Dear Maeve,
I sought you out at your parents store, today, but you weren't there. I went looking for you at the ice cream parlour, but you had already left. I wish to speak with you about something important that I can't risk writing about in a letter. I'll pick you up at the store for lunch, tomorrow. Your parents said you would be there.
Hope to see you soon,
James
I re-read the letter at least four times to make sure I hadn't misunderstood. James wanted to speak with me about something that he couldn't risk writing about in a letter. What could he possibly want to talk about?
James' eagle owl was white with piercing blue eyes. It was perched at my bedroom window and seemingly waiting for my reply letter.
"Come in," I said to the eagle owl. "I've got some snacks for you."
But he just stared at me rather sternly with narrowed eyes.
"Okay, fine I'll write something for James."
James,
I'll be there. I usually eat at noon.
Maeve.
As soon as I folded my little note into a small envelope of its size, James' eagle grabbed it with its talons and immediately flew away. I supposed it was in a hurry.
I wondered where James lived. Did he live so far away that he would only receive this letter at dawn? It was quite late right now, and I was in the middle of getting ready for bed until I received his owl.
The next day, I waited patiently for James at the shop. When the clock striked twelve, I went to the front desk and waited for James there.
"Waiting for your friend?" my mother asked.
"Uh-huh."
"The boy we saw yesterday?" she asked.
"Uh-huh."
I knew an interrogation was on its way.
"Is he your boyfriend?"
A wave of relief washed over me when the door jingled and James stepped inside.
"Well, see you, Mum," I said, making my way over to James who waved politely at my mother.
"Hello, Mrs. Blackwood," he greeted with a curt nod.
"You two have fun," she said, which surprised me because I thought for sure she was going to embarrass me by asking him if he was my boyfriend.
"Thank you, Mrs. Blackwood," James said politely. We exited the store, and when we arrived on the street, James was already guiding me somewhere.
"Let's try the international stands," he proposed, pointing in the direction that I had ventured off to yesterday.
I nodded, and we promptly made our way over there. This time, I got to explore stands other than the candy one I had been to last time. There was a stand with food from Palestinian wizards, which looked really delicious, especially the spinach fatayer and the mana'eesh, but James noticed a Korean flag further down and insisted that we go check that one out first. I didn't mind since I was also curious about it.
The Korean stand had a middle-aged lady with black hair tending it. Behind her, a long-haired nine-year-old girl (probably nine, I was just guessing) who sort of looked like the middle-aged lady.
The lady at the counter greeted us with a toothy smile and said, "Hello, dears. What can I get you?" Her accent sounded sort of British and sort of something else. Probably Korean, though I wouldn't actually know.
"We'll have a shittake kimbap, a beef one as well... oh, and a tofu one..." James began, inhaling as he pondered over what else to get.
"Okay, so shittake, beef, and tofu kimbap..." the lady said as she grabbed some triangle seaweed things off the display. "Anything else?"
"Er... yes, we'll also have some tteokbokki and er... beef bibimbap," James said. At those words, the little girl behind the lady began shuffling around the stand, I assumed to get the food James had just ordered.
Only a moment after paying, everything that James had ordered was served to us in small containers or in their original triangle wraps for the kimbaps. James pocketed one kimbap, however, before guiding me down the street to a section that had outdoor tables. We settled down rather promptly before realizing we were missing something to drink so James quickly went off to another stand and got us some pumpkin juice.
When James opened the lid from the containers at the center of the table, their delicious smells immediately consummed me, and I could help but serve myself.
"It's good, isn't it?" James said before taking a breathy bite from the hot tteokbokki. I nodded as I ate my own piece. It was very spicy, but also very flavourful. I had never tried it anything quite like it before. "Try the bibimbap too."
James began mixing the contents of the container: It was a delicious swirl of meat, rice, vegetables, and sauce. When I took a bite, it felt like it was all melting on my tongue.
"That is so good," I said, amazed.
"But when my mom made it, it was even better," James added. "I wish you could have met her. I think she would have liked you."
I felt my cheeks burn, and I retreated slightly in my seat, feeling a little sheepish.
"I'm sure I would have like her too," I responded, smiling sympathetically at him.
James and I mostly ate in silence because we were too hungry to speak. I tried everything that James got for us, but my favourite was definitely the bibimbap. It didn't take long for us to be done with everything and for all that was left to be the empty containers and wrappers.
"That was nice," I said before sipping from the pumpkin juice James had gotten earlier.
"I'm glad you liked it," he said, smiling with his eyes.
