September 1st, 1991- Harry Potter and his new friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger all board the Hogwarts Express to start their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
For anyone else (muggles), September 1st is just any other day.
But for my girlfriend and I simple days like September 1st, July 31st, and May 2nd- are just as important days as our anniversary and our birthdays.
I grew up religiously reading Harry Potter and waiting around for the movies to come out. I lived every day of my life wanting and aspiring to be Hermione Granger. Until Luna came along then all I wanted was to be able to go through my life and not be made fun of for my quirky personality. Harry Potter was a huge part of my life and I don't know where I would be without it. It pieced me into who I am today. I learned so much from each character- and in a time where I constantly felt alone and bullied- they were my friends. I learned about love and acceptance and true friendship from a 7 book series about a magical school.
Harry Potter means even more to me now than when it did when I was a kid.
Harry Potter brought me to my girlfriend.
Yes, we met through Disney but we would have NEVER bonded as close as we did had we not had the undeniably insane love for Harry Potter.
Upon meeting each other in person we would stay up late pondering Potter Theories, laughing our heads off at replacing quotes with various words, and making up nicknames such as she's Malfoy to me and I'm her Hermione. Which doesn't make sense to anyone else but to us it makes sense.
When we finally met we went to go get Annual Passes to Universal because we honestly knew we would spend more time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter than in Disney World- and we were 100% correct! That first visit was the visit that brought us so close together- lots of people thought we were dating on that visit, but jokes on them because we didn't start dating until 3 months after this trip!
I'm a Ravenclaw and she is a Slytherin.
People would make comments like "Really a Ravenclaw?? Come on Slytherin." And we honestly found it funny and cute.
I remember watching her eyes light up and cry from seeing the castle for the first time and how happy it made her- it's the same look she gives me now.
I remember we were very, VERY broke from buying annual passes because they are obviously not cheap, but we wanted to browse around at the wands just to look since this was our first time.
What we didn't expect was to BOTH- yes, BOTH get picked for the wand choosing ceremony. I remember we stood in the back because we had barely enough money between us to get anything but we wanted to experience everything. I remember we walked in literally cried because of how book and movie accurate Ollivander's wand shop was.
If you know anything about Kaylee and I it's that we are both very emotional when it comes to Harry Potter. We spent just about this entire day in tears.
I'll never forget how the wand master looked at the both of us and told us both to come up to the front. We both were in awe and tears.
Our wands were.... nothing short of perfection. Utter perfection. They resemble our houses so beautifully too. When asked what our relationship was we told the wand master that we were best friends- but like any great wizard, I think he knew what the future would hold.
Our wands are made from the same Phoenix feathers. I'll never forget his exact words on our wands were that they have an unbreakable bond. He reminded us not to ever duel each other with these wands because it'll end in fiery explosions because of this bond. You can imagine that we are in a puddle of tears by this point.
He gives us our wands and we exist into the store area and we look at each other and immediately pull out our wallets and literally count our pennies and coins and loose dollars. We knew that after an experience like that we absolutely HAD to buy our wands.
We had just enough money. It was the greatest thing and the greatest experience we've ever had. Each time we use our wands it's a reminder of the amazing experience we got to experience together, something that for sure drew us closer. 
We continued to go back to Hogwarts about 3 times a week. We spent way more time there than Disney.
We mainly spent our time at Hogwarts and Diagon Alley- rarely leaving our "Harry Potter Bubble".
We experienced more amazing things together.
Like closing down Diagon Alley on September 1st, 2015- because the Slytherin, of course, procrastinated on buying all her school supplies until the last possible second.
Like always knowing every word to each ride and how we have hand motions for each ride and laughing the whole way through. And conducting the music at the end of Gringotts, it's such a simple thing but it's something we did every time, and something I miss terribly.
Like how all the the Team Members knew us by name, and would recognize us all the time.
Like us both canceling ALL of our plans because LA Splash released Harry Potter liquid lipsticks and we needed at least 6 shades but their site kept crashing. And of course, we had to have them and were not going to settle for any less than the shades we wanted. Luckily we were home alone because it took us 6 hours and we were consistently screaming and yelling High School Musical songs- how we never got a noise complaint- we don't know.
Like her FINALLY getting me to watch A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel and how it LITERALLY CHANGED MY LIFE! Honestly besides the books obviously the best thing that came out of Harry Potter. I don't know what I've been doing my entire life without the song, "Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts" in my life. And I didn't know what a true love song was until I heard, "Not Alone". I can never thank my lady enough for this great gift she has bestowed onto me. Seriously if you haven't watched it or have never seen StarKid on Youtube you're missing out.
Like after 7 months of wanting them- finally purchasing ($117!!) our school robes!! And wearing them every single trip after that- despite the 110-degree weather. It was tradition and it was something we worked so hard to get.
Like finally finding "Our Spot". There's this staircase in Diagon Alley that we could sit there for hours and just drink ButterBeer and eat Strawberry PeanutButter ice cream. After going 2-3 times a week for weeks on end and never leaving the Harry Potter Bubble, people would often ask us if we got tired of the same 5 rides. And the answer is no. We didn't go for the rides or the stores or the food- we went for the feeling we got. There's no better feeling than finally turning the corner and seeing Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. There's no better feeling than sitting on the top of the stairs in Diagon Alley and seeing people's reactions to seeing the dragon for the first time or seeing a child receive his or her first wand or seeing people cry because they feel the same as we do. It's the spot we came upon after we received our wands so we could really take a look at them. We would spend hours in this same spot and just talk and watch people's reactions. This is the spot where we grew closer. This is the very spot I knew I was in love with this girl. It's the spot where we held each other and cried when we knew we probably wouldn't be back for up to a year.
I remember our last visit just like I remember our first. I know it will never be our last because it is a huge part of our lives, but it will be a last for now.
Our last trip resembled our first.
We drank ButterBeer just like we always did, rode Gringotts, got our signature Strawberry Peanut Butter ice cream and ate it on our stairs... and then cried while we said goodbye to our stairs one last time. Rode the Hogwarts Express like always because it's the only form of transportation. Rode Forbidden Journey and cried and cried and cried. Shopped around and bought things- and then we went home and watched Harry Potter. Our Annual Passes expired on August 31st.
It's so incredible thinking that you have something so precious that makes saying goodbye so hard.
I can't thank Harry Potter enough for the love that I share with my Malfoy. If I ever meet J.K. Rowling I'll do nothing but thank her.
Not only did she give me 7 incredible books and 8 amazing movies that make me fall in love all over again, she physically made me fall in love with a girl because of her passion for the same story.
So thank you thank you thank you to J.K. Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Darren Criss, Lauren Lopez, and of course Universal Studios Orlando. Without you guys I wouldn't have found the greatest and truest love I could have ever found.
It's truly amazing how a single story can change your whole life.
