A/N: Written for Ilvermorny and the Houses Competition. Thanks and love to Andy, 2D, and AJ for the betas.
Houses Comp:
House: Ravenclaw
Category: Drabble
Prompt: Black
Words: 471
Prompts for Ilvermorny:
(main prompt) A couple that shouldn't be together
(secondary prompts): a rare or unusual pairing
the motif of stars
the phrase star-crossed
don't use the word love
Alice stood on top of the Astronomy Tower, the window's stone ledge cool and smooth to the touch. Wind whipped through her shoulder length hair, nipping at her ears and her neck, as the night stretched out, undiscovered, before her, a sea of inky black.
She yearned to be able to reach out and touch it, to immerse herself in the oblivion, dance amongst the constellations that radiated out from the darkness.
It was just like how she and Bella used to be, she thought, light and dark but still one universe, gravity pulling them together no matter how hard they tried to escape.
Alice had given up trying before too long. Bellatrix was no good for her and, by Merlin, did she know it. But there was something mesmerising about her. She was the forbidden fruit, and Alice couldn't live with just a taste.
Alice was a Gryffindor after all, and Bellatrix was nothing but danger.
She was black, madness-filled eyes, tangled black hair that refused to be tamed, and a cold, black heart that would never feel what Alice felt. Alice knew Bellatrix, so she would never allow herself to say that word, because this wasn't a fairytale and happy endings were not made for girls like them.
Not when a thousand purebloods in black robes stood between them.
They were star-crossed lovers, destined to whisper promises in dark, empty rooms instead of shouting them for the world to hear. Their memories of each other would always be dimmed by shadow, thoughts of we shouldn't be doing this obscuring their smiles. It was all so wrong, because there was Frank who was good, and light, and the pure white of a fresh snow, and Alice had instead chosen to throw herself into the pitch-black of the abyss.
She couldn't figure out why it felt so right.
Even when Bellatrix announced she was marrying Rodolphus, Alice had thought that it wouldn't change a thing. They would still shine for each other. Stars as bright as them would never burn out.
But they did burn out, of course, with the black skull seared onto Bellatrix's forearm, the poisonous words tumbling from her lips. It broke Alice, and she crumbled into nothingness, leaving nothing but darkness behind.
She could feel the war coming closer with each day, the inevitability of what was sure to come hanging over all of their heads.
So, as she stood on the edge of the Astronomy Tower, and she leant forward slightly, Alice reached a hand out towards the stars.
Maybe the sun would rise again tomorrow and the new day wouldn't be quite so dark.