harry admires the easy confidence that becomes her as she eyes him up, treating him more like he was last week’s dessert than as the mythical harry potter… he couldn’t decide if he hated her for it or if he was strangely thankful [ to become a hero, you must first unlearn what it meant to be a person: shrug off the uneasy normalcy that fits every other person and try on an ego, try on a new personality, try on godhood – there was nothing human that could survive constant veneration ]. NOTHING BUT HARRY, IT SEEMED. he likes to think it’s because he hasn’t really ever adjusted to the legacy of a hero. there had been no happily ever afters, no unearned victories. he was more fighter than hero. which meant that he’d never be able to inject ease into his body. ‘ i’ve been counting every second we’ve been apart, sure. most pleasant moments of my life. ’
dashing? blimey, he never thought lyra would compliment him without gagging afterwards. she had barely talked to him during hogwarts, apart from the few times they were forced together [ better hands than theirs had closed around their shoulders, deciding that school rivalries were nothing but little flies ready to be squashed: she had been pretty, though ]. if there had ever been the smallest fragment of a crush, it seemed to rush upon him – palm lifts to rub at cheeks, a small laugh brimming free from him against his will. ‘ you can thank hermione for this one. but i can dress myself just fine, thank you. i even know how to put my own shoes on. ’
his eyebrows shoot up into her hairline as he looks at the badge, taking it gently in his hand. their hands press together, his thumb against the curve of her palm, the heat of her hand blurring into the fresh morning air. merlin, she could be her own conductor of energy, her own beautiful heater. he drops his thumb and digs out his own badge, showing it off to her. it was like comparing old wounds. ‘ now that’s a surprise. because i’m supposed to be meeting mine. ’
the press of his hand against hers makes her jump, an immediate tenseness in her shoulders followed quickly by a shudder running through her body that she tries to play off at the sharp contrast of temperature because of how freezing cold his hand was but she can’t help but lose herself in the sight of his thumb against her palm. she can’t remember the last time someone touched her so casually outside of her mother & brother. to make matters worse, she couldn’t help but notice that his hands were bigger than hers, something she had no business focusing on but can’t seem to shake the thought out of her head. it makes her head buzz & she thinks if she’s not careful she could get addicted to this.
the former slytherin tries opens her mouth to say something, anything, to distract from the feeling of his rough palm against hers but her tongue is stuck to the roof of her mouth as she stares — she’s saved, however, when harry moves the conversation along easily, dropping his thumb & pulling out & identical badge of his own — she wishes she could be surprised that this but harry “ savior of the wizarding world” potter becoming an auror seemed to be the natural course of things — but what was, in fact, surprising just as potter said was that was the fact he was here to meet his auror partner too.
even with growing up in the wizarding world surrounded by magic & the impossible, lyra never once believed in coincidences. she stares at the badge in potter’s hand with a twitch of a brow & eyes wide like she’s worried it’s going to jump out and bite her fingers off. ❝ you’re kidding. ❞ she deadpans. when her hand is left hanging in the air she promptly stuffs her badge back into her pocket, fidgeting with it where potter couldn’t see. feeling a familiar venom in her tone as the anxiety slowly becomes a heavy, suffocating weight on her chest once more. ❝ and what about weasley? i assumed the two of you were attached to the hip, were you not able to flash one of your pretty little smiles to convince shacklebolt to let your sidekick follow you around? ❞
the regret hits like a troll club to the head as soon as the words finish leaving her mouth & she immediately snaps her mouth shut; face sliding into a familiar, expressionless mask. it’s not the worse thing she’s ever said to him but she hates how quick she was to lash out in her panic especially at potter when he had been nothing but friendly to her. talking to him was a mistake & if there’s even chance he’s the partner she’s going to be meeting today — & working with for the foreseeable future — the thought chokes her. it’s not a bad thing, if she was partnered with him, but . . .
❝ i’m sorry. that was completely uncalled for. ❞ she manages with great difficulty but her words were sincere. ❝ i made the mistake of assuming, if we ended up being partners, it was because you were assigned to . . . watch me. ❞