𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗬

ACT ONE, CHAPTER FIFTEEN
darling, I fancy you.

DECEMBER ARRIVED, AND it only brought more snow and a very large amount of homework to the fifth year students. Venus was mostly found in the Gryffindor common room with Harry trying to get work done (but they mostly just kept distracting each other with jokes and giggles) or in the library with Charlotte and Elijah (with Elijah mostly panicking about everything . . . again.)

Ron and Hermione's Prefect duties also got heavier as Christmas approached. Them, along with the other Prefects from Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff were called upon to supervise the decoration of the castle (You try putting up tinsel when Peeves has got the other end and is trying to strangle you with it, Ron complained), to watch the first and second years sending their break times inside because it was bitterly cold outside (And they're cheeky little snotrags, you know, we definitely weren't that rude when we were in first year, Ron said), and to patrol the corridors in shifts with Filch, who had suspected the holiday spirit might cause an outbreak of duels (He's got dung for brains, that one, Ron admitted furiously.) They were so busy that Hermione was even forced to stop knitting her House-Elf hats.

"All those poor Elves I haven't set free yet, having to stay over during Christmas because there aren't enough hats!" Hermione had fretted.

Venus and Harry had merely shared a glance. They didn't have the heart to tell her that Dobby was actually the one taking everything she made. Small smiles on their faces, they looked back down to their History of Magic essays.

She was quite excited about Christmas. Venus knew what it was like to be away from her parents for a long time — Ilvermorny, and all — but she was used to Ilvermorny. After spending months at a new school, she was ready to see them again. The thought of going back to her house in London seemed very delightful. Meanwhile, Hermione was going skiiing with her parents — something that greatly amused Ron, because he had never heard about Muggles strapping narrow strips of wood to their feet to slide down mountains.

Harry had seemed quite down the past few days. Venus suspected it was because of both his Quidditch ban and the thought of Hagrid going on probation. Nevertheless, his spirits soared once Ron revealed that he was going to the his house as well in response to Harry asking him how he was getting home. Hermione had rolled her eyes at Ron's forgetfulness, but Venus' heart raced. She couldn't get the image of Harry smiling that widely out of her head.

Venus was sitting on the armchair reading in the Gryffindor common room before Harry descended down the steps. They still had some time before the last D.A. meeting that night — the last one before the holidays started tomorrow.

"Hey, Star," Harry announced. "I'm heading to the Room of Requirement a little early. You want to come?"

She looked up from her book and stood up, placing her book down on the table. "Yeah, sure." She followed him out of the portrait hole, and the two of them walked side-by-side down the corridor. "So, you excited to go to Ron's house for Christmas?"

Harry smiled widely. "Yeah, I love spending time at the Burrow. It'll probably even better at Christmas time . . . I just wish, you know, I could spend the holiday with Sirius. He's been cooped inside alone for so long, and I don't think he's particularly happy about being locked in the house he fleed from when he was a teenager." He then looked down at her. "You're going back home too, right?"

Venus nodded. "Yeah. Got permission from McGonagall to use the Floo to send me back home. It'll just be me, mom, and dad, but that's how it's been every other year." She shrugged. "I guess I'll see if Christmas is done better or worse here than in America."

"How could Christmas possibly be done worse here?" Harry questioned incredulously as they started to climb the stairs.

She scoffed. "Clearly you haven't seen New York City during Christmas."

"And you haven't seen London during Christmas." Harry paused. "Now that I think about it, I've only ever seen it on the television . . . my other Christmases before Hogwarts were spent in the cupboard under the stairs."

Venus instantly froze. "What do you mean, the cupboard under the stairs?"

"Oh, that's where I used to sleep."

"Excuse me?" Venus inquired, picking up speed to join him in climbing the stairs.

Harry waved it off like it was nothing. "My aunt and uncle aren't the nicest people. They don't really like that I'm a wizard. Don't worry about it, I only have to go back there for the summers. Plus, I have my own bedroom now."

"Now?" Venus repeated. "Harry, you should've had a bedroom all along."

"Venus," Harry stated. "It's okay."

