closed Planting Seeds PV Miles Thatcher

November 2023

Time seemed to be going at breakneck speed this term. Stephen's mind could not shut off since getting back to Ilvermorny after the Hogwarts Festival of Lights. His whole life was now forever colored by the events of that one particular evening there, and he, as usual, did not quite know what to make of any of it. He was not certain EmmaLee knew what to make of it either. He was only barely 13 years old. What did he really know of affairs of the heart? What was he about to embark upon?

With too many restless nights thinking about events across the pond, he did what he always did when approaching the unknown. He buried himself in his studies, research, and his athletics. He was as friendly to everyone as ever, in passing, but his social life had shrunk considerably. He needed to get out of his head and out of his dorm.

He was walking out of the castle one night when he caught sight of the Conservation Club flyer and was reminded of Miles. They had spoken a number of times since the night Miles posted the flyer, but mostly just in passing. There was something about the guy that Stephen could relate to but mostly he was just annoyed that he couldn't figure him out. He had discovered the guy could string more than five words together at a time, so that was progress. Get him talking about plants and he could actually string two - maybe three - whole sentences together. Get him talking about space and the well ran dry pretty quickly as he didn't see the need whatsoever to care about it.

How was that even possible?

Stephen continued along his way, wearing a jacket he hadn't worn since returning from the Hexwizard Tournament last year. He knew this because his Ilvermorny student travel ID badge was still in one of the pockets. He stopped to look it over somewhat curious about the changes in little over a year. Then he remembered having to wear them everywhere they went and seeing everyone else's badges. He rubbed his thumb over it and stuffed it back into his pocket and got just outside the castle door when he remembered something odd. Well, what he remembered wasn't itself odd. The fact that he remembered it, if he really did, was what was odd.

Maybe he was remembering wrong, but so what. He was halfway through his walk before he determined what he'd do. He knew his memory was good, but was it this good? Time would tell. He made a detour to the Owlery before heading back to his dorm. He wrote to his father asking for a very specific item. Three thousand miles was a long way for an owl to travel so he'd have to be patient.

He was so patient he nearly forgot about the ask until the mail came one foggy November morning. The day before Thanksgiving actually. Perfect.

Stephen attended to classes and to all of his practices, but was finally able to break free after dinner to get to his dorm and do some creative wrapping. Professors were big on having everyone write essays in feet or yards of parchment as opposed to word counts, so he had yards and yards of parchment and Epoximise at his disposal. In no time flat a present was very neatly wrapped and tied with vines as ribbon along with some autumnal colored leaves steadfastly hanging on for an even more festive display.

All set and ready for delivery.

When breakfast came on the 23rd, Stephen bypassed the Wampus table and made his way over to the Thunderbirds. He set the package in front of Miles and when he turned to see who had placed it in front of him, Stephen just grinned and told him, "Think of it as my way of planting the seeds of friendship. Happy Birthday, Miles. And Happy Thanksgiving, too."