BOY WONDER

“Teal. Who would have thought? I think you would look smashing with teal dress robes. It’s definitely your color.” 

“Teal? What about red?”

“Can you see where I’m going with this?”

“Way ahead of you,” he replied with a wink. 

“I mean, it’s not every day you see a lilac bird. Unless it is? Is it just that I don’t get out very often and it’s actually really common these days? You have to tell me if that’s the case, Gid, I can’t be missing out on the newest styles.” 

“Right on the nose, you are. Lilac birds are all the rage these days, although I predict teal ones are making a comeback.”

Marlene looked away, digging her teeth into her traitorous bottom lip as it spread into a smile. Maybe she was at a loss for words right now, but if she could keep from acknowledging the fluttery feeling that her stomach was about to disintegrate into a pack of pixies and fly away, then she would have at least one satisfying win in the end of this conversation.

“Maybe you should look into getting a tutor.”

Her wit was back, as though it had never left—but with it came the acknowledgement of that frightful feeling. It was always a give and take with Gideon it seemed, at least when it came to her pride. Funnily enough, Marlene was starting to forget to miss it.

“Know of any good ones?”

Emmeline cocked her head to the side, examining the bird thoughtfully and with amusement. “Do you think… it’s a charmed bird or a real bird he charmed purple?” 

“That’s one hell of a conundrum.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in that color before.” 

“Wha--” Gideon whipped his head around to see a wizard walk into a bar, with a lilac-colored bird perched atop his shoulder.

Lily looked around for a moment, grinning triumphantly when her eyes fell on Flourish and Blotts. “You know those stupid hats the manager of Flourish and Blotts always wears?” she asked Gideon, hands held high above her head to indicate the ridiculously tall ones he was always to be found in.

“How could I forget?”

“Yes,” Mary agreed, after a moment of thought and another toss of a gnome that wandered too close. “I suppose underwhelming things do often pack a punch, all the more so because you’re not expecting them to. The Celestinas and Nostradamus’ have got a lot to live up to in syllables alone. You’re really got to strive to be above average, then. And even that might not be enough. What a troublesome burden.”

“Well, not hating it as good a compliment as any I suppose. I think it flows. Gideon Cadell Prewett,” she said slowly. “Yes, I think your parents were on to something there.”

Gideon followed suit and launch a gnome into the air---quite far, which he found immensely proud of. “Everyone loves an underdog,” he added with a grin. “I think the same goes for something unexpected.”

“Hear, hear.”

“Well if you’re still waiting for a personalized invitation, it’s not gonna happen.”

“I’ll figure it out eventually.” He hoped.

“You see, you don’t even know what the test looks like,” Lily declared, tone much the same as it was when she was younger and she’d try and egg Petunia into something. Petunia was a hard person to egg into anything, she recalled, and she wondered if Gideon was any easier. “Not that I don’t like a good written test, but being a ninja is a practical thing.”

“Nah,” Gideon fibbed. “Only just want to make sure the test is clear, you know?”

“I couldn’t tell you why,” she shrugged. “It certainly wouldn’t have been my first choice, but at least I wasn’t saddled with something like Anne. Nothing against the Anne’s of the world, of course, but Mary Anne… sounds a bit West America, and I haven’t got any interest in that at all. Not to mention it’s dull as anything. Mary’s plain enough already.”

“Have you and your brother got boring middle names then? You know, since your first ones are interesting enough. There’s a balance to be struck, I think.”

There were countless places for Gideon to jump on, namely the West America bit as he found himself curious about that in general, but he landed on, “Simple, yeah, but significant.” That hardly made sense, but the words escaped his lips before Gideon could self-edit.

“Shall we have a drink to talk it over?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

“I’m not fluent in Marlene. Not yet, I mean.”

“I don’t know. ‘Cause, like, I’ve only been hinting at it this entire conversation, and your not catching it kinda started to change my mind.”

“Shut it!”

“Never.”

‘It’s Enid,” she offered, and then lifted her wand to accio forth the Butterbeer she’d bought earlier that morning, just-in-case. It seemed the case had arrived quicker than expected, but she wasn’t upset about it in the least. A bottle in one hand and a gnome in the other, Mary winked and launched the creature as far as she could, taking a deep though premature swig in victory. His grimy little face appeared moments later at a crack in the fence and she poured a bit to the ground. “A bit more complicated than expected,” she said, “But certainly gives it a new charm, don’t you think?”

Gideon furrowed his brows, attempting to process her words while also paying attention to Mary’s commendable de-gnoming efforts. 

“Enid?” He hoped his tone didn’t come across as judgmental, but more so curious.