Y/N breathed in deeply, allowing a small smile to appear on her lips. “It was a little colder than I’d like in the astronomy tower, and it was cold, so I thought maybe if the candles were still lit, the Great Hall would be a good substitute for the stars.”

“I should have guessed.” Draco grunted slightly as he lowered himself to the floor, laying directly beside Y/N. The only part of them touching was their elbows as they laid with their hands folded on their stomachs. Draco had mimicked Y/N’s position when he got down next to her. “I’ve been dating you for 8 months, that should have been something I knew.”

“No need to beat yourself up there, love, but yes, yes you should have known,” Y/N smiled softly.

The silence hung between them peacefully before Y/N broke it once more. “Have you told your parents that we’re together yet?” Y/N asked, keeping her voice low. Even if she called Draco her boyfriend, she never said it too loudly. No one actually knew that the two of them were dating and had been happy. He was in Slytherin. She was in Gryffindor. Having the Slytherin prince with a member of his house’s rival was not good. At least, that’s what he always said about not telling anyone else. But Y/N was also muggle born. She hadn’t grown up in the wizard world, but she’d gathered what the Malfoys and many other pureblood Slytherin families thought about people like Y/N learning at Hogwarts. Did it eat her up inside? Yes, but Draco made up for it every time that they found time to be together.

“I haven’t figured out how to tell them yet.” Y/N didn’t respond, and Draco turned his head to look at her face, despite her avoiding his eyes. “I’m sorry. I really am. I will do it and I won’t care what they say.”

Y/N sighed before she finally turned to meet his gray eyes that she loved so much. “You’ve been saying that for 4 months now. I was okay with it for a while because I understood, but I want to be able to hold your hand in the corridor and not pretend I’m disgusted when we pass each other in the halls.”

“You’re not very good at acting disgusted, trust me,” Draco chuckled. Y/N rolled her eyes before nudging him in the side with her elbow.

“I try my best, but it’s hard when I’m not actually disgusted.”

Draco kissed her cheek swiftly. “Well, that’s certainly a relief,” he beamed, gulping deeply before looking back up at the candles, at the ceiling. “Did you know that you probably know me the best?”

“I get to see you in situations like this, when you’re relaxed and not worrying about what everyone else is thinking, so I would say that I know,” Y/N responded.

Her eyes followed one candle as it floated up and down. She could feel Draco’s eyes on her again before he started talking. “You know the worst things that I’ve done, seen me hurt, but you don’t judge me.”

“You said so yourself that I know you best. You’ve had a tough life, so how could I judge you? Do I wish you would be like this in front of everyone else? Yes, but you will on your own time.” Y/N thought for just a second before continuing, “Are you embarrassed by me because of my parents?” She had always thought that he might have been but pushed it to the back of her mind.

She could tell that Draco was thinking. “It’s honestly the scariest feeling that you know me so well. Opening and closing up again is what I’ve been used to. I’ve been hurt so I don’t trust. I trust you, but I don’t trust how my parents would react, well, my dad. The last thing I would ever want to do is subject you to his horrible words and thoughts and opinions. I can’t even imagine how mad I would get if he said something about you. I want to protect you.”

“Draco, love, I can handle biases. I’ve seen it all before. As long as it doesn’t matter to you, I don’t care.” Y/N took her eyes away from the ceiling long enough to look at Draco and stroke his cheek. His small smile didn’t hide the worry in his eyes.

“I will tell them soon. I promise.”

Y/N sat up and smiled at the boy. “I know you will because I just have a feeling. It’s almost curfew, so we should probably go.”

Y/N tried to stand up, but Draco grabbed her hand before she could get far. She looked down at him and couldn’t stop the broad smile from forming. “Come here really quick,” Draco grinned as her face got close enough for him to cradle her neck. He held her neck as their lips connected. He didn’t want to let her go. He didn’t want to send her to her bed in the Gryffindor Tower while he went down to the dungeons. He was in love with her. She was all he ever thought about. Hell, it was even starting to affect his marks in classes that they had together. He was surprised no one knew he was in love with her because he would stare at her far too often in their courses.

Y/N pulled away from the kiss, but as her lips hovered right over his, Draco thought he had the courage to tell her. “Y/N/N?”

“Yes, Draco?”

“I –“ Draco cut himself off, “I hope that I get to see you again tomorrow like this.” He blew it or just lost it.

“Astronomy Tower, same time. There aren’t any evening classes up there tomorrow, I already checked,” Y/N grinned before pecking Draco’s lips one more time and standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she winked before walking out of the Great Hall, softly closing the door behind her. Draco, however, continued to watch the door that Y/N just walked through. He’d told a girl he loved her before, but it was a lie. He knew that now because of how he felt being with her. She deserved to hear those three words a thousand times.

Draco rubbed his eyes while he breathed deeply. All it is is 8 letters, why was it so hard to say? Why would he get in his own way? Draco groaned again before getting to his feet. He followed the same path that Y/N took only moments earlier, but when he got into the corridor, it was already empty.

- - - - - - -

“Draco?” Y/N whispered, tiptoeing up the stairs of the astronomy tower. She peaked around the corner to see him leaning on the balcony railing. It had been almost a week since their night in the Great Hall, but they had still managed to see each other a few times, though not as much as either one of them would have liked. Y/N walked quietly up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Guess who?”

“Bloody hell, Y/N. Don’t do that!” Draco breathed heavily before laughing. “It was far too quiet up here for you to do that.” Draco turned around in Y/N’s arms, so he was facing her, back against the balcony railing.

Y/N bit her lip, drawing her eyes up to Draco’s own. “I’ll make it up to you eventually. I promise,” she giggled before placing a quick kiss on his lips. “Care to help me with divination class?”

“You have homework to do?” Draco wide eyed her.

“I saved the most fun assignment for you,” she winked before placing her bag on the floor and pulling out a textbook. “We’re learning about palm reading this week and I am not good at it at all, so give me your hands.”

“No, no, no, no. I do not need you to tell me what my future has in store,” Draco shook his head.

Y/N pulled him towards her, sitting on the ground, hoping that he would follow. Of course, he did. “I’m not any good. You can read mine too. There are directions and everything in here. Even if Professor Trelawney seems a little crazy, this stuff can be fun.”

Draco rolled his eyes, but really didn’t mind if it meant spending time with her. After some time and a few failed attempts at seeing the lines on Draco’s hands, both their palms were facing up, illuminated by the moon and stars. “Isn’t it amazing how almost every line on our hands align?” Draco noted, pulling both palms a little closer to his face to examine.

Y/N jerked her palm up, gently booping his nose with the center of her hand. “I suppose it could be, but there’s no way that they are actually the same.”

“I think they are. Seriously, take a look.” Draco took Y/N’s right hand into his own, palm facing up, while holding out his own left hand. Y/N studied both of the hands closely and quietly noticed the things that Draco saw. They were incredibly similar. “I think it’s a sign of some sort,” Draco offered.

“Speak your mind, Draco. You now believe in fate,” Y/N giggled. Draco studied her face, noting each of the cute features. He may be more in love with her today than he was yesterday and the day before that.

He wanted to tell her, but when he opened his mouth to speak, something else entirely came out. “I wrote to my parents,” he blurted with no lead up or anything.

“What? When? What did you say? What did they say? Have they responded yet?” The string of questions fell from Y/N’s lips as she stared at him wide-eyed.

Draco kissed her before her breathing could get away from her. “I told them that I had been seeing someone and told them your name. I sent it off this afternoon, so I don’t expect to hear anything until my father can do some research into who you are.”

Y/N’s eyes fell to the floor. “So, you didn’t tell them that I’m muggle born,” she trailed off.

“I- I- I figured that if it matters that much to my father, he can find that out for himself,” Draco tried to explain.

“I see,” Y/N responded softly before gathering her things and putting them back in her bag.

Draco watched her confused, feeling even more so when she stood up. “Where are you going? We still have at least 20 minutes before we have to be back in our dormitories.”

Y/N sighed. “I want you to be okay with everything I am. Not fearful and trying to keep hiding me from the world.”

“I am okay with everything you are!” Draco tried to call after her even though she wasn’t listening. “It doesn’t bother me in the least!”

“It would look different if that were true, Draco.” Y/N looked at him sadly as she reached the stairs. After one more second, she descended the stairs and Draco just watched her. He just watched her. It was stupid of him to do, but this was his nature. He’d pull people close and then push them away. He was pushing her away. And it felt wrong, but still, he sat there as she got further away from the astronomy tower. She deserved to hear those three words and eight letters from him a thousand times, but he didn’t stop her from leaving.

- - - - - - -

Draco didn’t sleep for more than an hour the night before. After Y/N had left him in the astronomy tower, Draco went straight to the Owlery. He scrawled a short message on a piece of parchment –

Mother, Father,

Y/N is muggle born, but the greatest person I’ve ever met. I am in love with her. Please accept this because she’s my world

Draco

Draco had folded the letter and attached it to his owl who had probably just returned, sending the confession directly to his parents.

That was the reason for his lack of sleep. He tossed and turned all night, anticipating what his father would respond. If his father would just show up at the castle and scold him in front of everyone. He couldn’t eat breakfast for fear that it would come right back up, so Draco just pushed the food around his place. He picked Y/N out the moment she walked into the Great Hall with her friends, smiling, but he could tell it was forced. He also knew that she knew where he was, but she avoided looking and meeting his eyes.

Draco was too used to the little looks that they’d steal between one another and not catching her Y/E/C eyes first thing in the morning was like a stab in the gut. He couldn’t take the way he left things the night before. Draco should have run after Y/N and blurted out how he felt then and there. Why was he so reluctant to tell her? All it is is eight letters. Eight tiny little letters and she would know exactly how he felt.

Owls swooped in with the morning mail and a thick letter dropped onto Draco’s plate, Lucius’ handwriting scrawled on the envelope. Draco’s heart started beating, a little too quickly as he picked the letter up, fingers rubbing the envelope. He didn’t want to open it. He didn’t want to read the disappointment and anger that Lucius inevitably expressed. What Draco wanted to do was kiss Y/N one more time before he read what his father had to say.

