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“neneeee!”
under normal circumstances, anyone yelling her name would make nene flinch. but knowing all too well who the voice belongs to, nene only sighs, offering a soft smile to the pink haired girl plopping down beside her.
“hello emu” nene says, resting her chin in her palm.
emu grins widely in return “hello nene” she giggles.
nene turns her gaze away quickly, knowing she won’t be able to stop staring if she starts. the sun has almost completely disappeared over the horizon, meaning it wouldn’t be long before their professor appeared to start the day’s lesson.
“it’s cold today” emu hums from beside her.
nene glances back at emu, realizing something with a start.
“emu” nene sighs, exasperated “why aren’t you wearing your scarf? it’s already mid autumn!”
emu smiles sheepishly “i left it at the gryffindor table this morning by accident” she says “tsukasa has it but i haven’t seen him since breakfast you see!”
nene sighs again, already unwrapping her own scarf and tugging emu closer by her arm “you’re ridiculous you know that” she huffs, throwing her own scarf around the pink haired girl’s neck.
“ah nene!! what about you though?” emu pouts.
nene rolls her eyes, flicking emu lightly on the nose “you and i both know how easily you catch colds. don’t forget your scarf next time” she replies firmly, hands dropping back to her sides.
emu smiles warmly at her. “thank you nene” she giggles, face flushed pink, and nene knows hers probably looks the same. but while emu’s was because of the cold, nene knew hers was out of embarrassment.
“just don’t do it again” nene mumbles, turning her gaze back to the sky, where the sun has finally set, the stars becoming more visible by the minute.
a silence settles between them, the only sounds coming from their classmates chatting around them. emu shuffles closer, pressing their shoulders together, and nene lets her, disregarding the way it causes butterflies to explode in her stomach.
“hey nene?” emu says softly after a few minutes pass.
nene hums in response.
“doesn’t this remind you of the first time we met? it must have been almost a year now right?” emu answers, dropping her head onto nene’s shoulder.
nene ignores the way her heart skips a beat at the action, nodding “you’re right actually. you transferred at the start of last october didn’t you?”
emu nods against her shoulder, giggling “it was my first astronomy class. i forgot my scarf then too, remember? you spent the whole class looking so concerned”
nene blinks, cheeks warming as she realizes the hufflepuff girl was right. she hadn’t realized her concern had shown at the time though.
“i don’t know what you’re talking about” she mumbles in response, earning another laugh from emu.
nothing else is said however, because their professor enters the astronomy tower, calling the class to attention, and nene is lost to her thoughts.
—
“alright everyone, quiet down” professor hasegawa calls, the astronomy tower going silent.
nene turns her gaze away from the night sky, blinking in surprise when she sees someone next to the professor. pink hair and bright pink eyes with a smile to match. a yellow tie, indicating the girl was a hufflepuff but nene was sure she’d never seen her before.
nene doesn’t realize she’s staring until suddenly the pink eyes are staring back at her. she flushes, looking down at her hands quickly.
“this is miss ootori” she hears the professor continue “she transferred here last week and she’ll be joining our class for astronomy starting today. take a seat anywhere you like”
the last part is clearly directed at the ootori girl, so nene takes a moment to busy herself with her notes. she hears her classmates whispering around her, but doesn’t pay attention until someone sits down beside her.
nene startles, looking up and finding herself once again looking into bright pink eyes. she blinks quickly, realizing the transfer student had for some reason chosen to sit right next to her. the pink haired girl offers her a bright smile as professor hasegawa starts the lesson in front of them.
“i’m emu” the girl whispers “you’re friends with rui right?”
nene blinks again, mouth dropping open “wha- i mean yes?” she replies, flustered.
the girl- emu grins wider, pointing at herself “tsukasa is my childhood friend. he introduced me to rui!” she explains “and i’ve seen you sitting with rui at the slytherin table”
“aah” nene says, suddenly remembering rui mentioning something about a transfer student. she hadn’t really been paying attention, assuming it was another fifth year like him and tsukasa. “yeah i’m- i’m nene. rui’s my best friend”
emu giggles, and nene blushes. “it’s nice to meet you nene” the hufflepuff smiles, bumping their shoulders together.
nene nods, hiding her face in her scarf. her stomach felt strange, and she wondered momentarily if she was sick. she glances quickly at the girl next to her, who has turned to pay attention to their professor. it’s then nene notices, emu isn’t wearing a scarf.
she feels a twinge of worry. it was the second week of october, and it was getting colder in the evenings. nene shakes her head, maybe emu just didn’t get cold easily. it’s not like it was winter yet. she turns her gaze back to the front, attempting to listen to the words professor hasegawa was speaking.
but for a reason she couldn't put her finger on, nene spends the whole lesson thinking about the pink haired girl and her lack of a scarf.
