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Chapter Text

Josie always loved the soft yellow lights of the candles floating around in the dining hall of Hogwarts.  It gave her a weird sense of peace and made her feel at home. Even now, in her sixth year in Hogwarts, this sense of peace manages to make her calm and relaxed as she speaks to her friends she hasn't seen since the year before. 

The brunette is torn between listening to MG who's talking about his trip to Disneyland, or listening to Kaleb who's talking about his trip to Egypt where he got to work with dragons. On one hand, Josie has always wanted to go to Disneyland and never got the chance to, so hearing her friend talk about it is making her fall right back into childhood. On the other hand, as a muggle born, dragons just sound so fascinating to the Saltzman girl. So, Josie does her best to divide her attention between her two friends. 

Just as MG starts talking about the Splash Mountain ride, and Kaleb mentions seeing a Norwegian Ridgeback, the Headmistress calls for their attention. The blonde woman stands tall with all the confidence that comes with her title. She gathers everyone's attention in no time, and every student looks at her with all the respect that she is owed.

"It is my greatest honor to inform you that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard tournament this year!" Caroline’s smile is wide and proud and immediately causes cheers amongst the students. She waits and lets them celebrate for a moment before lifting a hand that immediately makes them quiet again. "The students of both the Beauxbatons Academy and the Durmstrang Institute will be staying with us for the year. Let's give them a warm welcome."

The great hall doors open loudly and all students immediately look in their direction. Josie's eyes widen when she sees students dressed in blue walk in, led by a man with dark skin and a short beard. The man wears a blue suit, and an enigmatic smile plays on his lips. The hundreds of students walking inside the hall barely make any sound, and it's the only thing Josie can think about as she watches them.

"Here are the students of the Beauxbatons Academy, with their headmaster Vincent Griffith!" Caroline announces, immediately causing a round of applause from the Hogwarts students.

The Beauxbatons students all stand on the right side of the room, with the same playful confidence coming from their headmaster. Josie can't help but think that they all kinda look full of themselves. 

It doesn't take long for the doors of the hall to open once more. This time, it seems that the students dressed in black and red have decided to make all the noises the previous school didn't make. If the Beauxbatons Academy seems like a light and playful school, the Durmstrang Institute seems cold and almost arrogant in their confidence. They are being led by a man with dark blond hair and a smile that almost makes Josie's blood run cold. Josie's eyes fall on a girl walking by the man's side, and the brunette immediately notices that they look alike. The Saltzman girl realizes she must have been staring for too long when the girl's eyes land on her and they make eye contact. Josie quickly looks away, just in time for her twin to smack her arm.

"Ow! Lizzie, why did you do that?"

"That's Hope Mikaelson!" Josie furrows her eyebrows and Lizzie smacks her arm again, this time a little lighter than before. "Hope Andrea Mikaelson, Josie!”

“I still have no idea who that is.” 

“I swear to God… Josette, she’s the seeker of the Bulgarian Quidditch team! The youngest professional Quidditch player right now, and literally the best seeker alive. Like- come on! I told you about her before."

As Lizzie speaks, Josie's eyes slowly make their way back to the auburn haired girl that seems to attract literally all the attention in the room. Dressed in a heavy looking black coat, with a long red scarf and her auburn hair falling into perfect waves on her shoulders, Hope walks with confident steps. Her eyes stay ahead of herself, and Josie can't help but wonder why she broke that focus and confidence to look at her. 

The Durmstrang students and their headmaster stand on the left side of the room. Their eyes are full of challenge and defiance as they finally look at the Hogwarts students. 

There are whispers amongst the four houses of Hogwarts students. There's a name on every lips, and admiration in every voice. All of them are in awe of one Hope Mikaelson, except Josie Saltzman. The brunette never really got the whole Quidditch thing, so the Mikaelson girl has nothing that could make her interesting to Josie. Except maybe her eyes. 

Hope shares the same eye color as her headmaster. The man's eyes are sharp and intense. They make Josie uncomfortable, and she has to look away whenever he looks in her table's direction. Hope's eyes are softer, gentler. When the Saltzman girl makes eye contact with the Quidditch player for the second time, she can't help but think that Hope's eyes are strangely communicative. She has to look away from her for a whole other reason than when she looked away from the headmaster.

"Give a warm welcome to the students of the Durmstrang Institute and their headmaster, Niklaus Mikaelson." Caroline says, her eyes straying to the man with dark blond hair. 

Josie quickly gets closer to Lizzie, a question rising in her mind.

"Wait, is he related to Hope?"

The blonde twin looks at Josie like she grew a second head during the summer and Lizzie just noticed.

"He's her father, Jo. Everyone knows that." Lizzie rolls her eyes. "Do you even listen to me when I talk? Klaus Mikaelson used to be a Quidditch player too, he was the greatest chaser of his time."

"Oh… So, they're like- good?"

The blonde sighs. "Josie, this family is basically Quidditch royalty. Hope's mother is Hayley Marshall, she used to be a keeper. I mean, almost every member of the Mikaelson family played professional Quidditch at one point or another."

Josie opens her mouth to talk, but Caroline's voice quickly cuts her off, so the brunette gives their headmistress her full attention. The blonde woman uncovers something that Josie immediately recognizes as the goblet of fire. She remembers seeing it in a book when she was trying to learn the history of Hogwarts when she first got here. 

"This year, students above the age of seventeen will have the chance to put their name in the goblet of fire. One student per school will be selected by the goblet to become the three champions of this year's competition." Caroline’s eyes take a somber look as she glances over the students.. "Do not take this competition lightly, my young friends. The tasks are dangerous and ruthless, and you'll be alone to face them.Students have died trying to get the glory that comes with winning the Triwizard Tournament." The headmistress' seriousness slowly leaves place to her usual enthusiasm. "With that being said, good luck to every one of you. May this year be the greatest of all!"

This time, the students of Hogwarts are joined by the ones from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang in their cheers. Josie claps her hands with everyone, but the excitement of the tournament doesn't reach her. She doesn't see the appeal of a championship that could end up killing its participants. The brunette takes this time to look around her, and see if she's the only one who's not filled with joy by what Caroline just said. She ends up looking out for a particular auburn haired girl, and it takes Josie no time to find her. Hope Mikaelson is still standing right where she was earlier. She's not clapping, not cheering. She doesn't even smile. Her father is leaning close to her and talking, and Josie can't tell if Hope is actually listening to him because her intense blue eyes are fixed on… her?

Josie rubs her temples, hoping it will relieve her of the headache that's been growing in intensity for the past thirty minutes. 

She's sitting on one of the couches of the Gryffindor common room with a book in her lap as her friends loudly talk around her. Their main subjects of discussion in the past week have been the Triwizard Tournament and Hope Mikaelson. The brunette has yet to understand the hype around both of those things, so that's why she's been trying to read. 

Trying being the key word here.

Josie hasn't been able to totally block out everything her friends have been saying. Kaleb and Cleo are gonna put their name in the goblet of fire, but Jed decided he doesn't wanna do it. Lizzie is mad about the fact that she's too young to participate, and MG kinda shares the sentiment. Hope Mikaelson is so great, and beautiful and everyone in Josie's friend group seems to have a little crush on her, even the ones who are currently dating someone.

When the Quidditch player's name is mentioned one too many times, Josie abruptly closes her book before pinching the bridge of her nose. This is way too much for her. 

"Hey, Jo." Jed softly says as he places a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Josie forces a smile as she realizes all her friends are waiting for her answer. "Yeah, I just have a little headache. I think I'm gonna head to my common room, it's usually quieter than it is here."

"The Slytherin common room?" Lizzie rolls her eyes. "The one you hate because it's dark and cold?"

The brunette shrugs. "I got used to it with time." Josie stands up, and then starts walking away from the couch she was sitting on. "Goodnight, everyone."

Jed quickly stands up and takes his jacket off. "Wait, Jo! Take this. In case it's too cold there, you know?"

Josie's smile gets more genuine as she reaches for the jacket. She puts it on, and takes her hair with her two hands to pull it over the fabric. The jacket is way too big for her, and her fingers barely poke out of the sleeves, but Jed's warmth envelops the brunette like a warm blanket. 

"Kaleb, I'm gonna steal your boyfriend one day."

Kaleb huffs. "I'm not threatened by you, Saltzman."

Josie chuckles and slowly shakes her head. "Good."

Everyone quickly wishes the brunette goodnight before she exits the room. Josie slowly walks down the familiar halls of Hogwarts. She makes her way to the Slytherins' common room that is situated in the dungeons, under the water of the lake, hence why Lizzie said it was dark and cold there. 

The Saltzman girl thinks about how terrified she was of her own common room in her first year at Hogwarts. She would spend very little time there. Every year after that, it got a little better, and now, the vibrant green light of the room makes Josie feel at home. 

Just as Josie finally enters the last hall leading to the entrance of the dungeons, a head of familiar auburn hair catches her eyes. 

The girl's name has been in every conversation Josie has overheard this past week. She's heard all about how good at Quidditch Hope is. How she is the perfect legacy of her family. How beautiful her eyes are, how smooth her hair looks. There seems to be no doubt amongst the students, Hope Mikaelson will be Durmstrang's champion for the Triwizard Tournament. 

Hope is crouching down in front of what seems to be a first year Gryffindor. From where she's standing, Josie can see the boy's tear stained face and it breaks her heart. Hope smiles at him comfortingly as she places a gentle hand on his shoulder. Josie can't look away from them as the Mikaelson girl speaks to the boy, intrigued by the interaction. After a while, Hope stands up and Josie is right where her eyes land. Blue and brown meet, and time seems to stand still for a moment.

There's one thing Josie can't deny about Hope Mikaelson, the auburn haired girl is beautiful. In the handful of times the Saltzman girl has seen her, Hope has always been looking absolutely gorgeous. Her hair either falls perfectly on her shoulders, or is held up in a tight ponytail that leaves no hair poking out. Her eyes always seem to have a spark of mischief in them, even though Hope always appears composed and proper. She always wears dark clothes, usually either black or red, and it suits her a little too well. 

Their eye contact only stops when the boy tugs on Hope's sleeve to get her attention again. Immediately, the auburn haired girl looks down with a smile. She says something and nods her head as she offers the boy her hand. They start making their way down the hall, away from Josie. The Saltzman girl still hasn't moved from where she's been standing ever since she spotted the Quidditch player in the hall. She watches them go, and doesn't really know why she can't tear her eyes away from them.

Just as the boy and Hope are about to go around the corner and disappear from Josie's view, the Mikaelson girl turns around. When she sees Josie still standing there, the girl with the mischievous blue eyes smiles and waves at the brunette. Josie's eyes go wide. Her surprise keeps her from waving back before Hope disappears, and for some reason that leaves a sour taste in Josie's mouth.

"Tell me more about Hope Mikaelson."

Jed's mouth is full as he looks up from his plate to give Josie his attention. The brunette's words take him by surprise, and he stops chewing for a second or two. Still keeping his eyes on his best friend, the boy swallows before quickly wiping his mouth.

"Why? I thought hearing everyone talk about her was annoying you."

"It is." Josie sighs, and pushes around the vegetables on her plate. "It's just… Everyone is always saying the same things. They talk about the Mikaelsons, their legacy, and Hope Mikaelson the Quidditch player. No one ever talks about… Hope."

Jed's confusion quickly leaves room for a teasing smile as Josie speaks. He takes a bite from his bread.

"Josie has a little crush."

Josie gags. "Jed! Close your mouth, this is disgusting." She takes a deep breath. "No, I do not have a crush. I just wonder if there's more to her than what I heard."

Jed chuckles, but he waits until there's no food in his mouth anymore before speaking again. The teasing glint in his eyes isn't gone by the time he's done chewing. 

"What's got you so red, Jo?" Kaleb asks as he sits down next to his boyfriend.

Before Josie can panic, words tumble out of Jed's mouth.

"I told her we made out in the library last night."

Kaleb reaches for a piece of bread in the middle of the table as he curiously looks between Jed and Josie. Jed smiles at his boyfriend, and a stranger could have never told that the goofy smile was forced. Josie's cheeks are red, and her fake smile is way less believable than Jed's. The Saltzman girl is not a big fan of lies, even in moments of need.

"You guys are being weird, but I'll let it slide." Kaleb keeps filling his plate, not really looking at them anymore.

Seeing that Kaleb no longer pays them any attention, Jed and Josie look back at each other. The boy quickly mouths a silent apology to his friend, and Josie gives him a real little smile to let him know they're good. 

After a while, all their friends join them at the table, and Josie's embarrassment is forgotten. The ongoing conversation at their table has to do with Alyssa Chang falling off her broom during Quidditch practice. Lizzie is loudly telling the story, and Josie is listening to every word until she sees movement behind her twin. 

Hope Mikaelson walks down the path separating Josie's table and the next one. She is flanked by a boy with light brown hair who's way taller than her, and a girl with curly black hair who's just a little taller than the auburn haired girl. Their steps are confident, and Josie can't seem to look away from them. Soon, all eyes are on the Durmstrang students, like everytime Hope walks in a room, people start to whisper. The Mikaelson girl never seems to be bothered by the attention or the whispers. Actually, she doesn't seem to give anyone her attention. 

Arrogant. Pretentious. Conceited. Shallow.

Those are the words coming to Josie's mind as she sees them walk with their heads high. She knows it's not completely true though. The brunette remembers all the well her run in with the Quidditch player two nights ago. The way Hope took care of the first year Hogwarts student can't seem to leave Josie's mind. It's as if the brunette got a glimpse of what Hope is like without the mask of confidence she puts on every single day.

Josie's train of thoughts is interrupted when she once again makes eye contact with the girl that was previously clouding her mind. Hope's eyes hold an intensity as she walks past them. There's no doubt in Josie's mind, Hope Mikaelson is directly looking at her. The brunette holds eye contact as best as she can, unwilling to back down. 

The intense eye contact between the two girls abruptly comes to an end when Hope trips and almost falls to the ground. Her friends quickly steady her though, saving her the embarrassment of falling face first in the dining hall in front of the students from three different schools. 

"Damn, luckily for her she's more steady on a broom." Cleo jokes, making everyone around her laugh.

Josie doesn't laugh though. Actually, she barely hears the joke. Her eyes are still firmly focused on the auburn haired girl. Hope seems to be telling her friends she's good as they look at her with worried eyes.

Josie wonders if Hope will look back at her. She doesn't think she will after tripping during their staring competition, but as the Mikaelson girl walks away with her friends, she quickly looks back right at the brunette. This time, when their eyes meet, Hope quickly looks away. Josie looks away too, and when she sees Jed's teasing smile, an uneasy feeling arises in her stomach.

