When I reached my apartment, I unlocked the door as softly and quietly as I could. I tried to be sneaky as I opened the door, not because I wanted to scare Luke but because I wanted to know whether he holed up in his room even when I wasn’t around or if he made use of the rest of the house. My question was answered when I spotted Luke lounging on the couch, a book in one hand and a cookie in the other. He’d baked a new batch. Perfect.
I squinted at the book as I started closing the door behind me and realized it was the first Harry Potter book. I also saw that he wasn’t many pages into it yet. Well, wasn’t that just lucky?
I softly knocked on the door once I’d closed it behind me so I didn’t startle him. He craned his neck to look over and his eyes widened when he spotted me.
“Hey, Luke! I got off work early. Just gonna grab a shower. Please don’t disappear again.” I gave him a teasing smile before disappearing into my room. If I had to guilt him into staying, then I would. Enough was enough.
Though I hoped he’d stay, I still rushed through the shower and dressed up in an old t-shirt and sweatpants in record time. I grabbed the copy of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone I’d bought a few days ago—along with the rest of the series—and headed into the living room. I smiled when I spotted Luke on the couch. He was sitting now, the book in his lap and the cookie gone.
His eyes fell on me as I took a seat on the armchair and then the book in my hand. He looked up at me with a raised brow and I leaned back in my chair as I spoke, “A colleague recommended me to read the Harry Potter books and when I made the mistake of asking why she’d want me to read a children’s book she made me buy the whole series and promise her I’d read it.”
Luke’s lips tilted into a small smile and I marveled again at how much that smile brightened his face. “Well, if you said that then she definitely did the right thing.”
I made a face that made him chuckle and I smiled before replying, “So anyway, I noticed you were reading the same book and I wondered if we could read together. You know, narrating alternate chapters. It would give us a chance to hang out since we didn’t have an opportunity to do it all week,” I didn’t point out that it was because he’d taken every opportunity to avoid me, “and it would be good to get to know each other a bit. Or at the very least be comfortable in each other’s presence so we don’t tiptoe around each other whenever we’re both home.” Whoops, did I say too much?
Luke chewed his lower lip for a second before nodding hesitantly. “Would you like some cookies?”
“Of course!” I said excitedly, making him smile. Those cookies were going to be the death of me. Or that smile.
Once Luke had a plate of cookies set on the coffee table, he sat back on the couch with his book, choosing to curl up in the corner this time.
“Shall I start?” I asked once we were both comfortable with a book in one hand and a delicious cookie in the other.
“Yep,” Luke said around a mouthful of cookie. I cleared my throat before opening to the first chapter.
“Chapter one. The boy who lived-”
“Wait. Read the dedication too. You don’t read the dedications?” He outrage in his voice made me grin, but I obediently went back and started again.
“For Jessica, who loves stories, for Anne, who loved them too, and for Di, who heard this one first.”
Yeah, I got why he read dedications. That was damn sweet.
Sipping a glass of water, I resumed reading. “Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much…”
We read for a long time after that, one of us reading while the other munched on a cookie and sipped water. I usually read thrillers and general fiction, so it wasn’t as easy for me to get into the story as it seemed to be for Luke, especially since the story was about the adventures of three eleven-year-olds. Still, I kept reading because I didn’t want Luke to think I was bored. If this was the only way we could spend some time together, then I’d take it.
When Luke ended the chapter he was reading and declared it was dinner time, I was surprised at how long we’d read.
“Damn, this book is something else,” I said as Luke walked into the kitchen, hoping he hadn’t realized that I wasn’t really into it. I leaned against the kitchen doorway to give him space as I waited to see if he had something to say.
“I know you aren’t really into it yet,” Luke said with a small smile without looking up at me.
“Nah, I liked it.”
“It’s okay. I’ve been reading them since I was thirteen. I had to keep them hidden because my parents hated the books because they believed it was about wiccans and dark magic.” Luke rolled his eyes at the memory before shaking his head. “Anyway, you not being into it is actually a good thing because now I get to show you all the things about it that make it so much more than a children’s book. And I can promise you that by the time we’re done with the series, you’ll love it as much as I do.”
“That’s a huge promise to make. How about a bet instead?”
“What do I win?” Luke asked, completely confident in his ability to turn me into a Hogwarts loving reader.
“Whatever you want.”
Luke nodded thoughtfully, “I’ll decide later.”
“If I win, that is, if I don’t fall in love with the wizarding world, you’ll bake me a batch of cookies at least twice a month for as long as we live together.” I declared and Luke chuckled.
“Deal.”
I’d just finished the eleventh chapter when Luke’s phone started ringing. Luke grabbed the phone and looked at the screen with a frown before saying, “Give me a minute.”
I nodded at him and he received the call, “Hey Ma, everything okay?”
Luke winced before slapping a palm on his forehead, “Holy shit, I totally forgot. I’m so sorry, Ma. I was reading Harry Potter with Scott and I completely lost track of time.”
Luke chuckled, sneaking a glance at me before looking away, “Yeah. Yeah, it’s good. I’ll make it up to you later, okay? Night, Mama D. I love you.”
He looked up at me with a sheepish grin once he was done. “I was supposed to go over at my mom’s for dinner and I completely forgot. She was not happy.”
“You told her you were reading Harry Potter.”
“Yeah, I did. She doesn’t think it’s a children’s book either.”
“But,” I started, confusion seeping into my voice, “In the kitchen I thought you said your parents hated the books?”
“Oh.” The smile disappeared from Luke’s face. “Mama D is my adoptive mom. My parents didn’t like my lifestyle choices so they kicked me out when I was seventeen.” He said with a shrug, as if it was no big deal. I’d read so many similar stories in Angie’s section in Voice Out, and I hated that so many parents around the world gave society’s opinions and their religion more importance than they gave to their kids. I didn’t know how my parents would’ve reacted since I never got to tell them, but I believed they’d have loved me regardless just like my godfather had. I wished everyone had that, like they deserved to.