She shook her head. "No it's not."

"Venus—"

"Come stay with me in the summer," Venus blurted out before it really processed through her mind. "I've never met your aunt and uncle, but Harry, you shouldn't be going back there."

"I don't have much of a choice," Harry admitted. "Dumbledore says I have to stay there." She opened her mouth again to protest, but Harry was quick to stop her. "I appreciate your offer, V, and I'll think about it, but . . . I'll be fine."

She was still worried, but due to the look Harry was giving her, she let it drop. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say."

"Anyways, er — you should come visit the Burrow during the holiday if you have time," Harry suggested, his cheeks just the slightest shade of pink. "I'm sure Mrs. Weasley wouldn't mind . . ."

Venus shrugged, her face burning as well at the thought of Harry wanting to see her over the break. "I can ask mom and dad. You know, I think they knew your parents back at Hogwarts . . . probably didn't get on too well because my dad was a Slytherin."

"I would assume so," Harry replied. "You know, and being a Black and all . . . Sirius didn't like his family much, either. And I assume your mom was a Slytherin, too?"

She shook her head. "No, Ravenclaw. From what I've heard, my grandparents weren't happy she wasn't in Slytherin, but Ravenclaw was just okay."

They had finally reached the blank stretch of wall. Together, they walked three times past it, imagining the very familiar room. Soon, the highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Venus grasped onto the brass handle and opened door. She walked in, Harry right behind her.

The lamps burst into light, only to reveal that the room had been decorated for Christmas. However, these weren't regular Christmas decorations. There were about a hundred golden baubles strung from the ceiling, each one showing a picture of Harry's face and reading the words HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS! Venus smiled and immediately covered her nose and mouth to block the small laughs.

Harry's face burned a brilliant shade of scarlet. "Dobby." He then turned to glare at Venus playfully. "Stop laughing."

"Me, laughing?" Venus echoed, shaking her head as she tried to stop smiling but couldn't. "No, never. I — I think they're wonderful—"

"You're still laughing."

Venus continued to giggle to herself. Harry shook his head and began to take down the decorations, much to Venus' dismay. She would've loved to see Charlotte's reaction.

It was only a little while later when Penelope Lestrange entered the room. She looked pretty mad, but her expression turned a little confused once she noticed the decorations. Harry's head snapped over to her, and with a red face, he quickly tried to explain that it was Dobby who had put up the decorations. Venus then went on to ask her what was wrong because it was evident something was bothering her. Penelope explained that she had a fight with Pansy Parkinson, and then proceeded to destroy one of the cushions in the room with an excellent Reductor Curse as a way to get her anger out somehow.

Finally, Harry had lowered one of the last baubles. The door then creaked open again. Venus, Harry, and Penelope turned to see that it was Luna, who looked as dreamy as she always did.

"Hello," Luna greeted vaguely, her eyes scanning what was left of the decorations. "These are nice, did you put them up?"

"No, it was Dobby the House-Elf," Harry revealed.

"I still think you should've kept them up," Venus muttered, smiling slightly.

Harry pushed her shoulder a little. "Shut up, Star."

Luna then pointed to a large clump of white berries placed over Venus and Harry's heads. "Mistletoe."

Venus' eyes widened and she instantly jumped out from underneath it, her face immediately burning. It wasn't that she didn't want to kiss Harry, it was just the thought of him potentially not liking her back and the fact they were in front of two other people . . . pushing those thoughts away, she averted her gaze from Harry and locked her hands behind her back.

"Good thinking," Luna said very seriously. "It's often infested with Nargles."

All of them were saved from the necessity of asking what Nargles were by the arrival of Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. The three of them were breathless and looked pretty cold.

"Well, we've replaced you," Angelina announced dully as she pulled off her cloak and threw it into a corner.

"Replaced me?" Harry blankly repeated.

"You and Fred and George," Angelina continued impatiently. "We've got another Seeker!"

"Who?" Harry asked quickly.

"Ginny Weasley," Katie replied.

Harry gaped at her. Venus could honestly see it. Ginny Weasley, a Quidditch player? Yep. Definitely checks out.

