VIOLET (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

18.

She pushed through the door a moment later and was greeted by the tinkling of a bell.

"Hi," said Sean in surprise.

"Hi," said Caiti. She walked over to the counter and leaned against it. "I was just in Diagon Alley and thought I'd come say hello."

"Oh," he said. "What were you here for? Potion ingredients?"

She shook her head. "I met Amelia for lunch."

"Amelia?" asked Sean, wrinkling his nose.

Barry had roused himself at this point, and he tromped over to Caiti. She knelt down to pet him. "She's really not so bad."

"Yeah, well... I beg to differ," said Sean, who'd been put through a pretty miserable experience thanks to Amelia and a stick of Lovegloss two years prior.

Caiti laughed. "She mellowed out a lot last year. She's still Amelia, but she's not like... so much."

"I'll take your word for it."

Caiti straightened back up. "What are you working on?" she asked, because Sean had what looked like a number of forms out in front of him.

Sean considered the parchment like he was trying to decide how much to tell her. "I'm actually... I'm applying for a job."

"Really? Where? Does your boss know?"

"Yeah," he said. "She actually told me about it. She wrote me a reference letter and everything. It's for the Scamander Foundation, doing conservation research. I don't really have the background they're looking for at all. I don't have any experience. But... I don't know. I thought I'd just apply anyway. Just in case."

"Wow," Caiti said. "That's great. That sounds really cool."

"I think it would be," Sean said. "I really like working with animals."

"I think they like you too, if Barry's any indication."

Sean grinned. Barry had, when Caiti stopped petting him, wound his way behind the counter and was now sitting patiently by Sean's feet, just waiting for attention. He stamped his paws now and Sean looked down at him.

"Barry and I are soulmates," he said. "It's a special case."

"Don't tell Evelyn that."

He laughed. "It's okay. She already knows."

"How is Evelyn anyway? How's school?"

"She's good. She's just on her computer constantly searching for stuff. What do they call that thing? Noodling?"

"I don't know," Caiti shrugged. "Marlowe's mum would know."

"I don't remember. But whatever it is, she's always noodling stuff, like what slang terms mean and what movies people are quoting. At first I think people thought she was really strange because she didn't get any of their references, but now she's gotten really good at pretending she knows what they're talking about and then she comes home and she noodles it and figures out what it is. I think she's more focused on fitting in than actual school, sometimes. She doesn't really talk about her classes."

Caiti frowned. "Maybe you should ask her about them."

"I have," he said. "She'll say a little, but then she'll always remember something someone said and then she's off trying to figure it out. She just keeps saying learning how to be a muggle again is like a full time job."

"Huh," Caiti said. "Now you mention it, the last time I saw her she did use a bunch of odd phrases."

"It's like she speaks in code now," said Sean seriously. "Barry and I just nod and agree."