Without thinking, Draco stood up suddenly, letter clutched in his hand. He strutted towards Y/N at her table, standing right behind her and completely ignoring one of her friends as she sneered, “What do you want, Draco?”

Y/N turned to look up at the blond, a questioning look in her eyes, her beautiful eyes. It was the first time that day that he was able to really look at them. “Are you okay?” Y/N asked softly. Draco didn’t miss the care and hint of concern in her voice.

“All it is is eight letters,” Draco thought to himself before he spoke to her. “I wrote to my parents last night. I told them exactly who you are.” Draco lifted the envelope towards Y/N. “This is my father’s response, but I don’t want to read it because I don’t want to care what he has to say. I only care about what I have to say.”

At this point, the entire Great Hall was watching the Slytherin prince speak to a muggle born Gryffindor without insulting her. But that didn’t matter to Draco. All he cared about was the face looking up at him and the girl it was attached to. “Y/N, I love you,” Draco spit out. His hands suddenly became sweaty, realizing what he’d just done. It took everything in him not to run away back to his table or even the dungeons. He stood immobilized, staring at her, waiting for her response.

“Are- are you sure that you don’t want to read the letter first?” Draco shook his head, letting Y/N process and not reaching for her like he wanted to. “Won’t it change your mind about this if you do?” Without thinking, Draco tore the letter in half.

“You’re all I think about Y/N, and I want to tell you a thousand times how much I love you. You, for everything you are and the person you’re going to be. I love you. Can I kiss you now?”

Y/N’s nod started slowly but increased in speed as she rose to be standing in front of him. Draco didn’t wait another second before holding her face in his hands and bringing her lips to his own, kissing her deeply. The entire Great Hall was focused and watching, but Draco didn’t care. Y/N pulled away a few mere centimeters before whispering, “I love you too, Draco.” Her eyes fluttered shut as she kissed him one more time.

Draco didn’t want this moment to end. He didn’t want to face the professors and peers that watched their entire interaction. He didn’t want to return to the words that would no doubt fall from his father’s lips the second he heard about what happened. He didn’t want to think about the danger that Y/N might be in now. All he wanted  was to live in this moment with her forever, never letting go. “I love you,” he breathed out once again, not daring to look away from her face. “Don’t ever forget it.”

“I could never,” Y/N leaned into his touch before pulling away. She was facing the rest of the Great Hall, a large smile on her face. Her friends looked at her with utter confusion, shock, and surprise. Y/N pulled Draco to sit down on the bench beside her, continuing to eat her breakfast, but she never took her hand off his thigh. Draco let her encouragement and warmth flow into him as he took a piece of toast from her plate, only allowing himself to imagine the life that he would one day have with the girl beside him.

-

-

“Gin?” Y/N walked up to Ginny in one of the corridors at the end of a day of classes. “Could we possibly go talk? Maybe down by the lake?

“Sure,” Ginny beamed, “I could certainly use a walk.” Ginny took Y/N’s hand, completely unaware of what Y/N wanted to say and Y/N just felt horrible about it. Her stomach started to turn, maybe she’d even vomit, but she needed to tell Ginny. She couldn’t let the nicest, best person in the world stay with someone who couldn’t love her the way she deserved, without anyone else in the picture.

The sun hit off of Ginny’s hair, causing the color to be vibrant as she flopped onto the grass. Her hair swung into her face for a moment before Ginny pushed it behind her ears. “What’s on your mind, darling? I can tell something is going on.” Y/N picked at the grass. She could already feel the tears starting to swell in her eyes. “Y/N/N?” Ginny gently touched Y/N’s face. If Y/N felt what Ginny did, she would feel her heart drop into her stomach. “Just tell me. The silence is giving me anxiety. You’ve been pulling away for a few days now, even I can feel it. Out with it.”

“I don’t want to do this, Gin. I hate having to do this.” A tear rolled down Y/N’s cheek as she finally looked up at Ginny.

Ginny, being the caring person she was, took Y/N’s hand, rubbing the back to encourage her to say what she needed to. “Gin, you know that you make me feel good, amazing even. That isn’t something I could ever take for granted. Your smile, your eyes, the way your features glow. You’re beautiful. But recently, I can’t help but feel like somethings missing.”

Ginny sucked in a breath, looking away from Y/N’s eyes. Y/N continued, “You’re perfectly good, probably better than he was, but you can’t waste your time on me anymore. This is so hard for me because I know that I could fall for you if I wanted to. I could get so attached and love the hell out of you. If I just let myself, I could, but I don’t think I’m ready to love someone else.”

“I thought you were over him,” Ginny choked out.

Y/N let out a little sob before she went on. “I hate him for not letting me feel like I can finally breathe. I really hate it because I really, really could fall for you, but I just can’t.” Y/N tilted Ginny’s head back up to see her, wiping her own tears in the process. “I know this isn’t easy. I know it, that’s all that people tell me. And when you come out of a love as the one who’s not enough, it feels like there’s no healing,” Y/N tried to explain.

“You were more than enough for him, Y/N! More than he could ever deserve! How could you not be enough just because you are muggle born?! Him, his family, they weren’t enough for you,” Ginny practically yelled. She thought she’d finally gotten Y/N to believe that in herself.

“Gin,” Y/N took a deep breath, “I know that you are so much better, and I know I could fall, but that’s not enough if I can’t get over the way he used to look at me and then how he left so easily.”

“Shouldn’t that tell you enough? He didn’t fight for you! I will fight for you. Or even wait for you.”

“Please, please, please don’t do that, Gin. You can’t waste your time on me. You’ll find someone better than me. I know you will because you are so amazing. It’ll be easy for you.” Y/N didn’t know what else to say. She’d just broken a person who had accepted her for everything she was and maybe she had even just broken herself all over again in the process.

Ginny shook her head. “I know this was hard for you. I’m going to miss you, but I hope that you eventually realize that you are worth so much more than him or his family could ever admit.” Ginny stood up and turned back towards the castle, set on not letting Y/N see her cry at this moment.

“I really am sorry, Gin,” Y/N said softly before Ginny was out of hearing range. Ginny paused for only a moment, barely turning her head, but she did, just enough, that Y/N could see the slight look of disappointment on her face. Not disappointed at the fact that Y/N ended things, but at how Y/N thought of herself and Y/N knew that was exactly what she meant before she continued up the hillside to the castle up above.

“Y/N’s helping me study tonight,” Sirius looked up at James in the Common Room. “You want to try and hang around tonight orrrr?” he smirked as the messy haired boy’s head shot up.

“You really hit a chord there,” Remus snickered, watching the scene unfold.

“Stuff it,” James spat. “I can do this. Tonight is the night I talk to her.”

“Talking is one thing. Will you get full sentences out is the real question.” Sirius pointed out.

James threw a pillow in Sirius’ direction to show the frustration he felt. The boys continued to tease him, but James stuck his nose in a book, pretending to read. In reality, he was planning what he could say to her in his head.

James was in the bathroom. He may or may not have been attempting to comb his hair before Y/N arrived. He looked into the mirror, mentally preparing himself.

“Hello, love. Good to see you. How did you do on that Charms exam? Mhmmm…maybe more aloof? Cheers! Good to see you helping Sirius, he could use all the help he can get –”

“I take personal offense to that one,” Sirius piped up, leaning against the door of the bathroom. “I think you should lead with a joke. That’s your best stuff, Prongs,” he chuckled, rubbing his neck nonchalantly.

“Snub off.” James acted coolly even though he felt wildly embarrassed to be caught in this situation. He was not supposed to be one of those guys that got nervous around a girl and practiced what to say in the mirror.

“Chill out,” Sirius shook his head. “I’m just telling you that she’s walking up here in like 5 minutes, so pull yourself together.”

James followed Sirius out of the bathroom, his hair as if he hadn’t ever combed it to begin with. He just sat on his bed when a knock sounded from the door.

“Ready there, Prongs? Can you act natural?” Lupin baited the short tempered boy.

James could only shoot him a look before Sirius opened the door for Y/N. James felt his voice caught in his throat the second she walked in. She just did everything so effortlessly. She seemed like she didn’t have a care in the world. He was usually like that, but why did she pull the cowardly lion out of him?

“Evening, lads,” she grinned that Cheshire smile. “What have we been up to in here?” she asked as she closed the door.

“James did some primping,” Peter giggled. James made a mental note to hex him later as he sent him a glare.

“For me, Jamesy?” Y/N chuckled before sitting at the foot of Sirius’ bed and opening a book.

“I- uhhh…ummmm, not necessarily…”

“So are you going to help me or not?” Sirius interjected. Despite all his teasing, he could be useful when James felt like he was drowning in front of this girl.

“Right. History of Magic. Why do you always need help for the most boring subject? Couldn’t Remus help you? He’s smart!”

“Moony has refused to help me study History of Magic. He says I make too much of a joke out of it.”

“You do!” Remus called from his four-poster.  

Once all the bantering settled down, the room did fall into a quiet, steady easiness. James pretended to be doing homework of his own while Y/N and Sirius went over Warlock Conventions and Goblin Revolutions. The dates and years too much for even James to follow. But, he wasn’t really paying attention to what they were studying. He was listening to the soft laughter that broke the silence every time Sirius made a joke. He was itching to say something, but what?

“Pads, you ever figure out the logistics of that prank?” Why had he said that? They didn’t even have a prank in the works. Sirius gave him a quizzical look that said he was thinking the same thing.

“Uhhh…” Sirius started.

“You guys are planning a prank? Can I help?” Y/N was fully interested.

This was not where he saw this going. He just wanted something to talk about, something so that she could hear that he could speak.

“Sirius, why didn’t you tell me? You said I could help with the next one!” Y/N playfully slapped Sirius’ arm as she turned back to James. “Tell me about it!”

“Uhhh…well, we were – uhhh…See, Remus concocted this charm and we were going too –” He was stumped there was no plan. He got all twisted up again. He shifted his glance from her focused face to Sirius’, only flashing a hint of ‘HELP ME!’ in his eyes.

James finally let out a sigh of relief as Sirius seamlessly took over. He was pulling bullshit out of thin air. James could usually do that. When Y/N left their room before curfew, James was breathing normally again.