—
“good morning nene” rui smiles, dropping next to the green haired girl at the slytherin table.
nene turns to her best friend, raising her eyebrow at his smug smile “what. what are you smiling at” she asks.
rui tilts his head, smiling more “i don’t suppose you know why emu is running around wearing a slytherin scarf this morning do you”
nene almost chokes on her toast, glaring at rui when he laughs at her.
“i don’t know what you’re talking about” she says firmly, turning her attention back to her breakfast.
“oh really? because i just couldn’t help but notice you’re not wearing your scarf this morning” rui replies, resting his head in his hand so he can stare at nene.
nene stubbornly avoids his gaze “what a coincidence” she grumbles.
she hears the other slytherin laugh again “speaking of coincidences…”
when rui doesn’t finish his sentence, nene looks at him, only to find him staring at something behind her. she doesn’t get time to turn around because a pair of arms wrap themselves around her from behind and nene can’t help but squeak in surprise.
“morning nene!! morning rui!!” it’s emu, yelling right in her ear. of course it is. nene wills the blush on her cheeks to disappear.
“good morning emu. what brings you here?” rui smiles, staring knowingly at nene as he says the words.
emu giggles, releasing nene from her hug. nene goes to turn around, but before she can, her scarf drops over her shoulders and she feels her face become impossibly warm as emu clumsily wraps it around her neck.
once the hufflepuff is done, nene reluctantly turns around to face emu and is met with a blinding smile. the other girl is wearing her hufflepuff scarf again, clearly having gotten it back from tsukasa only moments ago, if the warmth nene’s own scarf is radiating was anything to go by. the thought makes her blush harder.
“thank you” nene finally mumbles, wanting nothing more than to disappear into the floor.
emu only grins wider “thank you for letting me borrow it nene” she says, once again leaning down to hug nene. the slytherin freezes at the contact but emu is pulling away as quickly as she came.
“see you later!!” emu calls as she runs off, waving as she goes.
nene watches after her fondly, until she disappears from her view entirely.
“so. no idea what i’m talking about huh”
“not another word kamishiro or i’ll tell tsukasa about all the sappy poems you’ve written for him”
rui gasps dramatically and nene ignores him, burying her still burning face into the warmth of her scarf.
—
“ah! sorry nene i have to go, i promised i’d meet saki before dinner”
nene looks up from her astronomy book, offering a reassuring smile to her ravenclaw friend frantically packing up her books. “it’s okay ichika. tell saki i said hi”
ichika smiles gratefully “thank you. good luck with your assignment!!” she says, waving as she quickly walks out of the library.
nene smiles after her, turning back to her work once she’s gone. she still had some time before dinner and she wanted to get this assignment done before then.
the slytherin isn’t sure how much time passes as she works, but some time after ichika leaves, someone sits down in the spot her friend had been occupying.
nene blinks, her concentration broken, and when she looks up, she’s startled to find a pair of familiar pink eyes staring back at her.
“emu?” nene says, confused.
since their meeting in astronomy class two weeks ago, nene had discovered they also shared charms, herbology and history of magic. they had also run into each other a few times when hanging out with rui or tsukasa respectively. but outside of classes, the two had never been alone together. until now that was.
emu offers nene a smile, as she often would whenever they saw each other in the corridors.
“rui said i’d find you here nene” emu grins “it’s dinner time you know?”
nene blinks, gaze flickering to the clock on the wall behind emu, discovering the hufflepuff is right. “oh. i didn’t realize” she sighs, running a hand through her hair.
emu laughs lightly “rui said you might not have”
nene flushes, embarrassed “i’m sorry. did he send you to get me?”