Lizzie drags Josie to the room where the goblet of fire has been set up for people to submit their names for the tournament. The room is lit up by candles, but the true light comes from the blue fire of the cup. The flames dance vigorously, and it somehow fills Josie's eyes with wonder. Maybe she'll never really get used to having magic all around her. Maybe she never wants to actually get used to it. 

Professor Forbes opens the doors and Lizzie immediately dragged her twin in. They're the first ones there, but soon enough students start coming in. There are benches all around the room, and they claim one as theirs, soon joined by their friends. The room soon gets packed with students, every one of them eager to see who will be brave enough, or if you ask Josie stupid enough, to put their name in the goblet of fire. 

Kaleb and Cleo march together to put their names in the flames, holding each other's hands as they let their pieces of paper fall in the goblet. People start cheering for them, and they both have matching smiles on their faces.

Meanwhile, Josie is tightly holding Jed's hand in hers as they watch their friends submit their names for the tournament. Jed's whole body is tense, so Josie squeezes his hand even tighter.

"It will be okay. You know Kaleb, he had to do it."

Jed clenches his jaw. "I just wished he would have listened to me for once."

"I know." Josie says in a sigh.

Their friends come back to them after that. Jed stands up and takes Kaleb away from everyone for a while. Josie watches him go with worry filled eyes. Arms are soon wrapped tightly around her from behind. Josie immediately recognizes the familiar touch of her sister's boyfriend.

"They'll be fine. You know how much they love each other." MG gives his best comforting smile to Josie when she turns her head to look at him. "Kaleb said he'd make it up to Jed."

"Ew."

MG chuckles as he lets go of the brunette. 

Lots of people walk up to the goblet to put their names in it, but few of them catch Josie's eyes. After a while, she decides to open the book she brought with her. At one point, a couple walking in attracts Josie's attention. The two girls are wearing the Beauxbatons' colors, and they walk hand in hand. The girl with raven hair sends a wink her girlfriend's way before they both put their names in the cup together. Josie smiles as she watches them. They seem to live in their own world, and they don't pay attention to the students around them as they walk right back out of the room. 

When they're gone, Josie goes back to reading her book, but she doesn't get to read a page before silence fills the room. Her eyes immediately leave the book, and they land on Hope Mikaelson. It doesn't surprise the brunette to see that the Quidditch player is looking at her, Hope's eyes always seem to end up on her. 

Hope's friends stay at a good distance as the shorter girl walks up to the cup and lets her name fall into it. The flames immediately eats it up, and the Mikaelson girl's jaw tightens for a second as her eyes leave Josie for the first time since she walked into the room. This time, as Hope walks out of the room, she doesn't look back at Josie.

The look on Hope's face as the piece of paper with her name on it disappears into the flames of the cup haunts Josie well after she and her friends go back to their common room for the night.

Josie's late. Her friends are gonna be so pissed at her if she missed the announcement of the champions. 

She got so caught up in caring for the medicinal plants with Professor Williams that she forgot to pay attention to the time. When Dorian mentionned the announcement, Josie's eyes got so big it worried Dorian for a moment. The brunette quickly gathered her things and left the greenhouse. She had to stop by her the dungeons to get some cleans clothes, and then she was on her way to the dining hall where everyone is gathered.

The Saltzman girl is a little out of breath as she finally approaches the room. She turns the last corner that leads her to the hallway where the door to the dining hall is when she suddenly collides into someone. Their shoulders bump together, and Josie groans in pain from the impact. She quickly massages the area as she turns around to look at the person she bumped into. 

"I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I didn't see you."

It's the first time Josie actually hears Hope Mikaelson talk. It's the first time Josie is this close to her. It's the first time there's no one around them.

Josie drops her hand away from where it was massaging the area Hope bumped into. A worried frown slowly appears on the brunette's face as she sees the expression on Hope's face. 

"Are you okay?" Josie asks without really thinking.

Before Hope can answer, the doors of the dining hall open, and Klaus Mikaelson walks into the hallway. Cheers can be heard from the room, but Josie's whole attention is on the man as he slowly closes the doors behind him. He turns back to look at his daughter and Josie with a proud smile on his face.

"Well, hello there." He says as he walks closer to the two girls. "We haven't been introduced. Josette, is that right?"

The fact Klaus Mikaelson knows her name takes Josie by surprise. She blinks a couple of times before glancing at Hope. For the first time since she walked into Hogwarts, Hope Mikaelson refuses to look Josie Saltzman in the eyes.

"Yes, but I prefer Josie, Mr. Mikaelson." The brunette says after looking back at the man.

Klaus' amusement clearly shows on his face when he hears Josie's words. The blond man chuckles, taking one more step closer.

"I like your attitude, Josette." He walks past the brunette until he's standing right next to his daughter. "I believe you missed the champions' announcement. Should I tell her who was selected, or do you want to do it, Hope?"

Josie immediately looks at the shorter girl, and the tension that radiates from Hope is unmissable. The brunette's gaze goes from the daughter to the father. Klaus' smile is still firmly in place, unaware of the battle that plays in his daughter's eyes.

"I was selected to be Durmstrang's champion." Hope ends up saying after a while. "Kaleb Hawkins was selected for Hogwarts, and a girl named Penelope Park for Beauxbatons."

Hearing her friend's name fall from Hope's lips makes Josie's heart painfully clench in her chest. Her eyes flicker to the doors of dining hall, and she's overwhelmed with the urge to run to her friends. Something holds her back though. The worried glint in Hope's eyes, the same one Josie saw when the auburn haired girl put her name in the goblet of fire, makes it impossible for the Saltzman girl to leave. 

"You should go. I believe Kaleb is your friend, you should be with him." Hope says as Josie looks back into her eyes. Stormy blue eyes meet worried brown ones. 

"We have to leave too. We'll celebrate with our own tonight. It was a pleasure to meet you, Josette." Klaus says, placing an arm around his daughter's shoulders and leading her away from Josie.

Hope stops them when they've walked a couple of steps, looking back at Josie. Her eyes soften as soon as they fall on the brunette, and there's a total change in her demeanor when she speaks up.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Josie." 

The Saltzman girl does her best attempt at a smile, and gives a little nod to Hope.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too, Hope."

The quidditch player's smile gets shy, but Josie only gets a glimpse of it before Klaus gently pulls Hope down the hall and around the corner. The Mikaelsons disappear from Josie's sight, but not from her mind. She stands right where she is for a long moment after they're gone. Lots of thoughts run through her mind as she just stands there. Most of those thoughts making her worried for a certain auburn haired girl she barely knows. 

It's only when the Beauxbatons students walk out of the dining hall that Josie manages to get out of her own head. She quickly gets out of their way and watches them walk away. The brunette notices their champion is one of the two girls she saw put her name into the goblet of fire the other day. As soon as they're all gone from the hallway, Josie quickly makes her way into the dining hall. 

Chapter Text

"Tell me what happened again."

Sighing loudly, Hope closes her book and eyes, hoping to find within her the strength to not strangle her friend. Her frustration has slowly been building up for the past hour. She has already answered that question three times, her answer being the same each time. Waiting to have calmed down enough, the redhead opens her eyes and sends a glare in her friend’s direction.

“As I’ve told you thrice before, nothing happened, Maya.” Although Hope tries to keep the anger out of her voice, the brunette’s amused grin lets her know she's been unsuccessful. "I happened to stumble on Josie after the champion’s announcement, and we exchanged a few words. Then, father arrived and he and I left together. Nothing less, nothing more.”

Maya’s grin seems to get bigger, if possible. At the sight of it, Hope braces herself for what’s to come.

“Was she just like you imagined, up close? Are her eyes like melted Swiss chocolate? Does her voice resemble a siren’s call? Did her smile blind you like the sun’s own rays would?”

Hope curses her complexion, she can feel herself redden from neck to ears at Maya’s words. Hope’s own uttered words last night in the dark of their shared room, too high on happiness, to remember to keep silent. Not one to be shamed for what she likes and in this case, also wants, she snaps.

“Enough, Maya! Another word about Josie and I’ll have you mute for the rest of the week.” The threat is delivered coldly, but calmly. Maya knows better than to keep pushing her.

“Okay fine, sorry. I’m done.” While she doesn’t look sorry in the least, the auburn haired girl gives her a nod in acceptance anyway. Happy for the newfound silence, Hope goes back to her book, leaving Maya to her writing.

As every good thing doesn’t last, their peace is disturbed when a body crashes through their bedroom door. When she sees who it is, Hope can only sigh. One Machado is bad enough, and now here is the second one. Her head is already pounding at the thought of the both of them teasing her about Josie.

Unaware of Hope’s pending headache, Ethan jumps on his sister's bed.

“Hello there, girls! Guess what?” Maya has seemingly forgotten all about Hope’s threat as soon as she saw her brother. And so with a matching Cheshire grin, she plays the guessing game.

“You're finally admitting you were adopted?”

“No, you were adopted.”

“No, you were! Have you finally admitted your feelings to that weird dude who likes bird watching?”

“ Merlin, Maya! Just stop guessing! I have intel on the brunette with the green tie. You know the one Hope spends all her time mooning over?”

Maya squeals at the news and Hope tries her best to hide her interest behind an annoyed facade. If the siblings notice her leaning towards the bed, they keep silent about it. 

“You two are the worst. Instead of fishing for information on my competition, here you are only interested in an infatuation you believe I have in a girl I’ve only talked to once.” Hope lets out a deep breath after her tirade only to be met by two blank faces.

“Infatuation? Honey, you have a full-on crush. Now stay quiet, and let Ethan tell us what he found out about the brunette who stole your heart.”

The Mikaelson girl can only gape in shock, the siblings having already moved on with the conversation without her. Her mumbled “She didn’t steal my heart.” unheard by the Machados.

"So, she's in her sixth year here at Hogwarts. She's your age Maya, so a year younger than Hope and I. She has a twin sister, but Josie is a Slytherin, green house and her sister is a Gryffindor, red house. Josie is a disaster on a broom, but very good at herbology.”

Maya’s smile seems to get bigger, if possible.

“Now, tell us what we really want to know. Is she single?”

A matching grin slips its way on Ethan’s lips.

“Single and ready to mingle.”

Hope can’t help but feel doubtful of this newfound information. While she wants nothing more than to trust his words, she wonders if the Machado siblings have not elaborated this masquerade so she'd finally ask Josie out. So, she asks her next question with crossed arms and a frown.

“And how do you know all of this? Have you been following her or something?”

Not hurt in the slightest by his friend’s distrustful tone, Ethan answers smugly.

“Well, I happen to have been seated next to her twin’s boyfriend during all of potions. I’d say he is a pretty good and trusty source. He’s known both Saltzman’s twins since he was 11 after all.”

It's now Maya’s turn to be confused. “How did you make him spill all of this”

“He’s quite chatty, but nice. So, he's a perfect unwilling ally to Hope’s quest.”

Hope's book has long been forgotten, all of her attention being now on her friend. The auburn haired girl hates to admit to others, and to herself, but her crush on Josie Saltzman is getting out of hand. It's making her a little too curious about the brunette. Hope's not sure she likes the feeling in her stomach whenever Josie's mentioned, it's a flutter that doesn't seem to go away. Mikaelsons don’t get flutters.

"Did he say anything else?" Maya pushes.

The boy shakes his head. "No, but don't worry, I'll get more information out of him during our next-"

"Ethan…" Hope interrupts him. "Something's been bugging me. Saltzman… I don't seem to remember a wizarding family with that last name."

The boy straightens himself on the bed and suddenly avoids Hope's intense blue eyes. His sister looks at him with confusion, and when they finally lock eyes, the brunette seems to understand exactly what he's not saying. The silence stretches, making Hope more curious with every second passing.

"Well?" The auburn-haired girl says with a raised eyebrow.

"Josie's a muggle-born, Hope. Both of her parents are muggles."

"Oh." 

Hope's face is overtaken by a frown as she lets the information sink in. 

A muggle-born. Josie Saltzman is a muggle-born. 

The Mikaelson’s grip on the sheets of her bed is tight as thoughts fly through her mind. Without saying a word to her two best friends, Hope stands up and walks out of the room. Even though the boat is firmly anchored to the bay, it still tends to sway a little, making Hope's journey across the halls rocky. She hates that boat with every fiber of her being. Water is unpredictable, she prefers the air, when on a broom it is her friend and her guide, it’s safe.

As soon as she arrives in front of her father’s door, Hope knocks three times. After a moment, he finally answers the frown on his face turning into a smile when he sees it's her.

"Good evening, little wolf." 

"We need to talk."

At the seriousness of her tone, worry immediately takes over the man's face. Hope seems nervous or perhaps anxious which is a rare thing to witness.

"Of course." He opens the door wider. "Come in."

Hope crosses her arms as she walks in. She stands in the middle of the room and waits until her father closes the door before taking a deep breath. Once he's standing next to her, waiting patiently for her to talk, Hope releases her breath.

"Josie's a muggle born."

There's a moment of silence, and Hope's heart drops. She nervously waits for her father's reaction, not really knowing what he'll say or do. Ever since Ethan revealed Josie's heritage, nervousness has been settling in deeper and deeper with every thought crossing Hope's mind. Her dad has been so supportive of her crush on the brunette, and now she’s terrified of what he’ll think.

"I know."

"You know." Hope says, completely dumbfounded. She pushes down the relief trying to creep in her chest, too scared to let herself hope.

Klaus lets out an amused chuckle as he goes to sit back behind his desk.

“Of course I know, littlest wolf. Would you really believe me capable of not doing background research on someone you are clearly infatuated by? Her heritage was the first thing mentioned, but it does not matter. The way you look at her and the way she will treat you are the only things of importance to me.”

At last, Hope lets the relief take over and shakily sits on one of the chairs placed in front of her father. This revelation is too good to be true and knowing all about their family’s name past, she feels obligated to ask.

“Her heritage really does not matter to you?”

The blond man finally understands where his daughter’s fears come from, so he gives her a gentle smile.

“It holds no importance whatsoever. We are moving past the hatred my parents instilled in our hearts. All that matters is that all people have to say about her is that she is cunning and ambitious but also studious and kind. The only concern I have about this possible relationship is the time limit on it. Be careful dear, it could all be over in 10 months.”

Hope blushes, a small smile playing on her lips. "I think it's too late for me to be careful. I fall a little more every time our eyes meet. There's something about her my heart refuses to deny."

