Be Careful What You Wish For

[Sam Prince]

Sam was tired looking at it, the dapper handwriting, the persuasive words, the stupid little emblem at the bottom of the page. It caused him to fold up the important letter for what would be about the hundredth time within the past two days. He shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans, out of his view, but just because he couldn't see the wrinkled page anymore he could still feel it through the denim of his jeans, like one of those dark wintry rain clouds that swarmed outside, it continued to oppress his thoughts. There it was, his dream practically handed to him and all Sam could think about was Indianna. It wasn't her fault and he knew that - although if she wasn't so perfect in every possible way, it could have made things a little easier for him - but she was the reason why he was reconsidering the generous contract offered to him by the Moutohora Macaws. It'd make more sense right? They were based in New Zealand, he had interned with them last summer, so he knew a lot of the team members and they were a perfectly respectable quidditch team. The only downside that Sam could see to them, was that they weren't the Wimbourne Wasps.

The Wimbourne Wasps were an internationally famous Quidditch team, they also happened to be a team that Sam had once dreamed about playing for and it was only just two days ago that this dream had become a reality for the eighteen year old. That same reality was now tucked away in his back pocket. He knew if he accepted the Wasp's contract as their team's beater it would mean he would at some point have to move to England. Sure, he could apparate back and forth from New Zealand but it just seemed to make sense to move there permanently and at the end of the day it was an inevitable outcome that he was sure he would have to face. But moving to England meant leaving behind Indianna and that was where the problem ignited. He tried weighing his options as sensibly as he possibly could and came to the conclusion that if he was to accept the Wasp's offer he would only accept under the condition that he could put his all into it and staying in New Zealand was preventing him from doing so. But then again, leaving New Zealand meant leaving behind the girl he loved and leaving behind the most important person in his life.

He stared blankly out of the kitchen window, his mind still trying to cipher through his overbearing worries, the dull day was certainly not helping Sam's mood. Even the thought of Indianna's visit wasn't helping his mood in fact, it worsened it. This wasn't just a visit where they could sit around a watch a movie, Sam was going to break it to Indi about his situation in the hope she might find a miracle solution. She was a Ravenclaw at heart afterall, they were generally wise when it came to solving problems. With Indianna now back on his mind, Sam began to put away the pile of groceries that dominated the marble worktop. Colin was gone for the weekend on some work thing - Sam had far too much on his mind to recall where it was his uncle had gone off to - and it left Sam and Ava with full responsibility of the house. Well, this full responsibility pretty much fell onto Sam's lap, Ava was about as responsible as a toddler. So with the necessary groceries bought, he began to put each item away although absent mindly putting the milk into a cabinet along with some strawberry yogurts. He had asked Ava and she thought he would be crazy, or in her words, 'a complete jerk' to refuse the Wasp's offer. But what did she know? Sure, herself and Indianna got on quite well but she didn't know Indianna like he did. How foolish he would be to let a girl like her go like that. But the Wimbourne Wasp's were calling his name now, it was now his time to shine, how foolish he would be to let an offer like that go. And so the vicious cycle of his thoughts began again, and as Sam continued to make a mess of putting away the groceries, his thoughts ceased to come to a halt.​

 

[Indianna Lee]

“¿Mamá?” Indianna called as she skipped her way down the staircase, fumbling for her headphones as she did so. “¿Sí, mija?” The eighteen year old’s hazel eyes found a pair of rich sienna hues as her mother glanced up at her from the soapy suds and dirty dishes she had been preoccupied with. “Voy a ir a la casa de Sam. ¿Está bien?” The fluid Spanish language was no struggle for Indianna, it came to her as a second nature and slipped smoothly off her tongue without a need for conscious translation as she plucked up the earphone bud that had dangled out of her grasp and buried it in her ear. Abegail Fuentes looked a little more closely at her daughter this time, a small smile managing to capture her expression. Though she was asking if it was okay to go and see Sam, the young mother suspected it was more a statement than a question. Despite the years that had since wearied her, Abegail remembered what it had been like, to feel so completely and utterly consumed by a love like that. Because well, by the time she was eighteen she had already borne her beautiful daughter and been wed to the young man that had captured up her heart. It had all come crumbling down after that but as much as she’d attempt to shoulder the blame, it was by no fault of her own. Javier Lee had simply been a man of flaws and she had been foolish enough to be blindsided by them. Sam was different though, Abegail was assured of this enough to see just how wonderful he was for her daughter.

