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Hogwarts College was home to a variety of different students. It offered many different courses, and even had a little campus coffee shop where students frequented when they needed their daily dose of caffeine to get them through the day.
Leta Lestrane was a music major, with a minor in photography. She had an heir of cool around her but her closest friend at the college was her roommate Tina Goldstein. Tina was a law student, who normally could be found in the library unless Leta had managed to coax her out and get her to actually eat something or have a cup of coffee.
The dorm that they shared mainly consisted of Leta’s things. There was an old polaroid camera sitting on the desk, lots of photographs covering the walls of all sorts of things, a guitar in one corner and a stack of books that belonged to both girls. Leta had a record player and a bunch of different records, something she had a lot of passion in. They each had their own laptops and clothing storage, the only other things they had were their beds.
Leta was lying on her stomach, with her laptop in front of her as she worked on some of her school work. She didn’t ever work very well in the library and found more comfort in her bedroom rather than anywhere that was educational. She had on a Beatles record, and was typing while she hummed to herself.
She looked up though when she heard the door open and her roommate walked into the room. Tina. Who was oh so tall, and always so focused on something. Leta couldn’t help but stare a little as the woman walked into the room.
“Hey Leta. Have you been here all day? Normally you’re the one that has to drag me out of the room. It’s never the other way around. What are you working on?” Tina came to sit next to the other girl.
“I’m writing an essay. You know that I write better here than in the library,” Leta pointed out and poked Tina in the side gently. “I get to listen to my music out loud, and I can have as many cups of tea as I like.”
“You are so British. Listening to The Beatles, drinking tea. It’s cute,” Tina teased with a grin on her face.
The word cute was what had stuck with Leta, who played it off with an eye roll when inside she was screaming.
“I am not cute. I am the darkness,” Leta quipped back.
Tina smiled and lay on the bed, looking up towards the ceiling. Leta glanced towards her with a slightly raised eyebrow.
“Comfy there Goldstein? Or would you like me to vacate my own bed?”
“Nah, you’re tiny. There’s nothing to you, it’s like sharing a bed with a hobbit.”
Leta shook her head and gave a slightly amused smile.
“You’re lucky that I love you Goldstein or I would have hit you for that comparison.”
“I am clearly more of an Elf. The hobbits are the heroes though,” Tina pointed out and grinned at Leta.
Leta rolled her eyes and closed her laptop so that she could shift herself slightly and lie down next to Tina instead.
“How was your day?” Leta asked her and raised an eyebrow.
“It was alright. Percival asked me on a date,” Tina answered with an off-handed shrug.
“Oh. What did you say?” Leta raised an eyebrow slightly. She hadn’t really expected something like that. She just hoped that she didn’t look like she had just had her heart punched. Tina didn’t know about Leta’s crush.
“I said no. I don’t have the time to do relationships. I want to focus on my studies, and just work hard. A relationship would probably just get in the way of all that.” Tina shrugged. “Why? You have a crush on Percival?”
Leta snorted and shook her head. She hadn’t really told people that she was gay, but she didn’t think that people needed to know, the only person that knew was her childhood best friend. She didn’t see why she had to make a big show out of her sexuality. She just wanted to be who she was. If she got a girlfriend then people would just have to deal with it.
“No. He’s too serious for me.” Leta rolled her eyes. “Not my type at all.”
“Well, what is your type?”
“I don’t have a type.”
“Everyone has a type but some people don’t realise what their type is.”
Leta shook her head and looked towards Tina with a little hum. She shrugged and let out a little groan.
“Can we please go and get some food?” Leta asked and smiled at her friend which got a nod from Tina.
Leta jumped up and headed to grab her jacket and pull on her boots. Tina smiled and followed Leta up. She hadn’t taken her shoes off yet so she was already ready to get going to wherever it was that Leta had planned.
“We’re going for cheese fries.” Leta led the way to the campus cafe where she sat at a booth, with Tina sliding into the seat opposite to her.
“Have you heard about the college talent show?” Tina asked and tilted her head to the side.
“Yeah. I heard about it. I don’t know anyone that’s going to sign up for it, though,” Leta shrugged.
“Why don’t you sign up for it?” Tina suggested. “Your guitar playing is really good and you have the voice of an angel.”
Leta smiled and looked up towards Tina, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear slightly as she watched the other girl.
“You really think that I should?” Leta asked her.
“Definitely.” Tina grinned.
Leta smiled and looked up as the waitress came over and took their order of extra large cheese fries and two milkshakes.
“Okay. I’ll sign up for it. But you’re not allowed in the room when I practice. Actually, I should use the campus music rooms to practice, then that way I can surprise everyone.”
“I’ll get a seat in the front row to support you,” Tina grinned at her.
Leta had spent hours in the music rooms after that, trying to perfect her song. She had toyed with different song ideas, whether she should just sing something simple or if she should make it personal. In the end she had decided to go down the personal route, and had two songs that she was trying to decide between. She looked down towards the lyrics to Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko, and She by dodie. She knew that more people would know the Hayley song, but the dodie one spoke to her more. A song about being in love with a girl, and just admiring her from afar. It was the exact same as how Leta felt about Tina.
Leta was looking down at the sheet music when she heard her phone ping, and light up. Her lock screen displaying a photo she had taken with Tina and with her other friend Newt. It was accompanied by a text from Newt, telling her to call him. The girl picked up the phone and immediately called her friend, waiting for the answer.
“Leta! I heard a rumour that you’re doing your college talent show!” Newt’s voice came from the other end.
“Did Tina tell you that?” Leta asked him with a little smile gracing her lips.
“She did. What are you planning on singing?” Newt asked her softly.
“That’s a surprise. You’ll have to come and see the show if you want to find out.”
