Roxanne and Molly were always the best of friends. They did everything together. They shared the same exact birthday, played together as often as they could when they were children, and went off to Hogwarts together.

Despite these similarities they were quite different.

Molly was small and curvy and pretty, with an angel's face and soft red curls framing her face. She was happy-go-lucky and smiled and laughed as often as she could. She cried often, too. When she saw something wrong in the world or read about the horrors of the war, her eyes would begin to water and she would dissolve into tears for the troubles and pain of others. Molly was the fairy girl, light and beautiful and fragile. She floated on air, hopping from one emotion to the next like a game.

Roxy, on the other hand, was taller and darker. She had her mother's dark hair and olive-toned skin, with a fine-boned face and a thin build. She was more closed-off and smiled less than Molly. She was not so magnanimous. Some people even considered her coldhearted. When Molly was upset about some problem in the world, Roxanne would be her rock, taking Molly's sadness from her and restoring Molly to happiness. Roxy was strange like that. She had this way of absorbing all of Molly's grief and tears into herself, feeling the horrors of the world for Molly. Because Roxy had always been the strong one, and she could handle it better than Molly ever could. Roxanne never cried.

In first year, Molly was sorted into Hufflepuff almost as soon as the Sorting Hat touched her head. When Roxanne went up next, the Hat wanted desperately to put her in Ravenclaw. It told her that she had the brains for it and that it would be the best thing for her future. But Roxy stubbornly insisted on Hufflepuff, knowing that Molly would need her on those days of depression and sadness. The Hat eventually gave in, and Roxanne went to Hufflepuff, together with Molly again.

Throughout their time at Hogwarts, Roxanne and Molly always studied together, went to Hogsmeade together, sat together in class. They were inseparable. The two had the same friends (because popular Molly always included Roxanne in her group), the same grades (because Roxy always helped Molly with homework and studying), the same, well, everything. So it only made sense that, in fifth year, when finally a boy caught Roxanne's eye, Molly would like him too.

The summer before fifth year, the Scamander twins came over to Roxanne's house. The two had come to see Fred, who was their partner in crime. Lorcan Scamander was a sixth year at the time. With windblown blond hair and an easy smile, he was quite popular with the girls of Hogwarts. Yet he never seemed to have a girlfriend. (Lysander was, at the time, hopelessly smitten with Molly's sister, Lucy.)

The three dragged Roxanne out to the yard to play Quidditch because, they claimed, they couldn't play with an odd number of people. Roxanne grudgingly accepted this argument as logical. She was a bit lonely, anyways, because Molly was with her family in France for the Holidays. She was forced to be Keeper on Lorcan's team. Not that she minded. Keeper was her favorite position anyway. She wasn't aggressive enough to be a Beater or Chaser and not small enough to be Seeker. Keeper suited her just fine.

She actually got a bit caught up in the game. She enjoyed playing Quidditch but never really got the chance. She didn't try out for the House team because Molly thought Quidditch was boring. She relished in the feeling of soaring through the air, diving for a fantastic save. Fred and Lysander didn't get a single Quaffle past her. Lorcan, a Chaser on the Ravenclaw team, managed to score thirty points. Finally, after another brilliant save by Roxanne, Fred scowled and said, "All right, fine. You all win."

As they descended to the ground, Lorcan said, "Roxy, you're bloody brilliant at Keeper! Way better than that Bones kid Hufflepuff's got now. How come you're not on the team?"

Roxanne blushed at the compliment and shrugged. "Molly doesn't like Quidditch much," she said simply.

Lorcan scowled. "So? You like it."

Roxanne's heart beat a bit faster as he held her gaze with those blue eyes. She shrugged again and sighed. "Doesn't matter. Molly's my best friend."

Lorcan looked like he was about to respond but Fred cut him off. "Seriously, Scamander, give it up. I've already tried to work on her. She won't do anything Molly won't do."