“¿Mamá?” Indianna prodded verbally, now standing across the kitchen with a grin dancing across her pink lips as she watched her mother snap back from her daydream. “Sí, sí. Divertirse” Skipping a few steps forward, the girl pressed her lips to her mother’s cheek in a sincere thank you and told her that she’d be back in time for dinner. It was all the blessing she’d needed to slip past the front door and out into the gloomy greys of the moody weather. Taking the other earphone and pressing it into her right ear, Indi decided that today was a Wombats kind of day and cranked up the volume of the British band until she was content that it would act as a barricade against the trivial conversations of what few other pedestrians were out braving the cool. The walk to her boyfriend’s house wasn’t far, ten minutes tops but Indianna much preferred it to apparating, even in the miserable drab of the day. How she had managed to pass her apparition exam was beyond the girl when the majority of the time she was keeled over with nausea. So instead of groaning to herself when she felt the cold nip at her ears, Indianna lifted the hood of the sweater she had ‘borrowed’ from Sam and was greeted with a most agreeable scent of his as the material grazed against her cheek. By no means was it as good as being wrapped up personally in his arms, warm and safe inside their protective embrace. It was the next best thing though and it served to comfort Indianna when he wasn’t around, even if that meant sheer minutes down the road. Sometimes it grew a little frightening to think just how much Sam had become a part of her, he was literally central to every other thought that crossed her mind. If something were to happen to him or to them Indianna feared she would no longer be capable of functioning. Of course she had her friends and her job and her mother, but somehow even they seemed insufficient should she stand to lose that blue-eyed boy from her life. Out of discomfort, even at just the thought, Indianna sucked in her lower lip and nibbled down on it feverishly. She even snuggled further into the hoodie for good measure and told herself that that was something she needn’t worry about today. But little did she know that they would be her famous last words.

At the bridge of Joy Division she reached the front door and tucked away her music as she struck her knuckles gently against the frame before letting herself in with the knowledge that her boyfriend’s uncle was away. Wandering into the house she had become familiar with since last year, Indi only had to call out Sam’s name once before finding him unpacking groceries in the kitchen. A vibrant smile, the smile, pulled at the corners of her mouth as she joined him. “Hey sweetie.” Indi cooed gently and leant upwards to grace his lips with a brief yet supple reminder of her own. There was something puzzling about his demeanour though, a contemplative mood she hadn’t expected to see. Those hazel eyes of hers surveyed her beau as she rocked back on her heels, not straying even as she reached for a loaf of bread in the pile of groceries and proceeded to stock it into the pantry to help him get the job done quicker. She was about to ask him if he was okay, it was there on the tip of her tongue. But as Indi averted her gaze momentarily to place the bread down on the shelf, she noted the dairy products there before her. Taking the yoghurt and the milk in her hands, she extended them outwards for her boyfriend to see with a raised eyebrow and a stifled giggle. “God Sam, you’re lucky you’ve got me looking after you.” Though the joking tone in her voice was only there to cover up her worries of what could possibly have him so intently preoccupied. After putting the two products in the refrigerator where they rightfully belonged, Indianna made her way back to her boyfriend, a softly puzzled expression on her latina features. “Sam?” She pushed gently, her concerns not at all concealed as she wound her arms around him and stroked her comforting palms up and down his spine. “What’s wrong?”

