Chapter 3: memory.
"it's supposed to be fun turning twenty-one."
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
"Do you think he'll come?" Celine asks, staring down at her phone. "It's still four fifty, so I'd be surprised if he showed up early."
May says, "I don't know, Cel," as she places the few books on the shelves. "I wouldn't expect anything from him; if he arrives early, that's a miracle; if he doesn't, I'm not surprised."
"What a fucking miracle!" Celine exclaimed, drawing May's attention to the entrance as the wind chimes echoed around the room. Harry had just arrived, but the Fallon's frowned when the door opened again, revealing their older sister, Hanan.
"I tag, Hanan along, so all of us will be arriving to the party later, if that's okay," Harry announced, leading Celine's attention to May, who simply flashed a faint smile before turning her attention to the bookshelves.
She moved to the other side of the room, away from them, to place the last book as her heart clenched at the prospect of Harry accompanying Hanan. She was expecting he would be on time because he had promised, but it turned out he was on time because Hanan was with him.
May took a deep breath before returning to where they were, and her gaze rested on Harry's finger, causing her heart to drop when she noticed a ring next to their wedding ring. She knew it was familiar since she had seen it somewhere.
It is a gold ring with a heart symbol in the center. May shift her gaze when she recalls where she saw that; it's a promise ring Hanan purchased when she and Harry were still together.
May's gaze is drawn to Celine, who smiles sympathetically at her. May entered the kitchen, and the slam of the door cut off Harry and Hanan's conversation. Of course, May was hurt by the prospect that he was still wearing the ring that his ex gave him, but she also remembered what he said, and it was fresh in her mind.
When she heard Harry and Hanan's voices, she stopped walking and hid behind a wall. It was only four days before their wedding, and May knew how much Harry wanted to spend the rest of his life with Hanan, but the universe wasn't on their side.
"You may take that ring off, Harry," Hanan remarked. "I already took mine off, and there's no need in wearing it since you're marrying my sister."
"I'm not taking this off, Han," Harry responds. "I'd only quit wearing it if I stopped loving you, which I doubt will happen."
"Harry," Hanan sighed. "You would love May; she's great, really great; just get to know her better and I guarantee you, she's not hard to love; in fact, you'd fall for her in less than a year."
"May is great," Harry agreed. "But, Hanan, I can't love her; I only view her as a friend and nothing more."
After hearing those words, May's heart was ripped out; Harry couldn't love her since it would always be Hanan.
"Hey, May," Celine muttered, snapping the painful memories she didn't want to remember. It's been three years, yet Harry is still wearing that ring, indicating that he still loves Hanan.
"It's time to go, are you ready?" Celine asks quietly, her hand rubbing calming circles on her sister's arm, a slight smile on her face. "If you need more time, I can ask Harry and Hanan to wait a little longer."
"I'm ready," May replied, beaming, despite Celine's doubt. "It's your girlfriend's birthday, and you're not going to be late."
"May, you know she'd understand this, right?" Celine said.
"But it's her birthday," May insisted. "We can't be late, so let's go," she grabs her sister's hand and leads her out of the kitchen, bringing Hanan and Harry's talk to a halt.
Harry was going to approach May when she walked past him, leaving him perplexed but eventually follow her outside.
Harry wrapped his arm around May's waist, but she ignored him and waited until Celine closed the shop before the four of them apparated at Althea's birthday party.
When they entered the bar, there were a lot of people there, some known to May, others not, and her gaze scanned the crowd, hoping to spot her two best friends who had stayed with her since they were still at Hogwarts.
"Hey, Lu!" a familiar voice called May, prompting her to look to the side where the sound is coming from. She recognizes the person who called her that; it is her best friend.
"CJ!" May exclaimed as she spotted Caelum Jace, who was beaming at his best friend before they walked up to each other and hugged, relishing the warm sensation of their friendship.
Mayari and Caelum are best friends as they were both sorted to the same house, Slytherin. Caelum is the brother Mayari never had but is pleased to experience what it's like to have one. Their connection is purely platonic, and they treat one other like siblings.
Caelum always called Mayari 'Lu' since it was her nickname for her second name and he wanted to be different because everyone else called her 'May.' May always called Caelum 'CJ' because it was a short cut for his name.
"Hey, May," said another familiar voice, breaking May and Caelum's embrace. It was Thalia, Caelum's girlfriend and Harry's twin sister. Despite being in different houses, Thalia and May are great friends.
Thalia, May, and Caelum have been best friends since their first year; Thalia has been sorted in Ravenclaw, but their friendship is still strong; the three of them vividly recall how their friendship began.
