#fareva

The Three Broomsticks were crowded to the point of bursting on this New Year’s Eve, there was no other way to put it.

Farid Sikander sighed wistfully, and looked around the main room of the pub. People were standing shoulder to shoulder all the way through, and the crowd was so thick he couldn’t see the door leading to the snowy streets of Hogsmeade on the other side of the room anymore.

The sheer amount of people made Farid uncomfortable and he wished for the free and open space of the Hogwarts Grounds, but it wasn’t like he could just leave.

Back when he had lived with his family in Waterford, Ireland, it had been their tradition to go to a big party outside in the streets of his neighbourhood for New Year’s Eve. There had been food, there had been music, and there had been dance; but most of all, there had been his parents and his brother and sister.

Farid had been missing his family badly lately, even worse than usual, so his uncle Arif had jumped on the opportunity to organise a party in the exact same style Farid knew from his childhood. Farid was grateful for it and trying to have fun, he really did, but he couldn’t help but feel alone in the middle of the crowd.

His uncle had gone and met some colleagues who had stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays, and Farid didn’t see anyone he felt the urge to talk to. Everyone except for him had glasses of butterbeer or champagne in their hands and seemed at least a little drunk already, making Farid wanting to join them even less.

He sighed and sipped on his cup of spicy hot chocolate - it was a family recipe and a favourite of his; the hot drink with sprigs of cardamom, cinnamon and cloves was reminding him more of home than this party ever could.

Farid let his eyes wander over the cheerful crowd, when a group of laughing people around the same age as himself drew his attention. He froze and set his cup down on the table next to him when he saw who was standing in the centre of it; he’d known the wild shock of dark curls anywhere.

Reva Amari must have said something funny or clever, because the group surrounding her burst into laughter, while her lips were drawn into a mischievous smirk that made Farid’s heart beat that tiny little bit faster, as it always did when Reva was around.

Without wanting to, Farid looked her up and down, and then quickly looked away again when he found he was staring; she was wearing a tight, black dress that hugged her curves way too well to make him feel comfortable with the sight.

From beneath her mane of dark hair big, silver earrings were flashing, matching the bangles on her wrists. The unusually feminine look was broken by the black and worn boots Reva had chosen in favour of heels - anyone who knew Reva knew she only wore heels if it couldn’t absolutely be helped, and even then it was highly unlikely she’d wear them for the whole duration of the evening.

Next to her, in a very pretty red dress that made her eyes sparkle, stood Robin Willows, one of Reva’s best friends from school. Robin was younger than Farid, but he still knew her from sight; she was the daughter of the resident Charms professor David Willows, which Farid knew through his uncle, who was just now coming up next to him.

“Look,” he said to Farid with a friendly smile, “there’s Reva and Robin over there. You’re friends with Reva, aren’t you? Or at least with her brother Dylan. Why don’t you go over for a bit?”

Farid shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“I don’t know, Uncle,” he mumbled. “There’s quite a lot of people, and… uhm, I don’t know Reva that well, you know, I’m more friends with Dylan, as you already said. I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

“Of course you would,” his uncle said and clapped him on his back, “there’s no use for a party if you only stand in the corner by yourself. Sometimes, Farid, you have to just go and live for a bit,” he added and laid a hand on Farid’s shoulder; Farid didn’t quite know how to act at this almost fatherly display of affection.

“If you think so, Uncle,” he muttered, picked up his cup and made his way over to Reva and Robin.

Weaving through the crowd without touching any girl or woman he passed proved to be trickier than Farid had thought, and he was relieved when he’d finally reached the other side of the room.

As soon as Reva saw him, a brilliant smile lit up her features and she tugged her friend Robin by the sleeve of her dress.

“Farid!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “I’d hoped you’d be here, but I didn’t see you. Where have you been?”

She made a step towards him as if to hug him, but caught herself after a moment. Instead, her eyes flickered to the ground for a second and she took a sip out of her champagne glass.

“Uhm, yes, my… er… my uncle kind of helped organise this… party, I guess. It’s a bit too, well, crowded for me,” Farid managed to string his words together, cursing himself for the sudden flare of nerves he was always having whenever Reva was looking at him with her dark eyes sparkling with mischief.

He took a deep breath and tried again.

“What are you doing here?” he managed to ask a lot more fluently.

Reva pulled Robin closer and pressed her cheek against Robin’s; both girls giggled.

