Author's note: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.
Hogwarts: Assignment #4, Charms Task #2: Write about a love thought to be unreal by others but is real.
Warnings: Lesbophobia; polyphobia
Ours
Alicia had already taken Angelina's breath away a few times while they were getting ready for the Yule Ball. It had worked out nicely since all Angelina had planned to do was sleek her hair up in a ponytail and step into her three-piece suit. She sat back on her bed after buttoning up her clothes and watched Alicia brush makeup on her cheeks, tousle her hair, line her eyes with gold, step into her black gown… Angelina was somewhat surprised to see Ali in a gown, but the black dress was light and loose, strappy and edgy—and it fit her perfectly. Plus, she was wearing her most beat-up sneakers under it all.
"Absolutely lovely," Angelina had said, kissing Ali's shoulder as she'd helped her zip up.
Angelina's stomach dropped a few floors when they saw Katie come down from the fifth years' dormitory. Her hair was tucked into a chignon, her silky black hair dotted with pearls. She wore a long, royal blue dress with long sleeves and a collar that showed her collarbone and shoulders. A strip of silver belted the dress before the skirt flowed down to touch the ground.
"Hold me, my knees are weak," Alicia said.
"No, mine are," Angelina whispered back. Still, she reached out to help Katie step down the last few steps of the spiral staircase and kissed her cheek. The smell of her perfume, vanillas and almonds mixed together, had the light, soft, and breezy energy that she always associated with Katie.
"Absolutely gorgeous," Angelina said. Alicia whispered something in Katie's other ear that made her blush and smile, before they walked to the Yule Ball with linked arms.
They strolled past beautiful Christmas trees frosted with magical snow and garlands upon garlands of light. Music was already playing as the crowd milled around, waiting for the Champions to enter and the ball to officially start. They linked arms and chatted until the dancing music began, taking turns spinning each other.
A few hours in, Katie's heels were killing her, but she insisted on keeping them on because she'd made a bet with Ginny Weasley—so she'd told Angelina and Alicia to go dance without her for a second. They danced for three upbeat Weird Sisters songs and one slower ballad before deciding they should circle back to go find her. Alicia went to grab them all punch while Angelina went straight to Katie.
She was sitting at one of the tables on the side of the room that was beautifully decorated with candles, pine sprigs, and poinsettias. She was sitting all ladylike, her knees pressed together and her skirt swooping down like a princess. She was looking up to a boy in copper dress robes who stood before her, shoulders up and chest puffed out.
"Care to dance?" Theodore Nott asked.
"No thank you," Katie said, readjusting her skirts. She pushed back the romantic curl that had fallen out of her updo behind her ear and took a deep breath. Nott hadn't moved. "I don't… I came with someone."
"You just walked in with Spinnet and Jones," Nott said.
Katie cleared her throat and looked up again.
"I told you, I came with others," Katie said.
"They're friends, they don't count."
"They're not friends and I'm not going to dance with you," Katie said.
Nott arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"You're kidding me," he said.
"I need you to go," Katie said.
"You're calling two girls your date?" Nott asked. "Dates? How does that even work?"
Angelina stepped in at that point. She grabbed the back of Nott's dress robes and pulled him away from Katie, spinning him to face her.
"Hey," Angelina snapped. "She told you to go. No ifs, no buts. Turn yourself around and get lost."
Alicia was at her side right then.
"Listen to her or you're getting all three of these cups splashed down your overpriced dress robes, you soggy excuse for a turd," Alicia added in that cold matter-of-factness she had.
The pair of them combined had Nott running off quickly enough. Alicia rushed to put her cups down and kneel in front of Katie.
"Are you okay love?" she asked. "How long's he been annoying you?"
"He wasn't," Katie said, though she sounded a bit shaky.
"I'm going to murder him," Alicia said, standing back up.
"No," Angelina said, putting a hand on Alicia's arm. She wrapped her other arm around Katie and kissed the top of her head. "It's like what Wood says about not dignifying the Slytherins on the Quidditch pitch, yeah?"