After a moment of silence and of realization for me, I said, "James. You said in your letter that there was something you wanted to speak to me about."
James looked down for a moment, as if carefully considering his words. Finally, he pursed his lips to the side and said, "I was hoping you had forgotten about that..."
"Well, what is it?" I persisted, trying not to be overly concerned by the somewhat worried look on his face.
"I wished to speak with you about my father. Did he, well..."
"He spoke to me, yesterday," I told James. "He wasn't angry with me or looking to curse me out... In fact, he seemed to be quite certain that this duel was all an act — I obviously didn't tell him the truth. I said that it was me who gave you that scar, but he was quite adamant, at least at first, that we had orchestred this to hide the true meaning behind how you got it..." I wasn't sure if I was supposed to keep going because James was very quiet the whole time, his eyes widening slightly.
"Maeve, I need you to stick to our story," he finally said. I was about to tell him that that was exactly what I did, but he added, "No matter what he says. No matter how convincing he is, he still has reasonable doubt, as of now. He may have his suspicions, but the moment you let slip absolutely anything, that's when he will know. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand," I said. "In fact, lucky for us, Malfoy was there and he told your father that he witnessed the duel firsthand and that I really did give you that scar. He was really convincing."
"Malfoy knows?" James said, decidedly against that idea.
"Er... Well, he just happened to be there when your father confronted me. I didn't tell him anything," I clarified.
James shook his head and blinked slowly, as if to say that he couldn't believe the mess we were in.
"Okay," he managed to say. "I trust you, Maeve."
That sort of made my heart drop. I loved that he trusted me, I was honoured by that fact, but I also felt like that was a lot of pressure that I wasn't so sure I could handle.
Before I could say anything, something wet and cold landed on my nose. And then, some more landed on my forehead and on my hands.
It was beginning to rain.
"Blimey," I said, getting up from my seat. James followed suit.
Even though we weren't technically supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, he cast a spell to quickly leviate our empty containers and wrappers into the nearest bin. We barely managed to get out of our seats before everyone around us were scurrying out of the street and the people at the stands were closing up.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, panicking a little because it was really beginning to rain hard. My clothes were in the process of getting drenched.
James grabbed my hand, and we hurried through the now pouring rain to the nearest shelter, which was under a protruding roof of a nearby store.
I chuckled, wiping the water off my forehead. It only took one minute in a London rain for our clothes to get wet enough that they were sticking to our bodies.
"Now, how am I supposed to get to my parents' shop?" I yelled at the rain as if it could hear me and understand me.
James laughed next to me. He was also drenched, but he didn't seem to mind as much as I did.
"Should we take shelter in there?" he asked.
The sky was just getting darker and the rain was just getting worse. There was a flash, followed by a deep rumble. A thunderstorm. Perhaps getting indoors was the best course of action.
"What is this place?" I asked, pointing at the broken store sign that read "Ken's Commerce." The lights of the building were turned off, and it didn't seem like there was anybody home.
"Looks abandoned," James remarked. He peered around. Coast was clear. Everybody else had already sought refuge inside another store.
James tried the handle. Obviously, it was locked. He tried Alohomora. Still locked.
"I wonder what's in there," he said, looking around.
The shop was in a pretty bad shape with its old wood and faded paint, but none of the windows were broken, and it was relatively intact. Definitely in a better state than the shrieking shack.
"I'll see if there's another way in..." James said. I wondered how he would do that since it was raining, but the lad just went into the rain and entered the alleyway nearby.
"James!" I hissed, looking around warily. Still nobody around. "We could just look for another place."
"But you'll get wet!" he yelled back through the rain. Suddenly, there was a creak followed by a thud.
"James?" I called. A flash of lightning again, followed by another deep rumble.
I couldn't see him from where I was under the shelter. I would have to go into the rain to peer into the alleyway.
"James?" I called again. Where in Merlin's name was he?
The door swung open at once. I was so startled, I almost jumped back into the rain. Thankfully, however, I quickly realized that it was just James who had found a way inside.
"Oh," was all I said as he invited me in, and I looked around. "Definitely abandoned."
The wooden floor creaked underneath our feet, the windows were dirty with grime — and I swore I just heard a mice scurrying away from us. James closed the door behind me and lit his wand.
He was drenched. We could see exactly where he came from because of the puddles of water he left behind on his way to the entrance.
It was hard to see exactly everything in the store with just a wand lighting the area, but I could still spot a counter with the usual cash register and what appeared to be an assortment of candy next to it.
James tried to turn on the light nearby. It didn't work.
"Maybe we have to use a spell..." he said.
