Where has the time gone?

[Casey Daniels]

Casey couldn't believe he was back at the harbour shopping for his fifth year, it felt like only yesterday he had been there to shop for the first time. That was a day he treasured for more reasons than that. Five years later Casey was thinking about his classes, where he needed to put his effort, what he wanted to study in his next year and most importantly, what he wanted to do when he left school. Up to this point, he had no idea. For the time being he put it out of his mind and tried to enjoy his time at the harbour, a place that held a lot of wonderful memories for the young Slytherin. With all his supplies for the year purchased Casey decided to walk around a little and go into some of the shops where he didn't need anything but enjoyed, such as Quality Quidditch supplies and the joke shop. Having been on his feet for hours Casey went over to an all too familar bench and laid his bags down and took a seat. He sat for a while and watched fellow students shopping, he couldn't help but smile as he saw excited looking first years shopping for the first time and thing back to a time when he was doing the same.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Ally was sick and tired of all the houses, there was on house and that was Hogwarts. Hogwarts was her one and only home now. She wanted to be with Casey and now she was going to be with him, even if he was a Slytherin. In hers years at Hogwarts she had learned that not all Slytherins were evil and not all Gryffindors were brave. Being a fifth year had changed Ally, but the problem was she did not see Casey a lot anymore. She loved him and as soon as they came back after a time had passed the love was still there. Casey remembered the date they had at Obsidian Harbour and she was delighted to see the prince of her dreams checking out a shops front window. Alison could not help herself and give a little kiss in his neck, problem was due to Casey his long hair, she mostly kissed his lovely dark brown hair. Alison pushed herself in front of the window, he had to look at her now. ''Enjoy what you see?'' she said rather jokingly. As soon as she finished her sentence she gave him a tight hug.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Alison was on his mind a lot, she had been ever since they first met on the very same bench he had early been sat on. He remembered fondly the day they spent together fantasing about the days they would spend together in the Gryffindor common room, but that all came crashing down at their sorting ceremony when Casey was sorted into Slytherin. He could still picture Ally's face when the sorting hat spoke, although he didnt know for sure that she would be in Gryffindor Casy was absoloutely certain she wouldn't be joining him in Slytherin, she was too good and too sweet to be in such a house. He was heartbroken long before Ally was confirmed as a Gryffindor. As the years passed the two tried to remain friends, but their seperation made things difficult and as they grew older and made friends in their own houses it became more and more difficult. Despite everything Casey still fell in love with Alison, he would tell himself he had been in love with her since he met her but it couldn't be true. All he knew was that as he prepared to enter his fifth year he loved her.

Ally was on his mind right up to the moment he felt someone kiss him on his neck, or at least as much of his neck as could be reached through his hair. The next thing he knew Alison had appeared between him and the shop window in front of him. She asked him with a cheeky smile if he liked what he saw. He did, he always had. "I love what I see," he said leaning forward and planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

When Casey kissed her, she could feel her cheeks burning up. He was so nice and sweet, how could the hat have taken him away from her. ''I think we should forget the houses, I really like bad boys now.'' Allison said while winking. A smirk appeared on her face, she did not know what to say, she just wanted to kiss Casey which was weird. She had already dreamed about kissing him and getting a kiss back. Not once, but a couple of dozen times at least. ''I really really missed you.'' Ally said with an almost broken voice. She had really missed him, but he had not changed one bit. They both had not changed a lot, they were the same kids that met each other years before. ''Nothing has happened really, you did not became evil and I do not hate you.'' Ally muttered taken his hand, she walked to the same bench like always, their bench. ''Which is weird, since Slytherins are real awful folk.'' that was the moment she giggled, she knew Casey did not mind her joking about his house. Gryffindor treated her nice and the house was great, but without Casey there it seemed kind of lonely and empty. He still looked like the boy Ally really liked, the feeling she could not describe when she was younger, but now she knew it was love. At the moment Ally was just staring at Casey, daydreaming away.

