✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

17 | S K I N N Y L O V E

I had to learn to be the hero.       
       I started only here from zero.

 
  "I'm pretty sure this is kind of sexism", Ron growled with a joyless snort. "Harry and George beating this ferret up, they get banned, you kicking his testicles higher up than a snitch could ever fly, and you get away with it like that."

   "I was just lucky Umbridge was already gone", Ember muttered, throwing a stone into the Black Lake. "Is he mad with me?"

   "Who? Harry?", Ron asked. "No. Nobody is mad with you."

   "This is so unfair!", Ember groaned, causing a few birds to fly up from a tree nearby. "This whole thing — It's time to give this bitch hell!"

   The thought alone of what Umbridge was doing to Harry and the Weasley twins during detenion right now made it hard for her to keep control over the roaring darkness inside her. Hermione and Ron had a rough time keeping Ever from storming straight into Umbridge's office after she heard about what had happened after Harry and George had gone to Umbridge's office. Hermione suggested she would go and get the boys some murtlap essence, while Ron should take Ember outside to cool down. It didn't really work well; Ron himself was bloody angry about what had happened, and all the cold November air couldn't suffocate the burning rage in Ember's guts. So they now sat down by the lake, drowning innocent pebbles in this black depths. Even Ember's fear of the lake had been shoved in the background for this moment, no goosebumps covering her skin, no shivers running down her spine as they usually did when nearing the water.

   "She will get hell, be sure about this", said Ron, his eyebrows furrowed. "You don't think Fred and George will just let all of this happen without having their revenge, don't you?"

   Of course she didn't; but all it would get them was more detention, more torture ... Ember scowled at the reddish evening sky. "I'll make her regret the day she decided to set a toe in this castle —"

   Her voice died, finding her icy skin warmed up by Ron's hand being placed upon hers. Her eyes wandering up his arm, hazel eyes finally met saphire blue, and Ron's ears turned crimson, his hand quickly jerking back, rubbing his neck, as his gaze turned towards the lake.

   Clearing his throat, he said, "We'll get at her with the DA. A rebellion right under her nose and she has no idea."

   "I more thought about setting her stupid pink tweed jacket on fire", Ember muttered, ignoring her own heathened cheeks.

   "You're a Hufflepuff! You're supposed to be nice!", Ron laughed, shaking his head bemused.

   "I'll set her on fire with a polite smile then?", Ember suggested, snorting. "Herself and her stupid Inquisitorial Squad."

   "Your relationship to Malfoy seems rather unhealthy." Ron's voice was swinging with a bitterness, even if Ember noticed he tried to keep it casual. His ears turned even more red, looking like raw meat under flaming red hair.

   "Oh please, not you too!", Ember rumbled, hazel eyes rolling in their holes. "There is no such a thing as a relationship. It was one kiss and it was a great mistake that won't happen again, because if he'll ever try come close to me, I'll murder him." This close to Ron, it was easy for Ember believing in her own words, even though she felt bad for lying to him, keeping back the tiny detail that it already had happened a second time, not to mention that she had indeed felt something that second time, even if she didn't know exactly what this something had been. Also this something somehow made it hard for her to make any promises that it actually wouldn't happen again. It was like hs darkness perfectly fitted hers; a creepy attraction she knew was more than wrong.

   "Why did it even happen once?", Ron asked, and this question was so unexpected that Ember's face immediately enflamed.

   "Think he got some wrong vibes ...", she muttered, shaking her head to get rid of the thought of Malfoy's lips on hers. Gladly under her thick hoody Ron couldn't see her skin bopping up goosebumps.

   For a short while they fell silent, and Ruby would have given a Galleon for Ron's thoughts. Was he judging her? Probably he was. She herself did, so why wouldn't he?

   But Ron didn't judge. In his mind a whole different trouble had started a war, and there was no winner up to be found anywhere soon. Shifting in his seat, he silently sighed to himself, before he turned to Ember.

   "Let's head back to the castle, don't you think?", he said, trying to sound as carefree as he could. "Dinner must be ready by now, and I'm about to starve."

   Ember chuckled, her eyes twinkling amused. "Unbelievable! With all this stuff going on, it's still the fear of missing a meal that bothers you most!"

   "That's a shameless exaggeration!", Ron exclaimed, scoffing.

   "Is that so?", Ember replied with her lips pursed and an eyebrow high up her forehead. "So tell me, Ronald, what is it you would skip a meal for? Because I just can't believe there's anything in this world.youd choose over chicken wings and plump pudding!"

   "Of course there is!"

   "Skipping one food for another doesn't count", she said, smirking.

   "I'm not talking about other food", he responded, feeling his face flushing pink again, and he so badly wished it wouldn't.

   "What is it then?"

   It's you, stupid, was what shot through his head, but it was "Quidditch, of course", stumbling from his lips, and her laughter sounded like a heavenly melody, as she threw her raven black hair back, having his knees go all wobbly.

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