Caiti hadn't been to Diagon Alley in the fall since she was ten. She'd forgotten how quiet it could be. There were still plenty of people bustling about, doing their shopping, but without the swarms of teenagers meeting up with their friends over the school holidays, it was much calmer.
She curved up the cooblestone street, heading towards a little tea shop where she'd agreed to meet Amelia for lunch and spotted her already waiting outside.
"Caiti!" she squealed, running over to give her a hug.
"Hi, Amelia," Caiti laughed. She might have been exasperated by this kind of greeting just a year ago, but it didn't seem so bad now. That was just how Amelia was. She was a lot, but she meant well. Caiti knew that her excitement was genuine.
They found a table inside and ordered sandwiches and a cup of tea each and then Amelia described what felt like every detail of her life over the last few months. She told Caiti how she'd gotten a job at a salon and she was just doing reception for now, but the owner was teaching her styling charms.
"And I did this myself," she said, reaching back to pull out her clip. Her hair came spilling out, but it was only half of what it had been. She'd cut it to just about shoulder length and it looked really cute on her. She looked professional and grown up and Caiti suddenly felt very young with her still long blonde hair.
"So if you ever need yours cut or styled for an event or... whatever. Let me know. I'll do it for free to practice. And if I totally screw it up, I know people who can fix it."
"I'd trust you," Caiti said. "Yours looks cute. I really like it."
"Thanks," said Amelia. She twisted her hair back up into the clip. "Also Bill and I broke up, but do you remember Riley Wood? He was two years ahead of us but in Gryffindor?"
"Vaguely," said Caiti.
"Well, his older sister works with me and he came in once to drop something off for her and now we're sort of talking. We're going to hang out this weekend, I think."
"Well that's exciting. I hope it goes well. He seems nice?"
"So nice," Amelia smiled.
She carried on like this for such a long time that their plates were cleared and the check paid when Amelia finally leaned her elbows on the table and said, "Okay, so tell me everything. What have you been doing? How's Marlowe? Are you working? Just doing your research?"
Caiti tried her best to keep track of all Amelia's questions as she gave her a rundown of the last few months and what out-of-school life had been like. She'd just finished giving her a very watered down version of what she'd been working on, minus all of the insurmountable self-doubt and imposter syndrome, when Amelia asked, "Did you ever look into mandrakes like we talked about?"
Caiti went very still.
"Oh my god," she said. "No. No I- I totally forgot. I guess N.E.W.T.s and everything I just... no."
"I don't know. Maybe it's a stupid idea. I quit potions after O.W.L.s."
"I don't think it's a stupid idea at all," Caiti said. Her mind was racing now. "I think it's really smart. I'm going to look into that."
Mandrakes were restoratives. Mandrakes were used for people who'd been petrified or transfigured. Why hadn't she jumped on this idea immediately? Why had she waited to come around to this and how had she ever forgotten?
A little flicker of hope had just sparked up in her chest.
—-
When Amelia left to go back to work, Caiti decided to walk over to the Magical Menagerie to see if Sean was working. She knew he was there before she was even very close, because she could see Barry in his favorite spot in the window.
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."
Another customer came in then, and Caiti glanced back at the door.
"I guess I should let you go," she said.
"Well, thanks for stopping by," he said with a nod. "It's good to see you."
Caiti smiled. It was good to see him. He had really started to feel like her brother again. The weird, angry, empty Sean had finally faded away.
As she stepped back outside, the little bubble of hope she'd felt talking to Amelia about mandrakes started to expand in her once again. She made her way over to the garden center and purchased half a dozen mandrake seedlings, her heart beating very quickly.
—-
The energy on the field for warmup was much different that afternoon than it had been at any of the regular season matches. Marlowe wasn't actually on the roster to play yet, but he had been officially told he was the first alternate, so he was out warming up with the rest of the team.
Everyone anticipated this being their last match of the season, but there was still a level of excitement and attack that he normally didn't feel from his teammates.
Caiti and his parents were somewhere in the stands, just in case Marlowe did get a chance to play. He thought it was pretty unlikely that they sub him in, but that was alright. Even to know he was at the top of their list of choices was flattering, especially going into the break.
He just had to keep it up over the next few months, make sure when they came back, he was even stronger.
When it was time for the match to begin, Marlowe and the other alternates headed back to the benches and the starters lined up on the field for the roll call.
Everyone looked at him expectantly. His imitations of the announcer had become something of a tradition. Marlowe would try to predict exactly what he'd say as he called out each of the Cannons players and the others would roar with laughter each time he got it word for word, intonation and all.
Marlowe waited, head down, the picture of focus, while the opposing team was announced, and then, as their seeker took his spin around the pitch, Marlowe said, "And now the moment you've all been waiting for... get ready to rumble... here come the Chudley CANNONS! Chasing this afternoon, we've got the one, the only... Damon MACKEY!"
When, moments later, the announcer used the exact phrase the one, the only, everyone laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes and Marlowe couldn't talk clearly enough to continue on until they'd already reached the beaters.
"Okay, okay..." he said, trying to pull himself together. His stomach ached from laughing so hard. "Up next, your beaters... give it up for the unbeatable Brian McSORLEY!"
It wasn't a perfect match for the real announcement this time, but Patrick Donnely clapped a hand to his knee and said, 'That's a good line! You should sell him that one!"
Marlowe grinned.
It was going to be weird, not spending every day with these guys for a few months. He didn't really know what he was going to do with himself.
—
The Cannons put in a respectable effort, but they were still positively slammed. Marlowe never did get to play, but that was alright. Everyone left the match in high spirits and with grand plans for how next year was going to be the comeback season no one expected. It would be the year they finally came back and won it all, no longer the lovable losers.
He found Caiti and his parents after the match, but not until he'd changed out of his robes and debriefed with Benson. Most of the crowd had already cleared out. There were just a few stragglers still chatting here and there.
Caiti gave Marlowe a big hug as soon as he made it to her. "How do you feel?" she asked.
"About losing?" Marlowe asked. "Fine. We expected it."
"About being mostly off for a few months," Caiti corrected.
"Oh," he said. "Weird. I guess the break will be kind of nice, but I don't know... I think I'll get bored of it. I got bored pretty fast last year."
Caiti hadn't been home last year though. Maybe this year would be a little different.
He kissed her on the cheek before he let her go. "I guess I've just got all kinds of free time to pester you," he smiled.
Caiti just shrugged. "I'll allow it."
Then she turned to Marlowe's mum. She'd just remembered something.
"What's it called when you search for stuff on your computer?"
"Googling?" she asked with a frown.
"Oh," said Caiti eyes widening. "That does sound familiar. Sean thought it was called noodling."
Mrs. Finnegan laughed so hard she was in tears.