'Hey.
I know it's been a while. But I'd like to invite you to the Quidditch finale happening this weekend, on Sunday, 9 am sharp.
Looking forward to see you there.
Regards,
Asteria.'

That Sunday had been anything but usual for Harry. He didn't remember the last time he'd been this excited for a Quidditch match.

Not that he normally wasn't, but this one was different.

He was playing the final as a Captain. And he was playing against Ria.

It was perfect.

He slept well— woke up without a hitch, without pondering about anything else, and went straight to breakfast. On the way, he looked out the window; the sky was clear, the breeze a little warm. Ideal conditions, really.

The expected buzz in the Great Hall when he reached there was comforting. Seas of red and green scattered for now, later to be split in two distinct sections on the stands.

Time went by as he sat amongst his fellow Gryffindors— some dressed for the match already while some, like him, filled their bellies first.

He received a whole bunch of good wishes as well as sneers before he left his seat. He looked around the Hall, trying to find Ria, thinking they could at least wish each other good luck instead of meeting on the field directly.

But his anticipation to see her fell flat on its face as she walked in laughing with Zabini. It didn't seem like she had even noticed him until he had called her name.

She grinned wide then. "Harry! Good morning."

He greeted her back, unfortunately having to greet Zabini too since he was right there. "I see you aren't in your gear yet.." He said, very distracted by the redness in her face and the sheen of sweat on her neck.

"Well— I could say the same thing." She laughed with a shrug. "Nevermind.. I just woke up early. Couldn't sleep. So I thought a jog would do me better. And I took his arse with me." She jabbed Zabini with her elbow.

Harry nodded, trying to smile as he looked at him. "Refreshing, was it?" He hoped the displeasure wasn't too evident.

But then again, he was Harry Potter. Blaise could barely hold his smile as he read through his sarcasm. "Hmm.. yeah it was."

"It was supposed to be." Ria corrected, glaring. "Until he turned it into a damn race. Even though I told him I was already too tired."

"What? You were the one chasing me!" He retorted. And Ria widened her eyes at him. "All I did was trick her into promising me that if we win today, she'd kiss—"

A hand connected with the back of his head, and whatever word that was about to leave his mouth flew out of existence.

"Get your arse to breakfast, Zabini. You already take too much time to get ready." She muttered in a single breath.

The boy, still grinning at her in a taunting way, left the two to themselves. And while Ria went redder than before, Harry, staring off somewhere behind her, had completed that sentence in his head with the most wrong option there ever was.

"So— totally not minding him.. where were we?" She huffed, and Harry looked up at her. "Yeah— today's match. Let's give our best."

He looked back at her, took her image in his head again, the flush of her cheeks when she smiled. And realised that it had been long since he had seen her smiling so lively again.

Maybe he had just misheard Blaise; he told himself.

He nodded with a smile mirroring hers. "Yeah.. Good luck."

The entirety of Hogwarts had been obsessed with the upcoming match for days now.

By the time the day arrived, the tension between the two opponents had peaked. There were reports of small scuffles breaking out, some of them lead to students being admitted to the hospital wing.

Slytherin hadn't won the match for years now. The House hadn't even entered the finals after the '94 match, where they had lost against Gryffindor.

And here they were, facing each other again. The perfect rivals of Hogwarts.

But that wasn't what had kept the students and the staff so excited.

It was the Captains of the two Houses.

And if there was one regret in almost everyone's mind, it was that they didn't play for the same position. That in fact, they played in positions that never ever went against each other.

As poetic as it was, it was also frustrating.

Ria had lost count of how many times she had heard that complaint now (if you could call it a complaint). And she wondered why it was that people were always so interested in her drama.

Well.. if she had to admit, she'd be interested too if she were on the other side.

But she wasn't. And it was fucking annoying.

"'You wouldn't break his heart, would you?' What does this girl want from me, then? That I let them win?" She scoffed to herself as she tied her shoulder pads, not really paying mind to her teammates listening in.

"What does she think will happen if I do anyway? 'Oh, dearest Romilda, what art thee madeth of? The finest thread of loyalty? Yond thee wouldst did lie down thy dignity to ensureth yond we wouldst not loseth? I am in debt of thee f'rev'r! Taketh mine own handeth, and we shalt leaveth this cruel w'rld and those heartless wrenches behind!' Is that what she expects Harry to say to her?"

Somewhere behind her, someone— probably Theodore— choked on water. And Amelia ran to him.

"Gosh, don't die over there— We'll need you if Blaise gets knocked out." She said, then paused for a moment, wondering. "Clea, keep an eye out in stead of Blaise, okay?"

"Aye, aye, captain!" She saluted before continuing to stretch her legs.

"Wait— why would I get knocked out?" He asked, almost completely forgetting that he was supposed to warm up.

Ria shrugged, sending him a stare that told him to continue. "I don't know. I've been getting the feeling that you'll be getting knocked out suddenly. Call it a captain's instinct."

When they walked out of the changing room, they took a fleeting look at the audience. Half of the crowd was scarlet, waving flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them, while the other half brandished emerald, holding up a serpent-like banner.

Ria looked up at a familiar seat; Snape sat in the very front row, wearing a very deep shade of green like everyone else. Beside him sat a person that she'd most awaited.

"Oh, there's Adrian!" Amelia exclaimed, waving at him. "And is that— I didn't expect Flint to actually show up."

"Neither did I.." Ria chuckled.

She'd invited four people, to be exact. Her uncle— who couldn't make it because of a fever, Dahlia— who'd written back saying she was stuck in work, Adrian, and of course, her former captain Marcus Flint— who she'd made a bet with.

"Any words of encouragement, Captain?" asked Harper with a bit of cheek.

Ria grinned. Perhaps she would give a speech. She'd done that many times.

But this was the best team she'd had. They didn't need any of that. They were capable enough.

"Let's just win, honestly. I'm tired of this shit."

"And here are the Gryffindors!" Smith erupted after greeting the crowd. "Bell, Robins, Coote, Peakes, and Weasleys— led by Captain Potter—"

The crowd booed at the fake enthusiasm from the commentator. It looked like Smith's attempts at hiding his disappointment of not making it to the finals weren't really working.

"And the Slytherin team!" He ignored the crowd. "Henry, Zabini, Raywood, Shafiq, and Fawleys— led by Captain Edwards!"