"CJ, come on," May, the first year, tugged on her best friend's robe to get his attention. "I'm hungry! who are you staring at anyway?" she pouted when Caelum didn't respond, and she followed his attention to find a red-haired girl reading a book while dressed in the Ravenclaw robe.
"Oh, that's Thalia," May whispered, making Caelum jump and chuckle quietly because they were still at the library. "She was quite shy when I met her; the Potters and my parents are close, and they allowed us meet her and her twin, but both are shy, and I didn't have the chance to chat to them when I met them; they barely said anything."
"Do you want to be friends with her?" May asks, widening Caelum's eyes, and she smiles and grabs his wrist before he can react and walks up to Thalia, who is now scanning through her book.
"Hey, Thalia," May said with a smile, and Thalia looked up, widening her eyes but only flashing a faint smile. "Um, Caelum and I were wondering whether you wanted to be friends with us?" Caelum and Thalia both widen their eyes, but Caelum smiles when Thalia nods.
"Yeah, that would be great," Thalia smiled at the two Slytherins, unaware that their lives were about to change forever and that their friendship would be the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to them.
"Hi, wombmate," Thalia said to Harry, prompting him to return a smile to his twin before they hugged.
May recall how she and Harry became friends; sure, they met before they attended Hogwarts, but they began talking during their first year, and she vividly recalls it; in fact, it's one of her favorite encounters with him.
The young Fallon has been hidden in the back of the library since she, Thalia, and Caelum were playing hide and seek, and Thalia is the one who will find them. Her heart was racing so quickly she thought she was being chased by a horse.
"What are you doing in here?" a voice frightened her, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed Harry, who was staring at her with a worried expression. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright," May respond. "I'm just hiding from you sister because we're playing hide and seek, so don't tell her I'm here, okay?"
Harry smiled and nodded. "She's actually coming this way," he murmured, widening her eyes, the panic flashing in her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll help you hide; here, take this," he added, handing her a cloak he was clutching. "I promise it will help if you cover yourself."
May accepts the cloak but raises an eyebrow. "Don't you think that suspicious?" she inquired quietly. "I mean, she'll notice me because of this."
"No, she won't since it's an invisibility cloak," he replied. "I promise you'll be invisible, so just go ahead and cover yourself since she's really getting close." With that, she covered herself and Thalia approached her brother.
"What are you doing in here?" Thalia asked.
"I'm looking for a book for homework," Harry responds. "You?"
"I'm looking for my friend, we're playing hide and seek," she replied. "Have you seen, May?"
"No."
Thalia sadly nodded and walked away, but smiled when she saw Caelum and exclaimed "found you!" When she realizes she's still in the library, she quickly covers her hand.
"Thalia found your friend," Harry whispered, and May took the cloak from her and smiled, which he couldn't help but smile at the sight of.
"Thank you so much for letting me borrow this!" May exclaimed as she handed him the cloak. "I hope you find the book you're looking for."
"No problem," he spoke as he accepted the cloak.
May's next move startled Harry: she kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you again," she said as she walked away, his cheeks flushed.
"Hey, wait," he says as he grabs her wrist and their gazes meet. "Um, what was your name again?"
"Mayari."
"And everyone calls you May?" Harry inquires, and she nods. "Can I call you Maya?"
"Sure," she said, beaming. "No one ever calls to me as that; it's always May."
Harry flashed a smile. "Brilliant; I'll refer to you as Maya from now on."
Up until fourth year, Harry always called her Maya, but in the midst of that year, when he fell in love with May's older sister, Hanan, he began to call her May.
The room was filled with loud music, the smell of alcohol was in the air, and even smoke from a cigarette was present. Some people were dancing in the crowd, either with someone or alone, holding a glass of liquor. While others were drinking in the corner, May was drinking in the corner with Althea's older brother, Kyle.
They were just laughing and reminiscing about the past when someone cleared their throat, causing their conversation to come to a halt. It was Harry who was a little tipsy, gazing at May and glaring at Kyle.
"I'll borrow my wife," Harry muttered, emphasizing the word "wife" as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from Kyle.
"Let me go!" May yelled, inebriated from the amount of alcohol she drank a while ago, which had truly left a mark on her. "What the hell do you want?" she asked as they came to a halt. "I'm still talking to Kyle, and you rudely interrupted."
"Aw, I'm sorry did I disturb your little chat with your ex?" Harry sarcastically asked, which made May roll her eyes.
"Why? I can't talk to my ex right now," she responds. May and Kyle were exes, they dated during their time at Hogwarts, Kyle was in the same year as Hanan, but their age wasn't an issue, their relationship was healthy, but it ended because May still loves Harry.
