Magical Hogwarts

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:53pm

A smile graced his lips when he saw her starting to reply under his words. The rapid responses made energized him and it felt more like a real conversation this way. But the sort of conversation he only had with her. Open, honest, and maybe even a little bit vulnerable. He'd noticed he was more willing to be those things around her and even now when he should of been feeling a little bit more nervous about her impression of him he was still eager to write back. He barely thought about his words as he wrote them, not realizing they might not have sounded entirely like him. She was bringing out a side of him that had never seen the light of day and he was swept away by it. After filling in the last of the spaces between his words he started a new line of thoughts. Full of emotions and stirrings Phillip returned her words with earnest.




From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily.
Contents:

We should go to more places. Anywhere you want to go just name it.

I'm glad you didn't get into trouble though.

I'm sitting outside, my uncle snores.

Are you tired? Do you want me to let you go to sleep?

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:54pm

She wrote back quickly, but then hesitated at his last sentence. She hadn't meant to imply that she was going to sleep soon, she'd just been wondering where he was so that she could imagine him... with more... accuracy. And she had put that line in there... for him to do the same? She blinked, her hand and quill hovering just above her page. When she thought about it so explicitly, it sounded a little mad, didn't it? I wrote where I was so that you could imagine me writing to you more accurately didn't quite sound right. She chewed on her lower lip, feeling bit impatient with herself, before answering.




From: Billie Fay
To: Phillip Donnelly
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: Notes written quickly, lines tucked in and around his as he writes them
Contents:

Anywhere? Merlin, I feel like we need to have that conversation about places we'd like to visit again. I wonder how far I'd be allowed to go with you.

Kendrick is really lovely, he cares about me a lot. I don't think there are many things that would really make him angry with me.

Oh, are you on the roof again? Maybe I could see it sometime.

No, no, definitely not. I came in here to write to you. ?óÔäó?Ñ?»?©?Å

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:54pm

When the image finally occurred to him Phillip took a breath. The idea of where she was while writing to him wasn't a new concept but tonight he couldn't help but add even more weight to it. She was laying in her bed and he wondered if she had the cute pajamas he'd seen in the common room during the last term on. Silently he looked away from his notebook, wondering about that and other things before returning to the page. That little heart she drew making his mind wander back to what they had been doing hours ago. What he wished they were still doing.

As he read her lines he started a list on the margin of places he'd like to go. Nothing terribly specific but he made sure to add 'somewhere you can see a million stars' and nearly wrote 'places we can be alone' before stopping himself.
 
When he got to her line about Kendrick he responded quickly and then paused for a moment, little droplets of ink falling on the page without him noticing, before he finished.




From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: Notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily. He's started a list in the margin of the page of places they should visit.
Contents:

That's good to know, he seems like a pretty cool guy, for an adult. . . . I guess I can't really say things like that anymore, since, technically, I'm "an adult" now as well.

I am. It's the only place he won't follow me. Maybe I can bring you here sometime, but really it's not much to look at.

I'm glad you're writing to me.

When can I see you again? We can start checking things off the list.

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:55pm

Billie stifled a giggle as she wrote her first line back to him. She'd been thinking about their age difference a bit more than usual lately, with him about to go into his final year ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£?áand of course the new freedoms that came with apparating (she was smiling thinking this). If she dug a little, she could definitely find some insecurities inside her around the gap. It was only two years, but at their age that still felt like a lot; she felt like she'd known him her whole life, but it had "only" been two years.

There was a little fear there sometimes that he thought of her as much younger than him, or that he'd lose interest in her in favour of his same-year friends. She always did her best to seem more mature with him. After today, though, and tonight, those insecurities felt very abstract. Especially when he compared himself to Kendrick, who felt like a million years old in comparison to the two of them.

I'd love to see it though, she wrote, just under his comment about how his rooftop wasn't much to see. Then, still smiling, she added to the little list he'd started making on the side: Phillip's secret rooftop writing place. She wrote a couple of other things, too:


Phillip's secret rooftop writing place
Somewhere with waterfalls
Somewhere with seals
Maidstone






From: Billie Fay
To: Phillip Donnelly
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: Notes written quickly, lines tucked in and around his as he writes them
Contents:

Aaah! He's like double our age, please don't make that comparison! :)

I'd love to see it though.

I'm glad you're writing to me too!

I'm busy this weekend ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ staying at Aase's house ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£?ábut next week I'm free every day! Do you have any plans? When are you going to Wini's?

