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"Hey Tim! Wait up!" Mary called out as she frantically shoved her books into her bag.
"What is it Mary?" Timothy asked, knowing Mary would ask the same thing she always did.
"You should go on a date with me," Mary said coyly, fluttering her eyelashes. After years of trying to get him to go on a date with her it was now a joke between the two. Timothy wasn't even sure if she truly wanted to do it anymore.
Timothy sighed, a grin on his lips. "What number ask is this now?" He asked teasingly, a silly grin upon his lips.
"Probably around 500-and-something, I have been doing this for about 3 years now" Mary answered as she followed Timothy down the hallway to their next class.
"You do know Eileen and I just broke up right? Like not even two weeks ago? You do know Eileen right?" Timothy asked, jokingly. "Tall, skinny, black hair, big nose, your best friend and roommate?" He teased, looking at Mary with mirth.
"Hilarious," Mary replied. "Eileen's a lesbian and she doesn't care if we date," Mary continued nonchalantly, with a flippant flick of her wrist.
Timothy rolled his eyes with a smile. "What would I ever do without her blessing?" He answered, mockingly, rolling his eyes playfully.
"Either way you should totally say yes," Mary countered, grabbing Timothy's arm and pulling him out of the way of running incoming second year students.
“Please?" Mary asked, putting on her best impression of puppy dog eyes.
"Fine." Timothy answered with a jaunty smirk.
"I promise you'll have so much fun with me, just say yes…. wait did you just agree?" Mary started, shocked, tilting her head, her eyes wide open.
"Yeah, why not? we can give it a try," Timothy replied casually, giving Mary an effortless smile.
"Oh! Alright," Mary said quietly, surprised, leaving her with little to say.
Mary remained uncharacteristically quiet as they walked to their next class; she slid into the seat next to Eileen and Timothy went to Eileen's other side. Eileen immediately shot Timothy a knowing withering look, leaving him bewildered.
After the class ended, Mary slipped away swiftly and Eileen was left with the moment to grill him on their friend’s sudden change in demeanor.
"I'm really not sure what I did wrong. She was being her usual self, asking me to go out and I just agreed this time," Timothy started. "I didn't realize that giving her what she was asking for would break her," he continued, confused.
Eileen slapped Timothy's shoulder. "She probably thinks you're messing around with her.” Eileen replied, her steely gaze fixed on Timothy.
"Ow! and for the record, I'm not," Timothy said, rubbing his shoulder as he left the classroom with Eileen. "I said yes and meant yes. But I don't have a crush on her like she's had for years on me,” Timothy continued.
"She actually likes you, Timothy. I don't think you've ever realized it. You have girls pining after you left and right, you're fucking gorgeous despite being skinny and lanky. She likes being your friend even though she wants to date you, and she doesn't want to lose you if it doesn't work out." Eileen declared, frustration mounting as she dealt with her oblivious friend.
"Why can't she just, I don’t know, say that?" Timothy quietly questioned, feeling thoroughly chastised.
“You must be lacking more perception than I thought if you think that’s realistic,” Eileen responded, raising an eyebrow at her oblivious former boyfriend.
"But… you and I just said it outright," Timothy said, puzzled.
"That’s because she’s not screwed up the way we are, trauma and all, you bloody idiot," Eileen said, rolling her eyes affectionately.
"Right, right, yeah. Mary probably doesn't know about all of that stuff, huh," Timothy answered
"Just, talk to her like a normal person. It won’t kill you, and there’s a ninety percent chance she won’t bite,” Eileen said, looking over at her oblivious friend.
“Why ninety percent?” Timothy responded, puzzled.
“I don’t discount the ten percent chance she mauls you in sheer frustration from your obliviousness,” Eileen answered, inspecting her nails.
“I am not that bad,” Timothy protested with a stomp, turning to look at his friend.
“Yes. Yes you are,” Eileen answered with a deadpan expression, raising her dark eyebrows at him.
