Shannon Finnigan

I woke up next to Luka Zabini. I was on my back and his arm was thrown across my stomach. I glanced over at him his face was hidden in my hair. I listened to his light little snore and had to bite my lip, so I didn't laugh. This wasn't the first time I had woken up in the bed of Luka. It had been a nice pattern over the years. The thing was though over the years I had fallen in love with Luka, but I knew he would never love me. Watching him parade other girls in front of me had been hard but I had gotten used to the fact we were just friends with benefits. I took whatever I could get from him. I knew I wasn't someone he could bring him to his dad. The former death eater would never approve of his son dating someone like me. My grandfather was muggle born, and so was my mother. Luka's father was big on blood purity and pure bloods only marrying pure bloods. He maybe disowned or worse. If he brought me home or even admitted, he had feelings for me he would be a blood traitor. I wasn't sure if he would betray his father for me or anyone.

Luka stirred beside me and opened his eyes to look at me. He smiled at me and I smiled back. I knew I had to stop this. I needed to find someone who was willing to be with just me. I needed to break this cycle. Both my best friends had found their one true love and I wanted mine. I wasn't sure how Luka felt he never talked about feelings. We had talked and we knew each other well. But saying I love you to him had never crossed my mind and, he would never love me back. I wasn't prepared to ruin what I had with him with confessions of love. He would never love me, and I had to admit that to myself.

"Good morning," Luka said as he sniffed my hair. "You are truly the best thing ever to walk up to."

I sighed and tried to get up. Luka pulled me back down and start to kiss me. When he kissed me, I couldn't think straight. His hand ran up my thigh and across my bottom ending up on the small of my back. Without breaking the kiss, he rolled us over, so I was straddling him. I sat up and as I did, I ground into his hard on. He hissed and I smiled knowing how I affected him. I knew he had been with a lot of girls, but I had never been with anyone but him.

He had taken my virginity one night four years ago in the kitchen at Hogwarts. It hadn't been my finest moment and I had been very down on myself that day. His sweet talking and the thrill of getting caught got to me. And I became another notch on his wand. Ever since then it had been these stolen moments and not letting anyone know we were together. I was hooked on any scraps of affection Luka Zabini showed me.

He put his hands on my hips and guided me, so I rolled into his hard on again. I put my hands on his chest. I needed to get up because suddenly I couldn't breathe. My chest felt tight and ached. I found the strength to tell him no and got up from his lap before I lost my nerve. I went and stood on the other side of the room by the window putting as much distance between myself and Luka as I could.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked.

I watched him sit up on the side of the bed. He had a confused look on his face. I had never told him no before. I wasn't sure he had ever been told no in his life. Girls threw themselves at him and he ate it up. He was a ladies man of epic proportions.

"I can't do this anymore, Luka." I started trying my hardest not to cry. "You are never going to feel the same way about me I do about you and I have to find someone who loves me. I deserve to find someone who loves more life itself."

He got up and came to stand in front of me. He reached up and touched my cheek. He brushed away the tears that had fallen on my cheek with his thumb. "I never knew that's how you felt, Shannon. I went along with this friends with benefits thing because I thought it was what you wanted."

The way he said my name brought goosebumps to my arms. His touch and demeaner seemed to change. In that minute, I knew something had changed in him. Something had shifted in his eyes. It was as if he had stopped fighting how he felt.

"Just because I said I love you, you don't have to pretend you feel the same way," I tried to sound like it was all okay. I wanted to believe him when he said that. This had never been what I wanted. How could he think that? What had I done to give him that impression?

"Shannon, what do I need to do to prove that I love you," he looked into my eyes. "I could tell you that there hasn't been anyone else besides you in almost a year from the moment I realized this was more for me than just sex. I could make promises that will be hard for me to keep but I won't do that."

He walked away from me then and threw on a pair of sweatpants from his bag. I was confused. I wondered what he was doing. He came back to where I was standing with a pair of his boxers in his hand.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Put these on and follow me," he instructed as he headed for the door.

I put on the boxers and followed him out of the room and down the stairs to the courtyard. There were several people downstairs having breakfast and several more people sitting in the courtyard enjoying the beautiful morning. These people were witches and wizards from the wizarding world. From our world. He stopped in the middle of the courtyard. He was shirtless and was drawing attention, but I got the impression that's exactly what he wanted all eyes on him. He turned to face me. The look in his eyes was filled with so much emotion.

He put his wand to his throat to amplify his voice and said, "Everybody here knows these may be my last words, so I'll make them heard by everyone."

People had started to stare but my focus was on Luka. I had no idea what he was doing or what he was talking about. What the hell was he up to?

"My father may very well kill me for this. He may disown me. But I don't care, I want everyone here to know my heart and soul will always belong to Shannon Finnegan." He put his wand down and stepped closer to me. He looked into my eyes and said, "She owns me."

He pulled me into a hug, and I sobbed into his chest. I had never expected him to defy his father like that. Not only had he confessed he loved me back he'd done it in front of everyone. Our friends, our family and best of all he loved me. I had found my one true love after all. That is if his father didn't kill him when he found out what he had just done.

A/N: So, Shannon and Luka are a thing. Shannon has her happily ever after. What is Blaise going to think? Should I write that part?