"This is exciting." said Luna, amidst the tidal wave of cheers.

"Erm— Lovegood, you do realise we're not supposed to show support to any of the teams?"

"Hmm?" She looked at him, eyes wide above a green-silver scarf, hair held back by a headband that spelled 'Gryffindor'. And Smith thought it was better if he looked back at the field.

"Captains, shake hands!" said Madam Hooch.

With similar sly smiles on their faces, Harry and Ria grasped each other's hands.

"Ready to lose?" He asked.

She scoffed. "You wish."

"Mount your brooms!" said Madam Hooch as they returned to their teams. "Three two one.."

No one could have separated the sound of her whistle from the roar of the crowd as fourteen brooms rose in the air simultaneously.

Ria stopped where she always did, checking for the Quaffle first before letting her eyes wander to Harry. As expected, he'd gone to search for the Snitch already. And as expected, Maryam was already on his tail.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession— Bell flaunting her glorious return to the field again by smoothly dodging Raywood and Zabini— oof! Snatched by Amelia Henry of Slytherin. Seriously, is there anything this gorgeous girl can't do?"

"I think she's already with someone, Zacharias." said Luna, catching him dumbfounded.

"Oh.. no, it.." he cleared his throat. "It was just a compliment, Lovegood."

"Ah.." she nodded. "Oh, I think there was a goal."

As she reached to give ten points to Slytherin, McGonagall had started to seriously reconsider how good Lee Jordan had been at his job. Maybe they could officially hire him as their commentator.

"Quaffle goes back to the Slytherins— Weasley intercepts Zabini this time— are they seriously having a glare off in the middle of the match? It's— it's not a runway, folks—"

There was another chorus of boos at his so-called joke.

"Fine— fine, I'll just— who's the Quaffle with? Ah, right— Weasley, swerving in the midst of the Slytherins— Ooh! There's a nasty Bludger from little Fawley! The Quaffle drops down straight into Zabini's arms again. Now— will he be able to score against the Gryffindor Keeper—"

But the Quaffle flew straight to Raywood and then into the other hoop. "Now that was a frustrating shot— ugh!"

Twenty to nil. Ria breathed a little easier, her eyes glancing towards Flint only for a moment. She really wanted him to watch.. watch how she'd found such talented players and built such a capable team.

Fuck that actually, she wanted to show him that she was better than him.

The sea of emerald screamed in delight as the Quaffle landed in the hands of Zabini again. A moment later, Cootes had startled him with a Bludger— the Quaffle snatched by Robins, as a result.

She zoomed towards Ria with full speed, and Ria realised that she'd been too distracted by everything else when she missed the save by just some inches.

"Twenty-to-ten! Gryffindor finally gets its first goal!"

Ria had called for a timeout from her side pretty early on in the game.. only when the score had gone up sixty-to-eighty.

None of them had realised how warm the weather had gotten in the past few days. But now that they were flying out in the open sun, it was getting harder to stay focused.

Soon the second timeout was called by Harry, with both the teams barely scoring after a point in the match.

"I'm sorry! I promise I didn't mean it—"

"I know, Clea. It was an accident." She assured her. The girl had gotten a penalty for colliding with Robins, but Ria knew it hadn't been on purpose.

She'd also almost fought with Hooch over it, but that hag had just given her team two penalties. Unfair.

So now Slytherin was at eighty. And Gryffindor was leading by an additional thirty.

"Everything okay?" asked Theo as he passed her a bottle of water. And she nodded. "Sure?"

"Just not in my element. Can't figure out why." She answered. "Maybe it's not supposed to be my match."

"Pfft. You don't mean that." Amelia huffed, patting her head. "Who're you trying to fool?"

But Ria only shrugged. "Maryam!" She called out. "The Firebolt's working fine for you, yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah.. I've practised before, so it's better."

"Hey." said Ria. "Don't hesitate if you have to go all out, okay?"

Maryam sucked through her teeth. She'd told her Captain many times before that she didn't want to damage her Firebolt in the slightest way.

Ria chuckled. "Merlin, Maryam— it's a broomstick, not a dandelion. It's made to be used roughly." She shook her head. "Besides, I want you to catch that Snitch today. Go for it."

Still with a bit of hesitation, Maryam nodded, remembering Ria's words from their practice sessions again. "We are Slytherins. So we play like Slytherins."

Across the field, Ron walked towards Harry. "Hey.. You reckon Ria's alright?"

The green-eyed boy tilted his head. "Yeah.. Why'd you ask?"

"Why do I ask?" Ron chuckled. "I've saved more goals than her."

He nodded with a delay. "..and? You're an excellent Keeper too."

The redhead clicked his tongue with slight irritation. "Not better than her, Harry."

"Merlin's beard, Ron—"

"No— I'm serious." He interrupted. "No offence, but I've watched Ria play more than you have. And she just.. I don't know— it seems like something is wrong."

Harry thought for a while, his eyes wandering to the other side of the field and towards the girl, who had been standing at a side, a bit farther away from the rest of her team.

Was something really wrong?

The whistle shrieked, and he was dragged out of that thought and into the air again. But not really.

Because as much as he wanted to focus on finding the Snitch, his eyes kept finding Ria instead every time the Quaffle flew towards her.

And she had stopped almost three goals in a row after that, but not in the same old 'Asteria Edwards' effortless manner.

Hadn't she said she couldn't sleep last night? Wasn't that why she'd just gone for a jog?

Was Ron right?

"One: Make them think you aren't really feeling it. Let them relax and enjoy the upper hand for a while."

" — it flies straight through— the snakes have finally caught up to their enemies, it looks like— a hundred and ten—" A whoosh caught him off-guard. "Oh Helga— can it be that Shafiq has spotted the Snitch earlier than Potter?"

Shit.

Harry didn't waste another moment following her. A loud roar erupted from the crowd adorning green, and Harry heard the familiar voice of Zabini celebrating his goal.

Hundred-and-twenty to hundred-and-ten.

"Oof— close call to that Bludger, Edwards— and looks like Shafiq has been dragged outside the stadium by the snitch—"

The sun had a frustrating glare. And Maryam Shafiq had been so ahead of him that he could only focus on speeding up, at the moment.