“no no” emu responds quickly, shaking her head “he was going to come get you himself but i offered to come get you instead”
nene squints her eyes, more confused now than she had been moments ago over the star chart she’d been filling out for astronomy “you did?” she asks hesitantly.
emu smiles, nodding, and nene swears the room gets three times brighter than it had been before. weird.
confused still, nene rubs her temples “well i’m still sorry. i’ll be down in a minute, i just want to finish this” she sighs, turning her attention back to her assignment.
nene expects the other girl to get up and leave after that but emu doesn’t move. after a moment of silence, she shuffles closer to nene, causing the slytherin to look up at her again.
“is that the star chart we have to finish for astronomy?” emu asks, tilting her head.
nene nods “yeah. did you finish it already?”
“i did” emu smiles “do you want some help?”
“huh?” nene responds, blinking.
emu grins sheepishly “i’m not very good at most things, but astronomy is my best class!!” she says, then almost hesitantly adds “you shouldn’t miss dinner because of homework!”
nene stares at emu for a moment, searching for something, only finding sincerity in the other girl’s expression.
finally she lets out a sigh, pulling her work to sit in between them “yes please. i think i’m going to go crazy if i map one more constellation incorrectly”
emu giggles, shuffling her chair even closer “you’re almost done!!” she assures, after a quick glance over nene’s work “you still need to map hydra here, oh and andromeda over here” emu turns to nene, her eyes sparkling “do you know the story of andromeda?”
nene feels her stomach flip under emu’s gaze “um i- i don’t think so?” she replies, stumbling over her words.
nene didn’t think it was possible for emu to grin any wider, but the hufflepuff managed somehow, and nene feels her cheeks warm at the sight.
“well you see, andromeda is called the chained lady constellation” emu explains, before launching into the story behind the constellation, her eyes shining as she tells it.
nene finds herself unable to look away, momentarily forgetting all about her assignment. she isn’t sure what possesses her to ask emu about another constellation after she finishes, and yet another after that.
needless to say they ended up well and truly missing dinner. but nene couldn’t bring herself to regret it, not when emu had smiled so brightly, and not when emu had promised they would study together again. the thought alone had nene smiling the rest of the evening.
—
“so. it’s the yule ball next month”
nene looks up from their game of chess to stare incredulously at rui “are you serious right now?”
it had been two weeks since the scarf incident, and for some unknown reason, rui had been particularly annoying since then. bringing up emu at every turn, dragging tsukasa away whenever the four of them would meet, and just overall acting suspicious. it was now obvious why.
“if you seriously think i’m going to invite someone to the yule ball when i’ve watched you sulk over not having the guts to ask tsukasa for the past two years, you are sorely mistaken rui kamishiro” nene huffs.
rui pouts, slumping over the table “that’s different!” he insists “also you know i didn’t mean for you to invite just anyone”
nene scoffs, ordering one of her pieces to move, before sitting back in her chair “it is not different at all. you know tsukasa is a dumbass. if you want to go to the yule ball with him, you’re gonna have to spell it out for him” she says, crossing her arms.
rui frowns, as if the very idea made him feel unwell, which nene suspects it likely did. never lacking confidence when it came to his wild ideas and crazy experiments, rui was surprisingly timid when it came to his own feelings.
“just ask him rui. he won’t be going with saki again, i know because she’s going with ichika this year” nene sighs, arms dropping to her sides.
rui seems surprised at this information, looking thoughtful all of a sudden. a moment passes before he speaks again.
“okay. i’ll ask him” he nods, proceeding to point a finger at nene “but only if you ask emu”
nene blinks at the finger pointed at her before scowling, slapping the boy’s hand away “absolutely not”
“why not? you’re friends aren’t you?” rui pouts, blinking innocently.
“friends don’t need to ask each other to the yule ball and you know it” nene hisses.
“so you’d rather go alone?” rui asks, raising an eyebrow.
“i’d rather not go at all, just like i did last year” nene grumbles.
rui pouts again “but nene”
“i don’t dance rui. what on earth would i do there?” nene groans, feeling her resolve already crumbling.
“well if you were to ask emu to go with you…” rui trails off, suddenly looking at something behind nene.
