ron sometimes cannot help staring at
the constrast between his skin and hermione's: hers white & pale and full of something he cannot help
but love wholly fully completely , jaw open with his eyes set on the jut of her collarbone
because then
the deep full beat of her heart
under his hands & in his mouth begins to race
and his skin is ashy and freckled and slightly yellow; her mouth leaves funny marks
he stares at in the mirror , wondering at the delicate way they sting like a patchwork of anemone
there are
rosettes & pinwheels and all sorts of things prickling on the back of his eyelids
as they laugh together eyes squeezed tightly shut. sometimes ron thinks he sees them
even afterward, when hermione leaves and he lies awake thinking
about the things she has said.
someday i will find a way to set you free like the girls in your storybooks
so that love is more than war in the end
& maybe i can stop the green spell with my hands