The Mikaelson man fondly smiles at Hope before standing up and making his way next to her. Once he's close enough, Klaus gently ruffles his daughter's hair. The auburn-haired girl scoffs and moves away, trying to act annoyed but the smile on her lips is betraying her. 

"Just make sure the competition remains your main focus."

Hope's smile wavers, but she does her best to keep it in place. She cannot let him know how she really feels about being one of the Triwizard Tournament champions. 

"Of course." She quickly stands up. "I should probably head back to my room, it's getting late.”

Quickly making her way out of her father’s study, she can feel her head buzzing. She leans against a wall and tries to regain composure, looking down at her hands she realizes they’re shaking.

I need to get this under control.

Tightening her jaw she pushes away from the wall and starts walking again.

As another breeze makes her shiver, Josie wraps her arms around herself to try and keep herself warm. The cold autumn air is harsh and unforgiving on the lake’s shore, where they stupidly decided it would be a good idea to sit.

She’s been sitting on some rocks with Lizzie, MG, and Cleo while Kaleb trains on the shore. Although the herbology book she has on her lap is far more interesting than whatever Kaleb is doing, the cold is making it too hard to concentrate on the words. So, she’s been watching Kaleb do push-ups for the last five minutes.

Just as she thinks of leaving, voices and giggles make her pause. Looking to the right side of the shore, where the sounds are from, she sees students from all schools gathered. At first, Josie wonders what could have possibly brought them together. The universe answers her quickly enough when they start pointing and cheering. Following their fingers, she bites back a groan but can’t hold back an eye roll, when she sees that the source of their cheering is none other than star athlete Hope Mikaelson.

Should have known that wherever “Youngest professional seeker alive” would go, fangirls would follow.

Josie can't actually blame them. Hope is running, her hair up in a ponytail, dressed only in a pair of black shorts and a red tank top. Her skin is glistening, her tank clings nicely to her skin, highlighting her curves. The muscles of her arms and legs are in full display, their ripple letting everyone know how powerful the seeker really is.

While Josie would never admit it to a hearing soul, Hope really is quite easy on the eye.

Deciding that her book and Kaleb’s push-ups can wait, the brunette decides to focus instead on the Durmstrang champion. While girls and boys shamelessly swoon as Hope passes them by, she doesn’t spare them a single glance. Her blatant disinterest in them has Josie wondering if it comes from arrogance or if the athlete is too used to it to care. 

Her theories are quickly proven wrong when the fan club screams Hope’s name, making her slow down her jog to glance in their direction. At their excited waves, she gives one back, smiling as she does so. Focusing on her run again she seems to be laughing at their gleeful screams of gratitude at being acknowledged.

Although she can’t hear it, Josie is left awestruck at the sight of a laughing Hope. She always seems so serious and cold around others, seeing her so carefree has Josie’s heart missing a beat.

She’s beautiful.

As if hearing this epiphany, Hope’s eyes suddenly catch Josie's, making the brunette blush at their intensity. She looks hesitant as she realizes that Josie is watching her, as if unsure of what to do next. As she observes the blue-eyed champion, Josie can’t help but wonder if the red tint on her pale cheeks is due to her or the champ’s running. She ignores the hope of being the cause that's slowly rising in her chest. 

While she's deep in thoughts, Hope finally figures out what to do and is now awkwardly waving at her. Josie’s arm quickly lifts to wave back. The seeker’s smile gets wider at her response before she goes back to her jog.

This weird and unexpected exchange leaves the brunette confused. Confused by both of them. They had only talked once and yet it seems like Hope values her enough to greet her, and Josie is weirdly happy about that. Perhaps she's glad Hope isn’t the typical arrogant jock that can be found in Hogwarts.

Before she can fall into a rabbit hole of thoughts, Lizzie’s shrill voice brings her back to earth.

“I’m sorry! Do my eyes deceive me or did Hope fucking Mikaleson, just wave at you?” 

Josie quickly turns towards her sister at the outburst and realizes that everyone’s eyes are on her, even the fan club is watching from afar. Feeling herself blush, she prays they’ll think it’s the cold before she blurts out in a shy voice. “It was just a wave.”

"Oh, please Josette! I may be blonde, but I am far from being dumb." Lizzie insists. "She waved to a whole crowd, then looked right at you and waved again . She knows you. How?"

At the blonde’s question Josie freezes in fear, she knows that once Lizzie suspects something, she doesn’t let go. And, although Josie’s exchange with Hope was innocent and harmless, Lizzie will for sure find something to say about it. Not wanting her friends to debate on her private life, the brunette quickly gets up and starts marching towards the castle. Waving at her friend as she walks away.

“I’m going back inside now, bye, see ya!”

Lizzi is quick to call after her, Kaleb soon behind.

“Josette Lucas Saltzman! I will know everything, mark my words!”

“Yo Josie. Give Jed a kiss with tongue for me, will you?”

Shivering in disgust, Josie answers both of them so they don’t follow her for an answer.

“I know, Liz. I will, Kaleb!”

Walking the narrow trail back to the castle, Josie is careful not to trip on the rocks and roots. She’s still hugging herself, the cold air worse now that she left her friend’s body heat. The common room’s fireplace is quietly calling her name and she has no wish to deny it.

I’m coming back to you, you warm and inviting heat. Shit, the cold is making me lose it.

Shaking her head at her stupid thoughts, she keeps walking. The brunette lifts her head, and is happy to see the forest’s line, she’s halfway there. Before she can cross it, she hears giggling again. For some reason, it irritates her more than it should. She already knows who it is and sure enough, when she looks in the direction of the sounds, she’s met with Hope’s fan club. Rolling her eyes, she goes to keep walking, but a voice suddenly startles her and stops her in her tracks.

“Hello, Josie.”

The brunette’s heart skips a beat when she recognizes the voice, turning towards it, her guess is confirmed when she sees Hope’s face with a shy smile on it. 

“Oh, hi, Hope.” 

Glancing towards the club again, Josie understands then that they had been following Hope, again. Getting sick of their giggles, she starts walking again. Frowning at her sudden departure, Hope follows, matching her pace to the brunette’s. Josie doesn’t mind and decides to make conversation.

"Aren't you a little cold? I'm freezing and I have my robes on."

Hope looks down at her outfit. "I've been training all day, the movement is keeping me warm."

Josie doesn’t spare another glance at the blue eyed girl, making Hope frown in disappointment.

Having the brunette’s attention one on one, with no one but her fans to disturb them, is an opportunity she refuses to pass up. Determined to talk with the Slytherin girl for as long as she can, she accelerates her jog until she’s ahead of Josie, then she turns around and jogs backwards. This action has two purposes, number one - to flex her coordination, number two - to slow down Josie’s pace.

Number Two is effective right away, Josie stops dead in her tracks, her eyes angry as she hisses.

"Please retain yourself from tripping, I won’t be taking you to the nurse.”

Hope offers her a cocky smile, jogging in the same place again. "It won't happen. I’m a Quidditch star, remember?"

Josie’s lips turn into a wicked smile, and Hope feels herself shiver at the sight.

That girl will be the death of me.

“Of course, how could I forget? Hope Andrea Mikaelson, number twenty-two of Bulgaria’s national team. Champion of the European Quidditch Cup. As accurate as an eagle when on a broom, but as shaky as a baby deer when in a crowded hall.”

Hope knows she's considered a celebrity. People have posters of her in their rooms for Merlin sake! Yet, hearing Josie talk about her as this important star makes her feel uncomfortable, and proud at the same time. Proud of her accomplishments and the knowledge that Josie knows all about them. But uncomfortable of the kind of expectations it put on her.

Is that all she sees when she looks at me, a Quidditch player?

As the last word of Josie’s sentence reaches her ears, the Durmstrang student realises the brunette is making fun of her near fall in the hall. Hope had never felt more embarrassed in her entire life, and it had to be in front of Josie. The universe had been out to get her, surely.

“Touché Josie, touché. Have no worries, I’ll make sure to be steady on my feet for the ball.”

At those words Josie blushes, making Hope’s lips turn up into a satisfied smirk. Seemingly not knowing what to say, Josie sends a glance to the fan club, realising that they had been watching their whole interaction from the start and are now whispering together.

“You should go back to your workout, your fans are waiting." Josie's eyes quickly trail up and down Hope's body. "They’ve clearly been enjoying it.”

Although a voice, weirdly resembling Maya's, is screaming at Hope to ask Josie if she too had enjoyed the work out, the logical side of her brain lets her know it's probably a bad idea. So, instead she asks what she truly wishes to know.

"Will I see you again soon?"

The softness in Hope's voice takes the brunette by surprise, and so does her question. Before Josie can stop it, a soft smile appears on her lips.

"I guess time will tell." Josie pauses and softly shakes her head. "Bye Hope."

This time, when Josie starts walking again, Hope doesn't follow her. The brunette walks past the auburn haired girl and right to the school. After a couple of steps, she can hear the giggles getting farther, so she thinks it's safe to say Hope is jogging in the other direction. 

Thinking is not enough, she needs to know where Hope went, she needs to watch her go. The Saltzman girl looks over her shoulder. Hope is jogging away, backwards still, her eyes lingering on Josie. 

Once their eyes meet, the Durmstrang student grins and waves. Josie waves back, and only then does Hope turn around and start running again, as if she too, had been waiting for one last look. 

Races. Mazes. Creatures. Duels.

Every previous task of the Triwizard Tournament has been violent and gruesome. The descriptions in the book Hope is holding makes the girl feel sick. Her grip on the book has slowly been getting tighter, her knuckles turning white. She has read the same page 5 times now. There's something about the desperation Tyler Lockwood must have felt to jump from a cliff, that gives her pause. When asked if he regrets his choice since he had broken both legs, he vehemently affirms that he would do it again in a heartbeat.

Was the cliff jump really safer than what had been waiting behind him? What the hell have I gotten into?

" 'Tyler Lockwood's jump of survival' " A voice reads out loud from over Hope’s shoulder.

The auburn-haired girl has been so focused on her reading that she never heard the Hogwarts student approaching her. She startles when she hears the voice, only to relax when she recognizes it to be Josie’s. She turns in her seat and is met with a contrite Josie. The smile on the brunette's lips makes Hope’s heart skip a beat. It's the closest they've been since that day on the beach. It's almost been a whole week now.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay." Hope quickly pulls on the chair next to hers before waving at Josie to sit. "Did you wanna sit?"

"Sure." Josie smiles as she takes the offered seat. "No fanclub today?"

Hope smirks. "A teacher told them to leave. Apparently someone filed a complaint. They were bothering other students."

Josie chuckles. "Were you the one complaining?"

"Maybe." Hope says with a shrug, a smirk still very present on her lips.

Josie's smile gets bigger as she looks at the auburn haired girl. Hope's eyes still hold that spark of mischief Josie noticed when she first saw her, but they also have a kind of softness the brunette didn't expect them to have. The blue of her eyes remain taken by a storm, like it always seems to be. It's as if the Quidditch player is always in the middle of a raging battle with herself.

When the Saltzman girl realizes she's been staring for too long, she slowly reaches for the book and slides it closer to her. Hope's eyes follow the movement, and when the book stops moving, she goes back to looking at Josie. The brunette puts her hand on the page Hope was looking at before using her other hand to flip the book until she can see the cover.

" 'History of the Triwizard Tournament' " She reads out loud again. "Is this part of your training?"

"Not really." Hope sighs. "I've been trying to see some kind of pattern with the tasks. I need to prepare myself, but I have no idea what's coming. It could be anything. Sea monsters, evil mazes, race across the forbidden forest-"

Josie frowns as she listens to every word coming out of Hope's mouth. With every sentence, her voice shakes a little more and her speech gets more frantic. Without thinking about it twice, Josie quickly covers one of Hope's hands with her own to put a stop to her rambling. The effect is immediate. Hope stops talking, and looks up, their eyes meeting.

"Would knowing what the first task is, help your mind settle?"

"Wha- How?"

Josie shrugs. "Kaleb's friend told him what it will be. I'll tell you if you promise to keep it to yourself."

"Why would you do that? I'm your friend's competition. Telling me would make him lose his advantage."

Josie swallows the lump in her throat and looks away from Hope. The thing is she doesn't really know why she's trying to help the Mikaelson girl. Something about Hope being so distressed and all over the place just doesn't feel right for the brunette.

"Do you wanna know or not?"

"I…" Hope clears her throat. "Uh, yes. Please."

"I don't know the details of the task, but it will involve dragons."

"Dragons?" Hope says, her voice unsteady.

"Yeah." Josie says with a nod. "Kaleb studied dragons this summer. One of his friends sent him a letter informing him three dragons were delivered to Hogwarts not too long ago. They're in the forbidden forest. Kaleb and MG saw them."

The brunette is almost sure she hears Hope mutters 'dragons' a couple of times, but other than that, the auburn haired girl stays quiet. Suddenly, her gaze seems far away, and her attention is nowhere near Josie. The Saltzman girl can see Hope fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, and the way her jaw seems to tighten and slacken again and again. 

Nervous habits. Josie quickly thinks. 

The Slytherin quickly places a hand on Hope's forearm to gain her attention again, and the auburn haired girl's reaction is immediate. She looks at Josie with big stormy blue eyes, and the brunette can see the fear in them. 

"It's gonna be okay."

"You don't know that. Nobody can be certain." Hope's voice is colder than it ever was. "You heard Professor Forbes. Champions have died during this tournament."

Josie’s hand slides over Hope’s arms and catches her hand in hers. Hope’s breath catches in her throat, suddenly all thoughts of the tournament are gone. Josie’s hands are soft and warm in hers, free of the callousses that cover her own palms. As the brunette’s thumb runs across her knuckles, she shivers, her eyes following the movement in awe.

“But you’re Hope Mikaelson.” There’s a teasing glint in her brown eyes.” Youngest professional Quidditch player alive, and one of the best, if my sources are correct. You have multiple fans around the globe, and your very own fanclub here.” She gives her a real smile as she says the next words.” A dragon can’t stop you, Hope. I’m sure of that.”

While her heart threatens to come out of her chest at the words Josie had last uttered, she forces herself to keep her face straight, but judging from the warmth coming from her cheeks, she's being  unsuccessful.

“Dragons are bigger and far scarier than the Golden Snitch, Josie.” Hope manages to stumble out.

"Everyone believes in you." Josie says, all traces of teasing now gone.

"Does that include you?"

Hope’s heart drops to her feet when the Hogwarts student recoils at the question, snatching back her hand in surprise. Her whole body feels cold at the loss. Josie’s eyes are wide, making Hope wonder if maybe she’s read the girl wrong.

