Back To You

[Charlotte Owens]

Charlotte's first week back at Hogwarts had been quite easy so far. The Slytherin Quidditch Team this year was looking okay, even though the team had lost some valuable members, and Charlotte was looking forward to what the upcoming year would bring. She knew that the new members would get great over time and it reminded Charlotte of when she first started out in the team with not much of a clue as to how everything worked out. It was now her responsibility to help the new people and she couldn't be more excited. It was early morning and the sixth year woke up with her stomach growling. Eager to get some food in it, the Slytherin made her way promptly to the Great Hall and, having arrived early, sat by herself at the Slytherin table before placing some pancakes onto her plate. She had always enjoyed meals at Hogwarts and watched as other people entered the hall, wondering if they were just as hungry as what she was.

 

[Cairo Savage]

Cairo had failed to find Charlotte both after their first divination class and in their common room that same night. Although that did not falter his determination to find her and apologize for his poor decision making, meaning he woke up bright, early, and ever ready to find her during breakfast the next day. He needed to not only apologize, but admit his own wrongdoing and stupidity. In the beginning of their feud he believed his loyalty to Rome overcame every one of his friendships. however as the situation progressed through the year and into the winter break he eventually realized he could be his own person, and make his own decisions. That he needed to make his own decisions and think for himself rather than relying on the opinion of someone else. Though Rome was his twin, his best friend from birth and the only person he knew he could whole heartedly trust in the world, that did not mean he needed to cater blindly to her whims and dismiss a friend simply because she wanted him to. No, Cairo was smart, a free thinker that prided himself on his intelligence too much to believe someone else's small minded views and opinions regardless of how much he loved them. It was hypocritical and stupid of him to pretend Charlotte did not exist because of what Rome had said to him and he now realized this, the stupidity of his actions staring at him in the face when he returned to Hogwarts for another year.

The Slytherin ran a hand through his platinum hair, scanning his houses table as he entered the great hall. When his eyes spotted Charlotte he immediately walked to approach her, sitting next to her when he got closer and placing his palms flat on the table while cutting to the chase. "Look, Charlotte, I'm really sorry about last year. I was stupid, I was biased, and I want to be friends again." He said. Dancing around the subject rather than cutting it to the core was Cairo's natural instinct but he had dismissed it completely in that moment for the sake of not wasting another second not being Charlotte's friend. It was very Rome of him but he tried not to think at all about his sister who had caused the problem in the first place as he waited for Charlotte to respond.
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[Charlotte Owens]

As Charlotte began to cut up her pancake into more pieces, she couldn't help but notice that someone had sat next to her. Her first thought was that it was Dan, but as she looked up and noticed the hand on the table, she realised it was Cairo and she raised an eyebrow at him as he spoke, asking for forgiveness. Just when Charlotte thought she was getting better with dealing with the loss of a friend, he wanted to come back and Charlotte didn't really know what to do. She placed down her cutlery and tried to figure out whether or not he was joking. However, the serious look on his face made it obvious that he wasn't. The girl cleared her throat. "Why?" she asked simply. For once, she was lost for words. Did he really miss her that much? He had Rome to worry about and Rome was definitely not one to forgive. So why would he betray his own twin like that? Truthfully, Charlotte had missed him too but she wasn't going to let him know that just yet. After all, Rome could be watching them.

 

[Cairo Savage]

Charlotte's response was surprising to Cairo, although not unjustified. In fact it was completely and utterly justified as the entire situation between them, the falling out, and later him pretending like she was no more than a speck of dust to him was his fault and his fault alone. It would be a lie to say he did not expect Charlotte to be her kind and forgiving self in that moment as much as it was a lie for him to say it wasn't his fault. But no matter what happened in the past, the most important thing was that Cairo realized he had been in the wrong in getting involved in the situation in the first place and was both ready and currently apologizing for his misplaced, cruel actions. The answer to Charlotte's question however was one Cairo did not think needed to be said but it was clear that Charlotte wanted to hear it regardless how obvious the answer was to him. He cleared his throat before explaining. "Because I've missed being friends with you. Out of everyone in this castle, you were the first person I trusted enough to call a friend and proudly call you a friend at that. It hurt to sit in classes all year not giving you so much as a glance for the sake of pleasing someone else, and it hurt the most when we were in divination."

