“Right. Ready, everyone?” Ellenor asks, swinging her Slytherin knit scarf around her neck.
“In a sec,” Lily says. She carefully packs her guitar away, adjusts her navy and bronze scarf, and turns to me. She smiles shyly and holds out a striped scarf of charcoal and honey-gold. “This is for you. Hufflepuff colours.”
She rises onto her toes, and I dip my head to meet her halfway as she loops the scarf around my neck, her lips grazing mine for just a moment.
“I half-hoped you’d put me in Gryffindor,” I tease.
“Redwouldlook good on you,” she concedes. Her fingertips brush the back of my neck as she straightens the scarf. “You’re certainly brave and loyal. And self-sacrificing. But you’re also patient…and gentle with that power. And you never expect credit for your kindness.”
Behind us, Ellenor lifts the bin lid and pretends to throw up into it.
Lily notices and huffs at her sister. “I’m calling shotgun for that.”
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Ellenor cries as they both lurch for the passenger seat.
I stand back, watching in bemusement as the sisters wrestle over the front seat.
“It’s my turn!” Ellenor insists.
“You sat there yesterday,” Lily fires back.
“Bitch, that was a different car!”
“That’s ridiculous! You can’t make up rules like that.”
“Actually, I can,” she pants. “That’s one of the rules. I can do—whatever—I want.”
Their voices overlap in ridiculous logic until Lily finally snaps, “Move, or I’m eating your chips.”
Ellenor groans, snatches her snack bag from Lily’s hands, and flings herself into the backseat.
Lily drops into the passenger seat with a triumphant littleha.
“Your victory may be short-lived,” I warn as I start the engine. “We’re stopping for fuel.”
“Still counts,” she says, grinning.
Ellenor waves sadly at Sean in the driveway. He stands there with his arms crossed like a bouncer, but his expression gives him away. He’s soft, worried, with a heart made of putty.
“Wish he was coming,” she grumbles.
“You’ll see him in Edinburgh—that’s only a week away,” Lily reminds her gently. “And he said he might catch up to us sooner at Alnwick Castle.”
“I know.” Ellenor sighs forlornly. “But a week is a long time.”
Lily meets my eyes as I start the car, a quiet smile passing between us.
If anyone knows how long it can take for something good to finally arrive, it’s us.
The moment we turn out of the driveway, Ellenor reanimates—rolling the window down and sticking her head out like a labrador on Red Bull.
“ROAD TRIP!” she hollers to the neighbourhood. “Onward, to London, to Scotland! For wizarding glory!”
“And butterbeer!” Lily chimes.
“And Firewhisky!”
The sisters glance at me expectantly.