“I’m starting the new year off with one of my best friends in the world,” Reva laughed, and took another sip of her drink. Judging by the flush on her cheeks, it probably wasn’t her first one either.

Farid tried not to look at her glass disapprovingly, and instead concentrated on her again.

“I thought Dylan said you and your family wanted to celebrate together in Montrose?”

A shadow passed over Reva’s face.

“Well, my plans have changed,” she said curtly, and before Farid could ask what was wrong or apologise for upsetting her, she had already turned from him.

Farid was unsure of what to do, but before he could make up his mind, Madam Rosmerta called out from behind the bar.

“Alright everyone, this is it! Ten, nine…”

The whole crowd started counting down the last seconds of the old year together; when the clocks chimed midnight, the room erupted in confetti, cheers, hugs, and well-wishes.

Farid discreetly kept to the side of the wall; his faith didn’t allow him to touch any woman outside his own family, and he didn’t want to ruin the mood of anyone by rejecting a hug.

Not wanting to be in the way of any celebration, Farid used a moment when Reva and Robin were distracted by Robin’s father to retreat back to his peaceful corner of the room where he had come from; luckily, his uncle was nowhere to be seen to tell him to go back.

He watched on the sidelines as the party went on, sipping on his hot chocolate and being half glad and half sad to not be part of all of it.

His musings were forgotten, however, when he saw Reva break away from her group in a quiet moment. The look on her face was nothing like the happy, exuberant one Farid knew from her, and his brow furrowed when she slipped out of the door into the icy January night.

Not even thinking about what he was doing, Farid left his corner and followed her outside.

He found Reva sitting on a bench on the side of The Three Broomsticks. She had her arms spread along the length of the backrest, and her head dipped into her neck; the fireworks were long over, but she was watching the night sky regardless, as if the stars held all the answers she was looking for.

She jumped when Farid cleared his throat, and he instantly felt sorry for it.

“Oh, uhm, sorry, I shouldn’t have… I…, “Farid took a deep breath and tried again. “I’m sorry I startled you, I didn’t mean to. Are you okay?”

“It’s alright,” Reva said quietly, her eyes trained on the sky again. “I just needed some fresh air, don’t worry.”

Farid wasn’t sure if it was the flickering light coming from the windows in their back, or if Reva was looking genuinely sad. It was only now that he realised Reva was sitting on the ice cold wood with her bare legs and without so much as a jacket on.

“What are you even doing?” he gasped and immediately shrugged out of his own patchwork jacket.

He held it out to her, and Reva considered him for a long moment, which made Farid feel antsy, before she gave him a small smile and reached for it. She’d meant to take it by its collar, where Farid was holding it, and when her hand almost touched his, Farid recoiled instinctively.

The trace of softness which had been showing on Reva’s face vanished again and she dropped her hand. She let herself fall back into her seat again and flung her arms around her torso.

“Am I that revolting?” she laughed bitterly, and the sound was like a punch in the gut for Farid; it didn’t sound like Reva at all.

“Just look at you guys,” she said, “never able to make up your mind. The one can’t get enough of me, and the other won’t even touch me,” she scoffed, not looking at Farid but at the tips of her boots.

She raised her glass to her lips and took a huge sip of her champagne she’d brought outside with her; Farid could tell by the way Reva was drawing out her words that she was quite drunk at this point already.

“You’re not revolting at all… what are you even talking about?” Farid said.

He approached her very slowly and spoke in a calm tone as he sat down next to her, like he would with a scared animal.

“See, that I’m not touching you, that has nothing to do with you as a person,” he explained, and she looked at him doubtfully.

“Doesn’t really sound like it, though.”

“Well… you see, it’s one of the rules of my faith,” Farid said with a helpless shrug. “I’m not allowed to touch any woman outside of my family.”

“Is that why you’re always acting so strange? Around Saffron, and Dana, and me?” Reva said with a slight tilt of her head.

Her hair was falling into her face and Farid had the strong urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear again; he gripped the mug he was still carrying tighter instead.

“It is,” Farid said apologetically. “We have many rules.”

Reva hummed thoughtfully and turned to Farid. The sad look on her face was gone, and the sparkle in her eyes had returned.

“Have you never thought of breaking the rules?” she asked curiously.

“Which one?”

Reva shrugged and the corners of her mouth twitched. “Any.”

