We Should Live Our Lives The Way We Want

"None of this is fair."

"Nothing in life is ever fair. You should know that by now."

"I do know that. But it doesn't mean that I won 't wish things could be fair. I have a right to."

"Well yeah, but tell that to the Ministry. Speaking of which, how did you not get arrested for the marriage law thing?"

"I.. don't know actually. I'm guessing it's because they know it's their fault. I never got re-matched after Nick petitioned to be able to be with Sarah."

"Oh, that's weird. I wonder why you never got re-matched. How are they doing by the way?"

"Beats me, I don't think I'd want to know either. For both things."

Hitame held up two fingers to the girl next to her as they walked down the streets of Hogsmeade. The blond that walked next to her was a friend, a new one she had only met a few days before. She was a year younger than her and apparently was in the same House. How Hitame never noticed her, she didn't know. But she was a fun person and Hitame liked being around her, she always seemed to know what to do when she was feeling down. It was like she had Naomi with her, even though she knew it wasn't her sister.

"You know you're lucky you don't have to be a part of this thing." Hitame said softly, looking forward so she didn't bump into anyone as the two girls found their way through the crowd.

"I know. But I won't be able to escape from it for long. I'm turning sixteen in a few months. Four to be exact." She replied and Hitame sighed.

"I know, but still, at least you don't have to worry about it for a little while. You have until January to do whatever you want before you have to be tied down, if you end up having to be. We still don't know if the law will be repealed by the time your birthday comes." The older Gryffindor reassured her friend.

"I hope it does." The younger girl sighed and they continued walking until Hitame decided they needed a drink. The other girl was happy enough with the decision and they walked into the Three Broomsticks, hand-in-hand like best friends or sisters did. They sat at a table in their favorite area of the pub and a dark haired waiter quickly went to help them. Hitame remembered him, and he seemed to remember her because he stopped to talk to her after taking their orders.

"How've you been Hitame? I heard you quit your job here." The blond Gryffindor blinked and looked at her with widening eyes. "Yeah, I got an apprenticeship at the Ministry and a side-job at the cafe there as well. I miss it here, but I figured it'd be easier to have the jobs next to each other. Maybe next summer I'll come back here instead of the cafe." she shrugged and he smiled at her. "I hope you do, I missed seeing you. Anyways, I'll be right back with your orders." Hitame could feel the blush on her cheeks form as he walked away.

"Someone has a crush on youuu." Her friend teased and Hitame waved her off. "He does not Sabrina! We were just really close to each other here." she explained and Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "Right. You can tell he likes you Hit." she urged. "Stop, even if he does, I don't like him like that."

"Party pooper." Sabrina pouted and Hitame laughed as she looked out the window at the people that passed by.

School would start soon. Then all of Nick's free time would go from some to none. All of his time would be invested into planning classes, staff meetings, Head of House meetings, and of course his only daughter now; Emma. It was odd for Nick still, saying that Emma was his only daughter. But it was true. Cecilia had taken Mollie away from him, and when him and Sarah had parted ways for good, the twins were split up and Sarah had Emily. Did she think of Emma the way Nick thought of Emily? He'd never know.

But it wasn't a time to dwell on such things as heartbreaking as having a child ripped away from a parent. Today was a day to be worry free, to have fun in one of the few days before school started. So yes. Nick had found himself in candy shops, arcades, and doing things he enjoyed doing before he became a "grown up". And maybe Nick had truly become a "grown up". He no longer enjoyed or partook in frivolous activities such as games, quidditch, or even drinking butterbeer and joking with friends. Friends. That wasn't something Nick was sure he had any more. Sure there was Addie, but anyone he had during Hogwarts had cut off communication with him when he had children.

So now Nick had found himself in The Three Broomsticks. It was a calm relaxing place. The mood was relaxed and laid back. But when Nick had seen one Hitamé Higurashi, he couldn't help but to approach her. They should have been married according to the marriage law, but when Nick petitioned to be with Sarah, he left her alone and within trouble of the law. Slowly taking steps twords her, he noticed a girl was with her. Great, he could make himself look like an ass in front of another student that could spread things about him to the rest of the student body. Oh this would be a scandalous year for the Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor and Gryiffindor Head of House.

"Hey, uh Hitamé. Mind if I join you and your friend?" He said as calmly as he could. His voice came out shaky and quiet though, any composure that Nick possessed had just went out the window. He was nervous, and for just reason.

"He's cute though, why don't you give him a chance if he asks you out?" Sabrina had continued talking about the waiter, who she now knew was named Cassius. Hitame shrugged, "I don't know, I just don't like him like that. You know how I am." Sabrina nodded.

They'd only known each other for a few days and Sabrina already knew a lot about Hitame. She had somehow become her closest friend in half the time other people usually took to just become her friend. There was just something about Sabrina that Hitame trusted, and she was grateful for the girl being there. She was even more grateful when Nick appeared.

She heard his voice before she saw him and she definitely wasn't too pleased with him being there. She stiffened and her eyes narrowed at him, a natural reaction though it definitely showed her distain for him. The marriage law had nothing to do with why she disliked him. In fact, she had been happy when he'd petitioned, she hadn't wanted to be married. What she disliked was all the trouble he'd caused Sarah, as Sam had told her.

She hadn't spoken to Sam in a long time, though, so she didn't know what had happened between Sarah and Nick. Sabrina noticed Hitame's change when she'd seen the man that stood before them and she couldn't help but be apprehensive. "What are you doing here Nick?" Hitame asked defensively, she still had no idea Nick was working at the school. Sabrina said nothing but watched the other two, getting uncomfortable with the way he made Hitame react.

Well that had went well. Nick was expecting Hitame to say something along the lines of "get out of my face, I never want to see you ever again". Or maybe she wanted to. Maybe she wanted to cast curses and jinxes at him and yell bad things at him. Maybe she wanted to do worse, but the only thing stopping her was the fact that she was in a public place, or with a friend.

Nick had to explain why he was there, why he even decided to say anything to Hitame at all. But he didn't know where to start. "Well I was just running errands and stopped in here. Then I saw you, so I came over here. And maybe I came to apologize, talk thihgs over, start anew. Its been a while and a lot of things have changed." He explained the best he could. Nick could tell that Hitame was full of disdain, her friend on the other hand probably didn't know what to think.

Hitame had spoken very little about Nick. The only things Sabrina knew about him was that he was an ex-Gryffindor and that he had been matched with her for the marriage law and had petitioned to be with someone else. So basically that he had left Hitame alone to deal with the full weight of the marriage law if she was not re-sorted. It was a good thing she didn't really get in trouble for anything since she had never been re-matched.

Sabrina awkwardly looked down at the drink that had been brought her her only a few moments before Nick had walked over to them. Cassius was watching them carefully, making sure that neither of them were hurt or being bothered. Which was clearly the case with Hitame's body language. But until something bad actually happened, Cassius couldn't do anything but watch them. He really hoped things got better though, that way no one would have to get hurt or thrown out of the pub.

"Apologize?" Hitame asked, a small laugh escaping from her throat. "I don't need your apologies. And what exactly could have changed in the few months that we haven't seen each other." It had been at the most three months, probably longer but she didn't really care. She knew exactly how many things could have changed in that time, but she didn't really care enough to be concerned about what happened with his life.

He said he wanted to start anew with her, apologize, but did she want to believe him? The answer to that was simple. No. She didn't. She didn't want to start anew, she didn't want him near her really. But she had to at least give him a chance, right? That was what her conscience told her, and though she wanted to fight it, she knew eventually her conscience would win and she would rather not go around in circles to just end up at the same place she knew she would.