The Four of Us
Nr. Melrose
Roxburghshire, Scotland
August 1973
High above the rolling hills and green fields, all of them shrouded in the shadow of the night sky, sat a solitary figure soaring high off the ground upon a stationary broomstick.
She had nothing to fear, as no such Muggle would be out so late, not even the little farmers who tended to the land. The moonlight glistened behind her, a shadow of light around her still figure. Eyes not unlike the forests down below searched silently across the horizon as she waited due to her speedy haste.
It did not take long for three figures to appear, broomsticks glinting in the twilight as if each of them were a star and coming to join with her in making a small constellation of friendship. A wide smile shone upon her pale skin as the three got closer and closer to her, slowly but surely.
A blonde witch was the first to reach her, then a witch with dark brown hair and the third with light red hair, and each had a smile matching her own.
The witch with the dark brown hair was the first to speak, “Wow, Lily. You really should try out for the Quidditch team with speed like that on an old broomstick!” she smiled.
Lily chuckled, as the four witches floated alongside one another in a makeshift circle. “Marlene, aren’t you in Ravenclaw? It’d mean we’d be kicking your bum more than usual!” replied Lily, with a friendly wink.
The other two witches joined Marlene and Lily in the resulting giggle. “It’d give me a good workout for sure!” replied Marlene as she fished out a bottle of water and took a gulp before passing it around the circle of friends.
“It is good to have a really exciting game, I’ll admit that!” piped up the blond witch from where she sat upon a dark brown broomstick, her gloved hands holding tightly to it. The other witch with the light red hair nodded as she accepted the water bottle from Lily after she had taken a sip.
“It was a wicked game though, that final with Gryffindor against Hufflepuff!” said the witch who had not spoke yet, her light red hair delicately braided, and her cheeks flushed pink.
The other three girls nodded in agreement. “The party was even better, Mary!” replied Lily as she remembered the celebrations afterward. She had danced so much in those little red wedge shoes of hers and stayed away until midnight with the three girls who were now around her.
“I think I passed out after drinking that one shot glass of Firewhiskey that I nabbed from a drunk seventh year!” giggled Alice as she too remembered that night. Lily, Mary and Marlene also giggled, knowing how drunk that one drink had made their friend - luckily, Lily had the knowledge of how to make not only a Hangover Potion but a Pepper-up Potion too and the three other girls had been very grateful. Marlene had conked out in Mary’s bed with her, top to tail.
The four friends rambled on for a while longer, enjoying their reminiscences and the hope for the upcoming year at Hogwarts. They looked like miniature stars to anyone down below, shrouded with moonlight and starlight for all to see, yet unseen in the midnight hour of slumber and rest.
The quartet flew freely like fledgling shooting stars across the horizon and as the sun began to rise slowly yet surely, they raced off to Marlene’s family home, and into the easing darkness with determination and happiness.