Healing // d.m.

| 49 |

  THE cobblestone pavements at Diagon Alley were shaky and uneven. Catherine hissed when the small part of her kitten heel shoes slipped into one of the cracks, nearly causing her to fall flat on her face. She looked around for the cafe that Gabby told her to meet up with, finding it close by to where she already was.

  Gabby was sitting on one of the red giant booths, a cups of ice coffee ready on the table. Catherine slid into her seat, throwing her bag and her discarded maroon robe on the table. She grunted and laid her head on the table.

  "Uh oh. Was it that bad?" Gabby asked her, reaching over to pat her head twice.

  Catherine lifted her head up and looked at her. The frown on her face was almost a permanent fixture ever since she saw the exam questions. Not to mention her ass and her back aches badly from sitting straight for nearly nine hours. She harshly grabbed the straw from the dispenser and plucked it into her coffee, some drops splattering around her.

  "Oh come on, how hard can it be?"

  Catherine looked at her dead in the eyes, "There were 650 questions, Gabby. None of them were multiple choice questions. Your husband nearly puked in the middle of it, as did I."

  Gabby's lips formed a small 'O' and she looked outside the window.

  "Where is Greg?"

  Catherine took a sip before answering, "He knew the kids would be at the joke shop so he went there. Saying something about wanting to talk with Ron first."

  "He's avoiding me." Gabby huffed stabbing at a piece of cake that suddenly appeared in front of them.

  "Maybe you should avoid him too. At least for the next three days until the results come out and the pain of writing that bloody test disappears. I'm sure Smalls would love to kick me out for a few days if he could."

  Gabby grimaced as she looked at Catherine swirling her ice coffee vigorously.

  It doesn't taste the same. Coffee will never taste the same.

  "I'm sure you both did fine. You always overreact about an exam being ridiculously hard then get top of the class."

  Catherine rolled her eyes and laid her head on the table again. She wanted to detach her head for a moment and let out all the steam building up inside. It's not like she was not sure about her answers, it's the waiting game that's going to hurt. Not knowing if you made it or not. Catherine was not best friends with uncertainty.

  You did your best love, that's all that matters. He would definitely say that if he was here. She imagined being in his arms, nuzzling her face at the crook of his neck. He would stroke his hair and softly massage her scalp.

  Catherine grunted again at the thought.

  "I swear he's avoiding me." Gabby repeated, "Using the kids as his escape."

  "So talk to him. Ask him about it."

  Gabby barked a humorless laugh. "Yeah, like that will get us anywhere. If you're being this cranky imagine what he's going to be like. He would go out with the boys, leaving the house until midnight, then come home looking like his own five year old begging for forgiveness. Then he gives me his puppy-eyes and I can't even get mad. Or he'll change his clothes infront of me, how am I supposed to stay mad at him looking like that?!"

  The headache in her head was getting stronger with every word Gabby said, "If you keep babbling like that after an exam, then yes, I would avoid you too."

  Gabby flicked her fingers at her forehead and Catherine yelled. A few other customers looked in their direction.

  "Finish your drink. We have to go find them." Gabby told her, biting at the strawberry on the top of the sliced cake.