practice was a little tiring that day.

I got hit by a wave of relief and disappointment so strong that I went up to bed as well.

The next morning, I didn't manage to catch James before classes. On top of that, Astra seemed moody and didn't want to talk, though what was new? She'd been moody all term. I didn't think anything of it, and brushed off Albus's concerns.