Till Forever Falls Apart

The Long Way Home

June 23, 1993

"Promise me that we'll send each other an owl every other week."

    "I promise."

    "Promise me you won't go and get yourself killed doing something stupid."

    "That hurts. Besides, I'm not foolish. You think so little of your best friend."

    "Third. Or second. Parvati has claimed the first spot. You and Anthony switch. Depends who's making me irritated that day."

    Val and Padma were cleaning the final spots of their room, making sure to leave not a single scrap of paper or hairpin behind. They had made their beds. Pulling the blue duvet up to the pillows and folding it back as if they were maids at a hostel.

    It had come time to say goodbye to the memories they had made that second year at Hogwarts, leaving behind the tears, arguments, laughs, and hugs that had pulled them through to the very end. They would be third years in a few months, and Val could not believe that they had already made it to their final hours of school. She had much to do in the little time she had left, and wanted to spend every waking minute left to run her errands and make space in her day to see her friends' faces for the last time till they were to meet again sometime in the summer.

    Her family was scheduled to leave the Saturday she returned from Hogwarts where they would put themselves on a plane and fly to America for her very first time. When hearing that Val would take a trip to the country, Hermione had sat her down one day at lunch on the grounds and filled her in about everything concerning Ilvermorny: the American School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The girl had been excited for a chance to see the school, but once Hermione had dulled her anticipation with facts and comparisons to Hogwarts, the American boarding school had lost its promise. She would have to settle for taking in the sights of the magic villages instead.

    "Whose is this?" Padma held up a shoe, looking at the size on the bottom of it.

    "I don't know," Val shrugged, carrying books in her tote bag as she headed for the door. "It's either yours or Anne's. I have bigger feet."

    "I think I would know if it was my-" Padma saw the other pair, tied with her signature blue ribbon at the buckle. "Never mind. It is mine. Thank you!"

    Val grinned, closing the door with her wand as she flew down the winding staircase.

    Anthony had disappeared in the morning to who knows where, with no trace of a note or any sign of his existence in the castle. Deciding that the long way would be nice, and wanting to remember the intricacies of the corridors of Hogwarts for her drawings, she turned left as she exited Ravenclaw Tower, embarking on her journey to find her Transfiguration teacher. She wanted to deposit her book in the donation box, seeing that she had no use for the second edition of The Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration anymore.

    The weather was perfect for the last day of the year. The eucalyptus vines fluttered with the gentle flow of the wind, which Val took notice of as she watched older students walk side by side, holding hands and pulling away from friends of their own in the Entrance Courtyard. She pondered over what her life would look like in the sixth year. Whether she would have someone she would display affection with in the halls of the school, how tall her friends would be and what they would look like as they began to leave Hogwarts, once and for all. She was glad she had so many years left-she couldn't bear to think of leaving it all so soon and never returning.

    "Always got a book at your side, don't you, V?"

    Val could recognize that voice from miles away. Beaming as she followed the sound, craning her neck to see George with a scarf thrown around his shoulders and a few crumpled papers he clearly had no use for.