A Stitch In Time (Nova)

[Trent Innes]

Trent made his way into the Entrance Hall, heading toward the spot where Nova had been setting up over the past few days. He’d seen the table and supplies whenever he passed through, but this was the first time he’d stopped by. A folding table had been arranged with sketchpads, pencils, and supplies spread across the surface, with a tape measure nearby and a small curtain set up beside it for anyone who preferred a little privacy while being fitted. It was a practical little workspace, allowing her to work while still catching students as they passed through.

Trent waited until she had a break between students before approaching. “Hey, Nova.” A neatly wrapped parcel sat beneath his arm, covered in festive paper and tied with a ribbon. He held it out to her. “Merry Christmas. I know it’s early, but you might need this.”

He’d bought it weeks earlier during the Hogsmeade trip, intending for it to be a Christmas present. But after seeing how much time Nova had been spending creating outfits for the ball, he figured she could put it to use a little sooner. Inside were several lengths of fabric in different colours and textures, along with spools of thread, lining material, ribbons, lace, buttons, and other sewing supplies.

Trent glanced around the Entrance Hall. There didn’t seem to be anyone else waiting at the moment, the steady stream of students having briefly slowed. Rather than heading off, he pulled out the nearby chair and sat down. With the ball only a few days away, he knew she was probably going to be busy, and this might be one of the last chances he had to simply stop by and visit. “How’s it going?”

[Nova Harte]

Nova looked up at him and grinned. "Trent, hey!" she said before he held up the parcel. Her eyes bugged a bit. "Oh! You did not have to buy me anything, you know that," she said before she opened it, curious about what he had not only gotten her but also those she needed enough to give her early. "Oh wow! This is awesome and definitely about to be so helpful as I give myself my biggest challenge yet," she gave a laugh.

"I mean, it's going fine," she shrugged. "I have had a few students I had to help be a bit more realistic about what designs, but I mean, usually everyone's either super eager or super shy," she giggled a little before sitting in her own seat on the other side. She leaned back in the seat, balancing on her back legs as she propped her legs up on the table, setting her sketchbook on them, the book open on a sketch. She was wearing black leggings with the school uniform, always a bit mindful that she 100% sat like this often when sketching. "Are you wanting me to make you anything? I still know your measurements pretty well."

[Trent Innes]

Trent gave a small shrug at her reaction, though there was a faint hint of satisfaction in his expression. He had expected she would like it, but seeing how excited she was only confirmed that he'd chosen well. "No worries. I knew you'd find a use for it. Figured it would be more useful now than sitting wrapped up until Christmas." He had spent far less time figuring out what Nova would like than he had expected. After years of knowing her, her interests and preferences were hardly a mystery. Fabric, thread, and anything related to creating something new was about as safe a choice as he could make. Besides, with how often Nova ended up making things for other people, there was a decent chance some of it would benefit him eventually too.

Still, Nova's offer caught him slightly off guard. Was she asking about making him something for the Winter Solstice Ball? She knew him well enough to know he wasn't the type to attend school dances or social events. So why would she think anything had changed? Unless... Trent stopped himself there. He wasn't going to examine that thought, and he certainly wasn't going to give her an opening to ask.

Instead, he answered as though she was talking about everyday clothing. "My school robes could use some mending," he replied evenly. "There's a burn on the sleeve of one, a stain on another." His own repair magic was serviceable, but tailoring had never been one of his strengths. Nova could make damaged robes look brand new, a level of craftsmanship he had no interest in pretending he could match. Still, there were only a few months of the school year left, and replacing robes he'd soon no longer need had never seemed like a sensible use of gold. "After the holidays, though. I can see you're busy as it is."

[Nova Harte]

Nova looked over at him with a flat look as he talked about his school robes, "First off," she held up a finger, "If you think a mending would take me more than an hour, I'm insulted, and two," she threw the pencil at him, "You are going to that dance, and you're going to ask that girl I've seen you staring at in herbology. Isobel, right?" She pointed at him. "Don't lie to me! I've seen it!" She did the "I'm watching you" hand gesture.

She sat back again. "Fine, I'll just make something for you. I'll have to track down Isobel and see if she needs a dress and get her measurements," she said as if the matter were already settled and even accio'd her pencil back before starting to sketch something for him, "And I expect that by the time I've gotten to her, you'll have at least forewarned her I'm coming and why, perhaps after you ask her properly to go," she looked at him like a librarian might over glasses, except she wasn't wearing any.

She had seen the little things. It had been the same with Ili and Nate. And she wasn't wrong about them, which made her that much more sure she was right here. Though those two would hopefully mend the gap between them sooner rather than later. They looked so much more lonely without the other nearby. She was sure they weren't even aware of it, just like Trent seemed to be completely unaware of how much time he spent with Isobel, or was denying it to himself.

"Please tell me you're not lying to yourself about keeping her at arm's length, because if you say that, I will throw this again with a bit more accuracy," she held up the pencil again. "I've seen how you look at her, so all denials will be denied. And I don't mean just one time, so don't try and be like I don't like a girl cause I looked at her. I've also seen how you are with others that you've... had relationships with; I won't call it dating, cause I don't think either parties usually consider it that, though poor Simone was trying. And you don't usually keep talking to them. You talk to her all the time. You go to the Gryffindor table to talk to her, and you stare at her in Herbology like she's so fascinating, which I suppose for you the feeling she gives you would be a fascinating new experience." She snorted a little.

She took a breath and put her hand to her chest, effectively lowering the pencil before saying "I'm saying this as your friend and because I'm afraid if I don't you're going to blow this up in your own face," her smile was both apologetic but saying she knew she was right.

