AS THE holiday ended, Jade found herself wanting it to continue. She and Luna had been writing letters back and forth ever since that day on the Knight Bus.

The moment Jade got off at a stop about a mile down the road from her house, she stuck the parchment in a pocket on her coat, zipped it up, and sped off on her bicycle. She hadn't even bothered to put her hood up, and it was pouring. When she got home, her hair was a mess again, and her t-shirt and pants were plastered to her skin, but she didn't care. She had to get a letter out.

The first letter was short and sweet. She did ask about the necklace, and found out that the ring was her mother's engagement ring. When her mother died, Luna's father let her have the ring so she could keep her mother with her at all times. Luna said her father let her do so because she hadn't known her mother for as long as he had.

The second letter got longer, and the next few were even longer than that. Soon enough, Jade and Luna were writing pages and pages to each other, detailing the things they thought were beautiful about each day or what they were most excited for this coming school year.

"I found some lovely daisies that remind me of you. I'll press them and give them to you when we go back." Jade wrote, staring at the precious white flowers sitting in the small glass vase on her desk. They were delicate little flowers she had found in the forest when she and her mom had gone for a walk. The sunlight was shining through a hole in the trees, and it landed directly on them. She figured it was a sign that she had to get them to Luna.

She was still confused on her feelings for the girl. She had no idea if Luna liked girls, which made it hard for Jade to have a crush on her. She hated going for straight girls because it usually made them uncomfortable and ended badly for her, so she decided she would wait until she knew for a fact that Luna liked girls. But the girl was so lovely that Jade found it hard not to like her.

Being best friends would suffice, for now.

So, they continued to write more and more letters. Luna would detail all of her exciting explorations with her father to find creatures that may or may not exist. She had convinced Jade that Wrackspurts existed, and when Jade tried to convince her parents, they laughed at her and told her she was crazy.

Luna would send pictures every now and then, and Jade would send them back. Jade's photos did not move, but Luna's did, as she had a wizard camera. They were usually just pictures of flowers or trees blowing in the wind, but there were two photos Jade loved in particular. One of them was a photograph of a flower, but not just any flower, it was a red tulip. On the back, Luna had written a message in her loopy handwriting: "I know you like red tulips :)". Every time she thought about the picture, she smiled to herself and whispered about how much she did, in fact, like red tulips.
The second picture was of Luna. Her father had taken it, and it showed her reaching for something in a tree, then turning to smile at the camera. The sun cast a radiant halo around her long, blonde hair, making her look even more angelic. She smiled, her thin lips parting to show her teeth. And her outfit was truly something else. Luna wore a dark green dress that had a few small, but noticeable, holes in it. She had tight, light purple jeans on underneath it, and bright red sneakers on her feet.

Jade didn't know if it was weird to hang it up on her wall, but she did anyways.

And then, the letters slowed down, since the holiday was ending and they'd be seeing each other very soon. She received the last letter two days before the new school year started. It was three pages long, and Luna had detailed her trip to Diagon Alley and how strange it was. Jade was thinking of all the things she wanted to say in response, but all of those thoughts were pushed away by two lines at the end of the letter.

"Love,
Luna"