Turn Tomorrow into Yesterday ((Dixie))

[Professor Adam Greene]

Adam stood at the edge of the park's entrance, his hands in the pocket of his jacket. The wind blew against his face, his hair sticking up from his forehead. It was a cool autumn day, yet his palms were slightly sweaty from nerves. He went to step past the gate, but stopped for at least the third time as he tried again to gain his composure. "Just go already," he kept telling himself. Despite the gut feeling he had, telling him things just might end up fine, Adam was nervous about meeting Dixie. He even wondered if she'd show up after their last encounter. That was in the past though, and he was ready to give the future another go. Dixie still gave him that chill when he thought of her; the good kind of chill that gave him hope.

As he finally worked up the courage, Adam stepped into the park, the wind picking up as he walked. He scanned the surrounding areas, looking for the familiar face. He didn't see Dixie anywhere though, and so he kept walking. "Does she still even love me?" he questioned in his mind, his eyes following his feet along the sidewalk. Again, he took another moment to look around, eventually spotting Dixie across the way. She was sitting alone on a bench, a steaming cup of what Adam guessed was chai-tea in her hand. He smiled, pausing for a moment to remember that first time in the common room and how she had conjured them both up a cup of chai. The memory was a good one, one that Adam was grateful to have back after what happened with the accident.

With the smile still on his face, Adam made his way across the grass toward the bench. Dixie wasn't looking his way until he was almost right in front of her. When his shadow blocked the sun from her view, she turned his way. "Hi," Adam said, standing in front of her with his hands still in his jacket. "Can you help warm a friend up?" he asked, taking a seat on the wooden bench beside Dixie. He laughed as he took the chai tea she offered him and then took a sip. No doubt it was the Dixie Holden blend he had tasted so many times before. "You haven't lost your touch," he mentioned, then added with a wink, "but it tastes like it's been altered only slightly. Perhaps, a taste of France?" The conversation was easier than he'd expected. It was amazing how effortless Adam was able to slip back into his old self when he wasn't constantly thinking himself in circles. Had he known the entire time that he just needed to let loose, he might have saved himself a lot of trouble.

"So I think I owe you an apology," he said finally, breaking the small gap of silence between the two. Adam caught Dixie's eye, looking for some sign of hope to still remain. "I know that it's been a, for lack of better words, hectic past few months." The memories slowly sunk back in and Adam wondered what Dixie was thinking. "I guess I'm just sorry that things between us weren't the best there for a while. It's mostly my fault... but I want to make things change, Dix..." the words left his lips, a lingering sense of hope filling the gap between he and Dixie. "Rae and I... we're done by the way," he added, realizing that was an important aspect that Dixie need know. "She apparently knew the whole time that I was making a mistake, but I guess that's all in the past now, right?" Adam hoped it could be in the past. It was the only way he figured that his future could have Dixie as part of it. Adam didn't speak for a while, allowing Dixie to contemplate his words. His heart was racing now more than ever as he waited for her to speak.

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

Dixie sat on a bench with a cup of chai in her hands, warming them sufficiently. Her brown hair kept blowing this way and that because of the wind, but her hands were too cold to move and tuck the strands of hair behind her ear – only to have them blow away again. She sniffled and was reminded that she had a small cold, or well – was getting over the small cold. Still, she sniffled as she sipped at her tea and bounced her leg up and down. Dixie was waiting for Adam to show up. He had owled her, asking her to meet him at the park, and she had agreed (of course she had agreed). Now, she was waiting (rather impatiently mind you) for him to show up, to talk to her about whatever he had wanted to talk to her about. Dixie sighed slightly and took another sip of her tea as her brown eyes looked around the park. It was an autumn afternoon and there weren’t many people about, but the people who were about were those who loved to spend their day in the park. Either reading beneath a tree or talking with a lover. It was a scene right out of a painting or a good book, but alas – Dixie felt out of place. She turned the cup in her hand slowly and looked at it before looking at the extra cup of chai tea that she had brought for Adam – assuming he’d want one. It was rather cold, though, so she expected he might ask for it or at least be grateful that she had thought of it.