" — Another save from Asteria Edwards, as expected— damn you, Edwards. I want to hate you, but that swerve was something— wait, wait!"

"Two: Jump back in form all of a sudden. From an unsure rookie, to a threat to profession."

The crowd cheered. "What a turn! The Quaffle jumped straight from the Slytherin Keeper— through the three Chasers and straight to a goal! Even the Weasley siblings couldn't keep up with it!"

Hundred-and-thirty to hundred-and-ten.

Harry heard Ginny swear loudly and hoped someone else would console her, because he had almost caught up with Shafiq—

The broomstick in front of him stopped, and even though Harry had left it behind, he felt dumbfounded for a moment.

His eyes moved quickly, his pace slowing, as he tried to find the golden snitch in the clear blue sky.

His heart moved to his throat for a moment, and he spun, looking for any sign of gold in Shafiq's hand.

But all he found was a wide smile on her face. She shrugged, putting her hair up. "Oh, no worries! Just got some hair in my face."

He was still for a while, not quite believing that he'd fallen for a trick this stupid.

"Did you see anything, by any chance?" She asked. "Perhaps, a little golden ball with wings?" She refrained from laughing upon receiving a nasty glare.

He looked back at Ria again, much higher up than she was. And she was looking straight ahead, eyes on the Quaffle, neck shifting a little only when the Quaffle went out of her vision.

Ginny was one of the best Chasers Harry had ever seen. He had told her that many times.

But unfortunately for her, Ria had keen observation and a good memory. It always took her only one or two matches to know how a new Chaser moved. And she had been watching Ginny play for quite a while now.

The Slytherins cheered again when the Quaffle collided with Ria's palm and stopped. Ginny swore louder than before.

Harry removed his spectacles, rubbing his eyes and running his fingers through his damp hair.

Something is wrong, my arse.

He took a deep breath. "It's okay, Ginny. Stay sharp."

"I'm trying." She bellowed.

"Three: Piss off as many people as you can. They don't play well when they aren't thinking straight. Especially the main stars. They're always used to having it their way. Ask me, I'd know."

Yup, Ginny was not used to being blocked like this. How many goals had she scored out of eleven.. three?

Harry sighed with exasperation. He had to give her time to calm down. But Gryffindor couldn't call for a timeout now. He had already used it. So had Slytherin.

Nice fucking play, Ria.

"Raywood, come on! I know you can get three more easily!"

It was like her words were laced with a whiff of Imperius, because within the next ten minutes, Dale Raywood had scored the next three goals for Slytherin. His name was being chanted by the emerald-laden crowd.

Hundred-and-sixty to hundred-and-ten.

A buzz fell on Harry's ear, and he tried to tune out the crowd and the commentary. Almost as if it was innate, he moved after the sound.

A golden glimmer fluttered in front of his eyes, and Shafiq was quickly on his tail. He had noticed it earlier— she'd changed the broomstick she usually used. In fact, he was pretty sure the Firebolt she was using was the one Ray had gifted Ria.

"Another save from the Slytherin Captain— that's the seventh one in a row! Is Edwards going to flip the game around for her House?"

The crowd had started chanting her name, and despite their voices growing louder and louder and ringing against his ear, he tried his best to stay focused.

"This could be the closest match we have ever witnessed and.. what on earth is she doing?!"

"Four: Let Smith carry on with the bad commentary. Because unlike Jordan, he doesn't mention every move that the players make. So now.. thanks to him, players have blind spots. They won't always know what their opponents are doing."

Harry glanced to his sides, she was nowhere. He couldn't even feel her tailing him. He kept ears open and his arm stretched out, reaching for the golden flying ball.

But then she was there, suddenly, erupting from under him and soaring up towards the sky.

And Harry halted his broom with a cuss, thinking that Shafiq had to have lost her damn marbles because even the slightest wrong timing would've made them both collide and fall violently to the ground.

"And Five: A little unexpected risk is always helpful.. most of the time. If you're confident in yourself."

Her team had given her the most questionable look at the series of advice she had just given them.

"I wouldn't take that risk, personally, because I overthink too much. But I'm sure you'll all be fine." She had only smiled.

And Shafiq was all fine, much higher in the air than Harry, a wide grin on her face and a pair of fluttering wings sticking out of her fist.

He felt his mind blank out. A loud roar went off around him, and he stayed in his place until someone from his team shook him out of it.

The army of green was filling the field below, running towards their team that had been lowering on the ground, chanting their House's name with rowdiness he'd never heard from them.

Was he disappointed? Yes.

Was he also caught so off guard that despite losing.. he also had a kind of bitter smile on his face? Yes. Damn it, yes.

Godric, he felt so stupid for falling for something like that.

Then why did he have a goddamn smile on his face even if he was mad?

No one had ever seen a grin so wide on Asteria's face.

All the youth stolen from her was given back to her for that exact moment, where she sat on Raywood's and Fawley's shoulder with the Quidditch Cup in her hand as her teammates and Housemates surrounded them.

From her place above the ground she saw a familiar figure leaving the stadium, and a call left her mouth before she could help it.

"FLINT! I FUCKING TOLD YOU I'D WIN!"

The man stopped to look at her, rolling his eyes and probably hiding the urge to smile as he threw a small round of applause for her before making an exit.

She then looked at Adrian, who had been cheering at the top of his lungs, and then towards her godfather who'd been sitting right beside him.

Ria had never seen Severus Snape look so pleased her entire life.

Well.. whatever that made him happy.

Ria's feet finally touched the ground again. And she handed the trophy to Raywood just in time for Amelia to come running into her arms. She was saying something but the words didn't make sense anymore, so she just nodded, letting her go to hug Theodore next.

He lifted her a little before letting her go with a grin and a kiss to her cheek, and she saw Blaise then.

She opened her arms for him, walking to meet him halfway when Blaise's hands found her face instead of her shoulders. And suddenly, his lips were on hers.

The crowd around her only kept cheering. Dumbfounded for only a second, Ria quickly pushed him away, an expression of outrage on her face as she wiped her lips.

"Blaise, what the hell?!"

He stared at her, and his eyes softened, as if with some kind of realisation.

Ria was about to burst, he could tell. But when he had expected for her voice and curses to fall on his ear— "HARRY, NO—"

He doubled down to a side, noticing him standing right in front of him now that he had realised the throbbing pain in his jaw.

