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chapter thirty nine | i adore you
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For the first time in a while, Stella Mason was content. She realized that her head on Harry Potter's chest was one of her favorite places to be. It was a peaceful night at the Shell Cottage. The waves crashing in the distance was comforting, and the silence that came with it was needed for Stella. There were no screaming woman with frizzy, unruly hair. No Dark Marks or daggers in sight. Just Stella Mason and Harry Potter, together.
"You scare me, ya know."
Stella didn't expect the boy to speak so suddenly. It wasn't a question for her to answer, but rather a statement, almost like he was coming to terms with something. She spent her time on his chest tracing random patterns with her finger, and kept up the motion after he spoke.
"How do you mean?"
He ran his fingers softly through her hair, "I've never felt anything like this for someone before. And that scares me. You scare me."
Stella lifted her head with an incredulous expression, "way to win a girls' heart, Potter."
The green eyed boy chuckled and ushered her head down, content with her placement on his chest, "you know, when I kissed Cho back in fifth year—"
"You seriously suck at this—"
"—I felt... nothing. I expected to get those butterflies in my stomach like everyone says they get, but I didn't feel any. Until you came along. The more I was around you, the more I wanted to be the one to make you smile, to hear your laugh, to know everything about you. And then, I kissed you."
Stella didn't know why he was saying all of this, but she wasn't complaining.
"All at once, I got these feelings in my stomach, my chest, my... fingers, even," he chuckled to himself as he tried to explain, not noticing the glassy eyes before him, "It was like as soon as I kissed you, I finally knew what everyone was talking about. It was... magic."
The Mason gave him a watery smile, "why are you saying all this, Harry?"
"Because I don't know when I'm going to have the chance to say it."
The boy spoke with utmost honesty and sincerity. It made the tears at bay start to fall down her cheeks, leaving stains on his t-shirt. She sat up abruptly to fully look at him and reached to stroke his cheek lovingly, taking in every detail of his face, before simply saying.
"I adore you, Harry Potter."
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Another week went by before the four friends were ready to leave Shell Cottage. Stella was grateful to the fact that while they were hiding at Grimmauld Place, her and Hermione brewed more Polyjuice Potion than she could count—extra viles just in case of needing them. There were two viles left, meaning two out of the four would be disguised.