“ask me what?”
nene nearly jumps out of her skin, spinning around so fast her hair smacks the person standing behind her.
emu giggles, reaching over to gently fix nene’s hair. nene knows her face is burning and swears she will find one of rui’s stupid poems and send it to tsukasa later.
“nothin-“ nene begins but rui interrupts her “emu! good timing, nene was just going to ask if you want to go to the yule ball” he says cheerfully.
nene glares at her best friend. forget one poem, nene was going to find every single one and make sure tsukasa read them all.
“with you nene?” emu asks, and when nene hesitantly turns to look back at emu, the smile the other girl gives her is blinding.
“um. yeah” nene mumbles “you know, as friends”
nene thinks there’s a flash of disappointment in emu’s expression, but it’s gone so quickly she thinks she imagined it.
“of course nene” emu giggles, plopping down beside her “can we dance together again?”
nene flushes red, about to shake her head, but it’s too late because rui already heard.
“again?” he says, and nene wants to wipe the smug grin off his face.
emu looks ready to tell the story, but nene reaches out quickly, grabbing emu’s hand before she can continue.
“no time for that emu” nene huffs, pulling emu to her feet as she stands “rui needs all the time he can get to plan how he’s going to ask tsukasa out”
rui makes an embarrassed noise as emu laughs, allowing herself to be dragged away by nene.
“you’re welcome!” rui calls after them, but nene ignores him, not stopping until they’re out of the main hall.
she stops in the hallway, letting out a sigh.
“nene”
emu’s voice startles nene as she realizes she’s still holding the other girl’s hand. she drops it quickly “sorry” she mumbles.
emu frowns, an uncommon sight on the pink haired girl, and then she reaches over, taking nene’s hand again. nene’s heart skips a beat.
“not that” emu says, smiling softly “look” and then she’s pointing out the window.
nene moves her gaze reluctantly from emu’s smile, to the window, making a noise of surprise.
“it’s raining” nene mumbles.
emu squeezes her hand in response, and a silence falls over them as they watch the rain fall against the window panes.
—
“oh, it’s raining” tsukasa says.
“huh??” emu exclaims, jumping up from her seat.
“emu!” nene calls after her, sighing fondly as the other girl presses her face against the library window.
“that must be why rui is late” tsukasa hums.
emu whips her gaze away from the rain and back to her two friends, eyes sparkling the way they did whenever she wanted to say something.
tsukasa seems to understand immediately, frowning. “no. absolutely not”
emu pouts, turning her gaze to nene instead, who blinks back in confusion.
“will you come with me nene?” emu pleads, clasping her hands together.
nene tilts her head “come where?”
“outside!!” emu grins.
“in the rain?” nene asks incredulously.
emu nods quickly “we’ll take umbrellas. please nene??”
nene feels her face become warm under emu’s pleading gaze. she pretends to consider it but she already knows she’s going to say yes.
“just go with her, please” tsukasa says with a sigh “she loves the rain but i can’t stand it”
nene nods, although she had already made up her mind.
“yay!!” emu exclaims, jumping up and down.
“miss ootori!! keep it down!”
emu covers her mouth, bowing sheepishly at the librarian in apology. then she turns back to nene, holding out her hand.
nene flushes, taking emu’s hand and allowing the other girl to pull her to her feet. however emu didn’t let go like nene expected, squeezing her hand as she pulls her towards the exit.
“bye bye tsukasa!! tell rui we said hi!” emu calls over her shoulder, giggling when the librarian scolds her again on their way out.
they stop briefly at the slytherin dorm so nene can get her umbrella. it’s then that emu admits she did not have one of her own.
nene sighs, agreeing to share her own, even though the very idea makes her stomach do a somersault. she really should go to the infirmary later.
the moment they step outside, emu starts running. nene startles, sprinting after the hufflepuff to catch up.
“emu!! slow down!!” nene calls.
emu stops, turning to give nene a smile.
nene huffs, bringing the umbrella up to cover both of them “you’re all wet now” she grumbles, attempting to brush some of the raindrops out of emu’s hair.
emu grins, reaching up to grab nene’s hand and intertwining their fingers. nene splutters in protest, as emu tugs her along.