Harry took one fleeting look at Ria, and then turned right around to storm off. And the girl pushed aside everyone that was blocking her way to follow him, calling his name in vain. Amelia stopped her for only one moment though, mumbling something to her, and Ria clenched her jaw, pushing her away a bit harshly before going after Harry.

Amelia groaned, her hand to her forehead before she pushed her long black hair out of her face. "Zabini, I know we'd decided on something. But this was too far." she said, disappointed.

But then he looked up, panicking because he had just come to his senses.. because he had just remembered a brunette boy. And when he saw him standing over a distance, tears in his brown eyes before he had walked off, he realised how badly he had fucked up.

Harry knew Ria was following him, that she was calling for him, probably to explain things, but he wasn't sure if he cared enough. He walked into the Gryffindor changing room, opened his locker to take out his clothes and towel because he was in grave need of a cold shower, but the door slammed open.

"If you didn't hear me, I was calling you." Ria huffed, appearing dishevelled and slightly red in the face.

Harry scoffed. "Why does it matter anyway? Go to that best friend of yours or something."

He hadn't felt angry in such a long time. But it had made him do the thing that he'd been itching to do since long ago.

Punch that damn cockiness out of Zabini.

He heard her breathe in sharply. "I don't know what's wrong with him. I don't know why he did that, in the first place—"

"Oh, you don't?" He scoffed a laugh.

And Ria seemed taken aback. "No, I don't." She furrowed her eyebrows. "And what do you even mean by that?"

He rolled his eyes sarcastically, returning to whatever that he was doing before. "Of course.. Of course, you don't. Absolutely not—"

"Would you stop that?!" She bellowed, walking to him and shutting the locker close that had been giving something to look at instead of her. "There is nothing between Blaise and I— There never was!"

"Yeah— Yeah, sure. There was nothing ever going on— Zabini definitely never had a thing for you ever since you first met each other, right?!" He asked her.

Ria blinked furiously. That was true.. had been true for some time, but now..?

"How did you.."

"As someone who liked you too, it was too fucking obvious, Ria!"

Her ears turned a shade of crimson. "That was— That was when we were twelve, Harry. And I never reciprocated—"

"Of course, you never did!" He took her hand off the locker swiftly and opened it again, resuming his task. "You're just friends! Friends share their jackets all the time! Their other friends stop hanging out with the two of them out of nowhere, but not because there's something going on between them—"

"That's not why Theodore—"

"As a friend, he's allowed to interrupt whenever we're talking— especially when it used to take me so much damn effort to get you to even look at me! When I was trying so damn hard to win you over again— just to go to parties where he's not only paired up with you, but even smelling like you, Ria!"

Ria let out a frustrated groan. "Amelia just told me—"

"Oh, she's been telling me too, for a while now." He looked at her again. "Telling me how you two understand each other so well.. How he put all those Valentines' roses and letters from other people in your locker so you'd feel appreciated because you'd ignored them otherwise— And how close you two have been growing—"

"That had been their plan all along!" Ria yelled, frustrated.

And Harry paused his rant for a moment. She huffed, slightly relieved. "That's what Amelia just told me.. That they thought some sort of argument had happened between us.. They thought it was your fault, for some reason. So they came up with the brilliant plan to make you jealous and get us back together."

Harry opened his mouth for some retort, and Ria was now sure that this boy had decided to be partially deaf for the rest of the day. So she saved him his voice, and did what any sensible girl would have done.

She kissed him.

To say Harry was stunned was an understatement.

Because he had his eyes wide open as he stared at her.. as her cheeks changed their shade in the matter of a second.

"That's.. That's what I promised Blaise this morning, by the way." She stuttered.

"What?" He asked, dumbfounded.

And she groaned softly into her hands. "When we went on that jog today.. Uhm— he kind of tricked me into promising that if we won the match.. I'd— erm— I'd kiss you."

Maybe Blaise Zabini wasn't that bad after all.

Except for the part where he had kissed her, obviously.

"And yeah— that's.. that's the thing. That's it."

God, she was down bad. Had she ever stuttered this much in her life?

"Anyway.. You are invited to the party." She rushed, now that there were voices she could hear outside the changing room. "All of you, actually.. if you want to— I mean. That's all.. Bye!"

And Harry only watched Asteria as she left the changing room, speechless. He hadn't even noticed that the pile of things in his hand had fallen to the floor.

Why would she do that?

He crouched down, but instead of picking them up, his body gave away and he leaned against the locker beside his, with his face in his palms.. probably red.

He had kissed her so many times before. So why did his face feel warm in his hands?

Pathetic.

Well.. he had to go to the party now, because..

How could he not kiss her back?

The sharp knock on the door almost made Ria ruin her mascara. She paused, breathing in before running the black liquid through her lashes again. "Come in."

The door opened, and a familiar voice greeted her, standing at the doorway of her room in a dark turtleneck and a tux jacket.

It was like nothing could diminish Blaise Zabini's charm and poise.

"Don't you look handsome.. Who are you trying to seduce?" She asked, looking at him through the mirror.

"Not you. That's for sure." He said without a second to spare for thought.

"Wise answer." She meant that.

Ria carefully closed her mascara tube and put it down before turning in her seat to look at him directly. Without breaking eye contact, she bent down, undoing the latch of one of her stilettos. Blaise's eyes widened with slow realisation.

"Hey.. Ri— I am sorry for today— wait— HEY—" He barely dodged the heel thrown towards him.

She took the other one off too and launched it spinning towards him.. "You fucking MORON! What were you thinking?!"

"Oww! That's the thing! I wasn't thinking! I really am sorry!" He said, rubbing at his chest where it had hit him. "And what's with you Muggle-raised brats being so manually violent all the time?"

"Oh— I could've been worse, alright?" Ria chuckled humorlessly. "I'm sparing you of the actual assault only because of that stupid thing you made me promise!"

He paused in the midst of picking up her heels. A small, genuine smile dawned on his face. "Wait, really?"

And even though she was still mad, nothing could have stopped that smile that curled up her lips as she nodded.

"You did kiss him? Like you? Kissed him?"

"Yes, you bastard." She said, snatching the stilettos from his hand.