"Fine, I’ll talk to her," Timothy brightly quipped, a jaunty smirk dancing on his face.
Eileen rolled her eyes and shoved Timothy in Mary’s direction; she was sitting under the tree they frequented.
Timothy laughed and scrambled to find his feet before making confident strides towards Mary. Eileen cautiously backed away, before running off to find Minerva.
As Timothy approached the tree he found himself a touch apprehensive, taking to heart Eileen’s chastisement. He noticed Mary, seated beneath the tree against the trunk, curled up with a book.
“Hello again,” Timothy said, bending down and settling himself in a cross-legged position within arm’s reach of Mary.
Mary looked up with a flicker of interest and gave him a small smile before returning to her book.
"Can we talk about why you ran off without a word when I agreed to go out with you?" He asked with caution, a ginger smile playing upon his lips.
"What's there to talk about? You finally agreed to my incessant asking out," Mary stated, not looking up from her book.
"Yet you don't seem very happy about it,” Timothy countered, examining Mary’s posture with quiet curiosity.
“Why would I be happy when you only agreed just so we can go out and then when I bother you once more to do so you’ll say that we already went on a date,” Mary responded, her gaze still glued to her book, her voice laced with a cold detachment.
“Why would you think I’d say that?” Timothy asked, confused. He furrowed his brow intently.
“Because I know you get annoyed by my pestering, so why would now be different? And finally saying yes will give you an excuse to tell me to go away later,” Mary continued, turning a page in her book.
Timothy was incredulous. He had never seen a side like this before in Mary; her cold disinterest was chilling. Sure, it had been a bit of a teasing game between them, but he genuinely wanted to try going out with her.
“Mary... I’m single now, yes, but we are still friends and I genuinely value my friendship with you… We’ve been friends since we were eleven years old; do you really think I’m the kind of asshole who will brush aside your feelings as if they’re meaningless?” He asked, masking the panic in his voice, desperately wishing she would look at him.
“You have,” Mary answered, licking her finger and turning another page in her book, the scraping sound filling the void between them.
“I’ve always cared about your feelings and you’ve told me in the past when I genuinely hurt them, so tell me what I’ve done now,” Timothy said, panic beginning to penetrate his wavering voice.
Mary’s lack of response or reaction of any kind set him on edge. “Me always saying no to going out with you wasn’t because I didn’t care about your feelings, it’s because I was dating Eileen and I know that in those times you were joking around because Eileen asked you about it and you told her you were joking. So, unless you lied to us, you’re trying to find ways to make me go away” he started, trying to push down the wavering feeling and took a heavy deep breath. “As your friend, I’m not going anywhere,” He finished, his shoulders sagging back from a braced position.
Mary finally looked up at Timothy and met his gaze, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
“I’ve always liked you Timothy, even when you were with Eileen. I felt jealous and alone; I knew she was gay, she knew she was gay but for reasons I simply cannot understand you two were still together. I tried my best to look elsewhere and ignore, to find someone else, but no matter what they all turned out to be scum who would sleep with me, and as soon as they had what they wanted, abandon me like a sick dog on the side of a road,” she began emphatically, shutting her book with a bang, putting her book down on the grass without so much as a page marker. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, her face remaining steely. “Are you really honestly going to be able to show me something better after all that I have seen and felt? After what I have put up with?” Mary continued, her stare chilling Timothy.
“I swear it.” Timothy said with determination, reaching over to cup her jaw tenderly, his thumb gently resting on her cheek and wiping away a lone spilled tear. Mary released a shaky breath, refusing to relax into his warm touch. Timothy leaned closer.
“I swear on Salazar Slytherin’s grave that I’d never hurt you, not like that, not in any way if I can help it. Not as a friend, a boyfriend, a husband, or even as a stranger. I could never knowingly hurt you, Mary Brown,” He whispered, his serious intent threaded in emotion on his face, his breath gently grazing her cheek with warmth.
