Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Considering how old I was when the books came out, I would be a damn prodigy if I did.
Rated light T for brief mention of sexual content, brief mentions of homophobia, and general DH-related content.
"You know Vicky slept with Michael Corner?" Romilda looked over at Demelza, twirling a strand of dark hair around her finger.
Demelza glanced up. She was sitting in the middle of her bed, surrounded on all sides by parchment and books. Her reddish-brown hair was pulled into two braids, but flyaway strands were escaping from both of them. In Romilda's opinion, she decidedly looked like she needed a break, and Romilda was more than willing to oblige. There was something she wanted to tell Demelza, anyway, and now was as good a time as any. Of course, working the topic into conversation was something she hadn't quite figured out yet. There wasn't exactly a manual for these things.
For a moment it looked as though Demelza wasn't going to indulge the gossip, but finally she gave in. "Michael Corner? I always see him with that Ravenclaw girl, the intense one. MacDonald? I thought they were together."
"MacDougal," Romilda said. "And absolutely not. Merlin, Demi, haven't you seen them in D.A. meetings? They're always together, but their body language? Completely platonic. Like siblings. Anyway, Vicky said he was pretty good."
"He's a seventh year," Demelza said. "Experience and all that." She shrugged.
A year or two ago, this sort of gossip would have been far more engaging, but Romilda had noticed that lighthearted conversation - or even conversation that wasn't necessarily lighthearted, but fell into the category of standard adolescent fare - was harder to maintain this year. The presence of the Carrows - as well as the general state of the country, with You-Know-Who effectively assuming control - seemed to overshadow everything.
Muggle-borns were being rounded up and registered and thrown into Azkaban for the sheer crime of existing. There were new deaths, disappearances, reported almost daily. The Carrows ruled Hogwarts with an iron fist, throwing students into the dungeons and subjecting them to the Cruciatus Curse for all sorts of infractions. There was fear, anger, rage, and terror.
And there was a whole generation of kids who had grown up under the shadow of their parents' war, and who - when subjected to these things - decided that it was their turn to stand up and fight back. Revolution is often carried on the back of adolescent rage and rebellion, after all, and the new D.A. - expanded well over twice the size of the first - was no exception.
Of course, in the midst of all that, the trials of youth carried on, sometimes seemingly unaffected by the chaos.
"So, on the topic of sleeping with people," Romilda said, and promptly paused.
Demelza, who had looked only seconds prior as though she was about to return her attention to one of the many scraps of parchment surrounding her, lifted her head, a spark of curiosity in her eyes. "What did you do?" she asked.
"I didn't do anything," said Romilda, mildly offended. "Why would you assume I've done something?"
"Oh, let me see," Demelza said dryly. "Maybe because last year you almost drugged Harry Potter."
"I resent your phrasing," Romilda said.
"It's completely fair phrasing."
"All right," Romilda said, conceding that point. "For the record, I realized over the summer that Love Potions are screwed up; I wouldn't do that to anyone now. Arguably, though, the Ministry should ban the sale of them, because of course fourteen-year-olds are going to make dumb decisions if these things are, you know, right on store shelves."
Demelza raised an eyebrow. "It was barely a year ago," she said. "Abrupt change in stance."
"People can change a lot in a year," Romilda said, vaguely thinking how that statement - that people can change - was not a half-bad introduction into her real topic at hand.
"I'm impressed," Demelza said. "Going from that whole mess to advocating for better regulation of mind-altering potions. Look at you, Romilda Vane."
"Er, not the only change," Romilda said.
"What?" Now Demelza just looked confused.
Romilda sighed. She usually wasn't one to devour reading material, but she really wished that there was some sort of handbook about how to best do this. "Well," she said, "I've sort of noticed that - well, I know I haven't really dated anyone or anything, but I've been noticing things. Er, people. I think I fancy girls too." Her cheeks felt hot, and she was glad nobody was in the dormitory besides them. She hadn't actually spoken those words aloud to anybody.
For a brief moment, there was silence, and then Demelza said, "So you're bisexual?"
"Yeah." Romilda picked at a loose thread on the duvet.
"Anyone else know?"
"My mum." She had pored over that letter for days. It wasn't that she had feared her mother's reaction - on the contrary, her mum's younger sister had a relatively steady stream of girlfriends and boyfriends, and all of these partners had been welcomed to family dinners by Ms. Vane with open arms.
It was that she knew that the Carrows and Snape intercepted students' mail, and the last thing she wanted was that personal information in the hands of people who were already openly bigoted in other respects. Finally, she had settled on something to the degree of 'Hey, mum, I think I've figured out something about myself, that Aunt Mel and I have similar preferences when it comes to dating and such', which felt vague enough to be very open to interpretation.
Her mum, of course, had instantly understood, and her answer had been loving and accepting but equally low-key, given the lack of privacy in the mail. Other than her, Romilda hadn't known who else to tell. It felt like an odd realization to come to, in the middle of a war, but she supposed these things didn't stop for worldwide chaos.
"Oh, right, your aunt has a girlfriend, right?" Demelza said. "And your mum doesn't care."
"Over the summer, yeah, she did have a girlfriend. Dunno about now." Romilda shrugged. Aunt Mel's dating life hadn't really been a topic of conversation since everything had gone to hell. "And my mum's completely fine with it." She peeked over at Demelza. "Are you? Does it bother you?"
"I think with everything going on, this is the absolute least of my concerns right now," Demelza said dryly. When Romilda didn't respond, Demelza slipped off her bed, nimbly avoiding all of the piles of parchment. She hopped onto the foot of Romilda's bed, sitting cross-legged. "Oh, Romilda," she said. "You're my best friend. Do you really think that it would bother me?"
"I dunno." Romilda sighed. "People are just stupid sometimes, you know? Like how parents throw their kids out of their house for being gay, how people can get beaten up or murdered for it - then of course it's always going to be in the back of my mind that not everyone's accepting. That I'm always going to wonder how someone might react, and all that."
"Okay," Demelza said, and her voice adopted a note of reassurance. "I completely accept you and it doesn't change my opinion of you at all. You're still my best friend, you're like a sister to me, and I'm really happy that you felt comfortable enough to tell me." Her eyes were wide and earnest.
Romilda leaned forward and hugged her, a tear slipping down her cheek that she tried to subtly brush away. Demelza embraced her back, without hesitation. "Thank you," Romilda whispered. "For listening and being here for me."
"That's what friends are for," Demelza said, and for a few brief moments it felt like everything was normal again.
A/N: This fic grew out of a moment that I referenced in my Pride month MoragRomilda one shot 'who you are'. In that fic, I mentioned how Romilda came out to Demelza during DH. After writing that, I found myself wanting to expand on that moment, and it grew into its own little oneshot. Romilda and Demelza being best friends is something that has been part of my main headcanon for a while, and I want to explore their post-war friendship as well at some point.
If you enjoyed this, most of my work involves DH era and minor characters, and reviews are always greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!