Blaise was grinning now. "Well, then by all means, you can thank me." He joked.

Her smile turned sarcastic in a second. "Yeah, sure. What would you prefer as an act of gratitude? A magical spell or the Muggle way of poking an eye out?"

His smile dropped as she mockingly waved the heel in his face. He stepped back, hands raised in defence. "I'm sorry again. I really am. I promise, I didn't mean that."

She sighed, finally shrugging it off. "It's fine. It's fine. And anyway, I'm tired of hearing you rehearse your apologies outside the dorm."

Blaise's eyes were wide again. "You— You heard them?" He cleared his throat, his tone timid.

"No." Ria chuckled, tightening the straps of her heels. "Cassandra did. She recited them to me."

"That nosy hag."

"You better watch your words, young man!" She threatened from her portrait, and Ria laughed at the boy muttering some insult under his breath.

"Anyway.. What I want to know— and you owe me the damn truth, okay Zabini?" She warned him already, and he nodded. "Where did you disappear after that?"

He tilted his head in question. "Come on, I'm not that stupid. You had hours to come here and apologise to me. But you come here now.."

"So.." He gulped. "Where were you off to? Or more like.. Who were you off to see?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Right.." Blaise huffed. "I.. I'll tell you.. But I'll need to explain from the start so—"

"We have time." She sat herself down with a smile. And he shook his head playfully.

"Fine. And I apologise already.. again.. for hiding it from you." He let her know sheepishly. "I— erm.. I felt embarrassed so.. I— I didn't know what to do."

She nodded. "It's okay. Things happen."

"Hmm.." He nodded, a bit hesitant. "Anyway so.. The start— yeah.. The Ravenclaw welcome party— Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh— oh, I'm just surprised it went that far back. Don't mind me." She waved it off. "I thought it was one of your recent hook-ups."

He side-eyed her. "You know too much."

"Just go on, please. We have a party to attend."

"Alright, okay.. Uhm.. so what happened was.." He cleared his throat again, getting visibly flustered this time. "I.. I—"

"Kissed someone and then denied your feelings?" She assumed.

And his eyes went wide. Again. "Woman. You are scary."

"No.. I'm just— speaking from experience." She shrugged. "And no— I wasn't the one doing that, just for your information."

"Of course, you weren't." He retorted. "Well— sort of— yes."

"So you kissed someone and then told them it was an accident or something like that?"

"Yes—"

He immediately had a pillow flying to the side of his face. "Oww— Ria, for fuck's sake! Enough!"

"You really are a moron, you know? And an arsehole."

"Yeah— Yeah, I know."

"Why do you boys do that? And who was the poor girl anyway?"

Now that.. That was the question that made him purse his lips. And she immediately panicked.

"Or— Or guy. Either way— who was that unfortunate person?"

It did nothing to minimise his panic, and Ria assumed that acceptance might have been the least of his concerns.

"Blaise.. who did you kiss?"

It might've been the first time she had ever heard him go so silent. And she could tell it wasn't for good measure. She could pick apart his hesitation.

Hell.. ever since he had started this conversation, he had been hesitating.

And Ria wouldn't lie.. she felt like she'd fallen short somewhere as a friend. She felt a bit disappointed in herself.

So instead, she just stood up, brushing off any creases from her dress. She looked into the mirror that stood against the wall. For the first time in a while, she felt like admitting she looked good.. in her slim black dress, with her hair falling over her shoulders.

Soon Blaise was walking over and standing beside her without a word. "What do you think?" asked Ria, trying not to let his prior silence affect her too much.

He smiled softly. "Well.. I always said my two girlfriends were the most beautiful girls, so.."

They chuckled, half with amusement and half with longing for the curly-headed girl named Sophie Scamander.

"Amelia?" He asked, tilting his head in question, and a smirk made its way to Ria's face.

"Remember the gift Harry gave me for Valentine's?"

And Blaise spurted out a laugh. "Shut up! Really? Potter gave this dress to you?"

"I'm not kidding!" She said, eyes twinkling. "The best part is.. it also had this note." She lifted the parchment from her dresser and handed it to him.

"'Thought this would look breath-taking on you. Why don't you wear it while we celebrate Gryffindor winning the Cup, this year?' Ooh, I'm glad we deflated that big head of his."

Ria chuckled, nodding in agreement. And then with a sigh, she looked up at Blaise. "You know.. our conversation from before.. I'm not gonna let it go." She said, watching the lightness leave his expression.

"But I don't want to bring it up." She admitted. "So I'll just hope you can tell me whenever you feel ready to.. I hope you know that I'll be here. Yeah?"

And though his half-assed, pursed smile didn't look too genuine, Ria didn't push any further.

"Pureblood."

The resentment in her voice when she first used to say that ridiculous password had seriously died down. She wasn't bothered anymore to waste her energy on something that couldn't be changed.

It was stupid, though. Everyone (the other Houses) knew the password to the Slytherin Common Room. So anyone could enter.

Not that she cared. She didn't live there anymore, thankfully.

To her surprise, her fellow Housemates had been waiting for her, bashing her with confetti and cheering for her as soon as she entered.

It was weird.. actually receiving the support and acceptance she always wished for.

Slytherins.. although they were called snakes, their reptilian nature extended beyond that, apparently. They were more like chameleons, changing their colours to whatever condition that benefited them.

Well, thank God I'll only have to endure one more year of you arseholes.

"Ria!"

She'd never heard Amelia call out her name so unsurely before. So she turned in surprise, giving a pursed smile to the girl who wore a velvety emerald green dress.

"Hey."

Amelia looked like she didn't know what to say. "So.. Do you want a drink?"

Ria shrugged. "Why not."

Her gaze fell on the stash, and her eyes almost popped out of her sockets in surprise. Amelia chuckled. "No way.. not Slytherins warming up to Muggle alcohol. How'd that happen?" Ria chuckled, examining a familiar bottle.

"Someone sent all this as a gift." At her answer, she raised a questioning eyebrow. "Dahlia Montgomery."

"No fucking way." It was a deep, hearty laugh now. "Merlin.. this is like— more than enough for everyone. Merlin! How much did she spend?"