 

[Casey Daniels]

It was remarkable to thing that while in some ways Ally had changed a great deal, she had grown up she was not the little girl Casey met before he had even started Hogwarts. But in a lot of ways, she was. She was just as sweet, just as kind, just as cheeky, and just as stubborn. What seemed like a long time ago Casey had tried to put some distance between himself and his dream girl believing that Slytherin was going to turn him into the kind of person that Alison wouldn't want to be around, he didn't want to put her through the horror of having him slip away from her and Casey didn't want to live through the moment when she realised he wasn't the person she fell in love with anymore. He thought he was sparring them both a lot of pain. Casey didn't change however, he did in the sense that he grew up, but he didn't change into what he considered to be a typical Slytherin, he had grown into the kind of person he wanted to be. Ally seemed to be thinking along the same way as she told him, they hadn't grown to be incompatiable which meant there was nothing standing in their way anymore. Ally led him back towards the bench he had been sitting on earlier that day, their bench, where they met. She told him how much she missed him, this made him smile, "I've missed you too Ally," he said taking her hand in his own and kissing the back of her palm.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

When Casey kissed her hand, she felt all gooey inside. He was such a sweetheart and all his little actions made her love him even more. It seemed like all the time apart did not happen and they just began were the left off. ''How are you?'' Ally said with a familiar twinkling in eyes. It was always the same song, they were together there was something that could be defined as love and then they did not see each other for a year. Ally hoped that would not repeat itself this year, she would sneak out of the Gryffindor dorm to lay under Casey his bed if she had to. She was brave and adventurous and did not feel any shame to break into the Slytherin dorm. Casey was pretty brave too, but she was not sure if he would break into the Gryffindor girls dorm to see her. He could not do it anyway since female dorms had a password. ''When I was young, I felt weird when I saw you.. now I think I really like you.'' Ally said while turning beet red, she was scared he would want to stay good friends. Telling Casey she loved him was something she was way too shy for, she did not dare to say that.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey had never been shy about showing his affection for Ally and or about telling her how he felt. The problem was they would always spend time together early on in the school year then time would always get away from them and a year would go by with them speaking or even seeing each other but when they did spend time together nothing would ever have changed between them, it defied all logic. "I'm pretty good, still playing Quidditch, hoping to be a starter this year but with OWLs who knows if i'll even tryout," Casey still couldn't believe they were heading into their fifth year. Casey was determined to spend more time with Ally over the coming year, even if it meant sneaking her into the Slytherin common room and up to the dorm. He would do the same, but things were different with the girls dorms, boys couldn't simply just go in them, it was a shame because Casey would happily sneak into see her. When she told him she really liked him he smiled and stroked the back of her hand, "I really like you too," The truth was he did love her but he wasn't sure if either of them were ready for it to be said.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