“Hello, earth to James. Can you speak again?” Remus asked tentatively as James fell backwards onto his bed.

“That. Was. A. Disaster.” He spoke slowly, rubbing his hands over his eyes and under his glasses.

“You spoke a full sentence even if it wasn’t directly to her,” Peter offered.

“Shush!” James retaliated. “You literally told her I was primping earlier! I am in my right mind to hex you!” James tossed and turned as he went over the tragedy that turned into in front of Y/N. Maybe tomorrow would be better?

It was a new day and James successfully glided through his morning classes. He’d made a decision the previous night as he listened to Peter’s snores. He was going to ask her out today.

James peered around the corner to look at Y/N, trying to assess his plan of attack. She was surrounded by friends, but they all had been charmed by James before, they would be no issue. Maybe he should complement her or offer to carry her books? No, that would be weird. Or would it be sweet? Ughhh! Nothing seemed to be right!

“What are you doing, Prongs?” Sirius whispered in his ear. James jumped, not expecting anyone to talk to him. “Merlin, Padfoot! What did you do that for?”

“We’ve been standing here for 2 minutes!” James stood up to see that Peter and Remus were also standing behind him.

“You were doing that thing again where you watch Y/L/N.” Moony followed Sirius’s lead.

“Yeah, that’s getting pretty creepy, Prongs.” Sirius chuckled. James instinctively rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. He didn’t realize how embarrassing this actually was until they caught him. At least the other Marauders were the ones who caught him and not Snivellus.

“I’m trying to figure her out, okay?” James tried to defend himself. Now that he thought about it, maybe he had been staring at Y/N a little more than usual lately, but that was only because he was figuring out how to approach her on his own.

Around the corner, he could hear the echo of her laugh. Oh, that laugh. The first time he heard it, it sounded like Christmas bells ringing and it just floated across the air. There was something so genuine and happy about the sound. James was hypnotized from that moment on and he knew that he had to take her out or get close to her. He wanted to be the one causing that laugh.

“Prongs? Prongs! JAMES!” Sirius finally got his attention again. “Where did you go there?”

“Did you see the look in his eyes?” Peter teased. “He was obviously thinking about Y/N!!” Peter sang her name and for some reason, that pissed James off.

“It isn’t like that, okay?” James felt his temper starting to flare. They’d all had crushes before, so why was this one the end of the world?

“Why don’t you just breath and talk to her?” Moony asked, actually trying to give some advice or provide his friend with some guidance.

“Of course I have, you prat. The moment I start speaking, my voice just doesn’t work and I forget what I was going to say.”

“You dunce!” Sirius cut James off. “Are we even sure she knows who you are? We know she knows me, but are we sure that you aren’t just the boy that hangs around with us?” Sirius knew he was poking the bear.

“Of course she knows who he is! Everyone knows who James Potter is,” Peter beamed, looking towards James for approval.

“That means nothing. She messes with him occasionally, so we know that,” Remus shook his head.

“Remus is right,” Sirius agreed. “You need to woo her. Do something romantic. That’ll definitely get her attention!”

The other two boys nodded in agreement, but James just stared at them, trying to figure out where they were headed with this.

“What if he does something big in the Great Hall during dinner. If he says her name, then that would definitely get her attention.” Sirius seemed to be calculating what would happen in this big plan.

“Uhhh, guys?” James said.

“I don’t know if big would be the way to go,” Remus replied to Sirius. “Y/N definitely doesn’t WANT everyone looking at her all the time. What if he did something in the library? He could bring her something while she studies? Say she looked like she needed it?”

Peter’s eyes grew wide at the idea as James tried to interject again. “Hello? Mates?”

“Madam Pince would not like that at all.” Peter’s eyes showed fear as he thought about the librarian. “I had a cookie in there once and I still don’t think I can ever unhear her screams…” Peter’s face glazed over as he thought back.

“Wormtail might be right, Moony. There’s no way to scare away a girl like getting her in trouble with Madam Pince. What could he do?”

“You guys do know that I am still here, right?” James was practically waving his hands over his heads to get the other marauders to look at him.

“We know that,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “But you don’t get to be a part of planning this time, Prongs. You’ve messed it up too many times. So, we have decided to take matters into our own hands.”

The boys all stood around whispering while James listened, understanding that he was getting no input. Minutes went by and the ideas seemed to be getting more and more out of hand. If it wasn’t for Remus interjecting, Sirius would have James spelling her name in the sky on his broom. Why was he ridiculously romantic? The whole bad boy thing definitely was used to cover that up. The ideas seemed to be getting better until they were interrupted.

“What are you all doing?” Y/N’s voice spoke a little louder than Peter’s, who was giving his idea. “Are you planning that prank that James mentioned last night?”

“Uhhhh…” All boys were speechless. How did they explain this? They were caught in the act.

He didn’t know what it was, but James felt a surge of confidence and not embarrassment. “My mates were actually trying to help me figure out how to talk to you.”

Peter, Remus, and Sirius’ mouths all fell open, eyes widened to double their usual sizes.

“Talk to me?” Y/N raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, you, love.”

“Love, huh? You’ve never called me that before. All my friends, maybe, but not me.” Oh, how sassy she could be. “James, are you hitting on me?” Y/N asked, head cocked, eyes focused on the boy with glasses.

“Only been trying to for the last year or so, but thanks for noticing.”

“That can be hard to do when you only have so many words to work with.” 

James glanced up to see the smile on Y/N’s face growing, bottom lip between her teeth. The rest of the boys were still in awe that this was happening right now. “So, yeah they were trying to figure out how to make talking to you easier for me. Sirius was being all romantic with these crazy ideas, but Remus wasn’t sure if that would be your style. Peter had –”

“Woah! Woah! Potter!” James quit his nervous rambling the moment her sweet laughter filled his ears. “So if I got this straight, then this is the part where you ask me out and I say yes.” That Cheshire smile was back. The same one that made his heart flutter the night before.

James coughed to clear his throat, planning the words in his head. She looked at him expectantly. She literally just said that she would say yes, so why was he freezing now? “Uhh, right, okay, so Y/N, would you like to go out with me sometime?”

“Of course, James Potter. I thought you’d never ask! Pick me up for Hogsmeade on Saturday? 10 AM before everyone else leaves? We can grab lunch. See you later, lads,” Y/N waved to the other three before kissing James on the cheek and rejoining her friends.

“Did she-” Peter started.

“Just ask-” Remus followed.

“You out and plan the date?” Sirius followed, completely baffled. “I didn’t even know she liked you, mate!” Sirius slapped James on the back. The boy was still speechless. Did that really just happen? His heart was beating hard in his chest. It must’ve been doing that the whole time and he didn’t even know it.

Ron swung the door open to come face to face with Y/N L/N. She was definitely more Ginny’s friend than his, but she was always kind to him and vice versa. And, if he was being honest, he always did have a crush on her. She was so full of life and brightened the lives of everyone who knew her.

“Uhhh, hi. I’m sorry. I was hoping to catch Ginny. But now that I’m realizing what time it is, I realize that that was a silly notion.”

Y/N wouldn’t meet Ron’s eyes, but he could hear the shakiness and uneven vibrato in her voice. When she sniffled, he knew that she had been crying.

“I should go,” she whispered, turning from Ron.

“No, wait. Why don’t you come in. It’s late. I don’t even know how you got here, but it probably wasn’t easy.”

Y/N just nodded and stepped through the doorway. She stood in the kitchen, looking like she didn’t really know what to do, but Ron watched as she timidly wiped her eyes. He knew she was trying to hide whatever she was feeling.

“Are you okay?” Ron blurted out. He couldn’t stand seeing her hear like this.

“I don’t want to bother you with it. Would it be okay if I just waited down here for Ginny? You don’t have to wait up with me, I can just sleep on the couch.”

“No, you can sleep in my room. I’ll sleep on the couch.” If she didn’t want to talk to him, that was fine, but there was no way that he was letting her sleep on that lumpy couch in the living room.

“I don’t want to put you out.” This was not her, not at all.

“You won’t be. I’m sure of it. You may just have to mind the ghoul in the attic,” Ron warned with an airy chuckle. “I’m the room on the top floor. You can’t go any further. Go ahead up. There are t-shirts in the top drawer, you can use one of those for bed.”

Y/N just nodded before turning to walk up the stairs. Before she could get out of Ron’s sight, she paused and looked back at him. “Thank you, Ron,” she said quietly. Even though there weren’t many words, Ron knew that his actions meant the world to her, he could just feel it.

Once he was sure that Y/N was in bed, Ron got comfortable on the couch or as comfortable as he could. He stared at the ceiling wondering why Y/N had just shown up like that. Molly would have no problem with her being there, but it was still strange.

Ron woke up to Ginny, Fred, and George standing over him.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Fred grinned.

“Fall asleep dreaming about a mermaid?” George teased.

“Shove off,” Ron groaned as he rolled over.

“Why are you down here anyways?” Ginny questioned.

At that, Ron shot up, Y/N. “Gin, I think you might want to go up to my room.”

“I’m NOT dealing with the Ghoul again, Ronald.”

“No, no, no. I didn’t sleep down here because of a ghoul. Y/N showed up late last night. She seemed upset. I told her to sleep in my room.” Ginny was out of the room before Ron could even finish his sentence. Her footsteps pounded loudly on the steps. If anyone was still sleeping in the house, they weren’t anymore.

“What do you think that was about?” George wondered out loud.

“Girls are strange beings…” Fred followed, shaking his head.

Ron followed the twins into the kitchen for breakfast, constantly looking at the stairs for Ginny and Y/N’s feet. Breakfast was filled with jokes from the twins and Percy telling them off.

“MUUUUM!” Ginny called from up the stairs, maybe about halfway up.

Ron watched intently for any sign as Molly rushed up the stairs. She didn’t even question it. She had to know that Y/N was in the house by now. Why was he feeling so uneasy about this? Playing with his eggs until Molly emerged again.

“Well dears, it seems that we will be having a guest for the next few weeks,” Molly smiled as she pulled out another plate and set of utensils. “Ronald, you could have woken me up when she arrived last night,” Molly informed him.

