CHAPTER SIXTEEN
a helping hand

𖦹 ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ˚⋆˚ 𖦹

THE FIRST FEW MONTHS BACK BLUR together in a flurry of boring classes, impending exam stress and the dreich weather of the Highlands. Cove finds that her life has been eclipsed by the storm clouds outside, afternoons spent gazing out the stained glass of her classroom windows as the school year begins to sputter out for good. With the coursework growing duller and her imagination widening to engulf any traces of normality, she finds her mind wandering onto the prospects that await her after school — what leaving Hogwarts after all these years really means.

It's a bittersweet feeling. Leaving, that is. She's first struck by how freeing it'll be to delve into the magical world at her fingertips, to pursue a career in the conservation and protection of the magical creatures that are her kin. She can finally shift a world warped by prejudices into one where the people in power are more open minded. Her daydreams could soon become reality — all she has to do is work her way from the ground up.

   On the other hand, she feels reluctant to leave the school that has housed her for the better part of her teenage years. She could call this castle a home whenever her father's house wasn't one; this is where she flourished into the person she is today, where she met some of her best friends and learned everything she now knows. Cove isn't sure that she's prepared to become an adult so soon, stumbling headfirst into the world on her lonesome like a foal that's found its footing at last. The world isn't as simple to navigate as the winding corridors of her school, her home away from home. It'll take some adjusting, that's for sure...

   She's been fretting over it, as she does. The stress suffocating her hasn't gone unnoticed by her friends, so as a distraction tactic intermingled with a personal errand, Fallon and Mary have decided to whisk her into Hogsmeade to go dress hunting with their leaver's dance in mind.

   Cove would be lying if she said that she hadn't forgotten all about it, her priorities jumbled up and out of order amidst all the other things that have begun to change in her life. Despite the word relaxation having lost most of its value in her mind, her friends don't seem to be taking no for an answer.

   "You need to take your mind off of it somehow," said Mary the other morning, reapplying lipgloss to outline her perfections in ruby red. "Mellow out, y'know."

   Fallon nodded. "Forget exams, forget essays, forget leaving. This can just be another weekend trip to Hogsmeade, yeah?"

   She relented eventually.

Cove doesn't know if she's been able to catch a break since Valentine's day just over a month ago, when her and Remus had gone out to see the thrilling and not at all repetitive sights of Hogsmeade. ( There's only so much for someone to do as a student in the middle of nowhere, you know. ) She's been holed up in the library for as long as she can remember, her revision notes engrained into her eyelids until it's all she sees when she spares a moment to blink. The odd distraction here and there is healthy for her, she knows this, but that doesn't mean she'll actually take her own advice. No chance!

Though, in spite of all her stress as well as her reluctance to take breaks, her relationship with the water and her transformations is slowly but surely being repaired, even if she feels a nipping dread after every switch between worlds — one that Pomfrey speculates will crescendo into agony in a few years time. Cove's planning to use the time she has left with that duality to the fullest, so that's exactly what she's doing now.

She settles back into Fallon and Mary's company like it's muscle memory, completely at peace with them on either side of her. Laughing with her best friends seems to be second nature, chatting mindlessly about all the things that don't matter as the raging world quells around them. They've waded into the eye of the storm together and pay no mind to the gale that stirs around them, their minds fogged with a kind of effervescence that obscures the problems and conflict building up outside their little bubble.

It feels right, even if that same feeling only lasts them a few hours. Cove'll take whatever she can get these days.

  The three girls stroll down a side alley until they've branched out onto the Main Street, that sweet springtime mist beginning to dissipate as the afternoon flourishes. It'll be summer soon, what with their leavers dance marking the first summer festival of Litha. Cove watches the flowers as they blossom and appreciates the swallows that duck in between the rafters, relishing in the cool kiss of the budding sun rats that dust her face with freckles.

  Warmth pools in the gap where the door of the Three Broomsticks has been left ajar, tendrils of cold air wisping in to fill the tightly knit coziness. Noise pours out into the street and fills the gaps in the cobbles with hospitality, the ambience within the pub like an outstretched arm beckoning the passer-by's to come in for a drink.

Mary and Fallon begin to advance towards the door, their conversation fading to the back of her mind as Cove suddenly pauses, looking over her shoulder.

The twinkling sign of a shop catches her eye, the bouncing minims and semiquavers over the door coming to life whenever someone walks in. Her face scrunches in contemplation and she fumbles about with the shopping bags in her hands, angling her watch skywards to gauge how long she has before they've got to go back up to the castle. Their curfew only grows stricter whenever the violence beyond the safety of Hogwarts flares.

"You coming in, babe?" Mary wonders, balancing three heavy bags from Gladrags between both arms.

"Nah, yous two go ahead," Cove says. "I'm gonna go and get somethin' else. I'll see yous in a bit, yeah?"

She shrugs. "Suit yourself." Her eyes dart around cautiously, eyeing up a group of whispering students as they shuffle past — a few notorious blood purists that turn their noses up at the three when they go by. Mary tries to stifle the apprehension on her face; the headlines in the Prophet are telling enough of why. She reaches over to squeeze Cove's hand. "Stay safe."

Fallon nods in agreement, her lips pursed. "See you in a minute, Vee."

