Closed Our Bench

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara had been eager to see Ellie, it had been a whole year since they’d taken a bit of a break, and he felt no different about her now as he had then. They’d kept in touch, but the letter had lessened as they’d both been busy. He knew that it would be good to see her, so where they both were and he hoped keep going. They only had one year left and he would be graduated. The teen knew that they would have to likely start their relationship a little bit over, if they did. They were older, and things had perhaps changed with them. The teen hoped that she still felt the same way about him and they might be able to pick up where they had left off when they could eventually get back together at the end of the following year. The prefect had arranged to meet her in Brightstone, much like they had before taking a break. He had come straight from work, a coffee in one hand and a little bag of her favourite sweets in the other. He apparated to where he needed to go, really enjoying the freedom it had given him, though he hadn’t yet done what he thought he might and go home. The boy wasn’t sure he wanted to, wanted to see or face any of them. Maybe he should, from the last letter Jerara had several siblings he had never met before. But, he spotted the bench they’d agreed to meet at and took a seat. He took a long sip of his coffee and kept his gaze moving around trying to spot Ellie. He felt near giddy at the thought of seeing her again, it had just been so long and he had really really missed her. He had been running a little early but with apparition things were just a lot easier for him. ​

 

[Eleanor Hope]

After a whole year of not being at Hogwarts, Eleanor was quickly becoming adjusted to the new routine. She was working temporarily in a muggle florist, not really liking it there very much, but figuring it was better than nothing whilst she tried to figure out what else to do. Fortunately, Eleanor had a day off, and with Hogwarts transitioning into a new year, the former Hufflepuff decided it would be a good time to meet up with Jerara. The pair of them had planned to meet in their usual spot at Brightstone and Ellie couldn't help but get butterflies at the thought of it. Even though they were on a bit of a break, Eleanor still had feelings for the Ravenclaw and she often wondered if he still felt the same. It had been such a long time since she had seen him and nervous was definitely an understatement to describe how Eleanor felt as she walked along the streets of Brightstone towards their usual meeting place. When she saw him sitting on the bench, she couldn't help but beam at him, suddenly excited to see him again. "Jerara!" she exclaimed as she made her way over to him and sat down. She instinctively pulled him into a hug. "How are you?"

 

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara felt a smile, the sort was definitely reserved for her, the fond memories of them together flooded his mind. They had always had fun together. He’d missed spending time with her whenever he could. Sure, he had more time to focus on his studies but she’d been a good break from all the books. She had always brought a smile to his face. He returned the hug easily, mindful of the things in his hands as he drew in and then pulled away. He nodded at her question, holding out the little bag of sweets that he’d brought with him for them. ”I’m good,” the teen smiled at her easily, he was of course fine, with the year over, and his friendship with Tristan firmly patched up, things were good. He was sure it would probably be a good thing to consider when he’d head home, since he could, but maybe he just wouldn’t. ”How are you? How’ve you been?” the ravenclaw returned with ease. It felt a little odd actually seeing her after all this time, he was searching her features for any changes, and maybe she looked a little older, but it was the same Ellie he remembered. He couldn’t imagine that he had changed much either, apart from maybe a slight beard growing in. The side effect of this last few years of puberty, but he was very glad he could apparently grow the semblance of one. ”it’s really good to see you Ellie, school wasn’t the same without you,”​

 

[Eleanor Hope]

Ellie was glad to hear that Jerara was good. It meant that everything was going well at Hogwarts, and with his NEWTs coming up soon, it was important that he stayed in a good mood and was confident for the year ahead. One of the main reasons why the pair of them went on a break was so Jerara could focus more on his studies, and she was glad that it seemed to be working for him. Eleanor also nodded at his question, just happy to be talking to him like normal again. He was such a good person to talk to and she admittedly missed the moments that they spent together. "I've been good too!" she exclaimed. "Although, I really wish I could find another job. It's kind of boring working at a muggle florist... I want to work with the magical plants, you know, the big ones that move around dangerously. It sounds kind of scary, but it's much more interesting than what I'm doing... and I would actually get to use magic more often." Eleanor sighed, wishing she had thought about what to do with her career sooner. "But other than that, I've been great, and so has my sister, so it's good that you've also been good." Eleanor smiled at Jerara. Despite the fact she still cared about him, it was relaxing not to have him on her mind as much anymore and she wondered if he felt the same way. "Oh, I doubt that." Ellie chuckled at his statement, feeling as though the school hadn't changed much at all. Apart from leaving the Wild Patch Club, she was sure Hogwarts wasn't missing her one bit. "But thank you, it's good to see you too. Has school changed much or is it just the same? Sometimes I think I'd like to go back, but I'm glad that I'm finished with it."