"Meh.. nothing for big people like her." She said, examining a bottle of red wine and lifting it up to her. But Ria tapped on a bottle of sherry instead. "I heard from Adrian before he left this afternoon.. that she's a representative of the Muggle Affairs department. And she's only what.. 21?"

Ria nodded, impressed, as she poured a glass of whiskey for Amelia. She felt glad it was someone like her that handled Muggle Affairs in this age for wizardkind.

Dahlia had no idea how much she had done for Asteria. If it wasn't for her, she wouldn't have gotten through second year as easily as she did. She wouldn't have had the confidence and resilience she had now.

Ria handed Amelia the whiskey while taking the glass of sherry from her, and they clicked their glasses. They still had a toast to make, apparently. Raywood had asked them not to have alcohol before that.

But did they care? Not really.

Ria stopped in the midst of her sip. "Do you have your wand on you?" She asked her, and she handed it to her. "Thanks. Hold my drink for me, please? I'll be back."

She walked towards the centre table in the room. "Hey, do you mind giving me a hand?" She asked the random fourth-year standing beside her. Although confused, he did so, helping her get on the table. 

She looked around the common room. Good.. the others aren't here yet.

"Sonorus.. Hello— wow! That's loud.. I hope everyone can hear me." She chuckled to herself.

The audience turned towards her, beginning to clap already. "Oh, no no. The party's not starting yet. And I'm not hosting it anyway, Amelia Henry and Dale Raywood are. It's just a little announcement. Let's calm ourselves down."

Ria cleared her throat, walking a few steps on the stable platform. "Now, as we know, today's celebration is in honour of our House winning the Quidditch Cup." There were some cheers, and she smiled at them.

"Yeah, yeah.. we're all happy. This is the first win after the 1990-91 final match. So.. we want to share this joy with other houses.. Well— show it off in front of them more than share, really." She earned a little laughter.

"Right? The others are invited, and we're gonna be showing off our greatness in front of them, but only in terms of Quidditch, and Quidditch only." The grin on her face was forced, trying to get her point across clearly.

"So.. if I hear any of you utter one disrespectful word to them besides that.." she looked around again, as the smiles on their faces turned hesitant. "Know that I might be soft and considerate, but I'm still an Azrael."

There was a silence lingering among the Slytherins.

Ria smiled softly. "Oh, don't worry— please! I'm not threatening you! Just reminding you of the possibilities, though. It's for your own good."

She then broke the tension in the room with a sweet chuckle. "That's all. Now, don't let me ruin your mood. It's a day to celebrate, yeah? Enjoy!"

She carefully jumped off the table amongst the unsure chatter, almost losing her balance at the landing but regaining herself.

"Quite a speech." said Amelia, exchanging her drink for the wand in her hand. "Moving, really."

"Thank you." She tipped her head at the compliment, finally taking a good taste of her drink. "Hmm.. it suddenly tastes better now."

They chuckled, but then Amelia let out a long sigh, carefully watching her. "I'm sorry.."

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry for all the stupid planning and stuff Blaise and I did.. for you and Harry." She said timidly.

And Ria huffed, shaking her head. "Don't apologise—"

"No— I was wrong!"

"— to me." She completed. "Apologise to Harry."

Amelia stared at her, blinking lostly. "He was actually putting a lot of effort, you know? For me." Ria smiled softly. "But imagine doing all you could for someone and watching them cosy up and get close to someone else."

It took Amelia only five seconds before she understood the severity of what they had done. "Yeah, you're right."

Ria nodded. "The thing is.. I don't want your apology. Because your actions did very little to hurt me. But they might've affected him a lot."

The girl in green snorted though. "Might have?" She questioned. "I'm pretty sure he punched Blaise harder than he did Malfoy."

"Amelia." Ria said sternly, and she dropped her smile. "As I was saying.. apologise to him. Both of you."

She nodded. "Yup. Roger that."

"Good thing." Ria acknowledged, she looked around the room then, her eyes finding a familiar face. The girl smiled at her, waving. "Hmm.. Willow is here. So why can't I find Theo?"

"Hey— Congratulations on your win!" She said, hugging her side like she always did now that she'd grown to be a friend.

"Thank you." Ria grinned, offering her a drink which she turned down. "Just wondering.. by the way, if you'd seen Theodore."

"Ahh.." She made a pitiful face. "You see, Hagrid called him down. You know how we're all taking care of dragons this year?" Ria nodded. "Yeah.. the one in Theo's care is sick. And she wouldn't let anyone else take care of her. So, he had to go."

"Oh.." Ria's smile dropped. She'd really wanted to celebrate with all her friends. "Alright.. do you know when he'll be back?"

She frowned. "Oh, I wish." She turned around then, spotting her group of Ravenclaw friends. "I'll meet with you later, yeah?"

The two bid her goodbye. "By the way, heads up." Amelia mumbled. "Raywood and Fawley are planning to pick you up on their shoulders."

"Oh, hell no!" She bellowed, looking down at her slitted dress. "What are they? Mad? I don't wanna flash my underwear to the entire town!"

She gave out a small laugh. "Don't worry, I think they know that now. Raywood just rushed to find Fawley after he saw you.. probably to cancel the plan."

Ria sighed in relief, shaking her head. Why was always her teammates with the most ridiculous plans?

"Can you believe that? He really let us in.." Hermione whispered to Ron, looking back at Goyle before the stone wall closed behind them.

"I thought we'd have to fight our way in.. or maybe call someone out— Hey! Enough with the grim face." She nudged his elbow. "I know we lost the Cup and everything, but can you be happy for Ria and Amelia?" She muttered to him.

"Of— Of course, I'm so happy for them." Ron chuckled not so genuinely, eyes scanning the common room. "Are you looking at this?"

She nodded. "Well— thank Merlin, Amelia told us the theme." She whispered to him, watching the students who looked like the members of a high-status city club. Their parties were something else. "I was planning on wearing my Christmas dress."

"What's wrong with a Christmas dress?" asked Luna, emerging from behind them in her light pink tulle dress.

"Nothing." Ginny appeared behind her, linking their arms together. She was wearing a similar tulle dress but black. "We look really pretty." She said, lifting her chin a little.

"Wow.." Hermione chuckled. "I thought someone wasn't going to the party."

Ginny rolled her eyes for a retort, but Luna had already spoken. "Well— I had never been to a Slytherin party before."

