I’m gonna upload these during the next few weeks <3
Might add more characters or remove some, depending on my motivation and how much time I have!
Saiki: Maybe I don’t mind if it’s you
Spencer Reid: coming soon!
Tendou: coming soon!
Tamaki: coming soon!
Kenma: coming soon!
Reggie (JATP): coming soon!
Newt Scamander: coming soon!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
It was supposed to be a simple spell.
At least, that’s what Tally had said. One sprig of mistletoe and an easy-as-pie incantation:
Love is precious
Banish your woe
Love is found
‘Neath the mistletoe
It had sounded fake, if Raelle was being honest. But she had no reason to doubt her fellow Gryffindor and was willing to take the chance. But, like with many things in Raelle’s Collar’s 16 years on earth, nothing was ever that simple.
Perhaps she had said the words wrong or emphasized the wrong syllables. Or perhaps the intensity of Raelle’s emotions had given her magic a little too much oomph. Or maybe she didn’t use the right mistletoe. “It had to be picked on the night of a waning gibbous moon,” Tally had exclaimed only after everything went to hell. Whatever it was, it backfired. Spectacularly.
Instead of the enchanted mistletoe appearing above the archway leading to the greenhouses—where the object of Raelle’s affections would go every morning to help Professor Sprout with all the magical plants (the mushrooms, especially, were her favorite)--it now appeared above every archway, in random locations and times, catching students and professors and even ghosts unaware.
What made it even worse: the nefarious mistletoe trapped unexpected couples underneath it until they kissed. (Raelle didn’t think she’d ever be able to purge from memory the sight of Headmistress Alder locking lips with Peeves the poltergeist.) Anyone who dared to defy its mandate were forced to have their deepest crush announced to every corner of the castle by multiple Howlers--which is how everyone now knew that Libba Swythe, a Slytherin, had a thing for a Gryffindor. And not just any Gryffindor. Her sworn nemesis: Abigail Bellweather.
At lunch, the Great Hall was decorated like it always was during the winter holidays. A massive Christmas tree with all the trimmings sparkled at the front of the hall. Giant wreaths adorned the walls, and a flurry of snowflakes floated above their heads. The air smelled of pine and sugar cookies, and Raelle would have enjoyed it if not for the calamity she had brought down on Hogwarts and all its residents.
Sitting at Gryffindor’s table, Abigail’s scowl was dark and furious. She stabbed at her meal with more force than necessary, glaring at Raelle as she vigorously chewed.
“This is all your fault,” Abigail said, very much heated.
“Keep your voice down, will you?” Raelle lowered her head, glancing to the left and right. The last thing she needed was for Professor Quartermaine to find out that she caused everything. “Besides, it was Tally’s spell.”
“Um, excuse you, it was not my spell.” Tally looked offended. “No one forced you to use it, Rae.”
“She’s right,” Abigail grumbled. “And now everything’s the worst.”
“For what it’s worth, I think it’s the best,” Tally sing-songed, high on a dreamy cloud after sharing multiple kisses with Gerit Buttonwood all over the castle. “As do a lot of people. Nothing wrong with a kiss here and there.”
Abigail rolled her eyes. “None of this would have happened if you just told Ramshorn the truth,” she said. “And what's worse is that you haven't even tried to catch her under one of those vile weeds."
"I'm working on it," Raelle said.
"You are the most cowardly Gryffindor in the history of Gryffindors,” Abigail stressed.
“Look, it’s not that easy, okay?” Raelle stole a glance over at the Ravenclaw table, where Scylla looked as effortlessly gorgeous as ever, head buried in a thick tome, as usual. She was probably crafting all sorts of new spells and potions in that brilliant mind of hers. Uncertainty washed over Raelle. Even if she managed to kiss Scylla under some mistletoe... how would she go about telling one of her best friends that she's in love with her? What if Scylla didn’t feel the same way? Would Raelle ruin their friendship? She couldn’t imagine life without the bright, witty, and rebellious Ravenclaw.
"It’s not like you’re running to Libba even though she loves you too for some reason," Raelle deflected.
The blush on Abigail’s face was brighter than the red on her robes. “This isn’t about me.”
Raelle watched as Scylla stood from her table and made her way out of the Great Hall. At the Hufflepuff table, Porter Tippett also stood. He only had eyes for Scylla, as well. Oh hell no. On instinct, Raelle shot to her feet. The last thing she needed was for Porter to try to rekindle anything with Scylla because Raelle’s spell had gone awry.
“Where are you going?” Tally asked, eyebrows raised.
Raelle ignored them both to follow Scylla, who had some free time before her next class--not that Raelle had memorized her schedule or anything. Perhaps she was going back to Ravenclaw Tower. She had to find Scylla before Porter did.
Raelle walked quickly down the hallways, shoes clacking against stone. She bounded up the moving staircases, two sometimes three steps at a time, drawing warnings from several of the portraits to be careful. She hoped she was taking the right path to Ravenclaw Tower. No matter how often Scylla told her the way, Raelle found it confusing, as if it was an ever shifting puzzle that only the Ravenclaws could figure out. Thankfully, Porter apparently found it just as mystifying because Raelle lost him somewhere between the third and fourth floors.
