[COMPLETED] "Love can be cruel," he mutters. "I thought it would be the reason I would propose, but it's not. Love never wins, does it?" Cruel. Devious. Twisted love. Love can play games, and we just happen to be the pawns. We play our moves strategically like a game of chess, until it comes to this moment. We can let the world separate us, stop us, pull us apart. We can let this old love between us fray at the edges. If love is a game, then Cato and I are destined to lose. "You're right," I whisper. "But love still exists. Even for a moment." His knuckles brush against my waist, before he decides to pull me flush against his chest. We're close, and burning, and his breath feels like electricity on my skin. In his green eyes, I see remnants of the heavens, the northern auroras flashing illuminating inside of them. He holds a new world inside of him, and I long to be the first to discover it. Cato's nose brushes up against mine, the space between our mouths fading like stardust. "Even for a moment," he murmurs my words against me. At once, our tensions release. ─── ·𖥸· ─── One half of her heart belongs to the man from the stars. The other belongs to the man of smoke and ash. Maureen Harradan lives at the bottom tiers of society. Scorned by anyone above her, she finds her fate entwining with Cato Leveque, a wealthy astronaut returning to Earth with new discoveries and secrets. When rumours spread of Cato's uncertain scientific plans, Maureen finds herself working alongside Thomas Smyth, who runs one of the most powerful criminal operations in the city. She must choose which man to believe, and put her entire reputation on the line while running from an unwanted past. Will Maureen's heart choose to follow the man of the stars? Or will she find peace from the criminal of the streets? ─── ·𖥸· ─── Started February 22, 2022 Completed July 9, 2022. 90,000+ words

𝐒𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞. 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐡 𝐣𝐞𝐭𝐳𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞. Vidia Baldwin, einst stolze Slytherin, gilt nun als Verräterin. Nach ihrer Mitgliedschaft in Dumbledores Armee hat sie alles verloren, was ihr in Hogwarts wichtig war - Freunde, Vertrauen und ihren Platz in der Slytherin-Gemeinschaft. Besonders Draco Malfoy, ihr ehemaliger bester Freund, scheint fest entschlossen, sie für ihren Verrat zu büßen zu lassen. Doch als das neue Schuljahr beginnt, beschließt Vidia, ihren eigenen Weg zu gehen. Umgeben von neuen Freundschaften wagt sie es, sich aus ihrem Versteck zu lösen. Doch immer wieder, wird sie zurück zu Draco gezogen - dem Jungen, dessen Herz auf einmal so dunkel und zerrissen ist. Können sie einander retten, oder wird ihre Liebe sie beide in den Abgrund reißen? In Hogwarts, das zunehmend von dunklen Mächten bedroht wird, steht Vidia vor einer schwerwiegenden Entscheidung. 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐥 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐲 𝐱 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 Aktuelle Lesezeit ca. 9 Std. Word Count: 100 K