When Soren accepted the gift, the tips of Ayla’s ears flushed coral-pink.
She turned her face away, suddenly shy.
The idea had popped into her head last night, startling her with its boldness.
Reason told her it was too forward, too lacking in propriety.
Yet somehow, she had gone ahead and done it anyway.
At least she hadn’t slipped up and said anything.
And Soren knew nothing of these old-fashioned romantic customs, so both of them had room to pretend nothing had happened.
As for later…
she’d leave that to the future version of herself to worry about.
Trust future-me’s wisdom!
Having dumped her problems onto her future self, present-day Ayla broke into a radiant smile.
Soren, standing right beside her, was momentarily dazzled.
For the first time, he understood why poets always compared a beautiful woman’s smile to flowers.
It really was a smile that bloomed like spring.
The delicate thread of romance between them didn’t stretch any further.
Both left whatever came next for another day, settling in to enjoy the last of their pre-term holiday.
On the walk back to their room, Ayla flitted around Soren like a butterfly, drifting left, floating right, sometimes walking backwards right in front of him.
Coming down the stairs, he had to grab her arm, terrified she’d slip and tumble.
Ayla just laughed, eyes crinkling with delight, treating it as another fun game.
Thanks to her boundless energy, a ten-minute walk stretched into what felt like an eternity.
Once back in the room, she kicked off her sandals and launched herself sideways onto his bed, claiming it as her own.
She grabbed Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and started reading with keen interest.
Soren took his usual spot at the desk chair and opened Magical Theory for what must have been the hundredth time, hunting for insights hidden between the lines.
Even on the last day before term, his study routine hadn’t slipped.
Family, birth, upbringing…
those were things he couldn’t change.
But persistence, willpower, diligence…
those were weapons he could forge and wield himself.
In the not-so-distant future, he would swing those weapons to defeat powerful enemies, carve out his destiny, and claim everything he desired.
In the name of ambition.
Time slipped away once more.
Soren assumed today would vanish in a blink like every other day this past month.
He was wrong.
When he got ready to practise spellwork, Ayla, who had been perfectly well-behaved all afternoon, made a request.
She wanted to experience what Sean had felt, soaring through the air.
“Soaring through the…
air?”
Don’t get the wrong idea.
Soren was genuinely thinking about what had happened in the classroom earlier.
The problem was, when Sean had been dangled by the Levitation Charm, the boy had been absolutely terrified.
He’d looked ready to wet himself.
Hardly what you’d call a pleasant experience.
But looking into Ayla’s eager, expectant eyes, he caved.
Again.
“Fine. Find the original chapter at g.com.
I’ll let you try it.
Don’t be scared, though.
I’ll keep you safe.”
Ayla nodded rapidly and scrambled to her feet, standing barefoot on his bed.
Soren eyed the ceiling height, then turned and sat backwards on the chair, aiming his wand at her.
“Ready?
Here we go.”
An elegant swish and flick.
“Wingardium Leviosa.”
The holly wand, sensing its master’s gentleness, channelled magic with delicate care, lifting Ayla softly into the air.
In an instant, her bright laughter filled the room, ringing with pure excitement and delight, not a trace of fear.
Since she wasn’t the least bit scared, Soren grew bolder.
He guided her with his wand, charting a slow flight path around the small room.
After a while, he added speed changes to the mix.
Tiny shrieks joined the laughter, sprinkling in an extra layer of fun.
Three minutes later, the Levitation Charm’s power ran out.
Ayla drifted back onto the bed, legs giving way beneath her as she landed in an adorable, splay-legged heap.
Before Soren could ask for her review, she looked up with those impossible-to-resist pleading eyes.
“Again!
Again!
Please!”
He shook his head in resignation, insisting at most one more time.
And then…
Then it hit him.
Using the Levitation Charm like this was actually remarkably effective practice.
A human body was heavier and bulkier than practice props, and the centre of gravity kept shifting with every movement, adding real difficulty to the spell.
That difficulty was perfectly suited for a relative beginner like him, who was used to practising on still objects.
More importantly, playing with Ayla put him in a wonderful mood.
That positive emotion fed directly into his casting, making the charm feel smoother and more natural with each attempt.
He even had an insight that this kind of joyful emotional state would be ideal for casting the Patronus Charm.
A pity he didn’t know it yet.
Magic in the Harry Potter world had a deeply subjective, will-driven quality.
Soren had verified this twice over, from both magical texts and personal experience.
Which meant…
romance didn’t hinder studying at all.
If anything, it provided a buff?
He looked up at Ayla, beautiful as a princess from a fairy tale, and added a mental footnote.
Especially when the person you fancied was exactly right for you, providing plenty of emotional warmth.
With that logic in hand, he dropped all talk of “one last time.” If this game benefited both of them, why stop?
The entire afternoon, Ayla soared through the air to her heart’s content.
Soren reaped his own rewards.
The flood of positive emotion made his magic unusually active, as if every cell in his body were singing in chorus.
His eyes enjoyed the view too, chasing her graceful silhouette through the room, drinking in scenery that was easy on the eyes in more ways than one. You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
The delightful flying game lasted until the dinner bell rang.
Amid the pleasant chime, Soren lowered Ayla back to the floor and shook out his tired arm.
“Satisfied now?” he said fondly.
“Keep flying and you’ll have nightmares tonight.”
“If I dream about it, they’ll be sweet ones…”
Ayla flopped on the bed for a moment to catch her breath, then sprang up.
Under Soren’s bewildered gaze, she gathered the hem of her dress, dipped into a slight bend of her knees, and executed a perfectly proper, thoroughly English curtsey with the grace of a noble princess off to a royal ball.
“Thank you for indulging me, Soren.
This has been my happiest day since I came to the orphanage.
When I was up there, I truly felt like Cinderella from the fairy tales.
And you were like my…
my…”
She trailed off, suddenly too embarrassed to say what she really meant.
In her flustered state, she blurted out the name most commonly paired with Cinderella.
“My…
fairy godmother.”
“…”
Soren stared.
That was not the title he’d expected.
“Fairy…
godmother?
Me?”
He looked down at himself, struggling to find any resemblance.
Well…
actually, he did have something in common with a fairy godmother.
They both used magic.
He chuckled, half-amused and half-mocking himself.
“All right, if I’m the fairy godmother now, I’ll prepare a magical pumpkin carriage and a gorgeous ball gown for next time.
Look forward to it.”
Ayla was mortified by her own slip of the tongue, but it was too awkward to correct herself.
She just went with it.
Soren watched her cheeks turn crimson, genuinely worried she might overheat.
Kindly, he offered her a way out.
“Come on, let’s go to the dining hall.
Last dinner at the orphanage.
We should spend it with everyone.”
“Mm…
okay!”
Relieved of her embarrassment, Ayla took the hand he offered and hopped lightly off the bed to retrieve her glass slippers.
Before the real ball arrived, she had a great deal of preparation ahead.
For one thing, if she was going to attend a ball, she’d at least need to learn how to dance…