At Hogwarts, the scars of the war against the Carrows insurgence are still fresh, but for Johnny Kavanagh, the real battle is in his own head. He is Gryffindor Golden Boy, a Quidditch star with a future as bright as his magic and a family that represents everything good and grounded in the Wizarding World. He has everything, except for the pieces of his past that keep slipping through his fingers like smoke. He is haunted by a voice he doesn't recognize and a pair of grieving green eyes that burn behind his eyelids every time he blinks. Then there is Tara Lynch. The Slytherin Ice Queen, a "Carrow supporter" to some and a "Death Eater" to others. Once whispered to be the second coming of Rowena Ravenclaw, Tara is now a girl being systematically erased. With her wand snapped by the Ministry and a Restricting Order cutting her off from the siblings she would die to protect, she is waiting for the world to forget she ever existed. But behind the insults and the house rivalry lies a secret corner in the Restricted Section, the scent of dark coffee, and a love so dangerous that someone rewired the world just to keep it hidden. When a chance encounter triggers a violent magical collapse, the barrier around Johnny's mind begins to crumble. As the sparks of a suppressed soul-bond flare to life, Johnny and Tara must decide if they are willing to face the truth: that the person you were made to forget is the only one you can't live without.

For Tara, love had always been about the art of the sacrifice-knowing when to hold on and when to let go for the sake of the person standing across from her. But at nineteen, the sacrifice became a life of its own. In the wake of a relationship that had finally fractured under the weight of expectations, Tara faces a choice that will change her forever. With a secret growing beneath her heart and a future that no longer matches her dreams, she looks at the man she still loves-a man on the precipice of rugby immortality. Johnny Kavanagh has everything to lose, and Tara knows she is the only one who can protect his ascent. She was supposed to graduate Oxford with her best friend. She was supposed to be the one with the bright future. Instead, she chooses the silence of the southern hemisphere. Leaving behind the rain of Ireland for the heat of South Africa, Tara walks away from the only home she's ever known. She trades the lecture halls for the unknown, sacrificing her own ambitions to give Johnny his dream-and to give their child a chance to grow far from the blinding lights of his father's fame. But in a life built on an escape, how far do you have to go before the past finally catches up?

If there's one thing more certain than the sun rising in the morning, it's that Johnny Kavanagh and Tara Lynch hate each other. Johnny fucking Kavanagh. The golden boy of Tommen College. Tall, tanned, and built like the rugby god he is, with messy brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and a cocky grin that has girls weak at the knees. Smart, charming, effortlessly good at everything-the kind of fella teachers adore and lads want to be. His life is perfect. Perfect family. Perfect grades. Perfect future. And, if you ask him, the perfect reason to despise Tara Lynch. Tara Lynch. BCS's untouchable queen. Stunning, sharp, and scarily brilliant. Straight A's. Olympic-level athlete. A voice like an angel and a wit sharp enough to cut a man where he stands. She doesn't do love, doesn't do relationships-just the occasional one-night stand, not that anyone ever sticks around long enough to matter. And if there's one person she can't stand, it's Johnny Kavanagh, with his smug face and his perfect life and his knack for getting under her skin. They've known each other since they were kids. Their families get on. Their friends overlap. By all accounts, they should get along. But they don't. They cannot stand each other. They argue like it's their full-time job. He thinks she's a mouthy, obnoxious know-it-all with no respect. She thinks he's a snobby kiss-arse who's had everything handed to him. If they're in the same room, there's bound to be a fight-sharp words, heated glares, maybe even the occasional pint thrown. And yet... no one gets under Johnny's skin quite like Tara does. No one rattles Tara quite like Johnny. The only thing worse than being around each other? Wanting to be. People say there's a fine line between love and hate. Johnny and Tara are about to find out just how dangerously thin that line really is.

What if Tara was born a Gibson?

What if Tara was born a Biggs?

Tara Lynch is dead. Or so everyone thinks. After the devastating fire that claimed her parents and her childhood home, her younger siblings were placed into the unexpected care of her boyfriend's parents. That boyfriend? None other than Johnny Kavanagh, Ireland's golden boy of rugby, blissfully unaware that his girlfriend isn't just alive, but carrying his child. Now, under the assumed identity of Elizabeth Ladner, Tara finds herself on the sun-drenched shores of Mallorca, courtesy of the quiet, unwavering support of Malachy and Ciaran. With nothing left to lose, having already sacrificed everything-her past, her name, and her connection to the siblings she adores- Tara is determined to forge a new life. She knows that the unexpected life blooming inside her is both a miracle and a threat: a secret that could shatter Johnny's rising international stardom and expose her carefully constructed new reality. As the lines between Tara and Elizabeth blur, and the due date looms, she must decide if her desperate act of self-preservation was the ultimate betrayal, or the only way to protect a future she never thought she'd have. But how long can a dead girl stay hidden, especially when the greatest secret she carries is about to be born?

They say the hardest battles are the ones fought for alone. That's a lie. The hardest battle is realizing you've gone from needing a hero to survive the day, to finally owning the quiet, terrifying strength it takes to build a future that is not just yours, but ours. We had our ambitions: his on the pitch, mine in the track. We had our timeline, drawn up neatly and logically, ready for the world of grown-ups. But the world laughs at timelines. It laughs when a simple twist of fate changes the whole equation. The craving had been intoxicating. The needing was a lifeline. But this? This was undeniably, completely, mine.

I had always thought rugby was all I was. That's what I believed defined my worth. Until I met her. From that moment, I found myself searching for her in every little thing I did. Any excuse would do just to be near her. She was in my head and I couldn't shake her-not that I wanted to. I loved her. I craved her. She had been a tough one to get. And even harder to keep.

AEMMA KAVANAGH, A GIRL WHO LEADS HERSELF INTO A LOCKED AWAY BOY. WHEN SHE GOES TO BCS FOR THE FIRST TIME SHE FINDS OUT WHAT HER BEST FRIEND HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT.. JOEY LYNCH..... WHAT WILL HAPPENED... THIS STORY IS FOR MY POOKIEEEEEE

I had never needed anyone. I didn't know what it was like to need a person until I met him. I needed him. He looked at me as if there was something inside me worth looking at. I hated him for it. Why? Because I could see myself loving him. If only things had happened differently.