promised / arranged sequel

04.

The air whirled around me and I felt like something clicked. It didn't feel weird, it felt nice. Like somehow it was supposed to be there.

I ducked my head down and studied the engravings on the wood. Swirls and runes were carved into the sides and small flowers accompanied them.

I traced them with the tip of my finger as the door slowly swung open. I refused to look up. Something about this wand had me longing to study it. I didn't want to look up.

You'll wake up soon.

None of this is real.

"Excellent," the old man spoke. I snapped out of my head and looked up at him, I could feel my heart pounding in my head. He held head high and wore a proud smile as he beckoned for me to come closer to his desk. "That will be 6 galleons."

I stared at him, blinking hard. The silence was louder than anything as he waited payment I simply did not have. I had about 20 pounds on me, not whatever the hell he wanted.

And I sure as hell didn't know where to acquire said galleons.

It felt like the room was shrinking, and it potentially could have really been shrinking around me, and the pressure built up. I felt so awkward standing in front of this old man, no money, for so long after he named his price.

I thought about running with the wand. Thought about breaking through the probably magical door and sprinting as far as my legs would take me.

But I didn't.

Something kept me from completely stealing from this guy and held me back tightly.

I went to lay the wand down, despite my own mind screaming profanities at me and battling itself all in regard to giving up the piece of wood.

Before my fingers could unwrap themselves, the door flung open. My mum stood there, her fist clenched around something. She smiled at the man and walked toward me, sliding some sort of currency across the table.

"I forgot to give her the money," she said. The man smiled back, his eyes had lit up slightly at the sight of her.

"I'm glad to see you doing well and alive," he said, "You know, you and Draco Malfoy were all the news wanted to talk about."

Mum tensed, her smile dropping from her face and her eyes darkening. "Right." Her voice was flat and lost all enthusiasm she had previously. She stiffly slid some money over the counter and avoided his gaze, her hand slowly grabbing onto my arm. "Well, we must get going," she said.

She tugged on me and, without another word, we left the man alone in his shop. She didn't pause to explain anything, either. She just kept going until we eventually found somewhere else to go. I'm not even sure what I needed to get and I'm sure as hell not sure what stores I was entering.

All I could comprehend was the fact that I was shopping to attend a wizard school somewhere. Mum clutched the list of things in her hand and pulled me behind her. We went in and out of various shops, each time we came out with more stuff that she threw into what seemed to be a bottomless bag. I was fitted for clothes, told to pick an owl, and evaluated by strangers on how I would do in the world and what path I would take.

Those lot were judgmental as hell.

Mum didn't care for their input and shut them up rather quick. But they talked about how they wouldn't be shocked if I single-handedly sent everyone into war.

That's a bit much for me.

I think Mum was fed up with me and having to drag me everywhere because she was shopping faster now and we seemed to be almost done.

I grinned at the idea of going home and being away from all these strange people who seem to think their opinion of me is accurate. We met back up with our group. Everyone was seemingly exhausted.

"Some prick tried to grab me twice," Pansy groaned as we came closer. "They think we haven't changed at all."

"They've been making absurd assumptions about Celeste all day," Mum sighed, thrusting the small bag full of everything into my hands.

"Don't listen to them," Pansy said, "They probably jealous you've got good genes and their kids don't. Gotta make you look like a war criminal before you even get to Hogwarts."

We didn't wait long to go back home after that. Dad was pissed off for some reason and Mum was overwhelmed so we made it a point to go home as soon as we could.

Pansy and Blaise stayed in the house. Dad sent me upstairs with a scowl. "Pack your things together so you're ready," he said. I huffed and walked up the stairs, trying to hear the conversation they'd engaged in.

"...you can't seriously think he's still looking." Pansy's voice was a hushed, but concerned whisper and she sounded frantic.

"I don't doubt it. The man is psychotic," Dad mumbled. I debated standing on the stairs to get the full conversation but footsteps began toward the bottom and I had to rush to my room.

I tried not to think about the small exchange I heard and emptied the bag of things onto my floor. The large trunk I was meant to pack everything in fell out with a thud and marked the last thing we had bought.

I began throwing things inside, folding the new wizard school clothes and threw in my own clothes, making sure I had enough to wear here before laying the books and such on top. My owl had been left downstairs and I'm not even sure what owl I had picked. I was too out of it to make any conscious decision.

I kept my mind clear and snapped the trunk shut, pushing it toward my desk. As soon as I got it away from my window, it slid open and someone climbed inside. I panicked, throwing a blanket over the trunk and acting as normal as I could.

"Jesus, Cel, why weren't you at school?"

"Elise, I told you to stop coming here abruptly," I groaned, walking toward her.

"Well you weren't at school so I had to make sure you were fine," she said, sitting down on my bed.

"I'm fine," I lied. She narrowed her eyes and leaned back on her hands.

"Sure you are." Her eyes wandered across the room, squinting at everything around the room. I watched her closely, nervous she'd see something she shouldn't.

"You should go," I said as her eyes caught the blanket covering my trunk. "I've got a lot going on right now. I'll talk to you about it later." I pulled on her arm and avoided her gaze. I knew if we made eye contact she'd see right through me and I couldn't risk her finding anything out.

I shoved her toward my window, but she caught herself and whipped around.

"You're hiding something and I will find out," she said. I folded my arms and stared at her, not saying a word.

"Call me," she said. "Seriously. Whenever you can."

She turned away from me and left, but I felt like she knew. I felt like she'd been sent here to find something out.

She probably had.

But I can't think about that. Not now. I'll tell her I'm leaving school another time. When the time is right, she'll find out.