Chapter Text
“Chiara, what the hell?!”
Crap.
The curse breaker had returned early.
Chiara Lobosca had been feeling more and more troubled since the last full moon, so she had started reading Lupine Lawlessness: Why Werewolves Don’t Deserve to Live. Y/N knew she was a werewolf. That’s why he had reacted this way. This also wasn’t the first time that Y/N had seen her reading this book. Chiara knew he had detention again that night down in the Kitchens, so of course she had the bright idea to take the book out again and start reading it in the common room, since no one else was around this late. She didn’t know why she was reading it, just that it dulled some of her feelings. These damn feelings. That was where the problem was. She liked Y/N. A lot.
“I- I’m sorry, Y/N.”
“I don’t want you to be sorry! I want you to be happy! That’s why I hate it when you torture yourself by reading that.”
“I just felt like I needed to.” Chiara responded.
As soon as Chiara said it, she knew it was a mistake.
“What?! Why in the absolute hell would you need to read something like that?”
“I… don’t know.”
Well, at least that was partially the truth.
Y/N sighed.
“I don’t want to be angry at you, Chiara.”
Chiara hated this even more than she hated it when Y/N was angry. She hated how he cared so much about everyone that he couldn’t even bring himself to be angry for more than a minute, even when someone actually did deserve it. Merula, for instance. Above all, she hated feeling like she had disappointed him.
Meanwhile, Y/N wasn’t exactly sure what to make of Chiara’s silence.
“Okay, well, it’s been a long night, so I think I’m going to go to bed.” Y/N said.
“All right. Good night, Y/N.” She responded.
“Good night, Chiara.”
Chiara was naturally very shy, and was not the type to socialize much or approach others, preferring to read. That’s exactly what she had been doing when she first met Y/N. She had been curled up in an armchair in the Hufflepuff common room, when the tall curse breaker had come over to her, and introduced himself with a smile. That was when this whole mess she found herself in had started.
With a crush.
Chiara wasn’t used to meeting new people, as she had not had many friends before Hogwarts, and certainly hadn’t had a crush on anyone- until she met Y/N. She had had a very close friend when she was growing up, but after she had told her friend about her lycanthropy, her friend had not wanted anything to do with her. Chiara had been heartbroken over this, and began to shut others out to prevent more sadness, not realizing how lonely it is without friends.
However, right away, she knew that Y/N was different from anyone else she had ever met. His kindness, his smile, his sparkling eyes... Chiara had nearly fainted after he introduced himself, barely managing to squeak out “I’m Chiara”. After he had smiled again, said “Nice to meet you, Chiara”, and departed, she started berating herself. “I can’t get emotionally attached to someone and lose them again.”, she thought. But how could she ignore someone so seemingly perfect?
Chiara thought back to this exchange after Y/N had gone to bed. She had tried to be nice to him after they had met, but she just couldn’t cope with the possibility of losing another person that she cared so much about. Chiara did not want to grow closer to Y/N only to have her heart broken again, so she tried to stay away from him. She had resolved never to tell him about her lycanthropy. However, after being attacked by Fenrir Greyback and his werewolf pack, she knew she had no choice. He had stepped in to do everything he could to save her, even at the risk of his own life. The least she could do to repay him was to be honest with him.
When Chiara told Y/N that she was a werewolf, he had shocked her out of her mind by hugging her tightly. She had never even been hugged by someone outside of her family since she had lost her best friend, and this brought all of her memories flooding back. It was too much to contain, and she burst into tears. She still remembered this moment with Y/N like it had been yesterday. This was when Chiara had decided she could let him closer to her, at least a bit. She had never seen Y/N as happy as he was when she had invited him to study with her, just the two of them. Even as small a thing as that seemed so important to him.
Chiara had begun to fall in love with Y/N at the end of their third year. She had a childish crush on him from the night she had met him, but her feelings for Y/N had matured after being around him more often. She wasn’t sure if it was common to fall in love at age fourteen, but she knew perfectly well that she had, just the same. Now, the only problem was her old insecurities. After losing her best friend, she had felt like she would never be good enough for others to like her regardless of her lycanthropy, but now that she had found someone that she truly loved who also accepted her, she was scared. She had no experience in this area, so she decided to seek out someone who did.