“Sorry. You went up so long before she got here,” Ron tried to explain.

“Wittle Ronnikins gave his room up to the pretty girl,” Fred mocked.

“She needed it. You don’t get it.” Ron spat back at him. Ron didn’t know why, but he felt the need to protect her. He needed to pave the path for everything to be alright with her.

“Good morning again,” Ginny said, announcing her re-arrival downstairs.

Ron whipped around fast enough to see Y/N coming down the stairs behind Ginny, smiling timidly at the family she knew so well. This just so wasn’t like her.

“How’d you sleep?” he found himself asking in spite of himself. Maybe he should have just kept quiet.

“Well, thank you. But you can have your bed back. I’m going to stay in with Ginny.” She smiled at him, well what seemed like a genuine smile. Maybe last night was just a fluke and she would be her normal self by this afternoon.

“Y/N, dear. Have some breakfast. I will send an owl to Arthur and tell him to pick up your things.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley.” Something still seemed off about her. Ron looked up slightly, but not enough for his brothers to catch him. He watched her slowly eat the food placed in front of her. He watched the twinge of pain shoot across her face when she turned too quickly to respond to something Percy said. He watched her.

He watched and noticed things in the weeks following the night of her arrival too. She was happier each day, growing more comfortable and relaxed in a way that someone could only do at the Burrow. Ron started spending more time with her too. She would offer to help them all with their chores and some days Ron got lucky. She’d help him all day. She was her playful self. Spraying water at him while they tended to the garden, keeping the clippers out of his reach. It was all the Y/N he was used too.

Ron even got to spend some late nights talking to her. Like him, she was a night owl. She’d stay up until she was practically falling asleep next to him on the couch or outside on the grass. She was at her cutest when she was tired, giggling and trying to keep her eyes open for as long as possible. Ron just adored it.

It was another one of those nights when just Ron and Y/N were still awake with everyone else asleep. Ron sat with his back against the couch and bum on the floor. Y/N had been sitting next to him until she became more tired. She slid towards the floor and laid her head on Ron’s lap, looking up at him.

“You’re beautiful,” he blurted out before he knew what had possessed him. It was just those eyes…Those sleepy, sparkling, beautiful eyes.

“Thank you, Ronald,” Y/N smiled, not really processing what he said.

“Can I ask you something?” Ron continued, not minding that she hadn’t said anything more.

“If you want to ask if you can have a rematch on the quidditch pitch tomorrow, the answer is yes,” she giggled.

“I will take you up on that,” Ron grinned, “but that wasn’t what I was going to ask.”

“Okay, shoot,” Y/N responded as she adjusted on his lap.

“I’ve been wondering this for a while, but when you came here a month or so ago, you were crying. You weren’t yourself. I don’t want to pry or push you, but what was wrong?” Ron felt the confidence leave him as he asked the question. Maybe he should let the reason stay her secret.

Y/N tensed, he could feel it. She was thinking and then sat up, criss cross applesauce, now facing Ron. “I guess I do owe you an explanation, you were so kind to not push me then. I would still be wondering too if I was you.” She rambled. She was still beautiful when she rambled.

“I knew that the Burrow was a safe place. Ginny has always been like a sister to me. I couldn’t be at home anymore. M-my, my dad, he- he drinks…a lot. It’s just me and him at home usually. Mum died when I was little, but I-I think you knew that. Anyways, that’s too much information.”

Y/N took a deep breath before she continued. “So, he drinks. And it just got out of hand that night. I hide it well, bu-but he can hurt me. He doesn’t always use his hands. Sometimes it's with magic, but I was hiding in my room that night. I swear he loves me. He’s my father. I just remind him of mum and it sets him off- I guess? I don’t know. I shouldn’t defend him.” She shook her head as she looked at her hands in her lap.

Ron just took in her words and the grace that she had while telling him her story. How could she be so calm? He felt the rage begin to rise in his chest. No one- No One, should ever want to do anything to harm Y/N. His fists clenched against his sides, but he tried to hide it, even though it could be read clearly across his face.

“But, I managed to get away and grabbed a broom and this is the first place I thought of. Before I knew it, I was at your door and knocking.”

Ron nodded to show he understood and was listening, but he was boiling over.

“I told Ginny the next morning and insisted I tell your mum, even though I didn’t want to. When your mum found out the basis of my situation, she essentially ordered me to stay with you all. I couldn’t say no, but I’m happy she did. This has been one of the best summer holidays I have ever had.” A smile crossed her lips as she thought of the weeks that she had spent in the Burrow.

“You can stay here as long as you want.” Ron told her, straight faced. He didn’t want that man coming anywhere near her again, whether or not he was her father.

“Thanks, Ron. Your mum said the same thing. I like it here…a lot.”

“You can stay here forever even. All school holidays, summer holidays, all of them.”

“I have to go back at some point, Ron.”

“No you don’t,” Ron argued. “You never have too.”

“Okay.” Her words didn’t seem like an agreement, but an understanding. “I’m going to go to bed now, okay? Thank you for listening.” As she stood up, she leaned down to kiss Ron’s cheek. “Good night,” she said softly as she made her way upstairs to Ginny’s room.

Ron sat in the stillness of the living room. He slowly lifted his hand to his cheek. It burned with the blush left from her kiss.

Growing used to the routine with Y/N at the house, Ron adjusted his own to spend even more time with her. Some would even argue that she was starting to spend more time with Ron than with Ginny. They were growing closer and closer and Ron felt like he may combust if his feelings for her grew any larger. He was falling, falling harder than he could ever imagine. His crush was so much more than a crush on the happy, free-spirited girl that was friends with Ginny. He loved that version of her, but also the her he got to know in the evenings and the her that could let loose like no one was watching. He loved all of her.

Then, one morning he woke up later than usual. He’d been kept awake by the soft explosions from the twins’ room and the thoughts about Y/N swirling in his head. When he came down the stairs, Y/N’s bags were all packed at the door.

“What’s going on? Are we going somewhere?” Ron asked as he rubbed his eyes.

“Y/N’s going home.” Ginny replied with a straight face and angry eyes watching the front door closely.

“She’s what? Where is she?”

“Her dad showed up early this morning demanding to see her.” Ginny spit out. Ron could tell she was infuriated.

“Where is she?”

“Outside. He wanted to talk to her.”

“Did anything seem off about him?” Ron’s mind began racing. What if he did something to her? Ron had to be there to protect her.

He flew through the door that Ginny had been watching so intently. He ignored his sister as she called saying that Y/N’s father said not to follow. He tore through the garden that he had tended to so many times with her and past the Weasley’s makeshift quidditch pitch. He ran all the way to the edge of the trees on the property. The moment Y/N spoke, he could pick her voice out of the normal outside noises.

“No. I want to stay here, Dad. Please!”

“You’re coming home. I need your help around the house. You cannot just skirt your responsibilities.” He growled at her.

“I don’t understand. You don’t have to worry about me when I’m here. They’ll take care of me…” she tried to explain.

“I can take care of you just fine. You don’t need to be playing make believe here.”

“Dad. No.” She was standing her ground and Ron was proud of her, he thought maybe he could just watch from a distance just in case. But when he looked at Y/N’s father, something seemed off. He was staggering and stumbling at only 11 o’clock in the morning.

“You are coming home with me, Y/N.” Her dad grabbed her arm harshly.

“Okay, fine, fine,” she conceded. Even from a distance, Ron could see the confidence fade in her eyes just to be replaced by fear. “Just let me go get my stuff.”  

“No, we are going now. You humiliated me by having Arthur Weasley show up at MY house to collect your things.”

“Please, dad. My school things are in there. I need them to do my summer work.” Her words became more urgent as though she was trying to calm him down and be reasonable.

“WE ARE GOING NOW!” Y/N tried to pull away, but his grasp was too tight on her wrist. Ron couldn’t take it anymore.

“Let her go!” he yelled.

“This doesn’t concern you,” Y/N’s dad spat in Ron’s direction.

“Ron, it’s really okay,” Y/N said, but her eyes pleaded for help.

“I said, let her go.” Ron repeated, closing the distance between him and Y/N.

“She’s my daughter, under the age of 17, and I can do with her as I please.”

Ron’s eyes flickered to where Y/N’s father held her arm. It seemed to be getting tighter. His nails were practically breaking her flesh.

“Dad, that hurts,” she spoke softly to him, but his grip didn’t loosen. Ron could see the pain emanating in her eyes.

“She said she wants to stay here.” Ron gritted through his teeth, losing his cool.

“Let’s go, Y/N.” Her father yanked her arm so hard that Ron was sure her arm would pop out of her socket.

The tears swelled up in her eyes as she held back her audible cries. “Let her go.” Ron was giving her dad one last chance before…

Once Ron spoke, Y/N’s dad only pulled harder. Ron leaped forward, fist aimed at the man holding onto Y/N. He hit him square in the jaw. When Y/N’s dad recoiled, he lost his grip on Y/N, allowing her to break free.

“Are you okay?” he asked, rushing to her side.

“Yeah, just a little sore,” she lied. Ron stood up beside her to face her dad. The man stood a few inches shorter than Ron, so he had to look up to meet Ron’s fiery stare.

“You need to leave now.” Ron spoke as calmly as he could.

By this point, the commotion had drawn the attention of his family inside. Fred, George, and Arthur Weasley were all running to where Ron stood, Ginny running next to Y/N, helping her up.

“Take Y/N back inside, Gin.” Ron said, not breaking eye contact with her father.

“You can’t just hide my daughter from me.” He dared to speak.

“I’m not hiding her. I’m keeping her safe from you now.” Ron was determined to win this one.

“Mr. L/N. Please leave our property,” Mr. Weasley spoke sternly.

Realizing he was outnumbered, Y/N’s father apparated on the spot. Ron turned instantly to go back to the house and check on her. She had been hurt and he just knew it.

“Gin? Ginny?!” Ron called once he was in the house.  

He could hear her soft sniffles and Ginny calmly repeating that she would be okay. He turned into the living room to see Y/N on the couch with Ginny holding her arm and his mum fussing over her. As annoying as her fussing could be to him sometimes, he was never more grateful to have her here taking care of Y/N.