Whatever words there were on Ginny's tongue died, and Hermione swore she saw a rush of pink to her cheeks.

"Anyway.. we're just gonna roam around for a while. Come on, Luna—" she took her hand.

"Oi! Don't get into any trouble!" Ron called after her.

"I'm not a child, Ron!"

He grumbled under his breath, while Hermione only chuckled. "Yeah, they'll be fine, Ronald."

She sometimes wondered how he couldn't see the spark between Ginny and Luna. But then again, Ron was one of the most oblivious person to ever exist.

She turned then, looking for another person that often swam in obliviousness. "Hey, Harry! You alright?"

Harry nodded in answer, not really paying attention to her. "Of course— why'd you ask?"

"I don't know, mate. You seem distracted." Ron commented with a small smirk.

"Oh, do I?" He retorted, knowing damn well that kiss hadn't left his mind for even a second.

Look, it wasn't like he hadn't ever kissed her after their supposed break-up. He had. During Christmas.

But it was different when he was the one initiating.

And Ria had just kissed him after trying to run away from him for months.

Of course, his brain turned mushy, malfunctioned, and crashed and burned all at the same time.

"Yeah, you do." Ron retorted, trying to not smile.

"Yeah— well, maybe it's the fact that I'm attending a party that's celebrating their win and our loss?" Harry hoped Ron would shut up.

"Oh, stop it, you two!" Hermione snapped. "Can't you just enjoy, for a while?"

And as if the Slytherins had planned it all, a familiar tune blared throughout the common room.

'I've paid my dues, time after time..'

"Oh— of course." Harry rolled his eyes as the winning House cheered.

"You know.. you shouldn't have come if you were just going to whine all the time." Hermione snapped.

"I am the Captain of the runner-up team, 'Mione." He said with all seriousness, and Ron laughed. "I think I deserve to whine a little."

"There you are!" Amelia bellowed over the music as she walked over to them, taking them all into quick hugs. "I just met Ginny and Luna a second ago. I'm so happy you came! How'd you like it here?"

"It's wicked, really." said Ron with a laugh. "I had heard your parties were great, but I didn't know they were these.. luxurious."

"Oh, it's just the looks, to be honest." She told them. "The looks and the alcohol. That's all there is to Slytherin parties, unless you have brats like us deciding to wreak havoc together. But hey!" She raised a finger. "You get to dress up pretty."

She sighed. "I wish I was here before Dahlia Montgomery graduated. Adrian said she used to throw the best parties."

"Can you stop exposing our secrets?" said Blaise, arriving behind her. "We already have a bad reputation. And now they know we have shitty parties too."

Harry quickly looked up at the familiar voice, expecting to find his best friend tagging along with him. But he didn't find her anywhere around him.

Blaise cleared his throat, tilting his head towards the centre of the party, where Ria stood with her team, singing 'we are the champions' on the top of her lungs.

And a barely noticeable smile made its way to Harry's face. He turned to Blaise to give him an appreciative nod, but he only reverted his gaze away.

"Listen, Potter." He started with a sigh. "I'm really sorry about today."

"Yeah, me too." Amelia added almost immediately, brows knitting together. "We went too far with this one. And all the months before too! It wasn't Ria's fault at all—"

"I'm not mad at you," Harry cut her apology off.

The two of them stared at him, shocked.

How was it that two of the pettiest people on earth had forgiven them so easily?

That didn't make sense?

"I swear I'm not. It's fine." He chuckled.

I'm only letting you go because that stupid shit you pulled off might have managed to get us back together.

"You— You sure?" asked Blaise, only half believing his words.

"Hey— let's not make him rethink his decision, yeah?" Amelia muttered to him, and he slowly nodded. "He's too focused on the love of his life anyway."

"Hmm?" Harry asked.

"Oh, just wondering if you'd care for any drinks!" She said, grinning as she pointed towards the table. "Please, enjoy.. especially since you've lost the Cup.." she muttered under her breath.

And Harry only smiled sarcastically. "Very funny, 'Melia."

But Amelia quickly turned her attention back to the centre. "Merlin, she wasn't on the field before. So they're swarming her like bees now. Blaise, can you—" But he was already on the move.

"To the Slytherin Quidditch team," One of the Slytherins shouted, a glass in his hand just like all the others. "and to our beautiful, amazing Captain!"

The entire Slytherin crowd lifted their glasses up with a cheer and downed their drinks in one go; something they did and enjoyed while partying together.

Harry craned his neck, trying to spot Ria through the tight circle of students that surrounded the Quidditch team. He could hear her laugh, his heartbeat quickened at the sickly sweet melody.

"Hey.. let's go get you all a spot."

"Yeah, sure."

Minutes felt like hours when Asteria Edwards found an escape out of the suffocating crowd. "Woah.. I expected something, but it wasn't this much." She chuckled sarcastically.

Blaise shook his head to himself. He couldn't believe he was once like them all, trying to cling to her because she was someone that would end up favouring him, giving him an advantage over everyone else. Now that he thought back to it, he felt disgusted with himself.

"You okay?" He asked softly, pulling her so she could walk in front of him.

She smiled, nodding. "Yeah, of course!"

He laughed. "Fuck's sake, Ri. Are you drunk?"

She smacked his arm. "I've only had wine. And I'm not a lightweight." She said. "I just feel.. cheerful."

"Okay." He chuckled. "You think you can find them on your own? There's someone else I need to look for."

Ria grinned immediately, nodding. Soon, she was approaching a very familiarly chaotic couch.

"I swear, no offence to you." Amelia was trying to justify herself, while Hermione, and Celine Haynes, for some reason, continued laughing.

Ron blinked at her. "Amelia, you have no right to talk. Eighty percent of your clothes are black." He said.

She clicked her tongue. "I'm wearing green right now, aren't I? And that's beside the point."

"I said I have never seen you boys wear anything else but black, white and shades of grey at these House parties." She clicked her tongue. "I don't get it. Is it some fashion trend where you dress up like black and white demiguises?"

"Oh, come on! It's not like we look bad, do we?" said Harry, and Ron nodded in agreement.

"Demiguises are cute." A comment from Ria made all their heads turn. And Ron and Hermione left their seats immediately, engulfing her in a hug and congratulating her together.

