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Plump snowdrifts carpeted the hills surrounding Hogwarts. A wicked winter chill nipped at students’ rosy cheeks as they bustled around the grounds, and owls lingered longer in the owlery, keeping warm as best they could.
Despite the onset of the holiday season, Ochako’s heart was heavy, lacking in its usual pep and cheer. Her hands burned with guilt so hot that it was a wonder the kiss-marked letter she was clutching hadn’t burst into flames.
Bring robes. Kisses, H
Swallowing her regrets, Ochako tapped the letter with her wand and whispered, “Incendio.” She dispersed the ashes with a quick wave of her hand and tucked her wand back up her sleeve.
The owls could afford to linger. Ochako could not.
She was expected in Hogsmeade—along with the primly pressed robes she’d stolen from her roommate.
There weren’t many novelties that Ochako possessed. She had her Muggle parents’ sensibilities and the hand me down robes and the cauldron she’d thrifted from second-hand shops. Nor was she much to look at, save for her pink cheeks and doe eyes—a gift from her mother.
Simply put, there was little she had that was new or impressive. Her telescope had a wonky leg. Her scales were scratched, and her books were stained. The robes she’d found were unsightly. A pair too short, showing off her socks. And a pair too long, its tattered hem dragging as she walked.
However, there was something she held dear that was brand new and entirely hers—something not passed down, borrowed, or scavenged.
Ochako Uraraka, the fifth year Hufflepuff with a knack for Charms and a love for flying, had a girlfriend.
And a secret one at that.
Ochako sucked in a breath, steadying her resolve. She clasped the silver fastenings of her winter cloak and then grabbed her bag. If she left Himiko waiting much longer, there was no telling what trouble the mischievous Metamorphmagus would get into.
On an ordinary trip to Hogsmeade, Ochako would link arms with her friends, chat about classes, and giggle over gossip. She’d play in the snow with Tsu, humor Tenya’s lectures about decorum, eat up Izuku’s latest theories on magical relativism, and offer Shouto a warm smile when she caught his eye.
Trudging through the snow to meet Himiko was a much lonelier journey. While Ochako was excited to see her girlfriend, she couldn’t deny that making the walk alone only fueled her anxiety. She wished she could share her relationship with her friends, but there was one teensy, tiny problem that got in the way of her youthful heart.
Himiko was a Death Eater.
Which made Ochako a traitor, even if only by proxy.
So, there would be no sharing about the joys of having a girlfriend: no chatter about dates or anniversaries, no gossip about first kisses, and certainly no get-togethers where Ochako’s friends met Himiko.
It was a situation that weighed heavily on Ochako, but she couldn’t find it in herself to stop seeing Himiko. There was something about the young witch that was breathtakingly enchanting.
If only their biggest difference was as trivial as a house rivalry…
Ochako sighed, brushing her tiring introspections aside. She was going to see Himiko soon; she ought to be giddy and flush with excitement. Nodding to herself, Ochako tightened her grip on her bag’s strap and picked up her pace.
Before long, she found herself just short of Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop. It had been Himiko’s idea, insisting that they meet at the stuffy date spot because “it’s what couples do.”
She wasn’t wrong, but Ochako had reminded her that it was also dangerously public, which was hardly the sort of place for a young Death Eater to woo her lady. Himiko had staunchly disagreed. So, the matter was settled.
A gentle nudge at Ochako’s ankle caught her attention. Purring between her legs, a cream ragamuffin cat watched her with expectant amber eyes.
“Oh.” Ochako knelt, rubbing the stray behind its ears and smiling when its purr deepened. “You must be cold.”
Reaching into her bag, Ochako retrieved the spare robes, flicking them over the cat. Purrs turned to squeals as Himiko’s familiar form filled out the stolen garment.
“Oh, ‘Chako,” Himiko cried, throwing her arms around Ochako’s neck. “I knew you’d come!” Beaming, she planted an impassioned kiss on Ochako before she could protest.
“Himiko,” Ochako hissed, her cheeks a deep crimson as if they’d been transfigured into tomatoes. “Please! Not so loud.”
“Aww, babe!” Himiko snorted. Her nose elongated as she rolled her eyes, and a light dusting of freckles sprung across its bridge. She quirked a blonde eyebrow that darkened to auburn and gave Ochako a Cheshire grin as her messy locks, tied up in loose buns, did the same.
Himiko pulled a few pins out, letting her velvety, deep-red hair cascade around her face. She tucked a strand behind her ear and canted her head.
“Cute, huh?” she chirped. “Saw her at St. Mungo’s. She was so pretty all cut up and bleeding! I knew I had to use her next.”
For a moment, Himiko’s skin seemed to split apart at the seams, angry red gashes appearing across her freshly freckled face and hands. Ochako felt sick. She didn’t want to know whose face Himiko was wearing or why the poor girl was so severely scuffed that she required advanced care.