 

[Sam Prince]

Indianna's harmonic voice echoed through the hallway and into the kitchen, where Sam continued to carelessly put away this weeks groceries. Then everything started to happen quite quickly and Sam in his distracted mind frame struggled to keep up as Indi greeted him with a light kiss on his lips before beginning to help him with his chore. Even as she took the carton of milk and the tray of yogurt cartons from the cupboard and placed them in their rightful place, all Sam could do was murmur a quiet apology and pushed out a small guilty smile. She noticed that something was up, that much he could grasp. It wasn't anything new however, Indianna sometimes knew Sam better than he knew himself but then again, a perfect stranger could have recognised the angst that took over his handsome visage, it was fairly obvious. But her attempts in comforting him were in vain and they didn't seem to ease off any of her own anxiousness that much either. Her worried doe eyes were enough to make Sam feel sick to the stomach, passing this worry onto someone else was never his intention, Indianna being the sole person he didn't want to worry, or hurt to that matter. His large hands rested on Indianna's petite waist now and he held her close all the while his preoccupied mind worked hard to search for some sort of answer to her question. There was plenty wrong with Sam Prince but that just made it all the more difficult to answer that question.

He knew the obvious thing was to tell Indi the truth, but it wasn't necessarily the easiest option and as he stood there in the middle of his kitchen, holding his girlfriend, he wasn't sure if he could step up and face the hardest option. That being said, accepting the Wimbourne Wasp's offer, the easier option, didn't look so bad anymore especially if it meant avoiding breaking Indianna's heart. Just picturing telling her he would have to move to England was painful never mind actually telling her. So, was that it? Did he just ignore the heavy bearing letter in his back pocket? Pretend this life changing offer never came about? That just wasn't possible, from his childhood days Sam was a terrible liar and there was no way he could just cover up a collosal amount of regret so easily. And he could tell it would be a collosal amount, especially if he was just going to throw away such a big oppourtunity without having even discussed it. Sam cleared his throat, breaking the silence in the country house, "Eh....there's something that.." He began and as he did his fingers started to fidget with the belt loops of her jeans as he tried to think of how to finish that sentence. His blue eyes trailed away from their pair's uneasy gaze and he stared down at his forefingers which now settled in a belt loop, each side of her hips. He withdrew his grasp suddenly, pulling away from Indianna's hold too. Without saying a word he turned away and took a couple of steps to the other side of the kitchen. His hands now placed flat down on the sink worktop and he stared profusely at the pile of dirty dishes in the sink basin. He bit down onto his lower lip before releasing a defeated sigh and reached into the back pocket of his jeans, resentfully pullimg out what seemed to be just a tired piece of parchment.

It was so much more than that however, and Indianna was just about to become aware of this. He turned to face Indi now, holding her gaze for just a second before he began to unfold the letter from the Wimbourne Wasps. He skimmed over the all too familiar content once more, remembering how excited he had been the day he received it from that long earred owl and now just two days on, he had been swept aboard an emotional rollarcoaster. "This came in the post on Tuesday." He informed her while retracing those couple of steps back to Indianna. He held it out to her without saying another word and just offered her a look of discomfort. He knew Indianna wasn't going to be able to grasp why he was acting so anguished over this life changing offer. It was a great thing to happen and Sam was lucky to get offered such a contract. But after reading this letter Sam was going to inform her about moving to England. Not that he had made up his mind just yet but he had to at least let her know that by accepting this offer it meant moving to England permenantly, it came as sort of a package deal. Sam guiltily looked away from Indianna now and waited for her to take the letter and read it. The worst part about this was that giving Indianna the letter was the easy thing to do. The hardest part had yet to come.

 

[Indianna Lee]

As Indianna stared into the distance that her boyfriend’s blue eyes had apparently acquired since she had last seen him, searching silently for a reason for his glum mood, she fought with the slice of her subconscious that was willing Sam to blurt out a lie, tell her it was nothing and kiss her like he might have earlier this week. Turning a blind eye was not the healthiest option for the truth and the trust their relationship had been built up upon, but anything that had him this disjointed couldn’t possibly be trivial. As he found her waist and pulled her close, Indianna continued the circular motions of her palms. The more nervous she grew as she waited with baited breath for his answer, the more frantic the gesture grew, an anxious habit it would seem. She was a nervous wreck and she hadn’t even had the chance to share the burdens he was so obviously shouldering. Indi drew in an elongated breath but it hitched inside of her as Sam shattered the silence between them, his fumble for an answer not much of an improvement on the anxiousness that was eating her up. There’s something that what? Her mind began to work through the possibilities, as logically as she could manage. It had always been assumed by Indianna that when a boy started a sentence like that, freaking out was a ditzy thing to do. But now as she held onto her breath, she realised first hand why it was so heart-wrenching. The questions that swirled in her gaze didn’t manage to reach Sam, he was too consumed, on purpose as a lucky guess, in the belt loops of her jeans.

