Aftermath • Drarry

013

Once you choose hope, anything is possible - Christopher Reeve
***

It was Friday night, or as they called it there; game night. 

At first I had no clue what to think about a night called game night. Would we play board games or video games?

Growing up with a father who despiteted every thing that involved muggles I had no experience with muggle games whatsoever.  All the others did though, so that meant I had a disadvantage before we had even started. I liked winning more then losing. My guess was that I would have a hard time dealing with my ego.

When I entered the kitchen I saw Cecilia dancing and singing at the kitchen counter. She had a smile on her lips and for a moment I just stood there to look at her. With a smile lying on her lips she looked even prettier then normally. A smile was the best thing someone could possibly wear.

'Can I help you with something?' I asked her politely. Dr. Dolan had told me that I should offer a helping hand to someone more often, sooner rather than later. Maybe I could start that day. She turned around to see me and when she saw me the smile on her lips grew even wider.

'That would be extremely lovely my boy!' she cried out happily.  'I do not know if Dr. Dolan would allow me to let you use a sharp knife, but you could cut some cucumber?'

I smiled at her and promised her not to hurt myself or her with the knife. A few months ago, after the war, I had made a promise to myself to never hurt a women again in my life. I was determined to keep my promise.

'Just like that?' I asked cutting a few thin slices. 'Exactly like that,' she nodded, 'your a natural.'

'In cutting a cucumber?' I asked her, softly laughing to myself. 'I doubt that someone will hire me later because of that skill.'

'Well you can always add it to your portfolio, who knows what your future boss likes to eat. Maybe he is a big cucumber lover?' she joked. Cecelia must have been one of my most favourite persons in the clinic. She had a lovely, caring soul that deserved only the best in the world.

'So Celica,' I tried to start the conversation very  casually. 'What do you normally do in your spare time? I mean, are you married or are you one of those people who literally live for their job?'

She grinned shortly before answering my question. Her hands were skilfully cutting some tomatoes. 'No, I am not one of those people,' she told me. 'But I think Dr. Dolan is one of those people though. I mean, have you ever seen her leaving the building?' she suddenly whispered. Her conspiracy theorie made a laugh escape my lips and echo through the room.

'So, your not married?'

'No,' she said, 'I am not. However, I am in a relationship with a beautiful woman.'

My eyebrows were raised hearing her say that. 'A woman?' I asked. 'Is she, uhm, nice?'

'The nicest,'she said. Her eyes looked outside for a minute, forgetting about the world. She probably thought of her girlfriend, something that I found adorable. 'We have been together for quite a few years now,' she continued. 'We even adopted a child together.'

'So you are a mother,' I said, not even surprised to hear that. She was such a kind and loving person who was fitted to be a mother. 'Do you have a photograph of your child.'

She smiled at me before grabbing something out of her pocket. I believe muggles called it a cell phone, but I was not one hundredth procent sure.

Cecilia looked at her phone a few seconds before showing me a picture of her adopted child, that turned out to be a cat. I laughed at my own stupidity realising that I had been incredibly wrong.

'His name is Mr. Furball.'

I laughed even harder at that. My laugh filled up the room and no longer it was followed by the beautiful laugh that belonged to the nurse next to me.

'Hey, uhm, we are ready so-,' an other voice echoed through the room, one that ended or laughter. I looked to the doorstep and saw Harry standing there, uncomfortably. 

Cecilia smiled at him kindly giving him a plate filled with food. 'Here if you make sure this will end up on the table, and not in your mounth, I promise you we will be able to start any minute.'

Harry mumbled a soft "okay" before quickly walking away.

'Are you and Harry friends or more like enemy's?' Cecilia asked me after a short silence. 'I honestly do not know,' I admitted. Since I came to the clinic something changed between the two of us. I just did not know what or how.

'Well, if you ever feel like talking about it, you know where to find me. Right?'

I smiled at her and thanked her for the offer. Knowing that the change that I wanted to talk to anyone on free will was very small.

'Then let us go and play some board games!' she shouted happily. We both joined the others that were already waiting in the living room. Lydia was rambling about something, Honey looked like she was actually listening to the other girl, Harry did not even seem to care about her, his eyes found mine and we both smiled for a second.

'What game are we going to play?' Cecilia asked while putting down a plate with some vegetables on it. I placed my plate next to hers and slowly took a seat next to Harry; it was the only free spot that there was left. No one wanted to sit next to Harry, something that I found rather odd.

Taking a seat next to him had not speeded my heart beat as I originally thought it would do. It did not really seem to bother me at all.

We ended up playing a stupid board game and after that one we played a quiz. However, we had to play that game in teams of two and since I had been sitting next to the Boy Who Lived we had to play it together.

'Alright Harry,' I read the last care on the stack, knowing that after this one the game had ended. 'Where is some one with  Chaetophobia afraid of?'

'How on earth am I supposed to know that?' Harry said, something that made Lydia laugh softly. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, the energy in the room felt much better. Even Lucia had smiled softly, she thought no one had seen it but I had.

'Well, you should send a letter to the maker of this game to ask them,' I simply reacted.  We had already lost the game but that did not even seem to bother me at that point. All I wanted was to have a good night with nice people.

'Who sends a letter nowadays when you can just give them a phone call?' Serena, who had spoken a little bit more this evening then any other night, asked me with confusion lying in her voice. 'A phone call?' I wondered. Harry started to laugh at my unknowing.  He knew that I had no idea about muggles at all.

'You must be the only teenage boy on earth who does not know what a phone call is,' Cecilia said before explaining to me that you could call some one with that weird thing that she had shown me before.

'Alright,' I said, knowing that I would forget about phones even quicker then I had learnt about them. 'You still have not answered my question, young men.'

'I think Chaetophobia is the fear of cheetahs.'

'No,' I said with a smile resting on my lips. 'It is the fear of hair.'

All the girls started to laugh. For a minute I forgot where we really were. They sounded so happy, so peaceful. Within seconds I had realised the bitter truth. We were not happy or peaceful at all. But maybe, just maybe for a moment we were.

Maybe I would get better. Maybe we all would.