Farid felt the heat rise to his face and he rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

“Well, uhm, you probably wouldn’t consider that rule breaking I guess… I mean, your track record is impressive after all… although of course I don’t mean…”

Reva was just watching him with an amused expression and raised one eyebrow at him.

Get a grip, Farid thought to himself; this was ridiculous.

“My older brother and I once snuck out after curfew to watch a film we were too young for,” Farid said meekly. “It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s the best I can come up with.”

Reva’s laugh was loud and clear as it rang through the cold night air, and it made Farid feel warm on the inside.

“That’s adorable,” she chuckled, “You’re one of the good ones, aren’t you? The really good ones, I mean, the ones you don’t really find anymore these days.”

And just like that, Reva’s beautiful smile faltered and flickered out; the sadness from before had resurfaced again and was clouding her features.

“I bet you’d never tell a girl you loved her if you didn’t mean it,” she said so softly Farid wasn’t sure she was actually speaking to him at all. “Girls do a lot of stupid things when you tell them that you love them.”

Farid’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean? Who did that to you?” he said and his voice was hoarse.

But Reva shook her head, already regretting bringing the topic up.

“No one, forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s alright.”

She brought her hand to her face and Farid realised with a jolt that silent tears were running down her cheeks; suddenly he felt red hot anger bubbling underneath his skin at whoever had dared treat her like that.

“No it’s not alright,” he said vehemently, ”it’s not alright at all! No one should take advantage of you in such a way and -“

“Farid, that’s enough,“ Reva said with a warning tone.

“You shouldn’t need to experience something like this, no one should, and it’s despicable that he -”

“I said, it’s enough,” Reva said so sharply Farid instantly stopped talking.

All the anger he’d felt subsided as he saw her glaring at him.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have, really… It’s obviously not my place to say things like this, and you respect my boundaries, so I should have respected yours and…”

Reva sighed deeply and brushed her hair out of her face, letting her hand rest on the top of her head for a moment.

“No, it’s alright. You meant well, it’s just…” she sighed again, “I really don’t want to talk about this, or him, or anything like that tonight. That’s not a good way to start the year, sorry for bringing it up in the first place.”

She raised her glass again, not to her lips but towards Farid, and looked at him expectantly.

“What do you say? Let’s drink on peace and a new year?”

Farid was relieved to see she wasn’t actually angry at him and clinked his mug against her dainty glass; Reva looked at it curiously.

“What is that?”

“I don’t drink alcohol,” Farid explained.

“The rules?”

“The rules,” he said with a slight smirk. “This is a special kind of hot chocolate we used to drink at home.”

“What makes it so special?”

“There’s a whole lot of spices in it. Not everyone’s cup of tea… or chocolate, I guess… but I like it. It reminds me of my family.”

Reva tilted her head and looked intrigued.

“May I try it?”

Farid looked down at the brown liquid inside his cup. “I’m afraid it’s pretty cold now. It doesn’t taste as good when it’s cold.”

“I can help you with that,” Reva smiled, produced her wand seemingly out of nowhere and tapped it against the rim of the mug with a quiet clink. Immediately after, warm and fragrant steam was rising into Farid’s nose; magic would never fail to amaze him.

“How about now?” she asked innocently.

Not seeing a reason to refuse her, Farid held the cup out to her. When Reva took it from him, their fingers were almost touching, not even an inch from each other. Farid realised he would only need to loosen his grip on the cup a little, the tiniest bit, and the tips of his fingers would be brushing against hers.

The thought made his heart flutter and he was so tempted to do it, just not play by the rules like Reva always did this one time.

But the moment passed and the warm porcelain of the cup left his hands; Farid was half glad and half disappointed by it.

Reva laid both her hands around the mug, clearly relishing the warmth against her cold skin. Farid was oddly excited when she brought it to her lips and took a small sip of his favourite drink.

“What do you think?”

“I like it,” Reva smiled, “it’s unusual, but in a good way. I like the cinnamon, it makes it feel so warm. We don’t use much cinnamon at home, my mum is allergic to it.”

“Shame she has to miss out on it,” Farid said and meant it; cinnamon was one of his favourite tastes in the world. “Do you want me to make you your own cup?”

“I’d like that,” Reva said and handed him his mug back before standing up, “but not tonight. This is not a night for hot chocolate, not even when it’s spicy.”

She walked past him into the direction of the door that would lead her back inside The Three Broomsticks. Just before she could round the corner, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at Farid.

