mascara stains only look good on my maybe lover

For the Hogwarts Online Prompt of the Day: rivals

and for s i l v e r a u r o r a (Ellie) for introducing me to this lovely pairing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

:-:

She's always been more of a rival than a friend, but sometimes they're not even that and he doesn't know what to call it. Secretly, he thinks she's the most beautiful girl in the world, even when she's not wearing her pounds of makeup (especially when she's not wearing her pounds of makeup).

And maybe he's never been so perfectly matched before in his life and it almost scares him, because she and they and their bizarre sort of connection is almost akin to love, and, oh Merlin, he doesn't do romance.(And even if he did do romance, it wouldn't be with the only girl who could break his heart and dance on top of it)

It's always confused him, how Lucy ended up in Slytherin and how Molly ended up in Ravenclaw and, goodness, the irony of it. Because, despite Lucy's frigid reputation, God, she's got nothing on her sister; her cold, calculating, caustic sister.

Only he's just as cold and calculating and caustic and it's kind of like a stalemate at this point and guess what?

(He thinks he might be losing this one)

:-:

Everyone sees them fighting all the time, and it's so clear that they hate each other. They're far too similar not to hate each other, but a select few nod knowingly and turn away with a small smile, because it's kind of sort of really obvious.

It's in the way that her hand hesitates in front of his face when his blond hair gets in his eyes, in the way that he grabs her elbow to steady her when she trips on the stairs. And even if you never notice any of that, just the way he looks at her when she's not looking; it's so uncharacteristically tender, like she's his center of gravity. Or the way she looks at him when he's not looking, with soft blue eyes that make you believe that Molly Weasley actually has a heart.

It's truly a love story of epic proportions, but the two main players?

(they're not budging and that Nile? It's totally just a river in Egypt)

:-:

Lorcan and Lucy are the school's dream couple, even though Lucy won't budge, and Lorcan's been rejected, their siblings are kind of sort of grateful, because it certainly keeps the spotlight off of them (and they need a millennia or two to sort out whatever the hell this is).

Only Lorcan knows and Lucy knows, and, oh, the endless dastardly plots to get them together are a pain in the arse. Because, goodness, can't their stupider siblings just focus on their own screwed up mess of a love life, without focusing on the epic case of denial that is MollyLysander rivalsenemiesfriends maybelovers?

(they're dancing around the subject, and they refuse to acknowledge that, hey, maybe we are kind of sort of meant for each other)

:-:

He barges into the girl's dormitory in the Ravenclaw tower where he finds her crying on her bed. Her pillow is clutched to her chest and there are mascara stains running down her cheeks, and her eyes are puffy and her face is red and blotchy and he feels like his world has toppled to the ground (because he's never ever seen her cry like this before, like her heart is breaking).

"Molly," his voice is hoarse and panicked, and he doesn't even remember when they became first name basis rivals, but it doesn't matter, "Molly, please don't look like that."

She just cries harder, and the worst or best part is that she doesn't yell at him to go away. His fist clenches at his side, and the rage on his face is terrifying. He's furious.

"Who did this to you?" he enunciates the syllables slowly, his quiet fury more frightening than any angry shout.

Molly hiccups and shakes her head and cries harder. He hesitates for only a moment before he's at her side and she's crying into his chest and he's stroking her hair, and he wants to murder the bastard who did this to her.

"Molly, please," he doesn't know when he got so soft, but she's breaking his heart, and now he's begging, and, God, this is why he didn't want to get involved. Because she's the only one who could possibly get him to care this much.

"Go away," she mumbles into his chest, clutching his robes, and, God, she's trembling and he doesn't know what to do, "I look like a bloody ogre."

He puts a finger under her chin and forces her to look him in the eye, "yes, you do."

She wails and goes to push him away but he pulls her close to him, and she doesn't protest, continuing to cry into his soaked front.

"I'm kidding," he's whispering in her ear, "the mascara stains are a lovely touch."

She mumbles angrily, but he can feel a slight smile playing at her lips, she's calming down.

"They called me a nasty whore; they said I'd die old and alone because no one would want to marry a whore like me."

Lysander can feel the rage, and he knows that he has some business with a few ingrates. (He turns them into bullfrogs and leaves them in the Potions supply closet but that is a story for another day)

"That's rubbish, I happen to know you're a virgin."

Even though she still has her face buried in his robes, he knows that she is blushing and that she wants to hit him, but she's just so comfortable she's going to stay put.

"Please don't leave," she's whispering and he stays with her until she falls asleep.

(and ok, so maybe he's lost this war, but he doesn't particularly mind)

:-:

Nothing really changes after their stupid pride game, only this time she actually swipes at his hair when it gets to his eyes, and when he's grabbing her elbow, he's swinging her around to kiss her.

And you're together? No! That's a shocker!

(and so maybe they've become predictable, but, hey, they still got together before Lucy and Lorcan and so they're totally less of a cliché)

the end

A/N: Reviews are very lovely, but please do not favorite if you're not going to review. Also, forgive me for the screwy formatting-the fanfiction editor thing is being dumb.

Much obliged,

Nanaho-Hime