Chapter Six

Marie moaned slightly as she ate the last bite of food. She had meant to talk to Jason as soon as she had gotten back to their rooms but Pipsy, Dumbledore’s elf had provided food so quickly that the smell of the steak and ale pie nearly drove her mad with hunger. The treacle tart with custard had been her undoing and she’d eaten the lot. Now, as she sat sipping hot, fresh black coffee, she felt slightly sick and very fat. Dumbledore had also provided changes of clothing for both herself and Jason and she sat deciding what to do first; talk to Jason or change out of her decidedly dirty clothes. Heaving herself off the sofa she decided a change of clothes would put her in a better frame of mind to talk to him. Dumbledore’s words had really struck home and she wasn’t looking forward to telling him what she needed to say.

She slipped the long, emerald green flowing dress on and marvelled at her reflection. It had a sewn in bustier that had magically tightened as soon it was in place, giving her the most marvellous cleavage she’d ever imagined she could have and long, flowing sleeves that attached to her hands by way of a single finger loop at the end of each sleeve. She turned this way and that, admiring her figure in the mirror. She grimaced as she caught sight of the birds nest that currently passed for her hair and wondered if there was spell to make it hang in ringlets without having to resort to three hours of intense hairdressing. Reaching up she caught the front strands and deftly plaited from left to right across the front of her hair, making a natural hair band to keep the rest of her hair off her face. She took one last look at her reflection, smiled to give herself courage and made her way out to Jason’s room.

She knocked but got no reply. She knocked again…and again.

‘Dammit’ she thought

“Jason, come on, I know you’re in there.” she called out, her hand hovering over the wood.

Nothing.

“Fine! Ignore me then but I’m going to talk to you anyway and you know how stubborn I am. I’ll stay out here all day if I have to!” she yelled, hammering on the door.

Nothing.

“Jason, I’m sorry, You’re my best friend and I’ve been a horrible person.” Her voice grew quieter and she slid down until she was sitting on the stone floor.

“I put my own interests before yours when I shouldn’t have. When you came to me for advice, instead of pushing you back to her to talk I took you in and let you stay. Instead of telling you to go back home and communicate with her and make it work I sat back and did nothing. I acted for me and not you and it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t what a friend should do.” Her voice was just above a whisper and Jason had to strain to hear what she was saying from his hiding place in the doorway. He’d been for a walk and had just returned to hear Marie’s confession.

“I love you Jason, I always have and probably always will. I wanted you with me even if it wasn’t right for you. I guess I‘ve always felt guilty for being selfish where you‘re concerned ad that‘s probably why I haven‘t ever made a move on you, even though you burn in my soul every time I look at you.”

He watched, unobserved, as a single tear dripped down Marie’s face. He wasn’t sure what to feel. Anger at her revelations or love for her courage in admitting them.

Marie shifted on the floor, feeling a sense of relief as she finally admitted her true feelings, even if she was talking to a shut door.

“I should have pushed you back to her. If I had you’d be there now, with her and your kids, you wouldn’t be involved in this mess with me. I’m just so sorry and I understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore.” She sniffed as she finished.

“I’ll always be your friend Marie.” Jason spoke, stepping out from his hiding place.

Marie gave a start and turned to look at him. He had such a look of compassion and friendship on his face she just wanted to run and hide from him.

“How?” she asked in a small voice, as he came nearer to her.

“Oh Marie, you had nothing to do with the troubles my relationship was in and whether you pushed me back there or not, it was going to end, it was just a case of when,” he sighed and stepped up to her, reaching out to hold her upper arms with his hands. “That being said, thank you for your honesty, but don’t you think I knew what you were feeling? You have a very expressive face and can’t hide anything. That’s why I always beat you at poker.” he laughed.

He released his grip on her and turned to walk towards the sofa. “It’s also one of the things I love about you.” He motioned for her to come closer to him.

“Come here, sit down.”

Marie did as she was bid and sat down next to him on the comfy sofa.

“I’m sorry too,” he began, placing an arm around her shoulder. “ I should’ve explained what I meant by mistake.” he pulled away in order to be able to look into her expressive grey eyes.

“I thought, and still do, that it would be a mistake to get emotionally ‘involved’ here. I mean, we have no clue what’s going to happen, what mission Dumbledore needs you for and whether we’re going to get home. I don’t think it would be a good thing right now as we both need to keep our wits about us, and besides I’d be constantly thinking about dragging you off somewhere to fuck the life out of you.” he said, jokingly.

Marie smiled timorously up at him, glad they’d managed to patch things together.

Jason suddenly looked at her, twisting his head to the side slightly.

“You’ve changed clothes. You look wonderful.” he said, carefully keeping his eyes away from her breasts which was quite hard to do as they were being pushed up in front of him.

“Oh you’ve got new clothes as well, Dumbledore supplied them. Pipsy’s put them in your wardrobe I expect. That’s where mine were, in my wardrobe I mean, not yours Ok babbling now.” she said, quite nervous all of a sudden, conscious that their relationship had changed but not quite sure what it had changed into.

Her lower belly began to ache for him slightly as he stood up and peeled off his dirty tee shirt before making his way to his room. Enough now. They had a mission to fulfil and she wasn’t going to be any use if she was constantly lusting after him, especially as she wasn’t sure it was fully reciprocated. She shook her head slightly as she thought of how perceptive Albus Dumbledore was. She sat back to wait for Jason, wondering what Dumbledore’s mission was going to entail.