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:56pm

Phillip chuckled a little, his laughter breaking through the silence around him when he read her note about Kendrick. He supposed that was the wrong way to think about it. Phillip wasn't old; he was old enough. Old enough to choose where he went and when he went there. Old enough to do magic out of school. It was a nice feeling if he was honest about it.

He read her added places they should visit with a little smile, the glow of his wand trailing down the margin as he went. When she'd added some notes around his, he added more. He wanted to write something along the lines of "I like writing to you" or that he'd stay up all night writing to her, but it all seemed so sappy. As much as he'd of loved for her to know how he was feeling, really feeling, he wasn't quite up to writing those things yet.




From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: Notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily.
Contents:

Yeah, you're right, but still, it's pretty wicked to be old enough to apparate and do magic outside of school. Kind of changes everything, you know?

Maybe this summer I can bring you here. The house is falling apart, but there is still a pretty wild library. I bet you'd love it in there.

I'm going to Wini's in July, she is visiting her cousins right now, but I'm free all the time. Maybe We can do something next week?

Maybe we can work on the vanishing cabinet project?

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:55pm

Internally, she was soaring. She couldn't stop smiling at what he was writing, and writing teasing things back. It was pretty out of character for her to do it this much; usually she was a lot more subtle and gentle when she teased him, but right now she just had so much energy, and it was rolling off of her and straight into the pages of their journals in waves. She adjusted her position in the bed impatiently, sticking another pillow behind her so she could sit up a bit straighter as she wrote back.




From: Billie Fay
To: Phillip Donnelly
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: Notes written quickly, lines tucked in and around his as he writes them
Contents:


I've been saying this for the past year!

Wait, there's a whole library there?? And you haven't told me?? Are we even friends??

Next week is good! I'll check with

Yes okay, I'll see if I can get the key. I think it's in a storage trunk of mine under the bed, but I'm not sure which one.

I'd love to see your house. And you ?óÔäó?Ñ?»?©?Å

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:56pm

Phillip responded to her words as she wrote them, making sure to leave plenty of space between thoughts as they progressed into this new sort of rhythm. He liked the intensity of the rapid responses of holding multiple conversations at once, and especially the immediacy of it. He followed along, filling in the spaces below her lines and smiling as he read what she'd written. He laughed out loud at her first line, realizing she had been reminding him of his birthday for months and all of the new freedoms it would allow. Before November had finally arrived, it had always seemed so far away, even in the days leading up to his birthday he'd been so distracted he barely even realized he was about to age out of the underage wizard ban. It wasn't until the summer came that it started to dawn on him. He couldn't apparate inside of Hogwarts, but he had done some magic at Hogsmeade, just because he could.

He laughed again, a chuckle low in his throat when she teased him about the library at Keithcairn. He'd thought for sure he had told her about it, but he couldn't remember when.

Seeing her cross out her words, he wondered what she was thinking, his smile pausing for a moment until she'd finished the line, and he got excited again. He would have apparated right back to her house tonight if she asked him to.

Phillip had been looking forward to testing out the miniature vanishing cabinets they were going to make, but now he was looking forward to visiting her for new reasons. For reasons that were quickly edging out his obsession for all of his attention. To the teenage boy, the idea of spending an afternoon alone in a vacant house with her was intoxicating. He tried to keep his thoughts from leaking into his words, worried if he made a joke about it. It might come off wrong. The tone was hard to interpret in writing.




From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: Notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily.
Contents:

I know, I know. I guess I didn't realize it until now, but you were right all along.

Yes, it's a bit destroyed, though. The entire estate is falling apart. I don't even know what the family pays my uncle for, it's a lost cause, but the library is pretty cool. There are all kinds of old books I've never even heard of before. I will have to show you some of the weirder ones.

How about Monday? Or is that too soon?

I'd like for you to come here. I can show you the roof and the library and the lazy owls that I have to bribe to send a letter. But it's not my house.

JUNE 20th, 2003
11:56pm

You were right all along. Billie smiled, writing back an unusually joking response. It had only been what, ten minutes? Less? But she felt so immersed in the conversation that it might have been an hour. Was it strange that she felt so close and connected, just reading his words? It made sense for them, she supposed, they wrote to each other constantly. And it made sense for her too; she'd always been an avid letter-writer.

It was getting a little late now, at least for her, and she could feel tiredness creeping in at the edges slowly as she raced to keep up with his words. But there was no way she was going to bed anytime soon.

In the margins, she jotted:

Somewhere with lazy owls




From: Billie Fay
To: Phillip Donnelly
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: lines written under and around his, her writing all squished and messy
Contents:

Don't you forget it!

I'm jealous; I wish I could do magic out of school too. Then I wouldn't have to wait on you to take me places, I could take you places.

