Time After Time Solo Finished Closed

Mr. Alfie Vawdrey
245 Church Lane, Godric's Hollow
West Country, England, UK
May 6, 2024

Ms. Alyssa Salinger
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scottish Highlands, Scotland, UK

Dear Aly,

I hope this letter finds you well on the day of your seventeenth birthday. Many happy returns, tot, and welcome to adulthood.

It's my hope that you know who I am, but let me introduce myself anyway just in case. My name's Alfred - Alfie, your dad used to call me - and I was best mates with Benners back in school. Benners - that's your dad, of course, Benjamin. I'll be completely honest with you, your dad and I had a bit of a falling out when he married your mum. We hadn't spoken in years. A lot of us thought he wouldn't be happy giving up his career for a lass, but clearly he proved otherwise before he passed, and it'll forever be one of my biggest regrets that we didn't make up beforehand. I know he was so proud of you, and I'm sure he still is to this day, wherever he is.

Benners was almost like a brother to me. My mum couldn't afford fancy gifts and the like when I was growing up, and your grandparents sort of adopted me into the family after Benners and I met at Hogwarts. It helped that our birthdays were just a few days apart - I'm the 21st June, and he was the 23rd, of course. When we turned seventeen, your grandparents bought us a set of matching watches, as is wizarding tradition. He took the silver, and I the bronze. They tell all sorts of things - astrological charts, moon phases, altitude (that's the broom-shaped hand), and of course time - and though they're a bit old, they were certainly considered top-notch at the time. It might take you a moment to learn how to read the runes, but, well, the business was Scandinavian. Hard to argue with that.

When your dad passed, Hesper - your mum - sent me the watch. I hadn't realised, but apparently your dad had worn it all his life. Likewise, I've always worn mine. I think Hesper wanted me to give it to my kids, but my husband and I decided not to have any, so I'm sending the both of them back to you. I've plenty of reminders of your dad, and I think he would want me to pass these down to you instead. Hopefully you have a best mate that you can share these with. They helped your dad and I through many a tough time and, though we didn't know it, kept us linked all these years.

So happy seventeenth birthday, Aly, from me and from your dad. From what I hear, you're certainly someone to be proud of.

All my love,
Alfie

Attached to the leg of the owl, underneath the letter, was a small package, wrapped in simple brown paper and tied with blue twine. Likely it was meant to emulate the colours of the Ravenclaw crest. Sitting on her bed, Aly tore open the package to reveal two wristwatches, wound and ticking as if by magic - because they were. One silver and one bronze, each had a thin black leather strap adorned with delicate chains, as well as rune-covered faces with three hands - hour, minute, and a broom-shaped one for altitude - as well as small circles on the top and bottom for moon phase and astrological chart of the moment, respectively. Aly took them out and admired them for a moment, turning them over in her hands, before writing a reply.

Ms. Alyssa Salinger
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scottish Highlands, Scotland, UK
May 9, 2024

Mr. Alfie Vawdrey
245 Church Lane, Godric's Hollow
West Country, England, UK

Dear Mr. Vawdrey,

Words don't even begin to describe how surprised I am to get your letter. I used to see my dad wear the silver watch all the time when I was young, and honestly I hadn't even thought about it until this morning. Now that you mention it, it did go missing after the funeral, but Mum got rid of so much of Dad's stuff that I suppose I figured it was just given away. I'm so glad to hear you got it instead - I didn't think she had that in her, honestly.

I won't lie and say I heard a lot about you growing up, and in fact I heard next to nothing. Dad never really mentioned having a best mate. I did find his journal after the funeral, though, and now that I think about it there were a few mentions of you in there. He said you lot wanted to sneak into the Forbidden Forest and that you did sneak into the Astronomy Tower to watch a meteor shower - I've done both of those myself. I hear you also liked Quidditch matches. I'm Ravenclaw's Seeker and a co-captain of the team this year. I like to think I'm sort of working my way through Dad's to-do list, getting to do everything he never quite got to do at Hogwarts.

I couldn't do it without my best mate, though. Her name is Dee and she's one of my roommates in the Ravenclaw dormitories. Her birthday is coming up next month, so thank you for giving me an idea for her present! I'll make sure to tell her all about you and Dad and the watches - if you're willing to share any stories, I'd love to hear them.

Honestly, thank you so much. I don't really know what else to say. I'm sort of dumbfounded that Dad's watch made its way back to me, and thank you so much for giving it to me. If there's anything you want of his in return, let me know, Mum's got a bunch of boxes still. There might even be some old photographs I can scrounge up.

Thank you again, and I'll make sure to have a very happy 17th birthday!

Sincerely,
Aly Salinger

Mr. Alfie Vawdrey
245 Church Lane, Godric's Hollow
West Country, England, UK
May 12, 2024

Ms. Alyssa Salinger
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scottish Highlands, Scotland, UK

Dear Aly,

I'm glad you like the watches, and I hope they serve you and Dee well. Your dad always used to joke they served us "time after time", but that was the sort of terrible gag he just so enjoyed. I don't know of any quirks of the silver one, but I've found that in the past few years I've had to wind the bronze one once a month or so to keep it accurate. You might want to let your mate know that. I don't need anything in return, though if you want to send over a photo of you and your best mate wearing them, I'd love to put it next to a photograph I have of your dad and I wearing them. Two generations with the same watches. He'd love that.

As for your dad, you're welcome to write to me any time to talk about him. I'm glad to hear you found his journal - I always wondered what had happened to that old book. He carried it with him everywhere and was always scribbling in it - during classes, Quidditch matches, meals, that sort of thing. You're right that we did want to sneak into the Forest - we finally managed it our seventh year, thank Merlin, and only one of us got caught (neither me nor your dad). I've got plenty more tales about him you're welcome to ask about. And if you're ever in the area of Godric's Hollow, feel free to pop by for a spot of tea and some chat. Woe be it for me if I ever turn away Benners Salinger's daughter.

Happy birthday again and don't hesitate to ever let me know if you need anything. Also, please call me Alfie. I think your dad would right rise from the dead to hex me if he ever heard you calling me Mr. Vawdrey.

All my love,
Alfie