Ron could see the silent tears streaming down her face. His heart ached at the sight, she should never ever cry.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” Ron kept his distance, wanting to be respectful of the people buzzing around her.

“She will be alright,” Molly smiled at the girl, standing up. “Just needs some rest, that’s all.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley,” Y/N whispered, not really making eye contact with anyone around her. Ron could tell that she was embarrassed by the whole situation even though she didn’t need to be.

“Why don’t you come rest in my room,” Ginny offered, being the type of friend that knew Y/N wouldn’t want to be the center of attention all day because of this.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Ron couldn’t stop pacing around the ground floor. Not even the twins could bring themselves to tease him over his concern, they were concerned too. Y/N took her meals in Ginny’s room with Ginny and Arthur watched the yard, making sure that her father didn’t return.

The family went up to bed with an uneasiness in the air. Ron walked so slowly past Ginny’s room, hoping to maybe catch Y/N going to the bathroom or something, but he didn’t. So, now he lied awake in his bed, listening to the ghoul make a ruckus in the attic.

When the soft knock echoed off his door, Ron flew to answer it. Y/N stood there, small and shivering. “Can I come in?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Ron opened the door wider when he realized she hadn’t been up here since the first night she arrived. Y/N stood in the middle of the room, looking utterly unsure about what to do now.

“You want to sit down?” Ron asked motioning to his bed as he took a seat on the floor.

“I don’t want to put you out.” How was she still so polite and thoughtful?

“Sit, Y/N.” Ron offered softly, not wanting to push too hard.

“I just wanted to thank you, for coming out earlier to help me.”

Ron couldn’t stop himself as he grabbed her hand to reassure her that he was there. “You don’t have to go home ever again…”

“I’ve been home, Ron. For months. A home is a place where you are supposed to feel safe and loved and warm.” She looked up from the floor to look at him for the first time since she entered the room. Oh, how beautiful she was. “You make me feel safe, you are my home. And somehow when I was out there today, I just knew you would come…”

She sank onto the floor next to him and all Ron wanted to do was close the space, but he wanted to make sure that she was comfortable above all else. “The Burrow was a safe haven for me,” she continued, “but you, you made every second here amazing. And it may be silly, but I’ve had this crush on you forever.” Y/N broke eye contact as she spoke the words, slightly embarrassed to be telling him this way, but nevertheless she kept going. She wasn’t going to be scared of this anymore. “But, I can’t help but feel like it’s become more than a crush. I-I think I love you, Ron and I just have this feeling that you might feel that same way?”

The words evaded him. How could he express just how much she meant to him?

“Kiss me” was all he managed. The most beautiful smile he had ever seen spread across her face as she leaned forward into him. Ron couldn’t stop himself from pulling her lips to his to close the space faster. He swore he felt sparks as the kiss deepened and became more passionate. This was it. Ron knew that she was it for him.

When they finally pulled apart for air, he studied her beautiful face so closely that he could see every freckle, every line, and every blemish, but even those were beautiful. “I can be your home as long as you need me too,” he spoke against her lips.

“How does forever sound?” she whispered, closing the gap one more time.

-

Y/N never did have to go back to her father, Ron made sure of that. Ginny was more than happy to let her best friend share her room and keep her things there, but really she snuck up to Ron’s room almost every time they were back at the Burrow.

Taking a deep breath before she started talking, Y/N began the story. 

“It has been going on all year, ‘Mione. Remember when we first got back to school and we had that huge party after quidditch tryouts? Well, Harry and I just went and got some air. We were talking like we always do. You guys became my best friends in our second year, so it was easy. And it was probably the fire whiskey, but Harry started talking about how great I was. He was all of course I’ve had a crush on you before! You’re exactly my type and fun and cute. And I just sat there listening and thinking. And it was just nice to hear, but then I realized something. I could have always fallen for Harry so easily, but I always kept myself from doing it. I didn’t want to because I knew it would be too big for me. But, he, he opened the gates. It’s his fault, ‘Mione!” Y/N could feel her voice raising as she thought of how stupid she had been. 

Hermione looked at the 6th year girl, whose eyes were puffy and red, whose lips quivered as she thought about everything. Hermione didn’t want to push her anymore, but she knew that Y/N needed to get it all out. She’d been holding it in for too long and it was affecting how she was in school and with her friends and as a person. 

After giving Y/N a few moments of silence, Hermione spoke up. “So, what happened then?” 

“Well, I started letting myself fall. I was such a git! And I wanted to spend so much time with him and be around him. I mean, I always was, but it just felt different now. I wanted to be close to him and touch him and it just felt different. And he was different too! He was attentive and seeking me out and yeah…” Y/N paused as she thought. Thinking about what happened. 

“‘Mione,” Y/N whispered, “we snogged. A lot. And it went further than that. And – and I thought we were on the same page, but then he said he just wanted to stay friends because he didn’t want to ruin what we had…” 

“HE DID WHAT?!” Hermione howled. Y/N could see the rage building up on her face. She knew maybe she shouldn’t have said that.

“ ‘Mione, please don’t get mad. Don’t yell. Don’t get mad at him. It’s already happened. I made the same decision he did. Plus, I told him it was okay. I told him I was fine, so I messed up. I didn’t check and make sure we were on the same page…” Y/N tried to explain. 

“This is not your fault! Why is he so daft! Why would he do that! He did that AND THEN said he didn’t want to mess up the dynamic?” 

“Well yeah, but he’s a boy, it's fine. Seriously.” 

“Fine. I won’t yell at him yet. When did this all happen?” 

Y/N bit her lip, thinking. Everything seemed to always blend together. “Two months ago, maybe…”

“Y/N! It’s April now…What happened next?” Hermione asked, knowing the story wasn’t over. 

“Well, you know the quidditch match two weeks ago? When they beat Hufflepuff?” Y/N asked, wiping her eyes. 

“yeah….” 

“Well, I thought I had come to terms with everything by then. I went on that date to Hogsmeade and even though Zacharias Smith was an ass after, it was still nice when we went.” 

“Okay? I knew that. He was an ass…” 

“Yeah, exactly. Well, then the match came and they won and I didn’t get to see Harry because the people were just crowding and I couldn’t get to him. So, I waited for everyone to come out of the changing tents so I could congratulate our friends.. Well, Harry was the last one to come out and he was so excited that he kissed me. And I pretended I was fine because I couldn’t go through the ‘we’re just friends’ talk again. But, I couldn’t stop thinking about it after that. All the feelings that I gated off flooded right back in because it just felt right! He held me in a way that no one ever has and his lips just felt right. I couldn’t stop it!” Y/N was gasping, reliving what she had been avoiding. 

“But, you’ve only been acting strange for a week. What changed between then and now?” Hermione asked. She’d been nodding along since Y/N started. She was thinking a lot and felt pretty angry, but she was keeping her anger at Harry hidden for Y/N’s sake. 

“Well, I became overwhelmed. It’s all I could think about. It didn’t feel fair because I didn’t get to say what I really felt. I just took everything in. So, I worked up a little bit of courage and I told him how I felt last week. I said everything. I wrote it down and I just told him! But, but, but he didn’t say anything back. And when I saw him the next day, he just acted normal and as if nothing happened and I couldn’t do that! I couldn’t, ‘Mione…” Y/N felt the tears begin to swell up along the edges of eyes. 

“Wow…he hasn’t said anything?” 

Y/N shook her head. 

“And you’ve just been dealing with it and acting as normal as possible?” 

Y/N nodded. 

“But, you’ve still been avoiding him and he hasn’t said anything.” 

“I don’t think that he noticed,” Y/N said. “Of course, I haven’t seen him to know whether or not he has.” 

Hermione thought for a second. She knew that Harry hadn’t said anything to her about Y/N not being around, so either it wasn’t bothering him or he didn’t notice. Ron was always slightly oblivious, so he didn’t completely understand what was going on, but he knew Y/N hadn’t been around as much. Hermione could tell Y/N this, but she didn’t want to be the one to break her friend’s heart, no matter how honest she wanted to be with her. She couldn’t do it. 

“Do you want me to ask him what he’s thinking?” Hermione asked timidly. 

“NO!” Y/N spoke louder than she had in a while. “I don’t want him to know I told you. ‘Mione, I’ve been thinking a lot. Harry not saying anything to me is an answer. He doesn’t want me… I can’t keep walking around here thinking that he’s just going to run up to me and tell me that he loves me. That only happens in the movies and this isn’t a movie. I need to just move on, but I needed a little bit of time before that. I needed to come to that decision myself.” Y/N tried to explain, with pleading in her eyes. 

“I get that, but it isn’t fair to you…You deserve to be so happy!” Hermione argued. 

“But, it doesn’t look like I’m going to get that from him…” 

Hermione couldn’t hear it. This whole situation was ridiculous! Harry couldn’t just not say anything. If she had been in that situation, she wouldn’t have taken it! But what could she do? Y/N didn’t want her to get involved. 

Y/N spoke up, breaking Hermione from her internal thought process. “I told you ‘Mione, I just need to give myself some time to move on and I can’t do that when I’m seeing him every day.” 

“That makes sense, but I miss you! Can you please just be around more. I can stay away from him. Plus, we have to start studying for exams soon anyways. I just want to spend time with you!” 

“I’m sorry you got caught up in all of this. You don’t have to worry about me.” 

“I’m always going to worry about you!” Hermione assured her friend, fighting the internal struggle about what to do. She could do what Y/N asked and just leave it be, but that didn’t feel right. Boys this year were just messing everything up.

“I know. But we only have like two months of school anyways. It’ll be fine.” Y/N waved off whatever she was feeling, wiping away the few stray tears. 

Hermione nodded, knowing there was nothing else she could do in that moment. So, she spent the rest of the day with Y/N. She convinced her to walk around and go out to the courtyard for a bit. Everyone else was on the grounds, so it was clear. They did run into a few Hufflepuff girls, but it was fine interacting with them. 

Being a Sunday evening, the girls knew that they had a busy week, so they headed to the Common Room after a short dinner. A Harry free dinner of course. 

