Elpis stood nervously in the middle of the long line of students in the Room of Requirement. She had felt her skin freeze when they had stepped inside the large doors and saw several boys restraining a large trunk with a severe lock on the front. It shook and a loud knocking came from the inside of its wooden walls. She had immediately remembered her Defense Against the Dark Arts class from three years ago and stopped in her tracks. Blaise looked at her with a furrowed brow and reached for her hand.
"What is that?" he asked.
"You took Professor Lupin's class in Third Year," she replied. "You tell me."

Realization came over his face after a moment of thought and he looked across the room at the box again.
"You've got to be joking."

"Those Weasley boys can get their hands on anything, apparently."

As all the D.A. members gathered around the angry box, Harry stepped forward and spoke to the group.
"Everyone has their fears. And if you can't control it, you'll never make it. This is a…safe-"
"Relatively," Hermione muttered under her breath.
"Safer way than most to face that fear, whatever it is."
"Well what's in the box?" someone asked.

"It's… a boggart."
"Are you crazy?" another student piped in disbelief.
"In a group this large, it can't do much harm. They're only a real threat if you ever find yourself alone with one."
"That's reassuring." a boy in the back of the group grumbled.
"Everyone will be fine," Harry continued. "The fact that you're scared is exactly why we need to do this. We'll never get better if we don't do the things that scare us."
The crowd was quiet, hushed exchanges passing between students as no one's eyes left the box that Fred and George sat on, trying to keep their balance.
"So who's first?" the twin on the left shouted excitedly.

"I never got my turn last time around, Blaise," Elpis confessed nervously. "I don't think I should do this."
He squeezed her hand encouragingly.
"You're not in any real danger here," he reasoned. "I'll go ahead of you if you want."
She wanted to disagree, but she knew she couldn't just stand aside as everyone began to form into a hesitant line. They fell in line behind their classmates and Elpis took a deep breath.

The entire room held its breath as Fred and George moved to unlock the trunk and a long blur shot out of its cage.

The room delved into a fast paced atmosphere of nervous laughter and shouts of surprise and electricity on everyone's skin. Elpis even found herself laughing aloud as giant serpents turned into balloon animals and popped and a lions with blood dripping from its mouth and claws turned into a mewling kitten in a party hat. Student after student stepped up and shouted the Riddikulus spell to disarm the boggart, and a myriad of fears appeared. Killer Clowns, Rabid Bears, Banshees. And they all disappeared into confetti and sparkles and clumsy fools that pulled laughter from the crowd. Elpis stopped laughing as there was only a few students left ahead of them.

Her heart felt like it was trembling in her chest and her stomach dropped. She swallowed nervously and began breathing shallowly. It was finally Blaise's turn and he pulled his hand from hers as he walked away from the crowd.
As soon as the boggart sensed him, its head snapping towards Blaise, it transformed again in a violent swirl of motion. Left standing before him was massive dragon, releasing a deafening roar. He jumped back, shielding his face from a column of flames that shot out at him, and pulled his wand out.
As Blaise shouted "Riddikulus!" the beast seemed to choke on it owns fire, coughing pathetically and shrinking into a goofy stuffed animal with googly eyes. The room laughed and he stepped aside, turning to look at Elpis and smiling encouragingly. With no one else between them, the stuffed dragons' head looked up at her and blinked. Wide eyed, she watched it transform in a dark cloud.

In an instant, she found herself staring at an inferi. Beneath a tattered black gown of dirty ripped cloth stood herself. Black blood was dried around her mouth, and her bones were nearly ripping out of the dry grey skin that was covered in bruises. The creature stared into her own eyes with its sunken lifeless ones, painted pale and sickly with decay. It stepped towards her on broken legs, all crooked and bent wrong, and let out a sharp screech that caused Elpis to stagger backwards, her breathing shallow and labored.

Shakily pointing her wand, she attempted the defensive spell but her words caught in her throat with a stutter. The inferi took another step, its snapped neck twisting to look at her, and only a few meters remained between them.

Taking a deep breath as it lunged at her, the students gathered behind her gasping, she chanted "Riddikulus!"
The monster crumbled into a pile of cloth and a cross-eyed bird popped its head out, letting out a stupid caw. Letting out a laugh of desperate relief, Elpis stumbled away, not wasting a second to distance herself from the nightmare she had just encountered. She didn't turn to watch the students behind her encounter their boggarts and instead grabbed her bag from where she had placed it across the room, making her way to the exit with a stony face. Blaise ran after her, slipping between the grand wooden doors as they slammed behind him.