Indianna gazed longingly after Sam as he pulled himself away from her arms and consulted the kitchen sink instead. She watched him carefully, picked apart his body language, her natural instinct to comfort him beating her breathless. With all of her heart she trusted Sam, in fact she trusted him more than any ordinary eighteen year old probably should trust her boyfriend. There was no room to be doubtful of him, to think that he had done something wrong by her. It just killed her to see him battle out this internal conflict on his own, she hated it. If there was only something she could do, something she could say to ease the discomfort he was obviously at odds with. In the past sometimes that was all he had needed to wash those worries away. But there was nothing to do, to say or to even think in the first place because Indianna hadn’t a clue what was going on. She needed to know, desperately craved it so she could bear this burden with her love. But the last thing she wanted to do was push Sam. So she would wait, albeit anxiously, but wait for him to tell her at his own pace. Indi knew he’d come to her in the end.

And so it seemed the end was closer to her than she anticipated. Indi kept her eyes trained gently on her boyfriend despite that his were occupied elsewhere, and fixed them more intently as he broke his frozen stature at the bench and retrieved a folded piece of parchment from his back pocket. A letter? She questioned this as his eyes finally met with hers, wary of all the possible things a letter might entail. Working her mind up into frenzied scenarios was not going to get the girl anywhere though, Indianna knew far better than to get ahead of herself, so she merely nodded as Sam confirmed that it was indeed a letter. Baby steps were the key, one toe at a time. Plucking the letter from her boyfriend’s hands once he had returned to her and offered it up for the taking, Indianna danced her forefinger across the crease. She could almost see his indecision at the sheer wear of the parchment. Again she wondered what this letter could possibly contain that could have him so worked up but the answer was quite literally in her hands now. All she had to do was open it up. In a moment of reassurance of her faith in him, Indianna gave his upper arm a gentle squeeze and peeked into those wondrous blue eyes before she unfolded the letter. It was now her turn to step away as she wandered about the kitchen, her mouth twisting as it usually did in moments of concentration whilst she glanced across the words printed so professionally it forced her to see that this was big. Really big. But as she delved deeper, she realised its implication, perhaps not fully at that moment, but enough to know that this was Sam’s dream right here in a letter.

Those gleaming eyes snapped up from the letter and met his from across the kitchen, a fantastic grin lighting up her features whilst she momentarily forgot the mood that had struck Sam earlier. “Oh congratulations!” She gushed genuinely, the colour in her cheeks glowing as she skipped back to her boyfriend and flung her arms around his neck. And now that she was close enough, Indi whispered sincerely into his ear, “I’m so proud of you baby.” And she had real reason to be. Not only was this the team she knew Sam had always dreamed of playing for, but by the sounds of what he had told her they were also incredibly prestigious. The position he had scored on their team was by no mean feat but even she, who had virtually no insight into the world of quidditch until she had met him, knew that Sam was one extremely talented young man. “So proud.” She whispered once more before stretching even higher on her toes to kiss his cheek lovingly and from there, went onto to meet her lips with his. For a few unspoilt moments there she allowed her body and mind to succumb to the adoring and ever so softly probing kiss, relaying her pride and her excitement for him through her actions rather than her words. But then she remembered. And then it all came crashing down. Indianna broke away from the sweetness of his lips, puzzled by these two very different messages her mind was receiving and glanced down at the letter again before finding Sam’s gaze again. “But why...?” Back and forth they went, those green gold irises darting from parchment to Sam and back again, her arms were still around his neck and her fingertips grazed anxiously across the soft, fine hairs that lay there. And then she began to find the roots of the problem as her mind dug deeper, the Wasps certainly weren’t a New Zealand team, they were based in England. Indianna’s eyes widened as she finally rested her frantic gaze upon her lover. “Does this mean... You’re... Are... Are you...?” She couldn’t bring herself to fathom it in her mind, much less translate it into words which was more than unusual for Indi but if this meant what she thought it meant than it was surprising she had gotten this far. Hopefully Sam would be able to finish her sentence or rather, hopefully he wouldn't. She nibbled down on her lower lip, swallowed the lump in her throat and prepared herself for what she had been evading, they had been evading since before graduation. The possibility of a geographical rift in their relationship.

