Post by OSUSprinks on Dec 23, 2007 0:38:21 GMT -5
Title: Charming Roots, She Wrote
Rating: E for Everyone
Summary: I didn't know where to post this but I finally put it here. You may or may not have guessed from the title that it is a combination of Harry Potter (specifically Fil/Mona) and Murder, She Wrote (in this case Seth/Jessica). This was written with love for Ro aka furandfeathers for her Secret Santa present! Merry Christmas, everyone, and a happy new year!
Pomona sat in a corner booth of the nearly empty cafe, waiting for a very good, if usually very distant, friend of hers. They had begun corresponding after Jessica read one of her muggle publications and contacted the Herbology Mistress, who was considered at the top of the muggle botany field, to act as a consultant for a murder-mystery novel she was writing. The two had been merely friendly acquaintances until nearly ten years ago. That summer, Pomona had chosen to vacation in the States and happened to run into Jessica in New York City while doing some souvenir shopping. The chance meeting had turned into an afternoon of shopping together and then dinner as they caught up on each other’s lives and found they enjoyed each others’ company.
She supposed that even then they would not have bonded as friends so quickly had not their waitress, the poor, sweet girl, been murdered that night. Pomona had realized of course that the girl was a witch, but could not reveal that to the police, though she found it especially hard not to tell Jessica. Once the murder was solved –it had been the girl’s muggle sister who apparently was jealous of the waitress’s boyfriend and Pomona guessed her magic as well- Jessica had invited her to her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine to recover from the attempt on her own life, when she and Jessica had gotten a little too close to finding out the truth.
The two had been very close ever since. Keeping in touch mainly through letters, though Pomona did own a mobile since she was much more involved in the muggle world than the average witch, they had kept in close contact over the last decade, but had only managed to meet up a few times. Pomona had been pleasantly surprised to find that Jessica would be in Scotland visiting the family home of a friend of hers from Scotland Yard. She had written to find out if Pomona would be able to meet her in Edinburgh for dinner. Of course she did not realize how easy it was for Pomona to get there and back, but that would have to remain a secret.
She flooed to Edinburgh that morning with Filius. She had mentioned the visit and he had offered to accompany her since he had some business in the wizarding district there. He had even made sure she made it to the restaurant safely and was coming back to meet her there after dinner.
Filius.
Pomona sighed as she thought over her relationship with her closest friend. What was she going to do?
“Pomona!” She had been so deep in her thoughts, she hadn’t seen Jessica enter.
“Jessica dear, how is my favorite author?”
Jessica simply laughed as they embraced and then settled into the booth. They ordered shortly after and made quick work of the usual pleasantries and catching each other up on their lives as they ate dinner. It was only after their plates had been cleared and they were lingering over their drinks that Jessica brought up what had been bothering her during the meal.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what had you looking so sad when I entered?”
“Sad? I don’t know what you mean.” Pomona smiled, but she was not even convincing herself.
“Well, thoughtful at least.” Jessica considered her friend a moment before deciding not to push her. “You don’t have to tell me, but I hope you’ll talk to someone about it. I’m sure Filius-“
Pomona choked and sputtered on her soda and cherry syrup. “Leave it to you, Jess, to shoot an arrow in the dark and still find the apple.”
Now her curiosity was more than piqued and there was no going back. She still would not force Pomona, but surely chatting a little would not hurt. “It has to do with, Fil? But he’s your closest friend. If he’s done anything to upset you, I’m sure he did not mean it.”
“You’ve got it backwards there. It’s me that’s doing the upsetting… or at least will be.”
Now Jessica was really stumped. She had always enjoyed the fact that Pomona understood her relationship with Seth because of her own close relationship with one of her colleagues. She had even met Filius a few times and once she had gotten past her surprise that he was a little person, something Pomona had never mentioned, she had found him charming, extremely intelligent, and handsome. It was obvious why Pomona liked him so. She considered her friend as she thought of her relationship with Seth. Suddenly she knew.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Pomona’s deer-in-the-headlights look was all she needed to know she was correct. Now that she knew the secret, she did not know what else to say. It was too similar to her situation to say much. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
“Was I that obvious?”