Josie abruptly stands up. "I have to go.”

"Now?" Hope says, throat tight as she stands up as well.

"Yes, I forgot I need to… feed my cat." The brunette hastily pushes her chair back in place. "You should look up some books about dragons. I'll see you tomorrow, Hope."

“Oh, okay.” Is all the Durmstrand student manages to utter, the words failing to reach their target, Josie having already crossed the library’s door.

Without a glance back nor a wave.

Hope stares at the door, unmoving, as if waiting for the Saltzman girl to return, but knowing full well she won’t come back.

As she slowly comes back to herself and realises she’s been immobile for too long now, Klaus’ words come back to her.

Just make sure the competition remains your main focus.

His voice echoes in her head as she repeats to herself his words. Josie has become a distraction and she cannot allow it, especially with her own life on the line.

Chapter Text

Kaleb sinks into the couch right next to Josie's seat, letting out a loud and long sigh as he does so. The brunette's eyes slowly leave the book in her hands to land on her friend. The look on his face makes her quickly close her book before placing an arm around his shoulders and making him lean into her.

"Kaleb, what's wrong?"

"We had this interview with the Daily Prophet today." He says, sighing again. "Elena Gilbert… She was awful, Jo. She dug up some dirt about my father and talked shit about my mom being a muggle."

A frown of anger overtakes Josie's face. "What rights does she have to do that? Have you talked to Professor Forbes?"

Kaleb shakes his head. "None of us said a thing. We were all pretty shook when we came out of our interviews. Hope in particular. She came out of there, and all the lights in the room started flashing. She excused herself before storming out of the room."

Hearing about Hope's reaction to her interview makes Josie's heart ache in a way she doesn't understand. The brunette's hold on Kaleb gets tighter, even though she's itching to run out of the Slytherin's common room and find Hope to make sure the Quidditch player is okay. Making sure her actual friend is okay is more important. She barely knows Hope, after all. 

"I should be getting ready for my date with Jed." Kaleb says, but he doesn't move.

"I thought he was still mad at you."

The boy chuckles, gently pulling away from the brunette. "He is, but he can't stay away from me for long."

Josie's smile is soft as she looks at her friend slowly standing up from the couch. Kaleb quickly greets someone behind the brunette, making Josie turn around to see who it is. When her eyes land on Alyssa Chang, the Saltzman girl rolls her eyes and looks back at Kaleb with a scowl. The boy rolls his eyes too, and gives his friend a hard look.

"You know I only have feelings for Jed now. Don't look at me like that, Saltzman."

He turns around and starts walking in the boys' dorm direction, but Josie can't leave it like that.

"You better, Hawkins, or I'll be cursing your ass!"

He scoffs and rolls his eyes before turning around to look at the brunette. "Just go see Hope. We both know that's what you wanna do right now."

Josie opens her mouth to say something, but quickly closes it again when words refuse to come out. Kaleb smirks before disappearing in the boys' dorm room. The Saltzman girl's cheeks have taken a deep shade of red as she feels every pair of eyes in the room on her. Josie grabs the book she forgot about as soon as Kaleb sat next to her, then quickly stands up and walks out of the room. She keeps her eyes down, making sure to avoid any eye contact. 

The brunette only stops walking when she realises she has no idea of where she's going. She knows who she's looking for, but doesn't know where she could find her. Josie's first stop is the library, but there's no sign of Hope nor of her fans. Then, she quickly makes her way to the dinner hall, but it's no use, still no sign of the Mikaelson girl. The Slytherin makes a couple of stops, but the Quidditch player is nowhere to be found. 

Just as Josie's about to give up and walk back to her common room, two students wearing Durmstrang's colors catch her eyes. She saw those people before. She saw them with Hope. Without another thought, the brunette starts walking straight to the boy and the girl that usually flank Hope. They are so engrossed in a conversation, that neither of them realises Josie's there at first. The Saltzman girl quickly taps the boy's shoulder, making both of them turn around to look at her.

The boy has a confused frown when he turns around, and the girl looks pissed that someone dared interrupting them. Their faces quickly change expressions though, and soon enough there are matching smiles on their lips.

"Well, hello there." The girl says.

Josie does her best to smile. "Hi, uh, my name is Josie and-"

"Oh, we know." The boy interrupts her. "I'm Ethan, and next to me is Maya, my sister."

"Nice to meet you both." Josie quickly says. "I saw you hanging out with Hope before."

Maya smiles. "Hope is our best friend. We've known each other since we were all kids. Enough about that though, now tell us what you want from us."

The Slytherin's smile falters only for a moment. "I was just wondering if you know where I could find Hope."

The two siblings share a long look, clearly debating on their answer. Josie watches them silently, and she feels a little awkward and out of place as the two Durmstrang students seem to have a silent conversation right in front of her. When it stretches for a little too long, Josie decides to speak up again.

"My friend Kaleb said they had an interview with the Daily Prophet today, and that it went badly for all of them." Ethan and Maya finally look back at Josie, so she keeps talking. "I just want to make sure Hope's okay."

"She's not, and that interview is probably the last thing she wants to talk about."

The way Maya snaps at her makes Josie wince. She instantly knows she said the wrong thing.

"I won't talk about it. I'll be there for her, that's all."

"Why would you do that?" Ethan asks, crossing his arms over his chest, obviously defensive.

Josie swallows the lump in her throat before talking again. "She's been nice to me."

Another silence takes over them. Josie makes sure to keep her head high as the two siblings seem to be making their decision on whether or not she can approach Hope. 

"She's flying at the Quidditch pitch." Maya drops in a sigh. "Don't disturb her. She'll come to you if she wants to."

"Thank you."

With one last smile, Josie turns around and walks right out of the school. The cold air immediately hits her like a slap in the face, but she doesn't turn around to go get her robes from her common room. The brunette quickly makes her way to the Quidditch pitch, and she's surprised to find the bleachers empty. No member of Hope's usual fan club is around. Josie takes a seat, and then starts looking around to spot the auburn haired girl. 

It doesn't take her long to see the Mikaelson girl, but she only gets a glimpse of her. Hope's speed on a broom is no secret, but to actually see it in person kinda leaves Josie in awe. Her eyes have a hard time following Hope's movements, and it seems like she never plans to stop flying. The brunette can't help but wonder what attracts Hope to Quidditch, what makes her play. Josie's always been afraid of flying on a broom, and she almost didn't pass her first year's flying class. She did end up passing though, but she doesn't fly unless she absolutely has to.

After what feels like hours, Hope lands on the ground. There's nothing clumsy or awkward about the land, it's graceful and perfect, and Josie can't take her eyes off the auburn haired girl. Hope slowly starts walking toward the exit of the pitch, so Josie quickly stands up and leans against the guardrail.

"Hope!"

The Durmstrang champion quickly looks in the direction of Josie's call, and when her blue eyes land on the brunette, the frown that was on her face quickly disappears and is replaced by a smile. Hope quickly turns around and makes her way to the entrance of the bleachers. It barely takes the smaller girl a minute to reach Josie. Hope stops walking at a safe distance from the brunette. 

Josie finally gets to have a good look at Hope as she stands closer to her. Hope's hair is tied up in a high ponytail, but the force of the wind must have messed with her hair cause some strands are falling out and perfectly framing Hope's face. Other than that, nothing could show Hope had been practicing some kind of sport. She's not out of breath, and there's no dirt on her clothes or her skin. 

"Josie, hi." Hope says with a shy smile that looks a little weird on her face. "What are you doing here? Aren't you a little cold? Why didn't you put a jacket on, or something?" The auburn haired girl doesn't wait for an answer before she quickly starts untying her Quidditch uniform's cape. "Here, take this."

The brunette reaches for the cape. "Aren't you gonna be cold now?"

Hope shakes her head. "My Quidditch uniform is thick, it will keep me warm."

"Okay." Josie puts the cape around her shoulders, and it immediately starts giving her warmth. 

The fabric is softer than she expected it to be. It smells like pine, and Josie briefly wonders if it's Hope's usual scent. Josie realises she must have been quiet for too long because Hope is standing in front of her with a million questions in her eyes. The brunette offers the Mikaelson girl a smile before sitting down and patting the spot next to her to let Hope know she wants her to sit down. Hope sits down, but she doesn't get closer to Josie. 

"I was waiting for you." Josie says, immediately causing confusion to take over Hope's face. "Maya and Ethan told me where to find you."

"Why were you looking for me? Can I help you with something?"

"Oh, no. I don't need your help with anything." Josie bites her lip, choosing her next words carefully. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

Hope's stormy blue eyes immediately leave Josie's face, and they glue themselves to the wooden ground of the bleachers. She clenches her jaw as she stays silent for a while. Hope sighs and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, it's to look straight into Josie's eyes.

"What did Kaleb tell you?"

"Honestly, nothing much. He told me Elena Gilbert has been awful to the three of you. He told me what she did to him." Josie slowly slides on the bench to get closer to Hope. "He told me you looked particularly shaken after your interview." The Quidditch player looks down again, so Josie quickly bumps her shoulder into Hope's, effectively gaining her attention. "But, we really don't have to talk about that. You are really impressive on a broom."

Hope chuckles, and a genuine smile appears on her lips. "Yeah, I've been told before."

"And so humble." Josie says as she rolls her eyes. 

"I didn't mean-"

"I was joking." Josie says with a teasing smile. "I'm really bad at flying."

"How bad?"

"Like, nearly-falls-off-the-broom bad."

"Oh." Hope lets the single word fall from her lips before pausing for a moment. "Maybe… I mean, if you want to. Maybe I could help you with that?"

"Having Hope Mikaelson as my personal flying teacher? Some people would be very jealous." Josie says with a teasing smile, getting one from Hope in return. "Talking about that, where's your fan club?"

Hope visibly winces before lifting a hand and scratching the back of her head. 

"Maybe I glared at them until they hurried out of the bleachers." Hope says, visibly feeling guilty about what happened. A little smile grows on her face though as Josie's laughter hits her ears. "For my defense, I'm used to training alone or with my team. Screams are very distracting."

"What do you do when you play a game?"

Hope shrugs. "I use earplugs."

Josie chuckles, and as it slowly dies out, her eyes lock with Hope's. The brunette feels her breath stop for a second as she's looking into the pools of blue that are the champion's eyes. She swallows hard, and quickly looks away. The feeling in her stomach is suddenly unbearable. It's something a little too unfamiliar, and Josie's quite scared by what it could mean.

Slowly, the brunette takes the red cape off her shoulders before handing it to its owner. Hope blinks a couple of times, a little confused, as she takes it back.

"I should head back to the castle."

Hope places a hand on Josie's forearm before she gets to stand up. They look each other in the eyes once more as the Slytherin girl waits for the Durmstrang champion to say something.

"Please, stay." Hope rushes out. 

Josie nods, silently letting the other girl know she's not going anywhere. Hope smiles a small smile, a grateful smile. Then, she takes the cape in her hands and gently puts it back around Josie's shoulders.

"Do you know my family's history?"

Josie frowns. "Just some basic facts."

Hope nods. "Do you know we're purebloods?"

"Yeah, I do. I also know that a lot of Mikaelsons are or were Quidditch players."

"Have you heard that my ancestors were blood purists? That up until my father's generation, my family despised muggles and muggle-borns to the point of siding with Voldemort during the Wizarding wars?"

"I- " Josie swallows with difficulty. "I didn't know that."

"My father's parents and his brother Finn are currently in Azkaban for crimes against muggles." Hope sighs, and looks back at the pitch, playing with her hands in the process. "Let's just say Elena Gilbert had a blast digging that up."

Josie lets all of Hope's words sink in, and it takes her a moment to actually react. The brunette can tell Hope is feeling shameful about her family's history. The short auburn haired girl suddenly takes a deep breath and stands up, putting a fake smile on as she does so.

"I'm sorry I kept you here longer than you wanted to. Thank you for listening to me." Josie stands up as she listens to Hope's words. "It's getting late and the first task is tomorrow, so I should probably go."

Josie's smile is as fake as Hope's is. "Yeah, I should head back to the castle."

The brunette hands the cape back to Hope, and it takes the Mikaelson girl a couple of seconds before she actually reaches for it. Hope takes it back, but Josie holds on to it, prompting the Durmstrang girl to look right back into her eyes.

"I'm sorry Elena Gilbert used your family's past to get to you. That was unfair and you didn't deserve that." Josie lets go of the cape, but she keeps looking Hope right in the eyes. "Everyone knows you're not like that." The brunette stops, but after a couple of seconds of silence, she decides to say something more. "I know you're not like that, Hope."

Some kind of relief washes over Hope's face when she hears Josie's words. She manages to say a small 'thank you' before the brunette says a quick goodbye and makes her way out of the bleachers. For the whole time Hope doesn't manage to tear her eyes away from her.

Music is blaring from the arena where the champions are about to face their first task. Josie barely hears it though since she's on the other side of the arena, where the champions' tent has been built. 

"You should go there yourself and give it to him." The brunette argues with her best friend as she hands him a coin.

Jed pushes the coin back into Josie's hands. "No! I can't go in there. I'm still mad at him. It needs to be you."

Josie rolls her eyes. "You seriously need to get over it. It's done, he can't go back now. Kaleb needs your support."

"Please, Josie. Do it for me."

The Slytherin grabs the coin with a groan of frustration. "Fine!"

Josie starts walking to the tent without looking back at Jed, but she does roll her eyes when she hears him thanking her. She stops when she's a couple steps away from the tent. The brunette hesitates on her next step. Since she could get caught if she used the main entrance, Josie decides to go by the back of the tent. She finds an opening near the right side, and quickly slips into the tent. As soon as she's in, three pairs of eyes are on her. Kaleb's surprised eyes, Penelope's amused ones and Hope's… Josie can't really tell what Hope's eyes are telling at that moment. 

"Jo, what are you doing here? You know it's not allowed. You could get in trouble."

"I know." Josie sighs, and quickly hands her fellow Slytherin the coin Jed gave her. "Your boyfriend sent me to give you this."

As soon as relationship drama is mentioned, Penelope rolls her eyes and walks away. Hope walks away too, but her eyes keep going back to her rival and his brunette friend. Kaleb slowly reaches to take the coin, and when he finally has it in the palm of his hand, he looks back at Josie with anger in his eyes.

"He should have given it to me himself."

"Look, I'm only the messenger here." Josie says as she raises her hands in helplessness. "You'll need to talk about that with him, not me."

Kaleb sighs. "You're right. Thank you for delivering the coin to me."

The boy quickly puts the lucky coin in a little pocket of his vest. 

