We need to talk.

It had been nearly three months since he and Isobel had taken the trip down memory lane. Things had been going quite well for the two of them, and Aidan was thinking about asking her for the Christmas Ball. In the back of his mind, however, he still remembered what he'd seen. Since then, he'd been thinking about why he saw them together. He'd come to the conclusion that he saw what Isobel had seen in the crystal ball, and he put a lot of faith in Isobel's ability to see the future. Since he and Apollo never really met anywhere specific, he decided he'd just go to the prefect lounge and wait for him there. Luckily for him, Apollo was already there when he arrived. He walked over to him and sat down. He wasn't quite sure what his opening statement would be, so he just went with the direct approach.

"Hey, what do you think of Isobel?"

A beautiful day, as always. Apollo woke up, took a shower, brushed his teeth and wore his clothes. He greeted his sleepy roommate as always. Man, he was really sleepy! Apollo, couldn't understand how somebody could that sleepy all the time. Yeah, he surely had some pretty hard time waking up, but he was almost hyperactive during the rest of his day. He ate his favorite breakfast. Croissants with cereal. As he left his dorm, he headed towards the Perfect Lounge. It was the place where he usually went, at the beginning of his day. It was a good place to talk with other Perfects, especially about that, super cool, restricted section of the Library.

Apollo sat down, and waited for people to arrive. Most Perfects didn't come today, for reasons unknown. Time passed. But nobody came. Apollo felt like the, half-empty, Perfect Lounge was getting more and more boring. The Seventh year was about to leave, when he saw Aidan entering inside the room. He giggled and sat down again. Aidan came closer and sat next to him. Apollo said "Hello", as always, but Aidan remained silent for a while. Was he thinking about saying "Hi" to him? What the heck? It's not like they just met! In the end, Aidan talked:

"Oh, Isobel. She was the first person I met here, in Beauxbatons. I haven't got any problem with her. She seems rather fine... But I don't think she likes me that much. Probably, because of our Quidditch rivalry..."

That was... surprisingly vague. Did he not get it? Aidan asked further. "Dude, you know what I mean. You know." Whenever Aidan wondered how he ever became prefect, he looked at Apollo and decided that whoever chose prefects was completely insane. "You know, if Sophie wasn't here." Of course, as a fifth-year, Aidan knew all about Sophie and Apollo. They were semi-official right now, he believed. King and queen of the detention hall, now with permission to do most things since Apollo was prefect. Of course, that made him question the image he saw in Isobel's mind. He'd thought a lot about it, and he'd come to the conclusion that he saw the future that Isobel had seen in the crystal ball. Which meant she and Apollo were going out together. But Apollo had Sophie and he wasn't really on the best of terms with Isobel, so he didn't quite know... He trusted Isobel's ability to see the future, but he also knew the present. And he didn't trust that for one bit.

Aidan's expression was unnaturally serious. Apollo started getting worried. Something really important must have been puzzling Aidan... Where is the relaxed diver, he knew? And then out of nowhere, he mentioned Sophie. How did he know, that Apollo has a crush on her? Was it that obvious? What was this question all about, anyway? Was he actually... asking him if he has a crush on Isobel? OK, the whole situation became too awkward, in a matter of seconds.
"Um... What do you mean? What if Sophie wasn't here?" He laughed awkwardly. "What does Sophie have to do with Isobel anyway? Yeah, I know they're friends, but I told you. I barely talk to Isobel."

Did he really not get it? Well, maybe that wasn't so strange after all. Yeah, so I saw a vision in a memory of you and Iz doing like nearly-romantic stuff. That's not cool, bro, so tell yourself in the maybe-near future to not go on dates with Isobel. Yeah, like that'd work. "It's not about Sophie and Isobel. It's about Isobel and you. I just need to know, OK? I don't care whether or not you talk to her." He didn't feel like he had to share the memory. That was something for him and Isobel. And, let's be honest, it didn't sound that good. No, seriously. You two were so nearly doing stuff. How would he explain that?

Apollo's answer, didn't really satisfy Aidan. What did he want? Why is he randomly asking all these questions? A "Hello", could work too! Apollo couldn't really understand, what Aidan wanted. His head was full of random speculations.
"Isobel and me? What about us? If you don't care about me talking to her, then what do you want? I told you about my opinion on her! Aidan, what's wrong?" Apollo said, quite worried... Aidan seemed to begin losing his mind. At least, that's what it seemed like.

