[december mp] friendship is witchcraft || mavis

December 20th, 2003

Magnolia had been terribly tempted to ask Isaac to be her “date” to the Winter Wonderland market that had settled in Diagon Alley, though she’d do well not to call it that or he’d go on and on about how they weren’t dating. She understood that maybe a little too well at this point, but between the movies and now or even further back to the train in September, things between the two of them had developed in a way that had only made her thoughts all complicated-like and she didn’t care for it at all.

She was intending to ask him out for the New Year’s Eve party Rheya had recently told her about but hadn’t worked up the courage to do that either. This in-betweenness was frustrating but also incredibly comfortable and the girl worried that she’d do something that would have put some distance between them.

So, instead, as tradition dictated it, Magnolia had reached out to Mavis hoping that the girl would say yes and maybe overlook the fact that she’d been rather scarce lately. She had told Mavis that she was busy doing other things but had been vague on purpose, not wanting her friend to put two and two together and somehow ruining it. Then, she felt immediately guilty for thinking as such and took it back, in her head at least.

It was a difficult thing to explain, but the need to keep things between her and Isaac a secret tucked away from the knowledge of her closest friends made her feel like a traitor. As soon as she spotted Mavis in the distance, however, Magnolia shook the thought away. It was going to be a girl’s day and nothing was going to stop her from focusing one-hundred percent on her best friend, even if Mavis herself wasn’t aware of what was going on.

Repositioning the scarf closer to her nose so that she wouldn’t have to breathe in the cold air as she quickened the pace, she waved at Mavis as she got closer to her. “Hey girl!” she started enthusiastically, “You bring your skates?” she asked, figuring that the two could take a venture around the skating ring once or twice after hitting all the rides and everything else there was to see there.

Mavis just loved the winter; it was so pretty and charming. Everything in Diagon Alley was decorated with glowing lights, baubles, and shiny things, and the witch had been in a lifelong love affair with shiny things. She pushed her way through the crowd, apologizing for the foot she stepped on and then scowling when her own foot was stepped on, but eventually made it to where she was set to meet her best friend. "Nola!" She hollered from way too far away, earning some choice words from a wizard and his date, but the complaints didn't phase her. "Course! I expect you did too, then?" She asked, looking at the scarf wrapped around her friend's face and cooing. "Wow, I love this," Mavis reached out to feel the soft fabric of one of the ends of the scarf as it blew in the light wind.

"We have to go skating, absolutely, but first..." Mavis paused for the dramatic effect, the pigtail fluffs on her knitted hat swaying as she bounced. "Have I got some news for you" Mavis linked arms with Magnolia as she led her out of the street and toward one of the little vendors that sold hot cocoa. "You remember my French penpal Léon, right?" Mavis didn't wait long because she assumed (after the absurd amount of time she had spent getting ahead of herself and gushing about her 'french beau' this term) that Magnolia would remember. "Well, it turns out he has a single friend who would love to meet you," Léon had mentioned Jaspar one time, but Mavis was running with it.

"Maybe we could all meet up at that festival in Chatoeil next month, you know, the one Rheya always takes us to. Do you think she would bring us again?" Mavis might have already worked out all of the details on her own, in her trademark ridiculously overbearing sort of way. But her chaotic nature had always seemed to resonant with Magnolia. They operated on the same dramatic frequencies.