Mary’s lip trembled; she held back a whimper before relaxing forward into Timothy’s surging embrace. Timothy paused, their noses just short of touching.
“May I?” Timothy asked, his breath gently caressing Mary’s cheek. The breath audibly hitched in Mary’s throat.
“Yes,” she answered, melting into the sweet kiss. It broke as they stopped to draw breath, a beaming smile forming on Mary’s face. Timothy similarly found himself grinning uncontrollably.
Mary quickly scrambled into Timothy’s lap, resting her forehead against his, her featherlight touch tracing the line of his jaw. Mary’s eyes lit up with a mischievous glimmer. She shifted her weight forward, rocking her and Timothy back onto the grass. She darted forward, stealing a quick kiss before Timothy wrapped his arms around her and brought her close into a more passionate kiss, their bodies melded as if they were fit for one another.
To them; it was as though the world stopped for a moment, just for them.
When their kiss broke, Mary’s face sparkled with laughter, resting her head in the crook of Timothy’s shoulder bringing a broad smile to his face. Holding Mary like this left Timothy feeling the most contentment he had ever experienced in his short life; it felt perfect, lying together in the damp grass, cool droplets settling on their exposed skin.
Eventually, Mary and Timothy sat up, emerging from their cocoon of bliss.
“Hogsmeade?” Mary asked, her kiss-flushed face sparkling with satisfaction. Timothy nodded, the mirth electric between them. “I’d like to go to the Enchanted Cauldron Cafe and try the spellbinding sandwich,” Mary continued, flicking her tongue across her lower lip.
“I don’t think I’ve tried that one before,” Timothy countered, a bright grin dancing across his face, his eyes following Mary’s lips.
“Oh it’s amazing! It has this creamy avocado aioli that is slathered over the bread, shredded chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, pickled red onions, and my favourite smoky gouda,” Mary exclaimed, her gaze following Timothy’s magnetic grin.
“Sounds delicious! I love their mystic berry bliss drink. It’s really tasty,” Timothy added, his adoring gaze focused on Mary.
“I also want to have a look at the jewlery store and the book shop,” Mary started. “I need to sort out some presents for my parents’ anniversary,” She continued, absentmindedly twirling a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’d like to go to the bookstore as well,” He said, musing.
They remained under the tree for the next few hours, idly entangled with each other in a languid embrace; their future plans thrown back and forth between them in a casual intimacy. Their existing relationship had evolved rapidly; tangibly; uncharacteristically easily; like slipping on a fresh set of pajamas. Timothy had never felt something so undeniably real in his life, as though he was standing on a precipice; a heady mix of what they are and what he wants them (no, will) become. Mary could barely fathom her luck. She knew they had danced over an edge where once one goes over they do not come back; but somehow she knew that the future held a world of happiness which she could not hope to dream.
Their marriage was quick but fully anticipated; for no one (especially not their classmates) could deny their care for one another. They spent a short time traveling and experiencing the world before making a home in the small town of Cokeworth.
Cokeworth was small, but cozy, and just the right sort of place for them to consider starting a family. They hoped to have a great many children; but magic seemed to have other plans. They were blessed by magic to have their four beautiful children and for Mary to have survived the considerable ordeal. Their life together was rich with passion and joy, their children knew loving parents, health and prosperity. Both found satisfaction in their careers; Timothy taking the post of Hogwarts’ potions professor at Slughorn’s retirements, working alongside two dear friends. Minerva, of course, taught transfiguration and Eileen managing the extensive library collection. Mary found fulfilment in working at the local pub of Cokeworth.
Timothy and Mary knew a beautiful life together; separating the two was something Death simply could not manage in good faith to Magic. Death took them peacefully in sleep at the same moment at age one hundred and sixty-three, not longer than a second apart. They had known one hundred and fifty-two years together on the mortal plane, and were returned to the immortal plane of heaven together to spend the remains of eternity.