Closed Overdue Apology

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

When he first came to Hogwarts, Kauri had relished the holidays, albeit in a bittersweet way. He missed his old friends when he was at school, and it had been refreshing to get the chance to go home and just live his normal life, the way he wished he had before Hogwarts. The longer he was at school though, the more and more disconnected Kauri felt from that life. His friends were growing up without him, they didn't have much of anything in common anymore. It was nice to see his parents, without a doubt, but other than that, Kauri just didn't feel as though there was much left for him in the muggle world. It was a depressing thought, and he had taken to day trips to Obsidian or Brightstone, just to feel like part of something again. There was more chance nowadays of him running into a friend here than in the streets he had grown up in, at least.

When Kauri spotted a familiar head of hair though, he was gripped with an unexpected rush of guilt. The downside of coming back to the wizarding world during the holidays was that he couldn't escape from his problems. Kauri owed October an apology, and he had been putting off speaking to the intimidating Ravenclaw as long as he could. Longer than he should, certainly. It was difficult to keep an eye on her through a crowd that was so much taller than October, but Kauri did his best, winding through people until he was walking behind her, tapping the Ravenclaw on the shoulder nervously. "Hey, October... can we talk?"

 

[October Alcott]

She had been excited about the prospect, certainly, but October had had no idea how freeing her apparition license would be. It was a relief to be able to travel when and where she liked, and a strange joy that Dad was completely fine with it. Though things had improved over the last couple of years, October was still getting used to her father treating her like an adult, and it was a pleasant change of pace, to simply make her own decisions for herself.

Not that she had had a ton of time for those decisions. October had signed up for a few important auditions this holiday, as graduation and the threat of needing to find a job crept closer. October knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wanted to dance, and that wasn't going to happen if she wasn't auditioning for everything possible. So she had spent all the time she wasn't with family going to auditions, and though she had mixed feelings about how they had gone, it was all over now, and October just had to wait for results. Sitting around at home had been psyching her out, so October had decided to take a day out and wander around the shops. Mainly to clear her head, and partly because she was hoping to see Jessica again. She had had fun with the Gryffindor at the Yule Ball, and October wanted to spend more time with her, relieved to actually have someone at school to talk to again. When a younger Gryffindor interrupted her thoughts though, October was dismayed to find it wasn't the one she had expected. She turned around, trying to figure out why Kauri would want to talk to her. "Sure, what is it?" October asked, stepping out of the flow of traffic with the younger boy. "Is there a problem with your patrol partner or something?"

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

As soon as October spoke, Kauri felt guilty for bringing this up. If Tristan had been on her mind at all, she did a good job of not showing it, and he didn't especially want to bring her day down. But he was in this now, and he needed to say what needed to be said. "No, everything's great with that, I love patrolling with Rose." Kauri smiled quickly, but the smile fell away as he changed subject. "I just, um... I owe you an apology." Kauri said slowly. "For... what happened with Tristan."

 

[October Alcott]

October hadn't known what to expect from this conversation, but as soon as she heard the name 'Tristan', her heart sank into her stomach. Of course it was about him. October had been doing her best to simply forget how she had been completely humiliated in front of everyone by Vivian's revelation, but it seemed there was no escaping the baggage of her past relationship even now. She knew that Kauri had dated Tristan before her, and it only took October a couple more mental steps before she realised what he was apologising for, eyes flying wide in horror. "You knew?!" She breathed, her entire body tensing.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri knew he deserved October's ire, but the betrayal in her voice when she spoke still struck him like a knife to the gut. Kauri didn't think he had ever been responsible for hurting someone so badly before, and it made his skin crawl. He was in this now though, and October deserved a proper apology, so Kauri gathered his nerves as he nodded. "I... caught Tristan cheating on me." He admitted quietly. "That's why we broke up. But he made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone, and... I didn't know it was still going on. I hoped it had been a one-off thing. But... I know I should have said something." He shrugged, not sure what else to say. "I'm really sorry."

 

[October Alcott]

October didn't know how to process what she was being told. As if being publicly humiliated in the Great Hall wasn't enough, had she really been the last person to know?! October took a step back, her mind racing. "You... wait, did... did April know too? She kept telling me I shouldn't trust him, did you..." October trailed off, shaking her head roughly. This was all too much, and she didn't know how to cope with the fresh humiliation. "I have to go." She said briskly, and apparated home without pausing for a moment.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri didn't know October well enough to know how she was going to react to this news, but the pain on her face made his heart ache to see. There was no way to make up for his misjudgement, but Kauri felt as though he really should do something for her, anything to try and make this easier though. She was stepping away from him though, and Kauri barely managed to get out a hurried, "I'm sor-" before she had apparated away, leaving him alone in the street, wracked with guilt all over again.