i. BOUNTY fleur delacour

18

EIGHTEEN
[warning: homo/biphobia]

"where there is
ruin,
there is hope
for treasure. "
- rumi

INGRID'S SIDE of the room had been emptied. her bed had been stripped, her drawers emptied. whilst her words had hurt mari more than anything, her repulsion of mari; inability to sleep in the same room as her, made mari feel much worse.
craving friendship, mari made her way over to where a letter from olivier sat. the two had been writing to each other consistently over the time mari had been away. mari wrote out a reply to olivier:

olivier,
i have just returned from a ball; the yule ball. i wrote in the last letter that i was getting a dress especially made, and as expected, it was very beautiful. i wish you were here to see it, and i wish you were there tonight to enjoy the ball. you would have loved it! my date, lee, was very kind. i think we might begin to properly date after tonight. if i'm being honest, i really hope we do.
the weather here is cold; very snowy. how is it at home? you wrote in your letter that you were planning not to stay at school over the break, is that still the case? i know it must be a lot colder over there. all the hogwarts students think they're enduring a blizzard every time snow falls! if only they knew what it was like for us.
ingrid and kosta went to the yule ball together. ingrid seems to think they will get together, but i think kosta isn't interested. what do you think?
who have you been hanging around at school, with us gone? i hope you haven't found yourself too alone. i find i feel quite alone, even amongst people, without you here...
the second task of the tournament is coming up, i'm very nervous. wish me luck, i'm certain i will need it.
i hope all is well with you, i miss you more than anything.
with love,
mari.

it was easy for mari to omit the events of the night that were less than pleasant. she was sure she could tell olivier all about her feud with ingrid, but she didn't feel well enough about the situation to recount such horrible things.
she sent the letter off.

the following morning, mari walked with kosta to the hall for breakfast. as mari, had suspected, kosta found no interest in ingrid.
feeling a little more refreshed than the past night, mari confided in kosta.
"ingrid and i had a fight last night."
kosta frowned, "is that why she moved dorms?"
"yeah," mari began, "she doesn't want to be in the same room as me. she said i shouldn't even talk to her until—"
"until what?"
she took a deep breath, "until i 'fixed' myself..."
kosta looked troubled. "fix yourself? what a horrible thing to say. what was she referring to?"
"i— i... something that happened last night."
kosta looked understanding. "about you dancing with fleur delacour?"
mari wondered how he had guessed it. "yes. amongst other things."
"it doesn't seem as though you are too excited to go into the topic any deeper, mari, but know if you need to, you can. i won't judge you. i'm not sure what the situation was, and why you danced with fleur. i am not knowledgeable of your relationship, so whether you danced out of friendship of something more, i know not of. either way, i find no offence, and if ingrid finds offence because of the nature of your relationship, not of something else justified, i am on your side—"
"she thinks i'm gay." mari spoke so abruptly kosta jumped.
"are you?" he replied.
"no, i don't think so... i wasn't raised around any progressive people, so i don't know the exact term, but— but i like both genders..." a weight was lifted, but the nerves in mari's stomach only increased.
"to be comfortable with your sexuality is something to be admired. i won't pressure you to speak of it anymore, but know that i love you no less."
"thankyou, kosta."

☇ ☇ ☇

once in the hall, the pair agreed it would be best if kosta sat with the durmstrang students, as not to ruin any of his relationships. mari approached fred, george, and lee, in hopes of being able to sit with them.
"hi," she said, barely audible. noticing her, all three grinned.
"hello, love." greeted the twins in unison. lee moved over in his seat, mari squeezed in next to him.
"what brings you to sit with us?" asked lee, with teasing smile.
"could you believe i merely wished to."
"yes," said lee, "but i know you would piss karkaroff off out of only wanting."
"okay, my 'friends' are assholes, but i swear i want to sit with you—"
"i knew it!" shouted fred. george hut him.
"we shouldn't question. we should be happy lee's getting some loving." lee and mari scrunched their noses up with discomfort. mari ignored the statement and began loading her plate.
a few moments later, a letter landed in mari's hands. she frowned, recognising olivier's script, knowing her letter could not have been sent, read, replied to, sent again and delivered in less than twelve hours. nervous, she opened the envelope and began to read.

i don't think we should write anymore. i need time to process, rethink the time we spent together. pray ingrid has moved dorms, it isn't fair you didn't tell us you were attracted to us. please don't reply, i don't want to hear from you.

there was no greeting or sign off. the words were hastily scribbled, and disgust radiated off of them. ingrid must've told her, got her letter sent with the express owls. i need time to process. what did she have to process? rethink the time we've spent together. but nothing had changed, mari was no different now than she was. pray ingrid has moved dorms. why? it isn't fair you didn't tell us you were attracted to us. fair? mari didn't owe them an explanation of her sexuality. being attracted to girls didn't mean being attracted to every girl. please don't reply. mari couldn't think of why she'd want to keep talking to a person who despised her. i don't want to hear from you. mari felt tears fill her eyes. was it wrong, what she felt? it was just love, wasn't it? or was it wrong; disgusting? was her love for fleur unnatural?

mari ignored fleur delacour for the rest of the day.

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