Cardigans are Cool

The Night Before

It was almost here - the day the names would be drawn from the Goblet. Delilah was terrified. It was the night before, and Lilah had suffered several sleepless nights worrying about her boyfriend. She kept a strong face on for him, since she knew he'd be just as stressed as her, but she was a mess. She lay awake in bed the night before, staring at the roof of the four poster bed. She had pinned photos of her and Noah on up there, along with a large picture of the galaxy that Noah had painted for her in water colour. All of a sudden, a wave of nausea hit her, and she ran to the bathroom to empty out her stomach. This wasn't healthy. She stared at her reflection. Her odd eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and there were dark circles under them. With an exhausted sigh, she brushed her teeth, shoved her glasses on her face and slipped on Cedric's Chudley Cannons Quidditch hoodie that she stole from him, slid into her bunny slippers that matched Noah's, and made her way down to the common room. She flopped down onto the sofa (before summoning her familiar, Jinx, for some cuddles) and let the tears out. She couldn't handle this - while she'd been at Hogwarts she'd cried twice; for the first time since she was 14. The poor girl wasn't used to giving in to her emotions like this. Noah always used to try to convince her to open up but it rarely worked. Delilah saw herself as the protector, and she always wanted to put on a brave face for Noah. Noah was better at compassion and showing emotion, and Delilah envied her for that. Her sister always convinced herself that she was the weaker twin because of her emotional side - but Lilah thought she was bravest of all for being that comfortable with her emotions. With a sigh, she lay on her back, and let the tears stream down her face. Curled up in a ball, you could barely see her bundled up in Cedric's hoodie. She was 5'4, and Ced was 6'0. She liked to say he was a tree. 

Little to her knowledge, Noah, who was in her own dorm, could sense something was off. They always knew when something was wrong with the other. Noah sat up, pondering a way to get to her sister. Eventually, she settled on a plan. She tore a piece of parchment from her notebook, and grabbed her yellow quill that she bought with Luna. 

'Meet me in the kitchen, hippie,' She wrote. She folded the note into a paper bird, and cast a charm on it so it would fly to the Gryffindor common room and find her sister. When her little paper bird had flown away, she slipped her cardigan on over her Moomin nightie along with her bunny slippers and padded quietly down the stairs. Being only 5'1, she was quite stealthy. She made the short journey to the kitchen, and waited there. She didn't bother checking for staff - nobody ever came near the kitchen at night because of the house elves, but, of course, Noah had made a point of befriending all the house elf staff.

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, Delilah was curled up in a ball with Jinx sat happily on her head, staring indifferently at the fireplace. She remained there for a while until she felt something tap her foot. And again. She lifted a disgruntled Jinx off of her head and put her in her lap. It was a paper plane. Well, a paper bird. She instantly knew who it was from. Her and Noah used to make paper birds all the time with their mother. She smiled softly and took it, unfolding it with great care. She read the note, and a smile broke out on her face. She folded the note and put it in her pocket before picking Jinx up and sneaking her way out of the kitchen. 'Lumos', she whispered, and a golden light emitted from her wand. A proud grin was on her face, since she had finally mastered the simple spell. Charms wasn't her strong suit, okay? Eventually, she found the kitchen, and gently pushed the door open.

Sat there, cross legged on a blanket, was Noah., surrounded by pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, Hagrid's signature rock cakes that they had saved from their last tea party, and every other sweet you could think of.

"Hey, hippie." She smiled. 

"You, little sister, are the ONLY perfect human in this world." Delilah announced, sitting opposite her sister.

"Dig in," Noah replied with a giggle, taking a chocolate frog. Delilah happily obliged, picking up a cauldron cake. "So, what's wrong? Worried about Ced?"

"Extremely. That boy is gonna be the end of me. He's so sweet and gorgeous and understanding. And knowing he could be chosen in this tournament is killing me."

Noah gave her a surprised look. She knew she had feelings for the boy, but Lilah was usually extremely cautious around boys in a romantic setting. Noah had only ever seen her this head over heels for girls. "Have you spoken to him?" She asked, through a mouthful of pumpkin pasty. Delilah nodded, a mouth full of cake herself.

"Yeah, I just let him know I was worried. But I told him about Mum and Peter."

"You did?!" Noah asked, shocked that her sister opened up for once. "God, I'm so glad you fell for a Libra." She sighed, and Delilah nodded in agreement.

"And wanna know another thing? I cried. I CRIED, NOAH. In front of someone that isn't you." Delilah said urgently, wide eyed. Noah almost choked on her pasty.

"Oh wow, you ARE in love. You haven't cried since we were 14!" Noah exclaimed. "But hey, at least we now know you're not COMPLETELY emotionally broken."

"I guess." Lilah shrugged. "But this is why I'm scared! I've proper fallen for him, and he's entered this fucking death competiton."

"I am surprised he would be that stupid. But he's an amazing wizard! I'm sure he'd win the thing, or at the very least not die. But don't panic, he hasn't even been chosen yet." Noah said. Lilah sighed, still really anxious.

"I know what you need. C'mere." Noah said, gesturing for Lilah to come closer. With a knowing smile, Lilah scooted over to her sister and put her head in her lap. They sang their shared favourite song together. 

'Let's say, sunshine for everyone...'