Skidding around a corner, Raelle’s heart lodged firmly in her throat when she saw Scylla underneath an archway, alone thankfully, staring up at a bundle of leaves and white berries. Raelle willed herself to be calm and approached slowly, not wanting to startle Scylla.
“Looks like you could use some help,” Raelle called out. Nerves made the tips of her fingers number and she rubbed her hands together.
Scylla’s head snapped toward the sound of her voice, shoulders visibly relaxing when she saw it was Raelle. “Thank the goddess it’s you,” she breathed out.
“I guess you could do worse,” Raelle said as she joined Scylla, pulse ticking ever upward.
“Not by much,” Scylla teased.
“Ouch,” Raelle said.
Scylla’s gaze returned to the mistletoe. “I can’t believe some idiot botched this spell. I mean, a first-year could do it. Whoever it was probably picked the mistletoe during a waxing gibbous moon.”
“R-right.” Raelle rubbed the back of her neck. “What an idiot.”
Silence stretched between them, awkward and thick.
“Well, I guess we should get this over with.” Scylla looked at her expectantly, but Raelle found she couldn’t move. She was frozen in place, as if someone had hit her with an Immobulus charm.
“Are you okay?” Scylla’s brows furrowed.
“Yeah, I just…” It was hard to speak with the way her mouth suddenly dried out.
“It’s just a kiss.” Scylla moved closer and touched Raelle’s elbow. “No big deal.”
Raelle’s stomach dropped. Because of course . It wasn’t a big deal to Scylla because she didn’t feel the same as Raelle. And in that moment, Raelle knew she had messed up. Royally. Why had she thought some mistletoe would miraculously lead to Scylla returning her unrequited love. She should have never cast that spell.
She was so stupid .
But she had a chance to fix it now. To bury her feelings and give Scylla a quick peck and be done with it. But...
“I can’t,” Raelle whispered, tired of hiding.
Scylla’s face fell and that made Raelle’s heart crack. “Would kissing me be that terrible?”
“What? No!” Raelle covered her face with her hands. This was a disaster. “That’s not…”
“Rae,” Scylla gently pulled down Raelle’s hands, blue eyes as clear as the shimmering waters of the Great Lake on a cloudless day. “It’s okay. You don’t have to kiss me, if you don’t want to.”
“That’s the thing.” Raelle’s chest throbbed. “I do want to. More than you know. But not like this.”
“Like what?” Scylla asked, baffled.
“Like it doesn’t mean anything.” Raelle took a deep breath. It was now or never. She’d prove she wasn’t the most cowardly Gryffindor in the history of Gryffindors. “Because, Scyl, it’d mean everything to me. Because you mean everything .”
Scylla licked her lips. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, I love you. I’m in love with you. Have been for as long as I can remember. But I understand if you don’t feel the same.”
Closing her eyes, Scylla ducked her head down, shoulders beginning to shake. Raelle couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying.
“Scyl? Say something. Please.”
When Scylla finally looked up, Raelle for sure thought her heart stopped. Tears shone in her eyes, and her mouth curved up in a trembling smile.
“You know what Muggles say about assumptions, right?” Scylla said.
Raelle watched dumbfounded as Scylla stepped away and out past the perimeter of the mistletoe’s reach. Howlers appeared out of thin air, and their screech was deafening. They flapped to all corners of the castle. Even with her hands clapped around her ears, Raelle could hear the message clearly:
Scylla Ramshorn, Seventh Year, Ravenclaw, is in love with Raelle Collar, Sixth Year, Gryffindor.
Scylla Ramshorn, Seventh Year, Ravenclaw, is in love with Raelle Collar, Sixth Year, Gryffindor.
Scylla Ramshorn, Seventh Year, Ravenclaw, is in love with Raelle Collar, Sixth Year, Gryffindor.
The message repeated for what seemed like eternity before it finally ceased, leaving Raelle in stunned silence, facing burning.
Scylla shrugged helplessly.
In less than a fraction of a second, Raelle erased the gap between them and kissed Scylla, cupping her jaw and burying her fingers in soft, auburn hair. Scylla wrapped her arms around Raelle and brought them even closer. Raelle melted into the softness of Scylla’s lips, warmth spreading throughout her entire body as her heart expanded to the point of bursting.
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Scylla whispered when they broke apart, foreheads resting against each other.
“Why didn’t you?” Raelle countered, smiling so widely her cheeks were beginning to hurt.
“I guess we’re both idiots.”
“Guess so.”
Scylla nuzzled the tip of Raelle’s nose. “Speaking of idiots, I’ll have to thank the one who bungled the mistletoe spell after all.” Her gaze traveled up to the archway. The mistletoe had already disappeared to claim its next victim.
“Lucky for you, you don’t have to search very far,” Raelle confessed.
Scylla’s eyes widened. “It was you?”
Raelle nodded sheepishly, and Scylla could only laugh, pulling her in for another kiss.