 

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara listened closely as she started talking about her work and what she was doing, how she was enjoying it compared with what she would rather be doing. He couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t yet switched to something better, but perhaps there hadn’t been anything for her to switch to really. Or perhaps, much like how he assumed that he’d be working at the sweet store a little after school to help build up some funds to go into other jobs. He just hoped it wasn’t for him that she was perhaps holding off on it. ”I’m sure something will come up, and maybe in the mean time I’ll pop round to the store and order a huge bouquet for my favourite person,” the teen said with a smile, trying to make a light joke, god this was just reminding him of how much he missed her easy company, how he missed her smile and the way she could light up any day of his. ”That’s good about your sister too,” Jerara smiled in response. But nodded, ”Admittedly, not a lot has changed,” the boy sipped his coffee and grinned at her, ”But I miss you,” the teen added, he had missed her, she was a good person and he missed all of the time they had spent together during school. ”It’s been odd not having you around, I miss patrolling with you,” Jerara hoped she wouldn’t mind him saying that. He just wanted her to know in a way that he still had some feelings for her. They were quiet but they existed still. It was frustrating that he would have another year without her before they could hopefully pick things back up.​

 

[Eleanor Hope]

Eleanor smiled at the thought of Jerara coming around to the store. It would definitely make her look forward to her day, but he had school to go to and she didn't want him to stop by just to see her when he had better things to do. She almost stupidly asked him who his favourite person was but soon realised that he was referring to her based on his smile. It was amazing to think that she still meant so much to him after all those years and she was excited for the day he would finally graduate and they could spend more time together. It was hard being so apart from him but she knew if it was meant to be that it would.

Ellie nodded as Jerara told her not much had changed and felt her cheeks warm as he also added that he missed her. "I miss you too." she said, suddenly feeling more butterflies in her stomach. "Yule Balls must be so boring without me." The former Hufflepuff chuckled slightly, remembering how special he made her feel during those nights and the very first time they met and danced together. It felt like so long ago that she was able to spend that special moment with him. "Who are you patrolling with now that I'm not there? And who are the new prefects?" she asked, still wanting to know more about what was happening at Hogwarts. "Oh, imagine if you got Head Boy!" she exclaimed, excitedly sitting forward in her seat. "That would be so cool! You'd be able to decide who to patrol with, and you really do deserve it I think." She smiled at him, confident that there was a good chance of him actually becoming Head Boy.

 

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara smiled at her, but his mind cast to the fact that he hadn’t actually gone to the ball alone, he’d gone with Fleur, a sort of friend who had like him not had a date to the event purely because of people graduating. ”It was! I went with someone as friends and it was just not the same,” Jerara decided it was maybe best to not mention who it was, it hadn’t really mattered. The time together had been purely platonic and just a reason to spend time with someone else. To spend time at an event with someone rather than awkwardly stood alone. Jerara looked at her with a little smile as she asked who he’d been patrolling with and who the newer prefects were. There was very little way for him to remember really. Jerara had never paid much attention to who the other prefects really were, he knew that there was Tristan, and he knew of a few from his year but he’d never paid as much attention of perhaps Ellie had in school about who was doing what. ”I spent too much reading to even hazard a guess at who the new ones are,” Jerara chuckled lightly. He had never really discussed with Ellie what he was reading outside of school work or how he was quietly interested in the dark arts. He knew it wasn’t something to bring up and it was better to just keep quiet and speak to only Tristan about in vague details. At the exclamation of him being head boy the teen laughed lightly, ”I doubt it’ll be me. It’ll be Tristan, I’d rather it was Tristan,” Jerara did kind of want it, and he knew he’d put the work in to get it, but he just thought Tristan wanted it more and would likely do more with it. ”It’s a nice thought though,” the teen smiled slightly at Ellie.​