“You really are one of the good ones, Farid Sikander,” she said quietly, “don’t you ever forget that.”

And with that she dipped back into the light and the noise of the party going on inside.

Farid stayed where he was, and leaned back against the backrest of the bench, much like Reva had done before. His head was empty, but his chest was filled with a warm feeling that didn’t come from the magically heated cup inside his hands.

25. What moves do they know work on the other?

Lizzie knows exactly how much Orion loves to see her shaking her hair out and playing with it and she ruthlessly uses it to her advantage. Also, long and lingering kisses have never let her down so far.

When Orion started calling Lizzie (and back then, Skye too, actually) Chaser when they were on the Quidditch pitch, it was practical and part of his team philosophy. When it seeped out from Quidditch and became a nickname, it was funny. But let's just say, there's a reason the Captain/Chaser nicknames stuck around way longer than they were parts of the Hufflepuff House team.

26. What are their favorite parts about physical affection/sex?

Ava thinks about things, all day everyday, and sex is a way for her to effectively make her mind shut up and focus entirely on her body. It's one of her favourite ways to just be in the moment and not to worry too much.

The Great Hall was packed, there was no better way to put it. Even though it was designed to fit all of the students and staff attending Hogwarts into it, it seemed a lot fuller than on a regular day.

But it wasn’t any regular day; it was the last week of October and Halloween was practically on their doorstep.

On the last weekend before the Halloween feast itself, the seventh year students traditionally hosted a big costume party for the rest of the school. The rest of their year would be filled with frantic studying for their N.E.W.T.s, and so the enthusiasm to make their last ball for some time worthwhile was high year after year.

The celebratory spirit was rubbing off on the younger students as well, and so the Great Hall wasn’t filled with young witches and wizards dressed in plain black school robes, but fairies, zombies, and an increasing number of Muggle pop culture references most students, and none of the teachers could understand.

This year, the ball committee had outdone itself with the decorations; there were man-sized pumpkins everywhere, the spooky glow coming from behind their carved visages the only source of light in the room; gigantic spiderwebs covered every nook and corner, and magically conjured mist was hovering just above the ground, giving off the impression they were outside in a spooky field rather than within the walls of the Great Hall.

There even were coffins filled to the brim with all kinds of sweets imaginable, a feature particularly the younger students seemed to enjoy immensely.

Reva loved every second of it.

Halloween had always been her favourite holiday by a long shot, and she usually was excited for days prior to the feast. This year, however, her pre-holiday excitement had been spoiled by the bombshell of information that Reva’s older brother Dylan and her childhood friend Danielle Parkin had started dating.

Reva hadn’t believed her ears when she had heard the news, incredibly hurt by the fact that they were messing with all of their friendships alone, but maybe even more so by having to find out via the Hogwarts rumour mill.

She had refused to talk to either of them, wandering the school grounds to be alone with herself and her bad mood, until she had found a shoulder to cry on in Dylan’s best friend Farid Sikander.

He had managed to cheer her up and see things in a new light, but even so, the sight of Dylan and Danielle sitting at one of the tables on the other side of the room kissing made her want to gag.

They were dressed as a couple from some Muggle book series or another, something about dragons, and wars, and thrones; Zadie had explained it to her, but Reva couldn’t remember. Whatever it was, both of them were ridiculous, one way or another.

“Stop staring at them,” Zadie said wryly while sipping on her pumpkin juice. The feathers on her ballet costume seemed to change from black to white whenever she moved. “If looks could kill, they’d burst into flames.”

“Wasn’t that what’s happening to her character?” Reva muttered under her breath.

Dana had even brought her pet turtle Darwin as one of her ‘dragons’; it sat on the table next to her and was munching on some lettuce, but Dana hadn’t bothered giving Darwin a costume of his own - her lack of effort was pathetic.

Reva looked away in annoyance when her brother said something into Dana’s ear that made her giggle, her eyes sweeping the colourful assortment of costumes in the Great Hall aimlessly.

When they fell on a tall, familiar looking figure that looked decidedly uncomfortable in the thick of the crowd, Reva’s mouth curved into a big smile, her bad mood all but forgotten.

“Wait a second,” she said to Zadie, who raised her black-and-white eyebrows questioningly, “I’ll be right back.”

She bounded through the Great Hall until she had reached the nervous looking boy keeping mostly to himself at the far end of the vast room.