“You go up, I need to gather some books from the Common Room,” Hermione said as Y/N went to the steps for the dormitory. 

“Okay!” Y/N waved as she went up to their room. 

Hermione looked around. She knew it wouldn’t be long before the boys got back from dinner. Hermione noticed on her way out that Ron and Harry ate with the other boys in their dorm tonight. She waved, but only Ron saw her. Y/N was walking out of the Great Hall so quickly that she didn’t have time to stop and say hi. 

She dawdled picking up what she could, taking her time. She’d just tell Y/N that she realized she had to finish an essay if they took much longer. But, as if on cue, the portrait door swung open and in walked 5 boys. Seamus, Neville, and Dean stumbled up the dormitory stairs while Harry and Ron walked towards where Hermione was standing over her books. 

“Where have you been?” Harry asked casually. 

Hermione felt the fire inside of her flare, but she responded as calmly as possible. “I’ve been with Y/N for most of the afternoon and evening.” 

“Blimey! So that’s where you went! We sat by the lake forever and figured you just went to do an assignment,” Ron shrugged as he turned. 

“No, I went to find our other best friend. I haven’t seen her nearly at all this week and Ron said she was coming to the lake, but when she didn’t, I went to find her unlike you two blathering gits!” Hermione raised her voice. 

Ron and Harry looked at her confused. “What are you talking about, ‘Mione?” Ron questioned. 

“Have you two noticed nothing?! She’s never at breakfast with us, she skips meals, she hasn’t sat with us in lessons all week! We haven’t had our best friend! Ron, you’ve been so caught up with your break up and you, Harry, with that stupid book! We’re losing her!” 

Now, the boys looked concerned. Hermione did raise her voice at them quite often, but something about this was different. 

“What is wrong with you, Hermione?” Harry spoked up. 

“You of all people should know!” Hermione spat before picking up her books and heading towards the stairs. 

Ron looked at Harry with so much confusion in his eyes. “What’s she talking about?” he asked. 

Harry stood there for a moment before he called after Hermione. “Wait! Come back here!” 

Hermione stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking in a deep breath before turning around. “What?” she responded sternly. 

“Can you just tell us why you’re so angry?” Harry asked, trying to get a little more information out of her. 

“It’s not my place,” Hermione barked. “Besides, it could be more efficient for me to just not say anything at all. Then I’ll just act like everything is normal!” With that small jab, she stomped up the stairs to her bedroom. She promised Y/N she wouldn’t say anything and she didn’t really. Not out right. 

Hearing the door slam, Ron turned to Harry aghast. “What was she blithering on about? Bloody hell!” He ran his fingers through his hair. 

“Fuck!” Harry cursed, when it dawned on him why she was so angry. 

“I mean, I know Y/N’s been out of sorts this week, but she gets like that sometimes. I figured it was just that thing that happens to girls every month.” Ron rambled on, not hearing Harry. “Sure, she seemed a little more rushed and like she just wanted to be alone. I didn’t think it had anything to do with us.” 

“It didn’t have anything to do with us, Ron. It had everything to do with me,” Harry flopped onto the couch as he slapped his hand over his face. 

“What are you talking about?” Ron asked stupidly. 

“I was an idiot! How couldn’t I have noticed that she was avoiding me?” 

“What?” Ron asked again. 

“Whenever you were at breakfast early this week, did you see Y/N?” 

“Yes? But..” 

“And did she always leave right before Hermione and I got there?” Harry cut him off. 

Ron sat on a chair near Harry, thinking about the past week for a moment. “Now that you mention it, I guess she did. I thought she just had assignments to get ahead on. You know how her and Hermione can be…What are you thinking about, Harry? Come off it!” 

“I’m an idiot!” Harry stood up quickly and rushed towards the stairs. 

“Harry, you know that’s not going to work…” Ron called as he heard the stairs turn into the slide to keep the boys out of the girls’ dormitory. 

“But, I’ve got to get up there! I’ve messed up Ron!” 

“You could send her a note. It's only 7:15. I bet you could make it up to the owlery before curfew,” Ron suggested, getting comfortable. 

“Ron! That’s brilliant!” 

Before Ron could continue, Harry was out of the portrait hole again. 

“OR!” Ron tried to call after him, “or you could wait until one of the other girls comes back and give them a note for Y/N…” Ron finished. “What the hell is going on with everyone?” Ron wondered as he placed his hands behind his head and relaxed in front of the fireplace. 

______________________________________________________________________________

“What took you so long, ‘Mione?” Y/N asked when she came out of the bathroom to see Hermione just putting her books down. 

“The boys came in while I was gathering my things,” Hermione responded truthfully, not knowing how her friend would respond. 

“Oh…” Y/N faded off. “Did they have a good time at dinner?” Y/N asked, trying to be as normal as possible. 

“Yeah, they did. We didn’t say much about dinner though.” 

“Oh? What did you all talk about?” Y/N questioned as she moved around the room, pulling on her pajamas and hanging up her towel. 

“Well, they asked where I went and then I kind of got angry with them…” Hermione tried to look innocent. 

“Mione?” Y/N was now getting worried. “Why would you get angry?” 

“I just, they asked where I went and I said to find you and then I got mad that they hadn’t noticed how you had been acting all week and…and _ I –” Hermione cut herself off to look up at Y/N just in time to see a horrified face. “Don’t worry! I didn’t say anything about what you told me! I can hold my tongue at least that much. But, I may have made a slight comment just to get him thinking…” 

“YOU DID WHAT?” Y/N yelled, dropping everything in her hands. 

“I don’t know if he got it. Ron was blabbering like an idiot when I came up the stairs. I just think that he owes you something! You are friends, at least! Maybe he just didn’t realize how he felt about you…” Hermione tried to explain. 

“Mione! Now he knows that I’ve been sulking over him all week! He may be daft, but he’s not THAT daft!” 

“But, you deserve to get something!” Hermione yelled out. 

Luckily, it was early enough that the other girls weren’t back to the room just yet, so Y/N had a moment to compose herself. She really despised whenever Lavender tried to act like her best friend and comfort her. It was really the worst and just awkward. That all started when Ron and Lavender dated and Y/N wound up around her more often than she would have liked. Whenever she was with Harry and Ron and Lavender always popped up to be with Ron. It was the worst. 

“What am I going to do now? I was so close to moving on, Hermione! Common!” 

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry, Y/N/N! But, someone needed to do something. He needs to talk back so that you can actually get some closure!” 

“What did I tell you earlier! This isn’t a fucking movie! Merlin! I just wanted to move on before being around him all the time again, okay? Now I’m going to need to keep doing what I’ve been doing for a week!” Y/N ranted as she paced back and forth across the floor. 

Hermione sat there silently, realizing how what she did may have been stupid, but she was going to continue to defend her actions. “Y/N/N, I’m going to tell you this again. He needs to say something. You can’t just let him off the hook. He’s being an idiot! And –” 

Hermione was cut off by a light tapping at the window. The two girls turned to see a white snow owl. 

“Hedwig?” Y/N was startled as Hermione went to open the window to let the owl in. 

“She has a note tied to her leg…” Hermione noticed. “It’s for you.” 

“He wrote me a note?” Y/N questioned. 

“Maybe he realized that he was being an idiot. What’s it say?” Hermione asked as she handed Y/N the note and sat down next to her. 

Hedwig flew over and hooted happily as Y/N unconsciously petted her, holding open the letter to look at Harry’s tiny, scribbled handwriting. 

“What’s it say?” 

“Give me a second! I need to decipher his writing,” Y/N trembled. 

Y/N looked down at the note. It wasn’t long, it was straight forward. 

“He wants to talk to me…” Y/N sat the note down and stood up suddenly, pacing around again. Hermione picked up the note and quickly scanned it. 

“Y/N/N, he’s pretty much pleading for you to come downstairs right now. I bet he just ran all the way to the owlery to send this and get back in time.” 

Y/N stood there thinking, not sure what to do, but before she could speak anymore, the dorm door flew open. 

“Why was Harry so out of breath?” Parvati wondered out loud as her and Lavender discarded their things onto their beds. The two were giggling. 

“What’s going on up here?” Lavender asked, trying to read the room. 

“Nothing!” Y/N blurted quickly, knowing that Lavender wouldn’t ask Hermione for any details. The two hadn’t spoken in weeks. Before she knew what she was doing, she swept to the still open door. She didn’t know why she was going so quickly, but she forced herself to slow down when she was about halfway down the steps. She couldn’t seem too desperate. She had “moved on,” remember. 

As she went to take the last turn, she practically stopped. She could hear the soft voices of the boys that she knew so well. 

“Do you think Hedwig got her attention?” 

“Mate, you haven’t even told me what’s going on,” Ron pointed out. 

Y/N inched a little further down, trying to hear better. 

“I’ll tell you once I know what’s going on!” Harry practically exploded. He’d gotten better at that from last year, but his temper still spouted from time to time. 

Y/N felt her heart constrict. Was that good or bad? She moved forward just a little bit more as Harry had lowered his voice again. But, she must’ve gone a little too far and her foot slipped off the edge of the step. She felt her torso follow quickly after, tumbling down the last stairs and onto the Common Room floor. 

“uhhh, hey guys…” Y/N felt her cheeks heat up. Thinking quickly, she added, “I just left something down here…” Maybe she couldn’t do this. She’d already poured her heart out over a week earlier. She couldn’t go through the pain again. 

 When she finally stood up, she realized that her fall must’ve caused both boys to jump out of their seats. 

“What are you guys doing?” she tried to ask as normally as possible. 

“Ummmmmm…well, look at the time! I’m going to go to bed!” Ron spit out quickly, lifting his arms and pretending to yawn. “Goodnight!” 

Y/N watched helplessly as the only buffer in the room left. Now what was she going to do? 

“Y/N?” Harry spoke up, Y/N still looking at the stairs Ron had just ascended. 

“Uhhhh, hi? I’ll just grab that thing that I forgot and get out of your way.” Y/N looked around, trying to find something in the Common Room that she could claim as hers. 

“I can help you look. What did you forget?” 

Shit! Y/N thought to herself. Why was he so helpful? 