[Trent Innes]

Trent had learned long ago that interrupting Nova when she was determined to make a point rarely accomplished anything, and he listened as she made her case, his expression remaining largely unreadable even as each observation became a little more difficult to dismiss than the last. As she spoke, his mind replayed the moments she had pointed out alongside the many others she hadn't.

His visits to the Gryffindor table, where he had no real reason to be other than wanting to see Isobel. Meeting Isobel outside of Charms so he could walk with her to her next class, even though it meant going out of his way, and somehow never minding that it did. Taking the potion ingredient from the store cupboard because he had seen it and immediately thought she would like it. The way his attention drifted toward her during Herbology, the only class they shared, and how he had somehow found himself looking forward to a subject he had never cared about before.

To anyone watching from the outside, none of it would have seemed like much more than friendship. There had been no grand gestures or obvious displays that would have made others look twice. Trent wasn’t overly flirtatious with Isobel. The very things that had always signalled his interest in other girls—easy flirtation, casual touches, uncomplicated physical intimacy—were almost entirely absent. If someone were looking for obvious signs, they wouldn’t find them.

But looking back on them now, Trent could understand why Nova had noticed the pattern—and why Isobel might have taken those moments to mean more than he had ever intended them to.

Nova knew Trent well enough to understand why those moments mattered. She knew he was a good friend—loyal, dependable, and always willing to help the people he considered close. But she also knew how fiercely independent he was. He valued his privacy and his time alone. He didn't linger simply because someone's company was pleasant. He didn't seek people out simply to spend time with them or allow someone's presence to quietly become part of his routine.

And he certainly wasn't someone who spent four months getting to know a girl while knowing there was an attraction and making no attempt to either pursue it or create distance. Trent had never been someone who waited. If he wanted something, he acted on it. If he knew a situation was heading somewhere he couldn't follow, he stepped away before it became more complicated than it needed to be. Trent had always been very good at keeping things simple.

Except with Isobel.

Nova finished speaking, but Trent remained quiet. Before Nova could mistake his silence for an opportunity to continue, he lifted a hand slightly, silently asking her to give him a moment. The truth was, Nova wasn't telling him anything he hadn't already figured out. Perhaps that was what he had failed to account for; that she would recognize small deviations from his usual behaviour.

Trent liked Isobel.

Perhaps some part of him had known from the first night they met. Maybe he hadn't wanted to examine what that feeling meant, and maybe he had spent months redirecting his thoughts whenever they came too close to that realization, but no matter how often he ignored it, those feelings had only continued to grow.

Eventually, he had stopped pretending they weren't there. That didn't mean he allowed himself to consider what came after. There was no point. Knowing how he felt changed nothing. It didn't make him capable of giving Isobel what she deserved, nor did it change what he had already decided was the right thing to do. Whenever his thoughts drifted too far in that direction, he found it easier to bury them beneath something else—schoolwork, travel plans... or someone else.

Trent let the silence stretch for another moment before finally giving voice to something he had spent months knowing without ever saying aloud. "Alright." He exhaled quietly. "I like Isobel." The words felt unfamiliar, but only because he had never needed to use them before. With other girls, things had always been straightforward. There had been attraction, there had been interest, but there had never been any reason to look deeper than that. Isobel was the first person who had made him question whether the rules he had always followed still applied.

Trent was quiet for another moment before adding, "But I'm not taking her to the dance." He could already see the argument forming before Nova had the chance to make it, and a faint sigh escaped him—not frustrated, exactly, but resigned. He knew her well enough to know that admitting he liked Isobel would only give her another reason to insist. "She already asked me," he said before she could interrupt. "I turned her down." His gaze dropped briefly, the memory surfacing despite his attempt to keep it buried: the hurt in Isobel's expression she had tried so hard to hide, followed by weeks of carefully kept distance. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly before relaxing again. Trent had spent months convincing himself that keeping things simple was the right choice, but he hadn't accounted for what it would feel like when she stopped looking for him, stopped finding reasons to talk to him, stopped making room for him in her day. "She's been avoiding me ever since."

[Nova Harte]

Whatever elation Nova felt at the fact that he was able to admit he liked Isobel was quickly washed away by what he confessed about Isobel asking him, and then, at his last statement, her response slipped out: "You bloody think!?" she scoffed, "You're an idiot, Trent, I swear to Merlin. Why the bloody hell would you do that? If you like her and she likes you, clearly because she asked you, why would you turn her down?! And of course she's avoiding you; she put her heart on her sleeve, and you knocked it to the floor!" She put her hands over her face as she leaned back, trechorously testing how far back the chair would go before she sat forward, the chair hitting the floor somewhat loudly considering the echo chamber of the room they were in.

"What reason could you possibly have for being so cruel?" she asked him sharply, "What does it do to your pride to put on a nice suit and spend an evening with a girl you like and likes you? What part of that sounds so terrible that you'd do that to her?" she asked, crossing her arms, looking at him like if whatever his reasoning was wasn't good enough, that pencil was going to be the least of his concerns.

"Because right now, as your friend, you're being a coward. You'd rather stick to the easy, non-committal shit because realizing you'd give it up for her scares you. Grow a pair, you bloody twit, and apologize to her. Then tell her I'm making her a dress. I'm going to make these anyway, because you need to do what's right and fix it. And put someone else's feelings first. Like actually. And I don't care how nicely you think you let her down; you still heard she wanted to spend an evening with you and said no thanks, like a moron."