Cove waves, her smile warm as if she's oblivious, before shouldering her bag and trailing down the cobblestone streets. She weaves through the crowds, greeting the villagers and students she passes until she's nose to nose with a ruby door, the windows on either side of her filled up with meticulous displays of muggle vinyls. A deep breath escapes her lips and she wedges the entrance open with her boot, slipping inside and leaving the springtime frost behind.

Eros Warbeck looks up when the bell jingles, his boredom dissipating into interest. He straightens up from where his elbows had been propped up against the front desk, the magazine he'd been flicking through promptly discarded next to the till.

  "Well, well," he says, sporting a smug little grin. "What can I do for you today, Henderson?"

She lifts her hand in a meek little wave. "Hiya, Eros. I was looking to buy something."

"I assumed that much, but fear not," he points at his shiny name tag with a wry grin, "I'm here to help. What are you looking for?"

"That's the problem," she says, gnawing on her lip. "I don't really know."

He blinks. "Riiiight. Any more information than that, darling, or is this a guessing game? You know how I detest puzzles."

She huffs a laugh. "I need to get a present for Remus' birthday soon, but I've got not a clue what to get him." Cove slumps forward so that she's perfectly parallel to Eros, elbows resting on the counter. "He's so hard to buy presents for. Never gives me straight answers when I try to ask him what he wants." She drops her voice to a comical whisper, sotto voce, her head clasped in her hands. "I should've known. He's a pisces."

"My condolences."

"Thank you."

"But," Eros says carefully, "look on the bright side! If he's a pisces, then I'm sure he'll appreciate whatever you get him."

"That's a rubbish answer." He throws his hands up in exasperation and she ignores him, going on to say: "It's just that he always gets me the loveliest presents and I can never compare. It makes me feel awful. He's so good to me, Eros. I dunno what I've done to deserve him, sometimes."

He claps his hands together. "Oh, alright, none of that. Know your worth, Cove. I won't have self-deprecating talk like that in my shop. How about we start with something small like... well, what does he like to listen to?"

Cove scrunches her nose. "Muggle bands."

Weaselling out from behind the counter, Eros beckons her across the shop to a broad section branded with a capital M, beginning to rifle through all the stacks of records he has piled up in a questionably effective filing system. It's clear to her what parts of the shop he's in charge of as opposed to his coworker and band manager, Stephan.

"Okay, work with me here. Any names coming to mind?" At the shake of her head, he flicks his wand and several different vinyls begin to levitate from the boxes in order to float around his head. "Aerosmith? Bowie? Rainbow?" He spins around on his heel, the records coming to form a neat pile in his outstretched palms. "What are his thoughts on T. Rex?"

"Er, I know that he likes The Who, and I think he's partial to Bowie and T. Rex. He might like Aerosmith, I can't really remember."

He begins to scribble disjointed notes on the back of his hand. "Aerosmith... maybe..."

    "I'm sorry. Poseidon's beard, this'll be the death of me," Cove huffs in frustration. "He plays me records whenever I go 'round to his, but I cannie remember the names of them for the life of me."

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. You said he's a rock fan?"

    Cove blinks. "Uh, I don't see what stones have to do with anything the now..."

    Eros finds this hilarious, muttering something about her cluelessness as he bundles some records in his arms. "Oh, bless your soul, lovey. It's a genre of music."

   She blushes sheepishly. "Right. Sorry."

   "Maybe he'd like the Buzzcocks," Eros offers, shepherding her back around to the front of the shop. "They're properly new, released an album a few weeks ago. I think they sound alright. Give X-Ray Spex a go, as well."

"Alright," Cove says, tracing her fingers over the records thoughtfully. "Cheers, Eros. How much is all this?"

"One galleon," he chirps.

"A whole galleon," she mutters, rifling around in her pocket to fish some coins from her purse. "You're robbing me blind here, Warbeck."

"That's industry for you, darling." He drops it into the till with a satisfying clink. "Is that all for you, today?"

"Mhm. Thanks again," she says, beaming. "Take care! Buzzing to see yous all performing at the ball."

   Cove nods her head towards a flashy, technicolour poster depicting his band: Eros & The Muses. He's front and centre with a microphone clasped in his hand, bracketed by familiar band members that Cove recognises as Frankie Trelawny and Lavinia Jeon, wielding their fancy muggle guitars that glitter as magnificently as the eyeshadow dusted on their lids. A closer look reveals to her that Sirius Black and Deimos Powers are blurred somewhere in the background, respectively wielding drumsticks and guitar picks.

Eros bats his hand bashfully but she can tell he's thriving off the attention. "We'll make it a night to remember."

   "I don't doubt that for a second."

   "Aren't you just a ray of sunshine?"

She grins. "Och, I try."

With one last wave for good measure, Cove lets the door clatter closed behind her, shouldering her new shopping bag atop all the other ones she's accumulated and letting her feet guide her in the direction of the Three Broomsticks.

With her shopping out of the way now, she can see a fresh butterbeer in her near future, and it spurs her along the pavement a mite faster.

author's note!

should i be revising for my prelims? yes.

do i want to finish act two asap? also yes!!

in my great big hierarchy of priorities, cove will always come before school /j

this was a filler chapter without a doubt but i'm trying to batter through a few more chapters rn while i still have time, so a double update might not be too far fetched 👀