Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
PROLOGUE — summertime sadness
ARIELLE ATHENA LOVEGOOD sat on a rainbow-colored sofa in the Lovegoods' living room, waiting for their blue muggle telephone to ring. She had met a gorgeous muggle by the name of Jade Lewis, who had lovely brown eyes and short chocolate curls. She could've sworn she'd seen her before, but maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her.
Every single time she met Jade, her stomach became giddy with excitement and her cheeks a pale pink, which had been happening when she met pretty girls since she was eight. But it had never, ever, been this intense. She had her first kiss with Jade when they were both twelve, and it set fireworks between the two, it was the absolute definition of bliss. Although she didn't know what that made them — they had been kissing all summer, and acted like significant others, but had never really put a label on it.
A sharp ding made Arielle jump in her seat as her palms began to sweet, her blonde hair being twirled in her hands. "Ok breathe, Arielle. Breathe." She told herself as she picked up the phone and put it to her ear.
"Hello." A deep voice with a posh British accent made Arielle sigh with contentment. "Hello, Jade! How are you, h-how is everything?" Arielle could not stop grinning.
"Everything's just wonderful Ari." She hummed, Arielle beaming at the nickname. It sounded so wonderful, so sweet when Jade said it. "We can't meet up anymore, Arielle. If my mother discovers that I'm queer then I'm done for..." Jade let out sadly, and Arielle could quite literally feel her heart drop to the floor. But, there was something more important to address.
"What's queer?" Arielle was intrigued, this new word confused her — she had never been brought up with the word, and she loved learning new things. Jade let out a cold laugh, but soon realized the girl was serious, and covered it up with an elegant cough, "Oh, you don't know what that is? I always assumed you were one."
"Have you ever felt your heartbeat rise when you're near a woman, your stomach doing a backflip, your palms sweating?"
Arielle stared at her sweaty palms and almost dropped the telephone altogether, "Y-Yes, with you Jade. I always feel that way with you."
"Have you ever felt the same near a man, any of those sensations?" Jade continued, Arielle's mind racing, her face falling.
"Not once," Arielle admitted, looking at the ground.
"Well, happy to inform you that you're a queer! It's when you're attracted to the same sex that you are. You like women. Women like you. Simple." Jade explained, and Arielle felt her vision fog up.
That explained so much. She always knew she was different, not like the others she'd seen and known before — and now her difference was summed up in a single word. Arielle wondered why the sorting hat put her in Ravenclaw.
"I need to go, Ari. And just know that I love you very much... but this is too risky." Jade said frantically as she put the phone down with a thud.
"I love you too," Arielle whispered as she heard the white noise of the phone line. Her relationship had ended before she even knew it had begun.
And so Arielle Athena Lovegood discovered that she was a queer at the mere age of thirteen, and reveled in her newfound identity.
But she had never felt the way that she felt with Jade for any of her secret romances.