“Only if I am.” Pomona did not understand of course, so she continued after a moment of hesitation. “I was just thinking about how similar your relationship with Filius is to my relationship with Seth. Then I realized they might be even more alike than I thought.” Pomona spared her having to say more by smiling ruefully and nodding.
“So, what do we do?”
“If I knew, I would probably still be in Maine.”
They were silent for a few minutes, each lost in her own thoughts. Finally Jessica spoke.
“I almost forgot. I wanted to invite you to Maine for Christmas this year. I thought it could be a good break for you.”
Pomona smiled, knowing Jessica was worried about her being alone this Christmas. Her mother had past away right after Christmas the year before and as an only child, she was without family for the holidays for the first time.
“That would be lovely, Jess. When would you want me?”
“I was thinking a few days before the holiday. You can stay through the New Year if you want. I had given some thought to inviting Filius as well, but maybe that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“No, go ahead and invite him if you like. He’s actually supposed to meet us here pretty soon, since we came into Edinburgh together. He has said before he would love to visit Maine and we had talked about spending the holiday together anyway.”
“Speak of the devil,” Jessica said as she watched Filius approach their table. The restaurant had filled while they were eating, but emptied again as they talked. It seemed the rush was over and the only other diners left were an adorable older couple, seated on the same side of their table, holding hands as they waited for their bill. She felt two pangs as she watched them, one from having missed the chance to have that with Frank and another because she wished she could have that closeness with Seth. She wondered if Pomona was thinking the same thing as she saw her friend look at the couple before turning to welcome Filius.
It had been nearly two months since that dinner with Jessica and Filius and Pomona were preparing to board what was possibly the smallest plane ever, if you could even call it a plane. It looked more like someone’s toy. Pomona felt sick just looking at it.
“Filius, I don’t know if I can do this.”
They had used traditional wizarding transcontinental transportation all the way to Maine, but there was no way to get around Jessica’s offer to have a friend of hers, the local pilot, fly them into Cabot Cove. She and Seth were going to meet them at the air strip.
“Pomona, haven’t you been there before? How did you get through this the last time?” He was watching her turn a rather unattractive pale-ish green as she considered the plane.
“I told Jessica I would arrange my transport and had the embassy set up a portkey. They were more than willing to help out after that incident with the girl.”
“Incident? Is that how you refer to it when someone nearly kills you?”
She felt her usually cool temper began to burn as the stress of their day caught up with her.
“Filius, you know it wasn’t that big of a deal. I was able to stop her with,” she eyed the pilot who was walking toward them and now within earshot,” just a small move you taught me. I was never in any real danger.” She paused as the pilot helped her and then Filius into the plane. “I can take care of myself, you know. I’m not entirely helpless!”
In response, Filius just smiled and took her hand after fastening his seatbelt. “I never believed you were, my dear. I just needed someway to get your mind off having to climb into the plane; making you mad at me seemed easiest. I’m just glad it worked.”
She did not know whether to be angry or grateful, so instead she just giggled at how ridiculous the whole situation was. Before she realized it, they were landing, still hand in hand, and meeting Jessica and Seth.
The men were busy fitting their luggage in the trunk, having forced Pomona and Jessica into the car and out of the snow as soon as they had greeted each other. They immediately began talking about the things they would not be able to once Seth and Filius joined them.
“Jessica, I tell you I felt like a school girl! All I could think about was my hand in his the whole flight. I’m too old to feel this way.”
“If that were true, neither of us would be in this situation.” Jessica laughed and Pomona joined her, but couldn’t respond as Filius and Seth got in the car.
“It’s really coming down now and it’s only getting thicker. Good thing you folks are staying a while. It might take that long to get out.”
“You mean we might be snowed in?” The thought had never occurred to Pomona.
“Oh Seth, you yourself always say those weather reporters are never right. Don’t worry, I’m ready if it happens, but I doubt it will.”
“Well at least I’ll be in good company if we are snowed in.” Filius smiled at Pomona and she felt her uneasiness slip away.
“You’re right Fil, and after all, I’ve never been snowed in before. It might be fun!”
