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November 1976
Charity Burbage counted herself as the Hufflepuff Matchmaker. With the countless Muggle romance films plus the romantic wizen courting customs, she was practically an expert in every romance trope. Yet—she couldn’t get her two best friends together. It was a tragedy, really.
Ever since Charity saw the two in their shared DADA class, she was sure that they would end up together. It would be the typical cold person falling for the brilliantly bright person. Lucia’s name meant light for Merlin’s sake.
“I’m going to die early,” Charity declared loudly as she lay on Aurora’s lap. She basked in the gentle touch of her partner’s hand through her curls—physical touch was her love language. “Sev is clearly in love—why can’t Lucia just make the first move? She’s oblivious too! Psychic, my arse!”
Aurora said nothing, but a smile graced her face. Charity’s voice was the only thing she could properly focus on. The constant chatter coupled with her bright laughter could always put her racing thoughts to rest.
“Do you notice the way that he’s been reading the very books he hated?” The verbal barrage had not stopped. “Severus Snape reading Alice in Wonderland? Hogwarts would fall! But Lucia just takes it at face value! He’s clearly trying to know her interests!”
“I think you’re underestimating Lucia,” Aurora stated, her smile unfaltering. “She may call herself ‘stupid’ and ‘air-headed,’ but you’ve seen the way she gets her way. I say she already knows.”
“Then, why isn’t she doing anything?” Charity sat up before turning to Aurora. “Why’s she letting him waffle around?” It seemed needlessly cruel, and Lucia wasn’t a cruel person. A petty person but not cruel.
The Ravenclaw considered the question while humming. “Maybe because she knows his backstory too well.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” It didn’t make sense. If she knew someone so well, wouldn’t that mean the relationship would work better? No misunderstandings or silly jealousy? “If I could read you like an open book, then I wouldn’t have wallowed in pity before asking you out.”
“If there is any doubt within Snape’s mind, the relationship will end badly,” Aurora leaned into the pillows. “If Lucia initiates it before he’s ready, the chances that it might not last are higher. I think she knows and is letting him take the first jump.”
“They’re so complex,” Charity made a face. “Are we just simple?”
Sinistra gave a laugh at that question. “I think those two are an exception—simplicity in relationships is a luxury.”
Charity giggled at the statement. “I thought you’d put in a space pun, but you’re a poet today, aren’t you?” Laying back down, she sighed again. “I just want Sev to be happy, you know? Lucia too. They just have this look sometimes—the look where they just want to disappear from here.”
Sinistra hummed before working through a tangle. “You’ve noticed Lucia too then.”
“I’ve never seen her cry! What kind of person never cries?” Charity grabbed a plush before squeezing it in her arms. “But at least when the two of them are together—it evens out, you know? It’s like they find comfort in each other—perfect complement.” Pausing, she turned to look at her lover. “Just like us.”
“Just like us,” Aurora mused. “I thought we were opposites?”
“Excuse me?” Charity tugged at Aurora’s hand, bringing it closer to her. “We’re the sun and the moon—they complement each other on the celestial plane!”
“I think the Earth and the Moon would be a better comparison,” Sinistra corrected genially. “Other planets revolve around the sun, but only the Moon revolves around Earth. Just as my life does around yours.”
Charity’s face turned crimson as she hid her face behind hers and Aurora’s clasped hands. “You can’t just do that to me! You and your space metaphors.” There were a few more minutes of internal screaming at the smooth line, but Charity managed to calm down just in time for Aurora to leave for her prefect duties.
The Ravenclaw prefects were lucky for that week. They drew the earliest patrol times while the Hufflepuff prefects drew the short end.
Sinistra pecked a kiss on Charity’s forehead. “Remember you have patrol in two hours.”
“I shouldn’t have become a prefect,” Charity bemoaned at the responsibilities. “But at least I have someone to stare at during those boring meetings. See you tomorrow.”
The two shared a smile before they separated for the night.
***
Charity was going to scream and risk her life at the hands of Madam Pince.
With the pNEWTs coming up in a few months, everyone was holed up in the library and studying for their life. Well, at least Aurora and her were, Lucia and Avery were content and sleeping on top of their textbooks. Lucia had an out because she’d already passed the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes NEWTs years ago, and Avery—well, he was rich.
“Why do I need to know how the camera changed Muggle life?” She muttered desperately to herself. “I’m from a Muggle family—am I a primary source?”
“Cameras were out years before you were born, so no,” Aurora answered curtly before turning back to the star charts. “We can only use ourselves when we’ve lived through the times. Although, there’s probably some source of bias then—you should ask Lucia about that. She’s aiming for History of Magic NEWT.”
“I’m not going to wake her up—she’s like passed out, passed out.” Everyone knew not to wake Lucia up unless it was an actual emergency. Charity’s grades did not count, sadly.
Well, almost everyone knew not to wake the Slytherin up. Mulciber waved his wand at that, causing her chair to slip from under her and effectively waking the Slytherin up. “She’s awake.”
There was a pause before the blonde stirred. Lucia cursed quietly in an American accent and Korean as she summoned the chair to her again. After reaching over Avery and flicking Mulciber, she sat up again. “What?”
“When can I use myself as a primary source in justification?”
“What subject are we on?”
“Muggle Studies, and general rule too.”
“You can’t use yourself as a source because you’re a half-blood,” Lucia yawned loudly into her hand, “if not, you have to specify other people who lived near you who were also Muggles. I would avoid using yourself as a source for old questions like that though.” With that, she put her head in her arms and slept again.
Snape arrived half an hour in. He looked winded as if he ran up the stairs, avoiding a certain group. He pulled a chair up to sit in between Avery and Lucia. “I’m assuming we’re not studying in a group.” The statement was sarcastic as he stared at the sleeping classmates.
“You’d be correct,” Aurora affirmed, rolling the chart up. “But now that you’re here, I want to compare answers for Slughorn’s essay.”
“I thought you were going to check with Lucia,” he passed her the roll of parchment.
“She wrote half the length before giving up.”
That sounded very much like her. While Lucia kept up with brewing practices, she cared very little for the theory behind Potions. Snape grew rather exasperated at the lack of effort, but as long that didn’t impact his grades, he learned to stop caring. The fond glance he shot his partner was not lost on Charity.
Snape took that as an opportunity to finish some of his own essays as he opened the Herbology textbook and pulled out a spare parchment. He started getting into the concentration flow and finished the essay with ease as he shut the textbook and opened his potions textbook and his own copy.
He must’ve been too loud because Lucia woke up at the rustling noise. Glancing sideways and recognizing him, she kicked Avery’s chair to the side before lying down. With her head in his lap, she continued to sleep soundly.
Snape made it a point to ignore Charity’s and Aurora’s open stare.
Charity was two seconds away from locking them both in a closet because friends didn’t let friends sleep on their laps. Well, Lucia did with her and Aurora, but that was different. That was out of necessity while Lucia actively looked for Snape. It took her a few months to notice that particular behavior and when she pointed it out to Aurora, she learned that it was an ongoing habit since the end of last year.
But she understood where Aurora was coming from. And she wasn’t going to jeopardize this—no, she would wait. Watching from the sidelines as her two best friends found their own happiness within one another.