"Yeah, I know," Angelina replied, pulling her wand out and flexing her arm. "But she's pretty good, actually. Nothing on you, of course—" she threw Harry a pretty dirty look "—but as we can't have you . . ."

"And what about the Beaters?" Harry questioned, but Venus could tell his voice was strained.

"Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper," Alicia answered without enthusiasm. "Neither of them are brilliant, but compared with the rest of the idiots who turned up . . ."

With a quick reassurance from Penelope that she wouldn't go telling the Slytherin Quidditch team about Gryffindor's new players, Ron, Hermione, and Neville then arrived. Not soon after was Charlotte and Elijah, who gravitated towards Venus' side.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a holiday," Charlotte admitted. "I've had enough of Umbridge and her stupid decrees. Not to mention the homework, dear God."

"Oh yeah, thanks for letting me stay with you, Lottie," Elijah stated. He then noticed Venus' confused expression. "Oh, mum and dad are going on some study trip to Ireland or something." His face then brightened. "Hey, you should come visit us during the holiday! What are you doing?"

"Just going back to our place in London," Venus responded. "Harry also invited me to Ron's to visit—"

"Wait," Charlotte interrupted. "Harry invited you to come see him during Christmas time?"

Venus' eyes widened at the knowing looks on their faces. "No, no, it's not like that. He just — Ron's family — stop looking at me like that—"

Elijah raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, we're just saying."

"Okay," Harry then called, calling them all to order. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break—"

"We're not doing anything new?" Zacharias asked in a very loud whisper that carried through the room. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come . . ."

"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," Fred responded loudly.

Several of the members sniggered. Venus laughed to herself again. She then turned and caught eyes with Harry, who was staring at her. Venus softly smiled at him. He grinned back at her before snapping out of his trance.

"We can practice in pairs," Harry instructed. "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, just for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again."

They all divided up into their usual pairs — Charlotte and Neville, Hermione and Elijah, Penelope and Ron. Venus then approached Harry like she usually did. They stood in front of each other. Both of them raised their wands. However, unlike the first lesson, Venus managed to be faster than Harry this time.

"Impedimenta!" she cried.

Harry froze. Venus grinned to herself and flipped her wand in the air before catching it in her hand. She was finally getting the hang of things. After about a minute, Harry finally unfroze. They went back and forth in unfreezing each other. After Harry unfroze for about the third time in a row, he paused.

"You're doing amazing, but do you mind if I—" Harry began.

"I know the drill," Venus cut in. "Go ahead."

"You're the best."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Harry chuckled at her before going off to observe the rest of the group. Venus watched after him with a small smile before joining Charlotte and Neville to take turns at the jinx.

Once the ten minutes was up, they laid out the cushions all over the floor to practice Stunning again. Space was too confined to allow the entire group to practice at once, so half of the group observed for a while before they were able to swap over. Venus had successfully stunned Ron and he stunned her back. The group was seriously improving. Okay, maybe Neville had stunned Padma Patil instead of Dean whom he had been aiming at it, but it was a much closer miss than usual. Maybe Venus was biased, but she thought Neville had improved the most out of all of them there. At the end of an hour, Harry then called a halt.

"You're getting really good," Harry revealed as he beamed around at all of them. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff — maybe even Patronuses."

There was a murmur of excitement. Venus felt excitement of her own rise inside of her. Patronuses were very advanced magic, but they also represented a sort of personality within a person. Venus wondered what hers was.

Venus hugged Charlotte and Elijah goodbye with a promise of writing over the holiday before they left the Room of Requirement. The room emptied in the usual pairs of twos and threes, most of them wishing Harry a Happy (Happy? Venus was very used to Merry) Christmas as they left. Venus stayed behind to clean up the cushions with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Penelope. They then stacked them away.

Penelope and Ron began to walk out of the Room of Requirement together. Venus and Hermione followed, but Venus soon realized that a member of their group wasn't with them. Her eyes knitting in confusion as to why Harry wasn't following them, she turned to see Harry still waiting in the room, staring at Cho in the middle of the room, who was crying.

