For as long as she can remember, Rosa Lestrange has done her best to avoid facing her mother's victims. For that reason, she attends Beauxbatons Academy of Magic rather than Hogwarts. Here, she is able to sleep peacefully and live her life without a...
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POV: Fred
Damn. I think to myself.
Not Bloody hell. Not Merlin's beard, or any other half-hearted curse that usually runs through my head.
Just damn.
I shouldn't have kissed her. Every bone in my body was practically begging me to stop. And yet, every nerve, every breath I took after that wanted more.
We'd agreed to be friends. Just friends.
But how long can I actually be her friend when there's something about her that makes my stomach do flips?
The first time I saw her, I was sure we'd met before. She had that kind of presence. Familiar, haunting, like a half-remembered dream from my childhood. I figured it was because of Hogwarts. Everyone runs into everyone eventually.
But she doesn't go to Hogwarts.
The second time... it wasn't just her face I recognised. It was her touch. Like my body had known her before my mind caught up.
When she kissed me back in the courtyard, it felt like something I didn't know I was missing until now.
Now we're walking back to the party, her shoulder brushing mine every few steps, and I'm supposed to act like nothing happened and we're just friends. Like I'm not going slightly mad from the way she smells like the cherries my mother used to pick for mine and George's birthday cake. Nor from the way her eyes glow when she looks up at the sky. I want to know what she's thinking about when she raises her eyebrow or when she's playing with her curls. I want to know why she's so scared of her family. Why she doesn't want me to know.
And why I care so bloody much when I barely know her.
I understand her wish to keep her secrets. Especially to a guy like me who she barely recognises without squinting. But that doesn't keep my wish at bay to know everything about her.
To be someone she doesn't have to hide from.
All I can do is hope she'll one day trusts me enough to let me in.
I take a deep breath as I realise we've returned to the portrait of the fat lady. Rosa says the password with a steady voice.
She tilts her head upwards to look at me.
'You good?' She asks with a smile on her face.
'Couldn't be better' I grin back as I take the first step into the passage.
The moment we step into the common room, the noise slams itself into my ears. The party hasn't calmed down yet. People are still dancing, talking and laughing like nothing ever happened outside these walls.
Like I didn't just kiss a girl who's been living in my head since the first time I saw her.
Rosa slips away before I can say anything. Her hand lets go of mine, not that we were holding hands, not really, and she walks straight towards a group of students by the fireplace. Her curls bounce gently with every step. I stay behind, caught between the comfort of the shadows and the need to follow her.