"I don't know any for that," I admitted when he looked at me for help.
"Let's keep looking, then," he suggested. I nodded, and we went around the counter, James still leaving puddles of water everywhere he went.
Another flash of lightning, followed by a deep rumble.
There was a lamp near the cash register. James tried turning it on. It worked. The lamp gave enough light that he could nox his wand.
"What even is this place?" I asked to no one in particular.
"My guess? A former general goods store," James said as we looked around the room.
There were empty shelves lining the sides of the store.
Well, mostly empty. It looked like someone was in a rush to get rid of everything but gave up halfway through.
One shelf in particular had an opened music box with a quidditch player on a stand. Curiosity got the better of me and I went over to it and turned the handle.
The quidditch player (whom I didn't necessarily recognize because I was never that into quidditch), flew off its stand and zoomed around us, leaving sparks behind it. The music that played was one by the Twisted Sisters, though I'd forgotten the name of it. After a moment of zooming around, the little quidditch player went back onto his place on the stand, and the music stopped.
"Lovely," I said. James shrugged.
"Looks like they sold random crap," he said.
"Hey, that music box was pretty great," I replied, almost defensive for the former owner.
James didn't deny nor refute my claim. Instead, he shrugged and went off to the other shelves to see what else was here.
The storm continued outside. Violent and intense.
On one shelf, there were large red combs, which I was afraid to find out the use of. There were two plushies of thestrals, and another one of a barn owl. Everything was equally as dusty.
On another shelf further down were just sweets, all sorts of sweets. The classic ones like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, as well as some obscure ones I had never about before such as Ken's Palate Menace, and Ken's Funzies Fizzies.
"The owner sure was creative," I said with a laugh at all of the different "Ken's" candies. James laughed too, just as amused.
I took a peak outside the windows — although, it was hard to because of all the grime and dirt — another flash of lightning.
The rumble was a lot closer, this time.
"Want to keep exploring?" I asked James, nodding at the backstore.
"Sure," he said.
When we entered the backstore, the lights of that room actually worked, so we didn't have to cast lumos or anything like that. Although, it was rather dim.
It was a relatively empty room. Dust and spiderwebs everywhere; Empty wooden crates and shelves, and a ladder that led to an upper floor. The windowsills were even home to dead plants. How quaint.
"What d'you reckon's up there?" I asked James who was peering around the desolate room with his hands in his pockets.
"Up the ladder?" he asked me. I nodded. "Probably living quarters. Maybe we can find out who this Ken guy is."
Without another word, we climbed up the ladder. James motioned for me to go up first.
When I reached the top, the first thing I noticed was a couch. It was resting against a window which wasn't as grimey as the downstairs ones and was actively getting showered by the powerful rain outside. It was left slightly ajar too, allowing some rain inside. We would need to close that.
I climbed out of the ladder hole and peered around. There was also a bed in a corner with bedside tables on either sides, so this really was a living quarter.
I shut the window, blocking out the storm as James got out of the ladder hole. He walked over to me and stood behind me.
There was a desk with haphazard piles of parchment paper. There was a lamp as well, and another dead plant.
Something scurried past me, and I yelped, falling backwards onto James. The thing slipped under the couch, and I shivered. James chuckled behind me, gently getting me back on my feet. It was too dark for us to have seen the creature well enough.
"It's probably just a mouse," James said with another laugh.
"Well, they can bite," I said. "And it was definitely bigger than a mouse."
"Then, a rat. Either way, he's probably more scared of you than you are of him," James said with a shrug.
"Definitely not a rat. It looked more like a... I don't know what it was, but it was big," I said, keeping my distance from the couch.
James tilted his head to the side, which made me think about how dogs did that when they were curious about something.
Sure enough, he was curious because he pulled on a string in front of us that turned on the light and cautiously walked over to the couch.
"Be careful! What if it's like a fox or something?"
"Foxes are cute," James decided. He went on his knees and peeked under the couch. I held my breath. There was a hissing sound. "Aww. It's just a cat. Look at her. She's adorable."
The cat continued to hiss aggressively at James, but he just kept looking at it with awe.
"You sure about adorable? Sounds like she's about to scratch your face off," I said, crossing my arms warily as I inched closer.
"She's probably just scared. She must be hungry too. She's so skinny."
"Well, be careful. Sometimes wild animals can be unpredictable," I said.
"I think she was the former owner's cat. He must've abandoned her here," James said in realization. "That poor baby..."
James suddenly got up and rummaged through his robes.
"I was going to keep that one for later, but..." He pulled out the beef kimbap from earlier, the one he had pocketed.