It had been three days since their arrival and being snowed in had lost its appeal somewhere in the middle of day two. Pomona was an Herbologist for a reason. She loved being outside and knowing she could not leave the house was beginning to make her a bit crazy.
Seth had dropped them off and hurried home, hoping to get in before the weather got much worse. He had only been gone about an hour when he showed up at the door, shivering and wet, with a suitcase in hand. A tree in his backyard had fallen from the weight of the ice and snow on its branches and crashed into his house and was still leaning against his roof. He was able to seal off the room, but he would have to stay elsewhere until the tree could be cut down, and who knew when that would be with the weather they were having. Pomona had seen that Filius was about to offer to help before realizing he could not without revealing their secret.
So it was just the four of them, sitting around in front of the fire. Filius had cast a few small heating charms on the crocheted throws they were all covered with, enough to keep them warm, but not enough to have Seth and Jessica wonder. Pomona had given up trying to make conversation. It seemed there was simply nothing left to talk about. The only thing she really wanted to say was that she was a witch, Filius was a wizard, and if they would each grab one of their arms, all four of them could be somewhere warm, sunny, and more importantly outside, in the blink of an eye.
“Filius, I don’t believe I ever asked what you taught. I knew you and Pomona worked together, but it never crossed my mind.” Jessica was obviously in better spirits than she was and still willing to try polite conversation.
“We do work together, though I am worse than useless in her greenhouses. I teach Latin actually.” Pomona had never heard him describe his job to muggles and she was pleased with his answer. He did teach the students the meaning behind the spells as a part of Charms theory of course, so he was not lying exactly.
“Latin and gardening? That’s an interesting school you have there.” Seth smiled and while Pomona took some small offense to the gardening comment, she decided to let it go.
“It’s a little more work than just gardening, Seth. Pomona deals with highly dangerous plants, not to mention all the research and writing she does in her free time. Her students are lucky to have someone as knowledgeable and talented as she is to teach them.” Filius continued on about her accomplishments at Hogwarts and in both the wizarding and muggle worlds. She had never heard him speak of her so glowingly. Jessica was looking at her with a little smirk on her face and when she realized Pomona was looking at her, she raised her eyebrow and then winked.
“I’m sure Seth didn’t mean any offense, Fil, and if he did, I have the perfect punishment.” She stood, folding her throw neatly before placing it on the sofa where she had been sitting with Pomona. She turned toward Seth and smiled, “Would you help me put supper together?”
He apologized to Pomona briefly before following Jessica into the kitchen. Filius stood and poked at the fire a moment, then surprised Pomona by sitting right next to her on the sofa. He leaned over so he could whisper in her ear.
“So, feeling cabin fever yet, or is it just me?”
“You could say that.” She heard Jessica laughing in the kitchen and Seth’s deep chuckles soon joined her. “They don’t seem to be having as much trouble.”
Filius leaned even closer and Pomona felt her cheeks begin to blush. Her cabin fever was apparently affecting more than just her claustrophobia. She also was losing control of her ability to pretend she did not notice his nearness or touch.
“Well, they have been in this situation before. I think it helps that she is obviously attracted to him and Seth in is love with her.”
“Really, you think so?” She was not sure whether she wished he were so perceptive when it came to her or if it was better he was not.
“You can’t tell? They are pretty obvious. I’m surprised they haven’t seen it in each other. Maybe I can tell because Seth admitted as much to me today while you were helping Jessica with lunch.”
Jessica stood at the door hinges, peeping through the crack as she watched Filius lean closer to Pomona. Suddenly, Seth was right behind her, whispering in her ear.
“Woman, what do you think you are doing?”
She turned toward him, bumping the door closed. He was wearing her favorite pink apron and standing so close to her, she could feel his breath on her skin.
“I was just watching them.” He cocked his head and gave her that look, which was so very Seth, and she knew she had to tell him what she knew. “She’s in love with him. She told me when I had dinner with her in Edinburgh. I was trying to figure out how he felt about her.”
“Well, that’s easy enough. Ask.”
“Seth, I couldn’t.”
“Well, I did and he loves her. Let’s get back to the chowder, aye?”