"Well now that wasn't so bad," he said, jogging into stride beside her.
She didn't acknowledge him, the hopeful smile on his face melting as he looked sideways at her.
"It was all just a performance," he offered. "That would never happen to you."
As Elpis furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, Blaise immediately knew he had said the wrong thing.
"I just meant you have nothing to be afraid of," he tried again, reaching out for her hand. She snatched it away as his fingers brushed against hers and clenched her jaw.
As he opened his mouth to speak again she scowled.
"Sorry mine wasn't a Hungarian Horntail."
"The dragon was actually a bit dramatic for my taste if I'm being honest."
She didn't laugh, and his shoulders sunk.
"I'm sorry, Elle," he conceded. "I just… didn't expect that, honestly."
"Well what did you expect?" she snapped as they continued walking, her steps filled with tension and angst. "Me cowering at a broken nail, or a failed test?"
"Of course not. You have very nice nails, I don't imagine they break often with how well you manicure them."

Stopping in her tracks, Elpis buried her face in her hands. As she looked up, Blaise was surprised to see the desperation in her watery eyes.
After struggling with her thoughts for a moment, she shouted, "If this is just a joke to you then fuck off!"
Stunned as she shoved past him, he shook his head. His mind had been racing since the moment they left the Room of Requirement on any way to keep her from getting upset, and he felt like a fish gasping for water. Nothing made him feel worse than seeing disappointment in her eyes.
Running after her, Blaise gently reached for her shoulder.
"Elpis, please. I'm sorry," he pleaded. "I was just trying to get your mind off of it. I wasn't aiming to be a complete ass."
"What a fun surprise then, because you did a terrible job at both."
"What can I do?" he asked as a final effort, his voice soft.

Her anger melted away at his words, and she felt guilty, and suddenly very tired.
Her steps slowed down, and her eyes sunk to the ground.
"I…" she began, before sighing and dropping her shoulders. "I just want some hot chocolate."
Smiling weakly, he straightened his back and nodded.
"That I can do," Blaise replied, kissing her on the cheek. "I'll meet you in the tower in ten minutes."

Before she could respond, he turned and dashed away down the hallway. Left standing there alone, the smallest hint of a smile pinched at the corner of Elpis' lips.

Sitting with her legs crossed on the sofa, Elpis cupped the mug of hot chocolate in her hands and slowly drank the treat Blaise had snagged from the kitchen for her. He had lied and told her it was a challenge of stealth and skill, but really he had been caught within seconds of entering the kitchen and had crumbled to the house elves working at the time, begging them to help him make hot chocolate for a girl. He just had to make her smile again, he confessed to them. He didn't know what else to do.

Sitting beside her, a large blanket shared over their shoulders, Blaise watched and waited to speak until she was finished, a comfortable silence filling the room.
Finally, he asked in a quiet voice, "Why that?"
She pulled the blanket closer around herself and leaned into him, closing her tired eyes.

"I didn't know what it would be either," Elpis began. "I don't have a deathly fear of spiders, or anxiety about public speaking. I'm not even claustrophobic. Not a lot of things actually scare me, because a lot of fears just don't make sense. But that… I've been trying to tell myself it's irrational, but my mind won't budge. Not this time."

Wrapping his arms around her small frame, Blaise felt his chest ache for the truth that he couldn't console her, not her true fears. Because while they seemed so outrageous, they both knew the world they were living in was changing. He knew it wasn't a fear of death she had stared at, but the fear of everything safe around them being taken from them. She feared the world that was beginning to threaten them at the horizon where dark wizards would have power over people like her, and people like him who couldn't protect her.

"I'd die before I let that happen to you," he whispered into her hair, his fingers clutching at the back of her head as he held her. Elpis didn't respond. She only stared off into the darkening sky outside and held on tightly to his other hand.

'That's what I'm worried about,' she thought, pressing the side of her face into his chest.

Squeezing her shoulder, Blaise pulled her away from him, and she was confused to see a grin on his face.
"I'm an idiot," he spoke, as if that was an explanation.
"I mean, of course you are," she joked weakly with a small breath of laughter. "What specifically are you referring to though?"
"I can't believe we both forgot what today is."
Elpis searched for an answer, but she failed to come up with what he was talking about. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a folded up print of that morning's Daily Prophet.
"The last friday of May."