Aidan wanted to facepalm so, so much. How could he not get it by now?! Did he really have to say it directly to him? Maybe. He was running out of ideas. "Would you want to date her?" He tried to calm down, but mister steal-yo-girl here refused to even answer that. Maybe he should tell him... "Alright, so, I need to know because I saw a vision about the two of you going out. That's not cool, dude." It was the simplified version of the truth, but everything he said was true.

Aidan then realized something. Whatever Apollo answered, he would still go out with her, right? Fate was inescapable...

Suddenly, Aidan's expression changed. If he wasn't satisfied with Apollo's previous answer, he surely detested this one. This was a rare expression, for Aidan. He never showed his annoyance that much. Apollo looked down, and tried to avoid eye contact. Aidan was probably going to ask another weird question. Why were all these even happening? What did Apollo do?

And... the next question came. What the heck? Would he want to date Isobel? Why was Aidan even caring about that? Apollo didn't answer. He was sure, that his answer would be again unsatisfying. Then, Aidan said some even more puzzling...

"Alright, first of all, I dunno if I'd date Isobel. She is pretty, I can't deny that, but we rarely talk to each other! Besides... I like somebody else..." Apollo took a deep breath and continued talking...

"Now, about that vision, visions can be ambiguous. But even if we will go out at some point, why is there a problem with that? I can't understand why that's not cool."
Apollo sighed and smiled slightly. He didn't want Aidan to think that he was hostile or anything. The whole situation was just unexpected...

Aidan was reaching the point he feared most. "It wasn't my vision, but Isobel's, and I doubt she would ever make a mistake when fortunetelling." Apollo still looked at him. He knew he didn't answer his first question, but he couldn't run from it, either. "OK, so... Maybe... I might like her. That's why it's not cool. It's quite literally the opposite. Moi, je l'aime et toi, tu fais comme tu l'as jamais vraiment regardé. C'est pas quelque chose que tu fais comme ça. We clear?" Aidan finished, doing an accelerando in his words. And maybe it wasn't all true. But right now, Aidan could't give in. He'd apologize later.

Apollo smiled. He found it kinda cute, that Aidan liked Isobel. He couldn't understand though, how he could end up dating Isobel? They barely talked to each other. Well, it was Isobel. She was a seer, so her vision must have been true. Nobody really knows the future. It's unpredictable. Apollo shrugged and patted Aidan's back.
"She's all yours, dude." He giggled. "You know... I like Sophie. Yeah, I have a crush on her. I can't really understand how I could ever end up with Isobel." He shook Aidan's hand slightly, and looked him seriously in the eyes. "However, I can promise you that I'll never think of dating her, without telling you."

Well, looks like he did have to spell it out for him. He was still mildly worried about the two of them, but he'd see. He also didn't really get far with her just yet, so maybe they'd never even end up together, or maybe the future she saw just wasn't going to happen, it didn't really matter. Aidan smiled. "Cool. Thanks. Sorry for giving you so much shit." He scribbled on a note See you in five? Lake and chanted "Avifors" to it. As the paper transformed into a majestic blue bird, he told it: "For Isobel, then transform back." The bird flew away. So nice that he finally found use for that spell! It still was quite far-fetched, though. He stood still for a moment, thinking what to do next. He said "Accio deodorant", told Apollo "I gotta run, got a date to fix, best of luck with Sophie!", and as he rushed down the stairs, he cringed a little when he heard the high-pitched scream only a girl hit by a can of deodorant could make.

After all that nonsense, Aidan smiled. Finally! Apollo smiled as well, in response. He couldn't understand why all these happened, in the beginning, but everything made much more sense now. Poor Aidan. At least, now he was sure that Apollo wouldn't "steal" Isobel, from him.
"It's OK, dude." He laughed. "Just, next time, try to be more specific." Apollo said, before winking at Aidan jokingly.

Aidan then used a spell, which Apollo thought would be useless in actual real life, to transform a paper into a majestic blue bird. Apollo gasped in surprise. Whoa... it was beautiful.
"Thank you! Good luck with Isobel, as well! Best wishes!" He shouted, as Aidan rushed down the stairs...