Notes: In my headcanon, Leanne is a Gryffindor on Katie's year and I hate WikiA for making it necessary to state this.

This is in response to the Quidditch League Competition. The sets of lyrics I used for inspiration was "And so it must be / For so it is written / On the doorway to paradise / That those who falter and those who fall / Must pay the price!" from Les Mis. I interpreted it liberally.

Thanks to Liza (Forever Siriusly Sirius) for giving this a good, ninja read-over!

Enjoy!

Fallen Paradise

In the few minutes before Katie's wedding was scheduled to begin, Leanne found herself making excuses to stay away while the other bridesmaids helped Katie look her best and remain calm.

If someone dared to ask Leanne what had defined her Hogwarts years, she would giggle and say Katie Bell was her very best friend and she couldn't have survived the boring lessons, the gossip, the boy troubles and girl talks without her. She would joke, saying that they hadn't wanted to kill each other after seven years of sharing meals, lessons and even a room, and that such a thing should be taken as a good sign.

She would never let anyone go deeper; she would never mention Angelina Johnson or Alicia Spinnet, who were two of the other bridesmaids, Katie's actual best friends and the proof that there was this little clique she was allowed into but not quite. She wouldn't say that Katie thought that she had an immature way of dealing with interpersonal relationships.

Truth was, Katie had been popular, while Leanne had no friends other than her. Katie was about to marry her boyfriend of five years, while Leanne kept jumping from boyfriend to boyfriend as she would on hot sand at a sunny beach.

"Girls are so difficult," she'd say. "It's much easier to get along with men." But that was a lie – she knew how to flirt, how to entice them, but none of them managed to entertain her for more than a few months and she still didn't have any strong, meaningful friendships other than the one she shared with Katie.

Katie would call her immature. Katie seemed to think that she needed to socialize more, and Leanne couldn't hate her because she suspected she was right. Katie would always tell her that she needed to find a good man to settle down with. Leanne had found such person, as a matter of fact. She just couldn't have him for herself.

Because while at Hogwarts, Katie and Leanne had shared meals, lessons and even a room – but they'd also shared a crush on the same bloke.

But he was always hers.

In their time at Hogwarts, Katie and Oliver didn't eat together, or attend the same classes, or sleep in the same room. But they'd played Quidditch together, they'd spent much of their free time together, they'd fought together at the Battle of Hogwarts...

Leanne had never done any of those things, but did it really matter? She couldn't care less about Quidditch, and she'd never suspected she would be required in combat.

Oh, but did she love Oliver!

She understood Oliver's quiet-yet-passionate nature in a way no one else ever would. Katie would joke and call him socially awkward, but Leanne knew what it was like and knew it wasn't a reason to joke. She wouldn't interrupt his Quidditch rants because she was so elated to hear any word he said. She understood the kindness in his eyes and the valiance of his temper.

She sighed. The wedding was taking place at Oliver's house, and that Katie and her close friends (other than her) were on Oliver's sister's room. Leanne chose to take advantage of the fact that the groom wasn't allowed to see the bride before the wedding, but the bridesmaid could do as she pleased. So she felt no guilt or regret over the fact she was entering Oliver's room without knocking.

And she was quite pleased to realize that he was alone, there just for her, just minutes before he would completely give himself to a different woman.

"Oh, hi Leanne." He seemed surprised to see her, but didn't seem to mind that she closed the door behind her. "How's Katie doing?"

Not 'how are you doing,' but 'how's Katie doing.' Smooth.

"She's good, don't you worry." She made a dismissive gesture with her hand, with which she later pointed at her blue robes. "What do you think?"

"You look beautiful," he conceded with a smile.

Katie had chosen royal blue because that was the color of Puddlemere United's robes, and she suspected that was related to his assessment of her.

"Only look? Darling, I am beautiful," she half-joked, half-flirted.

"You're beautiful indeed," he said offhandedly. And Leanne knew he could allow himself to think and say that, only because he thought Katie was the most beautiful woman in the world and she was just another pretty girl.

Leanne's heart raced in that moment, in which he took in her image and she couldn't help but take in his. He was wearing formal robes, but little signs betrayed the collected image he was trying to portray, like that thin layer of sweat and-

"You need to comb your hair," she said, biting her lip while smiling shyly.

"Oh yeah-that." He ran his hand through his hair swiftly, offering a sheepish smile of his own.

"Let me get that," she offered, seeing as he had only made his hair look even messier. He obligingly knelt down a bit so Leanne could reach for his thick dark hair.

It took her a while to react. He was on one knee (surely that was how he'd proposed to Katie) and so innocent in his eagerness to marry his bride, that he was placing himself at her mercy. She was tempted, so tempted to just…

She walked up to him and ran her hand through his hair a few times, trying to keep those thoughts out of her mind, but temptation was made worse by the contact and the closeness.

When Oliver looked at her in the eyes, she decided that she wouldn't resist anymore – she didn't care that Katie was somewhere under the same roof. In fact, at that moment, she didn't care about Katie at all.

(What did she owe Katie anyway, other than her half-arsed friendship?)

All she cared about right then was that her lips were on Oliver's and that after so many years of longing, she was in paradise.

And his lips were the forbidden fruit; so delicious, so enlightening, so wrong.

She didn't let it last. Leanne knew she wouldn't be able to take him pushing her away. She wanted to imagine that maybe he wouldn't have; she wanted to have that dream to live for and lose sleep over. Because if Leanne lost hope, she wouldn't have the strength to remain beside Katie when she said I do, so flawlessly beautiful, so in love, so innocent and pure under Oliver's equally elated gaze.

But it was only then that she understood that hope (or lack thereof) made absolutely no difference. The only sign of her boldness were the strands of hair on the back of his head, slightly prickled by her grasp. It went unnoticed by all the honor attendants and if Katie realized it, she didn't quite care. But there were no furtive glances, no trace of her lipstick, and in Oliver's expression the guilt wasn't present. Leanne could only discern all-consuming joy and love.

Part of her felt that he should be feeling guilty -if only that- but then again, she knew Oliver wasn't one to let anyone or anything ruin the best day of his life. And he was marrying the one woman he loved – should he really allow himself to feel guilty for a crime he'd been a victim of?

Leanne could only stand there and offer a broken smile as Oliver kissed Katie oh-so-sweetly, realizing that there was absolutely no place for her in his heart. As she started feeling hopeless, she told herself that hope was absolutely useless, for she mattered so little, that she couldn't even prompt him to feel anything when it came to her.

Not even guilt.