"You know what, Harry? You're unfair," May spat. "You get irritated when I'm talking to my ex, yet here you're continually talking and laughing with your ex, and I don't interrupt you both."
"Hanan is my friend!"
"Kyle is also my friend!"
"Hanan is your sister," Harry stated. "And you trust her and-" his statement was cut short when May laughed bitterly.
"Do I?" May inquire. "Do I trust my sister, Harry? Who told you that? As far as I recall, she shattered my trust, but I still love her, she's my fucking sister, but trust? I don't think so."
Harry's expression softens; he knows what she's saying and, even now, he feels guilty about it, and so does Hanan. May doesn't want to remember it, but it was imprinted on her, and she couldn't help but recall that painful moment.
"If it's your 21st birthday," Harry answered. "It's not Hanan's fault, it's my fault."
May scoffed. "Of course, it's not her fault. Always covering her up, eh?" She crossed her arms and glared at him. "But, then again, you enjoy what she did, so I don't blame you for covering her up."
"May, it happened two-"
"Two years ago, yeah," May cut off his statement. "But it still hurts. You have no idea how that shit torments me, Harry. You have no idea how it makes me doubt my worth as your wife, how it makes me believe I'll never be good enough for you."
Harry remained silent as he observed his wife spitting those words, the agony visible in her voice and even in her eyes. She wasn't crying, but she was close; she was simply trying not to cry.
"You have no idea how much I despised that day, Harry; it was my birthday, and you two spoiled it," May continued. "Everyone said it's fun to turn twenty-one, but it's very fun; turning twenty-one was a fun day for me."
He knew she was being sarcastic about it, he saw how she didn't enjoy the rest of her 21st birthday party, and he and Hanan felt incredibly awful about it.
"If you don't have anything to say, I'll go get more drink," May remarked, but Harry grabbed her wrist before she could leave.
"You're drunk, let's go home."
"Not drunk," she insisted, releasing herself from his grip. "You may go home if you want, I don't give a fuck, but I'm staying here."
With that, May walked away and returned to her place, only to discover Kyle was no longer present, but she didn't care. She took a seat and called the barista. "Gin," May said, and the barista nodded. As soon as the barista handed her the Gin, May chugged it down like a glass of water.
The taste of it reminds her of something she said to him a while ago: it was one of the birthdays she despised and wished she never had.
It's Mayari's 21st birthday, so everyone she cares about has come to celebrate. When she blew the cake, everyone cheered, and her eyes began to wonder, looking for her husband, but he wasn't in the room, so she stood up from her seat and began to walk around her parents' house, hoping to spot him.
She was happy, of course, because she was 21, but her happiness faded the moment she stepped into the backyard. She saw Harry and Hanan conversing and was going to call them when Hanan leans in and their lips connect.
Her eyes welled up with tears, and her heart clenched at the sight of them. Her eyesight became blurry, and she didn't even realize she kicked a pot, causing them to pull apart, and their eyes to widen as they noticed May.
"May," Harry and Hanan said, their voices laced with guilt, but she didn't respond; instead, she wiped her tears before returning to the room, pretending nothing happened, pretending she didn't see that on her fucking birthday.
She never informed anyone about it; she kept it to herself. But, like a broken machine, that scene keeps replaying in her head, a never-ending scene. She didn't enjoy the rest of her birthday celebration; in fact, she forgot it was her birthday; she avoided Harry and Hanan throughout the day and stayed with Caelum and Thalia.
She supposes that turning twenty-one is a lot of fun.
"May, that's enough," a voice remarked, and she snapped back from reality, widening her eyes as she noticed a slew of empty glasses in front of her; she had no idea she was drinking too much Gin.
"Let's go home," Harry whispered, his arm around her waist. "You drink too much, darling, that's enough, come on."
May lock her gaze on him. She can't help but admire her emerald eyes; it's one of his features that May adores, and she'll never tire of looking at it.
"Why can't you love me, Harry?" May asked softly, startling Harry, who hadn't expected her unexpected inquiry, and even May wasn't sure how it came out of her mouth. "Is it because I'm not as pretty as Hanan or as good a kisser as she is? Merlin, Harry, I'm also a good kisser, and I can show you if you like."
"May, you're really drunk," he responded, not knowing how to say or respond to her question.
May scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Always dodging the question." She stood up with Harry's help, and silence engulfed them as they began to walk slowly since May is having difficulty walking because she's inebriated, causing her to zig-zag when walking.
But May was right. Every time she asked why he couldn't love her, Harry dodged the subject, but she should know the answer by now. He can't love May since she isn't Hanan.
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
End of chapter 3.
a/n:
Sorry for any grammatical errors and misspelled words, happy reading :)