❝𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐄❞
aspen andrews was a worrier, an affectionate older sister, a hard-worker and the proudest hufflepuff you'd ever meet. but up until nine...
NO MERE HUMAN CAN STAND IN A FIRE AND NOT BE CONSUMED A.S. BYATT, POSSESSION
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"STEP UP! Step up! We've got Fainting Fancies-"
"Perfect for skiving classes!"
Aspen listened as the twins continued, yelling out over the swarming crowds of children that had flooded the shop. She pushed through, ignoring the headache that was brewing as she nestled a large box of their newest addition to the store, Sky-High Spray, against her hip, ready to unpack it all onto the awaiting shelf.
It was February now, and months had passed since they'd spent the holidays at the Burrow. The teenagers had been sent back to school on the Hogwarts Express, and Aspen had considered herself pathetic, trying not to cry as she watched the scarlet train disappearing into the distance, concealed by its own puffs of smoke that tumbled from the chimney. She still received letters from Alessia, discussing the trivial life of a student, but it was not the same.
Just yesterday, she'd received a letter explaining the dramatic details of Ron Weasley's birthday, which Alessia seemed to have heard directly from the source of the action: Harry. It seemed Ron had started his seventeenth year with a bang, having scoffed down an entire box of love-potion-spiked chocolates. Fred and George had found that particularly hysterical when she had told them about it that morning, but they soon stopped laughing when she recounted that he had then drank poisoned mead and nearly died had it not been for Harry's quick thinking.
Perhaps that was why she was not in the mood for the light-hearted joke shop that day. She tried to embody what Fred had told her the very first day they met - "people need a laugh these days, y'know?" - but it was increasingly difficult when her sister's safety seemed to become further compromised by the day. She'd made a promise to her mother before she passed that she'd never let any harm come to Alessia - should she be able to help it - and it was that promise that kept her up at night, terrified.
She pulled herself from her thoughts once the shelf was complete. Each bottle of the mysteriously clear liquid was stacked precisely in place, the multicolour labels pointing outwards proudly as they patiently awaited customers. As soon as Aspen had walked away, heading for the till to waste time talking to Verity, several kids made a beeline for the bottles, eyeing them in awe.
"S'busy, huh?" Aspen said as she ducked behind the till, where Verity was making the most of her free-time by filing her nails.
"When is it not?" Verity said, smacking loudly on a stick of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. "It's the only fun shop open around here, after all."
She was right, of course. More than half of Diagon Alley seemed to be shut by now, a likely result of the looming threat of dark magic and war at the every corner. Sometimes Aspen wished that the boys would close up too, fearing for their safety should they be targeted. She'd already scolded them for the large 'U-No-Poo' sign out the front, agreeing with their mother that it was dangerous, but they brushed her off, refusing to find it anything but amusing. She supposed that's what set them apart, making them the Gryffindors to her Hufflepuff - she was always far too much of a overthinker for that.
