They told me I was going to lose the fight

     his eyes widened as his shoulders were gripped, letting out a laugh. “shit, you haven’t heard? apparently a shit ton of people have been talking about it.. which is stupid because it’s just two people seeing each other.” frank mumbled under his breath, shrugging. “i’ve kissed her every time i’ve seen her.. and i haven’t scared her off yet so? i think things are good.. she even talked about me going to her house over christmas to meet her parents — said she’s spoke about me to them. mate… why didn’t i do something sooner?”

“That… is actually pretty plausible.” Emmeline’s eyes lit up. “I cannot believe I haven’t thought of that before.”

“Eh, what can I say, I’m a genius.” He smiled, shrugging his shoulders. “Also I don’t like studying in silence.”

Dorcas had fled to the Astronomy tower to drink so that she’d be able to forget about her confusion and sadness. This was not making it any better. However, she was happy to have Caradoc there at her side. She relaxed into him and wiped at a stray tear that ran down her cheek. She was terrified of her future and the whole not knowing what would happen. An arranged marriage was not what she had in mind, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to get out of it without a fight. She nodded, his words interrupting her from her thoughts, “I don’t know what we’ll do, but I agree. They can’t win. What they believe in, what they’re doing, it’s not right. It never will be.” 

Caradoc didn’t know if he felt any better after talking to Dorcas. He just wanted to make sure the other was okay, but he had no idea how to help her. Still, it was nice to sit there with her for a while, the warmth of the alcohol in his stomach. “I think you’re really strong Dorcas, and brave.” He smiled softly, letting out a sigh. “You’ll get through this, we both will.”

“Nice,” he said. “I should probably do the same. More studying is always better than less.”

“Yeah, well, it passes the time.” He smiled, pulling his legs up against his chest. “It’s better then playing Quidditch in this weather, even though Gwen would have us out every day if she could.” 

       “you’ve spent years listening to me talk about alice.. so go ahead, mate. talk to me.” frank didn’t mind much, plus he just knew he was going to be super happy for his friend. “if he blushes a lot and you’ve danced with him? he’s probably into you. plus isn’t sexuality fluid as hell? i mean, i’ve never had a crush on a bloke, but if i did.. i wouldn’t fight against it. what have ya got to lose?” he shrugged, nudging him with his foot. “i told alice fortescue how i felt.. now you need to grow a pair and tell remus!! c’mon!!”

A smirk adorned Rodolphus’ lips as he watched the other react to him, amusement was all he felt as he watched Caradoc. Of course he had heard the whispers regarding the other after their last encounter and the fact that no one had looked at him proved that there was something close to intelligence in the other. Still, he didn’t move as he listened to Hufflepuff though he was quick to note that others were making sure to walk around them. “Look at that, you seem to have developed manners since we last spoke. I’m impressed but not by much.” A chuckle and rolled his eyes as he watched the other turn away from him.

“Studying? Interesting, most people tend to do that in the library and that’s the other way. You wouldn’t be lying to me, your dear friend would you?” A step was taken towards the other, here was a way to momentarily kill the stress that had been dragging him down. Any other day, he would have simply let him go but luck wasn’t on the others side. Rodolphus knew that all he had to do was say the right thing and it would provoke the other but to get him there would be much more interesting. “I’ll give you points for at least excusing yourself but lying is such a nasty habit. But given who you’ve been rumored to be hanging around, it’s really no surprise.” It was a stab in the dark but perhaps it was exactly what he needed.

Caradoc stopped walking as Rodolphus continued to talk, knowing the other would simply torment him further if he ignored him. That or he would hurt him again. Or he’d follow through on his threat and end up hurting one of his friends. He couldn’t provoke him. So Caradoc turned around to look at the other, hoping he couldn’t hear his frantically racing heart.

“I’m studying in the Greenhouses. You can’t learn everything from books after all, actually, Sprout is expecting me.” The truth was the best place to go right now. If he lied or extended the truth, it was likely he would just end up pissing Rodolphus off. As much as he wanted to do that, he couldn’t take it too far. “I’m not sure what you’re insinuating Rodolphus, I hang out with a lot of people. I didn’t realise you were so interested in my life to listen to rumours about me. I’m flattered, but you’re not really my type.” 

“That’s probably the first time I ever used that so called Gryffindor bravery.” Remus laughed as his cheeks turned slightly pink once more, “I’m glad I did though.” Though a small voice reminded him that no matter how badly he wanted this, wanted to keep kissing Caradoc, he couldn’t do this to the other boy. If Caradoc knew what he was, he would be so disgusted, and not want anything to do with him. No matter how badly Remus wanted whatever this might turn into between the two of them. But he tried to push it through his thoughts as Caradoc’s hand found its way to his cheek and Remus found himself leaning into the touch. 

Remus’ cheeks heated up even more at the other’s words, ducking his head a little as he gave Caradoc’s hand a gentle squeeze as he reached for his free hand. “I’m really not that amazing or anything. But you- you’re so witty and brilliant and amazing and smart… I really, really like you too. More than I ever imagined myself liking someone. And honestly, all I was able to think about these last few days was kissing you….” He admitted, turning the darkest shade of red that he thought was possible. 

