Closed A Way to the Future

[Harper Alston]

Even though Harper knew she'd always be welcome at her parents' house, there was no denying that it was about time that she moved out. (And not just because Lila kept making pointed comments about their shared room.) Most of her friends were living in dorms or their own flats, and Harper was starting to feel restless. She craved more independence and privacy. But most of all, she wanted to be able to do magic freely. She still didn't feel comfortable casting spells in front of her siblings, and with all of the people her parents and four siblings had over, she was constantly paranoid that she would accidentally break the Statute of Secrecy.

However, it turned out that moving out was a much more difficult ordeal than she'd anticipated. The first obstacle was finding a flatmate. When Harper was younger, she had just assumed she would live with Fletcher while she attended uni. Obviously neither of those things would be happening now. Thankfully, she'd heard that Delilah was also looking for a flatmate. Harper had no idea what the girl was like as a flatmate, but she quickly decided that didn't matter. She was just glad she'd be living with a friend and not a stranger she found in the Daily Prophet classifieds.

The apartment hunt had been a much bigger challenge, and by the time they'd found a place in Wellington, Harper just wanted to be done. Unfortunately, there was still the whole moving thing left, and it was proving to be the biggest pain of all. "I didn't think I had so much stuff," Harper complained as she moved yet another box into the kitchen. Featherlight spells and hover charms made the process much easier, but there was only so much magic could do. "Is it too late to sell everything and become a nomad?" she joked. She knew she didn't have that much stuff compared to most people, but this was still more than she'd expected. And they hadn't even begun unpacking.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah had always expected she would move out the second she had graduated from Hogwarts. But things hadn't gone according to that plan in very long time. It had left her a little lost and aimless while she enjoyed real freedom for the first time. Then there was her mother. The thought of leaving her all alone still clawed at the back of her mind and made her stomach hurt if she thought about it too long. But Caleb would graduate and be at home soon. At least she knew she could count on him to take advantage of a free place to live for a while.

She knew she couldn't make life decisions just to please everyone around her forever so when Harper mentioned needed a roommate she jumped at the chance to make a move in the right direction. She had been working at Ollivander's for years now and had a decent amount saved up so she hoped the transition to being fully independent wouldn't be too terribly hard. Somehow Simon had made it work without having a job at first. But she also knew how tired he was all the time working two jobs. She had considered asking him for help moving but she had a feeling he would laugh in her face.

Delilah had only fully moved once in her life when her family came to New Zealand, and while this move wasn't nearly as far it was much harder on her own. Her books would take several trips to completely move over and thankfully she could take her time with those. But making the apartment habitable was easier said than done. She had spent most of the morning cleaning and she thanked Merlin her wand was behaving as she charmed the place top to bottom. She was starting to organize some things and laughed at Harper's comment. They both hand plenty of stuff but there was still plenty of things they were missing like a full set of plates. "Sure, as long as you pay your share of rent and I can use those funds to buy a couch." she said cheerfully as she closed the cupboard and turned around with a grin.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper laughed. "I think you're overestimating how much my stuff is worth. You could maybe get—" she glanced down at the box she was levitating, pretending to appraise its contents, "—three decorative pillows and a folding chair. But not a couch." She was joking of course, but there was an touch of truth to her words. She wasn't materialistic, and most of her belongings were secondhand, both because she didn't care and because money had always been tight growing up. It occurred to Harper that she would likely have to buy a lot of new stuff to furnish their place, and her stomach twisted a little before she remembered that she actually had a decent salary now, as well as a good amount of savings, thanks to living at home while earning aforementioned salary.

Harper set the box down gently, wincing a little as something inside clunked ominously. She had convinced (read: bribed and guilt-tripped) Everett to help her pack, and it was pretty clear this was one of the boxes he'd put together. A single glance at the disarray inside confirmed this, and Harper started to gingerly unpack the contents. She pulled out various kitchen and potions supplies before pausing at the heavy cauldron at the bottom. It suddenly occurred to Harper that she had no idea how wizards used their cauldrons at home; she'd only ever operated hers at Hogwarts over an open flame. Something told her that their landlord would not be happy if they did that. "Uh, dumb question maybe, but what are we going to do about cauldrons? Can we just use them on the stove?" she asked, glancing dubiously at their electric stove. Maybe she should just ditch the cauldron and brew her potions in a regular pot?

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah tried to smile but it probably came across more as a grimace. Growing up she hadn’t spared a single thought about money until her father almost lost his job and they had to move. But it wasn’t until he passed away did she start to add up all the little costs it took just to get through the day. She had her own money now and while she liked to think of herself as smart and resourceful she still knew she could be out of touch sometimes. “Well it would at least be somewhere to sit.” she said wistfully. Neither of them had a lot of furniture since they were both moving out for the first time and that fact was a bit glaring at times when their entire living room was practically empty.

As Harper set down a box there was a concerning sound and Delilah made a face. Thankfully everything seemed intact and she went back to rearranging a cabinet so it could actually close. Harper’s question caught her off guard and she had to think for a moment. She had only ever grown up in houses built by wizards that included a fireplace or a place on a stove that could hold a cauldron. “I think so.” she said slowly as she glanced at the stove in their kitchen since they certainly didn’t have a fireplace. Most potion recipes called for boiling times so she didn’t think the heat source mattered too much. “Or we might have to get one of the burners we used in school.” she shrugged, remembering the small enchanted flames they would use in class. "I hadn't really thought about that." she admitted.