The Houses Competition

House: Slytherin

Class: Herbology

Prompt(s) (Theme) Lost Love (Profession) Baker

Word Count: 1178

Beta: Ikuni, Ash, Aya, Hope

After the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Queenie thinks about what her life could have been like with Jacob

Reunited

Queenie stood at the end of 443 Rivington Street, watching as Jacob received his weekly shipment for his bakery. Almost religiously, for the past five months, Queenie had been standing on the sidelines, watching as Jacob got his dream bakery up and running. And each day, she had wanted to go up to him and tell him how she felt about him, but she knew he wouldn't even recognize her face; let alone remember the kiss they had shared. The kiss that had stolen her breath and her heart. The kiss that had made her feel like she was the only girl in the universe.

Queenie had never known she could feel this way for someone. The moment her eyes had landed on Jacob, she had known that he was the one for her. For years, she was forced to listen to the judgment of others, forced to listen to what others thought about her and their true feelings. She knew what everyone thought of her: a feebleminded girl without a care in the world—just another pretty face. For years, she would cry herself to sleep, wishing that she didn't have the burden of natural Legilimency. But when she had seen Jacob for the first time, she hadn't been forced to listen to the negative thoughts or the unsavory musings men had about her; instead, he had thought she was beautiful, delicate, and graceful, and later, he had thought of her as smart. Not once in Queenie's life had someone thought of her as intelligent, and it had made her heart flutter that Jacob did.

The little time Queenie had got to spend with Jacob was enough for her to know what she wanted, but due to the wizarding law in the United States, witches and No-Majs were forbidden to be together. With one outdated law, her dreams had been crushed, Jacob's memory had been erased in front of her, and she was suddenly nothing more than a stranger to the man she loved.

Her dream of running a bakery with Jacob was gone within a second. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't stop thinking about making challah, lemon meringue tart, poppy seed rolls, along with many other baked goods with Jacob. She'd laughed at the thought of her getting icing on the tip of her nose with Jacob leaning in and licking it off before going in for a kiss. She felt like she was a teenage girl again, writing Queenie Kowalski in her notebooks over and over again, dreaming of the life they could have had.

Tina had told her to get over Jacob, to move on. Her sister kept reminding her that she wouldn't be able to have a life with a No-Maj, but no matter how hard Queenie had tried to get over him, she just couldn't; everything always came back to him. She had even tried going out on dates, but all she did was think about Jacob, and compare those wizards' thoughts to his. Like clockwork, once the desserts came, tears would well up in her eyes. She knew she would never be able to find someone like Jacob again. She would never be able to find someone who thought about her the way that Jacob had, who made her feel the same way that Jacob had, who could make her laugh in the same way Jacob had.

Now, she spent her nights looking at Jacob's bakery, hoping for a glimpse of him, just a single glimpse. When she did manage to steal one, he was always smiling, always happy, always willing to help someone. He was truly one of a kind.

For the past five months, Queenie had been working up the courage to go in, perhaps even buy one of the delicious-looking baked goods displayed in the windows, but something always got in her way: fear, hope—she wasn't sure anymore. She held onto the hope that in some way, somehow, Jacob could remember who she was, but what if he didn't? What if her sister was right? That she could never have a real life with Jacob. If anyone at MACUSA ever found out that she was with a No-Maj, she would be thrown into Azkaban faster than she could blink. And what about their children? Queenie knew what it was like growing up as a half-witch, half No-Maj. The constant bullying at school, everyone thinking that she was less than them because she didn't have two magical parents. What if her children turned out to be Squibs? Unable to learn magic, unable to go to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She would never know if her children were a Horned Serpent, a Wampus, a Thunderbird, or a Pukwudige. But as she looked at Jacob restock freshly baked bread, none of that mattered.

They could run away together, go somewhere that no one would be able to find them and start a family together, a life together. Tina had told her that a life on the run was no way to live, but living like this wasn't a way to live, either. What kind of life could she have when her heart belonged to Jacob, but she was denied to love him? A person couldn't just choose who they loved, and if being with Jacob meant she would have to leave her home, then that was what she was willing to do.

Today was the day, she had decided when getting ready that morning. She was going to walk into that bakery and finally see for herself whether, when Jacob looked at her, he would see her with love in his eyes or see her as a stranger.

Queenie took in a deep breath as she waited in line outside the shop. The smells were wonderful; the scents of freshly baked bread, lemons, oranges, and vanilla all overlapped, all of them so warm and made that much more wonderful by the man who had made them. Jacob may not remember magic, but he definitely knew how to work his own special brand of magic on his pastries.

As Queenie got closer to the door, her heartbeat thumped against her chest like a thousand drums, causing her to grow dizzy from the increased blood flow and adrenaline coursing through her body rapidly. Her blood rushed through her veins, and she wanted to turn back and keep watching from afar, but she knew she couldn't be cowardly any longer. She couldn't keep living like that.

Queenie entered the shop, and her heart stopped beating, and her breath grew sluggish as the world came to a complete stop. Queenie watched as Jacob turned and his eyes landed on her. The first second felt like an eternity, and then it happened.

He smiled, and Queenie felt the world move again, because in that moment, she knew that Jacob remembered her. Without giving it a second thought, Queenie made her way up to him and kissed him in a way she never had before as she was reunited with her lost love.