XV

"Try writing down now," Cassiopeia offered the dark diary to George, feeling him glaring at her with a deep frown.

"Are you sure that's not gonna try to suck my soul for energy?" he questioned, not even touching the object.

She rolled her eyes for what felt like the 100th time.

"No, George. Don't you trust me?"

In front of the two teens there were two diaries. The one she had offered him and a greyish one the girl had for herself. For weeks Cassiopeia had worked on enchanting them and these were the final product. With them, they'd be able to communicate during the holidays without people thinking something was up or being able to access the object.

He hesitated, but pulled a quill from between them and wrote a series of random names down onto the paper.

When he was finished, Cassiopeia opened her own diary under his eyes, and his red eyebrows shot up when he realised it had actually worked, and his words were right there.

"See?" she smiled. "And it's snoop proof. If someone who isn't you tries to open it, it will lock itself up. If the person manages to break into it anyway, it will show up as empty pages. And, if they even try to go through its pages or write on it, it will disappear until you are safe and able to retrieve it."

George was surprised but, on top of that, he was very, very impressed. Damn, he couldn't even close his mouth, his jaw was out of his control.

"Cas, you are a genius!" he finally managed to exclaim. "I thought I wouldn't be able to talk to you the whole summer and you came up with that! That's… Like… That's brilliant."

The girl felt her cheeks get hot and pink in embarrassment.

"Now we can talk, right?" she gave him a shy look.

But what if he didn't want to talk...

George gave her huge a smile.

"We can spend the whole night talking even today!" he exclaimed. "It's so much better than hiding the whole time!"

Cassiopeia finally mirrored his smile, but let out a long sigh right after.

"We have to go," she finally said. "It's late and the last task is tomorrow."

He didn't protest and stood up.

"Are you excited?" he leant on the table while the girl collected her diary and gave his to him.

"For Summer?" she frowned.

"No," he shook his head. "For the last task!"

Cassiopeia denied quickly with a shake of a head that made her hair fall just a bit out of its restrains. She adjusted the stick that kept the blond strands together on a bum.

"I'm ready for this tournament to be over," she pointed. "I keep getting a bad feeling about it."

It was the first time she ever mentioned that. There was something happening, or about to happen. She didn't know what it was, but she definitely didn't want to be there to find out.

"You worry too much," he rolled his eyes. "It's just a fun thing, no one is getting hurt for real, the judges are here to make sure of that."

But she only shook her head again.

"I'm not gonna watch it," Cassiopeia decided. "Have fun with your brother there, you can tell me the details later."

George nodded, knowing better than to protest.

"Have a good night, then," he rubbed his own elbow in a nervous motion. "Uh… Sleep tight."

He wanted to hug her, but didn't know if they were past that barrier yet.

Not thinking and feeling bold, Cassiopeia walked to him and used the table to level her weight before planting a kiss on his cheek, giving him a small smile.

"Good night, George."