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DOTTIE AND SALEM hadn't spoken in two days. This was easily the longest they'd gone without talking since a fight in fourth year in which Dottie didn't tell Salem she wouldn't be staying at Hogwarts over Christmas and left the redhead in the dust on pure accident.
When they finally did speak, it was as Salem was retreating to her dorm after leaving another note for James— his response was in her pocket for now, soon to be transferred to the box at her occupation, and hers was tucked nicely beneath the corner of a chessboard.
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He was so damn cocky, it annoyed her. That without knowing who she was, James had claimed her as his mystery, but a part of her liked being a mystery. Being a girl was exhausting, it was a nice break to be an ambiguous question mark.
And then he'd mentioned Lily. Salem had been waiting, and she hadn't expected it so soon, and no matter how close she'd grown with the girl, Salem knew this was what she was meant for. To talk about Lily, to help James accept his feelings so that he may open up to his friends; and she spent nearly twenty minutes on a response.
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And, naturally, the entire way back to her dorm Salem overthought the words until they didn't feel like actual English, and only then did Dottie speak to her.
