Pragma // s.b.

47

****

He stood there, tall and proud, laughing. He stood there, a cigarette hanging off his lips. He stood there, his arm lazily draped around her. She tossed her long blonde hair behind her shoulder and let out a simpering giggle. Lydia. I stood there frozen. I hadn't thought about him all summer, I had forgotten the way his hair fell in face, the way his tattoos peaked out from under his messy robes. "Bri...", Olivia's voice was soft. I shook my head and forced a smile onto my face. "What were you saying?", I turned to Maggie, who glanced over at Amber. Amber's eyes darted to Skye, who stood there biting her lip. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I shoved out of our formation and into the Great Hall, flinging myself down onto the far end of the Hufflepuff table.

    "Briony!", a sunny voice said from across the way. I turned, praying the smile on my face looked much more authentic than it felt. "I like the hair", Lewis said, scooting towards me. "Oh", I brought my fingers up to my locks, "Thanks". Over the summer, Ro convinced me to mix it up and cut my hair, which had been long pretty much since the day I was born. It now fell slightly above my shoulders. It was a sort of symbolic way to represent my liberation from Sirius and feeling sad. It had helped, at least up until now.

I wasn't sure what I expected to happen when I got back to the castle. I knew I would see him, but I don't know. I thought he might have been, a little sadder. And I knew that was selfish to think, but I couldn't help. And it hurt to see him with her. I didn't look over at the Gryffindor table the entirety of the sorting, then the feast. And when we made our way down to the basement and our waiting beds, I barely spoke a word.

Poppy lay sleeping silently on my familiar sunshine yellow quilt. I slipped under the covers and pretended to be asleep when Olivia and Maggie tentatively approached and whispered, "Briony?". "Just let her sleep", Amber said from across the room, "We'll talk to her in the morning". I heard Liv sigh, and my heart clenched. Someone clicked off the lamp and the room fell silent.

*****

The sunlight forced my eyes open the next morning. I blinked and sat up slowly. The atmosphere of early morning filled the dormitory. None of the others had woken yet, and I glanced at the clock. 6 AM. My eyes fell upon the window and I smiled. "It's good to be back", I said to no one in particular.
    I pushed myself out of bed and hurriedly grabbed my Hufflepuff jumper off the back of a chair, and planting a kiss on Poppy's head, was out the door. The morning air was crisp and fresh. It was like there was a promise of a new day. It felt like a fresh start. I pressed my back against the rough wood of a random tree situated on the far corner of the grounds. I closed my eyes, inhaling the sweet smell of the morning.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone else would be up at this time...Briony?", my eyes snapped open. My hand flew to my chest and I leaped up. "No, no please sit", his smile was exactly as I had remembered it. However, this was the first time I had ever seen Calum Archer apart from his clean cut robes. A large dark blue sweater clung to his chest, and a pencil was tucked behind his ear.

    I let out a slight chuckle and brushed the dust off my pants. "Hello, Calum", I glanced down at my feet. "Hi", he shook his head. I braved a glance up at him. The lines surrounding his lips turned up in a slight grin. "How have you been?", I tucked my hair behind my ear, still not used to how quickly my fingers passed through my now short locks.

    "I've been good", he said, leaning one shoulder against the tree, "Besides the fact that this really pretty girl rejected me last year". I let out a little laugh because, what was I supposed to do? "Yeah...", I fiddled with a stray string unraveling from my jumper. "Don't worry though", Calum winked, "I needed it. If my head got any bigger, I wouldn't be able to get my quidditch robes over it". I let out a snort and shook my head.

"You look good, Briony", he continued. The corners of my mouth lifted. "You too, Calum", and he did. He looked calmer, more relaxed. More at ease. "Thanks", he looked at me, then over his shoulder. "So", he began, "Where's Black?". I let out a sigh and folded my arms, "You can just ask if we broke up, Archer". "You see right through me, Carter", he raised his arms in surrender.

"We did", I said, forcing my tone to be even, "Before summer, actually". "Interesting", Calum pushed himself off the tree. I just nodded. To be honest, there was nothing I would rather discuss less than my ex with the guy I had rejected. I was about to declare that I should probably be getting back to the castle when he spoke. "Would you like to walk with me Briony?".

He sounded casual, not demanding in the slightest. His eyes were earnest. I weighed my options in my mind. "Just until the sun fully rises, I like to watch it reflect on the lake", he continued, beginning to slowly make his way towards the body of water. A small smile forced it's way onto my lips, "Yeah. Okay". And so we walked. And talked. And laughed. And then the sun rose and we sat in silence, watching the golden and orange rays reflect on the glassy surface of the lake. And for the first time in a long time, nothing seemed to really matter.