I'd die for you - A Battle of Hogwarts love story ✅

Chapter 2

 ‘Owen?’ I said dumb-strucked. ‘What are you doing here?’

His smile faded at an instant and he ruffled his hair nervously. ‘Dave let me in. I hope you don’t mind?’

‘Mind?’ I repeated dully. ‘Why would I mind?’

‘I don’t know – you see so... shocked.’

‘Well, I am.’ I admitted with a little smile. ‘I mean, you’re a Hufflepuff, you’re not supposed to be here.’

‘I could... leave, if you want me to...’ He sounded really upset.

‘No!’ I said quickly. The last thing I wanted was him to leave. ‘Please, stay.’

He smiled brightly at me, causing my heart to beat a little bit faster. Then, he opened his mouth to say something. He didn’t get the chance to even start his sentence, though, as someone bumped into me from behind, causing me to fall right into Owen’s arms.

‘Oops.’ I giggled. Oh Merlin, I felt stupid. All right, I must admit I quite liked being this close to Owen, but staggering into him like this was far from romantic.

‘I guess the dance floor isn’t the best place to stand still and talk.’ he chuckled, straightening me. ‘You look amazing by the way. Almost didn’t recognize you in that dress.’

‘Thanks.’ I said shyly. ‘You look great too.’

And he did – he was wearing a pair of black jeans and a bright red button-up shirt, with the top buttons open, showing his muscular chest. I had to stop myself from staring, and it was difficult, I must admit it.

‘Thanks.’ He smiled brightly again.

‘Marie!’ Suse yelled in my ear. ‘Come on – dance!’ She grabbed my hand and pulled me with her to where Sky and Dave were standing.

Owen followed us immediately, and he greeted Dave, Sky and Suse happily.

‘How did you get in?’ Sky asked a little bit too surprised.

‘Dave let me in.’ Owen answered again.

‘How nice of you.’ she said to Dave, who was dancing with Suse. ‘What a great idea.’

‘Sky...’ I started with a smile. ’I know it was your idea.’

‘It wasn’t!’ she huffed unconvincingly.

I hugged her tightly. ‘Thanks.’ I whispered in her ear.

‘You’re welcome.’ she whispered back.

‘Now – shall we?’ I asked Sky and Owen with a huge smile.

Instead of answering, they started dancing and I joined them immediately. Dave and Suse were right next to us, kissing passionately. Silently, I wished I’d once be able to do that with Owen. I’d liked him for a long time now, but nothing ever happened.

‘Would you like something to drink?’ Owen asked me half an hour later.

‘Sure.’ I nodded gratefully, as I was really thirsty.

‘I’ll go get us something.’ he said with a sweet smile. ‘Sky?’

‘A soda, please.’ she answered, not stopping dancing wildly.

‘I’ll be right back.’

The moment Owen was gone, Sky and Suse literally jumped on me. Dave laughed and left to join some of his friends – he understood perfectly fine what was going on. It was actually kind of risky that Dave knew about my feelings for Owen, but I’d had no choice. Suse was a really sweet friend, but keeping secrets from her boyfriend wasn’t one of her many qualities. Besides, he’d seen it anyway, since it was – according to him – too obvious not to notice. He wasn’t exactly surprised when he found out, and he was trustworthy enough, luckily.

‘Are we the best or are we the best?’ Sky said excited. ‘Great idea to sneak Owen in, wasn’t it?’

I nodded in agreement. ‘A wonderful idea.’

‘You must kiss him tonight.’ Suse stated matter-of-factly. ‘You have to.’

‘I wouldn’t dare.’ I said sadly.

‘Why not?’ Sky said, shaking her head fiercely. ‘He obviously likes you.’

‘He doesn’t.’ I protested. ‘We’re just... friends.’ I sounded really sad, so I quickly plastered a huge smile on my face. ‘Party’s great though.’

‘Yeah, it is.’ Sky agreed, starting to dance again.

Suse, however, eyed me thoughtfully. After a moment, she seemed to have come to a conclusion. ‘You really like Owen a lot, don’t you?’

I sighed. ‘An awful lot.’

‘You do?’

I jumped when I heard his voice right behind me. My cheeks went from normal, plain white to burning red in a fraction of a second and I started trembling uncontrollable. Please, Merlin, tell me he did not just hear that. Suse quickly rushed away, joining Sky and throwing me an apologizing look. I didn’t even dare to turn around. This was a nightmare.

‘You do?’ he repeated. His voice sounded strange, making me wondering what he would be thinking. He was probably trying to figure out how to tell me he didn’t like me without hurting me too badly.

When I didn’t respond and remained frozen on the spot, he slowly walked around me so he could look me in the eye. To my surprise he didn’t look disgusted or pained, or even sorry because he’d have to turn me down. He looked surprised and – I was sure that couldn’t be the case – a bit... smug.

‘You... like me?’ he asked me a bit hesitantly.

All I could manage to do was nod, but that seemed to be enough. He smiled widely, knocking the little breath that was left out of my lungs and he took a step toward me. ‘How much exactly?’ he asked teasingly.

‘Uhmmm....’ I struggled to find my voice back. ‘An awful lot.’