✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

26 | S Q U A D

the sun loved the moon so much,
it died every night to let her breathe.

   WHEN EMBER AWOKE, her heart was racing; still or again, she didn't know.

   When Ron awoke, he knew he was doomed.

   It was six in the morning, when two pair of feet met the floor; one pair high up in the west tower, the other deep down in the basement. The owners of both those pair of feet unable to fall asleep again, left their dormitories and sat down in armchairs, one canary yellow, one burgundy red, and two pair of eyes, hazel brown and saphire blue, got lost in the last glimming sparks of the dying fire in the chimney.

   The taste of salted caramel still on his lips, Ron let the memory of the softness of Ember Potter's lips overwhelm him, sending shivers down his spine, so he pressed it harder against the cushion to make it stop.

   Whatever had happened, and whatever it did mean, its death sentence was written, and he knew it from the second he stepped into the dorm, eyes automatically landing on his best friend's empty bed. It was this very moment it fully dropped like a bomb what he had just done.

   It had been all fun and games, having this crush on Ember; this innocent little crush, that had been nothing more but a weird dream. A ridiculously satisfying, weird dream. And even if he'd longed for this kiss to happen with every fibre of his heart, now that it has had happened, he wished nothing more than to make it undone.

   Ember, on the other hand, had a smile playing on her lips. Completely ignoring it — or had she fought it? — over the past couple of months, maybe even longer, her feelings towards Ron indeed had changed. It had been not uncommon, that the silence between them felt awkward, and his jokes had her laughing a little louder than she would usually do. Now her heart was fluttering by the thought of his fingertips on the skin of her face, and the memory alone had goosebumps covering her arms.

   So it hadn't just been her imagination, this night in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, and the other one in Snape's classroom. There was something. And Ember couldn't wait for the morning to pass, to find Ron and have that talk they both were too stunned for the night before.

   Nevertheless, Ember's euphoria was only short lived. When later that morning she entered the entrance hall with Susan and Hannah, the girl's grin froze right on her face. A new educational degree had been added to the wall, announcing Umbridge as the new headmistress. On a list nearby, Ember found the names of the whole DA members for a mass detention til the end of the school year.

   "But that's — Harry!" Bug-eyed, Ember had spotted her brother coming down the main stairs with Ron and Hermione, looking nothing but defeated. Ember crossed the entrance hall, almost running with Susan and Hannah right on heels, when suddenly someone tall blocked her way, and she bumped right into him.

   "Piss off, Malfoy, I really ain't got the nerve for this now", she hissed, trying to shove him away, but he did not make a move. Instead his long fingers wrapped around her upper arm, squeezing tightly until it hurt.

   "The headmistress wants to see you, Potter", the blonde Slytherin snarled, his eyes flashing dangerously.

   "Tell her she can go and hug the Whomping Willow if she's looking for company", Ember spat, trying to wriggle her arm out of his grip, but he only dug his nails deeper into her flesh.

   "Tell her yourself", he coldly replied, pulling Ember out of the crowd that had formed in front of the new announcement.

   "Hey! Hey!", she heard Susan yell, as she and Hannah followed. "I said hey!", she barked, suddenly placing herself in front of Malfoy. "Let her go, sucker!"

   "Or what?", Malfoy scoffed. "Step aside, Bones, or I'll —"

   "What? Take points from us? Give us detention?", Hannah snorted. "You heard Susan."

   "What's going on here?"

   Turning her neck, Ember's heart jumped, as her eyes landed on the two identical red heads with their wands already half raised. Behind them she could see Harry, Ron and Hermione rush by, and Malfoy's eyebrows knitted.

   "Order straight from the headmistress", the Slytherin spat. "So out of my way."

   "Yeah, see, I don't think so", Fred dryly replied. "What about you, George?"

   "No way", his brother added. "So let her go, before you regret it."

   "It's fine, boys", Ember said, "I'm actually dying to have a little talk with our new headmistress." The last word she spat out like it was pineapple pizza. "What will she do? I already have detenion."

   "Oh, I can tell you what she will do", Harry's voice now appeared close to her. "You won't go anywhere with him!" Throwing a furious glare at Malfoy, Harry grabbed Ember's wrist and with a jolt, he pulled his sister out of Malfoy's grip. A pain shot through her arm, announcing a bright black bruise being up to grow on her skin. Harry stepped between her and Malfoy, hissing, "And now piss off, and don't you ever dare to lay hands on her again!"

   Ember watched Malfoy's icy blue eyes narrow to slits before they found hers. "You'll regret that", he hissed in a deathly voice, causing Ember to flinch. "You've been warned." With these last words, he turned around and walked away, vanishing through the dungeon doors, and it wasn't until then that the wands of her friends got put down; only Harry still had his fist tightly clasped around his own.

   "Did he hurt you?", he finally asked, tucking his wand away as he turned around to Ember, emerald green eyes scanning her face for a sign of pain.

   "No, I'm fine, thank you", she replied, shrugging. "That was unnecessary, really. You could have gotten yourself into trouble. All of you!" Her eyes wandered from one friend to the next, until they kept hanging on Ron, who quickly looked away, having her heart skip a beat.

   "We already are in trouble", Fred laughed. "All of us."

   "Indeed", said George. "So I don't know what about you, Freddie, but I guess a little trouble is exactly what this school needs now, don't you think?"

   "Oh, I'm all with you, brother!"

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