Monday should be fine, but I'll talk to Kendrick tomorrow and double check and let you know!

I'd love to see some lazy owls too. I'm so excited!

JUNE 20th, 2003
12:33am

Part of him was still having a hard time believing everything that had happened tonight. It felt to right to be real like he must have been dreaming because good things rarely happened to him. He'd go over every moment of today in his head, over and over again, until he'd relived it so many times. He laughed when he read her response, he could see her smiling when she wrote it, he could picture it like she was sitting right there next to him. He liked that idea. He kept writing back to her, his lines intertwining with hers, little thoughts here and there and more things added to the margin bucket list of places to go. He barely even realized how late it was getting, or that even he was holding a yawn in with the back of his hand. Everything that had happened today was overwhelming in the best of ways, it was exhausting even, and he thought he might even get a good night's sleep for once. Stretching his hand between writing Phillip flipped to the next page as they filled up another one.




From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: June 20th, 2003
Status: Notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily.
Contents:

I've never read anything by him but I would probably like his work if you do...

We could stop by Diagon Alley first and pick up some supplies. What else do we need?

Don't forget to ask Kendrick about Monday.

TUES, JUNE 24th, 2003
11:56pm

She wasn?óÔé¼Ôäót exactly sure how to word it. She thought if he?óÔé¼Ôäód known Wini was going to send her a letter that he?óÔé¼Ôäód have given her some warning, but did the fact that he hadn?óÔé¼Ôäót necessarily mean that he didn?óÔé¼Ôäót know? No, she thought. It did not.

Still, she felt like there was something strange about asking for clarification, though. Something a bit awkward. 'Do you want me to spend time with your friends' was an intimidating question to ask, and to answer; what if he didn?óÔé¼Ôäót know Wini had sent it, and didn?óÔé¼Ôäót approve? Would it crush her if he said he didn?óÔé¼Ôäót want her to meet them? Wini?óÔé¼Ôäós letter had been on the rather insistent side, and Billie would feel bad turning her down, but if that was what Phillip wanted?óÔé¼?ª She felt a little stressed and wondered if she even wanted to know what he wanted.

The blonde laid Wini?óÔé¼Ôäós letter out beside her journal, skimming it for the hundredth time before writing a tentative note in the journal.




From: Billie Fay
To: Phillip Donnelly
Sent: Tues, June 24th, 2003
Status: a neat, evenly-written note in a journal.
Contents:

Hey, so I got a letter today ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ from your friend Winifred. Wini? She wrote asking if I?óÔé¼Ôäód be interested in getting ice cream with her, and you, and some of your friends in Diagon Alley later this week. I was just wondering if I can get your thoughts? I?óÔé¼Ôäóm a bit confused about whether this letter, and invitation, is strictly just from her, or from you both.

I promise there?óÔé¼Ôäós no pressure though, it?óÔé¼Ôäós totally up to you. I?óÔé¼Ôäóm free later this week if you?óÔé¼Ôäód like to see each other again, whether it?óÔé¼Ôäós in that context or a different one. Sorry for being a bit absent these past couple of days. <3

JUNE 24th, 2003
12:04pm

Spending the summer with Winifred at her bonus dad's house was turning out to be quite the adventure. He wasn't used to having a space of his own or helping to make breakfast in the morning. It was uncanny living with people who cared about his plans for the day. Of course, he could have done with his Hufflepuff friend caring a little less, but he tried not to complain too much. Grumpy or not, he was thankful for their generosity, and Phillip would hate if they thought otherwise.

Phillip was a solitary type of misanthrope, sticking to himself more often than not and getting lost in his thoughts. It had always been hard for him to be a part of social gatherings, but he never had that sort of problem around Billie. Whether they were together or miles apart writing in their connected journals, he didn't feel the same kind of exhaustion after talking to her. It excited him, ignited him, and made him eager for more.

After their visit to Ireland, those feelings had only gained momentum. He yearned to be around her, desperate for the next time they would hang out. He spent more time in his room with his quill etching away at the shared parchment than ever before. He knew Winifred had noticed, but for now, he was dodging most of her questions. And so, it took him by surprise when he read Billie's last note. When had she owled her? How had she even known where to send the letter? For a good minute or two, he double-checked the wards and locking spells he had on his journal, praying she hadn't found a way to break through them.

Once he was satisfied with the charms still in place, he reread Billie's note and began to reply. The concept of Billie meeting his Hufflepuff friends was a strange one. He couldn't picture how it would go. What if they didn't get along? What if they did? He wondered if it would make things strange on either side, but his overwhelming desire to see Billie silenced all hesitation and washed the doubts away. He did his best to assuage her fears without sounding silly and giddy at the notion of spending time with her soon.





