June 1, 1895 - Thompsett House, Bartonburg, Hogsmeade

Given the events in the garden the day before last Sisse could understand why her father might be hesitant to let her out of the house. Could she really blame him? Despite that she was mixed up inside. When she'd visited Lester yesterday, the soonest Mrs. Hatchitt would permit her, his face had been a hideous mottled color and his head had hurt so much she'd kept her visit short. But she had to talk to someone. So when she'd seen Alcyone at the public ball last night (appearances had to be kept up after all, regardless of how much her life had changed and no one the more aware for it) she'd insisted the other girl visit the very next day.

Now they sat ensconced on Sisse's bed as they often had back in their school days. Mildly Sisse felt bad for excluding Birdie in this exchange, but she needed her friend. So she'd cast a charm on her room to keep noise from leaking out into the hall and tried to ignore the voice in her mind saying she ought not to have.

"Oh, Allie, you should have seen it. It was just awful." She related, hugging a pillow to her chest. She had related the afternoon in the garden (perhaps not fully explaining that she and Lester had been sneaking off to kiss for almost a year now, nor that they'd kissed back in school, but at least it was a start) and now looked at Allie with almost wild eyes finally giving her friend a chance to actually speak.

  

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Alcyone was not often privy to things but she did sometimes sense them. She had senses a sort of tension between Sisse and Lester but had thought nothing of it. After all, they were all so young. Besides, it wasn't like Alcyone had a wealth of experience to cause her to be any sort of suspicious.

So she had been quite surprised at what Sisse had relayed to her. "You both really, truly love one another?" Alcyone asked. Not so much that she disbelieved it but just because it was a bit of a surprise. "He'll heal up and it worked out in the end, right?" Two of her friends courting one another, how romantic!

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"We do." It felt almost unreal to say, the doubts for years, the tears and sighs and silences. And yet now they were here in love, courting. It was as if she were a dream.

"His mother will make sure he is completely healed." Sisse assured Allie and herself with a fierceness to her tone. She would kill Matthew if Lester didn't. Well not kill him... just ensure some very awful sabotage of some sort to be determined in the future.

"I still cant believe father said yes." She hadn't seen the look on her father's face like that before. "Or that Lester loves me." She admitted on a whisper. "After fifth year I never would have believed any of this could happen." Of course had neglected to tell anyone of her first kiss, ashamed that Lester had ignored it for so long. How much they had grown since then.

  

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Alcyone hadn't really felt the need for a reassurance - if something worst had been done to Lester, there would probably have been a lot more fallout and no courting agreement. At least, she would personally assume anyway.

Alcyone couldn't really imagine being in love. "Why fifth year specifically?" Alcyone asked naively as she plucked up one of the snacks they had been provided with. Had something happened back then? Alcyone had always been aware of fluctuating tensions throughout the group but had tended to be the last to know anything, if anything was ever to be known outside of those directly involved.

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