"Are you ready for the task?" Josie can't help but ask.

"As ready as I can be."

"Yeah, of course." She nods before clearing her throat. "Be careful, okay?"

He looks back at her with a smirk. "I love you too, Saltzman."

Josie chuckles, and they share one last smile before she slowly starts making her way to the small opening she came from. Just as she's about to go through, Josie looks to her right where she can feel eyes on her. Brown immediately meets blue, and Hope doesn't even try to hide the fact she was staring at Josie.

After a moment of hesitation, the Saltzman girl takes a deep breath and quickly makes her way to Hope. Without even thinking it through, Josie pulls the other girl into a tight hug. Hope stands frozen for a second or two before she places her hands on Josie's lower back, allowing the hug to happen.

"Be safe out there."

"I will."

Josie slowly pulls back, fully intending on finally walking out of the tent, but her plan soon gets wrecked.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here?"

Josie turns her head to the left where a woman with long straight brown hair is standing at the entrance of the tent with a wicked grin. Without speaking a word to each other, Hope and Kaleb both move until they can stand in front of Josie. The woman seems amused by how defensive they get.

"Who is this young lady that captured the attention of not only one, but two champions of the Triwizard Tournament?"

Josie stays silent, not really understanding what is going on. By the way both Hope and Kaleb are tensely standing in front of her, she can tell that it's bad. 

"You aren't allowed to be here, Miss Gilbert." The Hogwarts' headmistress says as she walks in. 

Elena looks back at Caroline. "I think this young lady isn't allowed to be here either." She says as she points to Josie.

Caroline looks at the Slytherin student. "Miss Saltzman, what are you doing here?"

"It was my fault." Hope immediately says. "I asked her to come here. I wanted to give her… " Hope quickly unties the necklace from around her neck. "This."

The auburn haired girl quickly places the necklace in Josie's hand. 

Caroline sighs and shakes her head. "Come here, Josie. Professor Bennett will walk you out."

Josie quickly makes her way around her friend and Hope, and walks to Professor Bennett. The woman welcomes her with a warm smile and quickly guides her out of the tent. Josie looks back one more time inside the tent. She can't really tell who she's really looking back at.

Hope holds her wand tightly as she slowly walks toward the rocky arena that was created for the first task. Students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are screaming from the bleachers as teachers are anxiously looking down at the scene. Hope clenches her jaw, takes a deep breath, and then finally makes her appearance under the eyes of the spectators. As soon as they see her, everyone goes wild, and their screams become deafening. 

The Durmstrang champion takes a deep breath to steady herself, while doing her best to ignore all the screams. Then, she quickly starts looking around her. The first thing Hope notices is the golden egg in the center of the arena. It almost seems to be taunting her. 

For a second, Hope gets distracted and tries to find Josie in the crowd. The brunette hasn't left her mind since she walked out of the champions' tent earlier. Hope just wants to look into the Slytherin's warm brown eyes before risking her life in a battle against a dragon. However, the Mikaelson girl doesn't manage to find the familiar brunette before hearing the creature's loud scream. 

Hope quickly turns her head toward the noise, and her eyes go wide when she sees the dragon open its mouth. She barely has the time to throw herself to the side before the dragon's fire is on her. She crashes into the rock, and a sharp pain makes itself known on her right shoulder. She hisses and clenches her jaw. Hope quickly gets back to her feet, doing her best to ignore her burnt flesh. She needs to find a place to hide until she can form a plan, or some sort of strategy. 

A rock on the other side of the arena seems to offer enough cover to hide the Mikaelson girl from the dragon. Hope clenches her jaw once more, and without looking back, she starts running in the direction of the rock. She can hear the chains being dragged on the rocks, as well as the dragon's claw scratching them. Hope manages to run until she's under the cover of the rock though. She leans her back against the cold rock as she tries to catch her breath. The pain caused by the burn on her shoulder makes it hard to focus on anything else, but the Quidditch player knows she can't stay hidden forever. 

Hope takes a quick look at the arena before hiding again when the dragon spots her and launches in her direction. She closes her eyes and braces herself for what's to come. The creature crashes against the rock, causing pieces of rocks to fall all around Hope. It tries to get to the short redhead, but the opening between the arena and the rock is too small. The dragon screams again, and tries to throw flames at Hope one more time, but the fire doesn't manage to reach her. She slowly opens her eyes and tries getting her breathing under control. 

Hope notices the dragon hasn't seen the opening on the other side of the rock. Without taking any time to think about it, she starts running in that direction. As she runs, Hope takes quick looks over her shoulder and she's satisfied to see it takes the dragon a while to catch up on what's happening. By the time she passes through the small opening, Hope is almost sure she's finally in a good position. She allows herself to smile in satisfaction, but then, she hears a loud noise and what happens next is a blur. The auburn haired girl's body is smashed against the wall of the arena before she can even see the dragon. 

When the dragon notices Hope's absence between the rock and the wall of the arena, it quickly turns around and sees her exiting through the other side. With one swift movement of its tail, it sends the short Quidditch player right to the wall, piercing her stomach with one of the thorns of its tail. The crowd sees it all happen with horror in their eyes. Students quickly start cheering for the auburn haired girl, begging her to get up. 

For a short moment, Hope doesn't move. She lets out a whine of pain, and slowly pushes herself to the side until she's resting on her good shoulder. She places a tentative hand on her stomach, and then slowly lifts it to look at it. Her whole hand comes back bloody, and with how painful it is, and how quickly she seems to lose her strength, Hope knows the wound is bad. 

The dragon slowly starts moving in Hope's direction, leaving her no choice but to push herself off the ground. As soon as she's on her feet, Hope places a hand over her stomach wound. She looks right into the eyes of the dragon for a second before lifting her wand. The spell quickly leaves her lips as the dragon starts launching itself at her. As soon as the spell hits the beast, Hope sees its eyes close and he falls to the ground. 

The impact sends her right back on the rocky ground too, and this time she wonders how she could ever get up again. Her eyes are suddenly heavier than ever, and as she struggles to stay awake, Hope spots none other than Josie Saltzman in the bleachers. The brunette is screaming something Hope doesn't hear, but the auburn haired girl can clearly see the worry on her face. A look she really hates to see. She prefers when Josie smiles. Hope really loves Josie's smile.

Hope's eyes go from Josie to the center of the arena where the golden egg is. Normally, she could walk to it in less than a minute, but in her state she's not sure she can actually make it. Even with that thought in mind. Hope attempts to push herself up again, failing miserably. The frustration caused by that first attempt makes Hope groan in frustration and tears build in her eyes. She takes a deep breath, uses the last straw of strength she has, and she finally gets on her feet again.

Her legs are shaking under her weight. Her blood is literally pouring out of her stomach wound. Still, Hope takes her first step, fully intending on getting that egg. Her whole body is in pain, but she keeps walking. The auburn haired girl knows that if she stops now, she'll never get up again. Hope can't stop herself from glancing at the dragon, and every time she sees it still sleeping peacefully it brings her some relief.

After a while, Hope is standing right in front of the golden egg. She looks at it for a second, not quite believing she actually made it. It's bigger than she initially thought it was. The Mikaelson girl slowly leans in to reach for it with both of her hands even though the pain in her stomach is now unbearable. She lifts the egg above her head with her hands, and the crowd goes wild.

Then, everything goes dark.

Chapter Text

Hope has been in the hospital wing of Hogwarts for three full days. 

Josie has been worried about Hope for three full days. 

It's not that the brunette didn't think about visiting the Durmstrang champion. She thought about it, she even almost went to the hospital wing a total of five times. Every time she went, Josie saw Hope's fans begging to be let in, and Klaus refusing every single time. The Slytherin never gathered the courage to go there herself. 

But today is different. Today, when Josie stops at the corner between the main hallway and the one that leads to the hospital wing, she hears nothing. No girls complaining they can't see Hope, and no boys arguing with Klaus. Josie takes a quick look at the hallway, and it's completely empty. She wonders if it means Hope has been discharged. The brunette quickly makes her way to the entrance of the hospital wing to get a look inside. It takes her only a handful of seconds to spot Hope sitting on one of the beds. 

Josie can't see much from where she's standing, but something stops her from walking inside. Seeing Hope actually sitting up floods Josie with relief. The last image she had of the Quidditch player was a bloody one. Hope had been so pale as she was standing in the middle of the arena, holding the golden egg over her head, blood pouring out of the open wound on her stomach. Josie still remembers the way her heart almost stopped when Hope fell to the ground, unconscious.

The Saltzman girl has a small smile as she looks at the auburn haired champion for a couple more seconds. Hope is safe, and she's healing. That's all Josie needed to know. So, the brunette sighs and turns around to leave. 

As soon as she does so, her eyes fall on Klaus Mikaelson, and she jumps in surprise. The man is standing a few steps away from her with a knowing smirk on his face. He takes two steps before he starts talking.

"Josette, what a pleasure to see you again."

Josie gives him a respectful nod. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Mikaelson."

"I was expecting you to visit sooner." He says, taking another step closer. "You are here to see Hope, right?"

"Oh." Josie swallows the lump in her throat. Quickly, she searches through one of the pockets of her robes, getting Hope's necklace out of it. "I was just gonna return this. I'm sure Hope would like to have it back." The brunette hands it to Klaus with a small smile. "I wouldn't wanna bother her, so maybe you could give it to her."

Klaus looks down at what Josie is handing to him, and when his eyes finally catch the necklace his smile disappears. If the Slytherin hadn't been directly looking at the man, she would have missed it since his smile comes back in full force a second later.

"You should give it back to her yourself." The man says, indicating with his hand for Josie to go inside the hospital wing. "Trust me, she'll be happy to see you."

Josie's fingers close again around the necklace as she retracts her hand, forcing herself to offer a nervous smile to Hope's father. The brunette nods before she starts making her way inside the hospital wing, immediately noticing that Klaus isn't following her in. Josie slowly walks over to Hope, noticing that the girl's attention is stuck on a piece of paper she's writing on.

"Dad, do you finally know when I can leave?" Hope asks, never looking up.

"Uh, I'm not your father." As soon as Josie speaks, Hope's head snaps up, her eyes wide with surprise. Josie smiles as she closes the distance that separates her from Hope's bed. She stands next to it, deciding to not take a seat yet. "Hi, Hope. It's good to see you… " The brunette pauses, unsure about the next words to use.

"Alive?" Hope supplies with a chuckle. Josie swallows with difficulty as she answers with a simple nod. The right corner of Hope's mouth lifts in a half-smile as she looks at Josie with her piercing blue eyes. "I'm happy you're here. Do you wanna take a seat?"

For a moment, Josie's grip on the necklace in her hand tightens. She thinks about simply handing it back to Hope before leaving. It would be an easy way out. Instead of doing that, the brunette offers a little smile to the Quidditch player before taking a seat in the chair next to her bed and placing the necklace back into her pocket. Josie smoothens her skirt when she's sitting down and then looks back at Hope who's looking right back at her with a little smile still present on her lips. 

"I was wondering if you'd come to see me."

Josie ponders her next words carefully. "I didn't know if you'd want to see me."

Hope looks amused, and then she reaches for something on the table next to her bed. Josie quickly sees that it's a copy of the Daily Prophet, and her heart skips a beat. She knows full well what the Durmstrang champion is looking at. Hope places the front page next to her face, and does a dramatic pout.

"Why wouldn't I wanna see my secret lover with whom I'm in a love triangle?"

Josie immediately rolls her eyes with a smile, happy to see that Hope is taking this whole thing lightly. The brunette glances at the picture on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Kaleb and Hope are protectively standing in front of her in the champions' tent. 

Love triangle at the Triwizard Tournament?

The Slytherin girl still remembers the day after the first task. She remembers walking through the great hall, and feeling every pair of eyes in the room on her. She remembers the whispers that followed her steps. She remembers sitting down with her friends, feeling a little uneasy and confused, and them showing the article to her.

Elena Gilbert was talking about a possible love triangle between Josie, Kaleb and Hope. She gave details about Josie, details the Saltzman girl still wonders how she got. The reporter was also pondering on whether or not the Mikaelson champion would survive her injuries after the first task, and for some reason that part made Josie's stomach turn. 

"That woman is the worst." Josie groans.

Hope lets out a laugh as she places her copy of the Daily Prophet back on the table. Then, the auburn haired girl looks back at Josie with the softest of smiles on her face.

"So, did something push you to come see me, or were you just missing my company?"

"I-I just wanted to see for myself that you're okay. Oh, and-" Josie pauses and gets the necklace out again. She moves until she's sitting on the edge of her chair, handing it to Hope. "I wanted to return this to you."

Hope's eyes immediately find the necklace in Josie's hand, but she doesn't reach for it. Instead, the girl looks back into the Slytherin's eyes, not really paying the piece of jewelry that much attention.

"You can keep it."

"What? No, I can't! It must be important to you."

Hope's half-smile is back as she shyly looks down. "I don't need it anymore. My father gave it to me. It was supposed to protect me, and give me courage while I was in the arena. It didn't work. The only reason why I managed to get up after I put the sleeping spell on the dragon was that I saw you screaming from the bleachers. I hated seeing you so worried, so I got up." Hope pauses and looks back up at Josie. The brunette's jaw is slightly dropped, and she looks in total shock. Hope swallows the lump in her throat before asking a question that's been plaguing her mind ever since she woke up. "What were you screaming?"

"Honestly, I don't really remember." Josie sighs, sinking back into the chair. "I think I was telling you to get up. I was terrified when I saw you get stabbed, then you put the sleeping spell on the dragon and you fell to the ground. You were not getting up, Hope."

"Well, I was on the verge of dying, so…" Hope shrugs instead of finishing her sentence.

Josie sighs and shakes her head. "I really hate this tournament. I don't get why everyone treats it like it's the best thing ever, when you could actually die in every task. It doesn't make sense."

Hope tenses at that. Suddenly feeling defensive, the Mikaelson girl crosses her arms over her chest. "I wouldn't expect a muggle born to understand the importance of the Triwizard Tournament."

"Excuse me?" Josie scoffs, blinking a couple of times as she can't believe what Hope said. She stands up, towering over the Durmstrang champion. "I can't believe I actually thought you were different. You're just like any of these arrogant purebloods that roam the halls of Hogwarts like they own the place." Josie throws the necklace at Hope who's totally in shock at the brunette's reaction. "I don't want anything to do with you anymore."

Before Hope can give any sort of reaction, Josie turns her back to her and walks out of the hospital wing. As she passes the door, Maya and Ethan walk in. They both notice the angry tears on the brunette's cheeks. The siblings share a look before going straight to their friend.

