The Lestrange Legacy

Hooked

The girl who I assume is her best friend sees her first. It's funny to watch them interact with each other. Rosa seems to like to keep to herself, whereas her friend is very extraverted and full of energy. Her face lights up as she sees Rosa walk up to her. She rushes toward her and sweeps her into a hug. They talk for a moment, but then I see her squint, tilt her head, and gasp.

She points at Rosa's mouth, eyes wide with excitement. I can see Rosa start to shake her head while her friend scans the room, looking for something, or someone.

I quickly realise, that someone is me.

Oh.

My thumb instinctively brushes across my bottom lip. And yeah, of course. Of course I've still got her lipstick on me.

Her friend doesn't even try to be subtle.

'I KNEW IT!' she practically screams, loud enough to make the portraits flinch. 'I knew it would only be a matter of time!'

Rosa groans, low and mortified, but it doesn't save her. She gets yanked into a grip and dragged toward the couch with an urgency usually reserved for life-or-death gossip. Or so Ginny told me once. 

And just like that, she's gone. Swallowed up by music, firelight, and a friend with a thousand questions and zero chill.

I stay where I am, still by the entrance. People move past me, bump into me, keep going.

But all I can think about is the look on her face right before she was pulled away. The curve of her mouth. The lipstick we unknowingly shared. The way my lips still burn like her name's written on them.

POV: Rosa

Lisette practically throws me onto the couch.

'Oh no, you don't get to look at me like that and not explain everything,' she says, crossing her legs with dramatic flair. 'Start talking. I want setting, dialogue, emotional stakes. Don't spare the details.'

I blink at her, my cheeks still warm, and sink deeper into the couch.

'I shouldn't have kissed him.'

Lisette gasps, again, and grabs a throw pillow like she's about to scream into it.

'You kissed him? Rosa, this is better than I imagined.'

I cover my face with both hands. 'No, he kissed me, but I allowed it to happen. It was a mistake. Kind of. Maybe.'

'You don't look like someone who just made a mistake,' she says, looking at me with raised eyebrows and a grin that makes me want to sink into the cushions entirely.

I peek at her through my fingers. 'Okay, maybe not a mistake. Not entirely. But also definitely a mistake.'

'OK, poet.' she deadpans.

I swat her with the pillow next to me. She laughs, but not unkindly. She knows I won't give her this kind of information willingly. So she's trying to give me space, in her own way. I appreciate that. She's the first person to adjust herself to my needs instead of expecting me to adjust to someones liking.

I sigh, staring at the fire like it might offer a sensible explanation for what just happened in the courtyard.

'I didn't plan it. I don't even know him that well. And he was just... sitting there, looking at me with this look of pure compassion and understanding. And then-' I pause, lips pressed together, suddenly too aware of the way they still tingle. 'He asked me, I gave in and it just... happened.'

Lisette hums, leaning her chin on her hand. 'And you're smiling like our crazy divination professor from last year, so I'm guessing you're not totally devastated about it?'

I roll my eyes, but I don't deny it. 'I hate that I'm this happy about it.'

'Why?'

'Because I don't know what I'm doing,' I whisper, mostly to myself. 'Because I wasn't supposed to let this happen. Because I'm not supposed to feel like this.'

Lisette shrugs. 'So feel it anyway.'

I look at her, surprised. 'It's not that simple.'

'It never is,' she says, tossing the pillow back into my lap. 'If I had a galleon for every time a kiss from a party made my life more chaotic, I would be filthy rich. But if kissing that boy makes you light up like that, maybe complicated is worth it.'

I let my head fall against the back of the couch.

Maybe it is.

But there is no scenario where he wouldn't find out about my secret. He already knows too much thanks to my stupid mouth and he might even learn more if he starts asking around. And if or when he finds out, I'm not sure he'd still look at me the way he did tonight.

I sit up again and glance around the common room. My eyes land on him instantly like he's magnetic. He's still standing near the doorway, talking to someone half-heartedly, but his eyes keep drifting. Searching.

I look away.

'I think I'm in trouble,' I mumble.

Lisette grins. 'At least we can fill our bullet board now.'