Then an unexpected hand extended towards her. "Congrats on the win, Asteria." said Celine, who'd been sitting beside Harry. Ria simply smiled at her, shaking her hand with a 'thank you'. She couldn't find it in herself even scowl on this divine day.

And when she finally looked at him, he had already reached out his hand. She gave hers into it, and without hesitation he lifted it up to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.

"Congratulations, Captain." He said with a bit of playfulness.

Someone interrupted their moment with a clear of their throat. It finally made them let go of each other's hand.

"Ah.. thank you." She sighed, smiling at him.

He scooted a little on the couch, making space for her between himself and Celine.

And for some reason, instead of scowling at her like she'd expected her to, Celine scooted away too, smiling as she sat down.

Weird.

"Ooh.." Celine squinted her eyes as the song changed. She gasped then. "Oh, I love this song—" she got up from her seat, keeping her empty glass aside. "I'm going to see you all later— and by all means, if you want to join."

"Later." Amelia called.

"Your girlfriend's there, by the way."

"Coming." She sang happily, following Celine.

Ria settled comfortably now, putting one leg over her other one as she sipped on.

"As expected, you look gorgeous in this dress."

Heat rushed to her face, and she let her eyes wander over his white shirt and dark grey suit jacket. "Well.. you look quite handsome yourself.. Mr. Demiguise."

He bit at the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling. "Thank you."

"Hm.. and whatever it was about wearing the damn dress to celebrate Gryffindor's victory."

Harry playfully rolled his eyes. "Took it to heart a bit too much, huh?"

"Who's gonna do that, if not me?" She leaned her chin on her palm.

But he didn't answer, only lifted the fabric of the dress and threw it over her thigh to cover it.

"Are you a bit distracted, perhaps?"

"Me? No." He scoffed, but his hand stayed there, preventing the fabric from slipping again. "They seem like they are, though." He directed his gaze somewhere, and Ria followed it to a group of seniors.. probably from Hufflepuff.

A small smile tugged at her lips. "Are you sure?" She asked, teasing. "Seems like you might be too, a bit."

"A bit.. maybe.." he looked at her, eyes shining with adoration. "Since the end of the match."

"Aww.. did losing affect you that much? Does the great Harry Potter feel bruised?" she pouted, and he immediately wished she wouldn't.

"Yeah.. why? You gonna kiss me better again?"

"Oh.. Godric— it's like we're invisible over here.." Ron muttered to himself before turning to Hermione. "Hey, wanna dance?" He whispered.

"What?" She mumbled in shock, a sprinkle of blush scattering across her skin.

"Yeah.. they're sweet and all, and I'm happy for them. But I really can't stand them anymore."

"Oh.." she breathed out, her heart skipping a beat. "Yeah.. yeah, sure." She answered.

A wave of warmth washed over Ria, she could do nothing else but grin, looking away and towards the party at the centre for a while.

It felt like he was having more fun than she was.

"Be honest, Potter." She quipped back, leaning back against the couch, not minding when his arm went around the back of it. "Where did you learn that from?"

He looked down at her with a small, victorious smile. "From all those book boyfriends you talked about." He answered. "I have to be honest, Ria. I was pretty jealous at first.."

Ria raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "At first.. and now?"

"Now.. I think I can try and learn to be like them."

"And why would you want to be like them?" She simply asked.

"Because.. you love them." He answered, a bit lost as his eyes flickered down to her lips.

Harry was never too enthusiastic about wine. But suddenly it seemed a bit interesting now that she lifted her glass to her mouth.

She didn't know why she took that sip. Maybe she needed a bit more courage, because she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Just because I love them?" She rasped.

"Mm-hmm.." he hummed in response.

She craned her neck then, pressing a kiss on his cheek, and felt him breathe in sharply. "But I love you more."

Harry could have melted into a puddle right there. She placed another kiss, and another, slowly moving towards his mouth until she was at the corner. "I love you so much more."

And all he could do was just look down at her with the utmost adoration. The way she stared at him, her eyes like does, pupils blown wide, her hand on his forearm..

He felt so loved. He couldn't calm his racing heart.

Tilting his head, he let his lips capture hers in a slow, ardent kiss, his hand moving to cradle her head and rake into her hair to keep her close, and she sighed, steadying herself with the help of his shoulders.

They separated when breathlessness finally tugged them apart, but leaned their foreheads against each other just as quickly.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say it.." He said to her, knowing she could hear his heart thundering in his ribcage.

But it was fine. He didn't need to hide anymore. She was here with him now.. finally.

"I'm sorry.. It took me so long." She placed another swift kiss on his lips.

He shook his head, brushing her hair off her face, and she leaned into his touch almost instinctively. "This is perfect. You're perfect." He chuckled with slight disbelief. "Godric, Ria.. I love you."

There was a sudden, loud pop that forced them apart, and soon confetti was raining down on them. Their friends were around them, cheering them on so loudly that the others wondered what the actual hell was going on.

"Yes— Merlin, finally!"

And Ria hid into the crook of Harry's neck, burning with embarrassment while he chuckled with slight amusement.

"Hey! Hey! We gotta make one more toast!" Amelia was quick to announce to the group, and the bunch raised their glasses again.

Ria looked up at her, eyebrows scrunched together. "No! You're doing too much!" She whined. But the glass beside her was already refilled by Ginny and handed to her.

"No! We have to!" The redhead argued back.

They all raised their glasses, and Amelia cleared her throat. "To our most favourite couple and their undying love!"

Asteria was a blushing mess again at her words, but nevertheless she cheered with the others before slipping the glass of wine into a nearby plant. She did not plan to get drunk.

Her attention was only taken back by Harry when he whispered her name. "Yeah?"

"You wanna get out of here?" He asked.

"Where?" she asked with anticipation.

And he shrugged. "A date?"

She smiled. "Under the stars?"

He grinned, pecking her lips. "As you wish, Sunshine."

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

[word count: 9436]

a/n: yeahh let's not ask why I disappeared for two months there..
but I did try to write the longest chapter to make up for it

these are pretty much how my updates would be

also this might or might not be me nowadays hahahaha-

anyway so-
 if ya'll see some random 8's in the middle, it's cuz my ancient laptop's fucked up and spamming 8's everywhere and I need to replace it

that's all byebyeeee :)