Her thoughts finally aligned and she smiled at him.
"I can't believe you remembered."

"How could I?" Blaise replied, unfolding the paper on their laps. "I've been waiting two months for this."
She looked up at him, gratitude in her eyes, and then looked down at the newspaper.
"I'm actually a bit nervous," she told him, laughing weakly. "Who would've thought after a day like today I'd still get nervous over a stupid writing contest."
"It's not stupid," Blaise argued. "You care about it, and you put the time into writing it for a reason."
"A secretly inflated ego and the pathetic desire for validation and praise?"
Blaise tried to hold back his smirk at her sarcastic cynicism, but instead he began turning the pages. After a moment, Elpis suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Just don't say anything, okay? If today proves anything it's that you're are extremely inept when it comes to comforting people."
"Hey," he joked, "I grew up an only child. I didn't need to learn how to do that until recently."
She laughed quietly, her eyes squinting with her nervous grin, but she didn't let go of his wrist.
"But really… if I didn't get the feature, just pretend nothing happened."
He raised his eyebrows in thought, biting his tongue at arguing with her pessimism, and instead nodded and continued to file through the newspaper until her reached the contest page. Reading over the introduction to the young aspiring writers contest held each year, his eyes racing across the black letters until he came to the headline:

Centaurs in the 20th Century: The Rights and Responsibilities of the Ministry
by : Elpis Gadeziento

Tossing the newspaper onto the table in front of the sofa, Blaise turned to Elpis and grabbed her by her waist, pulling her against his body and pressing his lips against hers. Tangling his fingers in the mess of her long hair and falling down on top of her as they kissed, he finally pulled away, both of them breathing heavy.

A blush filling her face and a grin breaking out after her surprise faded away, Elpis covered her face with her hands, stifling an excited scream.
"Well what was that for?" she asked. Her face was meant to scold him, but Blaise could see how pleased she was behind her failed attempt at hiding her amusement.

"You said not to do anything if you didn't win," he shrugged. "So I assumed the subtext and did the opposite since you did win."
She smiled at him, gazing into his dark eyes, and turned her head to glance at the newspaper.
"Well it's about damn time," she concluded. They both laughed, and though he loved watching her smile, he knew she was masking how relieved she was. She needed this, even if she pretended that it didn't matter to her.

"It's pretty amazing you know," Blaise spoke, leaning closer to her face. They still laid on the sofa, him holding himself up on top of her as she stared up at him. She looked so beautiful, the light in her eyes and the deep pink color of her lips painted against the warm brown shades of her skin. Her black hair was sprawled out beneath her, and he almost lost his train of thought as he let his fingers brush against her neck.
"What is?" she asked, her large eyes mesmerizing him.
Clearing his throat, he mustered the most subtle smirk he could manage and replied, "I get the world's most beautiful, and now published, author all to myself."
She narrowed her eyes at him, but the smirk that curled her lips deceived her stern facade.
"And why is that so amazing?" she challenged, always enjoying denying him the pleasure of his usually effortless charm.
"For one, I got to finally see you happy today," he told her truthfully, and her tough exterior melted away, a touched gaze filling her eyes and a soft smile coming to her mouth. Catching her by surprise, he continued gently, almost in a whisper, "And I get to do this."

Leaning down again, Blaise brushed his lips against her neck, sending chills down her body as he took in her sweet scent. Elpis chuckled as he tickled her with his kisses, and though it crossed her mind to push him away, she relaxed into the cushions beneath her and basked in the warmth radiating from his body. He brushed her curls away, his eager lips wandering to her collar bones, and his fingers found their way to strip of skin exposed between her shirt and her skirt. Opening her eyes and arching away from him, Blaise could feel her hesitation. Embarrassed, he snapped out of his daze and sat up.

"I'm sorry," he told her as she straightened herself up, pulling her shirt down and trying to hide the blush in her face. He rested his hands on his knees, casting his eyes downward to the ground. Nervously, Elpis reached out and gently turned his face towards her. She stared at him, her fingers brushing over his lips, and a faint smile came to her mouth.