"Yeah," Katie said quietly.
Alicia still looked like she thought murder was a better idea but she sat down by Katie and started distributing cups of punch
Katie downed hers in a gulp.
"I'll go grab a refill, you two—no, I'm okay, I promise, stay here."
Angelina took her empty seat when Katie disappeared back into the crowd of dancers and took Alicia's hand, hoping to calm her down and center her. Alicia gave her a look and took a deep breath. Within a few minutes, it became clear that Katie wasn't coming back so they set off into the crowd, looking for her.
They didn't see Katie at any of the other tables. Harry, the Weasley twins, and her friends in her year hadn't seen her either. They checked the hallways outside the Great Hall and peeked into the bathrooms, but didn't find her there either. A girl sitting on the bathroom counter while her friend sobbed in a stall confirmed that Katie hadn't been around.
Finally, they located her sitting in a courtyard, on one of the stone benches hugging the walls. It was partially hidden, but not enough for the lazily falling snowflakes not to find themselves in her hair. They could still faintly hear the sound of music.
"Katie," Angelina said, clucking her tongue and slipping out of her jacket as she walked towards her. She wrapped the jacket around Katie's shoulders as Alicia went to sit on her other side, took her arm.
"Sorry," Katie said. "I didn't mean to worry you, I just… I needed to breathe and I felt like I couldn't, in there."
"That's alright," Alicia said. She made eye contact with Angelina, who saw the thinly veiled anger in her eyes. Angelina arched an eyebrow, urging Ali to keep it together. The latter seemed to resolve that her best course of action was to kiss Katie's ear and hide her face in Katie's hair.
Angelina took Katie's hand and squeezed.
"Talk to us, babe," Angelina said.
"Is it always going to be like this?" Katie asked quietly. "Are we always going to have to prove to people how we feel?"
"Does it matter?" Alicia asked.
Angelina shot her a look again, even if she knew that Ali was coming from a place of genuine spontaneity.
"It does to me," Katie said. "I… I love you guys. I know that's a big thing to say but I feel big things. It bothers me that people can't see it because if I'm being swallowed up by my feelings but nobody can see them, what does that mean? Why do I feel like it matters even if what's ours should just be ours?"
"It means people don't all see the same things," Angelina said. "But I'm happy you see us, in all the things in the world that there are to see."
"I'm so happy," Alicia echoed.
"And I don't need anybody else to see the way I love you. I like the way that it's just ours." "Ours," Katie repeated.
"Thank Merlin," Alicia said. "I mean, it might have to be because other people are really just objectively the worst."
Angelina scoffed and Katie giggled.
"They're not the worst," Katie said. "Theodore Nott just is."
"Maybe," Alicia conceded.
"We don't have to go back to the ball but come inside, it's cold out here," Angelina said, squeezing Katie's hand. "Are you ready?"
"I'm ready," Katie nodded. "Actually… I do want to dance."
"There we go," Angelina smiled.
Alicia got up and pulled the pair of them back to their feet, swinging their hands as they wandered back in, on their own and with their own.
Stacked with: MC4A; Shipping Wars; Hogwarts
Individual Challenge(s): Clowder (Y); Point of Know Return; Love Language; Gryffindor MC (x3); 3rd Rule Bribery (HP Edition) (Y); Poly Bribery (Y); Brush; Winter Wonderland; Seeds; Criminally Hot (Y); Sweet Music; Obstinate, Headstrong Girl; Golden Times; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Love); Themes & Things B (Protection); Themes & Things E (Evening Gown/Tux); Themes & Things F (Cold); The 3rd Rule; Ethnic & Present; Rian-Russo Inversion; Flags & Ribbons; Hold the Mayo; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux
Word Count: 1374
Shipping Wars
Ship (Team): Angelina Johnson/Katie Bell/Alicia Spinnet
List (Prompt): Winter Micro 2 (Costume Porn)