Arabella was trying to convince herself that this was just a walk, and nothing more. There was no reason for the number of times she’d changed clothing (three, only to end up in her first outfit of black jeans, a blue button up, pink sweater, and beige coat with her green wellies), nor the amount of time she’d spent packing a small nap sake with a bottle of wine, plastic cups, cheeses, bread, and small knives. And she had spent entirely too much time on her hair, not allowing her to do more than run some chap stick and powder on her face before rushing to the door when she heard Aberforth knock.
He was a very nice man. Arabella knew this in her mind already, when he was the memories of an older man who had been in the Order and had been kind to her. But her heart knew it now too, remembering how he’d held her in the mist, how he’d made her feel safe and wanted… worthy of his time despite being a squib. She wanted his friendship to be true and more than an accident of loyalties, and this walk was sure to cement that. She checked herself in a mirror of a moment, smoothing the flyways of her high ponytail for a second before opening the door and bursting out with giggles at the sight of Eyre and Aberforth.
“Oh, look at you!” she said, address the goat as she closed the door of her home and adjusted her backpack slightly. She reached for the goat, patting it’s heard, bent down and at Abeforth’s eye level as she turned to look at him, grinning wide. “She’s gotten bigger,” she commented, before standing up straight and offering her hand to him so he could stand as well with her. The goat was small still, but so full of life and with none of the fear Arabella had noted when first finding her for Aberforth. She’d gotten comfortable with her human. And somehow, that made Arabella’s opinion of Aberforth swell once more.