Seth walked back to the stove as silently as he had come and began to stir the large pot.
“Well, of course he loves her; he’s her best friend. I meant is he in love with her.”
She joined him at the stove and leaned against the adjacent counter as she spoke. Seth sighed one of his heavy sighs and turned to face her as he set down his wooden spoon.
“Of course he’s in love with her. She is his best friend, how could he not notice how right she is for him?”
Jessica started to interject that they, too, were best friends, but remained quiet as Seth continued.
“She’s brilliant. They work well together.” She held her breath as he moved closer. “She laughs at his jokes and understands how to handle him when he’s moody. He is by her side as often as he can be and wishes he was when he can’t be.” He took her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. Somehow she knew he was not talking about their friends any longer. “She’s beautiful and has the most amazing blue eyes and he wants nothing more than to stare into them for the rest of his cranky life.”
Jessica was still except for her eyelids as she tried to blink her tears away. Finally she took a step forward so they were as close together as possible without actually touching. She looked at him and smiled.
“Brown,” she said, her tears making her ocean-blue eyes ever brighter.
“What?”
“Pomona has brown eyes, not blue, and I don’t believe Filius could be cranky even if he tried.”
“Well, I did have to listen to the man go on and on about her this morning. I wasn’t listening the whole time.”
He had not moved and neither had she. Slowly she tilted her head toward him.
“Jess,” he whispered as his lips touched hers.
Jessica had wondered from time to time what it would be like to kiss and be kissed by Seth Hazlitt. She had always thought he would be soft and gentle with her and he was, to begin with. It was almost as if he was hesitant, giving her a chance to change her mind. She changed his for him by running her hands up his arms and around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. His mouth became possessive over hers and every thought but of Seth and what he was doing to her body left her mind.
It felt like a lifetime, but could only have been a few moments later when they broke off the kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers, still holding her close.
“Jess, I-“
“That was-“
She smiled and a giggle slipped out as she wondered if she looked as giddy as she felt or as happy as Seth looked. He chuckled and smiled brighter than she had seen in years. Then, he leaned in and kissed her again.
To be continued in the next post...
Rating: E for Everyone
Summary: I didn't know where to post this but I finally put it here. You may or may not have guessed from the title that it is a combination of Harry Potter (specifically Fil/Mona) and Murder, She Wrote (in this case Seth/Jessica). This was written with love for Ro aka furandfeathers for her Secret Santa present! Merry Christmas, everyone, and a happy new year!
Pomona sat in a corner booth of the nearly empty cafe, waiting for a very good, if usually very distant, friend of hers. They had begun corresponding after Jessica read one of her muggle publications and contacted the Herbology Mistress, who was considered at the top of the muggle botany field, to act as a consultant for a murder-mystery novel she was writing. The two had been merely friendly acquaintances until nearly ten years ago. That summer, Pomona had chosen to vacation in the States and happened to run into Jessica in New York City while doing some souvenir shopping. The chance meeting had turned into an afternoon of shopping together and then dinner as they caught up on each other’s lives and found they enjoyed each others’ company.
She supposed that even then they would not have bonded as friends so quickly had not their waitress, the poor, sweet girl, been murdered that night. Pomona had realized of course that the girl was a witch, but could not reveal that to the police, though she found it especially hard not to tell Jessica. Once the murder was solved –it had been the girl’s muggle sister who apparently was jealous of the waitress’s boyfriend and Pomona guessed her magic as well- Jessica had invited her to her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine to recover from the attempt on her own life, when she and Jessica had gotten a little too close to finding out the truth.
The two had been very close ever since. Keeping in touch mainly through letters, though Pomona did own a mobile since she was much more involved in the muggle world than the average witch, they had kept in close contact over the last decade, but had only managed to meet up a few times. Pomona had been pleasantly surprised to find that Jessica would be in Scotland visiting the family home of a friend of hers from Scotland Yard. She had written to find out if Pomona would be able to meet her in Edinburgh for dinner. Of course she did not realize how easy it was for Pomona to get there and back, but that would have to remain a secret.