She smiled softly as she stared at the cup. It was amusing how something so little like a cup of tea could make her remember all of the things that happened between her and Adam. She didn’t know what she would have done if she had forgotten every memory, and she was glad that it hadn’t happened to her. Having it happen to Adam had been hard enough. Dixie frowned and closed her eyes, the usual guilt and shame that she felt for leaving him washing over her as she sat with her tea in her hands. She really shouldn’t have done that, and she would probably never fully forgive herself. No matter if Adam forgave her. Dixie opened her eyes and lifted her head, looking at the girl sitting beneath a tree on a flannel blanket, reading a book. Steam was coming off the cup in Dixie’s hand and was getting in her line of vision, but she didn’t mine and she didn’t look away. Instead, she lifted her cup to her lips and took a sip. Her hand shook as the warmth was taken away from it and she smacked it against her leg lightly. Dixie always got cold easier than anyone else. It was a curse. She lowered the cup and instantly wrapped her fingers around it again, her eyes still on that girl. She found herself wondering what was her story? But before she could let her mind go off in a tangent about a possible life story, the sun was blocked and cold spread over Dixie. She turned her attention to see who had blocked the sun.

Adam stood in front of her and instantly Dixie forgot about being cold. She smiled at him when he asked if she could help warm a friend up, and then picked up the cup of chai she had brought for him and handed it to him before relaxing into the bench. A laugh escaped her and she shrugged, “I don’t know, I didn’t ever drink chai in France. I was pretty much the coffee addict in France. So maybe I have lost my touch and have forgotten a little ingredient or something. Who knows? It still tastes like heaven to me.” Dixie took a sip of the tea and rolled over the taste in her mouth as she tried to think of what she was missing. She couldn’t place her thumb on it, but it would come later; she was sure. Her gaze drifted away from Adam to that girl again as a silence settled over them. She didn’t know what she had been expecting from this meeting, but she couldn’t lie and say that she hadn’t been hoping. Because she had been. She sipped at her tea again as the silence stayed and then when he broke it again, she looked back to him.

Dixie listened to him, hanging on every word he said, wanting to break in and say he shouldn’t be sorry – she should. But she didn’t want to interrupt him. So she listened to him talk. Finally, letting her gaze drop when he said he wanted to make things change. Change could go in either direction. Dixie…Rae…Dixie…Rae… Dixie… R- she looked back up at him quickly. They were over? They… broke up? Dixie couldn’t help but let shock show on her face when Adam explained and then she smiled and nodded, “Rae does that, she’s clever… but she’s nosey and she does things when she thinks she’s right but can really be wrong. It’s one of the reasons why she annoys me so much.” She paused here and looked at the cup of chai tea in her hands, “And yes… it’s all in the past now.” Her voice dropped to nearly a whisper, “Is everything else?”

[Professor Adam Greene]

"You didn't have chai in France?" Adam asked, purposely emphasizing his shock. "I can't believe you converted to coffee on me. Probably all Daniels' fault," he teased, a bit of him wondering though what affect Clay really did have on her. They hadn't got to talk about it much, but Adam wanted to believe what Dixie had said during their last encounter. Clay was simply a friend whom she had relied on while she was alone in Paris... getting over Adam himself. It was an uneasy feeling overall, but Adam couldn't blame anybody. All he could do was trust Dixie, and he was well aware of how the whole trust issue worked out. After all, he had practically preached the whole trust thing to Dixie. The thought of trust made him think about the Christmas they had spent together. Eventually he'd have to admit that he had thrown the figurine she had given him. That wouldn't be an easy conversation, especially if he wanted to hold on to the hope that things would end well.

"Maybe so," Adam commented when Dixie spoke about Rae. It didn't take a detective to sense the bitterness in Dixie's voice though. Could Adam really blame her though? Arguably, Rae was the most mentally stable during the past few months, and after admitting that she was prepared for her and Adam to never work, it was only reasonable that Dixie would be mad. Adam, however, couldn't allow himself to be mad at Rae. He didn't tell Dixie though, because he knew he had to willingly accept that although he wanted to maintain a friendship with Rae, there was no way that he'd force Dixie into doing the same, especially if it meant losing her again.

When Dixie questioned about everything being in the past, Adam wasn't quite sure where she was going with it. "Well, yeah, everything is technically in the past. We've made mistakes, and there's nothing we can do to go back and fix them." He waited for a second before taking a sip of the tea to warm his body. "But... that doesn't mean that we can't make the future what we want it to be." Adam let the words sink in for a bit. He hoped that Dixie knew what he meant by that. He was scared to just come out and say it, but he knew that holding everything in wasn't worth the risk of missing out on what he had before with Dixie.