From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: June 24th, 2003
Status: Notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily.
Contents:

Wini didn't tell me she was going to send you a letter, but I am glad that she did. She is persistent; you get used to it, though.

If you are free, I would really like to see you again soon.

But if you'd rather not, I would understand that too. I don't want you to feel persuaded by the letter, Wini can be tenacious, but she's harmless. Just a warning though, she might ask you a thousand personal questions.

TUES, JUNE 24th, 2003
12:06pm

Billie smiled at the underlined really. She'd probably re-read that a few times later, and think about it too. "Really like to see you again soon," she mouthed quietly to herself, imagining what he might have been thinking or feeling when he wrote that. She read it all twice, unable to stop her eyes lingering on that one word (both times) before she wrote back.

After she'd written a couple of lines, the blonde opened her desk drawer and retrieved a blank piece of parchment. She thought about what she was going to write for a moment, then crafted a response, expressing that she'd love to go to Diagon Alley with the group of older teens. Billie stroked her owl's fluffy head a couple of times, then gave him the letter. "For Wini," she clarified. "Not for Phillip."




From: Billie Fay
To: Phillip Donnelly
Sent: Tues, June 24th, 2003
Status: a neat, evenly-written note in a journal.
Contents:

I'll tell her yes, then. I'd like to meet your friends! I'm sure she'll give us the details.
I'm going to write back now.

JULY 2nd, 2003
12:04pm

It had been a busy week for Phillip and even though he'd continued to write Billie constantly he was starting to feel like he hadn't seen her in a while. It seemed like every time they made plans something came up for one of them and they had to reschedule and it was making him a bit grumpy. He'd left Scotland and headed to London for the summer, met William, and spent some time with Wini, but he was itching to see Billie. Sitting on the edge of his bed he skimmed the many notes they had exchanged this week, and especially since the trip to Ireland, and it brought a smile to his lips. After he'd reread all of it, for the millionth time, he began to scribble a new note at the bottom.




From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: July 2nd, 2003
Status: Notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily.
Contents:

I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

WEDNESDAY JULY 2nd, 2003
12:09pm

Billie was nervous. Mostly because she was meeting his friends properly for the first time, and she couldn?óÔé¼Ôäót decide whether to wear some light summer robes or something more muggley, or something a little more in between. She didn?óÔé¼Ôäót know what was fashionable in the muggle world; she only had a very small number of muggle friends (one or two?). Besides, this was sort of the first summer she?óÔé¼Ôäód been social. Last summer she?óÔé¼Ôäód seen Phillip once, and that had been it.

Last summer hadn?óÔé¼Ôäót exactly been a good one for socialising.

The blonde stood in front of the bathroom mirror, holding up a set of light, robes she could wear. She dropped them on the bench and swapped in a dress. She held this up against her body, agonising a little as her eyes raked over the image before her. She actually hadn?óÔé¼Ôäót spent time with a group of people outside of school before, except for the sleepover she?óÔé¼Ôäód literally had, like, a weekend ago.

After a minute of this, she checked her journal again, out of habit. There was new writing there, and she dropped her dress on the spot to read it, smiling stupidly as she wrote a note back.




From: Billie Fay
To: Phillip Donnelly
Sent: WED, JULY 2nd, 2003
12:04pm
Status: a quickly written note in a journal.
Contents:

Me too! I?óÔé¼Ôäóm nervous though.

Also, I can?óÔé¼Ôäót believe we?óÔé¼Ôäóre a third of the way through this book already. It?óÔé¼Ôäós going to bankrupt me!

JULY 2nd, 2003
12:011pm

He smiled at what he was reading, feeling nervous also, but he was excited too. After spending so much time together during Hogwarts and then everything that had happened so far into the summer it felt like eons since he had seen her. He missed her so deeply, more than he was used to, and he knew why. His quill had been poised over the page, about to respond to her nervousness, but then he saw her writing more and stopped. He laughed a little, and then replied quickly. Phillip wasn't wealthy, he was pretty much the opposite of, but he made ends meet, and when he wanted something he worked for it. He had some sickles saved from various things he'd done over the term and if needed he could always get a part-time summer job. He didn't want her to keep buying the books, she had already purchased the first two, he wanted to help out.




From: Phillip Donnelly
To: Billie Fay
Sent: July 2nd, 2003
Status: Notes in the journal, written quickly and sloppily.
Contents:

I am too.

Let me purchase the next ones?