When he unraveled the kimbap, it was like the cat could instantly smell it. She neared closer to James, her nose poking out from under the couch. She wasn't hissing at him anymore.
Now, she was meowing rather oddly, as if trying to speak with James, asking for some food. Occasionally, she would add a gentle hiss in the middle of her meows. To add to the dramatic effect of that, there was another flash and rumble coming from outside.
James placed the kimbap on his hand and brought it down to her. She was hesitant, but eventually, she caved in, took a bite off the kimbap and brought it back under the couch with her. When she was done eating that piece, she came back and ate from James' hand, instead.
James tried to pet her, but she moved her head away warily. They stared at each other for a moment before she inched closer and allowed James to stroke her neck while she ate from his hand.
And then the purring started.
Even when she was done eating, she just purred and purred, pushing her face into his hand. I went down on my knees next to them, and surprisingly, the cat allowed me to pet her too. She was oddly affectionate now. Guess she was just hangry.
"What should we call her?" James asked me.
"What? We're naming her now?" I said.
"Of course," James replied. "We're keeping her."
"We?"
"I have the feeling that you hate cats, Maeve, and I hope it's not true," James said, a bit disappointed. The stray cat meowed affirmatively at that remark.
"No! I promise I don't!" I said immediately. "I'm just surprised is all."
"Good because she can't stay with me. My father hates any type of four-legged animal. I need you to let her stay at your place for now."
"Ha. And you expect my parents to be okay with it?" I said, my brow furrowed in bewilderment.
"Well, I'm sure you'll have an easier time convincing your parents than I would my father," he pointed out.
And he wasn't wrong. As much as I sometimes had my grievances with my parents, I also knew that they were fairly easy-going compared to other people's parents.
"Okay. I'll keep her — but we can't tell them she's a stray or my mum would throw a fit," I said.
James raised an eyebrow at the cat purring in his hands.
"Good luck convincing them otherwise," he said with a light chuckle.
Okay, yeah. The stray was quite dirty. She looked like she was supposed to be white, but she was looking a little grey with dirt and dust. Not to mention how skinny she was. Only strays were scrawney like that.
"Well, let's name her first and then figure out the rest," I said.
"We should call her Jaeve," he said. "Because we both found her."
I snorted. "Okay, that's a terrible name. How about something more appropriate for pets, like... Fluffy?"
She was the opposite of fluffy, but it was the spirit that counted, right?
Suddenly, the stray jumped to her feet and waddled over to the desk nearby. She rummaged through the papers until she found something shiny hidden amongst the pile and picked it up with her mouth.
She scamped over to us and dropped whatever she was holding at our feet. It was a torn pet necklace with a silver label that read, "Penny."
"Looks like she's already got a name: Penny," I said.
"I've got an idea. Sorry, Penny, you might hate it..." James pulled out his wand, and Penny puffed out her chest in wary and surprise.
"Reparo."
The broken and dirty necklace suddenly went back to its original form. It was bright red now instead of grimey crimson.
Penny purred approvingly at that.
"No... This is the part you might not like," James said. He pointed his wand at her and cast, "Scourgify."
Penny's fur was suddenly coated in white bubbles. She shook her head around, trying to toss the bubbles off of her, but they wouldn't budge. They kept bubbling atop her, and she kept swaying her body around.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, my hand covering my mouth in surprise.
And then it was over. She was clean. Her white fur was now spotless. She was also fluffier than before, although, we could still tell that she was underweight.
"Now will your parents want to keep her?" James asked me, a proud smile tugging at his lips.
"Yes, I suppose they will..."
After a good thirty minutes of hanging out in Ken's Commerce, the rain was still going hard, and I realized that even with the rain hammering outside, my parents would still expect me to come back to the shop.
We weren't supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, so using the umbrella spell (the one Ivy showed me and the Gryffindors at that quidditch match) in public wouldn't be wise. Thankfully, however, James and I found an umbrella in the living quarters of Ken's Commerce.
Penny wasn't necessarily fond of going under the rain (albeit with the protection of an umbrella), but she seemed wise enough to understand that it was a necessary step for her to get to her new home. James tucked her in his suit to offer her even more protection from the rain, and she seemed very pleased to warm up on his chest.
We promptly traipsed to my parents' potions shop, and as expected, there was barely anybody outside. I tried not to shriek as another flash and rumble of lightning ensued.
We entered the shop, triggering the small bell, and my mother immediately looked up from the front counter.
"Maeve! Oh, dear. You were out so late!"
"It was the storm, Mum," I told her as James shook the umbrella outside before fully entering and closing the door.