Ochako’s sole solace was that, no matter what skin Himiko slipped into, she never changed her amber eyes or the little fangs that peaked past her lips when she smiled. Ochako wondered but never asked Himiko if it was a conscious choice or if she’d lost the ability to change them.
Himiko lacked the focus required for the arduous process of becoming an Animagus. She’d gone through with it anyway but had very nearly botched her form irreparably. The slits in her amber eyes and the inhuman length of her sharp canines confirmed as much. And if Ochako was honest, she was sure she’d seen Himiko eyeing birds with predatory intent a time or two. Perhaps, the dubious quality of the mandrake leaf Himiko had kept in her mouth for an entire month had left its mark beyond mere physical traits.
Then again, Himiko could hardly have been accused of being a normal witch before all that. Regardless, Ochako was grateful that she could find traces of her girlfriend through the transformation.
“Why were you at St. Mungo’s?” Ochako’s brow wrinkled. She hated to think Himiko had been hurt, and she didn’t dare think she’d been at the wizard hospital for other reasons.
“Never mind that!” Himiko giggled, releasing Ochako and fishing around in a small bag fastened to her waist. “I got you something!”
Extending her hand, Himiko revealed a gooey, melted mess that twitched in the palm of her hand like a dying animal on its last leg.
“I know how much you like sweets!” A brilliant blush blossomed across Himiko’s freckled cheeks as she waited for Ochako to accept her offering.
“Is that...a chocolate frog?”
“Well, it was.” Himiko shrugged. “But I think it melted a little after I caught it. I tried not to crush it, but it was squirming so much in my mouth that I had to crunch on it a little.”
Ah, so she’d caught it while in cat form…
“Thank you.” Ochako grasped the chocolate frog by a leg and deposited it in a handkerchief. “I’ll save it for later. I don’t want to ruin myself for Madam Puddifoot’s. We’re still stopping in, right?”
“Of course!” Himiko hummed, grasping Ochako’s hand. “I have so much to tell you!”
With luck on their side, the girls managed to find as discreet a table as could be found at such a beloved shop. Ochako was quick to secure the outward-facing seat, forcing Himiko into a position where her back was turned to the majority of the other patrons. This arrangement offered little comfort to Ochako but was reassuring nevertheless.
“—and it’s not like I even like him that much anyway, but if he’s going to set my stuff on fire, he could at least warn a girl, ya know? It’s so annoying. He’s probably just pissy that I only put up with him for Chizome’s sake. Then again, Tomu hates Chizome. So between the three of them, it’s a mess. But like...I think it’s totally worth putting up with all these dumb boys if I can live how I want. And there’s Big Sis.”
Ochako nodded as if she had any idea who these people were. Of course, she was familiar with who the Death Eaters were as a terrorist organization, but the intimate details of the member’s lives weren’t something she’d committed to memory. Though, maybe she should have.
“Mags and I have been trying to get everyone to chill out, but no one will listen, except Jin—but that’s just cause he’s in love with me.” Himiko shrugged. “I’m pretty sure they’d all kill each other if we left them alone for more than a week.”
A giggle escaped Ochako. The thought that the infamous wizard gang could be so easily toppled by petty infighting was funny.
“Anyways,” Himiko sighed. “I’ve missed you, ‘Chako. No one is as cute as you, so I get awfully lonely.” She batted her auburn eyelashes and pouted, puffing her cheeks out and worrying the soft skin of her lip beneath a needlepoint canine.
“Speaking of lonely,” she continued, “there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”
Ochako’s heart stuttered.
“Let’s get outta here, though.” Himiko stuffed the remains of her sweet biscuit into her mouth and washed it down with her tea. “Wanna keep it between us,” she purred, her eyes narrowing as her lips curled.
Nerves bubbled in Ochako’s gut as Himiko dragged her past several snogging couples and out the door. She hoped Himiko hadn’t noticed her palms perspiring. If she had, she didn’t comment. It was likely that she was too fixated on leading Ochako off the beaten path to worry over such trifling matters.
Himiko tugged Ochako past the Shrieking Shack and into the adjacent woods. Her eyes darted about in such a feline manner that Ochako half-expected her to slip into her cat form.
“Alright!” Himiko beamed, releasing Ochako and clapping her hands. She surged forward, hugging Ochako and purring happily. When she pulled back, her face was her own once more.
“So hear me out, okay?” Himiko wrangled her hair into a set of lopsided buns, pulling a few strands free to frame her face. “I think you should run away with me.”
She grasped Ochako’s hands, her face alight with child-like delight. It was just like her to set something up like a pitch and then jump straight to the punch line with no real explanation or setup.