"We've come through a lot, Dix. I mean, we've tackled issues of trust, and then the accident. Sure, we've had some rough times... some really rough times. But now, now that I am able to look back and actually remember the good times, I know that they are enough to help me move forward and be willing to forget the bad. I mean, we can't ever truly forget, but we can at least move past them, right?" Everything made sense when he was speaking it, but Adam didn't know if it made sense from Dixie's perspective. "I guess what I'm trying to say, in a round-about way..." he sighed, knowing that it was a pivotal moment for their future if there was to be one. "... I was hoping that maybe we could give us another try." He gave a soft smile, hoping to see Dixie's eyes light up at the idea. Perhaps it was false hope, but Adam still had a hope. Surely everything that had happened wasn't enough to erase something as powerful as love.

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

Dixie smirked and took another sip of her chai tea. In a way it had been Clay’s fault, but it had also been because of her job. She didn’t mention it to Adam, though, because she didn’t think it was very important to talk about right now. She would tell him all about Paris sometime later when they weren’t so strained to figure everything out. Whether she told him as his girlfriend or his best friend, Dixie would very well tell him every detail of Paris. There wasn’t much that Dixie kept from Adam and she was certain that she would tell him everything eventually. Adam had fast become the number one person who knew everything about her and she wouldn’t let that change because of all that had happened. All that had happened. That was…quite the thought. It had happened all so fast, too. Dixie’s life held a whole lot of misfortune, but it had started to turn around when she met Adam. Even then, though, things took a turn for the worst. They were all turning out okay, though. As if it was a test from fate to see if Dixie really wanted this. She did, too. She wanted everything to be the way it had been previously. Could it be? She hoped she would find out…and soon. “Eh, coffee kept me awake on long nights is all…” she looked down at her hands which were around the cup of tea and then took another sip, trying to keep thoughts of those nights where she’d lie awake thinking of Adam from her mind.

After she had said her piece about Rae, Dixie looked at her cup of chai tea. She didn’t know how to feel about Rae. That was a very big and confusing subject. Rae, after all, had been the cause of the accident; so for that, Dixie held some resentment toward the former Ravenclaw. But not only that, Dixie felt bitterness and jealousy inside of her at the fact that Rae and Adam had been a couple. Sure, they broke up…but still. The fact that they were a couple meant that Adam had some form of feelings toward Rae and that made Dixie squirm. It wasn’t something that she could fix or something that she could have even prevented. It happened for a reason, what that reason was Dixie wasn’t quite sure, but then again Dixie was never sure of anything that wasn’t blatantly obvious. It did happen, though, and nothing happened for no reason – and so there had to be a reason for Adam and Rae having to get together and become a couple. No matter how much Dixie disliked that little fact. It happened. Somewhat like her fleeing to Paris had to happen for everything to go the way it was going now. Perhaps that was the reason. Adam and Rae had to become a couple so that Dixie and Adam could be here now. Who knew how Adam would have been if Rae hadn’t been there for him? Regardless of the reason, Dixie wasn’t happy with Rae and she probably wouldn’t be for years and years. She knew she couldn’t ask Adam to be unhappy with Rae, and she wouldn’t ever do that to begin with, but that didn’t mean she didn’t wish they could erase Rae from their lives…permanently.

She shrugged slightly, listening to Adam talk about mistakes and the past, her finger tracing the lid of the chai tea cup she held in her hands. Once he was finished, she looked up at him and shrugged again, an embarrassed smile on her face; “Yeah, I know. Everything’s in the past. Our actions and our mistakes, but I mean, the feelings behind them. Those aren’t to be forgotten like all the negative things, right?” She shrugged once more before adverting her gaze back to the cup of tea and the steam issuing from the hole in the top of the lid. She hadn’t meant just the actions. She didn’t want the actions to be remembered and brought up on a daily basis. That would just kill her. No, she was wondering if he still had a hope…the slightest sliver…that they could go back and be… a them. Not just Dixie and Adam, but an actual them. She watched the steam curl off the cup in tendrils as Adam spoke again. Make the future what they wanted it to be? What did he mean by that? What if he didn’t want the same thing she did? Dixie’s head was starting to hurt. She took a deep breath, keeping her eyes down, staring at a leaf on the ground, as she lifted the cup to her lips again and took another drink.

Listening to Adam was easy, then again it had always been easy. It was one of the reasons that she trusted him so readily. He was an easy listener and an easy talker. He put things into a perspective that made Dixie understand them. She nodded when he spoke about not being able to forget the past completely, especially the hard times, but being able to move on and past them. They could do that, that would be…easier than anything else. She didn’t know where he was going with this, though, and so her stomach remained in knots. Dixie finished her chai and then finally looked up at Adam, waiting for him to continue. A smile twitched at the corner of her lips when he mentioned going about this in a round about way, because he was beating around the bush; the smile froze, though, on her face when he finished what he was saying. Her eyes lit up as she stared at him, and finally the smile spread across her face completely, lighting up her entire face despite the cold and dreary weather. She, without thinking, threw her arms around Adam’s neck and closed her eyes tight; “Of course! Of course, of course, of course!” Dixie couldn’t remember when she felt any more elated.