"I see. Well, I'm just glad you two are safe from the storm, now. You should have made your way back the moment it started to rain."
"I know. I'm sorry. I know, I'm technically still grounded too," I added before she could think of it.
"Oh, my love, today was an exception, obviously," she said, glancing at a very quiet James behind me. "What's that you're holding, dear boy?"
"Oh. A cat," he said, suddenly petting her. Penny was still wrapped cozily in his suit.
"A cat?" my mother repeated, dumbfounded.
"Yes, uhm, Mum?" I said. She looked at me curiously. "James got her for me as a gift. Is that okay?"
"Ah."
My mother just stared at us both, her eyes narrowing gradually.
"A cat?" she said again.
"Yes," I said.
I held in my breath for a shaky moment as my mother eyed Penny suspiciously.
"Very well, you may keep her," my mum finally said.
"Oh, yay!" I said.
I flashed James a toothy smile, and he returned the gesture with a wink, as if to say I-told-you-it-would-work.
The next thing I knew, James and I were in the backstore with my father because James couldn't just go back out there in the rain, and my mother insisted that we go see Dad.
My father was petting Penny, who by the way was still warmed up in James' suit, and I just sat on one of the high work tables, my legs swinging to and fro.
"Oh, what beauty! May I hold her?" my father said. James unfolded his suit to allow my dad to grab the kitty.
Penny not only allowed herself to get picked up by my father, but she also seemed to rather like it. While the two bonded, James inched closer to me, his hand resting on the table that I was sitting on.
"These two seem to be getting along," he said, now resting his elbow on the table.
"Yes, well, my dad loves cats, or any animal, really. He's kind of like Professor Hagrid. Although, minus the knack for loving the dangerous kinds," I said. James smiled with his eyes as he often did.
When my gaze fully landed on him, I saw that he was looking at me intently, and my heart constricted in my chest a little out of panic.
Sometimes, when James looked at me, I felt like it was a little hard to breathe.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Er... yes," I said, quickly looking away.
Merlin, why couldn't I act normal around him?
"Could I meet you at the store for lunch later this week, again?" he asked me suddenly.
"Are you sure you want to?"
"Why? Why shouldn't I?" he queried.
"If you keep showing up here, my parents will start to think that you're my boyfriend," I said, knowing that my cheeks were definitely burning now. I glanced over at my dad and saw that he was utterly focused on Penny and giving her all the attention in the world.
"Who cares? Why do you care if people think that about us?"
"I — I don't," I managed to say, despite feeling my stomach pressing against my chest, burgeoning with the urge to puke, all of sudden.
"Then, let them think whatever they want. It doesn't matter."
I wanted to tell James that it did matter because the idea of him not actually being my boyfriend while everyone else thought he was felt... unfair. The notion that we could seem "like a couple" to others but not actually be one, felt... ridiculous.
"James, do you want to be my boyfriend?"
The question slipped out of my lips before I could grab it and force it back down my throat. I didn't even think before I vomited the words out.
My heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest, and I wanted to disappear forever because I couldn't believe I had asked him that. It didn't come out the way I intended to. I didn't mean it like that.
"Sorry," I said immediately because James seemed to be at as loss for words. "I meant to say... I wouldn't want people to think that you were my boyfriend unless that was something you wanted to be."
"Well, what about you?" he asked.
"What?"
"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
Mortifying. How had I gotten myself into this kind of situation? Why. Why. Why. I couldn't answer that. I couldn't think of anything clever to say. I didn't even know what to say —
"Well, what's it going to be, Maeve? Will you or won't you?" my father said. WHY WAS MY DAD INVOLVED, NOW?
Apparently, he wasn't entirely focused on Penny and was paying attention to our conversation for Merlin knew how long. And now, being the tactless idiot that he was, my dad decided to just butt in at the worst moment and embarass me.
"DAD!" I said, slipping off the table and landing on my feet in an instant. I was so irked, but also mortified.
I couldn't help myself. The situation was too embarrassing. Everything was. My question for James. His question for me. My dad being there to witness it all. I had to escape.
So, I did. I stormed off to the front of the store. My mother said something, but I ignored her and just ran out the front door, the bell jingling behind me.
I didn't even care that it was still storming. I didn't even care that my mother was calling my name through the pouring rain.
I just kept speeding up the street, without stopping, until I reached The Leaky Cauldron. And then, I floo-powdered myself home.
When I got to my bedroom, I locked the door and swore to myself that I would never leave. I would live in my bedroom if it meant never showing my face to James again.