Entry for "Flying Lessons" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

Task: This is a test of your pairing. There are always going to be downs in your relationship and this is where we discuss a very deep down. Both of your pairing should be feeling the problem and should overcome it. The problem must be an obstacle that is perceived as difficult and could be a family member dying, an assault or a past history of abuse. Min 500 words

Prompt: (dialogue) "I will never let you down."

Extra Prompt: (word) hide

Entry for the "February Event: Teamwork Exercise" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

Prompts:

(lyric) "And I feel your warmth, and it feels like home." - Depeche Mode

(quote) "There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment." (Sarah Dessen)

(1350 Words)

They Will Never Tear Us Apart

It had all been so beautiful when their relationship still had been a secret. To Katie and Marcus, it had all been feeling so good, so easy... and for some time, they had forgotten that they were from different houses, and that Slytherin and Gryffindor were rivalling fiercly. For most of the time, they just were Katie and Marcus, two young students who were head over heels in love with each other, who would spend hours cuddling and lying in each others arm and kissing... Hidden from curious or judging eyes, they had felt save and secure.

But then, their worst nightmare had become reality.

One evening, they had been meeting in an empty classroom, while many students of different houses were throwing a party two floors below, with the permission of Professor Dumbledore, of course. It had been the perfect opportunity to be out without having to hide from the teachers because of the curfew. Maybe they had felt too safe, maybe they should not have thought that nobody would leave the party to wander around and end up in the classroom they were in. Surely the expressions of shock and surprise on the faces of their classmates as they discovered Katie and Marcus, their bodies pressed together tightly while they kissed passionately, would have been worth a laugh. However, in this situation neither Katie nor Marcus felt much like finding this funny at all, as immediately someone had run off to spread the news that Slytherin's Quidditch captain and Gryffindor's best chaser had been caught snogging and had both looked a lot like they were enjoying this, and also not for the first time.

From that evening on, things had gone downhill and had also become somewhat uncontrollable to them.

They never would have thought that loving each other could become a burden, or that it could ever be so difficult for them to be together.

Already the next morning they had started to feel the consequences of the previous evening. Both had been attacked by their friends as soon as they had woken up, though Katie probably had more luck than Marcus. Angelina and Alicia were shocked and slightly pissed of about the fact that Katie had not told them anything, of course, but all they had wanted to know was if Katie really loved Marcus and if he treated her right, if he meant it serious with their best friend.

Marcus, on the other hand, had been forced to deal with Graham Montague and Adrian Pucey, who had not been that nice to their friend. To be exact, they had been rather aggressive and insulting when they had asked Marcus to explain why he was "shagging" with a girl from Gryffindor and if he had lost his mind. It had turned into an rather heated argument when Marcus had decided to be honest and had therefore told them that he loved Katie, and that he had never been more sane in his whole life. To Marcus, it had been a rather painful sting in the guts when his friends had started to laugh about his statement, but what really had hurt had been their demand to dump Katie immediately. Their strongest argument had been that Marcus was spoiling the honour of the whole Slytherin house if he kept going out with Katie, though to Marcus, this was a ridiculous one. Why was their honour supposed to be more important than his love?

After having been forced to listen to Adrian and Graham for what had felt like hours to him, he had stormed out of the Slytherin common room without another word, furious about how unloyal his friends were, and how they did not seem to understand him at all.

His feet just carried him somewhere, he did not think about where he was going, and he was blind and deaf to the rude gestures and the insulting comments that some students threw at him as he walked by. However, somehow, he found himself in front of "their" classroom, and he could not be more surprised when, upon entering, he discovered that Katie was there.

She was sitting on the teacher's desk, her arms slung around her knees, her shoulders slumping, and her whole body was shaking from sobs. Marcus hurried to close the door behind him and walked towards his girlfriend to close his strong arms around her.

"I am here... everything is okay... shh...," he tried to sooth her, not exactly knowing what he was supposed to say to calm her down, though it was obvious that his mere presence already helped Katie – her muscles relaxed somewhat as she melted into his embrace and her sobs quietened a little bit.

"Nothing is okay, Marcus," she sniffled after some time and she slung her arms around his neck, as if she was searching for even more support. "Some of my housemates, they gave me hateful glances, Oliver screamed at me like a maniac, threatening to throw me out of the Quidditch team and the Slytherins... you cannot imagine how ugly the insults were that they threw at me as I wanted to walk down to breakfast!"

Marcus felt how hot, acid anger started to boil up inside of him and he had to take deep breaths to calm himself down so he would not ask for the names of the... people to show them what happened if someone insulted the girl he loved.

"My day did not start any better," he whispered after shoving the longing to break some noses away. "My own friends told me that I would spoil the honour of all Slytherins by dating you."

Katie nodded, fear flashing through her brown eyes as she choked:"Then it is clear why you are here."

"What?! No! Katie! How can you believe that I would break up without just because these idiots are telling me to do so?! I don't care how much hate and disgust they'll show for us, I will never let you down, Katie! Because I love you like I never loved somebody and... and I feel your warmth, and it feels like home... Why should I give up my home, Katie?" Marcus exclaimed, his arms gripping her a little bit tighter, as if he was afraid that she could walk away from him.

Katie looked up at him, and once again, tears started to fill her eyes, though this time, they were tears of joy. A stiffled laugh escaped her as she tilted her head upwards to kiss him softly, and Marcus could say that he had never felt better in his whole life.

"There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment...," Katie whispered as they parted, reciting something she had read only a few days ago, and Marcus pressed his forehead against hers, responding:"And true love does not care about houses or honour... We will make it through, they won't be able to rip us apart, no matter what they say. Because we belong together, Katie, and they cannot do anything about our love. Because it is stronger than them."

To some people, this would have sounded like a mere statement, but to Katie and Marcus, this was a promise made by the heart, and in the following weeks, they would show off their strength to everybody, the strength their love gave them. It was a hard challenge for both of them, as prejudices and ancient regards were anchoring deeply inside the people's minds, and they both sometimes felt like breaking down, like bursting into tears, but never like giving up.

Because in the end, all that mattered to them was that they had each other to hold on to, and that they still had the hope that one day, people would come to understand their deep connection, and how true love did not know anything about boundaries. It just knew something about hearts, and how they had to meet because they were meant to be.