[Professor Adam Greene]

It wasn't the extent of a response that Adam was expecting, but he was more than thrilled as Dixie pulled him in for a hug, saying what implied nothing more than a giant 'yes' to his proposal of them having another try. Something about her arms around him again gave him a sense of ease... something that he couldn't remember feeling for a long time. At that very moment, Adam felt that he truly had made it to the top of the hill that seemed to be with them from the onset of their relationship and through all the ups and downs. From this point, Adam could practically see everything from his place at the top of the hill. There was a lot of ground to be covered, and there would be ups and downs, but something deep inside him had told him that they had covered the hardest part. They had made it through.

Smiling, Adam nudged her back from him so that he could see her own smiling face. It never was expected by him that things could be this easy. He had become accustomed to them being difficult, but now everything in his life finally made sense. He was able to think clearly, without having to fight himself just to get out a straight thought. Even Rae had finally stopped cutting at his ability to think right. He wouldn't forget her or how much of a friend she had been, but at the same time she was no longer fighting Dixie for a spot in his mind. Or rather, she was no longer in the fight for his heart. Adam knew where his heart belonged, and he would do whatever it took to make sure it didn't get messed up again. Kissing Dixie on the forehead as he pulled her in for another hug, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the scent of her hair.

"I never want to leave you again. And you have to promise me that you won't run away to Paris again. Next time, I'm coming with you. Got it?" Adam laughed, happy that he was able to joke about the past instead of dwell on it. The point that seemed so unattainable in his life was now his. He had seized it, and together with Dixie, he was now ready more than anything to fight to keep it. If they said love only grows stronger when it is tested, they were right. "So, what do you say you come see my new place?" Adam asked, knowing that Dixie had yet to come visit since they were out of Hogwarts and he had moved out of his parent's mansion. Just that week, his old house had sold, and Adam deposited the money into two accounts; one for him and the other for Sierra. For a while, they would be well off, giving him plenty of time to find a job. "I have a leather couch," he said with a smile and a raised brow. Leather couches made him think of the first time he had a real conversation with Dixie in the Slytherin common room.

[Dixie Holden-Greene]

Dixie closed her eyes tight as she hugged Adam, trying to lock away the memory of the moment forever. Everything had been so difficult. So horrendously hard that she didn't think it would be possible to feel this way again. To feel like everything could come so easily. Dixie let out a steady breath as she pulled away from Adam slightly, moving her chai tea into her other hand so as to ease the shaking that had overcome her. She smiled at him but didn't dare look down like she might have any other day. It was as if her whole heart had just stopped aching. The ache that had been presiding inside her involuntarily was dulling away, disappearing from memory. There was no reason for ache anymore, she had no reason to feel like her heart was being torn into two. The pain that she had felt for the duration of the three months of her living in Paris hadn't disappeared while she was there, but it had gotten to the point where she could bear it – where it wasn't something that effected her from day to day. That wasn't to say she didn’t cry herself to sleep at night, because she had, but she didn't feel like crying all day. She would wake up, go to work, and be semi-happy at work. She was never fully happy, no matter how often Clay had tried, or how often someone from work tried. She didn’t know how to be fully happy without Adam, and she had tried; she just couldn't. But now – Adam was here, and they were together again, and she couldn't feel anything besides happiness. The happiness took her completely, engulfed her in its feel good vibes. Dixie couldn't remember feeling so amazing, so light on air.

Adam had kissed her forehead and pulled her back into his arms, and Dixie smiled. She wrapped her arms around him and relaxed, smiling softly. She chuckled lightly when Adam mentioned taking him with her the next time she went to France, "It's nice, you might like it. I'll show you all the sites that I never saw." She looked at him with a guilty smile on her face. When she was in Paris she hadn't had enough time to really see many of the sites. Sure, she and Clay had seen a portion of the Louvre – but it wasn't like they covered the entire museum, and besides there was so much more to Paris than the Louvre. There was the Arc de Triomph, the Eiffel Tower, and so many other places. Dixie had gone to Paris to get away from the UK, and she hadn't really appreciated the beauty that the city entailed because she felt completely alone and lost inside. Perhaps if she visited Paris with Adam it would be different. She might be able to appreciate everything if Adam were with her. She ran her fingers through her hair as Adam talked about seeing his new place and immediately she smiled brightly. Not only because she wanted to get out of the cold, but because she really was interested to see this flat he was living in on his own. She didn't know the whole situation with his parents; actually then, she didn't know anything. But she had figured it was appropriate for him to move out after Hogwarts. He would have to tell her about his parents sometime soon. "Yeah, let's get out of this cold and I'm quite excited to see this new place and decide if it needs the Dixie Holden touch or not." She smiled brightly at him, completely joking.