 

[Sam Prince]

Sam's eyes followed Indianna as she walked around his kitchen, reading through the letter he had read so many times before her. With one hand placed down on the worktop which had the few remaining groceries left on it, and the other fidgeting irritably with his bottom lip, he nervously awaited some sort of response from her, any sort of response. With every second she spent reading the letter the more he just wanted to yell out the content of it just to get the whole ordeal over with, he could probably say it word for word too after all of the times he had read it. However, as Indianna reached the end of the letter and came bounding towards him, he realised he didn't just want 'any sort of response', because this was definitely not relieving in any way. Her proud words caused his stomach to somersoult inside of him, he couldn't even accept her praises without feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt. Instead he pushed out a small smile although he could barely even do that as it wasn't long until the corners of his lips began to curl downwards. Breaking the news to Indi now just seemed a whole lot harder. Her arms curled around him now as she hugged herself into his body, her sweet voice whispering delicately into his ear and as her lips pressed themselves against a lightly stubbled cheek and moved their way down to his lips, all Sam could do was hesitantly kiss her back. As her lips pulled at his own his eyebrows began to furrow, this isn't right, and as he reluctantly went to pull away, he realised, she did too.

It was as if a dementor sucked out her sunny smile and her proud expression, Indianna Lee was left with only an air of confusion and a hint of fear. It was as if something all of a sudden clicked within in her mind and Sam could tell she was very quickly putting all the pieces together. It pained Sam to watch her come to the conclusion all by herself but but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her and so he selfishly looked away, his gaze lowering to the tiled floor, blanketed with guilt. It was only as Indianna stammered out the beginnings of many questions that Sam's gaze returned to those of his lover. "No, baby," he hushed quickly, he could practically hear the upset in her voice and as she nibbled down on her lower lip, he instantly brought his hands to her face. "I haven't responded to the offer yet," The pad of his thumb soothingly stroking her cheek as his large hands cupped her face. "I figure.." He said slowly, "If I accept the Moutohora Macaws offer....I can stay here." He lowered his head down to Indianna's level now, "With you Indi....nothing has to change." He searched her eyes for some sort of response all the while trying to assure her that their post-graduation fears wouldn't come true. His words were partially attempting to reassure himself too, but not even they could cease the niggling sense of loss at even the thought of accepting the Macaws contract.

He knew what Indianna would say to all of this though. He knew she would make him go and a part of him knew that he, in the end, would most likely end up going back to England. But Sam had made a promise to himself not too long ago that he would never leave Indianna. The deteriorated relationship between her mother and father had affected Indianna in ways, that Sam wouldn't ever be able to understand but he did know that it took some courage for her to trust him and to love him and for that, he was eternally grateful. Although their relationship was indeed strong, especially for their young age, it was in another way, very delicate and Sam wasn't sure if the move to England was worth the loss that would come with it. He couldn't imagine finding someone else that he would love as much Indianna. He couldn't imagine ever recovering from a heartbreak like that. He couldn't imagine ever forgiving himself for breaking a promise like that. As the pair of young adults began to face the difficult but very real situation that lay in front of them, Sam wanted to pretend he was just that young boy once more. That young boy who fell into a love that was years beyond his age but who didn't have to deal with such adult concerns. And as he stared into the eyes of Indianna, Sam pretended he was that young boy again and tried to convince himself that by the end of the day, his relationship with Indi would be at the exact same place it was at the beginning of the day.​

 

[Indianna Lee]