Farid looked relieved when he saw her familiar face approaching; this seemed to change abruptly as he took in the costume Reva was wearing, and the colour of his face darkened so strongly that it was even visible in the low light of the jack-o-lanterns.

“Farid,” Reva smiled broadly when she’d reached him. “I’m surprised to see you here! I thought you didn’t celebrate Halloween.”

“I don’t,” Farid stammered, his eyes everywhere but on Reva. “I just…Saffron told me about this party, and I couldn’t help but wonder how you celebrate Halloween when you already are witches or wizards for real.”

The smirk on Reva’s face seemed to unsettle Farid even more because he cast his eyes to the ground, his black hair falling into his face. “I mean, my brother Malik used to go hardcore with his friends’ costumes every year, but real magic probably goes a long way, huh?”

He glanced after a boy walking past them with a cape that seemed to be set on fire, conjured flames trailing in his wake.

“Anyway, I heard that you were going, and that Dylan and Saffron wanted to come, too, so they helped me put a costume together, and well…”

Reva dipped her head back laughing. “I thought I knew that shirt! Trust me, it looks a lot better on you than on Dylan. Most things do actually,” she added teasingly. Her eyes fell on the pointed ears poking out from beneath Farid’s black hair. “Nice ears, by the way.”

“Th-thanks!” Farid muttered, his hand rubbing his neck. “I did my best. Though I reckon Malik would have gotten a better result out of them, he’s really great with this stuff.”

For the first time, he looked at Reva properly, even if it was only for a second. “You, uhm, look really nice, too.”

Reva chuckled and looked down at herself. She was dressed in light turquoise harem pants and a matching cami top, that showed off her toned stomach, the last traces of her tan from the summer bronzing her skin. Her unruly dark curls were bound to a low ponytail, and her big earrings kept tangling in them every now and again.

“You don’t have to be polite,” she said with a grin and raised an eyebrow at Farid, “I’m sure that’s a little more revealing than what you’re used to.”

“Yeah, well, but it's still pretty,” Farid stammered. “And you look pretty… I mean… great, uhm. Pretty great. You look pretty great in it. Pretty cool.”

“Nice save,” Reva sniggered. “It’s my version of Jasmine from Aladdin. It’s a Muggle film for children I saw at my grandparents’, you might know it?”

Glad she didn’t tease him on his blunder any further, Farid nodded. “I do. She is a great character. She owns a tiger, if I remember correctly.”

“She does,” Reva sighed dreamily. “Mine’s over there.”

She motioned over to where Zadie was still standing. Next to her, Reva’s cat Tony was busy playing ball with one of the smaller pumpkins. He came up to Zadie’s waist and almost swished the plates off the table next to him with his tail when he turned.

“Uhm, why is your cat so big, if I might ask?”

“Well, a normal sized cat makes for a lousy tiger, silly.”

“Sure,” Farid said, “but doesn’t a tiger usually have stripes?”

Reva looked at Tony’s cream coloured fur wistfully. “They do.”

“Why didn’t you give him any? Is there no spell for that?”

“There is.”

“But?”

“Tony didn’t like being enlarged so much. I didn’t fancy getting close a second time so he could hit me with a giant paw.”

“I see,” Farid smiled. He looked at the gigantic cat with a warm smile. “Maybe I can help next time. I seem to have a calming effect on animals.”

“You’d like to spend some time with Tony and me?” Reva asked innocently.

Farid, who had seemed more self-assured than the whole evening while talking about Reva’s cat, promptly started stuttering again. “Uhm, that’s not… that’s not what I… I mean, yes… no, don’t get me wrong… but…”

He took a deep breath, collecting himself. “You don’t happen to know where Dylan is?” he asked miserably.

A flash of the annoyance from before crossed Reva’s face. “I’m afraid my brother is busy tonight.” She jerked her head into the direction of Dylan and Dana, who could be alone for all that they were noticing of the party going on around them.

“You can come and spend some time with Zadie and me, though,” she smiled openly at Farid when she saw the uncertainness on his face. “And Tony, of course. Maybe dance a little?”

She reached out to take Farid’s hand and drag him along to meet her friend, but before she could touch him, Farid pulled his hand back so quickly as if he had burned himself.

“Sorry, it’s just… I… uhm, I’d rather not. Come with you, that is. Not that I don’t want to… I need to… go and find Saffron. Yes, that’s what I need to do. She must be wondering where I am by now.”

With that, Farid turned on his heel and marched away, leaving Reva standing looking baffled.