She flooed to Edinburgh that morning with Filius. She had mentioned the visit and he had offered to accompany her since he had some business in the wizarding district there. He had even made sure she made it to the restaurant safely and was coming back to meet her there after dinner.
Filius.
Pomona sighed as she thought over her relationship with her closest friend. What was she going to do?
“Pomona!” She had been so deep in her thoughts, she hadn’t seen Jessica enter.
“Jessica dear, how is my favorite author?”
Jessica simply laughed as they embraced and then settled into the booth. They ordered shortly after and made quick work of the usual pleasantries and catching each other up on their lives as they ate dinner. It was only after their plates had been cleared and they were lingering over their drinks that Jessica brought up what had been bothering her during the meal.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what had you looking so sad when I entered?”
“Sad? I don’t know what you mean.” Pomona smiled, but she was not even convincing herself.
“Well, thoughtful at least.” Jessica considered her friend a moment before deciding not to push her. “You don’t have to tell me, but I hope you’ll talk to someone about it. I’m sure Filius-“
Pomona choked and sputtered on her soda and cherry syrup. “Leave it to you, Jess, to shoot an arrow in the dark and still find the apple.”
Now her curiosity was more than piqued and there was no going back. She still would not force Pomona, but surely chatting a little would not hurt. “It has to do with, Fil? But he’s your closest friend. If he’s done anything to upset you, I’m sure he did not mean it.”
“You’ve got it backwards there. It’s me that’s doing the upsetting… or at least will be.”
Now Jessica was really stumped. She had always enjoyed the fact that Pomona understood her relationship with Seth because of her own close relationship with one of her colleagues. She had even met Filius a few times and once she had gotten past her surprise that he was a little person, something Pomona had never mentioned, she had found him charming, extremely intelligent, and handsome. It was obvious why Pomona liked him so. She considered her friend as she thought of her relationship with Seth. Suddenly she knew.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Pomona’s deer-in-the-headlights look was all she needed to know she was correct. Now that she knew the secret, she did not know what else to say. It was too similar to her situation to say much. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
“Was I that obvious?”
“Only if I am.” Pomona did not understand of course, so she continued after a moment of hesitation. “I was just thinking about how similar your relationship with Filius is to my relationship with Seth. Then I realized they might be even more alike than I thought.” Pomona spared her having to say more by smiling ruefully and nodding.
“So, what do we do?”
“If I knew, I would probably still be in Maine.”
They were silent for a few minutes, each lost in her own thoughts. Finally Jessica spoke.
“I almost forgot. I wanted to invite you to Maine for Christmas this year. I thought it could be a good break for you.”
Pomona smiled, knowing Jessica was worried about her being alone this Christmas. Her mother had past away right after Christmas the year before and as an only child, she was without family for the holidays for the first time.
“That would be lovely, Jess. When would you want me?”
“I was thinking a few days before the holiday. You can stay through the New Year if you want. I had given some thought to inviting Filius as well, but maybe that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“No, go ahead and invite him if you like. He’s actually supposed to meet us here pretty soon, since we came into Edinburgh together. He has said before he would love to visit Maine and we had talked about spending the holiday together anyway.”
“Speak of the devil,” Jessica said as she watched Filius approach their table. The restaurant had filled while they were eating, but emptied again as they talked. It seemed the rush was over and the only other diners left were an adorable older couple, seated on the same side of their table, holding hands as they waited for their bill. She felt two pangs as she watched them, one from having missed the chance to have that with Frank and another because she wished she could have that closeness with Seth. She wondered if Pomona was thinking the same thing as she saw her friend look at the couple before turning to welcome Filius.
It had been nearly two months since that dinner with Jessica and Filius and Pomona were preparing to board what was possibly the smallest plane ever, if you could even call it a plane. It looked more like someone’s toy. Pomona felt sick just looking at it.
“Filius, I don’t know if I can do this.”
They had used traditional wizarding transcontinental transportation all the way to Maine, but there was no way to get around Jessica’s offer to have a friend of hers, the local pilot, fly them into Cabot Cove. She and Seth were going to meet them at the air strip.
“Pomona, haven’t you been there before? How did you get through this the last time?” He was watching her turn a rather unattractive pale-ish green as she considered the plane.