Indianna’s stumbling heart calmed for just a moment there in her boyfriend’s kitchen as he jumped, ever so quick off the mark, to let her know that what she was fearing wasn’t the case. Those silky, two-toned eyes gazed up at Sam with affection sparkling in every shard of green and gold because having been together with him for so long now and having been friends with him for even longer still, he knew exactly how to put a stopper in her worries, even if her worries were just a babbling, incomprehensible mess of words. But she realised that this time it was different, this was merely just a false sense of security. Though Indianna chose to ignore the voice in her head, she just wanted, if only for a moment, to pretend that Sam had never been handed this life-changing opportunity. She wanted to pretend that the Macaws’ offer was just as fantastic for him, and that he could take that and their relationship could retain its happy glory. For a moment she had managed to convince herself of such a situation as she fell dazed into the sweet tenders of his comfort but that all came tumbling down the moment that very same scenario was spelt out by Sam’s lips. It sounded, well, wrong. And although she was touched that he was prepared to stay in New Zealand for her sake, Indianna simply could not allow Sam to sacrifice everything he had worked so hard for just for her, he’d live a life of regret! Always wondering about the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘I could haves’. She certainly wasn’t going to be the one to rob him of his dreams.

“....nothing has to change." Indianna could almost feel the prick of tears in the corners of her eyes as she stared deep into her boyfriend’s entrancing blue gaze. Because who were they kidding, everything had to change and try as she might to find a way to work around this, the eighteen year old could not for the life of her come up with a feasible compromise. There was none, it was all or nothing. Her eyelids fluttered delicately shut, she didn’t want Sam to see the distress that stirred in her soulful eyes and god forbid the tears should they suddenly arise. Indianna shook her head gently, slowly, almost regretfully, protesting her lover’s suggestion to stay in New Zealand. “No, no.” Her voice was small but had somehow managed to stay firm and strong despite what she was about to say. His face was still so close to hers and so Indi rested her forehead against his and sighed, savouring the moment before she had to speak again. “ Cariño, you have to go. I’m not going to let you forgo an opportunity as incredible as this just for... just for me.” Indianna leant back, the hand that did not still have a grasp on the letter slipped down from Sam’s neck and braced against his chest, rubbing the muscle feverishly as she bit down on her lip and attempted to keep it from trembling. She knew she was making an understatement, this love between them wasn’t just a schoolyard fling. Indianna could barely recall what life had been like before Sam Prince and she didn’t think she’d ever be forced to confront such a life again. But now here they were standing on the precipice where suddenly the threat of toppling over the edge had become painfully real. And Indianna had a sickening feeling that the both of them were about to become unstuck.

The situation was dizzying, the room was spinning and Indi could barely keep up with the wave of emotions parading tirelessly through her. Part of the young Hispanic woman was overjoyed for her lover, ecstatic that his hard work had paid off, that he would be living the life he had always dreamed of. But another part, the most overwhelming part, was breaking down at the thought of the some twelve thousand miles that would distance them. Sure, they had briefly engaged in a long term relationship when they had first started dating. But that was different, and wildly so. They had known then that they’d be together at Hogwarts in a few short months, and they were only just in the beginning stages of their relationship. But the times had changed and so had they. Sam and Indi, they were a seasoned couple now in a serious relationship, one that she wasn’t sure could function over the physical difference for the indefinite amount of time it would be forced to. Her mind was conjuring up possible solutions but could only formulate one that was possible, yet so devastatingly heart wrenching at the same time. “I love you Sam, more than anything in the whole world and I always will. But...” Indianna had to compose herself but this time she couldn’t stop the tears from welling in her eyes. Even just at the thought of what she was about to say, Indi could literally feel her heart beginning to tear into two. Her glassy eyes watched her beau, her fingers curled tightly into his clothes, she wanted to be sick right then and there. But instead she took a shaky breath and blurted out the words she herself was afraid of. “But maybe we just need some separate time to figure our futures out.” Her throat was tying itself in continuous knots as Indianna fought with the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks, she couldn’t imagine being without Sam. But what other option did they have, really?