"What happened?" Ethan quickly asks.

"I fucked up." Hope simply answers, tightening the grip she has on the necklace in her hand.

It's been two weeks since Hope was finally released from the hospital wing, and Josie still refuses to even look her way. She tried on countless occasions to speak with the brunette that still manages to make her heart go wild whenever they're in the same room, but Josie has managed to dodge every single one of Hope's attempts. 

A day after her release, Hope found Josie in the great hall of Hogwarts. Fully intending on walking to the brunette and apologizing, Hope took confident steps toward Josie. She didn't make it very far before rows of students interrupted her. She tried answering their questions quickly before excusing herself, but by the time she was done with that, Josie was gone.

After that, it was an everyday battle for Hope to find a way to speak with Josie. In the hallways, in classes, outside of the school. Nothing worked. There always seemed to have something, or someone, working against Hope.

The last attempt happens when Josie is reading near one of the windows in the library. She has been there for the past hour, and Hope knows that because she's also been in the library for the past hour. She also did her very best to not stare at the brunette, without much success unfortunately.

The Hogwarts student has been actively ignoring and avoiding Hope for weeks at this point. So, it's surprising when Josie doesn't run out the door the moment Hope walks in. The Mikaelson girl thinks it might have to do with the book she seems inthralled with. The captivated look on her face is so cute that Hope's eyes always linger a little too long on Josie. 

After that dreadful hour, Hope decided to gather all of her courage and walk over to Josie. Everything goes well for the first few steps, and then Josie looks up and their eyes meet. It makes Hope pause, and she's fully ready to see Josie close her book and leave. But, the Slytherin girl doesn't move. She keeps her eyes on Hope, as if daring her to come closer. The Mikaelson girl takes a deep breath, and when she's ready to walk again, someone blocks her way.

"Kate? Can I help you?" Hope asks, looking over the girl's shoulder at Josie. The Quidditch player's heart starts to race when she sees the brunette is slowly gathering her stuff to leave. 

"Hey, Hope." Kate says with her sweetest smile before placing a hand on Hope's upper arm, slowly going up and down. "I was thinking that we could go back to my room on the boat, and finish what we started last night."

Hope's brows crease as confusion takes over. She doesn't understand why Kate is making this sound so suggestive when they literally only wrote a report together the night before in the Hogwarts study hall. She understands everything when her eyes fall on Josie again. Now, the brunette is shoving things into her bag, visibly angry. Kate thought something was going on between Hope and Josie, and she was trying to screw it up by making Josie jealous. 

"Why are you doing this, Kate?" Hope says, pushing the girl's hand off of her. "We both know nothing happened last night, so leave me alone."

Hope walks past the girl, only for Kate to grab her wrist and stop her. "I can't believe you want to waste your time with a disgusting mudblood."

The Mikaelson girl is so stunned by Kate's words that she can't react. It's only when Josie furiously walks past her, roughly bumping her shoulder on her way, that Hope is shaken out of her frozen state. 

"I never want to hear you say that kind of thing again. Did I make myself clear?" Hope says, getting right in Kate's face. The girl's jaw clenches, but she still nods, knowing full well to not argue with a Mikaelson. "And, stay away from Josie."

Hope wastes no time before turning away from Kate and walking out of the library. She hopes Josie won't be too far, but at the pace she was walking when she left the library, Hope knows she's most likely gone by now. When she sees no trace of the Slytherin girl in the halls, the auburn haired girl sighs and decides to leave Hogwarts and go back to the Durmstrang boat. 

Hope abruptly sits down next to Ethan for dinner. Maya and Ethan both quickly look at their friend. They know the situation between Hope and Josie has been hard on Hope, but this look of defeat on the Mikaelson girl's face is new. Never did Hope look so ready to give up before.

"Hey, Hope…" Maya tentatively says before gently poking Hope's leg with her foot under the table. "What's up?"

Hope looks at her two best friends as they eagerly wait for her answer. While she tries to find the words to explain today's Josie failure, the scene replays in her head and fills the auburn haired champion with embarrassment. Hope crosses her arms on the table before quickly hiding her face in them with a groan. She mumbles her answer, but the two siblings can only look at each other in confusion since Hope's words are understandable as they're muffled by her arms. 

"Can you repeat that, cutie?" Ethan asks as he softly rubs Hope's back.

Hope lifts her head and sighs. "I tried talking to Josie again. This time, she didn't run as soon as she saw me, so I was kinda hopeful, you know?" Maya and Ethan nod, so Hope keeps talking. "I was like two steps away from Josie when Kate showed up."

Maya fake gags as she pushes her hair behind her shoulder with one hand. "I hate that girl."

"Well, so do I, now. She tried to make it seem like we did…" Hope stops as she shudders. "Things. She purposely sabotaged my chances with Josie. Oh, and on top of that, she called Josie a mudblood."

Hope made a point to lower her voice when she said the slur. She'd never want anyone to hear her say that outloud. Both her friends look as stunned as she was by the word. 

"Do you want me to kick her ass?" Maya offers.

"No." Hope shakes her head. "I made it clear that I didn't approve, but Josie was already gone by then. So, now she totally hates me and thinks I'm a blood purist."

"I'm sure she doesn't-"

"She does hate me, Maya." Hope interrupts her friend. "I'm gonna leave her alone. It's probably better this way."

Ethan stops rubbing the Mikaelson girl's back and sighs. "Hope…"

"No, Ethan." Hope snaps. "Josie doesn't want anything to do with me. I'm gonna respect her wishes from now on."

The two siblings share a look, and Maya ends up shrugging with defeat written all over her face. 

Ethan sighs again. "If you think it's for the best."

"It is."

The Saltzman twins have been sitting under a tree outside of Hogwarts for the past fifteen minutes, waiting for their friends to join them. Josie does her best to listen to her sister as the blonde is ranting about one of her classes, but she keeps getting lost in thoughts. Hope has been plaguing her mind for weeks. However, since what happened the day before, Josie can't help but feel bitter whenever her mind drifts to the Mikaelson girl.

Hearing Kate call her a mudblood cut deeper than anything Josie ever experienced. The Slytherin student has a hard time believing Hope could hang around people like that. It's so far from everything she's ever seen from the Durmstrang champion, but what happened in the hospital wing makes Josie reconsider everything about Hope. 

Josie tunes back again onto Lizzie's monologue just in time to hear her gush about some boy called Rafael. The brunette opens her mouth to ask about him when she hears her name being said by a voice that makes her blood boil. Josie immediately looks where the voice is coming from, and sure enough Kate is walking past them.

"Can you believe Hope defended that mudblood, Josie whatever-her-last-name-is?" Kate says to her friends. "She's nothing more than an opportunist. I can't believe Hope fell for that. I thought Mikaelsons were smarter."

Lizzie seems to hear it too, because her eyes meet Josie's and they're full of worry as the brunette stands up. Josie has never felt this angry before. The brunette walks to Kate and her friends, her steps faster than they usually would be. She walks until she can stand right in front of Kate, blocking her way. 

"Repeat that to my face." Josie says, her voice dripping with venom. 

The Slytherin's anger doesn't seem to impress Kate, because the girl immediately starts laughing.

"Get out of my way, mudblood." Kate says as she pushes Josie to the side.

Josie quickly grips the girl's arm and forces her to face her again. "Take that back."

"Why would I do that?" Kate raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

Josie takes a step back to be able to get her wand out. She raises it and points it right at the Durmstrang girl. 

"Because if you don't, I'll make you regret every single word."

Kate smirks and slowly gets her own wand out, her eyes never leaving Josie. "Show me what you got, princess."

The Saltzman girl clenches her jaw as she sees a crowd has formed around them. Students from the three different schools are looking at them, clearly ready to witness the duel. If she was being honest with herself, Josie had never meant for this to escalate so quickly. She had been so angry that she basically acted on instincts.

It's too late to think about that now, though. It's clear to see Kate is ready to fight, so Josie tightens her hold on her wand. She needs to prove to the pureblood Durmstrang student that she's better than whatever idea Kate has of her. The brunette lifts her wand, ready to fire the first spell, but then someone appears between the two girls. 

"Enough!" Hope yells. "Do you both want to get expelled? Put your wands back where they belong!" Both Kate and Josie do as they're told. The Mikaelson girl takes a step toward Kate, forcing the girl to take one back since they're so close. "I told you to stay away from Josie. If you ever do something like that again, I swear I'll make you regret it. Get out of my sight."

Kate holds Hope's stare for a couple of seconds before she turns her back to the Durmstrang champion and walks away without a word. The crowd around the girls doesn't move, and Hope doesn't stop herself from glaring around.

"Show's over! Leave." The Mikaelson girl orders.

Contrary to Kate, people in the crowd don't wait before doing as they're told. Every one of them rushes to get away from the scene. Only then does Hope turn back to Josie. The brunette is looking at the auburn haired girl with an unreadable look on her face. Hope slowly walks closer to Josie, hoping the brunette will let her talk.

"Are you okay?" Hope decides to start with. Josie nods. "Can we go somewhere else to talk?" Another nod from the brunette. "Okay, follow me."

The two girls walk side by side until they're far enough from the school and any prying ears. Then, Hope stops and looks at Josie, and the brunette looks right back at her. The Mikaelson girl takes a deep breath to gather the courage to speak her mind, but Josie beats her to it.

"Thank you for stopping this. I didn't mean for it to go so far. I just wanted her to stop saying those things about me."

"That word should never come out of anyone's mouth. I'm sorry she took the right to use it against you."

"It's not just that word." Josie says in a sigh. "She called me an opportunist for hanging around you. Which is so far from the truth. I never wanted anything from you. I was just trying to…" Josie pauses, suddenly avoiding Hope's eyes. "To be there for you, I guess."

"I know that."

Hope's words are spoken so softly that Josie can't stop herself from looking back into her intense blue eyes. The softness Josie finds in them surprises her, but she doesn't look away. 

"Josie, I-I just want to make sure you know nothing ever happened between Kate and I." Hope suddenly blurts out. "We only wrote a report together for one of our classes. Also, I want to use this opportunity to apologize for what I said in the hospital wing. I was out of line, and I never should have said what I said. I hope you'll believe that I'm not a blood purist. I really couldn't care less about blood purity."

"I do believe you." Josie finds herself saying without hesitation. "And, I forgive you." Hope smiles before opening her mouth to speak, but Josie quickly interrupts her. "I think we should go back. The sun is going down."

Hope looks up and realises that Josie's right, it's slowly going dark. She sighs, and looks back at the brunette. For the first time in weeks, Hope sees a smile on Josie's face as the Slytherin girl is looking at her. It immediately fills her heart with joy, and makes her smile right back.

"Can I walk you back to the school, Josie?"

"I'd love that."

Chapter Text

Being late is definitely not something Josie Saltzman is used to, but it's something that can happen when she spends time around plants. There's something about herbology that fascinates the brunette and makes her lose all sense of time. Tending to the plants, learning what they can be used for, helping her teachers turn those seemingly insignificant plants into remedies or offensive potions… Those are all things she absolutely loves doing.

Except that today it made her late for her flying lesson with Hope. She hates that part.

So, Josie is running in the direction of the flying pitch with her broom in hand. She's totally out of breath, but she doesn't allow herself to slow down. She just hopes that the Durmstrang champion didn't just leave when she saw that Josie wasn't there. With that thought in mind, the brunette groans and pushes herself to run even faster than before. There's no way she's missing this flying lesson. 

As soon as she gets close to the flying pitch, Josie can see Hope standing in the middle of it with her own broom. A little smile quickly makes its appearance on the brunette's lips. She's so happy Hope actually waited for her. When Josie knows Hope has seen her, she decides to slow down. Her chest is on fire, and she has a hard time breathing. Josie quickly takes a mental note to start taking morning runs. She's way too out of shape.

"I was starting to think you were gonna ditch me." Hope says with a teasing smile.

"Me?" Josie says as she places both of her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Once she feels a little better, she looks up at Hope with an equally teasing smile. "I would never miss a flying lesson with the famous Hope Andrea Mikaelson."

Hope laughs it up as she rolls her eyes. "Why are you late?"

Josie straightens up, sending a sheepish smile Hope's way. "I lost track of time while I was watering and tending to the plants in the greenhouse. I'm sorry I made you wait."

"Don't worry about it." Hope looks away from Josie, suddenly a little shy. "Maybe you could teach me about plants one day."

The Saltzman girl's entire face lights up. "Really? Because it'd totally be my pleasure. It's so rare to have people actually be interested in herbology!"

Hope looks back at Josie, happy she didn't push her luck with the Slytherin student. She can't believe it was actually that easy to get Josie to agree to spend more time with her. She doesn't really have a particular interest in herbology, but she's pretty sure she'd be down to hear Josie Saltzman talk about anything. When she realizes she's been giving an awkward smile, and no answer, to Josie for a little too long, Hope tightens her hold on her broom before she takes a step closer to the other girl.

"I'd love to learn anything you wanna teach me." After a second, and a smirk from Josie, Hope realizes how what she just said sounds. Her cheeks heat up, and she avoids Josie's brown eyes one more time. "About plants, of course."

"Of course." Josie repeats Hope's words. She's tempted to tease the older girl, but decides against it. Hope seems already embarrassed enough. The brunette places her broom in front of herself, as if to inspect it. "So, where do we start?"

Hope tilts her head to the right, her eyes on Josie and her broom. She thinks for a long moment before saying anything. She needs to be a perfect teacher for Josie.

"Well, how about you tell me which part you are struggling with?" Hope ends up asking.

Josie sighs, bringing her broom back close to her body. "All of it. Honestly, I have a hard time getting this stupid thing off the ground."

"Oh." Hope blinks twice, taken by surprise. 

The brunette chuckles. "It's okay if you wanna back down."

"No way." Hope shakes her head. "We're just starting from farther than I thought. We might need more than one lesson, though. I hope that's okay for you."

"I don't mind." Something in the bleachers catches Josie's eyes. She's tempted to roll her eyes when she sees the different groups of students who came in the hope to see Hope in the flying pitch. "Look, your fan club is here."

Hope follows Josie's eyes. A groan immediately escapes the auburn haired champion when she spots the crowds of students. Hope uses the hand that's not holding her broom to scratch the back of her neck, clearly a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." She quickly says. "Do you want me to get rid of them?"

Not wanting to sound like a cry baby, Josie shakes her head. "Let's just start the lesson."