Despite wanting to apologize to Charlotte more than anything, he refused to write a speech in his head so his words did not sound rehearsed or anything but genuine. A decision he quickly began to regret when his improvising seemed to be failing him. He was pouring the closest thing he had to a heart out but even as the words spilled from his mouth it did not seem like enough. But even then he wanted it to be enough so he paused, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. "I shouldn't have gotten involved in a situation that didn't involve me, I shouldn't have listened to what Rome said and let that affect my judgement of you. Honestly you have been nothing but kind and interested in being my friend no matter how selfish and stupid I can be. I shouldn't have forgotten all of that because of a few words Rome said." He ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I'm just sorry, okay? and I don't know if these words are enough to prove that but I don't know what else I can do. I just want our friendship to go back to the way it was if that's even possible." He breathed out, feeling like this was the most words he had ever said to someone else in his life and furthermore the most honest ones. But Cairo believed this situation, and his friendship with Charlotte needed to be salvaged and being the most honest he had probably ever been was all he could conjure to fix what he had broken.
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[Charlotte Owens]

Charlotte liked to think of herself as a good friend to people she was close to, and when Cairo decided to stop talking to her, she couldn't help but think negative of the situation for once in her life. Was it really bad what she had done? She didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, especially Cairo's, and opted to try and prove herself to him. But the constant ignoring eventually made her give up. If he didn't want to be her friend then that was fine as she had plenty of other people she could talk to. But now that Cairo wanted to come back, the prefect wondered what it was that had changed his mind and listened as he spoke with sincerity in his voice, clearly sorry even though Charlotte thought this was mostly her fault. Truthfully, the girl hadn't heard him speak so much about anything. He was usually the one to stand on the sidelines avoiding conflict, but now he was the one trying to resolve everything and Charlotte was quite happy he was doing so. After all, the girl couldn't bare another divination lesson sitting alone.

"I'm sorry I was mean to your sister. She really likes Quidditch and I didn't mean to hurt anyone." Charlotte told him, feeling that it was her job to apologise too, despite how horrible Rome had been to her in the past. "I missed being friends with you too." Charlotte was flattered that Cairo considered her an important friend and she hadn't even noticed how by himself he was without her which just made her feel worse. "You have every right to stand by your sister, even if I don't really like her, so I don't blame you for what you did at all. You're not selfish or stupid and you were just standing up for a family member." Charlotte didn't want Cairo to think he was in the wrong for everything. After all, he was a good person and didn't deserve to feel like that. "We can be friends again." she said, giving him an encouraging smile. "I won't let Rome get in between us, and if she does, it's okay if you're on her side instead of mine. You're allowed to have your own opinion."

 

[Cairo Savage]

Cairo felt his heart beat against his rib cage as he waited for Charlotte to respond. He hoped for her to accept his apology, forgive him, and then for them to move on and continue to be friends in the same way they had been until his selfish, stupid actions messed everything up. What she did instead however was apologize to him, too, for her actions. Cairo was the person in the wrong in his own mind and despite thinking of himself as better than most anyone else in his year and the entire school he had made peace with admitting he was wrong. Charlotte going as far to admit her own wrong doing was not what he expected but in a way her words made amends. He sighed, relieved, when she finally said they could be friends again, before he formed a response to her. "Thank you so much, for forgiving me. I should be the only person apologizing here since this was all my fault, and I let the words of someone else affect my judgement of you for no good reason. I just wanted to make my sister happy since she was having such a terrible time, and I did not consider how this would affect you." He said. "But, thanks again. I'm glad we can put this past us."

Hints of a smile appeared on Cairo's face. He ran his hand through his hair again, and relaxed his shoulders, feeling considerably less tense knowing that the hard part of the conversation was behind them. "So, what have you been up to this past year? Got anything to update me with?" He asked, unsure if he was seeming too casual but uncaring. With apologies said, forgiveness given and leaving seeming inappropriate, all Cairo could think to do was have a normal conversation with his friend about the year they had spent not speaking so they could work on getting things back to normal as soon as possible. Hopefully this would mean Cairo would not need to spend more divination lessons alone and risk having a lower grade because of anything outside of his knowledge.
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Sorry this took so long!