DAY TWENTY-ONE

Is this really my life?

This was the question Vivi pondered as she went through the aisles of Madam Booth’s Properly Prepared Presentables, a clothes store lodged in a far back corner of Diagon Alley. It was part of her job, counting the items on the shelves and making sure they were all in their proper places. It was dull and demeaning work, but it paid a decent amount of money. Just a few hours earlier, it had struck Vivi that this wasn’t just a summer job she was doing to satisfy her mother anymore. This was her life. There was no more school ahead anymore, just adulthood.

The thought terrified her.

She didn’t have any special skills, she didn’t have anything that anyone would find useful. All she was was employed at a second-rate clothes store. Seriously, no one Vivi knew would be caught dead in here. But here she was, taking inventory of a dozen different hats and robes. Muggle fashion was honestly better, but she knew that was an unpopular opinion in the circles her father ran in.

These were the thoughts Vivi was thinking as the bell hanging over the door rang insistently. Customers!

Vivi took a peek through the gap between the shelves. Her heart quivered as she saw who it was. It was him! The guy! The one who came in every so often to check out clothes and would always leave empty handed.

No, she wasn’t stalking him! Where did would anyone have gotten that idea?

Vivi tried to sneak past her crush’s line of sight and get behind the desk before he noticed her, but of course, he chose exactly that moment to look in the direction of the collectible plushies shelf she had been hiding behind.

“Oh, hey, it’s you!”

Vivi smiled sheepishly and stood up and out of her crouch. She brushed the dust off the overalls she had decided to wear for whatever reason and beamed appraisingly at the new arrival. He waved at her, a small smile dancing its way across his lips.

“You’re in muggle clothes.”

VIvi looked from side to side like a trapped deer.

“In a shop for wizarding fashion.” He nodded, although it looked more like his head was bobbing its way up and down his shoulders. “I like it. It’s...unconventional.”

He extended an arm out to Vivi. Vivi nearly fell over on the spot. She couldn’t believe he was talking to her. She couldn’t believe she was acting like such an idiot! She wished her English was better and she wasn’t so repressed so she could actually make something out of this conversation!

She nodded politely and shook his hand. “Yes, I like it.” She had to force the words out through her thick accent and shaky voice. You’re embarrassing yourself!

“You know, I come in here a lot, and I always see you, but I’ve never really introduced myself before. I thought you might think I was little rude and so....well, nevermind. So...sorry, and my name is Hector.”

“V-Vivi.” Vivi stumbled over her words, flustered as she was.

“Vivivi? That’s an...interesting name.”

Vivi nearly facepalmed before realizing she was in company. “No, just Vivi. I was just--nevermind.”

Hector grinned. “Am I making you nervous? It’s okay. I’m a little nervous too, if I’m being honest.”

Vivi furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?” She was genuinely confused. She was the one who was a wreck. She’d practically been salivating over this boy for the better part of three weeks, and now he was talking to her and she looked like a dope!

“Because I actually wanted to ask you a question.”

Vivi’s heart thundered in her chest. Was this really happening?

“Do you want to go eat somewhere? I hear the tea shop is nice.”

Vivi shook her head vigorously. She swore her cheeks were as pink as the hair on her head.

“Yes! B-but not right now. My boss is watching. I still have a lot of work to do.”

She didn’t really, but it would have been too overwhelming to head out now. She needed to...she needed to calm down. So she showed Hector the door.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours. You’ll still be here, right?”

Vivi nodded. She wasn’t going anywhere for as long as Hector was waiting for her. “Yes, I’ll be here.”

Hector flashed her another winning grin and then he was out the door. “Wait for me!”

Vivi waited a few more heartbeats, until the door was well and truly closed, and then she collapsed against the shelf, her knees weak, her legs unsteady. Did that really just happen? To me?

After all the tragedy she had experienced, after going goddamn catatonic for a whole year, after nearly being expelled from Hogwarts months before her graduation, good things were happening to her. First Loona, and now this. Someone she liked liked her back.

She wasn’t alone in the world. She wasn’t alone.

There was a boy waiting for her out there.

Vivi pulled herself together and made her way over to the counter. She had to get ready. She pulled her pink muggle-style backpack from a shelf beneath the wooden paneling. She sat on the stool and took a moment to collect her bearings.

Maybe looking at the picture will help calm me down.

At big turning points in her life, she’d take the opportunity to take a look at the photo. She’d done it before going after Jinsoul, before standing up for her in front of a crowd, and at Coco’s funeral.

Vivi reached into the bag and gingerly unfolded the creased piece of polaroid. The two of them had taken this with a borrowed camera on their trip to the US. They were beaming at the camera, not a care in the world. Coco was sticking her tongue out.

She had used it to remind herself of happier times when it appeared there would be no more. Now the happiness had returned, and she no longer had any use for it. She swallowed.

Coco would understand.

She folded the picture up once more and stuck it on the shelf. She wouldn’t be coming back for it. Her shoulders suddenly felt lighter, as if a great weight had been lifted off her back. It was time to put her past behind her. It was time to move on.