Arlene remembered a time when she was twelve and was talking to her mother about the perfect kiss.
'There's two parts of any first kiss, love, the kiss itself and the drumroll.'
The 'drumroll' was the moment before the kiss, when you lock eyes, your lips are almost touching and your heart skips a beat.
Paloma told her that it was better than the kiss itself but Arlene never understood any of it until the moment Hermione stopped talking about the book when they made eye contact.
Arlene had a clear view of Hermione's eyes and was suddenly noticing every detail, their light chocolate color, the flecks of darker brown scattered around, exactly seven big ones in the left eye but a million little ones in the right.
They were so close, she could feel Hermione's breath on her skin.
She could kiss her, and then it would all be over, Hermione either liked her or she didn't, but in that moment, Arlene felt frozen, Hermione's eyes were suddenly so captivating, it was like she was in a trace.
Their lips were almost touching, it seemed so easy, to just brush her lips on Hermione's soft pinkish ones, but before she could take any action, Hermione cleared her throat and looked away.
"I- uh, I should go look for Ron, he- err, he's probably finished detention by now, excuse me."
Arlene watched miserably as Hermione stood up and left, leaving Arlene alone in.
She stayed alone for a while, imagining all the possible scenarios the drumroll could have ended in. Best case scenario, she could have kissed her and she would have kissed back, worst case scenario, she would have told her she didn't feel the same way.
But it would've been better than this, she still didn't kno if Hermione liked her back or if she didn't and yet still, she was sure their numbered meetings wearing a trench coat of a 'friendship' was ruined.
It wasn't until Sage came by later and saw Arlene sitting alone that and sensed something was wrong that she stopped thinking about it.
She seemed to understand that the meeting with Hermione didn't end well, but she didn't press her for details, she simply helped her get up and escorted her to the Slytherin dorms to change into her 'sad' pajamas –hello kitty pants and an oversized sweatshirt- then wrapped her like a burrito with a blanket.
Sage wanted Arlene to just stay in bed and probably eat a chocolate to feel better, but Arlene found sitting in one of the leather couches while drawing whatever sea creature was passing by to be more relaxing.
"Are you okay?" Sage finally asked once Arlene settled down, wrapped in endless fuzzy blankets but somehow had managed to free her hands to be able to sketch.
Arlene sighed and looked at the Grindlylow resting on the glass ceiling, its deadly teeth clearly visible "I feel sad."
Sage bit her lip "Come here, I have emotional jump cables, I'll boost you." She told her.
Sage threw her arms around Arlene and wrapped her into a crushing embrace.
"This seems just like a hug." Arlene mumbled, her voice muffled.
Sage held her tighter "Emotional jump cables." She insisted.
From the corner of her eye, Arlene saw Blaise laughing with Draco and Pansy, she didn't dwell much on it, Sytherins, regardless of views, were pretty close, but she did remember Blaise saying a few times how he liked Draco and Pansy, but Crabbe and Goyle made him want to jump off a cliff.
She forgot about it the moment Sage let her go "Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better?"
Arlene snuggled into the cozy blanket "Tell me everything is going to be okay," she mumbled "oh, and ice cream to mourn my broken heart."
Sage chuckled but ran her hand down Arlene's back in a comforting manner anyway "Everything will be fine, it may seem bad right now, but it will all work out in the end, like a fairytale."
"Like a fairytale." Arlene nodded, as if trying to reassure herself.
Sage smiled softly and excused herself to get the ice cream. Once she was gone, Theo, who was laying on the ground, staring at the Grindlylows with headphones on and the tape player in his hand, spoke up.
"I think we all need a Sage" He remarked in a teasing tone, lowering the headphones to his shoulders.
Arlene rolled her eyes "You have a Blaise, they're practically the same nerdy cinnamon rolls."
Theo chuckled "Yeah, but I have to share him with those two." He said, pointing with his chin to Pansy and Draco, who looked like they're in the middle of telling a story.
"Draco is fighting with Crabbe and Goyle," Theo explained "so Blaise is hanging out with them, I mean, without the gorillas and the purist comments, the two are pretty fun to be around."
Arlene arched an eyebrow "Right. And I'm the Queen of England."
She added the last detail in the drawing of the Grindlylow and turned her notebook to Theo "What do you think?"
Theo stared at it for a few seconds then blinked "Like the great depression captured on paper."
"Perfect," Arlene nodded at the image before closing the notebook and putting it on the coffee table "plus, if they're so great, why aren't you hanging out with them?" she questioned.
Theo shook his head "I'd rather lay on the ground watching a murderous beast while listening to depressing music and wondering about the meaning of life than hear another story about Potter."
Involuntarily, a smile made its way to Arlene's face "Do you wanna bet on when they're gonna get married?"
