Though the sting of her words was unlikely to disappear anytime soon, the blow was softened by her remorse. He still felt numb, hollow, and admittedly more emotional than he would have liked to be in the middle of Diagon Alley, but her explanation helped.

"I know we've been fighting, but... I still don't want you to leave school." Cameron, despite being ruled by his emotions most of time, did know how to put them aside to see the truth when it came to big things, and Alice leaving Hogwarts was the very definition of a "big thing". "I know you want to be practical, but you'll be much more use to your family with a healer's salary than whatever you end up doing instead. Sometimes a little risk is necessary." Admittedly he'd never taken such a big risk, but he'd taken smaller risks before, like spending time studying for his Potions OWL when he could have been spending extra hours to ensure he'd do his best on classes he had the best chances of passing.

"Just... just think about it, won't you? I'm here for you." He felt his heart skip a beat at the words. He hadn't been there for her in over a year, and he wasn't sure if he'd intended to invite her back into his life, but he guessed that's exactly what he was doing.

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