belief
or, five kisses that changed the world
Written by Stop and Go

I.
(makes things real)

It's Halloween in Godric's Hallow.

The houses are decorated with lights and live bats and carved pumpkins with leering faces. There are parties going on throughout the neighborhood but a couple, the Potters, are enjoying a quiet night at home. It is their son's first Halloween and they intend on making it festive, despite the circumstances.

James steps out of the room for a moment to bring back Harry's bottle. Meanwhile, Lily looks at her son lovingly. She whispers silly things and real things and gives him all the love she has.

She places a soft kiss on Harry's forehead.

In the next moment, there is a crash at the door and all she can see is green.

II.
(make things feel)

The people of the town can't help but comment on their relationship. They say that it's unnatural. Merope must have tricked Tom Riddle to leave his pretty girl for her.

But she was in love so what was she supposed to do? Stand by and watch him fall for someone else?

And it doesn't matter anyways, because they're happily married now.

They're on their honeymoon, some beautiful island in the middle of the nowhere. He's sitting across from her on the bed, just looking at her. She's worried that maybe the potion wore off.

Then, Tom leans in slowly and captures her lips in a soft kiss. He flashes his winning smile and she feels her stomach leap to her throat.

"I love you," he whispers.

Just for a moment, she thinks he really means it.

III.
(feel alright)

Ron is getting married today.

He's sweating bullets and his face is twisted into a sort of nervous, pained expression. Don't get him wrong, he's thrilled to finally be marrying Hermione Granger but he can't quite get over the amount of people here, staring at him.

Harry's trying to calm him down but Hermione's walking down the aisle and she looks just gorgeous and Ron suddenly can't breathe but he's trying to keep smiling because –

Well, he's supposed to be happy. Not hyperventilating.

He knows Hermione's going to kill him later for not paying any attention during the ceremony but he can't help it. The minister is speaking in monotone so Ron decides to stop listening. (He's had years of practice at Hogwarts and he knows Hermione will just tell him what happened later.)

But, he definitely hears 'Now you may kiss the bride.'

Harry tells him at the reception that his brothers stood up and whistled and the crowd went crazy with pictures. But Ron doesn't care because all he can think of when they kiss is that he is the luckiest person in the world.

It only took him ten years to realize it.

IV.
(belief)

Severus is in a field somewhere and its night. Surrounded by a masked group, he tries to find his courage but comes up empty. (He guesses that's why he's not a Gryffindor and he guesses that's why he's here.)

"Severus, you have shown great potential and great loyalty. You are ready to join the ranks of the Death Eaters."

He gracefully crawls over to Voldermort and kisses his feet, just like Bella taught him to.

It's cold, but that's not why he's shaking. The moon is out, but it's a starless night. Voldermort's smiling down at Severus, but all he can do is beg Lily for forgiveness.

V.
(makes things true)

As a child, Neville believes he's going to be a squib. After all, it's his 9th birthday and he still hasn't shown signs of magic. His party is growing steadily worse as his uncle continues to trick him into showing magic, regardless of the danger.

He ducks out of the party and heads to the garden.

Neville is friendly with the other kids in his neighborhood but his best friend is a lovely little girl named Becky. She lives in the red brick house behind his on top of a fairly large hill. As he looks up, he spots Becky's spotted green dress running towards him.

"Happy birthday Neville!"

Unexpectedly, she kisses his cheek. He doesn't know what to do but when she laughs, he does too. They start a spontaneous game of catch and play into the night.

A few yards away, a flower suddenly blossoms.

A/N: This has been in the works for quite some time and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The title and the mini titles of each section are from the song 'Belief' by Gavin DeGraw. I'd love to hear what you think so please review!