Equinox

eight

I'm taking my typical morning route, checking the wards. The path is the perimeter around the grounds approximately a kilometre out from the house. It's a simple spell that reminds me of Lumos. A small cyan glow from the tip of my wand, and any weak spots morph the glow into a bright shade of pink. Spots in the ward that have been tampered with turn the glow red.

I've only walked about a fourth of my path when I spot a figure apparate into the neighbouring field. The figure begins to jog over to me and it isn't until I squint that I realize it's Theo.

I keep walking down the path while I wait for him to catch up to me.

"Aspen," he calls.

I stop again, and this time wait till he's only an arm's reach away before continuing. I haven't been the fondest of his company as of late. Whenever I see his face, I'm reminded of the pile of resentment I've grown towards him in the last month.

"Morning," I tell him.

"Erm," he clears his throat. If I'd known him any less than I do, I would still smell his unease with my eyes closed. "Parks is trying to go through the new girl's clothes." He says quickly as though that wasn't what he intended to tell me.

"Well," I say awkwardly, "that's better than yesterday." The silence stretched a long while and I reduced to walking the path again. "They'll be fond of each other in no time."

He catches up to the side of me and matches my pace. "If you're sure of it," he laughs.

My gaze is focused on the glow at the tip of my wand. "When you take the time to learn Lilith, you'll realise that she and Pansy are quite similar."

"Really," Theo jokes, "I wouldn't have taken notice."

"I'm being serious, Theo." I refute.

"Alright, alright, so they're possibly similar." He teases. "Why must they be friends?"

I shrug, "It would be nice to see them, at least, get along." Lilith and Pansy are my sisters, I've grown to see them as my second family. I don't tell Theo that, but beyond that hesitation, I'd like to see my family get along.

We walk further and the meadow is in eyesight. The cluster of trees appears closer than it is but intercepts further down our path. Even with the meadow in the distance, the trees feel an arm's length away compared to Theo. Physically, our arms could bump into each other at any moment, but beyond the physical, I can't reach him.

"I'm still having nightmares," I promptly admit before even thinking.

Theo is silent for a moment. I can almost hear him considering his next words. "Why didn't you find me?"

I shrug again, keeping my eyes on the tip of my wand.

"You used to always go to me when they got bad." He points out.

"Well," I sigh, "I need to learn to take care of myself." I internally cringed when the words left my tongue. Luckily, he hadn't caught the second meaning.

"You already have," he tells me. "How else do you think you're standing here? Truly, Aspen, have you considered that you're allowed to lean on the people in your life?"

I find myself clenching the handle of my wand tighter. "Yes, I'm highly aware. But I must ask, is there any particular reason as to why you are insistent on reminding me of my months in purgatory?"

Theo sighs because he's the one bearing the consequences of being tortured for months on end. "Can I show you something?"

"I'm almost done with the wards," I tell him as we tread along the trail. "Can it wait?"