Venus' heart sank. Of course. It had always been Cho, hadn't it? Venus should've known better. But, of course, she was stupid, emotional, and obsessive. Charlotte and Elijah weren't right, after all. There was no way Harry Potter could like Venus Black. She was just some girl who showed up at the beginning of the year. It was evident Harry had some sort of thing for Cho.

"I um . . . I gotta go pack," Venus admitted quietly, wanting nothing more than to just leave. Penelope then tried to tell her Harry did indeed like her and was an idiot if he chose Cho, but Venus gave her a sad grin. "No, it's fine. Um, Merry Christmas, you guys. I — my room's a mess, y'know . . ."

She then left the room altogether. The fake smile slipped off her face as she walked in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. All she wanted to do was go back into her room and curl up in her bed.

Disappointment rose inside of her at the thought of seeing Harry and Cho together. It was just Venus' luck that her heart decided it wanted to like Harry. Of course she had to like him. The Boy Who Lived, the Golden Boy, the Star of Hogwarts. It certainly didn't help that he was ridiculously cute and sweet (except if he was in another one of those moods, but Venus still liked him even if he was snapping at her) . . . No, Venus scolded herself. If he doesn't like you, there's no point of thinking of him like that. Snap out of it.

She was so lost in her thoughts about eating some chocolate that she had in her trunk to make herself feel better that she didn't notice the sound of footsteps exiting the Room of Requirement.

"Venus!" Harry's voice called from down the corridor. "Hey, Venus!"

She sighed — she honestly didn't want to deal with him right now because she knew disappointment was written all over her face, but nevertheless, she turned around to face him. "Harry, listen. I actually have a lot of packing to do—"

"I don't fancy Cho," Harry interjected.

Venus blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"You think I fancy Cho," Harry voiced — how he knew that, Venus didn't know. "I don't. Do you want to know why?"

"I mean . . . unless you want to tell me why," Venus replied, her heart only breaking further — he was obviously about to tell her he liked some other girl in the castle, anyone but her.

Harry's face flushed, but he smirked nevertheless, making infuriating butterflies erupt in Venus' stomach. "I don't fancy Cho, because . . ." He took a step closer to her, and Venus had to slightly incline her head to look up at him. "Darling, I fancy you."

Venus froze. There was just . . . there was no way he just said that. Harry Potter, after calling her darling in that dumb British accent of his, just admitted that he liked her? Harry continued to stare down at her with his pretty green eyes, their faces practically inches from each other — so close that if Venus moved another inch their lips would connect, something she so desperately wanted to happen.

"Oh," she finally let out.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Venus practically couldn't take it anymore. They were so close . . . apparently, Harry was impatient as well, because the two of them — at the same time — closed the space in between them.

Harry placed his hands on the sides of Venus' waist and used it to pull her in closer. Venus rested her own on his shoulders, her mind going haywire — he was driving her crazy. Kissing Harry was everything Venus thought it was be. He was gently his sweet, and his slightly chapped lips was making her see stars even though her eyes were closed. The way his thumbs were gently rubbing against the fabric of her robes on her waist made her skin tingle. Everything this boy did made her dizzy, but in the best way possible. Their kiss was honestly was kind of messy and a little awkward — Venus just had her first kiss, how exciting! — but it didn't matter. Nothing else mattered besides the two of them.

After a few long moments, both of them pulled away for much needed air. Venus' heart raced as her eyes slightly fluttered open to meet his pretty green ones again. Their chests heaved against one another's as they continued to grip onto each other.

"I like you too," Venus breathed out.

Harry beamed, and Venus smiled back at him while letting out a soft laugh. It was just the two of them in the empty corridor now, but there was no place they would rather be than right there — because the two of them knew, in that very spot, that something so beautiful and so bright was beginning, just like a new star forming in a galaxy.

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𝙴𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝙵 𝙰𝙲𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝙴

WELL DAMN ABOUT FUCKING TIME

loveruler is rising! that's their ship name because venus means the roman goddess of love and harry means ruler! isn't it cute!