For once Ally was completely speechless, she did not know what to say and her shyness did not contribute to making a proper sentence right now. She found herself staring at Casey, not the drooling kind of way, but the I really really like you kind of way. It was not that she was not listening to Casey, but the words just did not stick into her mind. ''Still going for the Quidditch dream eh?'' Ally giggled softly, somehow she did not know what to say anymore. She wasn't a little girl anymore, she was a woman now. ''OWLs will be pretty bad, I feel utterly stupid in classes anyways.'' Ally was never studious, she loved the adventure of exploring and finding new places. The conversation was pretty awkward, Ally did not really know if she could say certain things and that made the whole ordeal a tad bit more difficult. ''Casey..uh...this may sound awfully weird...but..uh..do you think..we..can..be..more..then..friends...?'' When Ally had said it, she was overly scared. She should not have said that, but tried to be brave. Which she always was.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey didn't know what to say at first. Ally said a few things, she talked about Quidditch and she talked about OWLS but all of that was lost by what she said next. The two of them spent years beating around the busy, unintentionally flirting. Casey never imagined that Ally would be the one to come out and say she wanted to be more than friends. He was stunned to see her pluck up the courage to come out and say something so bold, it made him smile and only made him love her more. "Ally," Casey said softly as he stroked the back of her hand having not yet let it go. "I've never considered you just a friend, I know how that might sound but I've always thought there was something between us, I didn't want to think of you as just a friend because that never sounded right," Casey must of sounded over confident to make such assumptions but it was true. From the moment they met in the same spot they sat five years previous, Ally had never felt like a friend to him. She had always been more. "I suppose what I'm saying is, I want us to be more than friends too," Casey added with a smile.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Casey had always been really brave and that was something Ally had felt for. When they were together she had felt safe, like the warmth of the sun shining on you in the summer. The fact that she for once had enough courage to speak up was not a rarity, she noticed it starting to happen more and more. With Casey it was different she did not want to lose him and her question was risky. When Casey finished speaking, she was overjoyed. Still thinking about it, did it mean they were a thing now, like girlfriend or boyfriend or best best friends. Ally certainly did not go for best friends forever, she loved him and the feeling was growing with every second she saw him. Ally flew up in his arms and stared in his pretty face. ''I hope we work out.'' Ally giggled with a broad smile on her face. It was weird having a Gryffindor and Slytherin relationship. It was excited although houses did not matter anymore for Alison. Alison had decided Casey also meant that they were a thing now. Not knowing what to do now, she stayed in the tight hug, she was currently holding Casey in. ''I am so happy right now.'' Ally muttered in Casey his ear, tears flowing from her face.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey could not recall a moment when he felt happier than he did when Alison flung her arms around him. He slipped his arms round her waist and held her tightly. It had only taken the two of them five years but they were, what would Casey would classify as a 'thing'. She was his girlfriend, at least he liked to think she was, there would be a time when the exact semantics of their relationship would be worked out later but for now he just wanted to enjoy the euphoria, to enjoy the way Alison felt in his arms, to smell her hair. Casey could feel the tears from Alison's eyes streaming down her face and dropping onto his shoulder, some of the moisture from her eyes was catching on his hair. He smiled, he had never known someone be so happy that it brought them to tears and for some reason he like being the cause for such happiness. Perhaps he had a touch of narcissism about him like he mother always used to say. Casey didn't know how long he held Alison in his arms, he didn't care because nothing was more important than being with her. After what could have been an eternity, he pulled away slightly, his hands remaining around her waist he planted a soft a brief kiss on the young Gryffindor's lips.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Ally tried to wipe her tears away as soon as she felt them pouring down. When Casey had kissed her, everything fell in place. The weird moments they had when they were young and still friends. Ally did not know what to say and only a stutter of letters came out. They were a thing now and that was weird, something new for Alison she never had a boyfriend. It was really hard to look away from Casey, but with enough self control she looked away. ''What were you doing here in the first place?'' After saying that she started to giggle. ''I do not think you came here searching for me.'' Ally started to giggle even harder. Ally had to buy new quills, somehow they all could not handle her messy handwriting. Alison was excited and she did not want to release Casey yet, so she took his large hand. ''Can I create weird nicknames now?'' Not that Ally had any, she was not fond of random nicknames, but maybe to tease Casey she was going to call him Muffin.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey had almost forgotten why he had come to Obsidian harbour as he sat with Alison, she finally released him but kept his hand in hers. When Alison asked what his reason for being in Obsidian harbour Casey paused for a moment having initially forgotten. Suddenly he remembered after tearing his gaze away from his beautiful girlfriend down to his shopping bags. "Shopping, I came to get my new bits for the upcoming year, books, quills and what not," Casey felt like he was a bumbling fool looking for an excuse to be at the harbour. He hadn't come to seek out Alison, he'd be lying if the thought of running into her hadn't crossed his mind because he had met Alison almost every year at the harbour so he had hoped she would be there. Casey smiled as Ally giggled at him, her giggle was the cutest sound he had ever heard. Every time he heard it he loved her a little more. She then asked if she could create a nickname for him, Casey had never had a nickname and he liked the sound of having one. "Ally, you can call me whatever you like," He said with a cheeky smile.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

The fact that Ally had missed the shopping bags laying at Casey his feet was enough for Ally to know that she was a bit out of it. She was so taken by Casey that everything else did not seem to exist. It was funny that for some weird reason Ally always found Casey in the harbor. They attended the same school, but with a stressful year they barely had seen each other. Of course she had seen him once or twice and glimpses of him in the classroom, but not like this. He was hers now, not that she wanted to claim him. Casey his smile was the cutest most sweetest thing ever, not that she would ever tell him boys hated to be called cute. ''Well you should not have said that, my cute bumble bee.'' Ally was almost rolling over the floor of laughing, she would never call anyone bumble bee, but this was just for giggles. She wanted to say sweet sassy molassy but that went too far, even for her. ''God, I missed you.'' Ally still giggled slightly, she could not stop it anymore. ''What are you going to call me tiger.'' Ally said while winking at him, one of those really fake ones of course.

 

[Casey Daniels]

Casey didn't know what to think of the onslaught of nicknames from his new girlfriend. It was amazing that after being his girlfriend for a matter of moments Ally was already trying to give him a nickname. He knew that now the pressure was on him to do the same, in all honesty he liked the sound of tiger, it sounded cute. The challenge was to come up with something that would suit Alison. "I like Tiger, not too keen on bumble bee though and I've missed you too my..." Casey began as if he was going to easily roll off a nickname for Alison but nothing came out, he was stuck. He was so happy in that moment that he genuinely couldn't think so he decided to roll off a few names, "...kitten, sweetie, I err I dunno I'm not good with giving nicknames Ally," He smiled a little embarrassed.