She was still pondering Farid’s strange behaviour when she returned to Zadie.

“Now that went well,” Zadie said sardonically, “I’ve never seen someone run from a scene as quickly.”

“You saw that?” Reva asked meekly.

“Naturally,” Zadie grinned.

“Figures,” Reva sighed. “I don’t know what went into him. He was perfectly comfortable when we talked the other day. As comfortable as Farid goes,” she added with a tiny shrug.

“He must have been intimidated by your fierce companion,” Zadie laughed as Tony bumped his head into her side affectionately, sending her staggering into Reva.

“Stop sulking at being rejected now,” she laughed and put an arm around her friend. “Maybe he’s just not interested in hanging with his best friend’s little sister. But I know a guy from my house who won’t stop looking at you tonight. Some things aren’t meant to be, no use in dwelling on them.”

She took Reva’s hand and pulled along to introduce her to her friend. Through a gap in the crowd, Reva could see Farid standing next to Dylan and Dana, looking decidedly more relaxed than when he had been with her.

Maybe Zadie was right, Reva thought, and Farid just wasn’t as intrigued by her as she was by him.

The unmistakable sound of wheels on the cobblestones omnipresent in Hogsmeade broke her out of her thoughts. A moment later, the small figure of Reva Amari rounded the corner of the building. As usual, her feet were glued to her skateboard rattling over the ancient streets. A black rucksack was casually slung over one of her shoulders, a carefree smile on her face.

Her expression lit up as she saw Zadie waiting for her; with a practised movement, she stepped off her board while it was still rolling, giving the front end a slight kick so she could catch it with the hand not holding her bag in place. Without missing a beat she continued walking, beaming at her friend as she came up next to her.

“Isn’t it gorgeous?” Reva said with a dreamy expression on her face.

Zadie, however, was at a loss. “Excuse me?”

“Just look,” Reva said, forming a square with the thumbs and index fingers of her hands and pointing the frame at the wall behind her friend, “a perfectly blank canvas.”

She set her bag down onto the ground, the unmistakable clinking of spray cans coming from the depths of it as the dark-haired Gryffindor started rummaging around in it. Zadie raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

“All this secrecy because you wanted to paint?” she exclaimed in exasperation. “Why didn’t you say so? Why make me sneak out of the castle and then be late?” she added with a little annoyance.

“I know, sorry. Sneaking out alone is much less fun,” Reva shrugged, glancing apologetically at her friend. “But I had to source some things first.”

With that, she straightened up and tossed something to Zadie. Her reflexes, sharpened by all the time spent on the Quidditch pitch with the other Ravenclaws, kicking in, Zadie caught the bundle out of the air. Her slightly annoyed expression turned into astonishment as she examined the two objects in her hands: a face mask and a spray can with golden paint.

“You want me to help? You let no one help with your pictures.”

“This time it’s different,” Reva explained, her arms already full with spray cans she carried over to the wall, setting them down on the ground sorted after colour. “I don’t have much time and it’s a little ambitious. I need help with prepping the background”

Intrigued, Zadie took a look through the colours Reva had brought; they were all warm colours, lots of reds, oranges, yellows, browns and of course the golden one she was still carrying. “What did you have in mind?”

“Wait and see.”

With that, Reva pulled her own mask over her mouth and nose, shook the can with white colour in her hand and got to work.

***

Reva wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been working when she stepped back from the wall with a scrutinising look. She pulled her mask down and wiped the sweat off her brow with the sleeve of her jumper, accidentally smearing a bit of red paint over her cheek.

The picture was coming along nicely; thanks to Zadie’s help she had been a lot quicker than expected. The rough work was done, now it was only the details that were missing. She chuckled to herself; ‘only’ the details. She was lucky if she would finish in time.

With an exhausted sigh, Zadie dropped her empty can into Reva’s bag and shook her hand out; like Reva, her fingers were stained with colour. She joined her friend on the other side of the small alleyway and looked at their last few hours’ work.

“Wow,” she whistled through her teeth, “it’s already looking amazing, Rev.” She tilted her head slightly, taking in the rough outlines. Several people were visible on the white background she had helped create, the top of the picture spanned by two gigantic red flames.

No, Zadie realised, these weren’t flames; they were wings.

Her eyes dropped to the figure making up the centre of the picture. Reva had already started on the detail work with this one. Zadie could make out strands of longish black hair, soft, brown eyes that were full of expression already, even though Reva wasn’t finished yet, and the unmistakable colourful poncho Zadie knew only one person would wear.