He mentioned a leather couch and she laughed melodically, standing from the bench and pulling him up with her; "Well, that's great. They're the best kind. As long as they aren't in a dark and dank dungeon at Hogwarts." She smirked and without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she slipped her hand into his. In a way it was the most natural thing in the world, because it was supposed to be natural. It had been natural before, why wouldn't it be natural now? Perhaps Dixie was still waiting for the second shoe to drop on her head, but what she didn't realize was that it already had. Adam had lost his memory and she had left, that's the first shoe; the second shoe was that he gained his memory back and was with Rae. Perhaps the thing which was wearing the shoes had four feet, because that's quite a bit to put into two shoes. Dixie smiled over at him as she waited for him to lead the way to his flat, suddenly remembering; "Oh! I have a flat, too, you know. I bought it for me and Mack, but apparently… Mack's, well, not living with me. Considering she's still in Hogwarts and during the holidays she's with her boyfriend's family. Regardless, I do have a flat." She shrugged and smiled at Adam once more before taking a sip of her chai, finishing it off.

((Right, can you tell where I forgot that Dixie knew absolutely nothing about Adam's family situation? *laughs*))

[Professor Adam Greene]

Sites or no sites, a trip to Paris with Dixie would be nice regardless. In fact, it would be more than nice. Adam had only ever been on vacation with his family, and as nice as that was, it was not something he was always thrilled to do. Most of the time it ended up as Sierra and him trying to find something to keep them busy while their parents were out doing the usual social activities that Adam was sure now probably dealt with the events that landed them in Azkaban to begin with. Paris would be amazing compared to any family vacation the Greene's had ever taken, so long as Dixie was at his side. "Oui Mademoiselle," he said with a grin. Dixie felt so warm in his arms, and so right, too. It was great being able to be happy again. He was happy that she agreed to come back to his flat, and they walked off as she slipped her hand into his. He gave it a gentle squeeze before replying to her comment. "And just what exactly is the Dixie Holden touch?" he questioned, a taunting glint in his eyes.

"The couch is a nice light brown leather. It's soft too," he said with a smile. "Really? You moved out?" Adam had only met Dixie's mother and step-father once- the night of the accident. Since then, he obviously hadn't seen Dixie much after the whole chain of events that pushed her to Paris, which meant he hadn't seen them again either. With the rush of everything that had happened, he had never gotten to talk to Dixie about her parents and what he had thought about that night. It seemed so long ago though, and there wasn't really anything worth bringing up the past for. He did wonder about Mack though. The time she had run into him at Hogwarts was enough to let him realize how much Mack seemed to care for Dixie. Their relationship seemed odd though, at least for Adam. There seemed to be much more complex feelings than those between he and Sierra. Of course, the bond between Adam and Sierra was a lot different due to age. Though she was very mature for her age, he was almost more of a parent to her than a big brother. They hardly ever fought. "So Mack's okay then?" he questioned, wondering who her boyfriend was these days. The last he recalled, it was another Slytherin in her year, but Adam knew how fast things could change. He knew how fast people could leave. But even greater, he now knew how fast that they could return.

After the walk from the park back to Adam's flat, he opened the door, feeling the warm air begin to escape from the cozy home. Hurrying to keep as much warmth in as possible, he closed the door behind him and took Dixie's coat from her, throwing it onto the chair that was closest to the door- the one he used as a table of sorts. Adam wasn't a dirty person or a particularly messy person, he just wasn't organized when it came to cleanliness. He didn't leave trash or food out, but he just let things like books and blankets scattered. His theory was that he would be the only one using them and so as long as he knew where they were last, it was fine for him. Of course, now with Dixie here, he wondered how she might fare with that philosophy of his. Surely she would be around a lot more now, or at least he hoped. "Well, welcome to my place." He held out his hands as a way to present the small but accommodating house he had chosen for himself. He stepped up behind Dixie and wrapped his arms around her waste. "Wanna go check out the couch?" he asked in her ear, grabbing her hand as he laughed and lead her through the small hallway that lead to the kitchen and then through to the living room area.

((Oui Mademoiselle = Yes Miss))