“I told Jessica I would arrange my transport and had the embassy set up a portkey. They were more than willing to help out after that incident with the girl.”
“Incident? Is that how you refer to it when someone nearly kills you?”
She felt her usually cool temper began to burn as the stress of their day caught up with her.
“Filius, you know it wasn’t that big of a deal. I was able to stop her with,” she eyed the pilot who was walking toward them and now within earshot,” just a small move you taught me. I was never in any real danger.” She paused as the pilot helped her and then Filius into the plane. “I can take care of myself, you know. I’m not entirely helpless!”
In response, Filius just smiled and took her hand after fastening his seatbelt. “I never believed you were, my dear. I just needed someway to get your mind off having to climb into the plane; making you mad at me seemed easiest. I’m just glad it worked.”
She did not know whether to be angry or grateful, so instead she just giggled at how ridiculous the whole situation was. Before she realized it, they were landing, still hand in hand, and meeting Jessica and Seth.
The men were busy fitting their luggage in the trunk, having forced Pomona and Jessica into the car and out of the snow as soon as they had greeted each other. They immediately began talking about the things they would not be able to once Seth and Filius joined them.
“Jessica, I tell you I felt like a school girl! All I could think about was my hand in his the whole flight. I’m too old to feel this way.”
“If that were true, neither of us would be in this situation.” Jessica laughed and Pomona joined her, but couldn’t respond as Filius and Seth got in the car.
“It’s really coming down now and it’s only getting thicker. Good thing you folks are staying a while. It might take that long to get out.”
“You mean we might be snowed in?” The thought had never occurred to Pomona.
“Oh Seth, you yourself always say those weather reporters are never right. Don’t worry, I’m ready if it happens, but I doubt it will.”
“Well at least I’ll be in good company if we are snowed in.” Filius smiled at Pomona and she felt her uneasiness slip away.
“You’re right Fil, and after all, I’ve never been snowed in before. It might be fun!”
It had been three days since their arrival and being snowed in had lost its appeal somewhere in the middle of day two. Pomona was an Herbologist for a reason. She loved being outside and knowing she could not leave the house was beginning to make her a bit crazy.
Seth had dropped them off and hurried home, hoping to get in before the weather got much worse. He had only been gone about an hour when he showed up at the door, shivering and wet, with a suitcase in hand. A tree in his backyard had fallen from the weight of the ice and snow on its branches and crashed into his house and was still leaning against his roof. He was able to seal off the room, but he would have to stay elsewhere until the tree could be cut down, and who knew when that would be with the weather they were having. Pomona had seen that Filius was about to offer to help before realizing he could not without revealing their secret.
So it was just the four of them, sitting around in front of the fire. Filius had cast a few small heating charms on the crocheted throws they were all covered with, enough to keep them warm, but not enough to have Seth and Jessica wonder. Pomona had given up trying to make conversation. It seemed there was simply nothing left to talk about. The only thing she really wanted to say was that she was a witch, Filius was a wizard, and if they would each grab one of their arms, all four of them could be somewhere warm, sunny, and more importantly outside, in the blink of an eye.
“Filius, I don’t believe I ever asked what you taught. I knew you and Pomona worked together, but it never crossed my mind.” Jessica was obviously in better spirits than she was and still willing to try polite conversation.
“We do work together, though I am worse than useless in her greenhouses. I teach Latin actually.” Pomona had never heard him describe his job to muggles and she was pleased with his answer. He did teach the students the meaning behind the spells as a part of Charms theory of course, so he was not lying exactly.
“Latin and gardening? That’s an interesting school you have there.” Seth smiled and while Pomona took some small offense to the gardening comment, she decided to let it go.
“It’s a little more work than just gardening, Seth. Pomona deals with highly dangerous plants, not to mention all the research and writing she does in her free time. Her students are lucky to have someone as knowledgeable and talented as she is to teach them.” Filius continued on about her accomplishments at Hogwarts and in both the wizarding and muggle worlds. She had never heard him speak of her so glowingly. Jessica was looking at her with a little smirk on her face and when she realized Pomona was looking at her, she raised her eyebrow and then winked.
