The Kind Hufflepuff

Chapter 45: Locket

A/N: I may or may not have something up my sleeves.

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The Kind Hufflepuff - Year Two

Chapter Forty- Five: Locket

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Cali had decided not to go to the kitchens to meet the boys, knowing that anything they needed to talk about did not involve her, and she wanted them to be able to talk honestly and truthfully to each other without having to keep in mind that she was in the room alongside them. 

This had turned out to be the correct decision as the next day, the four boys were sitting together at the Gryffindor table and the regular sounds of their laughter and happiness permeated through Hogwarts. Greta had listened to the drama regarding what had happened but it seemed that the boys had agreed to not talk to anybody about what happened, which seemed to be working well for them.

Now that the Gryffindor drama was over, Cali was free to be excited about her upcoming birthday. She had been thinking about what she wanted to do for it, but hadn't been able to come up with anything. She had decided the morning of her birthday that she just wanted to relax, and hang out with the Hufflepuff's in the girl's dormitory. She begged Daisy, Greta, and John that morning to ditch classes for the day and to hang out. John had been kind enough to run into the kitchens and asked the house elves to make vegan raspberry danishes, one of Cali's favorite breakfasts in the world.

"Happy birthday Cali," Greta had greeted her once the danishes had arrived.

"Thank you Greta," Cali smiled softly.

John initially sat on the bed with Daisy until Cali decided that it wasn't going to work and instructed John to help her take everybody's mattress off of their beds and bring them to the middle of the room. She had even used the spare mattress from the empty bed for John and situated them in two rows of three. "What are we doing?" John laughed as he laid down on the spare mattress with the rest of the girls.

"Sleepover," Greta declared.

"So we're just going to hang out here all day?" John questioned.

"Yeah, I don't spend remotely enough time with you guys," Cali shrugged. "This year is so different from last year, I was always with you guys," Cali sighed. "I feel like a bad friend."

"You're not a bad friend," Greta laughed. "We're all making other friends," Greta reassured. "We're growing up, we don't need to spend all of our time together anymore."

"Greta is right," John piped up, reassuring the girl. "What's important is if we come back together at the end of the day."

"I love you guys," Cali told them, "You guys are my favorites."

"Liar," Daisy giggled.

"I am not!" Cali cried.

"Regulus is not in this room, so unless he's suddenly turned invisible then you are absolutely lying," Daisy sassed causing everyone else in the room to laugh besides Cali.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cali questioned, her eyebrows furrowed together.

"You love that boy," Greta declared.

"Do you?" John asked the girl causing her eyes to widen in shock.

"No, of course not. We're too young," Cali rolled her eyes.

"You're 13, Cal," Greta pointed out. "When will be old enough?"

"I have no idea," Cali shrugged. "I don't like him though," Cali denied.

"You're in denial," Daisy rolled her eyes. 

"Why is it such a big deal that I admit I like him?" Cali questioned.

"Because you do," Greta replied quietly. "And he likes you. If you admitting you like that boy lets you be happy, then I'm all for it. Even if Regulus isn't my favorite person in the world," Greta told her.

"I appreciate that you care about me," Cali mumbled. "But I'll be fine. Regulus and I are best friends, and I'm happy with that arrangement."

"Fine," Daisy and Greta giggled. "But you guys are totally end game."

"Ok, we're 13. Can we talk about anything besides boys?" John whined.

"No, I actually wanted to complain about my boyfriend," Daisy piped, grinning maniacly as John's cheeks reddened and the other two girls squealed in excitement.

"BOYFRIEND?" The two girls practically screamed, tackling Daisy.

"Boyfriend," Daisy confirmed, giggling.

"I can't believe you're dating that idiot," Greta laughed, gesturing to John.

"Hey, I'm not that bad," John rolled his eyes.

"You're hideous," Greta countered, rolling her eyes. "Daisy could do better."

"True," Cali shrugged.

"HEY!" John yelled.

"I'm the birthday girl, shut up," Cali laughed.

"You guys are so mean to me," John whined.

"Ok," Daisy interrupted. "Let's be nice," Daisy commanded as she moved closer to John to grab his hand. Greta and Cali made eye contact, their eyebrows wiggling wildly before bursting into giggles. 

They had spent most of the day like this, smiling and laughing as they caught up with each other's lives. This is the birthday that would stay with Cali for many years to come, just being able to relax with her best friends before life got anymore complicated.

"Hey!" A prefect opened the door to greet the group. "Happy birthday Cali."

"Thanks," Cali smiled.

"There's a boy outside waiting for you," the prefect informed the girl. "A Slytherin. I would have told him to get lost but I'm pretty sure I've seen the two of hang out before and I know you've been hiding out all day. He seems to have a gift," the prefect rambled for a moment, before turning bright red.

"Thank you," Cali smiled politely, brushing a strand of hair behind her hair as she stood up. The rest of the girls followed after her, giggling wildly as Cali went through the Hufflepuff entrance to see Regulus Black standing there awkwardly. His tie was strewn over his shoulder, the top buttons were undone as he paced around the hallway. He was holding a small box that was a shiny black with a velvet black bow. 

"Regulus, hi." Cali greeted the boy as Regulus' head popped up towards the girl, a smile spreading across his face as he rushed towards the girl to hug her.

"Happy birthday," Regulus whispered into her ear, the box he was holding digging into her a back a bit as she pushed him away, smiling.

"Thank you," Cali smiled.

"Here, this is- this is yours," Regulus stumbled.

"What is it?" Cali questioned.

"Just open it," Regulus urged.

Cali grabbed the bow, slowly unraveling the box before lighting the lid to see a locket. It was a brown heart shaped locket, the texture appearing to be bark from a tree as she lifted the chain and opened the heart careful to see a picture of them. "This is beautiful," Cali whispered quality.

"It's uh, it's Wiggentree Bark," Regulus explained. "I figured since you went to the Forbidden Forest and with how much you love animals, you might like this kind of protection. It protects you against dark creatures, you see," he rambled.

"I remember," Cali giggled. "Can you help me put it on?" Regulus flushed, grabbing the locket from the girl as she turned around, lifting her hair to reveal her neck as he slowly clasped it.

"There, I'm done," Regulus whispered causing Cali to turn back to him, quickly giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you so much," Cali whispered into his ear before disappearing back into the Hufflepuff common room.