“You’re planning a big, romantic gesture for Tina aren’t you?”
Leta went silent for a moment and looked down towards her sheet music. Newt was the only person that she had told about her crush.
“I’m taking that silence as a yes. I just don’t want you to get hurt in case Tina isn’t gay Leets. She’s never said anything about it.” Newt spoke softly.
“Neither have I, and I’m as gay as the day is long.” Leta huffed. “Some people just don’t make a massive deal out of it. I’m not in the closet but, I don’t want to walk around with a huge neon sign saying ‘Here comes the Lesbian.’ I just really like her Newt, and we have little moments where I think about kissing her, and when I think that she might like me too.”
Newt sighed and nodded. He knew that Leta couldn’t see him nodding but he was worried for his friend.
“Just be careful. And if you need someone to speak to then you know that I’m always here for you,” Newt offered.
“I know. Thank you. And you better come and see the show!”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Love you Leta.”
“Love you too. I’ll see you soon.”
The night of the talent show came around quicker than Leta had expected. When she wasn’t practicing, she was either doing her schoolwork or hanging out with Tina. Apparently Percival had asked her on a few more dates but, Tina had always turned him down. It gave Leta some hope, but it also made her worry a little that if she had confessed her feelings to Tina then she would also be rejected because she had no time to have a romantic relationship. Leta hated keeping it inside though and she wanted to be able to just tell Tina how she felt, even through a song.
Leta stood in the room that they were using for a backstage when she spied a curly mop of gingerish hair that she recognised as Newt. She grinned when she saw him and pushed through the crowds of people who were all accompanied by different props for whatever they were doing. The girl wrapped her arms around Newt and grinned up at him.
“You made it!” Leta tilted her head to the side slightly as she looked up towards him with an eagerness.
“I wouldn’t miss this. You’re my best friend so I had to come and support you,” Newt told her and squeezed her shoulders a little.
“And you’re also gonna be here to be my emotional support just in case it turns out that Tina is straight and doesn’t feel the same way?” Leta raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Well, I’m hoping that doesn’t happen but yes. I will be your emotional support,” Theseus assured her and ruffled her hair.
An announcement sounded that the contest would be starting in ten minutes and for the acts to get ready.
“You go and get your seat. I’ll see you afterwards,” Leta told Newt and patted his arm.
“Alright. Good luck Leta,” Newt smiled at her and left the room to go and take his seat next to Tina.
Leta stepped onto the stage when it was her turn, guitar in hand as she glanced towards the audience. She tried not to get too nervous or worked up and took a deep breath.
“Hi everyone. I’m Leta, and this is a song that means a lot to me and pretty much sums up my feelings,” Leta spoke.
She started playing her guitar, the nerves fading slightly and started to sing.
“Am I allowed to look at her like that? Could it be wrong? When she’s just so nice to look at…”
Tina watched next to Newt, her heart pounding as she listened to the lyrics of the song, and came to the realisation of who Leta was singing this for. What those feelings that she had spoken about before introducing the song were.
As Leta got to the end of the song, she took a breath and looked up towards the audience who erupted in applause. Her eyes found Tina, who was clapping as hard as she could with what looked like tears in her eyes. Something that Leta had no idea how to take.
She left the stage after a little bow, and hid in the backstage room until it was time for the winner to be announced. She didn’t really care about who won or lost, and when the winner was announced and it had been a student who had written their own stand up comedy act, Leta waited in the backstage area as everyone else left.
The door opened after a couple of minutes, as Leta kept her gaze on the floor. Her hands shaky, and her heart beating so fast that Leta felt like it would burst out of her chest if it got any harder. She had barely noticed that the door had even opened when it did.
“Leta?” Tina’s voice sounded and Leta could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat or two. The girl looked over to her roommate. The girl that she had just sung a song about. The girl that she was so head over heels in love with that it hurt. Tina.
Leta looked over to the other girl and gave her a small smile.
“Hi…”
“That song that you sang…” Tina started.
“It’s nothing. It’s just a song, there’s nothing else to it.”
“You and I both know that is a lie,” Tina spoke and came over towards Leta. She took a seat opposite to her and looked towards the girl, tilting her head to the side a little.
Leta had prepared herself for the worst, and tried everything to hold back her tears. She didn’t want to cry in front of Tina. Especially not with something like this.
“Tina, I get it. You don’t like me like that and it’s fine. We can still be friends and roommates… I’ll move on…”
“I feel the same way about you.” Tina interrupted and reached out to take Leta’s hand.
Leta looked up in shock, her eyes widening as she took in what Tina had just said to her.
“You- what?” Leta shook head a little.
“I love you Leta. Why else do you think that I rejected Percival so much? I was waiting for you, I just didn’t know if you felt the same as me,” Tina explained and tilted her head to the side. “You’ve never said your sexuality and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself if I had gotten things wrong.”
Leta leaned forward, almost falling off of her seat and kissed Tina. Her arms came to wrap around the taller girl, and Tina moved her arms to keep Leta close and to keep her from falling off of the chair.
After a couple of seconds, Leta had pulled away for breath and rested her head against Tina’s forehead.
“So…”
“Let’s just save the awkward talk and call each other our girlfriends,” Tina laughed and grinned at Leta. “We already know each other well enough to not have to endure the getting to know you dates that most people go on.”
“That sounds like the perfect plan to me,” Leta nodded in confirmation and played with Tina’s hair. “But we better go out and find Newt so that we can go and get something to eat together.”
“All you think about is food I swear,” Tina laughed and rolled her eyes.
“Well, food and you.”
Tina grinned and kissed Leta again quickly, more than happy to just be with her and for them to start their journey as a couple rather than just college roommates.