“Run away?” Ochako echoed.
“Yeah.” Himiko nodded. “With me.”
“Away?” The word was a whisper carried away by the winter wind.
“Mhm. It’s a great idea! I listen really hard, you know?” Himiko’s brow furrowed, and a look of concern softened her feline features. “You just want to help your parents, right? That’s why you study so hard. Even though it’s awful, and people are nasty to you.”
Ochako blinked. Himiko was worried, and she wanted to help?
“Well? Say something!” Himiko hugged Ochako again, tighter this time. “It would be amazing, don’t you think? You and me together forever! No more worrying. Just us— happy.”
A painful prickle under Ochako’s skin made her eyes water. Her chest tightened, and a tight knot constricted her throat.
That was everything she wanted.
And something she could never have.
Not with Himiko.
Not with a Death Eater.
“I—” Ochako started, her voice hoarse with emotion. “I want to become a great witch so that I can help my parents live comfortably. I’ll work as hard as I can to make that possible.”
“You don’t have to work so hard, though,” Himiko contested. “There are easier ways to help them.”
“No.” Ochako shook her head. “I have to help them the right way—if only for my sake.”
“‘Chako,” Himiko whined. “That doesn’t make any sense!”
“It makes sense to me.”
“So…” Himiko’s arms slackened, sliding off Ochako’s shoulders. “That’s a no, then?”
“I’m really sorry, Himiko. I can’t run away—not right now.”
“But maybe someday?” Himiko perked up.
“I...don’t know.”
“Okay.”
Ochako’s heart grew bitter. “Normal” girlfriends probably had nice dates that didn’t end in angst or anguish. They probably snogged until they were breathless and did cheesy couple things.
“Hey,” Himiko murmured, nuzzling her nose into the crook of Ochako’s neck. “You’re cute even when you’re sad. Did you know that?”
She giggled and nipped at Ochako’s skin. The sting of her little fangs piercing through flesh shocked Ochako out of her spiral, and she squealed, shoving at Himiko.
“Stop that,” she shrieked through giggles. “Himiko! You’re gonna leave marks.”
“So! Then everyone will know you’re mine. All mine.”
“Himiko!”
After a fair bit of tussling, Ochako freed herself of Himiko. Her hard-fought victory was short-lived, and their scuffling morphed into a no holds barred snowball fight.
“‘Chako!” Himiko shrieked as she furiously worked to exploded Ochako’s barrage of enchanted snow missiles with her wand. “That’s not fair! I’m not as good at Charms as you.”
“Everything’s fair in love and war!” Ochako yelled back across the snow-shrouded clearing.
Their fierce battle raged on until Himiko flopped to the ground, pretending to die as dramatically as she could manage with her amateur theatrics.
“To die by my love’s hand,” she wailed, laying the back of her hand over her forehead. “Is there any greater death?” Feigned gurgles drowned out the rest of her speech, and her body went limp in the snow.
“What have I done?” Ochako cried out, stumbling toward her girlfriend. She was barely able to contain her giggles as she fell to her knees before Himiko. “I’ve lost the only girl who understands my heart.” With a strangled sob, she pretended to faint, allowing her body to crumple in the snow beside Himiko.
Their fingers found each other, twining together as the weight of their bodies made imperfect snow angels.
“You’re not mad?” Ochako whispered.
“At you?” Himiko rolled her head to look at Ochako. “Never. I love you too much.”
“I love you too.”
“But ‘Chako…”
“Yeah?”
“If you change your mind, I’m only an owl away.”
Ochako twisted her neck to meet Himiko’s gaze. The amber eyes watching her were wide and inquisitive.
Pushing herself up onto her elbow, Ochako scooted closer, dipping her head to meet their lips in a kiss. Himiko tasted sweeter than cauldron cakes and first love. And when Ochako’s arm began to tremble, Himiko pushed her back, rolling them over.
The kiss was dizzying but perfect, and Ochako allowed herself to melt into the snow under Himiko’s comforting weight.
A loud snap from somewhere in the forest startled them apart. Himiko sat back on her haunches, her eyes scanning between the trees.
“Better get going,” she hummed, leaning forward to kiss Ochako’s rosy nose. “I’ll miss you.”
There was little time for Ochako to reply. One moment, Himiko was straddling her. The next, a fluffy cat was perched on her lap.
“I’ll miss you too.” Ochako watched as Himiko darted off, waiting for her to disappear before flopping back in the snow.
She watched the sky through the snowy canopy. The branches’ undersides were adorned with icicles of varying lengths, and small snow flurries kicked up when the wind darted through the clearing.
“I’m not a traitor,” she told the trees. “Not today.”
She closed her eyes, inhaling long and slow before releasing her breath in a misty cloud.
“Not today.”