Caradoc laughed along with Remus, running his fingers softly through his hair as he looked over at the other. He wasn’t sure how he had managed to find someone so kind who wanted to be with him. It made him feel so warm inside and he couldn’t stop grinning as he listened to the other talk. 

“But fourth years are so irritating.” Mallory had a slight pout on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. “She could do with a good beating.”

“I need people that believe in the cause. People who aren’t afraid to die to protect others. People that won’t run away at the first sign of confrontation,” Alastor replied to Caradoc, beginning to feel exasperated. He really didn’t understand why people wouldn’t want to support the cause. Being scared wasn’t an option to him. Fighting was the only option. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against one of the greenhouse tables, his gaze upon Caradoc. “We’re only recruiting those dedicated to the cause. Those who we feel skills will help.” 

Caradoc didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to sacrifice his life, to go into battle thinking that it was inevitable that he would die there. Sure, he wanted to fight and he understood the risks that being involved in a war like the one brewing would have, but there was no way he would ever die willingly. There was no way he could stop himself from being afraid, but that didn’t change his willingness to fight. “I’m not the type of man to run away, even if I am scared.” He had to turn away from Alastor as he spoke, his heart hammering in his chest. “How you want me to prove myself? Clearly no one’s word is enough nowadays. So just tell me what you want me to do. Tell me how I can help.” 

Remus’ heart had little time to sink as he saw that Caradoc was getting up because before he knew it, the other boy was around to his side of the table and kissing him. Instead it started hammering in his chest, in the best way possible way, and every inch of his body felt like it was radiating. For weeks he had thought about what it would be like to kiss Caradoc and it was finally happening. His lips were so soft and while things were rushed and awkward and a bit clumsy, it had Remus feeling like he was flying. Like he had just downed a massive amount of Every Flavored Beans and was now on a sugar high. And for once, the nagging voice that told him no, don’t do it had been pushed completely to the side. Much too soon Caradoc was pulling away and Remus was sure his own cheeks matched the other’s. 

He gave a squeeze to Caradoc’s hand that had wrapped around his. “Don’t be sorry.” Remus said softly, “I’ve been wanting to kiss you since that day too.” Remus felt his cheeks heat up even more and he ducked his head down a little, trying to hide just how red he was. “That was my first kiss.” He muttered and he was sure that at this point he couldn’t get any more redder as he looked back up at Caradoc. “I just… Didn’t think you know, you’d want to kiss me or even had… possible feelings for me?” Remus knew that he was rambling so he took Caradoc’s other hand in his and leaned forward once more, placing another small kiss against Caradoc’s before pulling back away. His lips quirked up into a crooked grin that stretched across his entire face.

Caradoc was in awe. Maybe that was a bit of an overstatement, but the smile on his lips and the tightness with which he was holding onto Remus’ hand was something he hadn’t experienced ever before and it felt amazing. The best thing about it by far was that Remus was looking at him with the same amount of joy in his face. He had put that there. He had made Remus happy, and knowing that made it all the more exciting when Remus moved forwards to kiss him again. 

“There are the usual. The courtyards, the bridges- I’ve even heard of students who just hide in the Astronomy Tower. Perks of being a good student or something like that.”

“I often found that empty classrooms do the trick. There are more of them then needed, and if you get caught you can just flash a textbook and you’ll be forgiven by most teachers.”

Josiah noticed the redness of the other’s face, and felt a little guilty for embarrassing him. “Indeed,” he said simply. “What are you reading?”

“Oh, uh.” He held up his book so the other could see the title, smiling up at the other. “Just some extra research for Herbology.”

Cecily nodded, as they began to make their way towards the Great Hall. “Support, sure. I’m not incredibly into it, though, I’m afraid. Though, I’m guessing you are.”

“Well, I’m no Gwen or James, but I’m not too bad.” He smiled, shrugging his shoulders. “Who do you support?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. No matter what happens,” she promised Caradoc with a sad smile and a nod. She didn’t know if what she was telling him was true, but she supposed if she believed it enough, it might be. Dorcas was terrified, but she knew if she showed it, it’d only make it easier to fall. She took another long drink from her flask before placing it to the side. Drinking wasn’t going to help, no matter how badly she wanted to. She rose a brow, but agreed, “It’s not going to be easy. You can never be quite sure of who to trust.” She trusted Rabastan, but she knew he was on the opposite side of what she believed in. Dorcas spoke again quietly, “It’ll be tricky. We have to do it in secret. We can’t let many people in on it.”

Caradoc wanted to believe that Dorcas would be fine. He wanted to believe it with his whole heart but he still felt scared. The fear that something would happen to her, that she would have to go through with the marriage that she clearly didn’t want. It scared him more than he could put into words, so he simply held her a little tighter, rubbing soothing patterns over her arm. “I don’t know how we’d go about it, but we need to do something.” He spoke quietly, his voice shaking a little. “We can’t just do nothing.”