Sophie opened her eyes to the darkness of the dormitory, not sure what had woken her. She listened carefully. It was unlikely to be a prank by the knights, not so soon after their communal prank to shake Beatrix out of it.
Then she heard it again, a sniffling sound and the rustling of the covers from the direction of Beatrix’ bed. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness by now, so Sophie didn’t waste time getting her flashlight out of her bedside table. She slipped out of her bed and quietly padded over to Beatrix’. “Bea.”
It was too dark to make out her face properly but she could see the way she’d frozen, the way she was holding herself stiffly now.
Sophie knelled down beside the bed. She gently touched Beatrix’ hand. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
“I’m fine,” Beatrix pressed out. “Go back to bed.”
“No. Move over!”
“What?”
“Move over. I’m joining you.” Sophie waited for her to comply, then slipped in beside her. She lay down on her side, facing Beatrix, and took her hand.
The silence spread between them until Beatrix asked: “Why are you here?”
“You’re my friend and I’m worried about you.” She felt Beatrix’ hand twitch in hers. “I am your friend. Nothing’s going to change that.”
“Not even my acting like an idiot?”
“Not even that.” Sophie shifted closer, wrapping her arm around Beatrix. She started running her hand through Beatrix’ blond curls. “So you needed some help to snap out of it, big deal. Nothing has changed between us.”
Beatrix returned the hug, hands fisted in Sophie’s shirt. “I thought -” She broke off.
And suddenly Sophie understood. The four of them had never discussed in detail how their relationship was supposed to work, they had never set ground rules. It had been Beatrix and her, and Ottokar and Stephan. Then, additionally, Beatrix and Stephan, and Ottokar and her. They hadn’t seen the need to define it more closely. It might have been unusual but it had been an exclusive relationship between the four of them.
And then Stephan had started seeing Anke. Though she had no idea if that was platonic or if he was interested in her. No matter, Ottokar could deal with that part. For now, she would concentrate on her girlfriend. “I love you.” They didn’t often feel the need to say it out loud, not when they could just show it, but she figured Beatrix would appreciate hearing it. “Anke doesn’t change that. What happened the past few weeks doesn’t change that. I love you. I want to be with you.” There would be time later, to properly define their relationship and set ground rules, to analyse where they’d made mistakes, to discuss the future of this arrangement between the four of them. For now, all that mattered was Beatrix.
Fanfiction Fandom (Pairing): Burg Schreckenstein/Harry Potter fusion (Ottokar/Sophie/Beatrix/Stephan)
Rating T
Warnings: None
(takes place in the same universe as Ripples but can be read on its own)
“Can you wait for me?” Ottokar asked. “I have to get the key to show you the finished project.” When the other three nodded, he hurried back into the apartment he shared with Stephan while he worked on his mastery and Stephan studied to join his father in his law office. Beatrix and Sophie were likewise living together during their apprenticeship. He had a headstart compared to them as both wix and Muggle examination office had agreed to let him take the oral exam to earn his apprenticeship diploma the summer they had graduated, so he had got directly started on his mastery.
When he'd mentioned to the other three that he had finished his project and a date set for the examination, they’d asked to see it, especially since he’d kept a lot of it a secret.
“Do you know what it is?” Sophie asked Stephan while they waited.
“I know what it is and asked my dad to help Ottokar get what he needed but I haven’t seen it yet either.”
“Are you going to give us a hint?” Beatrix asked.
He grinned. “No.”
“Come on, tell us,” Beatrix urged.
“No, you’ll just have to be patient a moment longer. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” And they were rather hoping the surprise would have a positive impact on their reaction. He offered them his arms. “Ladies, may I escort you to the car while we wait?”
“Very well, keep your secrets a bit longer,” Sophie said, taking one arm. She leaned forward to grin at their girlfriend. “And I guess getting you to spill would take longer than the drive.”
The car, altered to work around magic, had been a present from his father when they had graduated. “You can apparate now,” he’d said, “but that causes questions in the Muggle world and, in a few years’ time, you might be grateful for an alternative to apparition.” Well, at least he was considerate of Sophie’s and Beatrix’ desire to get started on their careers before they had children.
Stephan had barely closed the door behind the two girls – really, if today didn’t call for their best courtesy, he didn’t know what did – when Ottokar reached the car. “Did you accio them?” Stephan asked, surprised to see him already.
“Yes,” Ottokar admitted.
It was enough to tell Stephan just how nervous his boyfriend was, no matter how calm he tried to act. As a Muggleborn, Ottokar rarely used magic when it wasn’t necessary. “Let’s go then. You drive, you know the way better.”
Sophie and Beatrix kept exchanging looks, confused by how unusually silent their boyfriends were, but wordlessly agreed not to question them now. Their confusion only grew when they stopped in front of a two storey house in one of the newer neighbourhoods of Neustadt and Ottokar parked in the driveway.
“This house is my project,” he told them. “It’s warded and shielded so it allows the full use of electronics and magic while still preventing Muggles from noticing anything.” He unlocked the front door and let them inside, then to the first room opposite the front door. “Here’s the kitchen. The fridge is powered magically with an electric backup in place should the spells fail for some reason. The same goes for the pantry through the door there. The stove can also be used both magically or using electricity, whatever is preferred. You can even use different means for individual stove top.”
Back through the hallway, they went to a cosy living room with two comfy looking couches and a few armchairs. Ottokar pointed to an open archway. “There’s an environmental ward in place, so the temperature in the other room can be controlled independently, for example for parties or to keep instruments that prefer constant temperatures.” He pointed to another door. “That one leads to a room that can be used as an office, for example. It also has a door to the hallway. It’s an wizarding space inside, so it easily fits more than one desk and cabinet.”
They followed him upstairs. “There is a big master bedroom and a number of small, private rooms. The walls and the electric lines inside are spelled so you can move and change the layout as desired, for example when there are children in the house. The cellar has a fully warded potions lab and storage space, with different rooms and wards to keep potions, ingredients and food safely separated. The attic also has a few rooms, magically enlarged so you can stand upright, that can be used for whatever is needed and wanted.”
“It’s an amazing house,” Beatrix said, still looking around.
“I’m sure you will get your mastery for this, especially the movable walls,” Sophie added. “Whoever gets to live here will be lucky.”
Stephan stepped closer to Ottokar, letting their shoulders brush in support for the next part.
“Good, I hoped that you would like it,” Ottokar said, briefly pressing back against Stephan. “Because I planned this house for us. The four of us.”
“The potions lab in the cellar is for Sophie,” Beatrix realized.
“And the one cabinet in the room off the living room doesn’t just look like the instrument cabinet Beatrix and Stephan have been drooling over,” Sophie said.
Ottokar shrugged. “I asked him to buy him when I had the house finished for the most part,” he admitted.
“The shed in the garden is a workshop for you, isn’t it?” Beatrix asked.
The girls stared at their partners for a moment longer. He’d built them a home. They had all talked about that they were in this long-term, of course, and that a wedding was definitely in their near to mid future. They just had not expected a proposal yet and certainly not one as involved. And it certainly was a proposal. He had planned and build a home for them, big enough for all of them and any children they might want to have, with room for their hobbies and careers.
There was no reason to hesitate or deliberate. They hurried forward and pulled the two into a four-way hug. “Yes. Yes, of course.”
The wedding would wait until they had finished their apprenticeship, of course, but that just meant that they had time to properly plan it and their future together in their new home.