Lorcan didn't say anything else but his eyes didn't speak of resignation. He came back a lot that summer. Sometimes Fred wasn't there so he would just talk to her. She grew used to his company and enjoyed it. Talking with Lorcan was nice. He made her feel light again, the way she sometimes felt when Molly was in one of her happy moods. Except Lorcan made her feel like that all the time. By the end of the summer she was smiling and humming around the house. She wasn't so stoic or cold anymore. Roxanne fancied herself in love.

She planned on telling Molly about her feelings, she really did. But, at the feast at the beginning of the year, Molly sighed dreamily and looked over at the Ravenclaw table. "What is it, Molls?" Roxanne asked.

Molly blushed and giggled lightly. "Lorcan Scamander," she said, and told Roxanne that she liked him.

Roxanne blinked, schooling her face into the impassive mask of old. She laughed for Molly and when Molly began to talk of flirting with him and maybe even asking him to Hogsmeade eventually, Roxanne knew she'd have to give Lorcan up. Because Molly was the fragile one and Roxanne didn't know what would happen if she got her heart broken. No, Roxanne could no longer be in love with Lorcan Scamander. She would never tell Molly.

So Roxanne's smiles grew more infrequent and she no longer hummed. She comforted Molly when she discovered the mean things people did to House Elves, absorbing her sadness once again. She ignored Lorcan when they passed in the hallways while Molly smiled at him flirtatiously.

Then, one day in mid-October, Roxanne was in the library checking out some books she and Molly needed for a Potions Essay when Lorcan cornered her. "What's going on with you, Roxy?" he asked. "I thought we were friends and now you're ignoring me all of a sudden?" He looked hurt as he said this and Roxanne felt a pang of guilt and sadness. But she pushed back the tears that wanted to spring into her eyes. She had vowed to give him up. For Molly. She couldn't love him anymore.

So she feigned nonchalance and said, "Nothing's going on with me. I'm just acting normal."

The hurt in his eyes intensified. "Then why won't you even look at me anymore?"

She looked down. It was true. She always avoided his eyes when they saw each other to repress the feelings. "I just—I can't, Lorcan. I can't be friends with you anymore."

He looked so sad, so lost. She just wanted to take it all back, to tell him she would be his friend, at least. But a vision of Molly came up in her mind. Molly, crying, hurt, alone because Roxanne had stolen the boy she thought herself in love with. It didn't matter that Roxanne had liked him first or that Molly had hardly ever spoken to him. Because Molly was delicate and Roxanne didn't want to break her.

So she turned her back on Lorcan and walked away, pretending not to hear as he whispered, "But I love you."

She reigned in her sobs but couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her face. She just had to get out of there so he wouldn't see. Because Lorcan loved her, too. But she would never, never have anything with him. He was Molly's now. So Roxanne escaped to a remote corner of the castle and cried herself out. Then she dried her eyes, hardened her heart, and went back to her life.

In February, Molly asked Lorcan to Hogsmeade for Valentine's Day. He accepted. They began dating after that. Molly was the happy fairy girl with Lorcan. But she was still fragile. She still needed to cry on Roxanne's shoulder when she felt sad. And Roxanne still took the sadness away, stashing it away with her own.

She caught Lorcan looking at her sometimes, hurt still in his eyes. She pretended not to see, and buried her feelings.

But he kept on dating Molly, and his looks grew less frequent. Soon Molly was the only one he smiled at. He was in love with her, now, the brilliant, kind angel girl of Hogwarts.

So Roxanne really shouldn't have been surprised when he proposed after Molly's and Roxanne's graduation. Molly accepted. She asked Roxanne to be the maid of honor. Of course Roxanne said yes. She was happy for Molly and Lorcan, glad that they could find happiness. She never showed her feelings. She just buried them deep in her heart where only she could find them.

She was still Molly's rock, even after Molly married Lorcan. Roxanne never got married. She tried dating a few times, but it never really worked. But Roxanne watched Molly and Lorcan's children for them, still took away the depression when Molly found the bad things in life.

And she only cried when she was alone, where no one could see. She just put up her cold façade again. She would let them be happy, because their happiness was much more fragile than her existence. Roxanne had always been the strong one.