Paranoia (Alastor Moody)

Chapter 12

"I know you're angry and upset about how I treated you, but I love you Al. And I'm never going to stop. You are my best friend and I can't stand another day without you. Please. Will you forgive me? "

Alastor's heart leapt. He had been yearning to hear those three words come out of Natalie's mouth for years, but he never thought that she'd actually say them to him.

Sure, she had told him she loves him, but in the way that a girl loves her brother. Al never thought someone--let alone Natalie-- could ever see him in the way he so desperately wished they would.

So when those three wonderful words came pouring from Natalie's mouth, Alastor could only stare in amazement.

"Al?" Natalie said. "Al, please I--"

Natalie was cut short as Alastor placed his lips on hers. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck as she began to kiss him back.

Natalie had kissed a fair amount of boys in her life, but none of them ever made her feel like she did in that moment.

Al broke away. "I love you Natalie. More than you will ever know."

Natalie smiled.

"I forgive you."

"Oh, thank Merlin!" she said, and she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. Tears leaked from her eyes and stained Alastor's robes. "I missed you so much Al," she murmured.

"So," Gideon said with a waggle of his eyebrow. "How was your afternoon, Natalie?"

Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," joined Fabian. "Anything interesting you'd like to share with the group? A certain encounter, perhaps?"

"You already know what happened, you goons," Natalie said with a poorly hidden smile.

"Yes, but we want details."

"Yeah, tell us all about how luscious his lips are," said Fabian with his lips puckered.

"How you felt," Gideon said, smacking Fabian's arm to make him stop. "This is what you've been waiting for for months!"

"It was... nice," Natalie said with a smile. "He was so... sure of himself. I mean, you know how he is-- he can never seem to find confidence in himself. But when he kissed me, it was like he knew exactly what to do. I don't know. Something about that just... amazed me-- took me completely by surprise."

"Wow," said Gideon.

"Anyway, enough about that. Did you learn anything interesting during your talk with Sir Nicholas?"

Fabian's face lit up. "Actually, yes! It was all very interesting of course, but did you know that Sir Nicholas haunts Professor Binns?"

"Really?"

"Yes! He says it's because the man is so focused on his work that so far he has walked through Sir Nicholas at least forty times without even noticing!"

"And since he doesn't notice, he never apologizes, and Sir Nicholas finds it highly offensive. So now Sir Nicholas haunts him every Sunday night starting at eleven o'clock so the man is tired for his Monday classes," said Gideon.

"Wow, no wonder Mondays in History of Magic are so dull," said Natalie.