“come on nene, let’s dance!!”
“are you crazy? it’s pouring rain emu!”
emu only laughs, still tugging nene’s hand. her eyes are shining in amusement, the raindrops sparkling in her pink hair and nene suddenly feels as if the breath had been knocked out of her.
oh . she thought. that’s what this feeling was.
before she can talk herself out of it, nene drops the umbrella, allowing emu to take her other hand as well.
the rain is cold when it hits nene’s head, but the smile emu gives her is enough to make her feel warm inside and out.
she lets emu spin them in circles, giggling uncontrollably, and soon nene finds herself laughing as well.
“this isn’t really dancing emu” she says breathlessly.
“yes it is!!” emu insists, letting go of one of nene’s hands and twirling, as if to prove her point.
nene laughs again, aware of the voice in the back of her mind telling her they were both going to catch a cold from this. but in that moment, when emu grins back at her, nene couldn’t bring herself to care.
—
it isn’t until the next morning that nene realizes the predicament she was currently in. upon agreeing to attend the yule ball with emu, she’d failed to consider two important factors.
the first, she had nothing to wear. admittedly this one was easily solved, as there was still ample time to obtain an outfit. not to mention nene knows rui’s friend, mizuki, would be more than happy to help.
but there was also the second issue. nene couldn’t dance. and emu had seemed very excited at the prospect of dancing with nene. while an outfit could be easily put together, the same could not be said for nene’s dancing skills.
and so, when emu sits down next to her in their charms class, she finds herself blurting it out immediately.
“i can’t dance”
emu blinks at her owlishly, before dissolving into giggles. nene’s cheeks burn.
“good morning to you too, nene” emu says through giggles “what makes you say that?”
“sorry. it just kind of occurred to me this morning. you asked me if we can dance at the ball but i can’t” nene mumbles, avoiding emu’s gaze.
emu tilts her head “we danced together once before though?”
nene huffs “that doesn’t count!” she says “we just span in circles. and no one else was watching either”
emu tilts her head further, trying to catch nene’s gaze, but the slytherin stubbornly avoids it. emu pouts, reaching out for nene’s hand instead.
“nene” emu says softly “it doesn’t matter to me if you can’t dance well. i’d still have fun”
nene blushes, letting emu hold her hand. “i know that” she mumbles “but it matters to me”
emu hums, tangling their fingers together “do you want me to teach you then?”
nene finally tears her gaze away from their hands to look at the other girl directly “huh?”
emu smiles, the soft kind of smile that was rare on the hufflepuff who always seemed to be smiling brighter than the sun.
nene’s heart flutters, eyes going back to their hands “are you sure?” she mumbles.
emu squeezes her hand “of course!! if it’ll make you feel better” she smiles.
nene smiles back shyly. emu suddenly looks like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t get the chance, their professor calling the class to attention, bringing them both back to reality.
nene wants to ask what she was going to say, but emu just squeezes her hand once more before letting go.
by the time their class ends, she’s already forgotten.
—
“emu, where are we going?” nene asks breathlessly.
the pink eyed girl giggles “it’s a surprise!”
nene sighs, allowing herself to be dragged up the stairs, knowing full well the only place they led was the astronomy tower. she hadn’t known what to expect when emu had shown up at the slytherin table after dinner, declaring she had something to show nene. she hadn’t left much room for argument, although nene knows she wouldn’t have resisted regardless.
as they continue up the stairs, nene notices something, coming to a sudden stop. emu, who had been holding her hand, jerks, almost tumbling back down the stairs before nene puts a hand on her waist to steady her.
