LONG STORY SHORT, james potter

𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧.

Aisling sighed as she looked at Betty with abandoned eyes. "I don't want to bother you."

"You couldn't bother me, Ashe." Betty's smile was gentle, but cautious. "What's going on?"

Aisling's fingers meticulously curled around a piece of folded parchment in her hands. Betty recognized the seal—it was the one that Aisling had carved as a birthday present for her father in third year. Her fingers were freshly painted and the glossy finish glinted in the firelight.

"I . . . um . . . I think my dad's getting remarried."

"Oh."

"Yeah and I just . . . I don't want to bother you—"

"Please stay," Betty paused, "if you want to."

"Okay . . ." Aisling's voice was uneasy. "I just don't want to take away from your school work and you're already missing rounds and—"

Betty looked down at her essay and chewed the inside of her cheek. "I'll be alright."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Aisling tentatively sat down on the couch next to Betty. They were both quiet, Betty waiting for when Aisling was ready to talk as Aisling's eyes darted around the floor in thought. "I don't know her, though she works with him. He's mentioned her a couple of times, now that I think about it, but he mentions a lot of people and I didn't know what it meant . . . it's just all a little confusing, you know? Everything's going to change if he gets remarried and with everything going on here, I just don't know what to do."

Betty reached for her hand. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright—"

"It's really not alright. That's a big decision to make and you deserve to be consulted on it."

"I know and he deserves to be happy, you know. But . . . I don't know . . . they didn't end in a big fight—"

"Yeah, I remember."

"And sometimes I wish they did because then I'd know that they hated each other and some part of me has always wished that they would get back together, you know?"

"You didn't see it coming."

"Exactly and so now that he's moving on . . . and I mean, mum's had a few boyfriends, but nothing terribly serious. And . . . I mean, after next year, I'll probably move out anyway, but Saoirse will still be there and . . . yeah."

"Has he told you explicitly that he's getting remarried?"

Aisling shook her head, her lips in a line. "But, he told me that he has some big news to share when we go home for summer holidays and he mentioned her in the same letter and then I realized that he's mentioned her quite a bit, I was just so caught up in other things like Peter and you and everything that I didn't notice, you know? And maybe it was the same with the divorce. Maybe I could've seen it coming, but I was so caught up in other things and I really hate that I get so consumed—"

"Don't say you hate it. I love it."

"Oh Betty." Aisling smiled and shoved her forehead in her hand.

"No," Betty reached her hand out and lifted Aisling's head up, "I really do. I think it's one of the most special things about you and, honestly, it's what's kept me going. And I don't just mean how you take care of me, but watching you become so enthusiastic about things . . . it's wonderful. There's nothing that brings me more joy than watching you be passionate about something."

Aisling launched forward and tackled Betty into a hug. Both girls started to chuckle with the force as Betty fell back, Aisling on top of her. Betty kissed her hair as Aisling's fingers curled into Betty's back.