'Wow,’ she thought as she stared with wide eyes at the beautiful girl in the mirror opposite her. She heard a chuckle from behind her, “Archie! What are you doing here? I thought men aren’t allowed here.”
“Not men, just the groom. Besides, no one saw me coming,” Archie grinned, “I can’t even recognize you. Aunt Lily really worked her magic.”
She smiled at the mirror-him knowing that the pink in her cheeks was not from the spell her mother used. “Leo won’t be able to keep his eyes off you when you dance together.”
Hearing that, she felt something in the pit of her stomach. Her nervousness must have shown on her face because Archie said, “Damn! I'm so sorry Harry. I didn't mean to remind you of him.”
“It’s okay. It's not like I can avoid him for the rest of my life. I have to give him an answer anyway.” She tried to convince both him and herself .
“You know, all you told me is that he confessed his feelings to you, nothing more. You were so tightlipped about it, makes me wonder if something else happened" Archie smirked.
She threw her hairbrush at him which missed just by a hair, “It’s nothing like that .”
“Oh, come on. Give me some more details. Aren't I your favourite cousin?
'My only cousin' she thought, as she replied with a terse "fine".
He started firing questions at her “When did he tell you? Where? How did you react? Did you tell him something? Are you dating now?
“Archie, breath!”
“Sorry, I got excited,” Archie grinned, looking not at all sorry.
“To answer your questions, he confessed three days ago while we were walking towards the floo. I was talking about how lucky both Remus and Rispah were to have found each other.…..”
---THREE DAYS AGO---
“I still remember when Remus used to never even consider dating because he was afraid of his furry little problem. Thank Merlin Rispah knocked some sense into him. They're both really lucky! I mean, in this world, not many find true love,” she said, waving at Mr. Tate as she passed his apothecary.
“So you think that if someone loves another, they should not hide but embrace it?” Leo asked smiling mischievously as though he was hiding something.
“Yes, of course! Love is a gift, not something to be ashamed of,” she said, frowning a bit, trying to find out what was going in his mind. It was as though there was something very obvious that she wasn't seeing. Unexpectedly Leo stopped walking and turned to her. She too stopped and looked around. They were standing in a corner where they wouldn’t stand in each other’s way.
“Why did you stop?”
“I’m going to take your advice,” he smiled at her like she was the only thing that mattered to him.
At once it hit her, what he was going to say. “Leo, I-” he stopped her by keeping his index finger on her lips.
He stepped close to her and said, “shhh. Let me tell you how much you mean to me, Harry. What you are to me. What I've always wanted to tell you.” He looked into her eyes and she felt exposed as he looked into her soul. “One day while I was walking through the alleys, I saw a man trying to harm a kid. For the first time in my life, I felt my magic screaming at me to pay attention to you. When I first met you, a girl with green eyes, who pretended to be a boy with secrets that even I couldn't figure out with a passion for potions, I knew you were special. As I looked into your gorgeous green eyes, I knew that one day I’ll thank all the gods for making you come into the alley that day for whatever reason. When I'm with you, I feel so alive. I feel as though I could be the ugliest guy, the most flawed guy in the world and you wouldn't care, as though I could be anything around you and you would accept me for who I am. I love being king to all my people, helping them, being the person they go to when they need someone they can trust, but sometimes it’s all so overwhelming. I always have to keep up a strong facade, never showing my weakness because if I’m not strong enough for them, who will be? But when I'm with you, I feel calm. As though, I can do anything. I feel strong because I know that you will always be there for me. I love you, Harry . You make me the happiest man in the world and there's no one I'd rather be with than you.”
“Before the big reveal, before I knew your secrets, when you looked so drained, so tired of everything, I felt helpless as I never have in my whole life. I didn't know what I could do to help you, to make you feel the same way as you make me feel. Now that there are no more secrets, no more barriers between us, stopping us from being truly ourselves around each other, I can finally help you in every way possible. I can try to make you happy for the rest of my life if you’d let me.”
After minutes that felt like hours to her, she said: “that sounded more like a proposal than a love confession.”
What he did after hearing this surprised her. He started laughing so hard that tears started coming out of his eyes. She could see people turning towards them hearing his laugh from the corner of her eye. “Only you- only you would say something like that after a guy confesses his eternal love for you.” Leo said when he finally stopped laughing and grinned “Although, you are right. That does sound like a confession. Maybe it could be one. Saves me from the trouble of preparing a speech. All I have to do is buy a ring. That is, if you are interested.”