Theo grinned and his eyes lit up, the way your eyes lit up when you're in the Percy Jackson fandom and the teacher asks if anyone knows Greek Mythology, and cleared his throat.
"By fifth year, they will realize that they're in love, but both will be hesitant, after all, that's Potter the blood traitor and Malfoy the purist twit, but soon the sexual tension will be too much for them to ignore, especially since they got partnered up in potions, against their will, of course,
"and then, a very, very, very long slowburn later, they're secretly dating because, well, they're supposed to be rivals, and Draco would get disowned, but then The Potter Effects happens, most likely end of fifth year or middle of sixth and they realize that they're in love and if anybody has a negative opinion they'll tell them where to shove it,
"At first, Granger and Weasley, whom Draco insists on calling Weasel, are hesitant but they come around when they realize that he's not going anywhere and then since Harry's parents are gone, he introduces Draco to the Weasleys, who are shocked, but very accepting, specially Mrs. Weasley who makes Draco a jumper,
"but then there's Draco's parents, Narcissa will be hesitant, begging Draco to rethink his decisions but once she realizes how in love they are, she's gonna accept it but Lucius won't, which will cause a lot of drama, but it won't matter because they're both together in the Auror Academy and couldn't be happier. The first time Draco gets injured in a mission, Harry realizes that he can't live without him and he proposes."
Theo finished, inhaling for the first time since he started his ramble.
Arlene, whose jaw had dropped into the ground, was about to make a remark when someone beat her to it.
"No, Lucius won't accept it at first, but after a lot of convincing from Narcisssa and an 'I love him, what you think won't change it' speech from Draco, he eventually comes around, but still grills Harry every time he visits."
Pansy, who was now sitting in the armchair opposite to Arlene said, Blaise who was sitting at the other side on the couch snorted.
Arlene and Theo gave Pansy a look "What? I'm allowed not to have a life too." She said in an obviously fake angry defensive tone.
They couldn't keep a straight face for a full ten seconds before they all burst out laughing.
"I do think Hermione will be accepting of them after Draco apologizes for the bad treatment, because she has probably seen it coming since forever." Blaise commented.
"It's true," Pansy agreed "if they're breathing the same air, the sexual tension becomes so thick, you could cut it with a knife."
Blaise nodded "And Ron will be that older brother that keeps questioning the new boyfriend, trying to get him to slip up."
It was not an uncommon thing for them to do, occasionally, when the little group of fourteen year old would be sitting together, they would pick two people from the castle and make an elaborate love story, with the latest one being McGongall and Sprout.
It went on for a few more moments, each one adding a new head cannon, until Draco joined them and they all suddenly shut up.
"What were you talking about?" he asked them with a raised eyebrow.
Blaise bit his lip "Potter?"
Draco seemed to suddenly forget all about them "That reminds me, you will not believe what he did-"
It was all too much, the four burst out laughing again.
It was not until later that Arlene realized that they had been trying to cheer her up.
Sage returned a while later with mint chocolate chip and cookie dough –Arlene's favorites- ice cream.
Draco and the others had already left for dinner, so the common room was silent except for the occasional tapping on the glass from various creatures and the sound of the warm fire.
Sage sate cross legged beside Arlene silently eating the ice cream, until Arlene decided to talk.
"I just, I really thought she liked me, you know?" Arlene said, shoving a spoonful into her mouth sadly.
Sage put down her ice cream and looked into Arlene's eyes "Arlene, you can't just let it go, you practically love her, besides, you don't know that."
"We almost kissed, she pulled away and left, does that scream 'love' to you?" she snapped at Sage, then she looked down and mumbled "sorry."
Sage shook her head "It's okay, but Arlene, remember that Hermione comes from a muggle family, while us wizards have outdated views on blood type, muggles hold prejudices towards people of color and mental patients and the lgbtq+ community, Hermione's family may hold this type of hate, she probably thinks that it's wrong."
Arlene sighed "So you're saying it's hopeless?"
"No, I'm saying, Hermione pulling away does not mean she does not like you, Hermione may be book smart but I don't think she knows how to deal with emotions, maybe she thinks she likes you as a friend and the almost-kiss made her see you in a different light so she panicked." Sage said softly, placing a reassuring hand on Arlene's shoulder.
She bit her lip "But the thing is, what if she actually doesn't like me? I really like her, Sage."
"I know," Sage told her with a kind smile "but she's just your first crush, Arlene, even if she doesn't like you back, you will have in love so many times in your life, it's very rare that first person you like is endgame, but the thing is, there is a person, whether it's Hermione or someone completely different, that you'll eventually end up with, so if she doesn't like you, think of it as one broken heart closer to the one."
Maybe Theo was right, maybe they all need a Sage
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Okay, so its a day later than I promised, but better late than never, right? Plus, I am now updating every week, yay me.
Thank you for reading, you guys are the best :)