A smirk stole onto her face. “Now I see what this is all about. This is supposed to be Farid, am I right?”

“So what?” Reva said overly lightly, quickly glancing away from Zadie when she saw her best friend grinning. Zadie could have sworn to see a faint blush rise on her otherwise so chilled out friend. “I felt inspired.”

“Sure you did.”

“And he helped me with my Care of Magical Creatures assignment.”

“Your brother could have done that.”

“But I didn’t ask my brother,” Reva said with a hint of annoyance.

“Of course not,” Zadie chuckled and then laughed as she saw Reva’s guilty expression.

“And besides,” Reva tried saving her face, “it’s Farid’s birthday today and he’s my friend. Dylan’s friend, mainly, of course,” she added hastily.

“I’m your best friend,” Zadie said, “where was my giant picture on the wall for my birthday? I didn’t see one.”

“I visited you and we had an impromptu dance party and movie night,” Reva reminded her, now laughing herself, “don’t get greedy.”

“Ah, fun times,” Zadie grinned, “anyway, I’ll leave you to your birthday present now. Drama club starts in a bit and I have to sneak back in. Say hi to Farid from me,” she said over her shoulder while walking out of the alley.

But Reva wasn’t even listening anymore; she was staring at the painted wall ahead of her with a contemplative look on her face, the next spray can already in her hand, trying to work out where to put her focus next. Having come to a decision, she gave the can in her hand a good shake and stepped towards the wall again.

Time to get this done.

***

The light had started to turn golden by the time Reva was done working. She still had time before anyone back at school would start missing her, but still, she was nervous. She sat on the back of a bench, her feet resting on the seat as she waited.

After the last classes of the day were done, Farid usually helped Hagrid care for all the creatures that had been studied that day before making his way back to Hogsmeade, where he lived with his uncle Arif. Reva knew the professor for Muggle studies wouldn’t be with Farid today; the teachers were preparing their upcoming exams and were working after hours quite a lot recently.

She tapped her stained fingers against the rough grip tape of her skateboard that was leaning against the back of the bench next to her. Farid was usually always on time, what was taking him so long?

The longer she waited, the more impatient she grew. She wanted him to see the picture before it got too dark in the alleyway to see what was special about it. Minutes felt like hours passing by as Reva waited and waited and waited.

After what must have been an eternity, she heard a faint cry above her head. As she looked up, she could just see a flash of crimson feathers disappearing out of sight. A smile stole onto her face; if Fawkes was here, Farid couldn’t be far.

And sure enough, a few very long minutes later, she could spot the colourful poncho Farid loved to wear appearing at the end of the road. Reva chuckled to herself; the way Farid liked to dress was so inherently him, she couldn’t even imagine him in casual Muggle clothes like she and her friends usually wore. He was so intent on immersing himself in the Wizarding World, that he looked more like a proper wizard than all of them combined.

His face was turned upwards, no doubt admiring the pattern the clouds were painting on the slowly darkening sky. He was so enthralled in his musings, that he jumped when Reva hopped down from her perch and bounded over to him.

“There you are,” she said, her smile widening as his expression turned from surprise to joy when he saw who had been calling out to him.

“Reva,” he exclaimed, “I didn’t expect to see you here.” A flicker of worry stole onto his face. “Shouldn’t you be up at the castle? What are you doing here?”

“I should be many places and should do many things,” Reva quipped, not in the slightest bothered by her unsolicited visit to Hogsmeade, “but some things are more important than others. Come on, I need to show you something.”

With that, she grabbed her board and rucksack from the bench and started walking back towards the entryway of the alley. When she turned her head and saw Farid hesitating, she came back and took hold of his poncho, pulling him along behind her. “Come now, before the light’s all gone.”

Farid muttered something indiscernible, blushing a deep scarlet; he still wasn’t used to Reva’s exuberant ways.

When they had reached the alley, Reva stopped and turned to him.

“Do you trust me?” she said with a gleam in her dark eyes.

“I... uhm... what do you…,” he mumbled, clearly taken aback by her question. “Of course I do,” he said eventually. “Why?”

“Okay, I need you to do something for me,” Reva said, positively vibrating with anticipation. “Close your eyes and follow my voice, okay? I’ll make sure you don’t run into anything.”