Under all the jokes, she could see that he was actually nervous. It was the first time that she has seen him looking so uncertain. “I, I- um…” she didn’t know what to say.
Leo must have sensed her inner turmoil because he said “you don’t have to answer now. Take all the time you need in the world. Oh and Harry, please know that you don’t have to lie. I’ll accept whatever it is that you want. If you don’t have feelings for me, that’s fine. I’ll still be the happiest guy in this world as your friend.”
She felt as though something heavy was lifted from her shoulders. No matter what she tells him, he’ll still be there for her, her friend. They walked towards the Floo area in Diagon alley which just took a minute since they were already near it. She took the Floo powder in her hand, not turning to Leo to say goodbye because right now she didn’t think she could bring herself to say something, anything. Leo seemed to be the only person to have that effect on her. The last thing she saw before she Floo-ed to her home was Leo’s handsome face, smiling gently at her.
---PRESENT---
“Wow,” Archie said, “What did you do when you saw him after that?”
“I didn’t. I think he made sure he didn’t run into me to give me more time. He’s considerate like that.” she smiled as she thought of him.
“Do you know what you’re going to tell him?”
“Yes. I think.”
Archie reassuringly smiled at her and said “Just follow your heart. That’s what I did with Hermione.” It was true. After the ruse broke, he and Hermione made up. They became closer than ever and started dating not long ago.
“Easy for you to say. You knew you loved her since you met her” she muttered but Archie heard her anyway.
He grinned and said, “Well, we can’t all be love experts.”
Suddenly the door opened and a face she wanted to see the least right now came into view. “Archie, what are you doing here? Your father is looking for you everywh—” Leo stopped abruptly as he saw her. He recovered quite fast but his cheeks seemed to have gained some colour and the tips of his ears were red.
There was a pause after which Archie grinned roguishly and said: “Well, I’d better get going.” He quickly made his way out of the room.
She and Leo were in the room together. Alone. The air in the room felt thick with tension. Leo cleared his throat, “I should go but I can’t without telling you how beautiful you look.”
She hid her face but she knew Leo already saw her bright red cheeks that could rival a Weasley’s hair. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.” That was an understatement. Leo looked like a model starring in Witch Weekly with his athletic build and his green dress robes that matched her dress and accentuated his broad shoulders and brought out his bright hazel eyes.
“Anyway, I should get going. See you later.”
“Leo, wait. I have something to tell you.”
“Harry, you don’t have to-”
“I want to,” she said firmly. She knew that if she waited for one more moment, she would never be able to do it.
“If you’re sure,” Leo hesitated.
She took a deep breath. “Because of the ruse, I always had to be different around different people. Sharp-tongued and realistic around my parents and uncles as myself and bubbly and ingenuous as Archie, polite and tame around my friends and their families as Rigel, rude with a witty streak around them as Heiress Potter. The only common ground I had was my passion for potions but even then, I was troubled. Then I met you. At first, you were just a handsome stranger” at this Leo smirked. She rolled her eyes ‘oh Merlin!’ and continued, “who saved me and then continued to stalk me. This time she smirked while he gasped and muttered something she couldn’t hear. “Then you became Leo, a friend who didn't care about my blood status or secrets, who I didn't have to lie to, with who I could be myself. You were always there for me. When you told me you knew I was Rigel, I wasn't worried or afraid and that scared me. I refused to think about it, convinced myself that..." after this, she realised that there was no more hiding, no more turning back. She felt something, she didn't know what. She closed her eyes.
"I convinced myself that you were a trustworthy friend and nothing more. After you confessed, I thought about it, about a lot of things. Then I realised that the reason I wasn't anxious about you knowing, the reason I knew you won't tell anyone is that I trust you and if I could have chosen a person to share my secrets with, I would choose you. I tried to think of a world without you and I realised that I would never feel content without you in my life. I love you, Leo ." When she felt a pair of lips on her she realised, what she felt earlier, what she was feeling now was love .
---THREE HOURS LATER---
''This is officially the best day of my life.''
She looked up from where she rested her head on his chest, his arms around her, swaying slightly to the music. ''Are you sure? I can think of a day that will be even better," she said looking at the newly married couple.
''When will ours be? Today?"
She looked at his smirking face and said, "First prepare a speech, then we'll see."