“I didn’t forget anything, Harry.” Y/N sighed. “I – I got your note. Hedwig popped in upstairs…” 

“Oh? You did? Good. That’s good because I wanted to talk to you about the other weekend and this week.” 

“You really don’t have to, Harry. I know Hermione put you up to this. It’s fine. I told you that last week. There’s nothing to talk –”

“Y/N, will you just let me say something?” Harry interrupted. Y/N closed her mouth and nodded. 

“Hermione didn’t put me up to this. I should have realized that something was wrong all week. I’m just blind and an idiot and I’ve been busy and…” Harry looked up to see Y/N looking at the ground. “That’s beside the point and not an excuse. I should have said something last week when you opened up to me.” 

Y/N lifted her eyes from the floor for a moment, waiting to hear what else he had to say because as of that moment, she did not have any words that would fit in quite yet. 

“I did the worst thing possible for that situation. I’m sorry, but I thought everything was normal between us, at least, I let myself think that.” 

Y/N couldn’t handle the rambling anymore. “What do you want to tell me, Harry? I should really get back upstairs. I can’t go through this  again. Stop dragging it out!” Well that was courage that she didn’t know she had. 

“Right, I’m sorry. I guess what I want to say is that I really didn’t know what to say then. You caught me by surprise…” Y/N stared at him. She obviously already knew this and at this point, the situation was just getting irritating. Was he going to break her heart or not? 

“In reality, I’m just scared. We’ve been friends for so long. How do you stop being friends and begin being more than that? I don’t know. No one I know seems to be figuring it out,” he added in, rolling his eyes. Y/N couldn’t help but giggle. She knew he was talking about the undiscussed feelings between Ron and Hermione. 

“And you’re just amazing at everything you do. I’m not. You deserve so much more.” 

Y/N’s heart panged at his words. Of course he was going to break her heart. Why did she bother getting her hopes up even slightly? 

Harry must’ve noticed the sudden change in demeanor of the girl standing a few meters away from her. He knew he needed to change his tactic. “You care so much about everyone that you love. I don’t know if I could be enough for you.” 

“HARRY!” Y/N just couldn’t take it anymore. “These all sound like excuses and ways for you to soften the blow. Just tell me that you don’t want to be with me so that I can go back to moving on like I was trying to do for the past week, for the past two months really!!” Her heart raced and she could hear the blood pounding in her ears. Couldn’t she just go back upstairs and flop on her welcoming bed? 

Harry stood, speechless for a moment too long. Y/N huffed and turned to go upstairs. This really wasn’t a great way to start her week, so why prolong it? But, before she could reach the steps, a hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back. Y/N closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was not going to cry. 

“That’s not what I want though!” Harry blurted once Y/N turned to face him. “Y/N, I care about you so much. And I told you! I’m scared! These feelings scare me. What if something happens to you? It will all be my fault! I could never forgive myself.” 

Y/N instinctively bit her lip, taking in his words. What could she say to that? She still wasn’t sure about any of this. Why had he waited a whole week? 

“Say something?” he asked, eyes wide and looking at her hopefully. 

“Oh? Say something? Maybe I should just nod and walk away. It seems to be really effective in avoiding situations,” Y/N scoffed. She could feel her walls going up. She knew she had avoided these feelings for so long and this was why.

“I was an idiot, Y/N! How was I supposed to tell you that? It would’ve just been easier to pretend that there was nothing between us. Then I wouldn’t have to think about what I’m feeling, let alone how I could potentially hurt you.” 

Y/N could hear the sincerity in his voice. 

“I don’t know what you want me to say now, Harry. You hurt me. You played with my heart all year. You had me thinking there was something when we were ‘just friends’ according to you. That hurts!” Y/N felt her voice waiver, but she was still set on not crying. She’d done more than enough of that.

Harry looked shocked. This was not what he was expecting obviously. Just a week ago, the girl of his dreams told him that she had feelings for him and he was too daft to say anything back. He screwed up, badly. 

“My thoughts exactly,” Y/N spit as she began to pull away from him. 

“No, wait. Don’t go.” 

“What else is there to say?” Y/N asked, throwing her hands out to the side. 

“Say, say that you still love me like I know you do. You may not have used those words, but I know you do. So that I can tell you that I love you and didn’t mean to play with your heart. It wasn’t fair of me because I didn’t know what to do with my own heart. And then I could pull you in and kiss your lips like I’ve wanted to again since two weeks ago, but didn’t.” 

Y/N looked right into Harry’s green eyes. They looked as desperate as she had felt coming down the stairs earlier. 

“Please, Y/N/N?” Harry asked again. “Please, because I love you…” 

Y/N felt every time her chest rose and fell. She wanted this. She had wanted this for so long and now, here he was, fighting for her. It was literally like something she would see in one of those muggle movies, but why couldn’t she do it? 

“Harry, I want to say it. I want to be in this moment with you. I haven’t wanted anyone like I’ve wanted you in so long, but you broke me. How can I  trust that you aren’t going to want to be ‘just friends’ again next week?” 

“You can trust me. I’m your best friend. You’ve always trusted me. Don’t think I didn’t notice that you went out with Smith. I did. And it made me so mad that it wasn’t me!” Harry continued to argue and explain. He realized that he should have said this all to you months ago. 

Y/N sucked in a large amount of air, pulling her mouth muscles into her usual thinking face. What should she listen to? Her heart or her head. One telling her that this would be great and that they would be great together. The one telling her that this was what she had been wanting all year. Then there was the other side warning her that this could end in her hurt in just a few days. He didn’t seem so sure a week ago, why was he so sure now when he didn’t even realize how she was acting throughout the week? 

Y/N looked down to where he was still holding her wrist. This wasn’t right. He should have found her days ago and said this. Or he should have said this when she poured herself out to him. He had every moment to do that! 

Y/N shook her head. She had been right to tell Hermione earlier that this wasn’t a movie. It just wasn’t. He broke her trust and he broke her heart. But, she wasn’t going to do to him what he had done to her. She was going to tell him. She was going to break her own heart. And most importantly, she was going to give herself the chance and the opportunity to finally move on. Only she was going to be able to make that decision for herself. 

“Harry, I just can’t do it. I dreamed about you coming to me, but it just doesn’t feel genuine. If this is how you actually felt, you would have said it last week. You aren’t that oblivious. You knew that was your chance if you wanted it too. I can’t just take you and pretend that you haven’t hurt me. Our chance is over. I’m sorry.” 

At the end of her words, she looked up to meet Harry’s watering eyes. She’d seen so much joy in them in the past, but now all the pain in them was because of her. She couldn’t do it anymore. She needed to get out of the Common Room, but go where? All of her roommates were upstairs and it was well after curfew. Honestly, leaving and facing the possibility of detention sounded a lot better than a room full of girls. 

“I– I have to go.” She pulled her wrist out of Harry’s grip and darted sideways towards the portrait hole. She flew out, not even stopping to see if the Fat Lady saw her, and climbed the stairs. She found herself in a 7th floor corridor before she even stopped to look around. 

With eyes threatening to spill tears at any moment, Y/N fell to the floor. I just need somewhere to cry – she thought to herself as she began to sob. That’s when she felt the wall behind her start to shift. A small door appeared and without looking Y/N crawled inside. Once the door closed, she let her head rest against it and the tears fell in steady streams. 

Rushing out of the Common Room so quickly, Y/N hadn’t seen Hermione and Ron emerge from their hiding places on the stairs. They found a stunned Harry, who was already beating himself up for how that went. 

“Do I go after her?” he asked, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. 

Hermione shook her head. “It’s after curfew and you have no idea where she went…”

“She’ll have to come back eventually mate,” Ron encouraged. “You could always just wait here.” 

Harry nodded as he let Ron and Hermione direct him to the couch. Why had he been so impulsive? Why had he waited to begin with? 

He sat there, staring as Ron and Hermione attempted to cheer him up. He knew that wouldn’t work. The only person who could make him happy ran from him. He blew it. He’d have to find a way to accept that, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to for a while. Not until she was at least his friend again because he couldn’t lose her all together. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Y/N cried until she didn’t have any tears left. Once they ran dry, she only felt numb. She couldn’t go back to the Common Room now. Knowing how stubborn Harry is, he would still be sitting there, wanting to try all over again. Y/N couldn’t take another round of that tonight. I wish that this room had a bed – She thought to herself, finally looking around. Then, there in the corner, she saw a folded up cot. That would do. On one of the shelves, next to some tissues, she found a blanket and pillow. Okay. Now I just have to wake up early enough to sneak back in and get my books in the morning. 

Feeling completely drained from the day, Y/N fell asleep quickly. She dreamed of nothing, which was a relief and in the morning, she decided that today was the day to start moving on. She would do it no matter how hard it was because this wasn’t a movie and she wasn’t going to wait around for someone who didn’t truly want her. 

With that attitude in mind, Y/N quietly left the small room of requirement and tip toed back towards the Gryffindor Common Room. It was maybe 4:30 in the morning, so she hoped no one would be up for any reason. Giving the Fat Lady the password and receiving a slight scolding for waking her up so early, Y/N shut it silently behind her. Once in the Common Room, she could see that the coals of the fire were nearly burnt out, but there were three forms resting in the chairs in front of it – asleep. 

Y/N couldn’t help but smile to herself? Had her friends been there all night? Did they really try to wait up for her? Okay…maybe seeing Harry sleeping there tensed and cold would make it a lot harder for her to move on. It was really sweet. She could only guess that Hermione was the one that kept the three from going to look for her. Y/N tip toed over to the three lumps as she summoned some blankets from the other side of the Common Room. She placed a blanket on both of them and took Harry’s glasses off his face. Then she saw the old piece of parchment open and clenched tightly in his fist. 

Of course he’d pulled out the Marauder’s Map. She could now see where she was standing next to the three of them, but his finger was stationed at the entrance of where the room of requirement usually popped up. How did he know she would wind up there? 

Y/N carefully pried the map out of Harry’s hands, so that she wouldn’t wake him up and mumbled “mischief managed” in order to make the parchment erase the lines of the castle and appear blank. Folding it and setting it next to his glasses, Y/N left the three and headed towards the stairs. But before she could get there, she heard movement. Not wanting to be noticed, she froze in her spot, hoping whoever it was had just been moving in their sleep. 

