Closed A Sweet Reunion

[Knox Ivers]

Knox couldn’t wait to see Poppy again. Meeting her at Honeyduke’s and later living vicariously through her Hogwarts experiences with words scribbled on parchment and a back and forth of letters throughout each semester simply wasn’t enough for Knox to be content with his situation as he was home schooled. But now things had changed for the better, he was now at Hogwarts, he could now have awesome experiences first hand and with his friend, and Knox, ever restless, couldn’t wait to get started. After passing Poppy a hastily written note at breakfast that morning, asking her to meet him on the lawn later that afternoon, Knox had gone about his day as usual until his classes were done. It was only when he was free from his last lesson of the day did he return to his dorm to fetch his guitar and a handful of candies from his sweet stash, before descending his way back through the castle and out to the lawn where he promptly sat down in an empty spot in the grass, placing his guitar on the ground next to him.​

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There was some big news, a huge change in Knox’s life that happened in the holidays he had kept out of his last letter to Poppy, and now, in person, he was ready to tell her. Finding out he had a secret brother for his entire life that he had never met until that summer was a lot to process, and Knox was relieved he had a friend that wasn’t close to his family so he was able to get his feelings about everything that had happened off his chest. He was eager to talk to Poppy again in person, and absent mindedly chewed on a licorice wand as he waited for her to arrive.​

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy could hardly believe Knox was at Hogwarts now. After they met by chance over a year ago, she had almost convinced herself that she had made up the whole thing. But eventually they started sending letters and would cherish each one that would be delivered. She had made a few acquaintances at school but no one she would consider a close friend, so it was nice to know that there was some one out there that cared about her and was her friend. Now Knox was here at school but they hadn’t really had time to hang out and Poppy was a little worried that things would be different in person then they had in their letters.

Knox had dropped her a note that morning at breakfast so of course the day seemed to drag on forever. She was impatient as ever in her last class of the day, and she nearly took off running when it was finally dismissed. As she was about to leave a classmate asked her a question and she didn't have the heart to ignore them. Poppy could feel the weight of each second passing and hopped Knox wouldn't be mad about her being late. She took a short cut through the garden she had found during her time exploring and spotted Knox sitting on the lawn with his guitar next to him. She felt a pang of excitement about maybe finally get to hear him play since he wrote about music all the time. "Hello there.” she said with a grin and bent over, letting her loose curly hair fall in front of his face. “Hope I didn’t keep you long.” she said breathlessly before sitting down.

 

[Knox Ivers]

As Knox chewed on his licorice wand, he replayed the memory of meeting his half brother over and over again in his mind, both to process it and to figure out how to actually form it into words when he recounted the experience to Poppy. It was still so surreal to him, like it was a weird dream he hadn’t woken up from, and returning to Hogwarts was part of the weird circumstance of it all. He had thought for his entire life he was an only child and would remain as such, never having a brother or sister to take care of. But he was so quickly faced with the surprise he now had a brother to take care of him instead, it was unbelievable. Though it was all real he still couldn’t help but question his reality, and question everything about his life, really, because what else could he do? Nothing he knew was as it seemed. It made Knox anxious, feeling as if what he thought he knew was crumbling underneath him, while also giving him a sense of excitement from knowing the truth and finally having a sibling like he had always wanted. It was so much to consider, his feelings running back and forth between opposite polarities while he was in the middle feeling motion sick.​

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So caught up in his thoughts, Knox didn’t register the footsteps he heard approaching him, or notice anything at all about his surroundings until Poppy’s red hair was in his face. Surprised, he huffed and leant back, shaking his head before recovering and smiling at Poppy as she sat down in the grass. “Hey, nah you didn’t keep me waiting.” He answered simply, knowing he was too focused on his thoughts to pay attention to the time that passed. “I have big news for you, do you want a sweet first though?” Knox said, pulling a few wrapped sweets from his pocket and offering them to her.​

 

[Poppy Perkins]

"Good!" Poppy said relieved, the last thing she wanted was for him to be annoyed with her. She sighed contently as she got comfortable and leaned back on her hands, enjoying the sunshine. She laughed when Knox offered her some sweets. "Sure!" she said through her laugh. She shouldn't have be surprised by the gesture, considering where they met. But it was nice to know Knox's sweet tooth would be a constant. Poppy grabbed one of the colorfully wrapped sweets he held out for her. "What kind of news?" she mumbled trying to sound genuinely curious but it was hard with her mouth full with the candy.

 

[Knox Ivers]

Knox took another bite from his licorice wand, stretching it a little with his teeth as he watched Poppy take one of the sweets he offered. He returned the ones that were left to his pocket, and continued chewing as he spoke to her, assuming she wouldn’t mind his lack of manners by speaking with his mouth full. His mum would have something to say about his behavior and he knew it, but he was at Hogwarts now where she couldn’t see him and he couldn’t get in trouble for silly things like talking while eating. “Okay so its some family stuff that happened in the holidays, and it’s part of the reason I’m back here at Hogwarts now.” Knox began, answering Poppy’s question of what kind of news it was before elaborating. “Basically, my mum was really weird for a week or so, and I started to hear mum and dad argue at night and some long lost relative was like visiting us, I thought it was an uncle or something. Mum wanted me to go to my room when this person arrived but nah, I didn’t want to so I answered the door and there's these two guys holding hands, we sit down at the table and then it turns out one of them is my brother. Well, half brother, but still my brother, and he’s a full grown up with a whole life and everything.” Knox blurted out, thinking that explaining his memory was the best way to give Poppy this news because he was still processing it. “He was in Gryffindor too, and captained the quidditch team and it was so weird!” He added, shaking his head a little at his own disbelief, before he swallowed what he was chewing and took another bite from his licorice wand, waiting to see Poppy’s reaction.​

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy sat perfectly still, eagerly awaiting whatever news he had to tell her. She was already listening but her interest peaked when Knox mentioned it had to do with why he was at school. When he wrote to her about coming back to Hogwarts he never really gave a reason. Which didn’t really bother her but he always talked about how his mother was strict and didn’t want him to be so far from home. She figured everyone could change but his mother didn’t seem like the type to change so suddenly. Whatever she had been expecting him to say, a secret brother wasn’t it. Poppy sat there stunned for a moment, not sure how to react. “A brother?” she asked breathlessly, trying to wrap her head around the concept as her gaze trailing off. “That sounds like something out of a book, or a movie.” she mumbled. But this wasn’t a movie, it was real life and she snapped back to attention. “Well, what’s his name?! Do you think we could find him in the old yearbooks?!” she asked, wanting to know what this mysterious brother looked like and if he looked like Knox at all. “I can’t believe you just opened the door.” She said with a laugh. “And he was just there? How did he find you? Did your dad not know about him? Did your mum know about him? Who was he with? So you’ve met him, what is he like?” she rambled, eventually stopping to take a breath and glance over at Knox.