Epilogue
My month in London was better than I ever imagined it could be. Arriving at the airport that rainy day in May, alone, might have been the single most terrifying experience of my life, but forcing myself to be brave and step into the unknown was the best decision I had ever made.
It wasn’t exactly an easy conversation with my mom when I told her I was going, and it was an even more awkward conversation when I told her I wasn’t going to take the LSAT. I finally told her that I didn’t want to be a lawyer. I wanted to be a literary agent, and my time in London just confirmed that. I guess I really did need the time away to think about what it was that I really wanted. After that, everything just sort of fell into place. It was an easy decision to make once I stopped caring about what other people—even my mother—thought.And honestly, she took it better than I thought she would.
I didn’t tell him when my flight landed. I wanted it to be a surprise. I didn’t really know what made me think I would find him here.
Maybe because this spot had sort of become our spot in my head and a part of me hoped he felt the same way—that the bench in the park held the same sort of mystical power over him as it did me. A place of serenity. Peace. The first and last memory we held of each other.
Even still, my breath caught in my chest as I saw him from a distance. My skin prickled with goosebumps and nerves, but even though I was scared, I was also validated. See? I toldmyself, He hasn’t forgotten. I felt a warmth fall over me like the clouds had finally passed by, freeing the sun at last. I approached him quietly, though it took all of my self-control not to run to him, and with each torturous step I wondered what I would say when I finally reached him.
He was so invested in the thick book opened on his lap he didn’t even look up as my shadow crossed the pages. My lips twitched into a half smile. Such concentration.
“Harry Potter?” I asked.
He didn’t look up right away, but a hint of a smile played on his lips.