✧ ｡ﾟ･ ❝ 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤
𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠? ❞ ✧ ｡ﾟ･
THE SUN'S RAYS SHONE THROUGH THE WINDOW PANES, projecting a gentle, golden light onto maeve's freckled face. "psst," hermione whispered, placing a few soft kisses on her nose and cheeks.
"...hm?" maeve murmured, yawning groggily as she tried to lean up. "morning."
"morning, my love."
the foster girl groaned, rubbing her temples. "fuck, i've got a pounding headache. did i drink or something, yesterday?"
"yeah... you did, last night, after the quidditch game."
"—oh yeah," maeve rubbed her forehead tiredly. "i remember. there was a party, right?"
hermione nodded slowly. "and you- you kinda drank a lot, and you punched cormac."
the blonde snorted a little bit, before lying back down against the pillows.
"that's funny to you?"
"well, mclaggen is the best possible person i could take out my anger to." she snickered. "what else happened?"
faltering, hermione's cheeks went pink. "nothing else much important."
maeve hummed. "what would i do without you?" her voice came out muffled against the comforter, but hermione was now frowning.
"merlin, don't look at me like that! i'm supposed to be mad at you." even just woken up, maeve looked perfect; and it took hermione aback for a minute, but she tried to remain calm— even though the thought of kissing her— despite morning breath— was flooding in her mind.
"for what?" maeve grinned lazily.
"for fighting! you could've gotten seriously hurt!"
"but, i didn't." the blonde shrugged.
"i really think we should talk, maeve." she said seriously, taking her girlfriend's hands in her own— making her sit up. "i'm worried about you. you've been so... angry recently." hermione began. "and it's not like you. it's not like you at all. and you've been... distant. don't you think maybe that's why you drank a lot last night? maybe, just maybe, you thought it would hel- help you cope? cope with l-levi dyi—"
it was so easy, talking to hermione— maybe a little too easy, enough to be scary. most of the time, maeve wanted to stop herself. most of the time, she didn't. hermione was her lighthouse in the midst of the melancholic sea that was her life. she felt safe when she was with her.
so finally, she let herself talk.
"i don't know what's happening to me, hermione.." maeve sniffed. "one minute i feel fine, and then, the next i feel like smashing everything up in sight. i miss him— i really, really, really miss him." she took in a sharp intake of breath, and hermione could tell she was so close to crying. "yesterday i just wanted everything to go away. i just wanted the pain to go away. everything reminds me of him. this whole school reminds me of him— that's why i didn't want to come back. merlin, i can't even look in the mirror without being reminded of him. and it hurts. it hurts, so badly." tears began to unconsciously steam down her face, and she squeezed them shut to try and keep them in. "sometimes i lie awake at night and wonder whether i could've have stopped him. if i could've ran after my dad instead— maybe i would be the on who died? maybe i was supposed to. maybe if i had been braver, levi would still be aliv—"
maeve didn't think that she would ever be the same. watching her twin brother die right before her eyes. it fucked her up.
she didn't feel normal.
"it's not your fault, maeve." hermione assured, tears slowly making their way down her cheeks aswell. "it's not your fault— you couldn't have done anything. he died trying to protect your dad. that's got to be worth something, right? he didn't die in vain. he died a hero."
maeve nodded slowly. "yeah... i guess."
"and he's still here. he's still with all of us." hermione whispered. "i miss him too. and he knows you love him. even if you didn't get to say goodbye."
and with that, stage two and three of grief (anger and bargaining) had been passed.
and soon to be acceptance.
"you know i'm always here for you, right? when you want to talk— or anything."
maeve hummed. "of course i know that. it's just hard, hermione. i don't like talking about it. i don't like remembering it— i get that horrible picture in my mind, just watching his soul leave his body and i—" her voice cracked, and she seemed like she was breaking down again. "let's just get ready." she slid off the bed, stalking off into the bathroom.
hermione watched her with a vacant, worried expression, but said nothing.
until she heard some strained, muffled sobs from behind the bathroom door.
"ANYWAY, IT'S YOU WE'VE GOT TO WORRY ABOUT! you can't just take anyone!" hermione told harry, shaking her head. "i'm going with maeve, and ron's going with clover! you see that girl, over there?" she moved in front of harry so he could look at the girl behind her without making it obvious. "that's romilda vane. apparently she's trying to smuggle you a love potion."
"really?" harry grinned.
"hey!" hermione clicked her fingers, bringing his attention back to her. "she's only interested in you because she thinks you're the chosen one."
"but i am the chosen one." hermione thwacked him on the head with her newspaper. "okay— sorry. kidding." although he didn't seem genuine. "i'll ask someone i like. someone cool." he nodded.
"well, you'd better." maeve nodded, propping herself up on one of the tables, so her legs hung over the side. "we've only got a little time left."
"thanks for the reminder." harry grimaced, as the girl pulled a random book off of the shelf, flicking through the pages.
"your welcome." maeve smiled, not noticing the boy's sarcasm.
snow was swirling against the icy windows once more— with christmas approaching fast. the christmas party was on christmas eve, which was two days from then. garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of stairs, and great bunches of miseltoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors.
"and i doubt whether even the 'half-blood prince' could dream up an antidote for a dozen different love potions at once." hermione sneered with a roll of her eyes.
maeve chuckled at her adamance that harry's potion book was dangerous. "i thought filch had banned anything bought at weasley's wizard wheezes?"
"and when has anyone payed attention to anything filch has banned?" hermione countered back with a shrug, scanning the shelves for nothing in particular.
"touché."
"but i thought all the owls are being searched?" harry asked. "how come these girls are able to bring love potions into school?"
"fred and george send them disguised as perfumes and cough potions. it's part of their owl order service."
"you seem to know a lot about it." maeve raised her eyebrows at her girlfriend. "are you sure that you didn't secretly sneak me a love potion, or something?"
hermione sent her a glare. "no." she looked offended, but loosened when she realised the blonde girl was joking. "it was all on the back of the bottles they showed ginny and i in the summer. i don't go around putting potions into people's drinks! or pretending to, either."
"yeah, well, never mind that!" harry said quickly. "the point is, filch is being fooled, isn't he? these girls are getting stuff into the school disguised as something else! so why couldn't malfoy have bought that necklace into sch—"
"not this again..." maeve mumbled.
"why not?"
"secrecy sensors detect jinxes, curses, and concealment charms, don't they?" hermione shrugged. "they're used to find dark magic and dark objects. they'd have picked up a powerful curse like the one on that necklace in seconds. but something's that's just been put in the wrong bottle wouldn't register— and love potions aren't dark or dangerous, either."
"well, filch isn't a very good wizard." the brunette boy decided. "i doubt he can tell one potion from—" he stopped dead, hearing a small shuffle from behind the bookshelf they were leant on.
madam pince came out from behind the shelf, her arms crossed and glasses tilting slightly off of her nose. "right, that's it, you." she pointed at harry. "you, out. now."
"what?" harry exclaimed, jumping back.
"you heard me! out, now!" she shooed him away as he hastily packed up his books. "i'll ban you from this library if you don't watch that mouth of yours, potter!"
maeve snickered into her sleeve as the boy was ushered out of the library, an angry madam pince making sure that he was definitely gone.
"finally alone." hermione sighed in complacency, moving towards maeve so she could step in between her legs. she trialed her hand up to maeve's thigh— which was easy for her to do so since the latter was sat up on the table. "you're cute when you blush."
this just made her blush even more. "who are you and what have you done with hermione granger?" maeve fakely gasped with a grin, before connecting their lips together by pulling her in by her neck.