i. BOUNTY fleur delacour

17

SEVENTEEN
[warning: homo/biphobia]

"fear spreads,
but fortunately,
love does too. "
- skam

MARI KNEW she had gained attention from dancing with fleur. she presumed that during their dance many eyes had stared at them, feeling in whatever way they did, whether wanted or not. now, standing alone in the middle of a crowded room, only a few pairs of eyes lay on her, others flicked onto mari but soon sped off.
flushed, but feeling ecstatic, mari started walking off the dance floor to find lee. her steps had more bounce, and her face held more happiness. if this is love, fleur had said. if this was love, mari thought. it would have to be love, nothing else could feel like this.
as mari walked by a group of hogwarts boys, they called out to her, whistling, "next time you and veela want to get hot and sweaty, let me know. i'd love to join." mari took little offence, her mind was elsewhere. she looked to the boy who had spoken and over his shoulder, to see professor dumbledore with gently pressed lips curved in a smile. he nodded when he saw her, which she returned. she felt the instant need to consult her three disks, what was dumbledore worth now?
"mari!" ingrid ran to mari, pulling her near a decoration. "hi!"
"hi..." mari replied, distracted. she smiled at ingrid, ingrid did not smile back. her face settled to one of mild discomfort.
ingrid grabbed her wrists, "look... i don't know what you're doing, but now is not the time to take part in such things."
"excuse me?"
"don't kid yourself mari, it wasn't very hard for me to see what you and that veela have going on."
"i don't know what you're talking about? fleur and i are friends—"
"mari! can't you see she's using her horrible powers against you? she's infecting your brain, filling it with unnatural thoughts."
"unnatural thoughts? as in sexual, romantic thoughts?"
"keep your voice down, mari! and yes, she's using you. you have to stop being around her before people think you're one of them."
"one of what?"
"a fucking dyke!"
mari stepped backwards, hoping no one who spoke norwegian was in ear shot. "i can't believe this... i thought— how can you think such horrible thoughts about people? what's it to you who i love? or who anyone loves? my sexuality is what i want it to be, you have no say in that, and i sure as hell don't care if people think i'm a 'dyke'. i'd be proud if people thought that, i'd be proud to be apart of a group of people breaking society's boundaries. homosexuality exists in over four hundred and fifty natural species, you know? and homophobia only exists in one! which one do you think is 'unnatural' now?"
ingrid bit her lip, "look mari, i still love you."
"you still love me? do you think i care now that you've said what—"
ingrid began walking away, interrupting mari. "i still love you, come find me when you've fixed yourself."

☇ ☇ ☇

"are you all right? i was looking for you and fred said you and your friend were yelling at each other somewhere." lee had his arm looped through mari's as he had at the beginning of the night.
"oh, yes, i'm fine. we were both just... tired... disagreed on something.." mari and lee pushed out of the heavily populated area to calmer side of the room, where only a few couples stood dancing. "i'll just be glad to get into bed."
"oh i know, i'm struggling to keep my eyes open!" lee shot his partner a wide smile. for a moment, lee's smile was enough to make mari forget the violent ending of the night.
a few metres from the exit, the pair passed two boys, light and dark, swaying together, grasping each other in a tight hug. the darker boy, who was almost a foot taller than his partner was facing mari, his head resting on the other boy's shoulder. when he saw mari and lee his eyes went in painful happiness to the norwegian's. with silent gratitude, he mouthed 'thankyou', before swaying away.
once out of the room, lee frowned innocently, "what did he mouth to you?"
"uh, 'thankyou', i think. i don't know why... i don't know either."
"i know why," said lee with a small smile, "that was dean and seamus."
"oh, the boys who wanted to—"
"go together to the ball but were refused and told dates could only be of the opposite gender? yes, them."
"did they end up together anyway, or...?"
"no," sighed lee, "they had other dates, i'm not sure how it went down though, they're quite openly gay."
"so why would dean thank me?"
"because you danced with fleur." lee pulled mari into his side, affectionately. "you danced with fleur as you danced with me. you gave them the confidence and opportunity to do the same."
"oh... i—"
"everything we do affects every being," quoted lee, "and what you did affected them in a way they'll always remember. it was pretty iconic, mari, perhaps you didn't notice."
"i did not notice... i was just dancing with my friend."
lee kissed the top of mari's head, a new complexity in their relationship, "i know."

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