“sorry” nene apologizes, quickly pulling her hand away “it’s just, you know the astronomy tower is locked at this time of night right?”
emu grins, using her free hand to produce a key from her pocket “don’t worry” she says with a wink.
nene blushes, averting her gaze quickly with a nod.
emu tugs her hand again, and they continue ascending the stairs. nene wasn’t sure how emu had the key to the astronomy tower, but she guessed being the best student in class had something to do with it.
when they reach the door to the astronomy tower, emu lets nene’s hand go to unlock the door. but before she has time to be disappointed at the loss of contact, emu grabs it again, pulling her through the door.
nene blinks her eyes rapidly, not expecting it to be so dark outside already. once her eyes adjust to the darkness, she gasps.
astronomy classes had mostly been held inside for the past few weeks, due to the overcast skies. it was expected of course, since it was now december and winter had officially begun.
but tonight there were no clouds, and nene realises with a start that the moon was also missing. the lack of the moon somehow made the stars shine even brighter and nene can’t help but stare in awe.
she’s brought back to earth when a shoulder bumps against her own, reminding her that emu was here with her. she lowers her gaze from the sky to meet the pink eyes staring back at her. nene thinks emu has her own mini galaxy inside her eyes with the way they sparkle in that moment.
nene doesn’t know what to say, but emu seems to understand, grinning. “pretty right?” she whispers, even though they were the only ones there.
“yeah” nene breathes, although she’s not sure if she’s talking about the stars anymore.
they end up spending hours in the astronomy tower, emu talking about anything and everything, and nene listening fondly at her side.
only when she hears the clock striking midnight, does nene snap out of her rose hued daze, suggesting they go inside.
emu pouts at the suggestion, but after she sneezes approximately three seconds later, nene grabs her by the arm and drags her inside.
nene walks emu to her dorm, even though it’s on the opposite side of the castle to her own. emu knows this, but doesn’t say anything, swinging their joined hands together between them.
when they finally arrive at the hufflepuff dorm, nene reluctantly lets go of emu’s hand.
“thank you nene” emu grins, her nose still pink from being outside moments ago.
nene smiles back softly “thank you for showing me emu. it was fun, really”
the response only makes emu grin wider and what she says next has nene’s heart stuttering in her chest “hehe i think you spent more time looking at me than the stars nene” emu giggles.
nene flushes red, spluttering in protest.
emu laughs again, throwing her arms around nene in a brief hug, pulling away before the other girl has time to react.
“good night nene!!” and then she’s gone, leaving nene standing alone in the corridor, wondering if the pink eyed girl had taken nene’s heart with her when she left.
—
when nene arrives at the door of the astronomy tower, she’s unsurprised to find it unlocked. even though she was early, it appeared emu had made it there before her.
at first, nene had been against the idea of practicing in the astronomy tower. it was cold after all, and nene didn’t want emu to catch a cold on her behalf. but emu had insisted, claiming it was the only place they had access to where they were unlikely to be interrupted. in the end, nene’s embarrassment of being seen (and not emu’s pleading eyes) won out, and she’d agreed.
part of nene couldn’t believe she’d even agreed to this in the first place, but a small nagging voice at the back of her brain said otherwise. it sounded suspiciously like rui though, so nene decides to ignore it.
taking a deep breath, nene pushes the door open, stepping out into the cold.
as she expected, emu is already standing by the edge, looking out at the setting sun.
it hits nene then, that emu looked like a sunset herself. with her pink hair and yellow hufflepuff uniform, and the way her smile was like the sun.
she comes to a stop next to emu, who turns, smiling “hello nene” she says.
she’s a lost cause, nene realizes. even a hello makes her heart skip a beat now. “hello emu” she replies, offering her own smile.
emu hums lightly, turning her gaze back to the horizon “do you like sunsets nene?”
“hmm? i guess so” nene responds. i like you, she thinks.
“i don’t like them” emu says, and when nene looks at her there’s a small frown on her face “because it means the day has come to an end. and i won’t be able to see my favourite people until the next day!“
she says the last part a bit louder, more like she was joking, but nene could tell she was being serious. she shuffles a bit closer, bumping their shoulders together the way emu often did.
“even if the day comes to an end, there’s always tomorrow” nene says once emu looks at her “and we’re not going anywhere. not tsukasa, not rui, and not me either”
emu looks at nene carefully, and it takes everything she has to not look away. emu had always been good at reading people, something nene had realized not long after they met. it was nothing short of a miracle that she hadn’t seemed to notice nene’s feelings. she worried that they might be showing now, but the need to reassure emu outweighs her own concern.
nene doesn’t know if emu looks at her for a few seconds or a few hours. she thinks she wouldn’t have minded either way.
then emu simply smiles, the soft smile that nene was beginning to suspect was reserved just for her. the thought was enough to send her heart racing.
emu steps back from the edge, twirling once, then holding her hand out for nene to take, her eyes twinkling “may i have this dance?”
nene admits she’d almost forgotten the reason they were up here in the first place. and as nervous as she had been minutes previously, she finds herself accepting emu’s hand without hesitation.
emu takes nene’s other hand, moving it to her waist, before placing her free hand on nene’s shoulder. the action reminds nene that emu is in fact shorter than her. the sudden close proximity has nene’s brain short-circuiting.