“Y/N?” a soft voice rang out. 

Y/N closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. So much for not being seen. Why had she gone over to her friends? Why hadn’t she just gone right upstairs? 

Not knowing what else to do, Y/N turned back towards the fireplace to lock eyes with Harry’s, albeit sleepy, green eyes. He looked concerned and worried, but also happy and relieved at the same time. He picked up the glasses she had just taken off of his face and put them back on. 

“Where did you go? Are you okay? We were worried when you didn’t come back,” he whispered, being mindful of the other two in the room. 

“Uhhh, yeah. I just had to get away for a while and didn’t want to face a room full of girls…” she drew out, matching his soft voice. 

“I understand. I wanted to come find you, but Hermione wouldn’t let us. I was going to sneak out after she went to bed, but then she stayed. Plus, she thought you may have gone to the room of requirement and said we wouldn’t be able to get to you if you didn’t want anyone bothering you…” Harry explained, recounting his night as quickly as possible. 

“She sure does know me well,” Y/N replied, brushing one arm with her hand. When had it gotten so cold in here? 

Harry must’ve noticed instantly because he immediately took off his jumper and tried to hand it to her. 

“No, Harry, it’s okay. I’ll just go up to bed.” 

Harry lowered the jumper, looking defeated. Now Y/N felt bad. 

“Harry,” Y/N sighed. She had really wanted to avoid this. 

“No, you don’t have to say it again. I heard you the first time. But, just let me say something?” Harry asked. 

Y/N nodded in response. 

“I don’t want to lose you. If you don’t want to be more than friends anymore, I understand. I was a complete prat, but I can’t lose you in my life. I still want you to be my friend. Of course, I won’t stop trying to prove myself to you, but that’s besides the point. I just need you with me in some way.” Harry’s eyes widened, begging her to understand. Of course she understood, that’s why she didn’t want to tell him how she felt to begin with. Why had she done that again? 

“Of course I want to be in your life, Harry. I can’t imagine mine without you, but you might have to give me some space.” There she goes, continuing to put distance between them. Harry hated it. 

“Well, how much space? Because we could keep that space to just the meter in between us across at the dinner table or…” Harry moved a little bit closer. Y/N was frozen in her spot. “Or, I could drop out of school and pretend not to go here for a month. I’ll go back to the Dursley’s if you need that much space.” 

He moved towards her again. Y/N felt her heart thump in her chest. It was too early for this. She wasn’t in her right mind because it would just be so easy to give in to him right now. Why did his eyes have to melt her insides every time? 

“Or, the only space could be the short distance when we sit next to each other in potions. Please, don’t go sit with the Slytherins again. Draco looked way too smug.” Y/N couldn’t help but smirk at that comment. He moved a few steps closer to her again. “Or, we could just forget the space…” Why oh why did he do this to her? By this point, Harry was towering over Y/N, pretty much daring her to look up at him and meet his eyes. 

Y/N could feel his breath near her skin. It was warm and slow. She knew that he was waiting for her to do something. Common Y/N, just do something! – she thought. Shit! She gave in, she looked up to meet his eyes. There was a determination she had never seen in them before. It bared into her soul. She instinctively bit her lip, she couldn’t help it. She always did it when she was nervous. 

She watched as Harry’s eyes wandered down her face and to her lips, then back up to her eyes. Damnit, she was going to give in. 

Softer than she had ever spoke, she whispered, “Maybe, space is a little overrated…” 

That was all he needed to crash his lips onto hers. His hands found their way to the nook between her face and neck and he pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. It felt like so much more than any kiss they had shared before. 

Y/N was the first to pull away, breath heavy. “This is not what I had in mind when I told myself I was going to move on,” she whispered. 

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “No, probably not, but this way is definitely better for me,” he smirked. 

“Fred, I’m telling you. Doing something to her tea would be a masterpiece. We could easily make her breath smell like dragon testicles, no problem!” George whisper yelled at his brother.

“That would be a punishment for anyone who has to stand near her during detention, it isn’t worth it!” Fred tried to explain again.

“Well then I don’t know what we’re going to do!” George threw up his hands, leaning back in frustration.

“Hello, boys!” Y/N grinned as she sat on the bench across from the twins.

“Y/N,” Fred nodded before returning his attention to the paper in front of him.

“Hello there, love,” George smiled as he leaned over the small table to peck his girlfriend’s lips. “Give her a bit more of a welcome, Freddie.” George joked.

“My apologies, Y/N, but I can’t focus on much until we come up with a way to get at that TOAD,” Fred emphasized, scratching his head again.

“OOOO, are we planning pranks? Count me in!” Y/N pulled away from George and tried to glance at the paper in front of Fred.

“No, not happening, love!” George pulled the paper from Fred’s fingers and stuffed it into his pocket.

“WHAT?! Why not! Common!” Y/N’s mouth hung open as she pleaded with her boyfriend.

“Yeah, why not?” Fred asked. “We could really use a fresh set of eyes. PLUS, she’s a pro!”

“What he said!” Y/N agreed, trying to give George her biggest pouty eyes.

“No, I’m not risking it. I don’t want her to get in trouble if we mess something up or get caught.” George looked right at Fred as if Y/N wasn’t sitting right across from her.

That’s when the twins’ back and forth became them conversing in their own little world. It always amused Y/N when this happened.

“George, before you two started dating, she was the mastermind behind half our pranks! I don’t think she ever got caught once!”

“But I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if she had to endure detention with the toad.”

“She’s never had detention before! What makes you think it’ll happen this time.”

“This woman is unpredictable. She is probably listening to us right now. We know that she has targets on our backs.”

“We would totally take the blame if we are caught though. There is no way Y/N will get in trouble.”

“As cute as this is, guys, I can make my own decisions.” Y/N waved her hands in between the twins.

“Sorry, love. Didn’t mean to leave you out there.”

“It’s okay, I’m used to you two having your own little code.” She replied as she rolled her eyes.

“I really don’t know if it’s a good idea.” George shook his head. Y/N knew he was just being protective over her, but she could take care of herself and that was supposedly one of the things George loved about her.

“Georgie, we need her. You have to admit it. She will bring this planning to a whole new level. We need some fresh ideas.”

“Fine,” George sighed as he watched his brother and girlfriend high-five in victory. His heart was in the right place, but he knew deep down that he was never going to convince these two that Y/N joining in wasn’t a good idea.

“Now that that’s settled, let me hit you with my ideas. I have been kept on the outside for these last few months, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been conspiring on my own.”

Y/N laid her plan out for the twins. She had escape routes planned out, look-out positions, distractions involving Peeves and unsuspecting students. The boys watched in awe as she told them every last detail. When she finished, Fred turned to George, wearing a shit-eating grin. “Tell me why we’ve been leaving her out of our pranks again?”

In all honesty, George wasn’t sure. She was an evil genius. The prank would be set in motion the next day. Y/N had already tracked Dolores Umbridge’s schedule, so that recon was already taken care of. George was amazed but also slightly terrified of his girlfriend. As long as she never turned her talents on him…actually, he would be honored for her to pull a prank on him. Pranks this detailed were a work of art in the eyes of the Weasley Twins.

George walked down the hallway with his brother, carrying loads of books in their arms. As they passed Umbridge’s chambers, Fred tripped over air, causing both him and George to drop all of their books. Y/N had Peeves causing a ruckus in the Astronomy Tower, so the twins dropping their books was just a back-up. In the commotion, Y/N slipped into Umbridge’s rooms under the invisibility cloak she had borrowed from Harry. How Y/N found Umbridge’s chambers and learned to get inside, George did not want to know, but their plan was going perfectly.

By the time the boys picked up the hordes of books they didn’t need, Y/N had slipped back out of the door. She was careful to stay behind the boys as they cleared the way in the hallways all the way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

“Everything go well?” George asked once they were safely tucked inside.

“No problems at all. Now, we just wait until the feast later. We’ll see if my concoction worked there. I bet Umbridge will be red with rage,” Y/N chuckled as she thought about what she had just done.

Y/N and the twins laid low for the rest of the evening, keeping their ears open. As 6 o’clock approached and students made their way down to the Great Hall, Y/N told the twins to keep their heads down. They would move with the crowds to keep from being suspected. Y/N had the timing perfectly. Umbridge always liked to make an entrance to feasts, so she always showered right before to be prim and proper.

Settling in between the twins, Y/N pretended to go about her business. The twins knew the full plan, but they truly didn’t know what to expect from this prank.

Y/N covered her mouth, pretending to rub her nose as she whispered, “5…4…” Y/N began counting as she watched the doors. “3…2…1”

As if on cue, Dolores Umbridge let out a wail that rang throughout Hogwarts. Her quick, small footsteps could be heard echoing off the stone as, Y/N assumed, Umbridge ran towards the Great Hall.

The doors flew open as the short “headmistress” stood in the opening. She had on a pink, ruffle bathrobe, hair still wet, but her skin and her hair were not their usual shades. They were maroon. Her skin and her hair were maroon. It was obvious that Umbridge had tried to run it off and tried to magic it off, but it was no use. The dye wouldn’t budge.

“Who- did this?” Umbridge’s sour, high-pitched voice gritted through her teeth. The laughter started off as chuckles that grew as more people became braver. Soon, the entire Great Hall was howling with laughter.

No one but Y/N and the twins knew anything about the prank, they were all stunned, but pleased. Seeing Umbridge outraged was always a good way to lift everyone’s spirits, especially when she would never catch the culprits.

Umbridge huffed in frustration as she stormed out of the Great Hall. Filch followed. Looking up at the staff table, Y/N could see wide smiles etched on the professor’s faces, despite them trying to hide it. Even McGonagall hid her smile behind her goblet.

“Well done, Y/N/N.” Fred whispered under his breath, low enough that the commotion drowned him out. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“Love, that was brilliant. Maybe we should have brought you in earlier,” George praised, wrapping an arm around Y/N’s shoulders and pulling her into him so that he could press a kiss against her temple.