As she hugged him, tears slowly began to run into his fur. Alek turned his head and licked her face; she smiled at the wolf and kissed his snout, "Thank you, boy."
After a while, she and Alek fell asleep. Alina woke up a few hours later still hugging the wolf, she looked at the clock and decided to get ready for dinner. She made her way to her bathroom to shower and change. Once Alina was ready, Alina decided it was time to talk to her father and tell him what had happened. This situation was not something that she could keep from him for long.
Putting on her shoes, Alina left her room and went to Charles' office, "Come in, My Lamb," Charles tells her. Alina takes a deep breath and walks in.
Charles is sitting behind his desk, filling out some paperwork. Alina stands there and waits patiently for her father to finish, he looks up and her and smiles, "Please, love, sit down. I'll be with you in a moment."
Alina gives him a sad smile and sits down on the sofa. Once Charles is finished, he wheels out from behind his desk and comes up next to Alina. He takes her hand in his, "Now what did you want to talk about?"
Alina takes a deep breath and opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She tries again but nothing. Charles waits patiently for his daughter to speak. Suddenly her eyes begin to well with tears, and she launches herself at her father. Charles hugs her tightly as she begins to sob into his shoulder.
"Oh, My Lamb, does this have to do with the boy that broke up with you?"
Alina can't speak, so she touches Charles' temple and shows him everything that happened. Charles watches as everything plays out in his head. He would have been angry, but he can tell that his daughter loves this man and he can't bring himself to reprimand her for it when Alina finishes showing Charles what happened.
Charles sighs, "Oh, My Dear, I'm so sorry this happened to you," Charles tells his only child and hugs her to him tightly, "But in all honesty, a relationship between you and this man was very inappropriate."
"I know it was, Dad, and it wasn't like I planned on falling in love with my professor. It just happened."
Alina stands up and begins to pace the room, "I should have known better than to believe that Remus could truly love me. He probably thought I was just some childish girl that he could take advantage of me. I mean he never actually said that he loved me in the first place. I'm so stupid!"
"No, you're not, my dear. Remus was the first man you ever care about, and unfortunately, you had to learn the hard way that he was not the right person for you."
"Will the pain go away?"
"In the time it will, My Lamb. Unfortunately, this will not be the last time you experience such pain. It may take a long time before you meet the right man."
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Alina says with a sigh.
"In the meantime, we have your graduation to celebrate. Why don't you get ready and we will head out to meet the others?"
Alina smiled, "Alright, let me go get ready."
Once she and the other's are ready, they all head out to New York to meet up with the other in Dragon Alley. When they arrive, Dylan, Maxine, and Samantha, along with their parents, have already arrived. They greet each other warmly then head out into the City.
Samantha's father James treats everyone to dinner at one of his restaurants. As a special treat, James had reserved the entire restaurant and had invited the graduating class of Ilvermorny and their families to celebrate. Alina, Dylan, Maxine, and Samantha were so surprised and happy to see their friends from Ilvermorny. All of the kids sat together and talked about their year and what they were going to do now that school was over while their parent sat apart.
Once dinner was over, and the graduation cake brought out, the kids were turned loose. They all said goodbye to their parents and headed out to a club that was exclusive to Witches and Wizards called The Liberty. It was located under the Statue of Liberty, and the only way to get there was to apparate.
When they arrived, the club was already packed. Everyone dispersed and either went out on the dance floor or to the bar. Dylan went to the bar to get drinks for himself and the girls. He got firewhiskey for himself and margaritas for the girls. The girls were sitting in a booth when Dylan arrived with the drinks. They laughed and talked and drank the night away. Eventually, they all got up to dance. Samantha and Alina danced together while Maxine danced with Dylan. It didn't take long for some attractive Wizards to notice the two single girls.
After a while, Alina and Samantha went back to their table and ordered some more drinks. After the waitress leaves with their drink order, two Wizards approach the girls. The Wizards smile and introduce themselves.
One was tall muscular with dark hair and blue eyes the other was also tall muscular with sandy blonde hair and green eyes, "Hello, I'm Ivan," The dark-haired one said.
"And I am Karl," The blonde said, looking at Samantha.
"Hello, I'm Alina, and this is Samantha."
"Would you ladies mind if we joined you for a drink," Ivan asked.
Alina and Samantha looked at each other, communicating telepathically, "No, we wouldn't mind."
The Wizards smile and sit down, Ivan next to Alina and Karl next to Samantha, "We couldn't help noticing that you ladies are here alone tonight." Karl says.
"No, we came with two other people, but they're on the dance floor right now."
The two Wizards nod, "So what brings you ladies to the Liberty tonight?"
"We just graduated from school," Alina tells them.
"What a coincidence so did we. Did you go to Ilvermorny?" Karl asks.
"Yes, we did, but we did our last year at Hogwarts," Alina explains.
"No wonder we never saw at school."
"I don't remember seeing you two at Ilvermorny before," Samantha says.
"It was the same with us. We transferred from Durmstrang. Our families moved to America last year." Karl says.
The girls look at each other and nod, "How did you like Ilvermorny?"
"It was quite different from our old school, very modern I enjoyed it," Ivan tells the girls.
"We're glad you did," Samantha tells them.
"What made you girls transfer to Hogwarts," Karl asked.
"A favor to a family member."
The Wizards accept their answer. As the night continues, Ivan and Karl continue to talk with Alina and Samantha and order drinks. After a while, Maxine and Dylan come back to their table. Alina introduces her friends to Ivan and Karl. They shake hands and sit down to talk.
At one point the Wizards ask the two Witches if they want to dance. Samantha eagerly agrees, but Alina hesitates. Ivan smiles down at her, "It would be my honor if you would dance with me."
Alina sighs then smile up at him. She takes his hand, and Ivan leads her out to the dance floor. They dance several songs together, enjoying each other's company. Alina is enjoying herself with Ivan; they laugh and talk as well as they could with the music so loud. Ivan flirts with Alina, and she teases him back. But when a slow song comes on and Ivan takes hold of Alina's hips their dance becomes more intimate. Ivan looks deep into Alina's eyes then leans down and kisses her. Alina kisses him back but suddenly pulls away.
"I'm sorry, Ivan, I can't do this."
"Why not?"
"I just broke up with my boyfriend, and I'm not ready for anything else."
Ivan sighs, "I understand. Come on, let's go have a drink."
Ivan leads her off the dancefloor back to the booth where everyone is sitting and orders some drinks. Alina, Ivan, and the others spend the rest of the night talking and laughing.
Meanwhile, at the Leaky Cauldron, Remus suddenly wakes up gripping his chest. It feels like a vice is squeezing his heart, and a tear rolls down his cheek. Remus has a terrible feeling that he could be losing his mate to someone else.
"Please, don't let me lose her." Remus prays to whoever will listen to him.