“nene?”
“ye- yeah?”
emu giggles, squeezing their joined hands “relax!! just follow my lead okay?”
that’s easier said than done, nene thinks. she only nods in response, not trusting her voice.
and then emu starts moving, leaving nene with no choice but to follow. there’s no music, but emu seems to be dancing to her own tune, humming lightly.
emu dances slowly, and nene manages to keep up, watching her feet carefully. the other girl seems to notice this, pouting.
“nene, look at me” emu says gently.
“huh?” nene blinks, looking away from her feet, regretting it instantly when she steps on emu’s foot.
nene startles, going to step away, apologies tumbling out of her mouth, but emu holds her hand firmly. instead of letting nene pull away, emu tugs her even closer, releasing her hand to instead throw both arms around nene’s neck.
nene knows her face must be as red as a tomato by now. she lets her arms fall to loop around emu’s waist, pretending to be very interested in something behind her.
“nene” emu says again, and nene thinks she’s going to die if emu says her name like that again. like it was something precious. like it was the name of a star in the constellations emu loved so much.
nene flickers her gaze to emu’s face then away again when she sees an emotion she can’t place.
nene hears emu huff, squeaking in surprise when emu pulls her closer, tugging her down until their faces are barely an inch apart. there’s nowhere else she can look anymore, lavender eyes hesitantly meeting bright pink.
“i said look at me” emu repeats softly.
nene thinks she’s going to die. there’s no way emu can’t feel her heart beating a million miles an hour when they’re pressed this close together. emu is staring at her so fondly, nene feels her resolve cracking. god she really wants to kiss her right now.
“can i kiss you?”
nene startles, momentarily thinking she’d said her thoughts out loud. but she quickly realizes it wasn’t her who had asked the question.
emu is still staring at her, her gaze unwavering, but nene now notices emu’s cheeks are just as red as hers. wait. what.
“huh?” nene replies dumbly.
emu giggles, moving forward until their noses are touching. nene seriously thinks she’s about to have a heart attack.
“can i kiss you?” emu repeats quietly.
nene lets out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, earning another giggle from emu.
“i wanted to ask you that” nene finally mumbles in reply.
emu laughs “i know”
“what-“ nene goes to ask, but she doesn’t get the chance because emu closes the gap between them.
the kiss is soft, and nene melts into it, kissing emu back just as gently. she tastes sweet, like some kind of strawberry candy.
they pull apart too quickly for nene’s liking, but their foreheads stay pressed together.
emu giggles breathlessly “nene, you’re pouting”
nene makes an embarrassed noise “no i’m not” she mumbles insistently.
emu grins, pecking nene quickly on the lips again.
“i love you” nene blurts, unable to stop herself.
emu’s eyes turn into crescents as she smiles “does this mean we’re not going to the ball as friends anymore?”
nene huffs incredulously “are you serious? that’s all you have to say?” she asks, pulling back to stare accusingly at the hufflepuff.
emu laughs brightly, pulling nene back down “i love you too” she whispers into her ear.
nene blushes again, dropping her head onto emu’s shoulder to hide her embarrassment.
“did you know your ears get all red when you’re embarrassed?”
nene groans, burying her face in emu’s neck as the other girl giggles at her.
emu starts swaying them gently, and nene lets her, keeping her face hidden from view.
“i’m not going anywhere” nene says quietly after a minute passes.
emu pauses for a moment. just as nene is about to move to look at her, emu tightens her grip, keeping nene pressed to her neck.
“thank you nene” comes emu’s whispered reply.
nene squeezes emu back, feeling content as emu runs a hand through her hair.
and when emu starts humming softly again, the world silent around them, nene knows there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.