the moon is no door ↠ Tom Riddle

25

"Hello, Saffron," said Lionel. It had taken her a few minutes to find him. They were in one of the most out-of-the-way areas of the library. While parts of the library looked like a somewhat normal Muggle library, aside from the books and loose papers flying to-and-fro over the tops of the shelves, the farther one got from the main hall, the more like it looked like a fever dream.

He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a shelf, reading a book. The shelf curved outwards from the bottom, forming a little alcove. The books at the top, defying gravity, were parallel to the floor but didn't fall out. When Lionel saw Saffron, he held the book he was reading outwards and it floated right back into the spot where it'd come from at the top of the shelf and settled between the books next to it.

Saffron sat across from Lionel. The alcove was perfectly-size for him, but it was slightly cramped for her.

"Hello," she said.

This meeting was their third so far. Usually, Lionel would begin by catching Saffron up on what their friend group was getting up to. Rory and Pippa were now inseparable. Besides Pippa trying to turn the school against Saffron, their usual actives had not changed. Pippa was trying her best to help Rory study for the O.W.L.s.

"So, nothing much new to report," Lionel said, reaching up to run his fingers along the books above his head. "The good news is that Rory is no longer constantly sulking. I spoke to him privately yesterday when Pippa went to get some books, and he told me he was considering coming to talk to you. But, Pippa can't know because she refuses to let him see you."

This news made Saffron sit up abruptly, forgetting how small the space was. She smacked her head into the books and slumped back down, grabbing her head and groaning. Lionel laughed.

"I sort of hoped that would happen," he said.

"Be quiet, Lionel," Saffron said, voice strained. Once most of the pain had gone away, she smiled at him, despite his teasing. "Did he really say that? When?"

Lionel shrugged. "Probably soon, once he has an opportunity. I would start thinking right away about what you're going to say to him. You know that he can stay upset for a long time, and he's definitely still very upset with you. You're lucky you were so close to him in the first place. If your friendship hadn't been so strong, this would be a lost cause."

"Thank you," said Saffron.

"Right. Well, that's all I have. What about you? What's been going on in your world?"

"Well, I just told my brother about what's going on," said Saffron.

It was Lionel's turn to jolt in surprise. Only, he didn't hit his head. "Really? How did he react?"

"You were right. He's known since we were little. I guess I just sort of forgot all that I used to be able to do when I was little. He was upset that I hadn't come to him before now but I feel good about it. It's nice to have one more person on my side, now that Pippa's turned on me," said Saffron and she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look, Pippa still cares about you, she just doesn't know it. Give it time. She'll come around to you," Lionel said, his eyes softened. Saffron hoped he was right. 

When the meeting was over, Lionel left first. Saffron waited a few minutes, just in case some of their friends were in the library. It was important Lionel wasn't discovered to still be friends with the enemy.

Sitting alone in the tiny, cramped alcove, far away from any other person felt like a great metaphor for what she was starting to feel like. She'd been so lonely the past few weeks, she'd almost given in and started to spend her time with Tom & Co. But, she was glad she hadn't. It would've made her look way, way worse to the school. Now that she had both Lionel and Soren, it would be more tolerable.