“I’m sure Seth didn’t mean any offense, Fil, and if he did, I have the perfect punishment.” She stood, folding her throw neatly before placing it on the sofa where she had been sitting with Pomona. She turned toward Seth and smiled, “Would you help me put supper together?”
He apologized to Pomona briefly before following Jessica into the kitchen. Filius stood and poked at the fire a moment, then surprised Pomona by sitting right next to her on the sofa. He leaned over so he could whisper in her ear.
“So, feeling cabin fever yet, or is it just me?”
“You could say that.” She heard Jessica laughing in the kitchen and Seth’s deep chuckles soon joined her. “They don’t seem to be having as much trouble.”
Filius leaned even closer and Pomona felt her cheeks begin to blush. Her cabin fever was apparently affecting more than just her claustrophobia. She also was losing control of her ability to pretend she did not notice his nearness or touch.
“Well, they have been in this situation before. I think it helps that she is obviously attracted to him and Seth in is love with her.”
“Really, you think so?” She was not sure whether she wished he were so perceptive when it came to her or if it was better he was not.
“You can’t tell? They are pretty obvious. I’m surprised they haven’t seen it in each other. Maybe I can tell because Seth admitted as much to me today while you were helping Jessica with lunch.”
Jessica stood at the door hinges, peeping through the crack as she watched Filius lean closer to Pomona. Suddenly, Seth was right behind her, whispering in her ear.
“Woman, what do you think you are doing?”
She turned toward him, bumping the door closed. He was wearing her favorite pink apron and standing so close to her, she could feel his breath on her skin.
“I was just watching them.” He cocked his head and gave her that look, which was so very Seth, and she knew she had to tell him what she knew. “She’s in love with him. She told me when I had dinner with her in Edinburgh. I was trying to figure out how he felt about her.”
“Well, that’s easy enough. Ask.”
“Seth, I couldn’t.”
“Well, I did and he loves her. Let’s get back to the chowder, aye?”
Seth walked back to the stove as silently as he had come and began to stir the large pot.
“Well, of course he loves her; he’s her best friend. I meant is he in love with her.”
She joined him at the stove and leaned against the adjacent counter as she spoke. Seth sighed one of his heavy sighs and turned to face her as he set down his wooden spoon.
“Of course he’s in love with her. She is his best friend, how could he not notice how right she is for him?”
Jessica started to interject that they, too, were best friends, but remained quiet as Seth continued.
“She’s brilliant. They work well together.” She held her breath as he moved closer. “She laughs at his jokes and understands how to handle him when he’s moody. He is by her side as often as he can be and wishes he was when he can’t be.” He took her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. Somehow she knew he was not talking about their friends any longer. “She’s beautiful and has the most amazing blue eyes and he wants nothing more than to stare into them for the rest of his cranky life.”
Jessica was still except for her eyelids as she tried to blink her tears away. Finally she took a step forward so they were as close together as possible without actually touching. She looked at him and smiled.
“Brown,” she said, her tears making her ocean-blue eyes ever brighter.
“What?”
“Pomona has brown eyes, not blue, and I don’t believe Filius could be cranky even if he tried.”
“Well, I did have to listen to the man go on and on about her this morning. I wasn’t listening the whole time.”
He had not moved and neither had she. Slowly she tilted her head toward him.
“Jess,” he whispered as his lips touched hers.
Jessica had wondered from time to time what it would be like to kiss and be kissed by Seth Hazlitt. She had always thought he would be soft and gentle with her and he was, to begin with. It was almost as if he was hesitant, giving her a chance to change her mind. She changed his for him by running her hands up his arms and around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. His mouth became possessive over hers and every thought but of Seth and what he was doing to her body left her mind.
It felt like a lifetime, but could only have been a few moments later when they broke off the kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers, still holding her close.
“Jess, I-“
“That was-“
She smiled and a giggle slipped out as she wondered if she looked as giddy as she felt or as happy as Seth looked. He chuckled and smiled brighter than she had seen in years. Then, he leaned in and kissed her again.
To be continued in the next post...
It was a lovely story to read at Christmas. And I'm so pleased about the happy ending.
