ALOHOMORA | CEDRIC DIGGORY

39〝thirty-nine〞

THEY HAD HAD A GOOD run exchanging letters since the term started—it was the least Ellis could agree to, given how much she had asked of Cedric. He even sent her something on her birthday, though was careful not to mention it was for that, which was pleasing. She was, if nothing else, glad he had cottoned on to the fact that she didn't find the occasion very celebratory.

Their correspondences acted more like a diary or a journal, imparting events and thoughts they couldn't convey in person. While the quality of Cedric's had become more cheerful, as they should be, of late, a particular subject had not been broached.

Thus, Ellis had convinced herself that February the fourteenth was just another day. She was not going to expect anything special of it, least of all to be blinded first thing in the morning. She felt as though she had seen enough pink for the rest of her life. The flora-covered walls of the Great Hall seemed to have imprinted themselves on the back of her retinas, causing everything in sight to have a pink tinge—or, perhaps, everything simply was pink.

It was weird to eat eggs and toast that looked as if they had all been infused with beetroot or something to have gained that warm glow, but they tasted quite ordinary. Though, her appetite was pretty much abated by the glaring scene and confetti that kept getting entangled in her braids. She had decided to use the Summoning Charm to be rid of them once she departed the hall—it would be pointless otherwise, since the heart-shaped pieces descended in constant streams from the enchanted ceiling—when the mail arrived.

Glynnis stood out so much from the other post owls that she could be spotted swooping down towards the Slytherin table from about a mile away. Dropping an envelope into Ellis's lap, she landed, screeching and flapping her wings violently, urging Ellis to open the delivery. She was not typically so excited, but had come to be in recent times whenever messengering notes from a certain someone. Someone who knew to bribe her, and with something that had turned out to be her new favorite—chocolate.

For the same reason, Ellis inferred who the sender was at once and was, therefore, inclined to wait until she had a little privacy. But the albino bird would not be placated by bacon rinds anymore, and her agitated state was attracting too much attention for comfort.

"Okay, okay," muttered Ellis, conceding.

Grabbing her bag, she marched away from breakfast, the letter clutched tightly in her hand, Glynnis hooting noisily on her shoulder, then sprinted to the top of the Astronomy Tower (the Summoning Charm totally swept from her mind). Breathlessly, Ellis ripped the envelope at its flap and was vaguely surprised to retrieve from inside an origami heart—it was always origami, but was normally of an animal. She unfurled it to reveal a magical, crease-free sketch.

The art wasn't all that of an expert, but it was the thought that counted, right?

It was of a girl, blonde pleats flying behind her, riding a dragon, but not just any dragon—a baby Opaleye (Pearl's egg had hatched at the end of January); hot on their heels was a boy, but not just any boy—a boy with caramel hair, bright yellow robes billowing in his wake, whizzing towards their tail on a broom, something gold and round flitting behind him. Beneath his face was a small speech bubble, the phrase "Hey, you!" flickering word by word inside it, as if he was repeating it on a loop. It was titled:

SEEKERS AND DRAGONS

A smile cracked on her face irresistibly. Staring at the boy pursuing the girl, Ellis was picturing that very boy, holed up in seclusion provided by canary-colored velvet drapes, quill scraping against parchment in the dead of night as he rendered this. His creativity was one thing; his effort was another. This was so much more than a pair of Chocolate Frogs that matched her eyes. Her jaw felt sore when she finally noticed wordings in a column on the right.