Hope quickly agrees, and the lesson begins. Josie feels a little embarrassed when she realizes that Hope is making her do stuff she did back in her first year at Hogwarts. Just like when she first came to the wizarding school, Josie struggles to even get her broom to lift from the ground. After a couple of tries, the brunette is getting frustrated. She can feel all the eyes on her, and even though she can't hear them, she's pretty sure the students are laughing at her. Hope quickly gets closer to Josie, and places a soft hand on her forearm. The brunette quickly turns her head to look at the Mikaelson girl.

"Close your eyes." Hope waits until Josie does as she's told. "Take a deep breath, and only think about my voice and the broom. Now, open your eyes, and say 'up'."

"Up!" Josie says, her voice strong and confident. 

The Saltzman girl's brown eyes grow wide when the broom lifts without hesitation and lands in her hand. She's so surprised by her success that she doesn't even close her hand around the broom, letting it fall right back on the ground. Hope quickly congratulates her before asking her to do it again, so Josie does. The broom flies up again, and this time the brunette catches it. The Quidditch player gives the Slytherin her next instructions, and soon enough Josie is floating a little above the ground. 

Hope immediately registers that something is wrong. As soon as Josie's feet stop touching the ground, her eyes go wide with what Hope can only describe as fear. What happens next is a blur. Josie's grip on the broom goes loose, she screams and ends up on the ground. Hope's whole body freezes as she watches it all happen, a feeling of guilt taking over her. Then, the Durmstrang champion shakes herself up and runs the short distance separating her from Josie. She falls to her knees next to her favorite Hogwarts student, an apology on her lips, but then Josie's laugh reaches her ears.

"Have you seen that? I floated!" Josie excitedly says as she sits up on the ground. 

The Quidditch player releases a breath she didn't know she was holding. Hope uses one of her hands to push a strand of hair behind Josie's ear, a soft smile playing on her lips. The excited smile on the brunette's face makes butterflies appear inside the auburn haired girl's stomach. 

This crush is getting so bad. Hope can't help but think as she retracts her hand. 

"You did good, Josie." Hope praises the younger girl. She quickly stands up before offering her hand to the brunette who takes it without hesitation. Josie's still beaming as she stands in front of Hope. "I think we should stop for today. I don't want you to be all bruised up."

Josie chuckles, smoothing down her clothes and trying to get the dirt off of it. "We should definitely stop. My heart almost stopped when my feet stopped touching the ground."

"It will get better." Hope softly says. "Can I walk you back to the school?"

"Oh." Josie says, looking up from her clothes to meet Hope's eyes. "You don't have to do that. Your boat is on the other side of the pitch, and you probably wanna go back."

"Josie, I would love to walk you back." Hope insists, only to regret it a second later. "But, only if you want me to, of course."

A shy smile quickly makes its way on Josie's lips. "I'd actually love that."

The two girls slowly start making their way out of the flying pitch. All the students that were gathered in the bleachers leave too, a little disappointed they didn't get a glimpse of Hope Mikaelson flying on her broom. 

The start of the walk back to Hogwarts is silent. Josie doesn't really know what to say, and she's still a little stunned by her flying lesson with the Quidditch player. As for Hope, she's trying really hard to ask a question that's been burning her mind ever since she managed to get Josie to forgive her for what happened in the hospital wing. 

"Look!" Josie excitedly says. "It's snowing."

Hope looks up, and sure enough the first fall of snow has started. She looks back at Josie, and can't stop herself from smiling fondly when she sees the childish awe on the Slytherin student's face. Josie's hands are extended in front of her, ready to welcome the falling snow flakes, but not necessarily reaching for them. The sight fills Hope's heart with endearment for the younger girl, and it pushes the Durmstrang champion to finally ask her question.

"Would you accompany me to the Hogsmeade outing next weekend?"

Josie's head snaps in Hope's direction, and she immediately stops walking, making Hope stop too. There is surprise in her brown eyes, but also a bit of uncertainty. Josie's gaze stays glued to Hope for a while, as she seems to think over the Durmstrang champion's words. Hope slowly starts feeling like she totally messed up, and is seriously considering to back track, but then Josie finally speaks.

"Sure." The Saltzman girl drags the word out, sounding anything but sure of her answer.

"It's okay if you don't want to." Hope assures the brunette, not wanting to put pressure on Josie.

"No, I want to." Josie quickly says as she realizes Hope is giving her a way out. "I think it could be fun."

They slowly start walking again, and Hope steals shy glances at the younger girl every few seconds. Josie keeps her eyes in front of her even though she can feel Hope's eyes on her. The brunette doesn't feel brave enough to look into the Mikaelson girl's blue eyes at the moment. There are too many thoughts clouding her mind. Ridiculous thoughts.

Surely, Hope didn't mean it as a date. Josie keeps telling herself.

"If you were single and someone asked you to go to Hogsmeade with them, would you think it's a date?" Josie blurts out in the middle of her study session with Jed. 

The boy stops chewing whatever he has in his mouth as he looks up from his paper to take a look at his best friend. Josie's not meeting his eyes, too anxious to hear his answer. Jed quickly swallows his food before kicking the brunette's shoe with his own, immediately making her look at him.

"Is this about Hope?"

"Jed-" Josie says through gritted teeth. "Just answer the question, will you?"

He rolls his eyes. "Probably, yeah. That's where every Hogwarts couple goes for their first date."

The brunette frowns. "Every couple?"

"Fine, most couples. Kaleb and I had our first date there. MG and Lizzie had their first date there too." Jed shrugs. "It's definitely a great spot for dates. Now, answer my question."

Josie takes a quick look around them. She almost winces as she realizes there are still a lot of people surrounding them. She really can't have any of them hear this conversation. It would be so humiliating if Hope heard of it.

"Were you done?" Josie asks as she motions to Jed's homework.

The boy quickly scribbles down something before closing her notebook. "All done."

"Good. Let's take a walk."

The two best friends quickly pack up their things before making their way out of the study hall. As soon as they start walking down the hallway, Jed places an arm over Josie's shoulders, pulling her close. The hallway is fairly empty, so the brunette feels like it's safe to tell Jed everything about her situation with the Durmstrang champion.

"Yesterday, I had my first flying lesson with Hope." Josie starts, her eyes glued to the floor. "After the lesson, she walked me back to the castle. As we were walking, snow started to fall. It felt really magical. Then, all of a sudden, she asked me to go to Hogsmeade with her this weekend. I said yes, but I have no idea if she meant it as a friendly outing or a date."

The boy stops them, and uses both his hands to force the brunette to face him. The vulnerability and fear etched on Josie's face make him feel very protective of her. He's always been protective of her, ever since they met on the train leading them to Hogwarts when they were both first years. Deep down, he knows he can't protect her from getting hurt, but he can still try.

"Josie, do you want it to be a date? Or, would you prefer to remain a friend to Hope?"

The question takes the girl by surprise. Ever since Hope asked her to go to Hogsmeade, Josie has been trying to figure out in which way the Mikaelson girl had meant it, but not once did the brunette wonder what she wanted.

"I don't know."

He nods. "Well, I think that's definitely something you need to clear up in your head. After that, you need to ask Hope what she wants from you. Then, you just have to… go from there."

"Right."

The boy goofily smiles, then places his arm back around Josie's shoulders, starting to walk down the hallway again. Josie follows him, unsure about whether she sees things clearer than before or not.

The day has been one of the best the brunette had in a long time. As soon as Josie and Hope got to Hogsmeade, they visited Josie's favorite place, Honeydukes. There, she got some Bertie Bott's every flavour beans as well as chocolate frogs. Hope simply took some sugar quills, but still insisted on paying for everything. After a long argument, Josie ended up thanking the auburn haired girl for the sweets. Their next stop ended up being Zonko's Joke Shop to Hope's demand. As they walked through the store, Josie told the Durmstrang champion about all the products MG and Jed used to make jokes on her. It makes Hope laugh, and Josie has to admit it's worth the slight humiliation she feels just thinking about those jokes. 

When Josie mentions she's cold, Hope quickly suggests they stop somewhere to get a drink and warm up. For a split second, Josie feels her palm get sweaty as she wonders which place Hope will choose for them to get their drinks. The Three Broomsticks would be a safe choice, but if they're on a date Hope is most likely to choose Madam Puddifoot's tea shop. 

Hope chooses The Three Broomsticks. 

Josie feels like she can breathe again.

The auburn haired girl tells Josie to go sit while she orders them both some butterbeer, so Josie finds a table for them to sit down. After taking her coat and her scarf off, she finally takes a seat, letting the warmth of the place all around her. The brunette's cheeks are red from the cold air, and her hair is slightly damp from the snow that kept on falling during the whole time she spent at Hogsmeade. Everyday new layers of snow have been adding up ever since the day Josie had her first flying lesson. 

It doesn't take long before Hope makes her way to where Josie's sitting. Still wearing her coat and her scarf, the Mikaelson girl sets down two hot mugs of butterbeer. Josie feels the urge to reach for the beverage, but she refrains herself and waits for Hope to at least be sitting down before diving in. 

Josie watches as Hope takes her coat off, but what really catches her attention is how her hair seems to naturally fall back into place after she takes her scarf off. Josie had to replace her hair earlier when she took her own scarf off, but Hope's hair just seems to perfectly fall back into place. The way it frames Hope's face should be illegal. The Mikaelson girl is absolutely perfect.

"Come on, drink before it gets cold!" Hope says with a grin as she reaches for one of the butterbeers.

As she reaches for her own drink, Josie catches sight of two girls and a boy in a booth. The trio is staring at them, whispering about things Josie can't hear, but she can definitely imagine. The brunette closes her hands around the warm butterbeer, slowly pulling it closer to her, but not taking a sip yet.

"Hope, can I ask you a question?"

The spark of mischief that always dances inside Hope's eyes only seems to burn brighter at that moment.

"I think you just did." She answers with a smirk. When Josie rolls her eyes, Hope lets out a chuckle. "Sure, Josie. Ask whatever is on your mind."

"Are we on a date?" Josie blurts out, looking anywhere but at the girl that's sitting right in front of her.

It surprises Josie to hear another chuckle escape Hope's lips. The Slytherin student gathers all her courage to look back at the Durmstrang champion. Their eyes immediately lock together, and Josie's relieved to see the smile never left Hope's lips.

"I don't know, Josie. Are we on a date?"

"I don't know! You're the one who asked me to come here with you." Josie whispers/yells, a deep frown clouding her face. "You're the one who's been sweet all day, and who bought me candies at Honeydukes. You're the one who didn't even seem to notice the way other students were staring at us all day, whispering and spreading rumours. Just tell me what it means, Hope."

Hope sighs, finally breaking eye contact with Josie as she looks down. There's a heavy pause between them as the auburn haired girl seems to collect her thoughts. Josie almost regrets saying everything she just did. She's scared she made a fool of herself.

"If you want it to be a date, I'd be happy about it. If you'd rather this day be a friendly hang out, I'd also be happy about it." Hope says with a little shrug, then she looks back into Josie's brown eyes. "Today can be whatever you want it to be." A little pause. " I can be whatever you want me to be."

The words Hope just said take Josie by surprise. She hadn't expected the Mikaelson girl to actually give her a choice. She thought Hope would either say she had meant it as a date, or not. Now, Josie can see that Hope doesn't expect anything from her. She's willing to take anything Josie is giving her, and not ask for more.

Everything they can be is now resting in Josie's hands. She's thought about what she wanted this day to be since she talked about it with Jed. The thing is, she never came to a clear conclusion. It's like something stops her from wanting one thing over the other.

"This can be a date, but it won't mean we're dating." The brunette settles on saying. "I don't wanna date someone I barely know. I won't date Hope Andrea Mikaelson, the Quidditch super star. I don't want to date the idea of you, Hope."

As every single word hits her, Hope's fond smile grows. Every moment she spends with Josie confirms to her she found the perfect person to have a crush on. 

Josie doesn't care about the Quidditch player. Josie doesn't care about Hope's family history. Josie wants to see the real Hope, and Hope is dying to finally let that part of herself come out.

"It sounds perfect to me." Hope takes her butterbeer and lifts it up between them. "Cheers?"

"Cheers."

Chapter Text

Josie sighs as she signs the letter she just wrote to her father. It breaks her heart to leave him alone for Christmas, but she knows he will understand. No students above fourth year are going home this year, all of them eager to participate in the Yule Ball. It’s an experience they can’t miss, even Josie. 

The brunette folds the letter, and waxes it closed before making her way out of her common room. She needs to deliver her letter to hers and Lizzie’s owl if she wants the animal to take it to her father. The halls are buzzing with energy. Classes are done for a while, and everyone can focus on one very important thing.

Finding a date for the ball. 

Even Josie has been thinking about it. She knows with whom she would wanna go, but actually asking Hope to be her date is terrifying. They have been on a total of three dates, two were in Hogsmeade, and one was on the quidditch pitch. They haven’t really been hiding, but they haven’t gone public either. And, it’s not like they are officially dating either. They are getting to know each other, per Josie’s request.

There is another fact that Josie can’t ignore. Hope is a champion of the tournament. Champions and their dates have to open the ball. That would attract so much unwanted attention on the brunette. She already knows she’s on thin ice with Hope’s fan club. She can feel them glaring daggers at her whenever she walks through the halls of Hogwarts. 

She really needs to figure this out quickly. The Yule Ball is in less than two weeks.

As soon as Josie gets to the owlery, she finds their owl and gives him her letter. She watches him fly away under the snow with a soft smile. She really loves that communication mode. With a sigh, Josie starts walking out of the owlery, with nowhere to go in mind. As she makes her way down, she hears students laughing and talking on school grounds. She looks down, not expecting to see anything out of the ordinary. She smiles when she spots Hope walking in the castle’s direction, flanked by both Ethan and Maya. Josie’s steps are suddenly faster than they were before. 

As soon as she’s on the ground again, Josie sprints toward where she last saw Hope and her friends. She’s relieved to see the auburn haired girl chatting near the castle’s entrance. Josie doesn’t hesitate to make her way to Hope.

When the Mikaelson champion catches sight of the brunette that stole her heart as soon as she laid eyes on her, Hope smiles brightly. Josie sees Hope excuse herself to her friends before leaving them in favor of joining the brunette. They meet halfway, Josie smiling as big as Hope, even under the scrutinizing gazes of the champion’s friends. 

“I was looking for you.” Hope smiles, never really meeting Josie’s eyes. “Do you have time for me?”

Josie excitedly nods. “I was hoping to see you, actually.”

“Oh, good. Do you wanna walk with me? We could go to the lake, or something.”