"I've just never done this before," she told him quietly, sliding closer to him. He placed his hand on top of hers, both of them squeezing the other's, and leaned his forehead against hers. Elpis placed her hand on his chest, feeling his strong heartbeat as she gripped his shirt. Their noses were almost touching, and they both closed their eyes. Closing the small space between them, they kissed. Their tongues slid along each other in the powerful embrace, and their lips danced back and forth. She inhaled the intoxicating cologne on his dark skin, each breath sending her deeper into a racing bliss, and Blaise pulled her onto his lap. She held his face in her hands, pressing herself into him, and he gripped her waist, digging his fingers into the soft curves of her body.

Pulling away for a moment, Elpis looked him over, from his strong arms to his high cheek bones, feeling the trust and energy that webbed off of every point that their bodies touched. Taking a deep breath, she slowly slid her hands up his hard chest, her fingers stopping at the first button of his shirt.

"Are you sure?" Blaise asked quietly, his voice shocking her out of her thoughts. She looked into his eyes and couldn't find any words to speak, her mouth hanging slightly open.
"School is over in a week, Elle," he continued heavily, his shoulders sinking and his head hanging solemnly. "You said it yourself, you're leaving-"

"I want to be with you," she interrupted, holding onto his arms. Whispering, she said, "I'm happy right now. I want this."

Not giving herself the chance to lose her nerve, Elpis crashed her lips against his, carefully unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled the hem out from his pants and slid it off his back, tossing it away somewhere on the floor. Standing, he lifted her to her feet and leaned down to her, softly kissing her neck and now taking his turn to unbutton her shirt. Goosebumps rose on her arms and a shiver ran through her body as he brushed the fabric away from her shoulders, letting it fall away, and then reached for the clasp of her bra. She had never been so pleased to be terrified in her life.

Getting down on his knees, he traced his lips down her body, from the top of her breasts to her soft stomach and finally her hip bones. As he slowly pulled her skirt down, Elpis was glad she wasn't wearing her large, ugly panties. They were comfortable, but she would have been mortified to have him see her naked for the first time in those old lady briefs. Once she stepped out of her skirt, her turned her around by her hips so she sat facing him on the sofa. Kneeling on the ground he was the same height as her, and he pressed himself into her, running his hands all over her skin before stopping at her ribs. Smiling into their kisses, she took his hand and placed in on her breast. With her pounding heartbeat beneath his palm, they both laughed softly, their bodies shaking.

Blaise had never been so nervous any of the other times with any of the other people, but now he could barely keep his thoughts straight looking at her. The curves and valleys of her delicate body made it hard for him to breathe steadily, and he felt weak in her embrace. He knew she was nervous too though, so he took the lead. Still kneeling in between her legs, he pressed forward, and she could feel his hardness pulsing against her. As her breath caught in her throat, he gently pressed her shoulders back, laying her down on the sofa again. Hesitantly, Elpis reached for his belt. They stopped kissing and laughed when she was fumbling too much with the buckle and he had to do it for her. Blushing even more, they grinned into their kisses, and she pushed his pants and boxers away from his sculpted hips. Holding himself above her, Blaise slowly reached down, hooking his fingers on the edge of her underwear. Realizing he was waiting, Elpis nodded sheepishly. Closing her eyes and pulling him down towards her, she let him slide them down her legs, and they were finally undressed. She traced her fingers over the muscles on his abdomen as they laid there in silence for a moment, taking in the sight of each other.

Inhaling deeply, he moved his hand in between her thighs. Feeling her hold her breath, Blaise rested his forehead against hers, grinning as he whispered, "Relax. We can't have you passing out."

They both chuckled softly, and the tension left their bodies little by little as they joined together.

They kissed and laughed and spoke in whispers, and nothing had ever felt more natural. Blaise buried his face in her soft, dark curls and they fell into a rhythm of light gasps and moans, their breath hot and heavy on each others skin. Elpis gripped behind his neck and the small of his back, and though her nails shocked pain into him, he didn't tell her to stop. They were both too lost in their pleasure, and as they finally built up to the end together, they threw their heads back and gasped for air.

Slowly coming down from their spinning heads and racing hearts, Blaise collapsed on top of her, smiling drunkenly into the crook of her neck, and she leaned her head on top of his, tracing her fingers up and down his spine.

Laying there in exhausted silence, they could both pretend that exams didn't end next week, and that the Scarlet Engine wouldn't being returning to drive them away from the castle they both loved, and that she wouldn't be flying a world away from him. They could pretend this wasn't goodbye.