With another flush and an uncertain look, Farid closed his eyes after a moment of hesitation. Reva walked backwards into the sidestreet, coaxing him along; she had her hands slightly outstretched towards him, lest he would fall, but they managed to reach the end of it without any incidents.

She told him where to stand so he would be directly in front of the picture. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage as she spoke. “Open your eyes on the count of three. One, two, three.”

Farid opened his eyes, needing a moment to orientate himself. When his eyes fell on the mural in front of him, his jaw dropped. Reva smiled from ear to ear as she saw his eyes dance over the picture she had painted for him.

It was a portrait of Farid himself that made up the centre of the picture. He was surrounded by a group of people, all sharing the same dark hair and eyes as him, and had the same warm smile she had so often seen on Farid’s face. It hadn’t been easy getting the faces of his parents, his brother and his sister right when she only knew them from Farid’s stories and the pictures he had shown her, but judging by the speechless boy next to her, she couldn’t have been too far off.

He wasn’t able to tear his eyes off his painted family hugging him. “Reva, this… that… this is…”

“Wait until you see that,” Reva laughed. She took her wand out and stepped closer to the wall. She tapped against the bricks three times and muttered the incantation Danielle had taught her, praying it would work on the first try.

When she saw the golden paint threading through the picture light up, she laughed lightly, half from relief and half from being astonished at the effect itself. The lines of golden colours she had worked through Farid’s poncho, his mother’s dress, his sister’s jewellery and - most of all - the phoenix spanning the family with its wings above their heads lit up, gleaming like molten fire in the dwindling light of the setting sun.

This was the reason she had been so late to come here in the first place. Resourcing this enchanted paint had taken ages and she’d had to call in a lot of favours to get it, but the look on Farid’s face was worth the trouble.

He looked at the picture for a long moment with a strange expression on his face, before taking a deep breath and finally turning to her. “Reva, I… Really, I don’t know what to say. This is so beautiful. Thank you, a thousand times thank you.”

He glanced back at the picture with a longing that tugged at Reva’s heartstrings. She felt a sudden uncertainty rise in her chest; all of a sudden she feared she might have misjudged the effect the picture would have on Farid. She had wanted to make him smile, not remind him what he was missing.

“I thought, if they can’t be with you for real, maybe you could feel a little closer to them that way,” she explained quietly. “I’m sorry if it upsets you.”

“No!” Farid said immediately, “No… Please, don’t think that. I am deeply touched by this gesture, I just… wasn’t expecting this.”

“Well, it’s your birthday, silly.”

Farid blinked at her in surprise. “How do you know?”

“Dylan. I bugged him until he told me,” she said with the hint of a grin. It vanished, however, when she continued, more quietly than before. “After all, no one should be alone on their birthday.”

Farid stepped closer to the wall, Reva following him. He gently placed his hand on the bricks, his long fingers trailing over the painted faces of his loved ones. “I miss them dearly, especially today,” he said in a melancholy tone, “but I’m not alone. Not with friends like you and your brother.” He glanced at her for a moment with a smile before turning his attention back on the picture again.

Standing next to him and watching him take in every detail of her work with such a soft expression in his beautiful eyes, Reva wanted to hug him so badly it hurt. Before she knew what she was doing she extended her hand to touch his arm, catching herself at the last moment. She knew physical contact was against what he believed in, even if it was only to show him she was here and that she was his friend, giving him all the comfort and reassurance he needed.

Hoping he hadn’t noticed it, she took a step from him, picking up her bag from the ground.

“It’s very nice of the owners of this shop to let you paint something so beautiful on their walls,” Farid said, still lost in observing his birthday gift.

Reva pursed her lips. “Yes, about that... Better not mention it to them just yet.”

His eyes turned to her again, the faintest hint of alarm visible in them. “You did have permission to do this, didn’t you?”

Avoiding his eyes, Reva made sure the bag was securely closed before slinging it over her shoulder.

“Reva?”

“Enjoy the painting for now,” she said lightly, before stepping onto her skateboard. “It might not be here for long.”

“You really shouldn’t have done that, it’s against the rules,” Farid scolded her ever so mildly. “They’ll wash it away and all your work will be gone.”

“Some things are even more beautiful because they’re fleeting, don’t you know that?” Reva said with a laugh and started pushing her board forward with her foot. She stepped onto it fully when she had picked up speed, waved at him and vanished around the corner.

Farid stared after her for a moment before his eyes returned to the picture she had painted for him.