“Sounds good.” The Slytherin student turned in the direction of the path leading to the lake, and with Hope, she started walking away from the castle. “Was there any particular reason why you were looking for me?”

“Yes.” Hope paused, still looking at anything but Josie. “I have something to ask you. The Yule ball is coming soon, and as a champion, I need to attend with a date. The champions open the ball by doing the first dance with their dates, so it’s mandatory. I was wondering if you’d go with me. Before you say anything, I know we’re not actually dating. We are taking things slow, and that’s totally fine with me. It’s just that I don’t wanna go with somebody else while I’m trying to actually build something with you. It would feel wrong. It’s totally fine if you don’t wanna be my date, though. I could maybe ask Maya or even Ethan. This way, we’d both know it means nothing.”

Josie can’t stop the fond smile that appears on her lips as she listens to Hope’s ramble. She thinks about interrupting Hope a couple of times, just to put her out of her misery since Josie knows she will agree to go with her. However, she can’t help but think that Hope is kind of cute when she doesn’t put her confident mask on. 

“Are you done now?” Josie asks when Hope pauses long enough for the brunette to actually speak. Hope gives the Hogwarts’ student an awkward smile and a nod. “I would love to go with you.” Hope abruptly stops walking. Her eyes are wide when Josie turns to look at her, making the brunette chuckle. “Were you expecting a rejection?”

“Yes.” Hope simply says before looking down.

The smile disappears from Josie’s face. She just now realizes how nervous Hope must have been to actually ask her to the ball. 

“Hope… What made you think that?” 

The Durmstrang champion shrugged. “We’re not dating yet, and rumors will probably fly when people spot us together at the ball. I wasn’t sure you’d be good with that.”

“I’m sorry you felt that way.” Josie slowly reaches for Hope’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “I want to be your date to the ball. I don’t want to see you dance with someone else. Oh, and if that’s fine with you, I want the ball to be our first date as a couple.”

Hope’s eyes stay glued to their joined hands as Josie speaks. When the brunette’s last sentence reaches her ears, she sharply looks up. They make eye contact, and when Hope notices Josie’s tentative smile, she rushes to smile back.

“It sounds perfect, Jo.”

Josie squeezes Hope’s hand before she starts walking towards the lake again. Hope quietly follows, her eyes darting between their hands and Josie’s face. The Saltzman girl has to bite her lip to keep herself from giggling because of how cute Hope is.

Chapter Text

The thing Josie enjoys the most about Hogwarts’ greenhouse is the peace and quiet she gets there. She can tend to the plants for hours without hearing a single voice. She can put music on and forget that the world around her exists. She definitely loves Hogwarts and the magical world it introduced her to but, sometimes, she needs a little break from it. Sometimes, just being Josie is enough for her.

 That’s why when that peace and quiet is suddenly disturbed, Josie thinks she might have a heart attack. The brunette student quickly places a hand over her heart, as if to keep it from jumping out of her chest. Her eyes quickly found the source of the noise that almost scared her to death. Hope Mikaelson is walking to her with a sheepish smile. Josie can’t stop herself from smiling when she sees Hope, but she still rolls her eyes. Just for show.

“Sorry.” Hope comes to a stop fairly close to Josie. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you would be expecting me since we were supposed to meet here.”

The brunette’s whole face softens as realization hits her. “Oh, I completely forgot. I tend to get lost in my own world whenever I step foot here.”

“I could see that. Would you rather have me here another day?”

“No!” Josie feels her cheeks heat up. Her response might have been a little too quick. “Please, stay. I have so much to show you.”

Hope’s soft smile definitely doesn’t help Josie’s cheeks to regain a normal color.

Josie patiently waits as Hope takes off her winter coat, leaving her in her usual Durmstrang attire. As the Slytherin lets her eyes take in Hope’s clothes, a frown appears on her face.

“Do you mind getting those clothes dirty? We’re gonna be playing with dirt as well as plants.”

Hope quickly looks down at herself before looking back up at Josie and shrugging. “Nothing a quick spell can’t fix.”

“Or a washing machine.” Josie rolls her eyes as she turns back to her plants. 

Hope stands next to her. “What a muggle way of thinking.” She teases. “You have a wand, you should use it.” When all Josie does is glaring at Hope, the Mikaelson witch clears her throat. “So, the plants…”

“Right.”

For the next hour or so, Josie happily rambles about the numerous plants in the greenhouse. She takes the time to explain what they can be used for and how to tend to them. Hope gives her her full attention, barely interrupting the Slytherin student. Whenever Josie tells her to do something, Hope takes her time to do it right. 

As they work together side by side, Josie can’t stop herself from stealing numerous glances at the Durmstrang champion. Hope is so focused on her task, that her brows are creased, making her face look harder than it usually is. 

“That’s not the right tool.”

Josie’s voice startles Hope, making the auburn haired girl drop the jar she has in her hands. The jar shatters as soon as it hits the ground, spilling the dirt it was holding before. Josie doesn’t even have time to react before Hope drops to her knees to try and collect the pieces of the broken jar. 

“I’m sorry!” 

The brunette quickly kneels to help Hope. “It’s okay. It happened to me before.”

Josie’s words make Hope look up at her. With the broken pieces in her hands and the innocent guilt on her face, Hope looks like a child who just broke their mom’s favorite vase. Josie gently takes the pieces from Hope, giving her a soft smile to hopefully make the quidditch player feel better. After a couple of seconds, Hope shyly smiles back. 

Then, Hope takes Josie by surprise as she slowly leans her face closer to the brunette’s. Josie’s brain stops functioning properly, and all she can think about is that they are about to share their first kiss. When Hope’s face is close enough for that thought to be a certainty, Josie’s eyes flutter closed. She impatiently waits, but Hope’s lips never make contact with her own. Instead, she feels the softest kiss on the tip of her nose. 

When Josie opens her eyes, the shy smile Hope had before has turned into a playful smirk. 

“I’m not going to kiss you until I get to call you my girlfriend, Josie.” 

The Durmstrang champion quickly gets to her feet, extending a helping hand to Josie. A little stunned, the brunette still accepts the offered hand. As they stand face to face, Hope takes the time to enjoy the blush on Josie’s cheeks before she turns around and reaches for a broom. 

Josie turns back to the plants, doing her best to hide her embarrassment by tending to the plants in front of her. She has a hard time focusing on her task as she feels Hope’s eyes on her.

“You should have been a Gryffindor.” Hope’s words make Josie turn to look at her with a confused frown. Hope chuckles as she sweeps the floor. “Red looks good on you.”

Josie quickly looks back down at the plants to hide her face from Hope. She is way too aware of the fact that the Mikaelson girl is referring to the blush on her cheeks. 

“Believe me, I’m fine with green.”

The hold Josie has on Jed’s arm as he leads her to the Great has to be bruising at this point. The boy picked her up from the Slytherin’s common room, and she hasn’t let go of him ever since.

“You look beautiful, Josie. Hope would be a fool to think otherwise.”

The brunette does her best to smile at her friend. He is trying so hard to make her feel better, but nothing could make her feel better about the situation. Being out publicly as Hope Mikaelson’s date is making her a nervous mess. Technically, she knows that people lowkey know they have been seeing each other, but this feels different. Tonight feels official. Tonight is official.

As soon as they stand on top of the stairs leading down to the Great Hall, Josie knows this is it. There is no going back now that people are staring at her and Jed. They stop for a moment that feels like an eternity. Soon enough, both Kaleb and Hope are standing at the bottom of the stairs to wait for them. The two champions have a similar look on their faces. A softness mixed with… Something else Josie can’t identify yet.

The brunette steals a quick look at her best friend. Jed’s black suit is completed by a golden color at the seams, reminding everyone of his Hogwarts house and complimenting his skin tone. She has to admit he looks more handsome than ever. 

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, the two friends share a smile before parting ways. Josie turns to look back at Hope, finally taking a good look at her date. It’s no surprise to see Hope wearing the bright red that is easily associated with the Durmstrang Institute. Her ball down dress reaches all the way down to her feet, and a heavy looking cape is draped on one of her shoulders. A very unique look that doesn’t seem so unique when Josie takes a look around and sees the cape on every Durmstrang student. 

“Wow.” Is all Josie can say as Hope offers her her arm to replace Jed’s.

Hope’s giggles are unexpected, and they make Josie bashfully smile and look down. The brunette laces their arms together, earning a satisfied smile from Hope. 

Hope leans closer to Josie’s ear, as if to tell her a secret. “You look stunning, Josie.”

The Slytherin ducks her head, Hope’s attention making her more shy than ever. “Thank you. You are as well.”

Hope’s only answer is a gentle squeeze to Josie’s arm. 

Soon enough, the three champions and their dates are being called by Professor Bennett. The woman lines them up by the entrance of the Great Hall. Hope and Josie end up right behind Penelope and her girlfriend. Jed and Kaleb are right behind Josie and Hope. As soon as they are all in place, Hope and Josie barely have the time to share a look before the heavy doors open on their own. 

Students are already everywhere in the Great Hall. The champions and their dates walk right in the middle of the dance floor. They get in place, and the music quickly starts playing. As the waltz goes on, Josie focuses herself on the steps. Stepping on Hope’s feet would be the death of her. Hope’s steps are confident, though. She twirls Josie around the dance floor with ease. The brunette can’t help but think she must have done this before. 

Slowly, the music switches and Josie knows the first dance is done. Hope must have felt her date’s unease, because soon enough, she is pulling Josie away from the dance floor. Even as they go to stand to the side, Josie can feel the eyes on them.

“Don’t mind them.” Hope softly says as she laces her fingers with Josie’s. “This is our night.”

The Hogwarts student quickly looks back at Hope. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“I’ll get us something to drink.” Hope squeezes Josie’s hands. “You should go say ‘hi’ to your friends.” She pointed to the brunette’s friends. “They’re obviously waiting for it.”

Josie’s attention goes to where Hope is pointing at. Sure enough, she finds her sister and her friends staring at them from afar. The brunette rolls her eyes. “You’ll join me, right?”

“Of course, clover.” Hope gently rubs her thumb over Josie’s knuckles before letting go of her. 

“Clover?”

“Like the plant.” Hope winks as she walks away.

For some reason, the butterflies inside of Josie go absolutely feral after that interaction. The brunette has to stop herself from just chasing after Hope like some lost puppy, and she wonders if the blush on her cheeks will someday go away. 

After what feels like forever, Josie pushes herself to walk up to her friends. As she gets closer to them, she can see the way they expectantly look at her. They are awaiting details.

“Hi, guys.”

“Don’t act all innocent.” Lizzie rolls her eyes. “What’s up with you and Hope? You’ve been gatekeeping information for weeks!”

“Well-” Josie’s eyes go big, and she freezes as an arm slips around her waist. The brunette looks to her left, finding Hope there. “We’re dating.” Josie says as she looks into Hope’s blue eyes.

The smile Josie gets from Hope is enough to tell the brunette her spur of the moment decision was the right one. The Mikaelson girl uses the hold she has on Josie’s waist to bring them closer together.

“Hello, everyone. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Josie’s friends all say their ‘hello’ and introduce themselves. The brunette has a hard time looking away from the radiant smile Hope has on her face. She barely follows the conversation her friends are having with Hope. She barely registers it when Hope excuses them before leading Josie back to the dance floor. 

The song is soft and slow, the strings making Josie feel like she’s in some kind of romcom movie. Hope pulls her close, their bodies dangerously pressed together as they sway to the sound of the music. 

“Josie, earlier you told your friends we are dating.” Hope pauses, leaving time for Josie to nod. “Does that mean I can call you my girlfriend?”

Brown finally meets blue. “Yes.”

“Good.” Hope eyes go down to Josie’s lips, then slowly back up to look her in the eyes once more. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.” 

Josie’s answer is immediate, but she barely has it out before Hope’s lips cover her own. It’s soft and smooth, and in that moment it’s everything Josie could have wanted it to be.

Later that night, as Josie walks back to her common room with Hope’s Durmstrang cape around her shoulders, she can still feel the ghost of Hope’s lips on her own. Her fingers absentmindedly touch her lips before she shakes her head at the ridiculous gesture. Hope Mikaelson really decided to shake up her sixth year at Hogwarts.

Just as she’s about to get inside her common room, Josie hears footsteps behind her. She quickly turns to see who could be there. She had been one of the last people to leave the Great Hall.

“Miss Saltzman, make your way back to the Great Hall.” Josie opens her mouth to ask why, but Professor Bennett lifts a hand to stop her. “Immediately, miss Saltzman.”

As Josie goes straight back to the Great Hall, she passes by other students. It seems everyone has been told to go to the same place. The panic and the whispers are enough to make the brunette’s insides twist painfully. Her steps get faster, she needs to know what is going on. 

She immediately spots Hope in the Great Hall. Josie’s heart drops when she sees the worry on her girlfriend’s face as she seems to be arguing with her father. The brunette hesitates to interrupt them, but only for a fleeting moment. Her own worry is enough to push her to join Hope. Josie barely makes it to Hope before girlfriend spots her. The Durmstrang champion immediately leaves her father’s side to run up to Josie. 

The brunette is suddenly crushed into a hug. “You’re here.”

“What’s going on? I just left the Great Hall. I don’t understand-”

“Some prisoners managed to escape Azkaban.” Hope pulls away to look at Josie. “My uncle and my grandfather are among them. I just… I was so worried about you.”

Josie lets her girlfriend pull her close again. She wraps her arms around Hope, hoping it would give the auburn haired girl some comfort. She really hates the distress that radiates off of Hope. 

Soon, the doors of the Great Hall are closed again. This time, all students from the three different schools as well as the teachers are gathered together. There’s an evident panic all around the room, and Josie has to hold on tight to Hope’s hand to not be overwhelmed by the feeling. 

Hogwarts’ headmistress quickly gets them to be quiet. Caroline speaks words of reassurance to try and calm everyone down, but it’s clear to see her strategy is not working. Just to be safe, the students are told they will have to sleep in the Great Hall. Some professors get to work to place additional protection spells on the room. The others use their magic to get emergency mattresses, blankets and pillows. 

While the first students get their nightly supplies, Hope and Josie go to find their friends. Soon enough, they find Maya and Ethan. They make the Durmstrang twins join them as they look for Josie’s friends. When the two friend groups are finally together, they go get nightly supplies for themselves. 

Later that night, as Josie lays down in the Great Hall between her sister and her girlfriend, all the events of the day slowly catch up to her. She reaches for Hope’s hand, quickly finding it and lacing their fingers together. As she looks into Hope’s eyes, Josie wonders how this beautiful day could have ended this way.