long live (all the magic we made)

Third Year

Maya is grinning when she hands in her Hogsmeade permission slip, clasping her hands behind her back when Professor Feeny inspects it for signs of forgery. She's proud to say that the signature is completely authentic, this time anyway. Her mother had been delighted to sign the slip after seeing the results that came by owl. Her hard work had paid off, nothing below 'Acceptable' and a very happy mother. Maya wouldn't admit as much out loud, but she cared very much about her mom- it was just the two of them, after all.

Next to her, Albus Potter is muttering feverishly to himself as he digs through his bag for the slip that he'd probably already lost. Maya rolls her eyes and advises him to check the many pockets of his oversized robes, laughing when he produces it from the crease in his jumper. Scorpius is waiting for him outside and Maya gives the Hufflepuff a high-five while she manoeuvres around him to where Riley is waiting, having just been released from her Charms lesson.

They walk next to each other, elbows locked and hips bumping. A smile curls itself onto Maya's face as Riley goes on and on about what they'd do at Hogsmeade. All she really wants to see is Weasley's Wizard Wheezes because Merlin knows she needs something to get her out of History of Magic, but Riley wants to stop at Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks and the post office and Maya doesn't have it in her to say no to Riley. So their plan for Saturday turns into a checklist of shops to visit.

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The week passes them by, and before she can blink Maya is standing in the queue to get ticked off the list by Harley the caretaker. Riley is bouncing on the balls of her feet next to her, smile impossibly bright in the shade of the doorway.

"Where do you wanna go first? Huh? Do you wanna choose? Or am I choosing? Who's choosing?"

"Slow down Riles, you can pick where we go first as long as I get to make a stop at the joke shop."

"Okay okay, so I think we should go to Honeydukes first because I want to look at all the candy before the crowd gets there and then we should go to the post office so I don't forget to pick up the parcel for Dad and then-"

They've reached the door and Riley gets cut off by Harley so that he can tick their names off. Maya's eyes skip to the middle of the parchment and she points to both her name and Riley's with cold fingers. Stepping out into the sunlight feels almost similar to getting released from Azkaban after twenty years, and Maya isn't even exaggerating.

As planned, they go to Honeydukes first, and Riley is immediately all over the shelf displaying Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. It seems like they've come up with a hundred new flavours and drawn up a helpful chart to showcase them all. Maya glances around the shop and makes her way to the sugar quills; if she's going to not pay attention in class, she might as well have a quill she can actually consume.

They leave Honeydukes with a pack of sugar quills (for Maya) and five boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, three boxes of Cauldron Cake Mix, ten Chocolate Frogs, and two Instant Ice-Creams (for Riley) one of which she gives to Maya. They stroll toward the post office licking peanut butterscotch and raspberry white chocolate respectively.

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By the time they're sitting down in the Three Broomsticks with two mugs of Butterbeer between them, Maya is beyond exhausted. She, however, has managed to get an entire pack of Nosebleed Nougats, coupled with two or three free Puking Pastilles, and is very happy with the day's earnings. Riley is sorting through the cards from the five Chocolate Frogs she has already inhaled, leaning on the parcel that they collected from the post office for her father.

Maya grins sleepily at Riley over her Butterbeer mug, absentmindedly poking at her pack of sugar quills. They would have to walk back to the school soon, but right now she was content to sit here in silence. Rays of sunlight slice through the clouds and float into the darkened shop, signifying that the day is almost over. Maya watches as the light touches her friend, illuminating her face in gold.

This, she thinks, this is what art looks like.